Equestrian Stories

Core Rulebook

The Greatest Lollipop

(Transcript from [[1]] by Ravenskysong )

Citris barely noticed the clicking clock, as she stared intently at her latest batch of lollipops. The clock was annoying most days, but Citris liked it because it annoyed her sister Candice. Candice wanted nothing more then to get rid of it, but she had been overruled. Everypony else seemed to either like the clock, and ponies like her little brothers and sisters liked that it bothered her. Citris glanced up as the birds start to sing. It was already late in the morning! Ponies would be coming into the store soon. Her mother was trotting over to put out the open sign. Citris's heart felt heavy, as she slowly put the tray of her green lemon lollipops and taffy next to the bright orange ones her sister made. To her eyes her sister's looked nicer, brighter colored, better in shape. Each day that month Citris and her sister Candice had sold the exact same amount of lollipops, but Citris wanted to be the best! "Is Chief of the kitchen too much to ask for?" she whispered and looked forlornly at her mother on the far side of the store. Mother was the one who awarded the title. Every Candy-Clan pony wanted to be Chief of the Kitchen, but the moment another member of the family made better candy, came up with an amazing idea, or sold a huge amount of candy, the title went to them. Candice was Chief of the Kitchen for a while now, after making her "Super sweet surprise lollipop". Citris glanced at her lollipops in the tray, snorted and trotted out. She didn't want to hang around, fidgeting until each lollipop was sold. The sad little pony made her way outside, towards the edge of Hoofington. When she was out of ideas she usually went to the edge of the Hayseed Swamps, or visited the farmers. You never knew when you would find inspiration or a bright idea. And she needed a really bright idea to beat Candice! She glanced at the sun, it was heating the town already, and felt nice and warm on her fur. It had been badly overcast lately, but the dark clouds present on the last few days had been blown north towards the horseshoe bay, instead of staying over Hoofington. "Hmm... candy that changes temperature? no... spicy candy? no..." she groaned with frustration and pawed at the ground with her hoof. "Candice has done all the best flavors already, what's a pony to do?!" she sighted, her mane dragging on the ground as she walked down the road. "Just ONE time, just one time I wanna be Chief..." she muttered. She headed towards the farms near the swamp, maybe she could find a berry no one had used in candy yet. But... her brothers did berry candy already. Even if she found a new berry, they would probably make it better then her. She sighted again and kept on sulking, until she passed a fully packed wagon rumbling along the road connecting the farms. The wagon made a huge ruckus rolling along the road. She could see the crumbly old hat atop of the dusty grey mane of Penny Shack rushing about. Citris paused and looked a little confused, waving at the traveling vendor. "Hey! what's all the hurry?" she called out to him. "Sorry too butt in.. just wondering..." she added, as Penny Shack stopped his rolling wagon. "Hey Citris, long time no see. I'm just finished making my tour. With the Zap Apples an' all." The old stallion grinned "I'll catch up when I come back to these parts, take care now ya hear?" He started to pull on his wagon again. Citris stared after him, her eyes wide, frozen as the gears turned inside her head. Zap apples.. the best apples.. the flavor.. the color... "THATS IT!" she hooted, jumping into the air "ZAP APPLES! Ooooooh Candice I'm gonna show you up!" She gallopped after Penny Shack "heyheyhey waitwaitwait" The trader skidded to a halt "Something wrong sweetie?" Citris panted for a moment after the sprint and looked at Penny Shack with eyes that would make a puppy jealous. She blurted out: "IreallyreallyneedthebestlolipopeverandineedcolorandflavorandzapapplesgimmegimeepleaseillbeyourbestistfriendforeverandeverandevercuzI'llbechiefofthekitchen!!!!" Penny Shack blinked. "Say what now sweetie?" Citris took a deep breath. "I need to make the most best lollipops EVER! And for that, I need Zap Apples! Think of all that flavor, in a lollipop! I'll find out how to pay, anything you want, just-" The old sales-stallion looked uncomfortable and raised his hoof in a motion to stop "Easy cheri... I'm afraid it ain't that simple." Citris squeaked "whatwhatwhatbut pleaaasseeeeeeee?" Penny Shack patted her shoulder "Sweetie, you KNOW how popular, and how rare Zap apples are right?" The grey stallion started walking towards his cart, and Citris followed. "Citris, sweetheart, every year people go crazy for the Zap Apples I bring over here from Ponyville. I get more orders then I can fill sometimes, it's hard to know how many apples I'm gonna get. If I sold the apples before I got 'em..." Citris let her head hang, sighting. "Oh I see, you wouldn't have enough for everyone..." The old grey stallion nudged the young pony "Cheerup sweetie, why don't you come round when I come back and I'll see if I can buy up more this time." Citris smiled and nodded "Thanks Penny Shack, I'll let you get back on tour now." She stared up at the trees for a moment, then waved goodbye and headed back. Maybe he WOULD get more apples and she could... She froze as she thought of the crowd asking the trader for Zap Apples the last time he came into town. "Oh come on! who am I kidding, its going to be worse then cider season on a hot day!" she sulked and followed the trader a little on his way down the road. She muttered angrily to herself and sighted, "Can't you help them harvest the Zap Apples to get some more? Must be an awful lot of work..." Penny Shack replied "You have no idea! but at least I don't like to fight off Timberwolves like their granny." Citris trotted beside him. "What do you mean? I can't picture a sweet old granny fighting anything!" The trader giggled "you should have been there, when she told me that story! Granny Smith got the first Zap Apples! She had to get them from the Everfree Forest and the Timberwolves nearly gobbled her up for her trouble! She's a mighty special granny." Citris froze in her tracks. "The Everfree Forest..." Citris said softly, and stared off into the distance for a few moments. A wide grin started to spread over her face. "HA! Wild Zap Apples! I don't need to wait on the delivery at all!" She bolted forward, vanishing down the road.

---

Into the Dragon's Cave

(Transcript from [[2]] by Arti and Hawk Johensen)

Lion Heart was tired after a long day of wandering through the Everfree. Summer had come and with it the sweltering heat. The young adventurer was tired, thirsty and covered in a thin film of dirt and sweat.

As the sun began to set, Lion Heart sat down in next to a large tree. He closed his eyes and listened to the forest for a while. The nocturnal animals were just getting ready to come out from the sounds of it and the young colt figured that he'd better find shelter for the night.

He stood up and felt a cool breeze from up ahead. Shuddering from the sudden chill, the brave little colt felt compelled to investigate. After wandering through some brush, he found the opening to a large cave and decided to wander inside to explore.

As the young foal ventures into the cave, another creature was already moving deep inside...

The ice covered walls of the main hall in this cave shine brightly, light shimmering all across the room. A large, white dragon lays in the center, claws clutched around a saddlebag with bloodstains on it. A burn arcs across his back, but the cold keeps the pain down. The freezing dragon stretches, yawning widely and looking around himself. His icy domain had been his for a couple years, ever since he flew down from the arctic north, and living here for so long had permanently frozen the cave.

He lays back down, hearing very faint hoofsteps coming from one of his tunnels. He sighs to himself, annoyed that somepony was stupid enough to come down here, especially into a dungeon where he would have an extreme advantage...

Lion Heart walked deeper and deeper into the cave. For a moment, he could have sworn that it went on forever, eventually fading into darkness and a sudden wall as most caves he explored did. This cave was somehow different though as the cold breeze reminded him. The young adventurer followed the chilly trail and soon came a chamber with shimmering, ice-coated walls.

"Whoa..." Lion Heart breathed. He had never seen a place like this before, especially not in Summer. What really got the pony's attention wasn't just the ice, but the moving mass of scales, teeth and claws in the center of the room. The young colt excitedly stepped forward and tried to get a better look at this new creature.

Frostbite looks up at the young pony, rising to his full height. Now the size of a large cart, the dragon moves forward slightly. "Who are you... and what are you doing in my cave?" He had just fought a Thunderbird, and wasn't in the mood for company. And he hadn't invited this colt inside anyway, something that greatly annoyed the dragon. Didn't this foal know about privacy?

He glares at the pony, his cold sapphire eyes gleaming with menace, trying to intimidate the little intruder into leaving.

The young colt stood his ground. The giant creature had just spoken to him and now the chill in his body was from more than just the cold. What did the other ponies call this feeling? Was it fear? THIS was fear?

Lion Heart chuckled a bit to himself. Fear wasn't nearly as bad as he thought and he could find no reason for it to make him retreat. He took a few more steps so that he was right in front of the monster's nose and proudly declared, "I am Lion Heart the Bold, Hero of the Everfree!" and then asked, "Who and what are YOU, Mr. Big Lizard Thing?"

