Posey and Discord


                                            >So, I was talking to some of my other friends, and they mentioned that their magic had been disappearing a lot lately.

                                            >Honestly, I thought it was only me being particularly bad at it, since us earth ponies only got our magic recently.

                                            >And somepony else mentioned that they had been watching Princess Pipp's livestream, saying there was a thief on the loose that she and her friends were going to catch. That made me a teensy bit nervous.

                                            >If they had royalty after them, I'm sure that this thief wouldn't want anything from a normal somepony like me, but I double... well, triple-checked the locks when I got home.

                                            >And that was the last I thought of that, until I heard some racket in the dead of the night.

                                            >Thought it was a rabbit going after some of my petunias or something.

                                            >Opened the door with my broom in hoof, readying it as I stepped outside, but...

                                            >It was way bigger than a rabbit.

                                            >I don't really know what it was, really... or even how to describe it.

                                            >It had a deer antler and a broken horn and a big shaggy mane and old, sad eyes. It definitely wasn't a pony.

                                            >Regardless, it looked pretty pleased to see me.

                                            >"DON'T... touch ... my petunias...?" I squeaked, holding the broom in.

                                            >"So nice to meet you." it said, stepping toward me. "I've heard a lot about you, Posey."

                                            >I didn't respond. I couldn't.

                                            >"Oh, c'mon, cat got your tongue? Haven't you read your history books? Ah, well... I've come here on behalf of a friend. Just checking you aren't pretending to be them." He said, with a mischievous smile.

                                            >Even a foal could tell you that probably wasn't the whole truth.

                                            >"Show me around the place, why don't you?"

                                            >Without taking my eyes off him, I opened my door and shuffled in, taking more steps than I had to and nearly tripping.


                                            >I felt a bit light headed.

                                            >I didn't want anything stolen from me, but what could I do?

                                            >On the bright side, I don't value much aside from my memories.

                                            >He looked around until he found a framed photo, craning his long neck to it.

                                            >Me, a few years ago, at a Maretime Bay festival. There were some other ponies in the background, but I was the main focus.

                                            >"Is that you? Oh, how delightful!"

                                            >He pulled out a marker and drew a top hat and mustache on me.

                                            >"H-hey..."

                                            >He pointed to the ponies in the background with a stub of a pinky. "These your friends?"

                                            >"Ahh... well, I wasn't really that close to anypony until now..." I responded honestly.

                                            >Honestly.

                                            >Honestly...

                                            >I was being polite to an intruder.

                                            >But I suppose I did let him in.

                                            >And I suppose he isn't being a thief.

                                            >He came off as an old man who just wanted to talk to somebody.

                                            >Why did he want to speak to a plain little earth pony like me, anyway?

                                            >"Um, now that magic's back, and there's so many new people around, I feel like I have to welcome them, you know?"

                                            >Maybe he wanted to be welcomed too.

                                            >But when I mentioned magic, he suddenly lost interest in what I said.

                                            >"That's nice." he spat.

                                            >"Uh, what about you? How are your, um, friends?"

                                            >His smile grew large. "Funny story! My friends are looking for me right now. I'm wanted by the sheriff and his little gang. Aren't they just the meanest? Me! A convict? When I'm just trying to help everypony... When they find me, I hope that they'll give the most heartfelt apology to me!"

                                            >"H-huh?! You're not hiding here, are you?! I'm no criminal!"

                                            >"Of course not, dear Posey. I just wanted to give a... new friend a visit!" he said, violently patting me on the head.

                                            >Me, a new friend, to this creature I've never seen before.

                                            >Suddenly I had an epiphany.

                                            >"Oh, I get it! You want to be my friend because you're going to give me a wish!"

                                            >"...Huh?"