“Well, my little ponies -” Princess Celestia smiled as she stepped out of Twilight’s new castle. “- it was wonderful to be able to see you all again. And Fluttershy, thank you for bringing that new brand of tea – it was delicious!” Fluttershy blushed and grinned.

“Oh, well… you’re welcome, your highness. It was my pleasure.” The others strolled out behind her and came to a stop in the warm air.

“Well, y’all,” she Applejack, “that was a lovely way to spend a morning, but A’hm afraid that Ah need to get back to Sweet Apple Acres – Big Mac needs mah help with the new field.”

“Yep.” said Pinkie. “And I gotta go get some more Sprinklies from BonBon’s shop. They go really well with the new cupcakes.” Rainbow Dash chortled at that. Princess Celestia gave them all another warm smile.

“Well, I suppose you all have places to be. Thank you for spending some time with me today. Have a good day, girls.” Five of the ponies said their final goodbye’s and trotted (or flew) off, though one remained. Twilight Sparkle turned to her mentor.

“Well, I gotta run too, Celestia. I’ve got an appointment with the Mayor today. Tax codes.” She made a face.
Princess Celestia chuckled.

“Good luck, then, Princess Twilight. I’m sure you’ll do fine.”Twilight rolled her eyes.

“I’m sure I’ll survive. Anyways, have a nice flight back!” And with that, she trotted off into the sunshine.

Princess Celestia walked slowly over to where her guards and chariot stood. It truly was a gorgeous day. The sky was a clear blue, while only a few scattered puffy white clouds flouted around. The birds chirped and sang, and a soft breeze blew through the grass. She stopped just in front the chariot, closed her eyes, leaned her head back, took a deep breath, and then let it out. Moments like these were rarer than she would have liked. Oh, Canterlot and the its gardens had their own beauty, but Princess Celestia had found that the uninterrupted splendor of the countryside couldn’t truly be replaced by anything. For a moment she just stood there, a contented expression on her face. Then she blinked once, opened her eyes, and looked around. It really was beautiful here, all around her. So peaceful and tranquil.

In fact…

An idea was forming in her mind. She had planned to head back to Canterlot and spend the rest of the day catching up on some reading, but now another thought had occurred to her.

I wonder… you know what, to Tartarus with it.

She turned to her guards, the corners of her mouth pulling upwards. “Gentlestallions, there has been a change in plans. I have decided to take a walk.” The guards blinked. They stared at her for a moment, and then looked back at each other. Then they took the chariot’s harnesses off, and stepped forward. The smile still on her face, she turned and walked out into the countryside.

For a while she just walked, the guards at a respectful distance behind her – far enough that she probably wouldn’t notice them, but close enough in case she needed anything. The Princess was thoroughly enjoying it. She wandered past the outskirts of Ponyville, with no particular goal or destination in mind, just relishing the chance to be out in the country, away from the closeness and business of Canterlot.

You know, I should bring Luna out here sometime.

As she crested a hill, Princess Celestia spotted somepony walking through a patch of short grass about 100 trots ahead of her. It appeared to be a dark green unicorn stallion, with a brown mane with a pair of worn saddlebags on him. She watched as he walked a dozen or so meters, rather unsteadily, she thought, and plop down in front of a tree. She gazed at the stallion for a moment, wondering what could have brought anypony else out here. Then again, they weren’t that far from town; perhaps he was just wondering around enjoying the scenery, like she was.

Or perhaps not.

She did find it curious as to who this pony was and what he was doing out here. She could just go up and ask him, or course, but she didn’t want to have anypony bowing and scraping to her. No, this required some subtlety and planning.

She turned to the right and spotted a small grove of trees. That would work. She gestured to the guards, and they all walked over. Entering it, she closed her eyes and focused her magic. She cast the first spell. This one only took a moment; her crown and regalia popped out of existence with a brief flash. The second spell was more complicated. It was a temporary shape-changing/illusion spell. As her horn glowed, she began to shrink. Her wings faded from view, and her hair lost its usual etherealness, becoming a light pink. Lastly, her cutie mark changed, the sun on her flank shifting to become a four pointed golden star. This was a disguise she often used when she wanted or needed to go incognito amongst her subjects; only a very few ponies were aware of it. After a final quick check of appearance, she walked out from the grove and towards where she had seen the stallion lay down.

Approaching from behind and slightly to his left, the Princess saw that he had not moved. He was sitting on his haunches in front of her, though slouched over a little, looking out at Ponyville in the distance. As the Princess closed the final few dozen meters, she noticed several things about him. Although the shadows the tree cast on him made it a little hard to see, she could see that his mane and fur looked dirty and unkempt, as if he hadn’t had a good bath and/or brushing in quite some time. He also looked rather thin, almost emaciated. As she got closer, his ears perked up and his head turned towards her. The stallion’s face was in much the same condition as the rest of him; it was dirty, and there were bags under his eyes, which themselves looked slightly bloodshot.

“Hello,” she said, trying to give her warmest smile as she closed the final gap and sat down.

“Hello.” He hadn’t turned his body towards her.

“I’m Star Burst. What’s your name?”

“… My name is John.”

Well, that was a rather odd name… but it was not the strangest name that the Princess had ever heard. Her gaze then flickered down to his flank, where his cutie mark was - or, rather, to where it was not.

This stallion had no cutie mark. She must have missed it in the dappled pattern that the shadows of the leaves of the tree cast on his coat. While it was not unheard of for an adult pony to have no cutie mark, it was certainly a very rare occurrence, and also a very crippling one. When Princess Celestia looked back at his face; he had one eyebrow slightly raised, in a knowing, yet resigned expression. In an effort to redirect the conversation, she gestured to his saddlebags.

“So, I take it you’re not from around here.”

