[IC] Equestrian Radio Show's Adventure Variety Hour: Explorers of STOMP

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
As the group took their seats in the theater, Brisk Iron stood up front and addressed everypony. "The following film was discovered by two of the employees here, Static Signal and Night Cap. This is a small piece of history, showcasing early early film work by some of the royal guard. This is before the era of sound and is unedited outside of quality restoration, provided by Ocean Bay."

Brisk Iron nodded for Static Signal to start the reel, then took a seat. There was a marker at the beginning noting a spot for a live orchestra to play, then there was a pre-title card stating 'REENACTMENTS - NOT ACTUAL FOOTAGE' with text indicating this was a test copy. That was followed by the actual title card, 'THE ROYAL LUNAR GUARD'. The faded sepia toned footage showed what was supposed to be Princess Luna. While the effects were fair outdated, it was obviously just a really tall earth pony with a fake horn and wings with star shaped barrettes in her hair, the attempt was dignified with her making a motion to raise a prop moon similar to popular depictions of how Princess Celestia raises the sun during the Summer Sun Festival. There was a rough cut to several ponies in armor standing in front of the now standing "Princess" and the armor looked like it might be some sort of training armor from the actual royal guard. 'LED MANY FOREIGN JOURNIES' flashed very briefly and was followed by another narration card 'INCLUDED NAVIGATOR NIGHTSHINE'. It showed an earth pony mare holding what was presumably a compass. 'AND LED BY BLACK NIGHT.' It showed a stallion standing proudly upon a prop cliff. 'FIN.' The film rolled for a few seconds, then the screen was white, indicating the end. There was a brief silence over the room until Princess Celestia announced, "The guards in the film had taken it upon themselves to make this. It's just that after a fire in the wing that this was kept, we thought it had been destroyed. With the guards involved being rotated to different assignments, there was never another attempt at making this." Princess Luna was shocked at the film and currently speechless. Princess Celestia pulled her close with a wing hug.


Snowy kept his voice quiet and polite, almost reverent. "In what time period was this filmed?"


Amber looked contemplative.

[broken spoiler tag]Amber tries to identify the time period of the training armor so she can be the clever student and answer the question before teacher can.

1D20+8 => (8 + 8) = 16

You're not that clever, Amber.[/broken spoiler tag]


Static comes back into the main auditorium, looking eagerly to see the princesses reactions. He had his notepad he was keeping for his documentary hoping for something he could gleen.

He saw Celestia pull Luna in for a hug. He didn't know what the significance was of this particular expedition. But it seemed to affect her.

"Was there some significance to this expedition in particular?"


While everyone was watching the film Maple had managed to move next to Rhapsody.

"Luna's royal guards have the most awesome armor... *Squee* ... did you see that one Stallion, ...you've got the perfect coat and mane coloration to go with that armor...I'm so jealous." Maple whispered after nudging Rhapsody with a wing tip to alert her that she was there. Maple had no intention of ever working for the princess... well maybe the Crystal Princess ... but rumps was that armor ever cool... there was also the issue of wing strength ..and even as good as Maple had gotten with Rhapsody's help ... she likely would eight not be able to get of the ground... or half to have super light armor made for her ...that it would be impractical for battle.


Rhapsody watches the film curiously, It was short but interesting. That there was some potentially new information about her ancestor was intriguing. It was then that she noticed Maple. The black pegasus chuckles faintly and nods. "Yes, I know. My family used to serve as part of the Lunar guard ages ago, from what I know of my family history and the stories that been passed down. Much of my youth I'd fantasize about joining one day, but life takes it own path."


"Now might be a good chance to ask her about it, at least start a dialog... she could help give you some answers -verify what you know. Not knowing your own history is rumps, and maybe if she's in a mood to be helpful you could interview her for the Movie... since it doesn't look like Night Cap could convince her." Maple's face was fully lit up, it would be wonderful for he friends if this worked out.


Misty sits still in her seat like a statue.


"'Time period' seems a little too formal. I forget exactly when it was made but I can try to seek that information out. They worked on it off and on in their spare time and had to teach themselves how to get things like the lighting right. We can't be here too much longer since the guards will worry if they find out we're gone. I guess we can answer up to six more questions." After listening to Static Signal's question, Princess Luna replied with, "This doesn't seem to be documenting any particular expedition. It's just that....in the time of my banishment, it's good to know that some ponies wanted to uphold the positive parts of my legacy."


"I don't know if such a thing has monetary worth. It certainly has sentimental worth. I'm sure if you rediscovered something long lost, it would warm your heart, would it not? Discovering what's lost to the world is what makes museums a magical place all their own."

 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
Between Maple's word and Luna pretty much giving an opening, Rhapsody walks up slowly to the night princess. "Greetings My Princess. I am Rhapsody... In time before your banishment, my family served you and the remained loyal even after what happened. The captain of your guard felt like there should be some preservation of the mare you were, and not just the nightmare that you had become. My family passed down tales about you, my mother Shadewing has a book with many of them. I was raised on those tales, they helped inspire me to become the mare I am today." She says with a glance to her moon-based cu! tie mark. "I am an astronomer, because I wanted to help ponies understand the night to realize its wonders and beauties; and with the help of some technology we have nowadays, they can enjoy it during the day if they can't at night." She smiles brightly. "Also, there are several of us here at the Keep," She decides not to name names due to Night Cap's involvement. "that are working on a documentary about you, because there is so little good information available, this film here prompted that. So with your blessing there will a film that will definitive uphold your legacy and all the good you've done in your life for all to see."


Princess Luna looked Rhapsody over. "Yes, I see the family resemblance. I do not feel that doing something nice requires permission but my blessing shall be granted. However, it is on the condition that it be done with an air of respect like this film. I shall be most displeased if the final production does something akin to having Nightmare Moon turn into a dragon that spits black streamers, nor do want to see something that sullies my sister's name."


"Oh, no! Absolutely not!" Static was quick to reply. "That's exactly what we hope to avoid. Since you've been back, I'm sure you've noticed just how wrong some of our legends and traditions had things. I hope this can help to get the facts straight...on both sides. That's why Rhapsody here was brought into it in the first place. She's very knowledgeable about the history of things and will help keep things factual and respectful."


"So be it. I look forward to seeing the end result."


Static smiled to have the blessing of the Luna. He bowed again. "I certainly hope it will meet with your approval, your majesty."

Pony feathers! When did he get to be so dang formal?


The reels turned around in Statics head as he realised...all the documents he'd read...all the mind-numbing...same old undependable and often conflicting documents he had to read through the past few days...here were the two princessess that actually lived through it!

"Umm...actually...your highness...now that I think about it..." Static scratches his head as he tries to find a way to couch the question. "I know the two of you need to get back. And I don't really have any questions prepared since I didn't know you'd be coming.

"But so far a lot of the reading I've done has either been conflicting or just down right laughably false. And I can't help but think...you were actually there. And since I would absolutely die for the opportunity...and I'm sure Rhapsody would feel the same...would it be okay if sometime we could get together for an interview?

"I mean, this is absolutely something I want to make sure we get right...and it would be a chance for you to make sure the record is set straight."



Misty remains silent, her muscles seized up with nervousness.