Frostbite stares incredulously at the tiny colt. Any insult he would have taken from being called a lizard was drowned out by the sheer idiocy of this little foal. "I am Frostbite, Frozen Dragon from the Arctic Rookery. This is my lair. And you are trespassing." The dragon leans down to glare at Lionheart at his level, narrowing his eyes in both anger and confusion. Who did this little punk think he was, a grand hero? He had a lot to learn... like not to mess with dragons.

"A dragon?" Lion Heart asked to clarify, "You're a dragon? That is so COOL! Do you have magic breath and armored scales and tre..."

The adventurer suddenly stopped talking. He put a hoof up to his mouth and looked off to the side, thinking. A look of realization slowly crept across his face and he looked up at the dragon. "You have treasure," he said, wide-eyed and smiling, "That's AWESOME! Can I have some?"

"No. I only collect diamonds, and everything else is spent to gain more diamonds. You can't have any. And yes, I do have magical breath. Would you like a demonstration?" A nasty smirk crosses his face as he asks this question. He knew the little foal would say yes to it.

He hadn't been expecting the colt to actually react to him in such a way, though... It made him look both brave and stupid. While Frostbite had no intention of killing the little colt, he was quickly annoying the dragon, and he might have to take the colt away himself...

"Hmmm..." Lion Heart had to think for a moment. It was something he didn't do very often, but he found that when he did do it he spent his days with a lot fewer injuries. He tried to remember what else he could tell about dragons from all the old stories he had heard.

The young colt recalled the story of Beopony, a brave hero that fought a dragon and became a king. The colt muttered under his breath, "I'd like to be a king," before looking up at the dragon, bracing himself and challenging, "Show me what you've got!"

A torrent of icy power flows over the colt's legs, freezing him to the floor and encasing his limbs in ice. Frostbite opens his maw all the way, mist pouring out over the colt, and cold power flowing out. The freezing power chills the colt to the bone, and the dragon snaps his mouth shut less than an inch from his face.

"There. I won't strike you with all my might, as that would instantly kill you. I have no interest in harming you. If I free you from that ice, will you leave me alone?"

Lion Heart struggled against his icy bonds for a few seconds. He strained, he grunted, he pulled and twisted his body but it was to no avail. The young collt became very fed up and started gnawing on his frozen restraints when the dragon offered to free him.

"I don't need help," Lion Heart told him, "I can get out of this on my own. Just, you know, give me a few minutes," he went back to biting at the ice. He soon realized that he was making very little progress and corrected himself, "You better make that hours," before getting back to work.

Frostbite turns and walks back to his position, picking up his saddlebag and dumping the contents in front of him. A foal-sized pile of diamonds falls out, all of them with veins of golden energy running through them. Frostbite leans down, admiring the yellow diamonds, and tentatively picks one up and examines it.

"I have to wonder if all the legends about these are true..." he says to himself. He really hoped they were... Breathing lightning as well as ice would be quite amazing. The dragon glances over to the colt, expecting to see him staring at the diamonds in awe.

"Legends about what?" Lion Heart asked through a mouthful of ice. He glanced up from his work, but kept chewing away. He couldn't help but be curious, but he was also very determined to free himself even if it took all night. At least he wouldn't have to deal with the heat outside tonight.

"About these yellow diamonds. They say that if a dragon eats enough of these charged gems, it will give them the power to breathe a type of power. These yellow ones have electrical power inside them... They would let me breathe lightning if the legends are true!"

Lion Heart spit out a chunk of ice. "Neat!" he cheered as he went back to work and asking, "So, does that work for just dragons or can I..."

When he tried to pull away from his freezing bonds only to find that his tongue was stuck. He pulled a few times, but nothing came of it and soon all he could do was let out a frustrated sigh and mutter, "Ouch."

"It only works for dragons, little one. And are you done struggling? I can break you out of that ice easily, but you have to promise to leave me alone." He gingerly tosses one of the gems into his mouth, biting carefully down on it. Nothing seems to happen, so he chews a bit and swallows the pieces of the diamond. He tosses another into his mouth, and watches the colt as he chews another piece.

Lion Heart tried to talk, but found it hard to pronounce anything right with his tongue frozen to the ice around his legs. The colt grew more and more frustrated the more he tried to speak before becoming completely fed up. He braced himself, gathered as much of his strength as he dared and pulled away from the ice as hard as he could. "OW!"he cried out as his mouth came free from his bonds, "Stupid ice!"

Frostbite shakes his head in annoyance, and eats another yellow diamond. He continues to watch the little colt, both amused and annoyed by his antics. I can't figure this pony out... Is he really that brave, or is he just an idiot? ...I think I'll put my gems on the latter... He doesn't seem like a very bright individual...

The little colt continued to struggle for a few more seconds before stopping to catch his breath. Breathing heavily, he asked, "What? Don't you still want another kind of magic breath? Why'd you stop munching those gems? Does this mean I can have one? I want magic breath! That would SO COOL! Wait... cool... HA! I made a pun! But seriously..."

He continued to ramble on and on and on and on...

The dragon finally snaps, and walks calmly over to the overactive colt. He grabs the pony, breaking him free of the ice, and starts walking out of his cave with the colt. "Where do you live?"

Lion Heart smiled, "I live in a tent out in the Everfree, but it's kind of hot out there tonight. Crazy weather lately, huh? I mean, it's really really hot and humid outside, but it's frozen in here! That's weird unless you're the one that froze the inside of the cave. Why would you do that? Do you not like it really hot either? Sometimes I got to Ponyville and get ice cream when it's this hot, but I don't stay for very long..."

...and on and on and on and on and on...

Frostbite takes to the air, wings flapping heavily against the forest floor. Within seconds, he's flying far above the Everfree, heading back to Ponyville.

As he flies above the school, he swoops down slightly and holds Lionheart down. "Goodbye, Lion Heart. Don't bother me again." He simply drops the young colt on the ground, sending the pony rolling through the empty playground. Afterwards, the dragon turns and flies back towards the Everfree...

"Wait!" Lion Heart called after the dragon, "What am I supposed to do here? Hello?"

The young colt sat down on the ground and growled at his misfortune. He didn't like being at the school. He just felt that he didn't really belong there. After a few minutes, he stood up and started walking back towards the forest. This had been and interesting day with an interesting lesson; dragons are jerks.

---

Midnight Run

(Transcribed from [[3]] by Foxfire)

It had been a busy day for the Clousdale Weather Factory. The day's reports had just been complied and placed on the appropriate desks. The night shift was busy, making sure Equestria's weather was balanced, while the day shift workers had long since gone home -- all except for one Pegasus, who lay sleeping at her desk.

• thud* A stack of reports hit the desk, waking up the Pegasus who slept there.

"hmmm, whaa" the Pegasus said with a growl. She had already had to fill in for two other ponies who called off that day, so she was in a bitter mood.

The messenger piped out a short reply "so sorry miss, it's just, you see, the Whitetail Wood is two weeks behind it's fog schedule"

"Can't be right..." replied the half-asleep Pegasus, but the messenger was already gone. With Blurry eyes, Cloud Kicker gazed at the report. 'hmm, uh oh, this was not good' she thought. All this missed fog had thrown off the weather cycle.

Cloud Kicker was wide awake and marching toward the opening flight deck. Even the night crew looked surprised to see her there, and she received many turned necks as she came to a stop at the edge of the deck which now was fully open to the serene evening below. It was unusual for a weather team to work at night, and even more unusual for an assistant supervisor to be on the flight deck preparing for a weather change, typically she stayed in an office doing paperwork or supervised a crew from above. Tonight was different.

Cloud Kicker took off her white lab coat and hard hat and strapped on weather goggles.

"Lets get a full square mile of nimbus coverage to take down, we're going for soup density here!"

With that a cloud lever was pulled and two ponies cranked the precipitation valves to saturate the forming clouds dense with water.

Cloud Kicker rocketed out off the flight deck, through the opening and down into the night sky. ' It really is quite nice, and serene like this - sigh- oh well' Thought the Pegasus. Behind her a dark wall of cloud followed moving steadily like an ominous wave about to swallow up the world below.

---

The Search for Swift

(Transcribed from [[4]] by lackofabettername and Cometblaze)

Oreintail finally arrived at the train station, looking around for any sign of her client. In it's usual fashion, the station was rather busy with proper ponies leaving and more casual tourists arriving. She turned her head to the ticket stand. Part of her plan was to ask for the ticket records... Perhaps it wasn't that easy, but still, she figured that they might get their starting location from where he went to from here lately.

It seemed that the excitement was finally hitting her. She wasn't sheltered, but she had never really traveled that much outside of Canterlot, which was big enough as it was. If anything, this case might take her all over Equestria... Maybe she should have told her parents, but she decided that she'd write. Surely they'd be proud of her going out on her own.

