Honey Pot - Chapter 8


                                            >You were at the library with Sweet Cream, reading and taking notes about defensive magic.

                                            >Not a single day has she said anything, all she does is use that notebook to write everything she wants to explain or say. You do not mind it, as you are getting used to it. It’s as if you could hear the words in her smile.

                                            >Oh no, not again, you're getting distracted and losing focus on today's reading. You decide to evade staring at her smile and get your attention back on the book you were reading.

                                            >Although it was comfortable to read along with someone, you thought. All this time reading alone, Snake Eyes nor others liked reading as much as you did -- Sure, Mr. Dawn Tea or your father could share your same thoughts on reading as a hobby, but what you pleaded for was somepony near your age, not an adult. It was glad to find somepony who would read as a hobby.

                                            >This is why you were happy, right? It's not because she's a filly and your equine instincts were reacting as a chemistry reaction toward her, right?

                                            >A pencil touching your muzzle several times stops your train of thought, the pencil floats back to Sweet Cream's notebook only to point at a note that says "Daydreaming?"

                                            "Yeaah, just thinking about how I managed that teleportation test I had the other day," You lie, kind of. "I feel like I can do better than that, but Mr. Dawn Tea said what I did was most optimal for a colt my age."

                                            >She draws in her notebook a tiny bunny with a cozy smile holding a sign saying "You're worrying too much."

                                            "Maybe I am, my mom says I overreact at times," you give a hearty laugh. "Say, did you check about any rumors or old news on the outskirts of Canterlot?"

                                            >She takes a moment to look through her saddlebag and grabs a few newspapers that were inside, carefully, she spreads each of them and from her notebook, a few notes float with the aid of her magic sticking to different dates that were in the newspapers.

                                            "Whoa, that is an impressive amount of information", You whistle. "Anything of importance?"

                                            >Sweet Cream hands you a note that you thought had information on the old newspapers but it had a question directed at you. "Are you getting into something dangerous?"

                                            >Sweet Cream had a guilty look on her face as if something she researched had made her uneasy.

                                            "Who? Me? Not really. This is just homework," You pause, she was already writing a note in quick succession. "Alright stop, I can't fool you, can I? No this is not for school, this was for my research, I'm just a curious cat about it y'know? Can you blame me for that?"

                                            >You partly lied to her. You wanted to investigate any odd sightings on the outdoors of Canterlot near the citadel, preferably close to the waterfall that anypony can spot. Since Sweet Cream was as much of a bookworm as you were, you thought it was a good idea to ask for her help once again, it never occurred to you that something bad could have been registered in Canterlot's history.

                                            >She was judgmental of your explanation as this time she used a whole page of her notebook, "Studying for offensive and defensive magic and investigating the outskirts of Canterlot says you might be into something, I'm worried."

                                            "Was it that bad whatever you found that you were worrying about me doing something crazy?"

                                            >She nodded while pointing at the newspaper that she found to be the most important in the research notes.

                                            >Seemingly, in the terrain near Honey's "home", a young unicorn shopkeeper near that area was found harmed with various deep scratches on his back, hind hooves, and one non-fatal cut to his throat, this happened 50 years ago, doctors quickly found that they were from a Gryphon claw except for the one on his neck as it was from a scalpel. The merchant did not know his whereabouts and when interrogated he couldn't remember his name nor how to cast magic.

                                            >The other research notes had details on the x-rays that were done on him, there was no damage to the skull and the horn looked stable.

                                            >There was no name on the stallion registered in the newspaper as it was kept confidential and the case didn't seem to go anywhere. There were suspicions that it was an attempted kidnapping, although his home nor the shop had any trace of intruders or hoof prints, or in this case, prints from any Gryffon.

                                            >There are rumors that it's the work of a cult that resides within the city of Canterlot and their meeting point is somewhere outside of the city.

                                            "I thought Equestria was all friendship and rainbows," You say out loud from your thoughts.

                                            >Sweet Cream writes on her notes "There are bad people sadly, remember that Tirek guy?"

                                            "Yeah... I hope he's locked in Tartarus for good."

                                            >She was staring at you, silently judging you for your supposed homework.

                                            "Please don't worry, I don't plan on looking for a dangerous Gryphon or something," You hold various books with the help of your magic. "I'm more in the research field than the combat field. What kind of fighter do you take me for if you've seen me in this library three days in a row? Besides! Wouldn't the Gryffon be old by this time? That was long ago."

                                            >"If you say so..." Sweet Cream wrote on her notes and then she started writing on the other side of the note, "Need help with anything else?"