Maple has her question ready and walks over to the princesses

"Would either of you like a candy?" Maple holds out a hoof with a maple toffee in each


"Hmm. We have several visitors from other countries then we'll be outside of the country for a bit. It seems like it will be a few weeks before we can get some uninterrupted time but we'll make sure to coordinate with Brisk Iron on the proper time."

Princess Celestia smiled at Maplejack's offer. "Candy sounds wonderful, thank you. It seems like it's time for us to go. A casual moment has been quite nice."


Static beamed at the confirmation of coordinating with Brisk Iron for a time for an interview. "Thank you so much. It's been an honor meeting both of you," he said with another bow.

This was what the most crazy of caffeine highs felt like: all jittery, beside yourself not knowing what to do or what to say. He had just had a conversation with the princesses. He...Static Signal...some little nopony from slumsville Manehatten...just had a conversation...with THE sister princesses of all Equestria.

He was completely buzzing with energy. He wasn't sure how in Equestria he was going to be able to focus for the rest of the day.

 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
Amber smiled at Rhapsody, then at Static. "I think it's quite lovely of you to be making this film, Static, and I'm sure that with Rhapsody's help - you know, as important as remembering our history truly is to all of us, I think it's capitally important to share in the parts of history we can all agree to remember, too," she said. "And now your documentary seems to have the blessing of the Princesses themselves!"


As soon as the princesses are out of sight, Misty suddenly falls over, her limbs still rigidly frozen in a sitting position.


"Maybe when the movie is done Night Cap and Static will need some help bringing all of the equipment to show it to Princess Luna..." Maple's head turns from the embarrassed Misty to the other other Pegasus in the room and gives her a slight wink. "...and as strong as she is I don't think Rhapsody would mind some help... assuming she'd want to watch it with the princess as well."

Maple smiles, as she hopes this on the spot plan makes her friend feel better, and doesn't cause too much trouble down the road...


"We may just have to plan a field trip," Static kept to himself in thought only. He didn't want to put Ms. Iron on the spot. He smiled at Misty and putted her supportively on the shoulder. He had to admit he was glad that, for once, he wasn't the one making the embarrassing outburst.

[Don't jinx yourself you fool!]


Spoiler

Rhapsody smiles to Luna. "Oh, I don't wish your permission to do something nice, but for me and a few others on staff; knowing your aware and approve of it, makes it even more important that we do our best and get it right." She replies with a respectful bow. She states and then turns to Amber.

"This is about more then what we remember, or agree to remember. This is about preservation of facts that have been lost to time. Stories; they are living things as Mom likes to say. They grow, they age, they change. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst. And just like us, stories can forget. They don't remember details, or other ones become more dominate. For a long time those stories have made ponies scared or cautious of one of our princesses, of her and her realm of rule. Its time for new stories, new details to help provide more information to everyone and maybe help end the fear of what goes bump in the night" The black pegasus explains, possibly rambling a bit in doing so, and then giggles as she fears Misty finally break her silence. "Maybe that can be arranged someday...."






"I'll make the proper arrangements once schedules are free." "WELL! Seems I'll be headed out as well. Nightmare dinosaurs won't film themselves!" After Ocean Bay, Sea Bay, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna left, Brisk Iron gave a heavy sigh and slumped in her seat. "This was certainly a day for the unexpected."


"Unexpected seems to be a way of life around here," Static responds, surprisingly not in a grumpy tone, but as though he was simply making an observation.


"Celestia sure is tall..." Maple shivers throughout the entire mumble.

 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
"I understand that. I remember there was a day back when I was four. My father was away on an expedition but my mother knew Princess Celestia would be visiting the museum. She brought me that day and that was the first time we met. What stood out immediately was how much taller she was than everypony else. Now here it is decades later and I know I'm in her good graces yet sometimes I still feel so small in her presence.

Changing gears, how do you all feel about today's training session?"



Static chuckled a bit and let a big ol' grin show on his face. He gave a quick glance to Rhapsody. "Well, I think I made a new friend. That's always good. And I found out something about myself...something I...wasn't completely sure about." [I'm my father's child!!!!] "It was rather...shocking."


"The teams were chosen. Some of the planning may have felt more random than usual since the various department heads helped brainstorm and pitched in with setting things up. Granted, some focused on some groups more than others.

Brisk Iron then turned to Static Signal. I find myself curious about just what you discovered."


Static gave Brisk Iron a curious look. "You mean you don't...I..'m sorry. It seemed like some of the obstacles were set up specifically for us. I was even wondering how you knew when I didn't. I...hmm."

Static was speechless for a second. He was so sure Ms. Iron must've known. "There was an electrical storm down there. My father's side of the family is immune to naturally occurring electricity. That...gave me a 50/50 chance."


Brisk Iron arched an eyebrow in surprise. "I knew about the storm but I assumed you would do something like build a lightning rod and then Rhapsody could direct lightning towards it. I didn't expect you to run through it but it's good it all worked out."

Spoiler


"Oh...well...certainly glad that worked then!" Static winced. "Hey! Found something out about myself that I can finally put behind me. That was totally worth the risk." Everypony around could tell he was just trying to convince himself to calm his own nerves.

He walked gingerly over to Anchors. "Could you catch me? I'm gonna faint." Of course he wasn't going to faint. But any excuse he could find to get into her hooves! He fell over into (hopefully) Anchors arms.

Spoiler


Anchors Away caught Static Signal but looked confused. "You aren't sick or anything, are you?"

"The pulley structure and all of that team's challenges were designed by Steel Flint."


Static straightened up an tried to gather his composure again. "Sick? No! I was just...I mean, it was just a..."

[Well that went over well!]

"Never mind. Sorry. I just..." Static sighs. "Never mind."

[Warned you about jinxing yourself.]

 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
"I liked the training exercise, I thought it was good," came a muffled voice from underneath one of theater seats.


Static raised an eyebrow. "M...Misty? Wha...what are you doing down there?"


"Nothing... um... just counting the wads of chewing gum under this seat..." was the bashful-sounding reply.


"I'm not sure how much experience I actually have with medic-izing, But I hope I can pick up the slack." Maple put her head down, she'd almost forgot that Light Fantastic had left.


"Nothing... um... just counting the wads of chewing gum under this seat..." was the bashful-sounding reply.
As often as Static had wanted to find a place to hide during some of these meetings, he hadn't actually seen somepony do it before.

Still, with all the chewing gum wads, spilt soda, popcorn...he wasn't sure he wanted to touch Misty right now. She may need a shower...several showers...and shave the gum out of her mane. That probably wasn't a good idea on her part.


"Anchors Away has first aid training but point taken. That said, not only is combat training something more difficult to plan for, I believe that a lot of the issue with the team is disorganization. In fact, Static, Misty, and Maple actually handled themselves quite admirably when the conservation presentation for the mayor was attacked so it's not that the team lacks offensive capacity."


Maple's mood shot right back up to 11.5 ... that's right I'm an actual hero now.
"Come on out Misty, we're Heroes remeber." Maple said, with a big silly grin on her face as she peaked around the hooves and chairs to try and see Misty.

 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
Misty crawls out with her ears drooping. "Oh, I still feel so awful... I always get super nervous around important ponies. And... well... there's nopony more important than the Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."