Comet had been sitting at the trainstation for the last fifteen minutes. Since he didn't have any belongings aside from the photo, which Orientail currently had, he didn't have to bother packing anything, and was able to get from her house to the station in less than five minutes. She should be here any second now. Comet leaned over the edge of the station's roof, and looked for the pink pony that he was supposed to meet. He soon spotted her, and jumped down onto the floor to go talk to her. He trotted up right next to her, though she didn't seem to notice. Are you ready?

Being so focused on one area of the train station, she was a bit surprised by what seemed like a sudden appearance, her eyebrows jumping up, "Oh, there you are. I am very much ready, but first, I should explain what I have in mind." she adjusted her monocle, "Obviously, it would take far too long, and be very costly, to go and check every location, especially since he could have moved by the time we arrive. So, I suggest a much quicker way of finding our next location."

She gestured towards the ticket booth, "I'm sure that one way or another they must keep records of who comes and goes, so perhaps if we were to access said records, we could see his latest departure from here."

So what, do we just ask them if we can see the records? Comet shook his head. These are ponies personal travel records. Even if they're allowed to just give out free information, they'd never tell us where he went without a good reason, and I don't think "I miss him" qualifies. I don't think that they'll just let us waltz in. We're probably going to have to try something else.

... Ah, yes, of course, she should have thought of how they'd even get into said records in the first place, "A very good point." Oreintail said, "Perhaps we might ask those around the train station about if they've seen a tall, red Pegasus with greyish-whitish hair and orange glasses?" she said, thankfully not going into anymore detail, but this was assuming that there might be somepony as observant as her to notice such details about something.

"... Ooor, I might try to use some of my connections, more specifically, my family. They work for a newspaper that I'm sure has it's fair amount of readers. Being the daughter of an advertiser and an editor, along with having two siblings who are a reporter and an interviewer respectively, I'm sure that I could claim that I'm just doing some research for them." she said, not wanting to give up on the idea just yet. She never really worked for said newspaper, if anything the most involved she'd been in one was having her ad put up with the help of her father. But she was sure that it was worth a shot.

---

New to this small village

(Transcribed from [[]] by mistypaw and winterfox)

Slightly clumsy hooves stepped out of the train that traveled everywhere thought Equestria, the new pony had a light pink pink with bright red mane and tail that flowed to the ground like a river. Sweet Apple, the new arrival, had a map hanging from her large teeth. "Where is it.... Where is it..." The mare mumbled to herself, looking intently at the map.

Wintersong had gathered her things as quickly as possible, eager to get off the cramp train, she trotted quickly to the door, her knapsack in her mouth and a suitcase slung over her shoulders and secured with a strap. She kept her head down careful to avoid eye contact with the other passengers as she scrambled to the door. "Almost there almost out..." She mumble to herself, the words muffled by the bag in her mouth, right as she slammed into a pony blocking the door, and they both tumbled off the train on to the platform, Winnie's suitcase and knapsack flying open.

"Oh m-my!" WinterSong stuttered nervously, her cheeks flushed red. "I am so so so sorry!" I didn't see you there, and I was carrying so much and I was in such a rush and and.." She rambled quickly and anxiously trying to gather her scattered belongings and trying not making eye contact with Sweet Apple.

"Its okay! Its okay!" She reassured the frantic pony, then adding "It was my fault anyways." Sweet Apple quickly gathered the scattered things that belonged in the knapsack and placed them neatly inside and finally secured the strap that kept the bag closed. Picking it up with her hoof, she handed it to Wintersong kindly.

Winnie gratefully took it, surprised that the other pony wasn't mad. "Thank you.. For not being angry with me, I'm just so clumsy.." She blushes looking at the ground shyly. "If every pony around here is as kind as you this must be a much nicer place to live than canterlot.." She murmured, finally making a little eye contact. She stuck out her hoof to shake Sweet Apple's, "My name is Winter song, I'm brand new here.. Obviously.." The white Pegasus said glancing at the train she had just stepped off of.

Smiling, Apple reached out her hoof, shaking Winnie's hoof and said happily to her "Im Sweet Apple, i was just looking at my map for my new house, and it seems as if i cant find it..." The earth pony said as she looked around at the town square of Ponyville with confusion.

"Oh!" Winnie exclaimed a bit too excitedly, "Well ive been here visiting a few times before, I c-could help if you wanted?" She gingerly took the map and set it on the ground, smoothing it out so she could read it better. "Now which one is your house?"

Apple looked at the mapp a little, her eyes wandering over to Sweet Apple Acres. "It's supposed to be near Sweet Apple Acres, and i think its that one..." She pointed a hoof to the edge of the large farm and added "Im just not sure."

"Alright well lets get going!" She stared at the map for a moment, "It'll be quicker if we cut through town right past the library!" She said, and began trotting toward Town square.

Nodding quickly,she grabbed the map and started to follow Wintersong at the same pace.

---

Delivery from Cloudsdale

(Transcript from [[5]] by Cloudberry and Colt0512

They had chosen a calm and sunny day for their delivery. Of course, being a Pegasus that was as simple as looking at the weather schedule for the next week that was posted all over Cloudsdale, but even so, they could not have chosen a nicer day. The cloud herders had done a fantastic job and all that could be seen was the fluffiest small white clouds, framed by the deep blue sky of early autumn.

The soft breeze carrying them easily and safely down from Cloudsdale to Ponyville, all that Cloudberry had to worry about now was her ears falling off if her little cousin would not SHUT UP ALREADY!

Hurricane pouted. "Hey, be nice. It's my first time down to Ponyville!" Cloudberry internally facehoofed, trying to keep calm. "And you promised to behave professionally. That means flying calmly in line, not flitting about and keeping the satchel nice and steady so the cookies don't..." She realised she had been speaking to empty air. Far above her, the filly was chasing a small cloud, whirling around it with dizzying speed. "Aah!" The baker gave her a panicked look as the filly's saddlebag tilted dangerously. "My meringues!" A panicked dash and some pulled tail-hairs later, the little mare was again flying in line with her older cousin, pouting. "Good. Now remember, when we come to Ponyville, you behave professionally. We are there on business after all." "Yes, cousin." Hurricane shot her a grumpy look. "It's an important meeting for me. Getting the Cakes to sell my macarons in their store is the first step in introducing my line of bakery to the Earth-pony audience... so please, just shut up and behave for once? For me?" "Yes, cousin." Cloudberry looked at her cousin doubtfully as they alighted in the middle of the town square. "Good. Now let's walk carefully and..." - she interrupted herself quickly enough to catch the filly by her feathers before she could flit off to "inspect" the next thing she had seen - "oof! I was saying walk behind me! And don't make eye contact with anyone! I've heard the ponies in this town are all kind of weird and strange things happen practically every day!" She looked around suspiciously, as if expecting a Canis Major to be running around the corner any second now. "Let's just go, deliver the cakes and be off again before anything happens. All right?"

Elias was out for a walk, he hadn't been out of his home for at least a day and felt the need for some fresh air. It seemed a beautiful day, one he was glad to have decided to go out and enjoy. However he didn't know exactly what he was going to do, he didn't have many friends in ponyville yet so had no one to really meet up with. Instead he decided to go and sit in the town square for a while.

He spotted a pair of Pegasi landing, a filly and a mare. The filly looked rather exited and Elias could spot that she was dying to go and look around. Elias smiled at the sight, but his grin soon faded when he saw the mares expression, she looked somewhat worried, I wonder if something is wrong? he thought to himself. Elias stood up from his spot and approached the Pegasus with a calm and greeting look on his face, "Well hey there! Sorry for being nosey, but I couldn't help but notice you look a tad bit agitated. I hope you don't mind me asking but is there anything I can do to help?"

The mare looked up, giving the strange colt a puzzled look. "Uh... no, no thank you." She quickly smoothed her feathers, looking a bit embarrassed at being caught upset. "It is quite all right." She smiled at the colt shyly. "Er... would you mind showing us the way to..." - she consulted a note from her bag - "Sugarcube corner?"

The little filly peeked out from behind her back, giving the colt a wide grin. "Cousin Cloudberry and I are making a delivery there! Do you want to try a camaron?" Cloudberry blinked. "They're called Macarons, Hurricane..." She smiled quickly at the colt, still looking somewhat nervous. "Oh, er... yes. Would you like to try one? I brought enough to give out samples!"

"I'd love to try one!" Elias exclaimed with a smile. He leaned over and took a macaron carefully in his mouth and leaned back again before starting to eat. Elias had to admit, it tasted good. He hadn't tasted anything like it before, it took him only a few moments to finish eating the tasty treat,They're amazing, did you make them yourself?

"Oh, and of course I'll take you to sugarcube corner." Elias motioned the two to follow him before starting to walk down one of the roads.