                                            "Hmm, well since I'm probably done with learning new spells, how about a few books about Gryphons, to finish off the day? I promise this is all for lecture and I will not start hunting for an unknown Gryphon."

                                            >"I do know of a book with basic descriptions on Gryphon anatomy if that helps." She wrote in her notebook.

                                            "Yeah, that should do."

                                            >With a tiny sly smile on her face she nods at you and gets up from her chair, most likely walking in the direction where the book might be.

                                            >If anything you learned more about some defensive spells that you shall practice later, like a bubble of magic that surrounds you. As for now, that was enough.

                                            >You still need to practice it, though.


                                            >The sun was setting down and it was time to head home once again.

                                            >Since tomorrow was Saturday, there was no school and the odds of Snake Eyes returning were pretty high, so you should be sleeping early today and considering visiting him early in the morning.

                                            >The final book you two read was just basic descriptions of Gryphons, as Sweet Cream said, there was nothing much that interested you, aside from their eagle vision.

                                            >You two set foot outside of the library, doing a bit of stretching, you take a satisfying sigh. A nice breeze went through your mane as the sun sets, the sunlight was going down and with it, it was giving a calm twilight view in the sky to all of Canterlot for everypony to see.

                                            "Well, let's call it a day. I don't know if tomorrow I'll be around here, but if I am, let's read something fun. This time no studying magic or mysteries, just... something fun, like, a fiction book if you'd like. What do you say?"

                                            >She gave a joyful giggle, then she wrote on a note "Is that a date?"

                                            "N-no! I-I just wanted to read a book with somepony who shared my same thoughts on some topics an- and I was just happy you helped me out and I thought you might enjoy some fiction books I have. Yes, It's not a date," you threw your hooves around trying to make as much of an excuse for her to accept.

                                            >Sweet Cream kept on giggling as you tried your best to give excuses.

                                            >She took her time to write one final note which she gave you right before waving a hoof and saying a silent good-bye your ears could barely take notice of.

                                            >You take a look at the note, it had the drawing of her usual bunny waving its paw and had a text that said "See you tomorrow, take care!"

                                            >You wave her goodbye without saying much, but you found her giving you the note cute.


                                            >What a day it's been, not only you learned a lot but you made a new friend in the past few days that helps you a lot without asking anything in return, well, besides you not wanting to get in danger.

                                            >Speaking of feeling good, not a single time have you seen Honey Drop in the past few days you spent reading at the library with Sweet Cream. Was it a coincidence? Did she know you got a new friend and she got jealous and it's evading you? You sure hope she is not that type.

                                            >Honey was adorable but at times she couldn't stop talking, while Sweet was just calm and chill.

                                            "Total opposites, huh?" You say, snickering to yourself.

                                            >You don't mind if Honey gets jealous, it's not like she is your fillyfriend, or Sweet either, none of them were. You were more into studying and uncovering anything you found interesting. Such as the case of the Gryphon and the merchant, you do want to look into that although the notes are scarce.

                                            >A thought was stuck in your mind: "Then why did you take the note? It's not like it's important to save."

                                            "And to that, I have to say... I don't know! I got perplexed yet enthusiastic at receiving a note from a filly. Is that enough, brain? Blame it on my colt nature."

                                            >You keep on walking your way home and thinking about the two fillies, not noticing how everypony that was walking beside you in the street was staring at you and noticing how you were talking with yourself.


                                            >As you were about to enter the comfortable rest of your residence, a familiar figure appeared in the street. It was a tall pegasus and you could see them wearing the royal uniform. It was Storm Quiver, the peculiar mare guard pegasus that fooled you into one twisted trick with her partner.

                                            "Night, Miss Quiver," You greet her waving your hoof. "Patrolling as usual?"

                                            >"Drop that miss, I'm not feeling like it, kid. Besides, I'm supposed to patrol outside but this time I'm doing the work for two guards, so I have to patrol inside too."

                                            "How come?"

                                            >She took a frustrated sigh while taking out her helmet, you could spot the sweat on her forehead as it slowly ran down her face, "My partner went MIA, can't find him anywhere. I reported this to the other patrols and barracks but so far, no one got a single clue of where he went."

                                            >The other guard? You remember he was a unicorn that knew dark magic.

                                            "When did this happen?"

                                            >She narrows her eyes at you. "Three days. Three. DAMN. Days. Do you know how much paperwork is for a guard alone? The guy has some nerve trying to hide from work, but ooooh he better start thinking of any excuse, or else I'm throwing him from the sky to the ground like a Harpy to their prey."