Maple sat down on her haunches and put on her best 'princess face' "You've never seemed all that nervous around me though... tut tut." Maple's eye's crossed to look up at the hornless spot on her forehead ... "...And I'm the Princess of hugs." Maple held out her Hooves and wings toward Misty.


A smile slowly but surely spreads across Misty's face. She leaps forward to give the smaller pegasus a hug. "Thanks, Maple."


"There aren't any Princesses in chess Night Cap." Maple says... failing to keep her princess voice from turning into a fit of giggles as she continued to hug Misty.


"I don't know what chess you've been playing Maple, but the game I know two main pieces I know of are the Prince that needs to be captured for the win, and the Princess that is the strongest piece in the game." Rhapsody replies, because everypony knows there are no Kings and Queens in Equestria.



"I could have sworn.... ? But then again, I can't remember ever playing."
Maple closed her eyes trying to remember.


"I think finding out what the pieces can do is precisely what today's exercise was about...well...that and making sure our pieces actually fight the other side instead of each other. I don't know, Night Cap. But if you're trying to imply today was a waste of time, I'm going to have to disagree with you on that one."

 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
Maple thought about taking the opportunity to whisper that her and Misty should both spray Night Cap with water... but that would stop this hug. So Night Cap escapes the wrath of the wetstone ...this time.


"You know I wouldn't know that, Night. I wasn't there. I was with Rhapsody. I think everypony here knows why that was a rough edge that needed worked out.

"I dunno...how would you rate his performance, Amber?"



When Static addressed her, Amber cocked her head. "Mr. Cap seems quite capable to me. I suppose he was fairly easily outdone by a bit of netting, but you know how insidious nets can be." Amber paused. "And he solved a quite devious word puzzle along the way. I imagine it would have taken me twice as long if I encountered it in the newspaper."

Amber drew out her notebook and flicked over her recent notes, frowning.

"He may also have a point about those pulleys."


"And yes, I hoped this would good way for the group to get used to working together. I'll admit to not being 100% sure of what the solution would be to some things presented but your success shows the team is quite capable. In that vein, I found Destiny Spiral's challenge idea quite odd but it did seem like the type of unpredictability one would encounter on an expedition."


Snowy finally broke into the conversation. "My party passed through a cave with musical water droplets. Was that a natural formation?"


"Yes it is. If disturbed, it usually takes about a year for the cavern's music to reset itself but it can take longer."


"Was there a way for us to...not disturb it?"

 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
"Oh, you can carefully got around the pools and stalactite. You just can't touch them. I remember going back constantly the first time I 'broke' the music." Anchors Away interjected with, "Sorry to interrupt but during the exercise Snowy found what looked like a hoofprint of a foal. While I tried to keep my eyes open, we didn't find any more signs of one being down there.""That...was probably mine. I traced back over it when I went through to set things up last night and I guess you saw it since my hooves were wet. Good eyes."


Suddenly the caves made a great deal more sense to Snowy: Brisk Iron had hardly modified them at all. They had been traveling through her childhood haunts. Like the forests around Bitka, the greatest danger was getting lost, and with a navigator like Misty that hadn't been an issue. There were not any particular challenges present because they were recreating the experiences of a pegasus foal. Said foal was Brisk Iron, of course, but a foal was a foal. There were limits to what they could do. He looked closely at Brisk Iron and sized her down, carefully adjusting various proportions, shrinking her wings, keeping the tone of muscle in the legs even through the so! ft coat of this mental foal. He couldn't bring himself to erase the scar on her forehead, though. That was quintessentially Brisk. With a proper foal in mind, Snowy tried his best to measure it against the cave. Fluttering precariously from rock to rock, staring at the discordant fountain inconsolably...The exercise was exactly what he had thought the teams had needed: a shared experience. He simply hadn't believed that sort of experience they needed could be manufactured by anypony in the Keep, and that it would take time and missions, plural. Perhaps it still would, but they were one step closer.

He was still coming back to the present time when he asked his next question, and his voice reflected it. "These prizes that we received. Are their special properties of importance, or are they meant to serve more as tchotchkes?"


Brisk Iron sat and thought for a moment before replying with, "I'll leave that for you to figure out."


Cuddled as close to Misty as she was Maple whispered. "I think everything ended up perfect, Thank you Ms. Iron."


"I had a feeling you were going to say that." Snowy says with a lopsided smile. He produces the orange feather and carefully drops it with his telekinesis l, touching it this way and that way to make it dall like a normal feather. "Could you at least tell me what bird this comes from? Blind library searches are quite awful."


"Well...yeah!!!!

"I don't think anypony was suggesting this was the end of our training. In fact...whether directly planned by Ms. Iron or not, I tend to think that with a job like ours, training doesn't end till retirement...and I'll leave it to you to define 'retirement' for your own purposes."



"I actually don't know what the feather is from. Never managed to find a match for its properties. Brisk Iron said to Snowy Skies.

Static and Night Cap are correct that all of this if more of a beginning than any sort of final training. And it's a different experience on my side of things as well with most of the department heads offering assistance. New perspectives certainly add to planning. For instance, it was Melon Hide who came up with the idea to color code everything. It made for a good visual indicator that the teams were going the right way and it can be lessened or removed as training continues. Destiny Spiral came up the 'indoor black hole' as a challenge for Static and Rhapsody that also put to use some unused supplies."

 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
"I'd kinda like to know how that worked. Maybe it could be patented and make a heckuva kids play area. It was actually kinda fun...minus the whole free fall...thing."


"It came about from a mixup. We ordered gradient paint and the craftponies sent us gravitational paint instead. Even they didn't know where it came from so they fixed the order and let us keep that at no charge. It sat in storage until this exercise. The gravitational paint seems to have the strongest pull in bright light but needs to be painted on in thick coats that make it hard to properly dry."


"That's classified. More importantly, it's itemized. There's things that are listed and require documentation to retrieve."


Static looked gravely at Night Cap as the conversation continued. He was pushing Brisk Iron. She could be patient when she has the mind, but Static couldn't help but think there were limits and that Night Cap was playing a dangerous game.

There were levels of 'classified' after all. And if their boss decides they're on a need to know basis and this was something they didn't need to know...

Not that Static thought Night Cap intended anything nefarious. But he had seen lately that Night Cap's understanding of the chain of command could be...well let's just say it...Night Cap could often be delusional. It could get him into trouble.

But at the moment, he didn't really know what to say to diffuse the situation...or if he should. He wasn't sure he could trust Night Caps sense to keep from saying something too incredably stupid. He would just have to have faith in Brisk Iron's handling of the situation.

For now he just stood back and tried to figure out the ebbs and flows of the conversation unfolding in front of him...waiting...hopefully for nothing.


Rhapsody was happy to remain silent and let Night Cap dig all the holes he wanted... heck she'd be willing to go out and find him a steam shovel if it meant him digging those holes deeper and more efficiently, but there was a something that came to mind. "Just when were these plotted? My team was kinda short-hoofed with Light taking her leave, meaning we're no longer three groups of three with more or less one of each tribe... So I am wondering, was this planned while she was still here and Static and I got lucky that nothing specifically needed a unicorn to get past, or were they strictly planned with just the two of us in mind?"