"Oh, thank you very much - for both!" Cloudberry smiled, following the colt. Suddenly, Ponyville didn't seem so strange, after all. At least that colt seemed nice so far... "I'm Cloudberry, by the way. And yes - I'm a baker! If you ever come by Cloudsdale, you should come by my bakery and I'll return the favour - I mean, I'll show you around, if you want!" "Can I show him around?" Hurricane flitted by excitedly, flying rounds around the pair. "I'll show you all the best places to cloudslide - oh, and the wind park - and the secret entrance I've found to the weather factory!" Cloudberry rolled her eyes and gave the colt an apologetic look. Somehow, she was thinking, the ones coming off as strange were not the Ponyville ponies here...

"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Cloudberry, My name is Elias. I'd love to take you up on your offer but don't earth ponies just tend to, you know, fall out of Cloudsdale?" Elias gave a light-hearted smile, before turning back to the route ahead. He started thinking about Cloudsdale, he'd never even seen the place. He had heard stories about it when he used to travel but other than 'a city in the clouds' he didn't know much about the place.

Elias ignored the thought and looked back at the two ponies,"So what brings you down to Ponyville? I'm sure you didn't just come down here to give out a few samples."

Cloudberry looked at the, indeed, wingless colt and a dark pink blush appeared on her cheeks. "Oh, I... I forgot about that. I'm sorry! Um... maybe you can take an airship sometime? I think they have those for special events..." She trailed off, looking to the ground. The silence grew longer until Hurricane, tired of waiting, nudged her energetically. "Wha?" Cloudberry looked up. "Um... samples, right! Well... these aren't all for samples, of course - I had been hoping I could convince the owners of Sugarcube Corner to sell these at their shop. It would be simply wonderful if Earth Ponies could sample all those light fluffy bakeries just as easily as Cloudsdale pegasi, I thought." She smiled widely at the colt, suddenly excited. "Don't you think?"

"That actually sounds like a great idea! I bet lots of Earth ponies would love to taste some foods from Cloudsdale, I doubt many of us have and that could boost sales up quite a lot. I know I'd certainly buy the if they all taste that good." Elias gave a wide grin back at the mare. He carried on walking, the thought of visiting Cloudsdale now stuck in his head. He'd always wanted to go and see Cloudsdale, he'd heard about the weather factory and the wind parks before, the process of how they form the weather seemed an interesting subject. He had managed to ignore the wish but now,Cloudberry had managed to flush out that memory and now Elias couldn't get it out of his head. They turned another corner and Elias lift his hoof and pointed up the road,"There it is, Sugarcube corner." He exclaimed in a cheerful tone...

The mare smiled, excitedly looking at the small baker's shop. "It looks... great!" Her wings fluttered excitedly as she approached the shop. "Do you think they are open yet? Um... maybe I could buy you a coffee when I have spoken with them? As thanks for your guidance..." Her cheeks blushed slightly pink. Was that too forward for Ponyville ponies?

Behind her and quite out of her sight, Hurricane pulled a "bleh" face. Adults!

Elias smiled at the excited Pegasus,"Sure, I'd love to get a coffee with you." He looked over at the shop and squinted slightly for a better view,"I can't tell if it's open, I'm sure they wouldn't be closed at this time but I can't quite tell." He looked at Cloudberry again, he smiled, there hadn't been anypony wanting to do something like this the whole time he had been in Ponyville. He was happy to see that ponies were still willing to come to Ponyville despite all the weird happenings that had taken place here...

---

World Guide

Old Mare's Tale

(Transcript from [[6]] by Ginger Mint)

As the (modified) story goes, in olden pony times, dragons possessed the power of lightning, but they used it recklessly and irresponsibly. In order to limit the destruction, Celestia asked some of her assistants to take lightning away for safe keeping. Three old and cranky dragons were tasked with guarding lightning, but at night two of them slept while one of them kept watch.

Unicorn used her unicorn magic to turn invisible, she played tricks on the dragons, knocking things off the shelves, banging pans together. The dragons thought they were being haunted by a ghost. Whenever Unicorn picked something up to distract them, they would run towards her and she had to drop it to avoid being trampled. She realized she would never be able to grab the lightning and get away, even invisible, the dragons would see what she was carrying and trample her. She also realized that she if she kept distracting the dragons, they would grow tired and make mistakes, being unable to get a good night's sleep.

One night, when the dragons were very tired, Unicorn left them alone to fall asleep, which they all did. Earth Pony sensed the opening and ran up, grabbing the lightning from its bottle. But lightning makes a loud crash and rumble when it moves, so the dragons awoke to see the Earth Pony stealing their treasure and gave chase. Earth Pony was tireless and brave, running through the forests and plains, but the dragons could fly and she realized they would eventually catch her, so she called to her friend Pegasus.

Pegasus swooped in and grabbed the bottle. She flew fast and high, hoping to outrun the dragons, but no matter how fast or high she flew, they always managed to find her, even when she stayed still. She realized that the bottle itself was magic and that the dragons could sense its location, so she took lightning out of its bottle and hid it in the clouds, receiving a terrible shock for her troubles. Sure enough, the dragons found their empty bottle and though furious, never found it hidden in the clouds. However, even today, when a Pegasus flies extra fast, that little piece of lightning makes a thunderous kaboom.

---

Looking for Adventure

(Transcript from [[7]] by coolcat and cc)

PixieStar kicked a stone with her front left hoof and sighed, "This is the worst day to be bored.." The sun was up and the pegasi had done a brillant job with clearing the clouds. PixieStar had tried entertaining herself by coming up with new songs, but she was having some trouble.

Every single beautiful day I'm bored, thought PixieStar as she strolled through the park with her head down. She flapped her wings as she walked and pretended she was drumming. Still she couldn't think of a beat or lyrics, but PixieStar wanted something bigger than a song. She was dying for an adventure.

PixieStar sat on the ground and grabbed a stick. She began to draw in the ground, hoping somepony would save her from her endless boredem.

Mist was, for once, unladened with any satchel bags or weapons or even armor. he could be heard whistling a jolly little tune, and occasionally singing a few words that would worry everyone who heard them. The song was quite well known, but most people didn't like him to sing it "When you're rife with devestation, there's a simple explanation, you're a toymaker's creation trapped inside a crystal ball..." he sang wistfully, glad for his freedom. He'd recently broken free of the nightmare realm, a little place he was glad never to have to go back to. Honestly, if he ever had to tamper with ancient arcane unicorn artifacts, it would be too soon. He walked into the park, the air blasting through his mane and sending it flying back, almost dramatically.

He loved weather like this. Sunny, with just a little bit of wind. If he was better at flying, he'd probably be in the air right about now. Unfortunately, around a year of being ground-bound made it hard for him to fly, especially with the last time having almost shattered his wing. He wasn't really in the mood for visiting Nurse Redheart again, or not for the same problem again at any rate. She would probably be a little bit annoyed that her patient couldn't stay out of a hospital bed for even a month.

As he walked further into the park he saw a strange young mare drawing on the ground with a stick. It was strange, with everyone else playing and laughing around her she seemed to be entranced with the stick.... what was she doing? Mist walked over to her and stood above her, accidentally blocking the light out and giving him what could look like an angelic halo. "Ma'am, if ya don't mind me askin', what are ya doin'?" He said, his appleloosan accent running through his voice blatantly

PixieStar took a long sigh, "I'm trying to entertain myself, but drawing in the dirt isn't doing the job. I was walking through Ponyville looking for something to do, but the one thing I'm dying for now is an adventure. That's not going to happen..." You could clearly hear she was bored when she spoke. PixieStar let her head hang close to the ground as she stood up and looked at Mist.

PixieStar hoped the pegasi would have an idea and tell her it. She looked down at the drawing in the dirt. There was a flower missing a petal.

Mist raised an eyebrow as he listened to the strange mare's explanation.

"I hate to be obvious, m'dear, but ya really should've seen that comin'. I mean, y'all are drawing in the dirt. What's the fun in that? Of course you're not going to be entertained, I mean it's not like you're fighting a dragon, dueling a manticore, hunting through Everfree for your lost friend, or making the newest and strongest armor that ya ever dun see. I mean, kinda common sense." He said, not realizing that his life was probably a lot more exciting than most other ponies in Ponyville. He had been best friends with a witch, lived in an enchanted tower for around six months, and had to go out dueling wild animals to test out his armor. He was as close as Ponyville came to a knight in shining armor.

"Ya know, ya HAVE a special talent. Why ain't you out there practicing it. Surely that would keep you entertained for an afternoon or two."

"Songwriters block," sighed PixieStar, as she looked at her dirt drawing of the flower. "I write and preform music. I want to one day be a famous popstar, but right now things aren't looking so well. My band fell apart a few weeks ago and now I can't come up with any lyrics." PixieStar kicked the ground, then looked up at Mist. Wait a second, thought PixieStar. "Come with me!" she exclaimed as she raced out of the park hoping that Mist would follow her.

