| 6 |
| INT |
| 9 |
[Cooking] You roll a 9 (required 10). Partial success.
You and Moonflower slide out of bed, and begin your morning routine. First, you spend a few minutes in front of the standing mirror — brushing your coat, preening your feathers, and styling your hair with your favourite hairpin.
You equip Star Hairpin.
Then, you make your way downstairs, and start making breakfast while Moonflower waters the plants around the house. You use your unicorn magic to open the cupboard and peek into the fridge, and ask your companion what she would like to eat.
Moonflower: "Ooh, I'm feelin' somethin' grassy!"
You think it over, then nod. You levitate a bag of grass onto the counter, along with a loaf of bread, a block of butter, a carton of eggs, and a bottle of milk. Then, with a cooking pan in your magical grasp, you get to work: four grass eggy bread roll-ups, coming up!
While the use of telekinesis has become near second nature to you, you still try to put in some practice where you can. Crystal Charm has taught you well thus far, and improving any further is entirely up to you.
As for your cooking, it has gotten somewhat better, but you still have a long way to go. Such is your verdict as you levitate perfectly golden rolls onto your friend's plate, and the slightly burnt first attempts onto your own.
Finally, you fill two glasses of ice-cold water, then set the table. Moonflower returns from a quick trot to the mailbox with a small package on her back, and a sealed envelope in her mouth.
Moonflower: "I got us some stuff to read. Mmh, smells good! Thanks for the food!"
The young bat pony eagerly joins you at the table, and you begin to eat while reading the mail. The small package is from Ponyville's Mayor Mare. It contains a letter, and a small bag of coins. The letter reads:
"Trailblazer, thank you again for lending Ponyville a hoof with this year's Running of the Leaves. Enclosed with this letter is the rest of the payment, as promised."
You get 50 Gold Bits!
The sealed envelope is from Canterlot Castle. It contains two letters, and two documents. The first letter reads:
"Hear ye, hear ye. Her Grand Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria, is pleased to announce the opening of the Equestrian Voyagers Agency in the idyllic town of Ponyville on the 1st day of October..."
Moonflower: "That's today!"
"... This new guild aims to provide aid in planning and completing expeditions beyond our esteemed nation's borders. Sponsors and aspiring agents are welcome to apply at..."
You take note of the guild hall's location in Ponyville.
"... The Princess cordially extends her most enthusiastic commendations to the heroes Trailblazer of Hoofington and Moonflower of Starfalls."
Moonflower: "That's us!"
The second letter reads:
"Trailblazer, Moonflower, after hearing of your incredible deeds in Midgard, I was reminded of how little we know of the world outside of Equestria. That is what inspired the founding of this new guild, designed to help adventurers just like you in their endeavours.
Should you choose to join it (and know that you are under no obligation to do so), simply present your royal commendation to the guild receptionist, and you will be admitted. —Princess Celestia
PS: I have made certain that your friend Apple Basket receives one as well."
You get Royal Commendation!
You feel satiated.
Enter a comment
How might Equestrian guilds work? I know the word in our world can mean a union, but for all workers in an industry, that sometimes forces all practitioners to join and conform to their rules/standards to practice. So far we know that (1) it's a place to talk shop and share knowledge among fellow adventurers (so meeting interesting characters is very likely, though it is the first day it's open) and (2) a place to match sponsors (the Crown among them?) with adventurers for chartered adventures/exploration. Honestly, we couldn't ask for anything better!
Adventurers/"agents" like in an intelligence agency? It is the Equestrian Voyagers Agency, so then we're agents 😎.
Sometimes (though perhaps not in utopian Equestria) guilds acted as cartels/monopolies, or engaged in territorial disputes with other guilds in the same industry, or just transferred wealth to established members/elites rather than sharing it, or even controlled city governments.
Edit: At least the ones we borrowed from Twilight's library. The other books in the house seem to be our own.
Also, this seems to have been planned since 2023-01-16: I must commend the QM yet again for following through 📅.
Apple Basket has come a long way since he first wished to become an adventurer!
All these bits are really burning a hole in our
pocketsidereal bag... not that we mind! Do ponies normally carry their life savings around all the time?We see Trailblazer's magic color for the technically second (2023-02-06) time!