"Your jobs are still classified and there's still limits to your access. That's the last I'll discuss on that matter." Brisk Iron then directed her attention to Rhapsody. "Everything was planned and put into place yesterday. Sometimes a team will need to adapt to changes and it's possible I may shift teams around in the future. This was planned with only the two of you in mind but you're both resourceful and intelligent."

 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
Static wasn't really sure what to do until time for the match. He was about see what Anchors had planned when he heard Plaid calling out to Rhapsody.

Ticket to the match? As one of the audience members? Static was fairly sure Rhapsody could take on some of those wrestlers for real. Then he caught sight of Maple. Yeah...that would be worth the ticket price in itself.

He shook out of his stream of thinking and turned to find Anchors. He walked up to her so no one else would think he was making an open offer to all. "Hey, Anchors. You got anything planned for lunch? There's this place in the food court that Night Cap mentioned...Semolina Sway's. My treat."


"I'm headed out so I'll see you around." Anchors Away waved to Flairvoyant then turned to Static Signal. "I've heard of that place. Sounds good."


Brisk Iron then turned to Snowy Skies. "Your working arrangement has been adjusted. You've been transferred from janitorial to the greetings and tours department. Zig Zag will be here late this afternoon to help with your training. Otherwise, I hope everypony enjoys the rest of your day off."

Prior warning aside, this was an unexpected adjustment. He supposed he'd be spending more time with Maple. Also Zig Zag was back! It would be good to see her again.

Snowy nods in affirmation. "I'll miss seeing Dusty so often. Zig Zag can find me in the break room." He turns and heads for the break room, resolving to practice until she showed up. He couldn't abscond to his underground practice room, since he wanted to be found, so instead he opened one of the windows of the break room and stepped out the back exit, viola in tow. It would be questionably legal to busk on the steps of his workplace, he decided, so he left the case inside. Carefully choosing a spot where he knew the music would carry back through the open window, he considered the ever-refreshing question: what to play? This was a time of changes, why not play something different? He thought for a moment, ordering the instruments in his mind. He'd need a drum beat, occasionally. He'd bring the viola, naturally. And lastly he'd need...a chanting chorus. Reverent church chorus rather than castrated pedophile chorus, but still, this may not be the best song to play in an open area. It certainly clashed with the pleasant weather we're having. But it was building up in his head, it wasn't like he had much of a choice at this point. It was what he wanted to play. So he strung out a drum beat, prepared the chorus, and began to play.

...Where had he even learned this song?

Spoiler


Maple decided that she couldn't very well wrestle a match while hugging a larger Pegasus, so she had to excuse herself from Misty's embrace.

"If you're feeling better Misty, I need to go get ready for the event tonight... You hug very nicely though."


"Thanks! See ya later, Maple!" As Maplejack wriggles out of Misty's grasp, the blue pegasus is left appearing to be hugging thin air. She attempts to pull her hooves apart, to no avail. "Oh dear, I think my hooves are stuck together..."


Static was about to walk away with Anchors to the food court as he overheard Misty's predicament. He winced and lowered his voice so only Anchors would hear him. "That's why as many embarrassing situations as I put myself in, I never even think about trying to hide underneath the seats. I know some of the stuff little foals stick underneath them."


"Let me help you with that Misty...!" Maple says as she gets her camping shovel out of her pack.


Anchors Away cringed at Static Signal's comment. "Oh, ick. One sec..."Anchors Away briefly turned to Snowy Skies. "Good luck on your new job Snowy!

Alright Static, lead the way. Been a while since I've been to the food court."

 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
Brisk Iron then turned to Snowy Skies. "Your working arrangement has been adjusted. You've been transferred from janitorial to the greetings and tours department. Zig Zag will be here late this afternoon to help with your training. Otherwise, I hope everypony enjoys the rest of your day off."

Prior warning aside, this was an unexpected adjustment. He supposed he'd be spending more time with Maple. Also Zig Zag was back! It would be good to see her again.

Snowy waves briefly to Anchors as she left to show his appreciation of the well-wishing, before turning to join Misty and Maplejack. "Maple, you've never met Zig Zag before, have you?"


"I could have, but the name isn't matching any face I have in my head." Maple says to Snowy, while she looks between Misty and her shovel trying to figure out if prying with the spade or a good solid chop with the pick ax configuration would be better.


Static congratulated Snowy on the way out then led Anchors to the food court. Static greeted Semolina as they walked up. "Ms. Sway! Not sure if you remember me. We met briefly at the bowling alley? Night Cap speaks highly of this place. Do you have a menu we can look at?"


"I think I can get this... hrrrnnnhhh!" Misty's hooves separate with a *shpop!* The force of the separation sends Misty rolling backwards... and both hooves ended up stuck to the floor.


Snowy grins at the scene, remarking, "I think we might make good use of some hot water." He looks around. "Amber! can you heat things with your magic?"

 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
Amber followed Snowy Skies' gaze and looked perplexed. "Not directly," she said, curious what Snowy would intend to do with it. She focused on Misty with her magic and concentrated. "I suppose there's no better time" - Amber's normally somewhat reedy voice dropped into a grunt of exertion as she tugged Misty upward with her magic with another suction-cup pop - "than the present, but I'd intended to speak to you and Mr. Cap. I did manage to open the two combination chests - rather odd mechanism, seemed to map out to a magic squares system, not terribly secure, really."

Amber set Misty down.

"Now that they're open, I'm curious to disassemble them and see if we can identify anything more about where they came from. You know, these repeating unknown symbols on objects of unfamiliar manufacture, with no sign of who created them - Mr. Skies, it seems almost incredible to me, but I must confess to a fantasy that there may be a whole order or even a culture associated with these things completely unknown to modern archaeology."

Spoiler


Night Cap:​
"I'll take a look at the chests tomorrow."


Misty quickly flaps her wings and pulls her legs up close to her body before her hooves can touch the ground again. "I think I'd better get cleaned up before the match tonight... anypony know of a good salon in town?"


"I'd much appreciate your insight, Mr. Cap," Amber said with a smile.


Snowy had his own specialty: loot (also lutes). "What was in the chests?"


Amber blinked. "Oh, yes. Strangely, just a couple of scraps of paper. I assume they're very important, or rather, they were meant to be by whoever put them there, but I'm not certain I can guess how significant they are to us. Still, I copied out the pages. One is just a scribble of lines, and the other is scattered over with numbers."

Amber took out her note pages with the drawings and passed them to Snowy.

 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
Semolina Sway smiled at Static Signal and Anchors Away. "The menu is right here but first let me tell you about today's special. It's a delightful blend of kale, spinach, and kelp combined with seashell shaped pasta and tossed together with an almond ginger sauce. How does that sound?"


"Your jobs are still classified and there's still limits to your access. That's the last I'll discuss on that matter." Brisk Iron then directed her attention to Rhapsody. "Everything was planned and put into place yesterday. Sometimes a team will need to adapt to changes and it's possible I may shift teams around in the future. This was planned with only the two of you in mind but you're both resourceful and intelligent."