Mist saw the strange mare run off and for a moment he just considered leaving her to her own devices. She wasn't exactly polite, and it was really her own fault that she was stuck like this, but something compelled him to follow her. Maybe it was the fact that there really wasn't much else happening that day, or maybe it was his eternally curious and adventurous nature, he didn't know which. Either way, something was compelling his legs to move, and he knew where they were taking him. To follow the strange mare

"Alright, but ya better not be doin' anythin' stupid." With years of practice, his speed was much superior to the mares and he soon caught up with her, although he was completely relying on her for directions at this point. He had no idea where it was she was wanting them to go, but wherever it was he was going to follow. Either because it'd be interesting, or because the mare might need someone to watch her back.

"I got a awesome idea! And I owe it all to you!" exclaimed PixieStar cheerfully as the two ponies walked towards her music shop. "I already told you I write songs, right? And that I have songwriters block at the time? Well..." PixieStar began to get really excited. This may be my new hit and get me famous across Equestria, thought PixieStar as she bounced around happily.

She looked back to Mist and appoliziged to him for being so hyper. She explained it had always been her dream to be a famous popstar across Equestria and lately she'd been having trouble writing songs. "But your adventures! They might just make me big!" She exclaimed as she jumped high up into the air. She put her hooves together and lay on the ground. "Please, Mr. Mist, will you help me and tell me about your adventures?"

---

Curious Investigations

(Transcribe from [[]] by Dream Gaze and Coolcat)

It was a rather cloudy afternoon in Ponyville with a pleasant breeze washing through the streets. Ponies were going about their business as the day dragged on... One individual in particular had recently finished her work for the day and was looking forward to taking a break for a while. Jamais had just made a delivery of jewels to some suspicious Diamond Dogs outside town but she was never one to judge others... especially if they paid well. She knew she needed to find some more work at some point but for now the Gazelle had enough Bits to last her at least a week so she had plenty of time. For now she had to go and retrieve her stuff from the local Inn and move on to another location... the Nobles in Canterlot were normally in the 'hiring' mood around this time of year...

Adjusting her cloak she continued her way through the streets, stopping every now and then to look at what the shopping stands had to offer before moving on without a word.

DiamondHaze had been following the pony quietly the whole day since she gave the gems to the Diamond Dogs. Her notebook had almost become filled with the information she had gathered about EVERY pony in Ponyville. Hmmmmm....., thought DiamondHaze as she observed the pony looking at the stands. "Obviously likes listening to other ponies talk," she Diamond quietly yet neatly wrote in her notepad.

Acting natural, Diamond tucked her notebook into her saddlebag and went over to a stand selling strawberries and said, "I'll take one pack." She watched Jamais out of the corner of her eye as the pony behind the stall gave a package of strawberries. Dia tossed four bits into the pocket of the seller and trotted casually in the direction Jamais was heading.

Jamais took a moment to look at some wares through a shop window and her eyes narrowed on a familiar reflection in the glass. That's the 7th time she had seen that mare today, it couldn't be a coincidence could it? No... This mare had been stalking her, she was sure of this. Still it wouldn't be the first time she dealt with a 'viper in the grass.' First she needed to identify who was following her. The Gazelle turned away from the shop window and continued walking down the street... This continued for a few minutes before she abruptly turned into an alleyway and vanished from sight.

---

Ancient Artifice

(Transcript from [[8]] by Dream Gaze, Asteria and Ashti Sandburst)

Dear Jamais

It has come to my attention that many caves and ruins can be found in the desert of Equestria. I have reason to believe that an artifact of interest can be found in the canyon I've marked on your map, I will pay you generously if you can get said artifact to me in one piece. After our previous discussion via letters, I will also pay you for any items I can use for Alchemy and any other sort of magical knowledge or items you can find. The potion I have given to you is dragon fire, you may use it to contact me for any reason. I await your return

Signed Dream Gaze

PS: Given the nature of the ruins, I've hired another to aid in this job. A courier by the name of Asteria. Expect her to come seeking you out and asking about the task at hoof.

Jamais placed the letter back into the bag around her neck and continued her travel through the desert towards a large rock formation in the distance. She was curious about her supposed partner for this but... if it was part of the task she was willing to follow it until the deed was complete.

The sun would set soon and she knew that she would freeze if she didn't set up camp soon. A few hours had passed and she had started a fire and wrapped herself in a warm blanket while she blankly stared at the flames. Jamais knew that she wouldn't sleep tonight, her insomnia wouldn't allow it. She will go through the night keeping the fire going for as long as possible, waiting for morning to come. She knew she was close to the outskirts of a town called Appleloosa, however her destination was in another direction and so there was no real reason to take a detour toward the town... at least, not until the fire died out.

Aaaaah ! Appleloosa... a radiant and burning sun, a large horizon of dusty soil, a little warm wind made of sand... descending from the train, a unicorn glanced to the landscape. Next closing his eyes, sniffing the wind which messed a turban, Ashti smiled, nostalgic.

All these things remembered him his homeland, and he appreciated it. It was some weeks since his wedding and he left Deerham some weeks ago. Putting a hoof on the ground, walking to the city, the Sandlander wore a "Wild west's gentlecolt outfit" : Vest, shirt, ascot tie, elegant coat under by a cloak with cover all, even if he was not from this region he could easy being considered as a rich far-western colt... well he's an aristocrat after-all.But... He didn't go unnoticed. Because he was a stranger and he wore rich cloth, but also he had on his head a headgear, his iconic turban from his far away nation. Some of the town folks stopped their activity when they saw the foreign unicorn.

An eye hidden by an eye-patch, Ashti looked to the city fascinated. It was his first time on this town, and the buildings' style was quite different to Canterlot, Ponyville or... Manehattan. As his habit, the unicorn didn't have any luggages with him except his saddlebag.

The train seemed to be loaded with unusual characters on the scorching summer afternoon as another unicorn, a black mare garbed in an equally dark hooded cloak stepped out behind him. The light breeze blew down her hood, revealing a short cut crimson mane and a stoic expression that seemed as static as a marble sculpture. Fiery red eyes looked the quaint desert town over from the elevation of the station as she searched for signs of a character with a description that was vague at best.

The formerly cowled mare had recently weathered a blizzard in order to deliver an important collection of alchemical supplies to a well trained mage of sorts and at his request, had agreed to do a follow up mission that involved the fiery desert. She was to rendezvous with a mute who was camping on the outskirts of Appleoosa so that the pair could get to work unraveling the mysteries that rested deep within the unforgiving sands of the desert. She had her own preconceptions and predictions of what she was going to face in the immediate future but the mare did her best to keep an open mind, thinking over the most efficient ways to communicate with a wordless pony as she prepared to step off the platform.

A careful step away from the train landed her softly into the coarse sand of the desert town's streets. She knew that her destination lie just outside the reaches of the remote town and it would be in their best interests to get started any later than necessary and used that as motivation to get moving. The tall mare took long, almost exaggerated strides as she made her way through town, giving the reminiscing unicorn a passing glance not particularly interested in his clothing that sharply contrasted her spartan wardrobe.

When the morning came around, Jamais had packed her things and continued on her way. It was once again a sleepless night and it would probably remain this way until the job was complete. Very soon the town of Appleloosa came into view and Jamais decided to wait within view of the exit of the town while she checked her equipment. She traveled extremely lightly, most of her tools could be found in the pouch around her neck or the metal anklets she wore that covered the lower part of her legs. Everything seemed to be functioning properly so Jamais turned her attention back into the town where she saw the train pull into the station from where she was.

It wouldn't be long now.

Slowly, Ashti walked towards a building that he identified as his destination, the "Wild West Nest", the little, and only hotel of the city. This establishment offered normal room, but also some rich suites, and it was one of these suites that his grandfather had reserved for him. Entering into, he just had time to glance than an earth mare came to him. It was the receptionist, and after presentation she led him into his room : it was a relatively luxurious one, but it was enough for him.

So, Mister… Sandburst ? Did you have any requests? We are always happy to see new customers, especially distinguished guest. ^^… ? Well, it is nice. But I have nothing in mind for now, this suite is enough. Thanks you, Miss Lariat.

The receptionist acquiesced and left alone the Ambassador. This one, glanced another time to the room, before takeoff his cloak that he move by telekinesis on a chair. He didn't noticed straightaway, but a letter was putted on the bed. Opening it, he started to read the content. The Ambassador was here in diplomatic mission, and his contact waited him tonight in the saloon.