                                            >The patrol mare was furious at the whereabouts of her partner, she didn't show any worry, just plain anger. This is odd coming from a guard, yet these two did prank you the other day and nearly made your green coat become white from the scare, so perhaps the duo of guards pranks each other from time to time.

                                            >But three days? Wouldn't that be the next day you sneaked past the guards to follow Honey Drop but ended up meeting them? You wish you could help her but the only thing you could do is ask her questions.

                                            "And -- pardon me asking if I'm a bit meddlesome, I'm just curious -- Where did you last see him when he disappeared?"

                                            >"Ugh, you sound like my boss." Storm Quiver gave an audible groan in complain as she wiped the sweat from her forehead with her hoof. "Outside of Canterlot, near the border of the citadel."

                                            "What about hoofprints?"

                                            >"Kid, you're getting on my nerves. Do you want the report I wrote? 'Cause I can give it to ya if you're so eager to know about this."

                                            "I just... was worried, I read something at the library about a young merchant that-"

                                            >"Yadda yadda, yeah, stories and fairy tales. Look kid, It's been a stressful set of days and I want to finish this patrol, go to my cabin, drink a whole cup of coffee, and if Princess Luna allows it, fall asleep and never wake up."

                                            >You shut up and don't say a single word more, it was for the best. Storm Quiver was in all her right to complain about the disappearance of her partner, but missing for three days? That's worrying.

                                            >"Music to my ears," she placed her helmet back on and gave you a grin. "I'll go back to patrolling now."

                                            "You wouldn't have seen my... panda-like friend around when patrolling? I haven't seen her too and now I'm a bit worried"

                                            >Storm stopped and placed a hoof under her chin, thinking for a few seconds.

                                            >"Hmm, you did mention her the other night, but no, haven't seen her yet. I will keep an eye out, but I can't promise anything."

                                            "If you do that, I'll let you know if I find anything about him!"

                                            >"If you see him first, kick him in his crotch as hard as you can." She smirked at you.

                                            >You most likely won't do that.

                                            "Yeah, I... I'll think about it."

                                            >"And don't go out of Canterlot at night- no, not even at noon. Who knows what must be lurking these days for White Shot to be absent." For a second, her voice was filled with worry.

                                            "I hope you can find him sooner."

                                            >"Me too kid, me too."

                                            >And so Storm Quiver left and you entered your home.


                                            >After a wonderful dinner with your mother and a warm bath, you lay on your bed along with your diary, which had the front page of a Daring Do book you decided to put as the front page.

                                            >An idea you thought the other day was to, instead of thinking of many spots to hide your diary so the intruder had a hard time, just disguise your diary as any other normal book of the many you read.

                                            "Having a diary with the front page named Diary of Anon was a mistake, anyway. Gotta keep it a secret."

                                            >The only downside of this would be that the moment you lost your memory, there would be no way to realize this book was your diary. Well, you aren't entirely sure. The memories you lose are the ones from back from Earth, but would this diary be part of it? Partly. Some pages, which are from the beginning, do have the knowledge and information from your previous life, so your future self might not know until he reads the first pages.

                                            >Anyway, it was better this way than having spying eyes looking through your memories now that your diary was more hidden but in plain sight. Besides, it's not like you could write your whole life down the first pages, at best you decided on what was most important to remember, like your family, friends, and that God who gave you a new start.

                                            "To be honest, I do feel like I already forgot something or more, maybe the names of old friends..." You did have a hard time even recalling the name of your family, like your parents, "It gives me a feeling of sorrow, not being able to remember my old folks' names... I could try to read my notes if they are there."

                                            >Casting your magic on your diary, you decide to close it.

                                            "But I made my choice, to be here, a fresh new start. I already got Colgate and Time Turner, although Dad always is busy at Ponyville and his clockwork store," you give out a yawn, "Well that should be enough for the day," and were about to hide your diary with the rest of the Daring Do collection you had in your shelf, but before you do you decide to put Sweet Cream's note in it, "I think... I wanna remember this."

                                            >You stared at the ceiling of your bedroom as you lay peacefully in your comfy bed, thoughts of the past days going through you as you thought about what you'll do tomorrow.

                                            >That guard, White Shot being lost and finding out about that merchant years ago was circling your head. Was that a coincidence? You remember how he was the one to enter that abandoned building. You do hope he is fine and it's just a bad prank he is plotting.

                                            >And then there is Snake Eyes. He will most likely be at home, you will leave first thing in the morning, ask him about that phone call, and see if he can team up with you into going to where Honey presumably lives while it was daytime to investigate.

                                            >And so you step into the realm of Princess Luna and take a well-deserved sleep.