“No, I’m actually new to Equestria.”

“Oh really.” John nodded, and then his eyes then flickered past her.

“So, what’s with the guards?” he asked. Celestia glanced behind herself.

Oh dear. I forgot about them. Okay, think… how do I explain this?

“Ah, well, I actually work for Princess Celestia. I had some business in Ponyville and I decided to go for a bit of a walk.” His eyes widened a bit at that.

“You work for the Princess?” She nodded. There was an awkward pause as he seemed to consider that.

“So, where are you from?” she asked. John hesitated for a moment. Then, his gaze fell.

“Oh, very far away. You probably wouldn’t have heard of it.”

“I… see. May I ask why you decided to come to Equestria?” she asked hesitantly.

“I didn’t actually have much choice in the matter.” His tone of voice matched his again resigned look. She winced a little on the inside.

“Well, it’s a very nice country. I’m sure you’ll find that you like it here.” She sincerely hoped that he would. It saddened here that somepony could end up looking so hopeless and destitute. He cocked his head, a slightly thoughtful look sliding over his face.

“You know, it’s actually a little different here than… than how I thought it would be.”

“Oh?” she asked, both anticipating and dreading his answer. “How so?”

“I… had some friends who used to talk about this place. I never really listened to them much though. I was… busy with other things. I guess… well, when you’re so far away you tend to see things in a different light than when you’re actually there, living it.” Well, that was not what she had expected.

“So, you had friends who talked about Equestria?”

“Ya.” He paused again. “You know, they even took me to see a… play about this place this one time.” A peculiar look came over him, one comprised of humor and a touch of bitterness.

“Hmm. Was it any good?” He started at that, as if he hadn’t expected her to ask about it.

“Ah, well. I suppose for a play that was aimed at fillies it wasn’t bad.” The look of humor mixed with bitterness became somewhat sharper. There was another awkward pause. He tensed, as if arguing with himself again. Then he turned to regard her.

“You… work for Princess Celestia, right?” She nodded. “I heard that there was an incident a while back, where a former student of hers stole Princess Twilight’s crown or something.” She nodded again, more tentatively this time.

“Ah… yes.”

“It… didn’t involve a magic mirror that lead to other worlds, by any chance?” His voice rose at the end.

“Er, no, it didn’t. I’m afraid I don’t know anything about that sort of thing.” She didn’t want to let him down like this, even though she had no idea of what he was talking about. His head turned back down to regard the grass by his front hooves.

“I didn’t think so.” He deflated, his expression becoming dull and lifeless again. For a moment, they just sat there, lost in their own thoughts. The princess was racking her brains, trying to think of some way to find out how to help him.

“Well, have you considered going back home?” Surely there were ponies there that cared for him.

His voice was both quieter and harder than before. “I’m afraid that’s not possible.” Her ears folded.

“Oh. I’m sorry.” With nothing else to do, she glanced over his frame once again. He seemed to be about the same age as Twilight and her friends, or perhaps a bit older. As she examined him again, she noticed something about his ears - there was some yellowish coloring around the bottoms. “You know, you look a little sick. You should really go to the hospital. There’s one in town.”

“I don’t have any money.”

What?

“Money?”

He turned to her. “Money for the hospital.”

“You don’t need money for that. Where are you from, anyways? That should have been explained that to you when you immigrated.” He blinked. Then he started chuckling, a chuckle which was not entirely mirthful.

“Of course!” he cried. “How could I be so stupid?! Ha Ha Ha Ha!” Celestia leaned back a little in shock. She waited until John’s laughter died down. He wiped a few tears from his eyes. “Well, I suppose I could head into town. This is Ponyville, right?” Celestia nodded. “I guess here is as good a place as any.”

“You’ll like this town. It’s very friendly.” He snorted at that.

“So I’ve heard.” The Princess hoped that he could find a new life here, maybe even make a home.

“You know, if you’re looking for a job, I think Sweet Apple Acres is hiring.” John looked at her, a skeptical look on his face.

“I don’t think they would hire someone like me.”

Actually, he’s probably right.

Frustration began to eat at her. She hated it when she got herself into a situation like this. She was an absolute ruler of the most powerful and prosperous kingdom in the world – she moved the freakin’ sun – and yet she couldn’t manage to help out a single down-on-his-luck pony get a job… and probably a place to live too, now that she thought about it.

No. I’ve got to do something.

She took a breath. “Tell them that Star Burst sent you.” John started, then frowned.

“No, it’s alright,” he said as he shook his head. “I can figure something out.”

She groaned internally.

“Please, just try it out?” Her voice rose at the end, just shy of pleading. He stared at her for a moment.

“All right,” he conceded. She smiled. He then stood up and she followed suit.

“Well, I should get going then.” His voice still had no joy in it, but there was a determination that was not there before. She was glad to hear that.

“Good luck then, John,” she said. “It was nice to meet you.”

“It was nice to meet you too,” he replied. With that he turned and walked off. As he went, the Princess noted that his gait was rather awkward. As he started down the side of the hill, he slowed considerably, as if making doubly sure that he wouldn’t fall. She didn’t think that this could be caused by hunger or any sort of illness.

What else can possibly be wrong with him?

She would definitely write a letter to Twilight, asking if she could look in on him. Hopefully, with some luck and kindness from the residents of Ponyville, he would be okay.

Then she turned and began to walk back towards the town and her chariot.

Author's Notes:

As this is my first story, I would greatly appreciate your feedback. This is a little piece both for practicing my writing, and also something that came out of some thoughts I've had regarding HiE fics. I've been wondering if my first fic should be a sad story - I'm not sure I can do them too well. In any case, it's not the best, but I hope you can get at least a little bit of enjoyment out of it.

Partially inspired by this: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/48363/to-befriend-the-night