The travel was quite long and even if Ashti had sleep on the train, he took a little rest. Minutes and hours passed, and when the unicorn woke up, it was the nightfall, but also an occasion to visit Appeloosa by night as someone suggested to him. Then, he took off his cloak, locked his room and left the hotel. There was not very a lot of activity on the city, and only the saloon and a restaurant was open.

The Ambassador chose to enter into the saloon. If he was sure that his contact will be here, was not sure about the hour. Anyway when he entered, anypony turned the head to the Sandlander, silently, but this one don't cared about. Then he walked towards the bar and paid a coffee and took a chair.

Ten minute later a cloaked… pony ? Entered, it had the face hide but it instantly recognized the unicorn, walking towards him, it took another chair. Ashti drank his beverage, frowning when the unknown sat in his front… a silence settle between them. next the cloaked spoke with a low voice

Are you Salamalec Sandburst…? … No. Oh, come on. I know you are, because… I know you.

It removed the hood, revealing its head, while Ashti opened wide his eyes. This was a doe, a doe that he hadn't seen her for a couple of years. He was very surprise and happy… and also intrigued.

M-Miss Thizir ?! Hello, Mister Sandburst ! Happy to see me ? Of course. Kaise ar-ya ? (how are you ?) Ana hu thik. Teşekkür edirem ( I am fine. Thank you.)

Both smiled to each other… She and Ashti was member of the "Circle" an international guild of relic-hunters. Unlike Ashti, she was not a " field officer" as him. Ashti explored ruins and took the artifact, while her job was to inform the other members and help them with advices, but also the entire Guild's library knowledges. The last time that he spoke to her, it was for some information about a "foe" treasure hunter.

So, you are my contact ? In this case, what are you doing here ? Yes… I still work for the Circle, but I know why you're here. And I was around, then I thought I could help you in your task. As old good times. Wait… how did you knew about my mission? Hihi. Mister Sandburst, there is rumors here. About an emissary from Celestia, which was send to fix the relationship between Appleloosa and the Buffalo tribe. Then, I asked to your secretary which confirmed it. ^^

Ashti took a gulp of coffee, and smiled.

… Thus, you proposed to be my contact ? Clever. But how can you assist me ? I know the Buffalo, I could be your guide, what did you say? Well… it fine for me, Miss Thizir. Please Mister. Call me Feriel, we know each other since many years, and we are partner now.

Ashti agreed and offered to her a drink. That was a surprise for him, a good one and I had to admit, she was like a mentor to him. Even if she had two years more than him.

Asteria wandered past the famous sand walker, oblivious to his importance as she made her way towards the edge of town. Her gaze was locked ahead, the dark mare was used to ignoring the glances she received from curious and concerned as she weaved carefully through the crowds of pony folk that littered the streets. In a few short minutes she had reached the edge of town, her crimson eyes gazing out into the hot desert. She spotted a strange pony standing silently just beyond the outer reaches of town and the unicorn decided to check to see if this was the character who she was supposed to be working with.

"Are you Lady Jamais?" the cloaked traveler asked calmly with a slightly distant sounding voice.

Jamais watched the town from afar and moments later she was approached by a hooded Unicorn. She did not offer a response when she inquired who she was, Jamais saw no need to speak to this mare and simply reached into the bag around her neck and pulled out a small card with fine print. It will read as follows...

Jamais Gazelle
Traveler for hire
Must offer equivalent exchange for services

The back of this card seemed to have info about her terms and conditions for any job she would take but one might need a magnifying glass just to read it all. While Asteria gave the card a glance (Or however long she might read it for.) Jamais also brought out the note given to her by the mage Dream Gaze and gestured between the note and the unicorn, no doupt inquiring if she was really the one mentioned in the note. Only a select few knew her by name so it was a good idea to confirm if this was the one she was to work with or just another client.

Ashti and his mentor were still in the saloon, chatting about the mission but also their lives.

So… I heard that you are married now ? Mazel tov ! …Eheh…. But I am sorry… I, I know you had some feelings towards me, professor…

The Ambassador looked down a little shamed, since the doe turned back the head, blushing. It was true, she had a crush on him since the first week of their meet, but she never confesses it.

You… you was aware of… this… well, I am happy to hear you. But don't worry… I turned over a new leaf. And I'm sincerely happy for you.

Both took their beverage and cheered to their reunion, laughing. The minutes passed, and suddenly Feriel thought about the last time that Ashti contacted her, it was about a dangerous Treasure-hunter… she tried to remember it.

Mister Sandburst… did… did you remember about the "Antiquarian" ? … ? Hm… I… yes, Jéricho d'Adhémare… sincerely… I cannot remember of what is happened. I called you for some information, you told me that he was a great and experienced Treasure hunter, and also dangerous and that he do not liked the Circle. But after it… this was nearly a year, weirdly I can not remember. I see… well. I suppose it's time now. I thing to do. I suppose we will see again… tomorrow ? Or did you have other thing to do, mister ? ... Hm… I do not have still confirmation that the Buffalo will accept my as mediator, then I have nothing to until it. So, see you tomorrow ? …with pleasure, Miss Feriel

The unicorn accompanied the doe at the exist of the saloon. After it they said goodbye each other, and after she was gone, Ashti looked to the sky. The starry sky, here too it was beautiful. The stars, the sand, he felt the same thing that his homeland... and it gave him energy. Ashti didn't eat since this morning, then. He walked in this direction of the restaurant, wondered what was the specialty of the town.

Asteria nodded for her mute counterpart, confirming that she was the courier that had been requested. "Yes I am the courier in question. Sir Gaze requested delivery of alchemical supplies to his remote mountain home and I delivered it to him through his artificial blizzard. I inquired about further work and he felt that my skills could be of use in this specific area, dealing with desert ruins.I could provide additional information about my credentials if that is necessary," she replied simply to the gazelle, her horn glowing a deep red as her masked saddlebags came into vision for her hoofed counterpart. The calm unicorn was used to being critically inspected and maintained her usual casual posture and composure.

The explanation was all the gazelle needed to hear. The unicorn knew the the client personally, she knew her by name and she confirmed what she was here for. Jamais shook her head, no further information was required. She gave one of her anklets a tap with her hoof and in a small puff of smoke, an old parchment appeared under her hoof. The young gazelle had apparently made a lot of notes on where they were headed, she had figured out that the ruins were a day's travel, north-west from the town if they continued in a straight line. She also learned that said ruins were sealed with a magical lock of some description. With the amount of question marks around this note, it would seem that a closer inspection of the device will be needed when they get there. The note that stood out the most though was the one she had marked in red... It was a time limit to get to the ruins by tomorrow evening. After reading this, Jamais looked out to the desert as the wind blew through the sands...

She motioned for Asteria to come with her and started walking into the desert. She left her notes with Asteria in case she wanted to look them over while they walked.

It was a nice, sunny day in the western town. And the sunlight passing through the window, lighted up the room. It was the morning and Ashti was still on his bed, holding the pillow in his forelegs, back turned to the light. Slowly he opened his eye, yawned and left the bed at the sound of the pendulum clock. It was 10 a.m, and the sun's heat gave energy to the Ambassador which dressed-up. Today he planned to spent time with Feriel, and of course he was not aware of how they will spend time…

Clothed, he left the suite and down the floor. Unlike yesterday it was not a mare which greeted him, but an earth stallion. The receptionist saw his guess and did a reverence.

Ah, Greetings Lord Sandburst. "Billy Ye'foal", owner of this establishment. It's an honor to welcome you. Did you spent a good night ? I… Greeting, sir. Yes, the night was good thank you. Good, good… Oh, there somepony for you in the dinner room. An doe.

The owner was quite enthusiastic to have such guest and expected that it will do a good publicity for the town, but also mostly for this hotel. And Ashti was aware of this, but it doesn't greatly bother him. Then he thanked Billy and walked to the room. Slowly he walked through the room and saw his contact, sits on a chair, a drink on the table and a newspaper in hoof.

May the sun keep you, Miss Feriel. I hope you do not wait too long. Ah, good morning mister Sandburst. No, I… no... so, spend a good night ? Yes…

At his turn the Ambassador sat himself on the opposite chair and took a cup of coffee.

I… Can I ask you answer, Miss Feriel ? "Answer"… about what ? …Your presence in Appleloosa, it is strange. I did not react yesterday, but… … Hm… well, there is nothing strange. I was in mission for the Circle. You just don't ask me. Oh… my bad. I said "was", did your mission finished ? No… I… eheh, no. There is ruins, but… I have some problem with… Ohoh, ruins ? Tell me more about it, maybe I can help you ?

The doe sighted and smiled. Even if she learned a lot and can easily be a professor, she had few field experience, unlike Ashti which explored ruins and brought artifact since ten years. He was one of the still living elite members of the Circle of the Reliquary. Have him at her side was unexpected, and it make her more confident about their success. At the request of her "student", she took a map from her bag and putted it on the table.

