A thin shaft of sunlight streamed through the inn's window, piercing through the crack between the curtains and illuminating the room in a muted, golden glow. The small room was in disarray, the blankets in a tangled heap on the bed, and various small possessions strewn across the floor. Several large shards of glass also littered the wooden floor, a mostly empty mirror frame on the wall giving some indication where the glass had been roughly bucked from.

The mound of blankets on the bed suddenly twitched, then shifted as Mesa sleepily poked her head out. Yawning so hard that her ears went flat against her head, she slowly pulled herself to her hooves, shaking the blankets off her and surveying the room. She winced slightly as she caught sight of the broken glass. "I'm going to have to pay for that, aren't I?" she mumbled to the empty room. She really shouldn't have let her anger get the best of her the previous night, but the pegasus had to admit that she felt a lot better after her emotional purge. She yawned once more, then set about straightening the messy room.

Returning all her things to her saddlebags and gingerly sweeping up the glass with the tips of her wings, Mesa glanced over to see an empty white box on the nightstand, and smiled slightly. It had taken a few minutes of the desk mare pounding on Mesa's door before she answered it, but she was touched that Foxtrot had even remembered her fondness for cherry scones, even more so that he had thought to get them for her. She tossed the empty box and glass shards into the trash bin, then strapped on her weapons belt and trotted over to the window. She screwed her eyes shut against the sun the blinded her the second she opened the curtains, then blinked slowly to get to used it to it as she slid open the window and stuck her head out. It was certainly a beautiful day. Mesa glanced at the clear sky, then back at her wings. A quick flight would do me good, she decided, climbing neatly through the window and taking off into the blue expanse.

As she flew straight upward, she very nearly plowed into a white pegasus mare who was towing a large banner. Both mares swerved just in time to avoid a collision, Mesa instead flying straight into the banner. "Oof! Sorry about that!" she called out, backing up to free herself, then flying over to the mare. "I didn't see you!" The mare, who was holding one hoof to her heart and hyperventilating, quickly waved away Mesa's apology. "No problem. You just startled me." Mesa nodded, then looked back curiously at the banner. Large letters announced some sort of tournament taking place in Canterlot. The other pegasus, noticing Mesa's curiosity, grinned. "Hey, do you want a flyer for it? Or ten?" She motioned to her bulging saddlebags. "I've been toting these around all day and they're not getting any lighter." Mesa started to shake her head. "Thanks, but-" She was cut off as the white mare shoved several flyers into her hooves. "It's going to be great. Like, seriously. I'm not just saying that because I'm being paid to advertise this thing." She blinked at Mesa, then looked chagrined. "Well, maybe a little."

Mesa sighed, glancing over one of the flyers reluctantly. "Thanks, but watching a combat tournament isn't my sort of thing." The white pegasus looked over her for a minute, then shrugged. "What about competing then?" Mesa just snorted with amusement. "Definitely not." The banner pony looked surprised at Mesa's reaction, her eyes flicking over the guide's knife and crossbow. "Why not?" she asked curiously. Mesa sighed, noticing the mare's glance. How did I get into this conversation? "I don't really like big cities. Or crowds," she mumbled. "It's been something I've been trying to overcome, bit by bit..." She trailed off, and tried to give the flyers back to the white mare. Her efforts were promptly ignored as the other pegasus just nodded thoughtfully, then sagely said, "Well, you know what they say. The only way to learn how to fly is to be flung off a cliff. Maybe going would help you realize that cities and crowds aren't so bad. It's worth a try, isn't it?" She glanced down at the small watch on her foreleg, then did a double take. "Ah, horseapples. I've gotta finish my circuit by 10. Anyway, spread the word, tell your friends, and all that." Without even a pause, the pegasus shot off, leaving Mesa still holding the flyers.

Mesa just stared after the pony, then shook her head. "I'm pretty sure that's the worst flight advice ever," she muttered. She looked down at the flyer again. "Though she has a point." Morning flight forgotten, Mesa slowly descended back to outside her window, staring at the advertisement contemplatively the whole time. She was silent for several minutes, mind racing. She suddenly turned and climbed back through the window, her expression resolute. Packing in record time, Mesa checked out, making sure to include enough extra bits to pay for the mirror, and galloped towards the train station.


Mesa arrived a few minutes later, and she quickly darted over the ticket office. "When is the next train to Canterlot?" She asked quickly, breathing hard. "One's leaving in just a couple minutes, miss," the stallion reported, and Mesa grinned at her stroke of luck. "One ticket then, please." She paid and then trotted quickly to the train, not wanting to give herself enough time to chicken out, before she skidded to a stop a few feet from the train. She had the unnerving feeling she was forgetting something.

Dang it all... Foxtrot. I never got to thank Foxtrot. She pulled a flyer from her bags and studied it, biting her lip. She didn't have time to go look for him. She sighed, putting the flyer away again. I'll come back after, and I'll thank him then, she decided. I need to do this! She was sure she wouldn't win, heck, she didn't know if she'd even make it through the first round, but Mesa had challenged herself to do something she would normally never do. And she wasn't going to back down from that challenge. Not letting herself hesitate, Mesa spared Ponyville one last glance, then boarded the train.