"Interesting words reach our ears."

I had been brought to a small room. In it, the reigning council sat around a desk, their eyes trained on me.

The speaker was a stallion. "Imagine our surprise when we went to see; a new river, from nowhere."

Celestia nodded softly. "This does bring water closer to us, but we hope this is not how you intended it, and yet, if it was not, we fear what it means."

Easy was still nowhere to be seen. I was only growing more worried about her. "It wasn't exactly how we planned it." I rolled a hand through the air as I sat up. "But this does work favorably. The project will continue with time saved, and with it, bits saved. The city will have flowing water, and not just the river being closer by."

A female that was not Celestia nodded softly. "We were hoping you'd say as much. You have proven resourceful. Another project, before the first is complete? We were flabbergasted."

Celestia raised a hoof, her eyes set on me. "And yet, what choice is there? The river must be passed, and so we would be fools to not authorize the fixing of this sudden problem... that you caused."

I hadn't meant to! God dang it... "In time, people will look on that drawbridge as a part of the city, a favorable part."

Celestia's expression softened subtly. "I feel that this is true, but it remains a short term pain." She looked to the others. "Shall we?"

They each raised a hoof in agreement and a new paper floated over to the table. "See that this is fixed." It was another writ that authorized funds. "Without further complications."

I accepted the paper and folded it carefully. "Without further complications," I repeated. It wasn't as if I wanted there to be a single further one. "Thank you, for the trust. I'll make good on it. Permission to get to work?"

The stallion waved me away. "On with it then. Don't make Celestia look foolish for her trust."

She was risking her political capital on me. I had to get it right. "Got it." I was on my fee--hooves and off.

"Sir." Water Lily was bowing towards me in the hallway. "Easy Breeze has returned, but she looks quite tired. I thought perhaps you'd want to--"

"--Thank you for telling me," I gushed, relief flowing thick. "Where is she?!"

"In your room, Sir." She turned and began leading the way, as if I didn't know it. "She was fatigued to the point of exhaustion, but seemed unharmed."

"Glad to hear she's alright at least." I went quiet until we reached my room, where I rushed ahead to get the door open and charge inside. There was Easy sprawled across her bed, snoring loudly and very asleep. "G-good," I stammered, unsure how else to react to someone I feared might be dead instead just fast asleep. "Can you keep an eye on her?"

"Of course, Sir." Water dipped her head softly. "Do be back by sixth bell. I would like to see that physician you recommended."

Ah yes, a smile touched my lips at the thought of it. "Of course. I should get to it. If she wakes up, tell her I'm glad she's alright, and I really want to know what happened."

"She said something about 'him being alright'?" Water tilted her head then. "Might you know about that?"

Oh, the good news kept coming. "Great... for now, I'll let her sleep. Please, tell her, and I should go." I had too much dang work to do. I left Water and Easy behind, meeting up instead with Work Pants. I gave him the basic plans to get to work on, and his boys went to it eagerly.

"It's a relief to have everyone accounted for," he sighed out, apparently knowing one of his ponies accounted for before I even told him. "We're on the case, Sir. No more accidents."

"No more," I echoed, and I left him to work. There wasn't a lot I could do than I had already done, the plans in his hooves to get his workers to enact. I had other things to do. I hurried back across the makeshift bridge to find an important pony. Her guild showed a horseshoe with a hammer protruding on either side of it. A place for builders, surely.

The secretary inside, a stallion, spotted me the instant I was through the door. "Ah, a valued client. How can we make your day a little better?" He pressed his hooves together as I had seem the guild leader do before. "I trust you are satisfied with your workers? We can replace them if needed."

So quick to throw Work Pants under the bus... "No, he and his ponies are doing good work, but I have more of it. I need them to focus on the task I have them on and get a new crew."

The secretary's ears went up, but he was not the only one. I could feel eyes turning on me from around the busy room. He smiled gently. "I'm glad to hear that. We're always ready to build! What sort of project do you have in mind? Did you need a fountain done for when you have the water piped in?"

That wasn't an awful idea... But, "No. You know the river?" I hiked a thumb towards it. "The one cutting right in front of the city."

The secretary's sunny expression dimmed a little. "That is slowing down shipments. What a mess. I hope the court does something about it--"

I put down the bill of payment. "--They did something about it. That's why I'm here."

His horn glowed, taking the paper up to where he could read it easily, one hoof adjusting his monocle. "Mmm, yes, mmm. We can work within this budget. Do you have any specifications on how the bridge or watch tower should be built?"