Brisk Iron then turned to Snowy Skies. "Your working arrangement has been adjusted. You've been transferred from janitorial to the greetings and tours department. Zig Zag will be here late this afternoon to help with your training. Otherwise, I hope everypony enjoys the rest of your day off."

As the group left the theater, they heard a voice exclaim, "Hey heeey, Rhapsody! Just the pony I wanted to see. It took some haggling but I managed to score a spare ticket for you for tonight's wrestling match!"

Rhapsody nods to Brisk Iron. "While that is true, both of us are also limited in that we lack the magical prowess a Unicorn can provide. It is why I favor teams being even among the three." She replies simply, more of her wanting to be ready for any possibility.

"Oh Hey..." you... um... What's his name again? "Ah, great. Thanks. I appreciate it. Now for the hard part of trying to get Amber to abandon her puzzles boxes for a night of harmless violence." She says and takes the ticket before heading back into the Theater when she realizes Amber and several others are still in there.

"Hey, Amber! You're in luck, turns out we have another ticket for tonight. So we can go together to watch the wrestling match."



"Oh, that's wonderful!" said Amber.

Amber's expression turned quizzical.

"Wrestling?"


"I'm sorry Misty, but if there is one in town, it's on a street I haven't been down yet." Maple was just out of reach of the chunk of sticky candy? Attached to one of Misty's hooves... Would it been weird to just jump up and grab on to it with her teeth? She wondered to herself

yes yes... probably yes...


"I'd suggest running warm water over your hooves while using your wings to try and scrape it off. Try using a butter knife, or perhaps a spatula." Snowy suggests. "It probably won't be too pleasant." He took the papers from Amber hooves and looked over them curiously. They seemed to be back in the same frustrating position; they had a puzzle to which they lacked all the pieces. But there might be something to infer from the two chests they had..."These have to stay in the museum, right? I'm going to be here late tonight, can I get a key to your workbench so that I can look at them later?"


"It sounds like you knew we were coming," Static responds with a grin. "That sound good to you?" he asks Anchors, taking out his wallet. "Maybe with some Colt a Cola?"


"I'm not a fan of most sodas but the food should be fine."Semolina Sway took the payment and set about preparing Anchors Away and Static Signal's meal. Filling the bright pink buckets with the savory offering, she placed the padded handle of the bucket around each of their necks. "If you keep your pail, you get a discount next time you come here."

 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
"Oh, that's wonderful!" said Amber.

Amber found herself staring blankly.

"Wrestling?"

"Yea! It'll be fun! Most everyone's gonna be there, and hopefully this time no undead princesses to ruin our date!" Rhapsody grins.


Amber smiled and then nodded soberly. "Yes, that would be quite an improvement," she said.


"Yeah, I'm sure it's not the healthiest thing in the world to drink," Static says to Anchors. "Still, I do think this and coffee are a decent trade off for what I used to drink."

Static thanks Semolina for the food and leads Anchors to a table.

"In fact, I think Caballuston has really helped me to kick quite a few bad habits. Manehatten was killing me. I was extremely lucky getting transferred here."



"That's great to..."Anchors Away stopped as a large butterfly landed on her snout and she stood cross eyed, trying to focus on it. Static Signal realized it wasn't a butterfly.


Meanwhile, Dusty Winds popped out of the air vent.
"Hey everypony. What're you..." When she saw Misty Monsoon, she flew over and looked her up and down. She then pulled a tiny jar and a bar of soap out of her vest. "Rub the gum with the peanut butter, then wash the rest out with this soap. I'm sure you can get water easy enough as part of the weather team but the sprinklers on the north side of the building should be starting up in a few minutes."


"...You just carry around personal sized jars of peanut butter?" Snowy paused, considering the implications. "Where can I buy those?"


"You can't buy them like this. I buy tiny jars then I buy a jumbo sized jar of peanut butter and fill as needed. The oil in peanut butter is good for loosening sticky stuff. And if you don't need it to clean anything, it's a good snack."


Static couldn't hold back a chuckle at the sight of Anchors looking cross-eyed at the butterfly. Too adorable.

"I wish I had a cam...er...a...that's not a butterfly! What have we here?"

Static takes a closer look. "Tradewind? Hah! Now I definetly wish I had a camera!"

 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
Snowy nods. "That seems reasonable." His mind was really racing with possibilities. "How's your day been?"


"Thanks, Dusty!" Misty takes the jar and soap and, careful to avoid coming into contact with any doorframes or walls, flies out of the room.


"bye Misty..." Maple looked around the room with a painted on smile and said she looked forward to seeing everyone at the match who was going.

"...And remember, yell really loud and you can bring signs if you want."



Dusty Winds turned to Snowy Skies. "I'm doing fine but still got work to do. Was just checking to see if anything needed cleaning in here but it seems fine so I gotta move on. See ya around."

Spoiler


"Aww! If I didn't know better, I'd say you missed me! I missed you too, but a guy's gotta have priorities. Besides, can you blame me?"


"Hmph! Aye shuud reeport yuuu to the Cheef Directuur." "Static...why is the butterfly on my face talking?"


Static grins at Trade Wind. "I'd like to see you do that." He turns his attention to Anchors. "He's a breezie, not a butterfly. He works with Dusty. He's a..." He gives the breezie a puzzled look. "Friend? Rival? Funny how one seems to lead to the other around here.

"Anchors this is Trade Wind. Trade Wind, Anchors Away. Oh, and the Director already dismissed me for the day.



Amber caught Snowy as Dusty Winds exited. "Ms. Flint should be able to get you a key for the lab, you'd only need to ask her," said Amber. "I'll leave the combination boxes in the cabinet - you'll find them in the index as NH-01 and NH-03," she said. "Do you have any guesses at what these cryptic pages might mean?"

 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
"Why deed sheee...?" Anchors Away very gently lifted Trade Wind off of her snout and looked at him. "She had him carrying heavy equipment for a few miles."A very large, smug smirk crept across Trade Wind's small face. "Oh. Welll denn." He flew off looking utterly pleased with himself. Anchors Away watched him leave before saying, "Well, he's certainly something. I wonder what causes somepony to act like...thissmellstoogood."She began to eagerly chow down on her pasta.


Static snickered, snorted then full out laughed as he watched Trade wind depart. "I honestly think I'm beginning to like that little pain in the rump!" He turned back to Anchors. "Ahh, sorry about that. He certainly keeps a pony on their hooves!"

He takes looks down at his food. He's certainly been trying quite a few new cuisines lately. He'd been making mental notes about how things tasted, and when possible, figuring out what ingredients went into each selection. The past couple nights he'd been experimenting once he got home...with varying degrees of success. Well, here's something new again!

He took a taste of the food.

"Hey, that is pretty good. Wait...Semolina...why is that name familiar?"
Then it dawned on him. "Oh...oh dear! Semolina's the direct rival of Skivey. If I remember, she's putting up a restaurant directly across from his." Static cringed. "Oh dear. This kinda gives me some loyalty issues..."


"Have you talked to him about it? If it's a friendly rivalry, it might not be a problem."


"I actually haven't seen him at all lately. Last time I was there was with Mr. Sands for the...training session. Even then Skivey' wasn't there."

"Thing is, kinda what I was afraid was going to happen actually happened. As my life improved recently, I've gotten used to good food and company... I'm just not sure if I could take the bottom shelf brands and seedy dives I used to go to all the time."

