Taking up New Duties [Eventide]

[Jabberwock]

Ugh. He never minded doing tasks for Twilight, but he could do without being woken up so early.

He stretched as he pushed the large castle door open, taking a deep breath of the morning air, "At least it's a nice day, I guess."  Though that was hardly comforting as he pondered on the heavy lidded feeling that was still plaguing him. He hated admitting it, but he was still young, and he valued his sleep quite a lot. He yawned to punctuate the point as he made his way down the streets of Ponyville, taking in the sights of the rest of the inhabitants greeting the morning as well, he couldn't help but smile, seeing all the ponies going about their morning always did a good job of perking the little dragon up, especially when he received a smile or friendly greeting, which he always returned. He couldn't stop and chat though, as much as he wanted to, today the young dragon had a mission to complete!

Twilight was usually the one to give personal greetings to new ponies in town, it was one of her many duties as the Princess of Friendship, but Celestia had recently given her a very important task that was keeping her very busy up in the vast library, so she'd tasked him with welcoming the new pony. The only problem was, he didn't know exactly WHO they were, or even what they looked like, "Coulda' given me some details, Twi." His voice had a dry sarcasm, but he couldn't be too angry at her, she had a lot on her mind right now after all. He could figure it out! His attention was caught as he came into the town square, keeping his green eyes peeled for any faces that he didn't actually recognize, he knew almost everypony in town, and he never forgot a face, so it would probably be pretty easy to pick out any new faces. He couldn't help but feel a little proud that Twilight was giving him a duty that usually only she did, it made him feel important, and getting to leave the castle was always nice, he loved it there but it could get a bit dull.

His eyes widened when he finally caught sight of a face he didn't recognize, picking up his pace until he caught up with them, "Hey! Hey you!"

[Eventide]

((Sorry for the wait. I may perchance slightly be a perfectionist. :I Also, first Umbra post! Woo! \o/ ))

This town. Who hadn’t heard of Ponyville lately? The alicorn, the castle, the powerful new magic... it spread like wildfire, even to the dark corners where no pony dwelled. The old network had its perforated hooves in many pies, and the faction had spies listening to the spies. Aside from its new royal establishment, the town itself seemed to remain about the same. Canterlot was still the centrepiece.

Ugh... Canterlot. He would prefer to never return there.

At one moment he was Umbra. On the road, he transformed. He had to take care in designing his identity for this excursion; mimicry was not always useful, and sometimes carried unneccessary risk. With some joy he noted this would be his very first unique identity crafted in the field. He settled on a pegasus seeming in the end, because he valued unremarkable and efficient transport, and it might serve as a lifeline in the unlikely requirement of a hasty escape.

Spike caught the grey-pelted newcomer not too far from the castle. Evidently, the stallion had no trouble finding his way to the centre of town. His short, unkempt mane and tail were a dark blue shade as were his eyes, which reviewed the young dragon with a relaxed, inquisitive gaze. His cutie mark, the proudest detail of the ensemble, showed a blue flame at the core of a star-dotted galactic spiral - which was dark blue at its furthest reaches growing more purple towards the flame. "Oh. Hello. I wasn't expecting an official welcome. You must be Spike the dragon." Never let it be said that he neglected to do his homework.

"My name is Midnight Oil. You can call me 'Midnight' for short, or... whatever you wish." He drew the first lie as naturally as a breath, extending his hoof. A happy smirk broke out across his smooth young face. "May I say, what a pleasure it is to meet you."

[Jabberwock]

The young dragon was more than a little surprised to see the stallion already close by the castle, though he figured Ponyville was a small town and not the most difficult to navigate, unlike Canterlot, where it only took a minute to become completely turned around. He'd failed many an errand because of the winding streets. Ugh.

His attention was called back to the present when the stallion spoke, taking in his overall appearance, he seemed friendly enough, not that Spike had expected any less. Twilight had told him to always be wary of strangers, but the sometimes overly trusting dragon felt that she was ridiculous in her paranoia. Besides, this pony seemed trustworthy! He gave him a grin, genuine and welcoming, "Well Twi likes to know about new ponies coming into town, she'd be here herself but she's got her nose buried in a book. Heh." He was a bit surprised that the stallion seemed to know his name already, but at the same time it wasn't all the surprising, Twilight was famous now, his name was bound to leak through the cracks eventually.

Spike met his hoof with his own clawed hand and shook it, taking note of his name and committing it to memory, "Cool! It's nice to meet you to!" He wasn't nearly as formal as Twilight would have been, but he never saw a reason to act stuffy, HE wasn't royalty, "I was suppose to show you around, but it kinda' seems like you already have an idea of where things are, been here before?" He certainly didn't recognize the face, but then again, he was also young and not every face stuck 100% in his memory, much as he liked to insist otherwise. Regardless, he was determined to make this task go smoothly, Twilight was counting on him after all!

[Eventide]

Spike could probably be a helpful acquaintance. He was close to the new alicorn and so he might hear a lot of interesting things, even if they were the sort of things that might just be passed around in casual conversation. More data was always welcome, especially with the divide in the hive; the more sources, the better.

His smirk grew lopsided and confident. "Oh yes, the bookworm princess, ever searching to expand her knowledge - I suppose it's not a bad example to present to all the fillies and colts. I would like to meet her someday." The dragon himself was also somewhat renowned from what the changeling could gather, even called a hero in the Crystal Empire. He didn't really look like a hero, but appearances could deceive.

"No, I haven't. Perhaps I just have a good sense of direction... I like to think I'm quite observant." He glanced around the town centre. Even with the castle it was quaint, quiet, unassuming. He wouldn't have thought it would garner such significance a few years ago. "I would appreciate a quick tour, and we could chat along the way." He thought it may be awkward for any strangers he encountered to speak with him, so he had taken care in constructing an outgoing personality.

[Jabberwock]

The little dragon laughed, shaking his head, "Wow, Twi's reputation sure does get around. It's true though, she's done a lot education wise around Equestria, there's been a marked increase in grades since she became a princess, that's for sure!" Credit where it's due, he supposed, "of course the bookworm thing is less fun for the guy responsible for organizing her ridiculously huge library." He was half lying, he had to admit that he'd found a sort of strange comfort in organizing and reorganizing those shelves. Was he becoming a bookworm too?! He shook his head and smiled up at the newcomer, "Oh I bet she'll be really pleased to meet you when she can make time to come out of hiding!" She had to get some sunshine sooner or later after all, right?

Spike chuckled and nodded in agreement, "You must! But I can give you a tour anyway, at least around some of the important places!" He looked curious and gave him a friendly smile, "Where are you traveling from anyway? It's always cool to meet ponies from out of town!" He got stuck at home most of the time when the girls went on their adventures, it was lame, but he supposed his job here was important. He looked around as they walked, taking in sights to find things that seemed relevant to point out, "That's Town Hall over there, pretty much smack in the middle of Ponyville, our Mayor's office and most of our public records are found there, best place to go if you need information or need to find someone!"