Actually... I dug out my phone and quickly pulled up the image, zooming in on just the bridge and supporting structure. "Like this." I turned it for him to see.

"What a lovely picture, though it's drawn by someone who hasn't actually seen a building before." He floated a quill over and started to rapidly sketch his own take on things. "We can have it done."

"Get it done right, but don't max out the account," I counseled as I put the phone away. "Impress them and more business could come."

"As if we needed to be told that." He laughed it off, waving a hoof. "You are quite the client, Sir. I will inform Miss Mason you were by. I feel certain she will want to thank you for thinking of us before the rest."

That they had competition seemed obvious in hindsight, but I hadn't really considered it. Too late to yank out at that point, and they were doing the work, so why bother, I supposed... "Thank you. I look forward to that congestion problem being out of the way."

"We'll build a better tomorrow," he cheerfully said as if he was quoting something. "Have a great day, Sir. Thank you again."

Only about half a block away, a pony emerged from a side street directly in front of me. I recognized him, one of the ones that had attacked me. He must have seen me tense, and he snorted softly. "I messed up," he grunted. "Figured you were all bark and no bite; that you wouldn't get anything done." He turned to me fully. "And here you are, walking right back into the guild. I heard them cheering when you left. What did you even promise them?"

I shrugged at that. "Got a second job moving."

"A second job..." He sank to his belly miserably. "I doubted you'd get a first and you're already on your second? Well, hang me out to dry then."

"You know, Work Pants would take you on in an instant."

He squinted at me. "But you wouldn't. Why would you? I got one talent, and that's being strong, and there are others that can do that, that haven't roughed you up any."

"Try me." I offered a hand. "I have plenty of work that needs doing, and if ponies are willing to do it, I don't care much about what you're worried about. You want to make it up to me? Get in there and take up the slack Hard Hat's making by being hurt."

"Hard Hat's hurt!" He was up on his hooves in a flash. "What happened?! Is he alright?!"

I put up both hands, glancing at other ponies who were watching us as they walked by. "He's fine, in good hooves. He took a fall, got hurt. He'll come back, but you can keep his spot warm, and us on schedule. Hopefully you have better balance?"

"Me mum said I was part goat," he gloated with a grin. "Ain't never fall from nothin' I didn't mean to fall from."

I hiked a thumb towards the gate and the work that awaited beyond it. "Fantastic. Go find Work Pants and join the crew."

He looked ready to do just that, turning, but stopping. "Paid, right?"

"I'm not looking for volunteers," I dryly replied. "Work Pants is your boss though, so go bother him for your pay, just do the work to earn it, all I ask."

He reached for his hat, but his glowing horn took it off and held it to his chest. "Thank you, for being a big pony about this. I'll do Work Pants proud." He rushed off into the crowd, lost to sight quickly.

Things were looking up. Canterlot was taking steps towards becoming what I had come to see it become...

"Hello there," spoke a female voice. I looked over to see a high-class Mare smiling at me, her long lashes fluttering. She was on the back of a carriage, looking down at me, but my high-stance put us fairly close. "You look tired. Care for a ride?"

I wasn't sure what to make of that. A random noble mare offering a ride? "I should get to work, miss. Thanks."

"Of course," she purred, her horn glowing as the door to her carriage opened towards me. "I'll take you there. You've done so much for us. It's the least I can offer."

A fan? I was running out of reasonable ways to turn her down without being rude. "It's not that far." I pointed the way, but she didn't seem to be impressed. Alright... "Just to the river. I imagine this carriage doesn't want to tread water, and the bridge isn't built yet."

"We're getting a bridge built? How lovely." She closed the door as soon as I was inside. The inside of the carriage smelled of floral perfume and a faint... musky odor. I would have been entirely ignorant of what it could have even been trying to be if not for recent relations.

It was the smell of a ready female pony. Water Lily had taught it to me without trying. The scent wasn't coming from the noble mare. It was more as if someone had made a scent of it and spritzed the air. I wondered how well it worked on stallions, but I wasn't one of those.

The awkwardness of when I sat said otherwise. The lower half of my body agreed with the subtle ploy to my other appetites, but I had a girlfriend that I had no intention of--

She casually reached over and pulled a string with the end of her hoof, closing the blinds on the carriage. Her magic went right for sensitive places, rubbing me right through my clothing. "When you first appeared, I was such a fan. To see you go so far, so fast... I admit, I'm simply smitten." She licked over her lips, eyes on mine. "You're everything I could have ever wanted."

Author's Notes:

Oh, hello there. Sudden propositions are sudden. Just how many red flags is this? Do we even have enough flags?

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