"But Skivey was as close to a friend as I used to have then. So...as much as he would probably have to change the place around for me to eat there again...neither do I want to help drive him out of business."

"It's...complicated."



Amber caught Snowy as Dusty Winds exited. "Ms. Flint should be able to get you a key for the lab, you'd only need to ask her," said Amber. "I'll leave the combination boxes in the cabinet - you'll find them in the index as NH-01 and NH-03," she said. "Do you have any guesses at what these cryptic pages might mean?"

Snow shrugs noncommittally. "They immediately make me think of several ciphers, but if it is a code then decrypting it will take a little time. It's paricularly curious that the writing is equine, and not the exradimensional scrawl on the chests. It's almost as if someone found the chests, took a liking to them, and decided to store modern valuables in them. In that scenario, of course, the question is who."


Amber frowned as Mr. Skies spoke, then frowned doubly at Night Caps' addendum. "While I do accept that the extradimensional hypothesis is a valid one, I really don't think we should be making any assumptions. Still, given that these are modern Equestrian numerals, I agree that the paper can't be remotely as ancient as I might expect the boxes to be. Of course, we already know that the site was disturbed, thanks to the pony in the book in the mansion."


Anchors Away responded to Static Signal with, "Like I said, you should talk to him about it when you get the chance. Even if it takes time, it's worth making sure you're on good terms with your friends."


After the STOMP team got cleaned up and finished their personal errands, hours passed until it was time to head to the event. The matches were being held in a former dockside warehouse that had been converted to a sports complex. The sounds of the water in the canal were easily drowned out by all the excited ponies finding their seats. The bright ceiling lights were enhanced by the pleasant ivory walls and dark violet trim of the main seating area. Melon Hide was sitting in the third row and meekly waved his coworkers over to the seats once he spotted them.


Elsewhere, Snowy Skies found himself at the greeting podium that was usually occupied by Maplejack. Waiting for him was a pink and green face he hadn't seen in a while.


"Hello Snowy Skies.
Time for training in touring,
Ready to begin?"


Static walked over and took one of the seats. "Hello Mr. Hide. Ever been to one of these before? First time for me."

 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
Snowy all but bounded up to the neon zebra. "Zig Zag! It's good to see you're okay!" He nods at the haiku. "Sure thing. Where do we start?"


Melon Hide nodded, "I've been to a few but I usually listen to the match announcers over the radio. These are great seats and the ref explains things before the first match so you should be able to keep up easily."


Zig Zag motioned towards the podium.

"Begin at the start.
Guests must feel quite welcome so
Practice a greeting."


Static wasn't too concerned about keeping up. He may not be up on the rules of wrestling per se, but he knew full well how fighting worked...last pony standing wins.

Still, out of politeness, he tried to feign intrest in the device...particularly given his job background.

"Have you seen any of the others yet?"


Snowy chuckles. "Your other new hire has the 'unstoppably happy' angle covered, so I think I'll just try pleasantly warm." He didn't prticularly want to return to that particular frame of face, anyways. A brilliant smile spread across his muzzle. "Hello everyone, welcome to the Equestrian Expeditions Keep, Caballuston's treasure trove of history!" The grin fades down to a warm smile. "Was I supposed to be greeting a tour group or some arbitrary entrants?"


Melon Hide shook his head. "Not yet. Actually going to a match with some ponies is going to feel really different. And I'm really glad that my favorite wrestler, Victory Squash, is going to be here."


"On the job training.
Late hours on a sports night?
Perfect for practice.

These nights are quite rare.
Poor choice with a match in town.
It is what it is.

You shall have a choice:
Go second and learn the route,
Go first and be done."


Snowy flipped through the next few pages of the summary. It wasn't particularly interesting, but he could work with it. "Falsehoods for the sake of embellishment are frowned upon, I presume? Which hall is the staff in?"


Melon Hide shook his head. "Not yet. Actually going to a match with some ponies is going to feel really different. And I'm really glad that my favorite wrestler, Victory Squash, is going to be here."

"I'm new to this, so you may want to point her out to me?"



"I'm here!"

Night Cap arrives.

Probably. The pony is mostly covered in a cheap costume, obscuring his colors. It's clearly not been fitted for the wearer, so its slight bagginess obscures the pony's build as well. But who else could it be, with its clear beastly motif, based on the fearsome and terrible

platypus.

He waves at Static and Melon Hide.

Static looks upon the image, mouth agape and eyes filled with WTFness.

"Poor guy's outdone himself." Static debates whether or not he wants to be seen with Night Cap dressed like that. But then he remembers the distaste he had for the way certain ponies treated him at the ballet. Dang...somehow he just knew that was going to come back to bite him in the flank! "Over here, Night Cap." Static's one quantum of solace was that there actually were other ponies as ridiculously dressed as Night Cap. So maybe...once again...he actually had the right idea.

Ponies are weird!

 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
Now this was a good story. He already had some ideas... "The route seems simple enough. Now we just wait for some people to show up, right?"


Melon Hide looked at Night Cap as if trying to mentally process the sight before his eyes. He then just chuckled. "I almost feel under-dressed. Oh, and Victory Squash is a he. He's in the last match of the night in a match for the regional title but they haven't announced his opponent yet."


"Correct, now we wait.
Maybe this is the hard part.
Or perhaps I'm wrong..."

Just then, a stallion in a dockworker's vest walked up. He was fairly unremarkable until Snowy Skies found that he recognized him from his previous "job". And the stallion paused in shock as he seemed to silently recognize him in turn.



Misty pauses outside the arena. She rubs her hooves together, making a *squeak squeak* noise. "Yup, squeaky clean!" She gets out her ticket and makes her way inside.


Snowy gives the stallion his brilliant smile and greets him like he's never seen the pony in his life. "Helllllooo, and welcome to the Equestrian Expeditions Keep! I take it you're interested in a tour" He kept things a little less effusive than the stallion might expect from him, but tried to drive home the point with a wink.


"Nope. Haven't seen them yet. Hopefully it shouldn't take too long. I can't wait to oh hi Misty! Over here!"


The stallion seemed a little work weary and tired but nodded to Snowy Skies. "Yeah. I'm usually at work all day but I heard they were doing some sort of nightly tour. These are shorter, right? I still want to make sure I can get up early in the morning."

 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
"Yes, our tours are much briefer at night; I'll only be covering a small portion of the museum." Snowy says with his warm smile. "If you like, you can get some water and rest your hooves over there, and the tour should start in just a few minutes!"