Ok then. Due to some change into the guild, I was sent here for an artifact. Even with the "Iris"* it is impossible to determine the nature of the artifact. The Iris failed ? Wow, This is odd, I always thought that this artifact was infallible. This is the case… but some waves, maybe a magic, protect it and prevent the iris to work. I had gone in the ruins, or at the entrance,… but, I was not able to enter and also even if I am not a spellcaster I was able to fell a lot of magic. I see… well, I suppose I can help you about it. Where are the ruins ? Here… in this canyon.

The Ambassador whistled. The canyon was at a very good distance, many kilometers into the desert. If he well-evaluate it, it will take a day. But this bothered him just a little, this was some… weeks ? that he didn't do a so long walk… but he was ready to do it.

There is another thing, the story said that the ruins will vanish tonight, for many years. …Well… I have free time today, anyway. I will prepare myself.

Feriel smiled with relief; with Ashti her task will be easier. Then she acquiesced finishing her coffee, until Ashti come back. After some preparation on the route, both walked in the exist of the city.

Mister Sandburst… thank you.

She then gave a kiss in the cheek of the unicorn. Ashti blushed, before retake the control.

Ahem… my pleasure… … so, if the ruins vanish tonight, we have to be fast, then. Indeed… Can I propose to His Excellence a race…? A race…? In the desert, under sun?... well, I do not like challenge but why not. Then, Ladies first ? Of course, go ahead.

She didn't wait and started to run, followed by the unicorn. Due to their sandlandic biology, both was nearly immunized to the great heat, and was accustomed to sandy place, notably Ashti which lived into a desert. Even if a bookworm she was pretty athletic, and the unicorn despite have a low health didn't seemed to feel the fatigue. Running during many hours and all the travel, they arrived to the ruins in a record time… exhausted. Both fell on the sand, catching their breaths during a dozens of minute, and their hearts. Drinking, the Ambassador turned the head to the ruins entrance. They were alone for now, and if they wanted it they could spend good time without being bothered. But they were not here for does that.

Ashti walked towards the entrance and when he tried to enter, a force field pushed him back. So the ruins were really protected by magic. He glanced to his teammate which joined him.

So, your opinion ? …Hm… sincerely I do not know… I do not have spell which allow me to disable this… lock ? Maybe we have to wait… or I can use my magic. We will see if I can break this.

Making sign to the doe to stay back, the Sandlander started to recite a magical formula and casted his spell against the force field… this one was slightly shattered, but the attack was reflected and Ashti pushed his teammate for eschew the back fire. They jumped to the sand and the rock face being them was a little destroyed. Slowly the two Sandlanders raised themselves looking to the wall.

Well… We know what to do now…

The desert was scorching hot as to be expected, although Asteria made no such complaints about the temperature as she trudged through the desolate wasteland. Her horn glowed red as she manipulated her cloak, loosening it to be more comfortable while she altered the coloration to a lighter shade of white to help alleviate some of the heat.

"I understand your terms. I am used to working under specific time constraints," the unicorn replied calmly, her powerful muscles working efficiently in the harsh weather. While not genetically disposed to handle the heat extraordinarily well, Asteria was able to apply her intense conditioning to keep pace with the gazelle. The unicorn's hooves kept a fast pace, limiting contact with the fiery ground beneath her.

This scorching wasteland was rather expansive and the sun shone brightly as it rose higher into the sky. Jamais would rather have this weather instead of the artificial blizzard around her client's home but this wasn't a big enough concern to voice out loud. Soon the two travelers had reached the canyon walls and ventured inside, the cool shade was a nice change after traversing the desert but they didn't have time to stop. The Gazelle didn't want to stop, the ruins were close now and they can rest when they retrieve the item form this ancient place. As they got closer Jamais perked her ears at the familiar sounds of speech coming from the direction they were headed and soon saw two figures standing by the entrance to the ruin.

Jamais didn't care for this much, they weren't obstacles... yet anyway... Still, she decided to keep walking to the entrance so she could examine it. From what she could see at this distance, the two had succeeded in cracking the force field. Further investigation told her that she had to be cautious... if the two strangers tried breaking it again while they approached, then somepony might end up like that rock... Any conversation will be handled by her partner because as far as anyone will be concerned, she is a mute and the gazelle hoped to keep it like that for as long as possible.

When the two sandlanders was arrived, there was the middle of afternoon. Now this was nearly the end. The rock walls were quite damaged, as the force field in when many holes was done. Holes, made par the succession of spells used by Ashti. This one was on the knees, panting, splitting blood from his mouth. Overuse of magic was dangerous for the health, Ashti knew it, but he was nearly to destroy this shield.

Feriel was in tears, her "student" played with his health for her. And she told him to stop, but the Ambassador was confident. Then he tried another time, piercing the "lock" without broke it.

Lautfan (please) Mister Sandburst! it's enough ! Lauftan, stop it ! lauftan... Haah haah haah haah haah... ugh! The nightfall... I have another trump to use... Ana. Mali. TUTNA ETH! (I. shall. BREAK IT !)

His ethereal magic crossed his body, and his horn, recovered it with a magic aura, and making the horn glow. Suddenly the aura stored in his horn became electric energy, shining in a flow of bronze-colored, and gilded lightings. All fours in the sand, the Ambassador unleashed these lightings accumulated on the shield which vanished in a hundred of fragment under the pressure and the power of the electric flux. The doe looked to it, amazed. This attack... she was quite sure that it could reduce any organisms into ashes...

Y...You did it ! Sandburst ! Eheheh... I told..y-

Falling on the ground, Ashti laid nearly-unconscious into the sand. He had gone too far with his stamina, and now he was very exhausted. Feriel nearly to cry, shocked. The Ambassador makes her sign to lake into his saddlebag a flask, his al-iksir. He drank some and rested some minutes, time that his body was cure and recovering his energy. The potion took effect quickly and finally Ashti was anew healthy. Even the doe was quite worried about her teammate. But he reassured her, and both entered into the ruins.

Read more: http://friendshipismagicrpg.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=deadthreads&action=display&thread=5210&page=2#ixzz2PxkJuQtF

---

Innovative Unicorn seeking Airship Crew...

(Transcribed from [[9]] by Rewdalf and Serenity)

The EAS Skystorm, possibly the most majestic sky-borne vessel in Equestria!

At least, it was, during it's maiden flight... All twenty minutes of it!

With each individual part of the craft meticulously assembled from scratch, intricately put together, and looked over by its careful and very industrious captain, the biggest and most obvious problem had finally reared it's ugly head... The ship needed a crew!

What a silly thing to forget! Doc thought to himself, still busy pulling levers and checking gauges. To him, it was already systematic, knowing the ship from top to bottom, inside and out. Problem was, that after he tried to pilot the massive vessel on his own, the unicorn stallion quickly encountered his first set of problems. The control room, as big as it was, wasn't the only part that needed tending to. The large side-mounted propellers, the huge masts, even the various amount of piping and tubes that ran through the hull all needed careful attention and management... The ship's maiden voyage had to be cut rather short, since there was nopony to do all of the things that needed to be done! Still, it was rather impressive that Doc had gotten the ship as far as he did. The whole ordeal could have ended quite badly, but the stallion quickly settled for a hasty landing in Whitetail Wood...

Hopefully, the Skystorm wouldn't be in anypony's way docked in the forest, at the cost of a tree or two... One wouldn't exactly call it a crash landing, but it wasn't exactly a smooth one either. The downside to his abrupt halt though, was that Doc didn't expect to simply find a crew milling around the forest, so far from town. He'd have to seek help himself, and quickly, if he wanted the airship to complete any kind of successful voyage. Although, if Doc himself couldn't get the Skystorm sail that far all on his own, that meant that nopony, or thing, could sneak aboard and fly it away. It would be okay to leave for the time-being...

Carefully descending the main stairs, followed by the long ladder back down to bare ground, the unicorn stallion couldn't help but glance back up at his newest creation. His worry quickly dissipated as he milled thoughts over in his intricately working mind. It was certainly a feat to behold, and he had heard of Canterlot's breakthrough in such technology as well. The difference was, he had started work on the Skystorm way before a single blueprint was written out for the luxury-liners that were now becoming popular in the grandiose city. Besides, the EAS Skystorm wasn't a cushy paradise in the sky. It had so much more... Character! Sure, some would call it primitive, but that was before they took a look around the deck, or peeked below the hull. Without the unneeded and unnecessary padding that was built into all of the other airships, Doc's particular craft boasted a much higher flight speed, instead of the typical crawl that plagued the other vessels. It could also reach much higher altitudes, instead of being restricted to a meager height hanging slightly above the cloud-line. Luxury and style were just too boring for him to be bothered with.