---

A few minutes and a few additional ponies later, Snowy sets out, followed by a small gaggle of tour-goers. "Tonight I'll be telling you all about the rich history of this city!" He calls back, filling in the walking space with some small details about the city. (They were taking a slightly circuitous route to exhibit hall B to avoid passing too close to the Thaumiceratops. It was a plastic model now, but Snowy wasn't taking any chances.) "Founded more than 300 years ago, the city has been a boon to Equestria for both it's cultural and economic contributions. The two rivers that run through the city are named for two of it's famous founders, Gray Ash the Unicorn and Wire Coop the Earth Pony. The two were often at odds during the town's early development..."
They eventually reached Exhibit Hall B, the first of their two destinations. Despite being indoors, seabird calls and the sound of waves lapping at a dock echoed through the room as Snowy lead his tour-goers to a rusted old key, mostly green but with a few shiny red spots. “This is Key Number Seven.” Snowy began, speaking the name with great gravity. “While Gray Ash and Wire Coop quibbled constantly, they both had the town’s wellbeing at heart, and to that end they enlisted the help of Rutile Oar, a local dock merchant, to ensure that Caballuston had the supplies to survive any disaster, large or small, natural or political. Rutile Oar profited a great deal from their contract; she was actually named mayor of Caballuston, though she was not particularly well-loved by the locals. But she carried out her end of the deal dutifully, stocking everything from grain and flower seeds to textiles, each neatly organized in its own warehouse.” The sound of gulls was replaced by the sounds of hammers and nails, along with the occasional indistinctly shouted order. “There were seven warehouses in all, each well-fortified and locked until the time was right, but the last one was by far the sturdiest. You see, Rutile Oar had grown up at sea, and the disaster she feared most of all was a storm, tearing through the city and washing away everything they had all worked for. So in the seventh warehouse she stocked supplies for natural disasters, kelp and oats and fresh water, kept in enchanted barrels specially to avoid contamination. The warehouse itself was built of the largest stone blocks the workers could lift, held together with the highest quality mortar, and reinforced by a precise inner frame designed by Wire Coop himself. It was truly ready for anything, yet ponies derided Rutile Oar for putting so much effort into one warehouse over the others. Some even questioned whether the mass storage of these disaster supplies was just an uncanny merchant’s trick to drive up the price of goods. But one day, Rutile Oar’s greatest fears came true.” The hammering faded away, replaced by whistling wind. “To this day, no one is entirely sure who to blame for the weather disaster that occured off the Caballuston coast. Most believe that it was part of Caballuston’s own weather crew that blundered, but some say it was actually a group of naïve teenage pegasi, and still others blame the disaster on some plot against the now-thriving port city” The wind began to pick up speed and volume. “Regardless of who might be responsible, the danger was immediately realized. A vast hurricane had formed, and was headed straight for the city!” To make his voice heard over the wind, Snowy now had to shout. “With no chance for evacuation, Mayor Oar ordered everypony into warehouse seven, jammed the key into the lock, and sealed the keyhole with wax.” There was a crash as vast doors that never were shut tight, and the wind became much more muted, sounding almost as though it wasn’t certain they should be able to hear it at all. Snowy stepped to one side to let his tourgoers huddle closer to the key (surely they understood its significance by now?), and see that the red spots weren’t rust, but wax. Suddenly, the wind was drowned out by the sound of water rushing past everything with great ferocity, though it also sounded muted. “The ponies of Caballuston lived off the disaster supplies for four straight days, in cramped but dry conditions.” The sound of rushing water slowly eased off, until it was reduced to the lapping at the docks, and the sound of gull calls returned. Snowy’s voice became almost reverent. “On the fourth day the storm died, and the Caballustans left their warehouse to find it was one of the only buildings in the entire town left standing. Rutile Oar immediately set about organizing the rebuilding of the town, and it was quickly returned to its former size. Few people every questioned Rutile Oar’s dedication to the town after that, and the key gained an almost mythic place in Caballuston’s history. The warehouse itself, though still standing, had been heavily damaged by the floods, and now serves as a lifeguard viewstation!” It was always good to end on a sillier note than a catastrophic flood, he knew that much already. “If you want to look at the key more we can stay here, but when everybody’s ready I’ll be taking you farther down the hall to look at a relic of the second disaster to plague Caballuston: political scandal!”

---

Snowy had let the group talk among themselves for most of the trek down to Hall H. Hopefully he had given them something to talk about, and it let him hear if anyone was tired, or hungry, or otherwise in need of a good pick-me-up (they were). Once they were in Hall H, he directed everyone to a corner that housed a rough-edged but unassuming rock and, mercifully, some benches. “If any of the weary want to take a seat, I’m going to make this rock interesting!” Snowy announces proudly. “It’s going to be quite a feat, I promise you, because this rock is generally dull. It’s just the mineral you get when sand is struck by lightning. This happens on the beaches around Caballuston more often than you’d think, but this particular chunk of rock was found by one Spring Tide when lightning struck the sand not two feet from his muzzle!” Snowy wanted to insert a thunderclap here, but suspected it would not be appreciated by the wary tour-goers. “Now, there are many reasonable reactions to seeing a chunk of mineral form in a lightning strike. Attributing deific powers to it and beseeching it for advice is usually not considered one of them, but that’s exactly what Spring Tide did. He was in a bit of a rough spot at that point in his life; his campaign for Mayor of Caballuston was going poorly, his wife insisted on experimenting in the kitchen, things generally weren’t going great. But on this particular walk, which was in fact a valiant attempt to aid in the digestion of his wife’s gouda-cinnamon-tomato-and-mushroom casserole, he found himself captivated by this rare event, and the stone it had created. He found it surprisingly light, and took it home with him, leaving it in a corner of his bedroom where his wife thought she could tolerate the rock dust. And, miraculously, his life began to turn around. His polls in the race for election climbed higher and higher, while his wife finally accepted that she would never create a casserole better than their neighbor’s, and returned to culinary normalcy. Convinced that the rod was the source of this turnaround, he began to ask it questions. Important questions, about running his campaign and dealing with in-laws. Whether he received answers or not is a mystery, but he did win the mayoralty of Caballuston, and according to his diaries he continued to consult its advice. Unfortunately, once in office, Spring Tide began making…questionable decisions. He raised a variety of taxes, which destabilized the precarious balance of the class system that Caballuston had at the time.” Why had he brought that up? Nobody wanted to hear about taxes. At least it segued into something important. “He was exceptionally harassed by the growing thieves’ guild, an organization he helped create by making a lawful lifestyle so difficult for the poor.” Again, too many boring details! But at least he had mentioned the thieves guild. “Luckily for many in Caballuston, his reign as mayor was cut short by an old political opponent, Neap Tide. Despite having lost the election, Neap Tide never gave up on his dreams of becoming mayor, hounding Spring Tide through his whole time in office. He stirred up the press every time Spring made a bad decision, or even a questionable decision, to ensure that everyone had the lowest possible opinion of the stallion. Spring Tide, perhaps at the suggestion of his oracle, invited Neap Tide to dinner.” Snowy said this last statement with an air of incredulity, making it clear that the idea was beyond unheard of. He paused to let the preposterous notion set in. “Neap Tide, though confused, accepted, and was treated to a perfectly pleasant green bean casserole and some cold conversation. However, he noticed the mineral rod, which was now hung over the mantle of Spring Tide’s home, and turned the conversation towards it. Spring Tide was happy to tell him all about the rod, and Neap Tide was all too happy to send every word of it to the press. Spring Tide became a laughingstock overnight, and was laughed out of office shortly thereafter. Neap Tide became Mayor of Caballuston in a hasty election, and to his credit he was an excellent mayor. He did a great deal for the city, arranged a pension fund for Spring Tide, and even dissolved the thieves’ guild, Spring Tide’s eternal torment. That was one of the easier challenges of his mayorship; the thieves’ guild became progressively more violent in its operations, until one day an assassination attempt on Neap Tide himself was botched because one of the assassins decided that he couldn’t go through with it. Between the bad publicity of attempting to kill such a beloved member of the community and the internal instability caused by the shift in regime, the thieves’ guild really collapsed in on itself, with little push from Neap Tide or his government.” He thought that was how things had gone down in Neighlem, though he hadn’t been present by that point. He had a feeling that he had hit close enough to home that the stallion would get the message. “In the end, this rod, now called The Staff of the Tide, is a humorous reminder of how the strangest and rarest of events can change our world.” He looked around the room, making certain no one had fallen asleep (they hadn’t), then conjured a brightly colored map of the first floor of the museum, off to one side. “That concludes the tour, everybody! I hope you all learned something interesting. If you want to learn more about the history of Caballuston, and what the city has done since Neap Tide’s time and the downfall of the thieves’ guild, then you should go to Exhibit Hall B!” He looks at his map with a perfectly believable look of confusion when Exhibit Hall C starts flashing instead. “…B is where we were, isn’t it? I’m so sorry, ladies and gentlecolts, you should all go to Exhibit Hall C! I don’t know how I got those two confused…” As his map traced a brightly colored path from H to B, hopefully drawing pony’s attention to his left, he looked subtly at the workhorse to his right and gave him another wink.

---

As the ponies filtered out of Hall H, some moving towards the exit and others moving towards Hall C, he meandered his way back to Hall B, where he took up a position near the rusted key, apparently inspecting the surrounding informative inscriptions. He cast a cone of silence around himself, and began to wait.


Spoiler

 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
Coal Nights nervously looked around, "Yes and no. Most scattered but Dull Knife still wanted to make back the bits he didn't get. He was bold enough to think the town would be too shaken up by what happened to deal with other crimes. He was wrong. Wrong on the level that the royal guard caught him. Don't expect to see him again and good riddance. It was time for a change and it couldn't happen while he was still around. I've heard rumors of other things going down but I try to stay out of it."


Melon Hide waved Rhapsody and Amber Spark over to the seats just as the lights started to dim. A spotlight focused on the ring as a unicorn stallion in a black tuxedo walked to the center with a microphone.
"Fillies and gentlecolts of Caballuston, I welcome you to a night of athletic excitement!" The stallion paused as a brief round of cheers arose from the crowd. "While I could go on and on about the arena, I'm sure y'all would prefer things get under way. So let me introduce the first competitors of the night for a pulse pounding exhibition match.

Hailing from Parts Unknown, don't let her small size fool you. With agility and technical skill that will leave you spellbound, I deduce that it's time to unveil...The Masked Mystery Mare!"


Snowy let out a gusty sigh. That was one loose end cleared up. "Don't worry, no one can hear us." He says comfortingly. "Did anyone head for Petrichor Falls? I've heard good things about their Qualified Fugitive Assistance Program. I'm surprised you didn't head there, they seem to wipe your slate clean."


"A few went to the Falls but I didn't keep up with who. Everypony going to the same place is the opposite of scattering so I did some jobs before heading here."


All is silent, this was the moment the collective heartbeat of Caballuston beat it's last dub without her. All the Lubs from here onward were hers.

Her music roars, the Spotlight was hers and when she burst from the black draped entrance all the eyes were hers too. the tiny reflective beads in her porcelain white suit made her twinkle for only a moment before the roar of the music shrank away to hide from the crowd. Her fans were here- but as she ran to the ring at top speed, she caught sight of her Friends. Mr. Night Cap looked wonderful...

Climbing the steps to the ring a brief worry ran thought her mind that the work she'd done to strengthen her wings since she'd arrived might have made them too big and muscular to hide against her sides like the suit was designed to do... but the little cape along her back was doing it's half of the job perfectly so she'd appear to everyone 3 rows back as just any other earth pony... the first 3 would just question if her admitted love of sweets had gotten to her between matches.

Signaling for the announcer to come to the middle of the ring, the music stopped and the crowd went silent again.

After a quick hug, She took the microphone in hoof and addressed the gathered ponies... oh right my voice... the thought passed quickly as the words came to her as if she'd never been away from this.

"WHAT A LOVELY WELCOME TO CABALLUSTON!" "THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING TO MY FIRST MATCH HERE IN THIS LOVELY TERRITORY..." Turning back to the announcer, "ITS GREAT TO SEE YOU AGAIN GREEN BEAN... I'M JUST SORRY I DIDN'T GET HERE SOONER."

The ring announcer looks forlorn and nods and shrugs so that every audience member can see he agrees.

"I'VE BEEN TO THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN UP IN MANEHATTEN." she motions around her waist indicating the shape of a missing title belt. "BUT WHEN YOU WROTE ME AND SAID THERE WERE HORRIBLE VILLAINS HERE THAT NEED JUSTICE ... WELL, I HAD TO DROP EVERYTHING AND COME TO HELP."

The fans cheer and stomp their hooves in approval... "BUT YOU DON'T JUST COME TO TOWN AND CLEAN HOUSE IN ONE NIGHT, AS MUCH AS I WANT TO... ITS GOTTEN SO BAD HERE IT LOOKS LIKE I'VE GOT AN EVEN BIGGER -NASTIER ... UGLIER MOUNTAIN TO CLIMB, AND TONIGHT PEOPLE OF COBALLUSTON I'M GOING TO PUT THE FIRST BIG NASTY AND UGLY CHUNK OF IT UNDER MY BOOTS!"

Hoofing the Microphone back to her friend, she stood back on her hind legs and spun for the crowd. Mask tight to her face -yet still stretched wide in the signature grin of her hero El'Santo - who's mantel she now bore.


"Well, she certainly has a flair for the dramatic," Static thinks to himself with a grin.


Snowy carefully weighed his options. There wasn't much else he wanted to get out of Coal Nights. "Have you heard of the Collective Opportunists of Individual Necessity? COIN for short?"


Coal Nights looked Snowy Skies up and down. "I haven't heard of them but it sounds like you're fishing for something." Coal Nights looked around before pulling a business card out his vest. The card had a logo of a tulip with stars circling it like it was dizzy. "This belongs to Tipsy Tulip, the mad inventor. I've never met her directly but I worked with some middlemares moving supplies to clients before I got here. Someone like her might be supplying those COIN ponies if that's the kinda info you're looking for. But...you gotta promise me you aren't gonna do something dumb with this. It'd make no sense to get caught up in something after we got a second chance. That's why I only did a little bit, then left."

Spoiler


Snowy snorts. "I was going to warn you off them. They're the closest thing Caballuston has to a local crime gang, and they're not above recruiting locals, for plenty of reasons. From what I've heard they pay awfully well, but they're shadier than a willow at Noon, so if they come knocking, don't answer. No matter how good the payoff might be." Snowy really didn't want to have to fight Coal Nights someday; hopefully this was enough. He takes the card in his magic and resists the urge to sniff it; there was no reason to further convince Coal Nights he knew who he was talking about. "I'm trying to go straight too, Coal." He says, slipping it back into the stallion's vest pocket. "I thinking of applying to some symphony orchestras."

 


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