Having gotten lost once again in his own thoughts, Doc had to snap his mind back into the real world. A crew! he reiterated to himself, scanning the forest as if he had forgotten where he was. The sight of the airship looming behind him gave Doc a good marker of how far he had gone, and the stallion quickly resumed his trek towards civilization, hoping to find enthusiastic and unoccupied individuals to help him. To him, it wasn't the slightest bit weird to walk up to strangers and ask them if they wouldn't mind sailing away in a foreign airship, but perhaps such a query would be a little, unexpected... To others...

Not far off from where the Skystorm made its less then stellar landing was a book shop built into the side of a rather large, comfortable looking log cottage. The cottage itself was home to four young mares employed into a delivery service and the owner of the shop and house hold, a miniature unicorn stallion by the name of Ozymandius. Today the girls were all out doing different errands for Ozzie while he worked with tidying up the shop. Two of his nephews, Orville Ari and Pipsqueak, were over today and were helping him sweep and dust when the three of them jumped from hearing a loud thud, followed by a rumbling vibration in the ground and the sound of a couple of trees being knocked over.

“Gah!” Ozzie reached out just as a gryphon shaped book end was about to fall and break, catching it with the amber colored magic from his horn and staring blankly out the window. “What in name of The Good Princess Celestia was that?!”

Orville raised an eyebrow from where he was leaning against his broom. “That weird pink one in town get a hold of some TNT?”

“Ooh! Ooh! Ursa Major! Bet its an Ursa Major! Or that giant Cockatrice Serenity said she saw!” Pipsqueak dropped his feather duster from his mouth as he talked and began bouncing up and down excitedly.

“Not in the middle of the day, kiddo.” Ozzie shook his head and began to clamber down from the ladder he had been perched on and headed for the door. “You and your cousin stay here while I go and check it out. If its anything of any interest I'll come get you two.”

Orville groaned, itching for the chance to get out of his chore but sighed as he got back to sweeping. “Okaaaay....”

With his flight goggles neatly dangling from his neck, and only the essentials packed into his saddlebags (anything and everything he could stuff into them...), Doc didn't waste time finding the familiar path which cut through the woods. Shortly after he had oriented himself, he also came across the first landmark that dotted the trail. Small residences and cottages weren't foreign to Whitetail Wood, and the unicorn stallion had visited the majority of buildings around the area in the past, taking note of almost all of the "important" structures. This particular cottage, though, wasn't that large the last time he had seen it. Doc hadn't been inside this one, since it was a residence and there were no circumstances in the past to lead him in, but he had noted that the addition off to the side was seemingly new, or that he just hadn't been through the area in quite some time...

Regardless, it was the first bit of civilization to pop up on him, and there was already another figure leaving from the front door in search of something, or somepony, by the looks of it. As soon as he was spotted though, Doc seemed to sense that he was what was being looked for, or at least he was now.The figure, which appeared to be a rather small pony, slowly approached him. Granted, Doc wasn't all that special, he still managed to look out-of-place wherever he went... Evenin'! he called over eagerly, as soon as the other unicorn was within earshot. No time would be wasted aside from polite formalities. Doc wasn't in a rush, but he still maintained a sense of urgency in his goal.

Ozymandius noticed the captain right away but didn't recognize him as one. Maybe a possible customer but that wasn't what he was concerned about as much as it was the pony did sorta look out of place and had to wonder about the crashing sound. But he put on a big grin and approached him at a speedier trot. "Oh evening! Like the goggles, by the way. My nephew has a pair like those." Orville was who he was referring too, though the young Pegasus said he didn't really need them and that is was merely a fashion statement that the fillies liked. Which just made him chuckle at the thought.

Oh but he came this way to ask this young stallion something didn't he? "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have heard a crash somewhere close by? I'm a little concerned someone may have crashed their a wagon or a balloon." Though that was a pretty darn big thud for something as small as a hot air balloon or a wagon wasn't it?

Doc's grin widened when the stranger mentioned his special flight goggles. It was a rather refreshing change from the usual questioning of why a unicorn would ever need them... He had his reasons, although Doc usually didn't tire of humoring ponies with the answer to that question. But that was beside the point, he needed to stay on track!

Yeah, about that... was his reply, realizing that he might not have been as subtle as he initially thought with his "landing..." I had a bit 'ah trouble with the tree-line, but it didn't look like she caused too much damage. I mean, you can see 'er from here a bit! he motioned, gesturing to the treeline that almost hid the center mast. Only the very top was visible in the distance, which certainly set the tone for the ship's size. Ah, I ran into some "problems" with tha' crew... I, er, don't have one he admitted, not wasting much time getting to the point. Whether he could get instant help, or just a point in the right direction didn't matter...

Ozzie tilted his head far to the right, his mop of curly, light orange hair flopping to the side with him and he had to loudly blow some of the stray locks from his eyes. Poor thing really was too short to see past the taller pony to know what he was talking about but when he saw the tips of the sail he whistled. It had to have been huge! "That's a doozie... well, if you're really in desperate need of a temporary crew I've had some experience. I could get my two nephews to help out, as well.Now, uh. what did you say your name was, Kid?" Ozymandius cocked an eyebrow up at the younger stallion.

The unicorn stallion had to stifle a bit of a smirk. He often didn't hide much, Doc was rather outspoken, but he always stayed polite. You're mighty enthusiastic there, buddy. he replied, trying to keep an even tone with the smaller pony. Size certainly wasn't everything, and it wasn't hard to tell from the way he acted that he wasn't just another young colt. It just didn't seem like he possessed the same analytical qualities as Doc himself. Granted, he took the comment as a compliment, but he couldn't fool anyone when it came to age... Jus' call me "Doc." he answered, keeping it simple. Arguing or making corrections would serve no purpose. He had found someone with potential, that's all that mattered. I'd be more 'n happy to meet your nephews, if you think they've got what it takes!

Ozzie then stepped off to the side of the path with a large grin and took a deep bow. "Right this way then, Doc!"

The two of them walked back to the extension of the cabin that held a large sign hanging over the exclaiming the title in a cheery purple, 'Books 'n' Supplies'. True to its name, walking in through the front door with a ring of a bell at the top, the room was filled to the brim with art and writing utensils, but most of all books and scrolls. The smaller pony grinned proudly and brushed at his vest a little. I have just about every book ever published in Equestria in here. Its kind of an odd hobby collecting them up like this...ah! Here they are now." Ozzie motioned two the colts coming their way. A very teeny tiny, spotted kid, which made sense. But the pegasus was rather tall for a young teen. "These are Orville Ari and Pipsqueak. Boys, this is Doc. His blimp was what we heard earlier."

"Sup...nice gogz, dude." Orville grinned from where he was leaning against a counter while his younger cousin was bouncing up and down excitedly.

"Oh I love blimps! I've always dreamed of riding in one but mah mum says I'm too little." Which, quite frankly, was never going to be helped.

Ozzie waved a hoof at the kid, however. "Your mom's never been fun. Oh, pardon me, Doc, but I don't think I've introduced myself yet." He turned to the colt and held a hoof out for him. "My name is Ozymandius. That's, uh, Ozzie if you think the latter was too big of a mouthful."

Doc led the way into the small cottage once prompted, politely stepping aside as the two ponies entered to let the other stallion show him around. He glanced about the interior, trying to catch a few of the titles on the books that adorned the shelves as they passed by. It was a friendly little shop, he noted, as the aforementioned nephews promptly appeared. The unicorn stallion nodded a greeting in turn to the two other ponies, trying to size them up as potential crew for his airship. There were plenty of spots that needed to be filled, so the possibilities were endless! "'S a pleasure, Ozzie!" he exclaimed cheerfully, turning back to the smaller unicorn. "And the Skystorm isn't just a mere blimp! 'Yer talkin' about the first ever airship to set flight 'n Equestria! Forget the fancy floating islands they got over 'n Canterlot, this is the real deal!" he proclaimed proudly. "So, what do 'ya think you can bring with you as potential crew?" he queried, addressing the whole room.

The three looked at each other, Pip being first to answer but hesitantly. "I can go into town and see if some of my friends would like to help out. One of them really likes flying and the other is a fan of blimps--er, I mean airships." The little colt replied in that quaint little accent of his. Odd that Ozzie didn't have it, though he may have been hiding it since the same one slipped out just slightly every now and then in the way he spoke.

"I have a friend in the mailpony business that would be willing!" Ari announced, but tapped his chin. "Um...though, she's a little clumsy. Not sure if bringing her on an airship is the best idea..."

"As for myself..." Ozzie mentioned as he looked at the large grandfather clock in the room. "I have four very able employees that should be arriving here for lunch any minute now. They could be of some use. Until then, Ari. Take your cousin with you and go into town to see if you can find your friends and the girls."

"Yessir! Lets go Pip!" Ari bent down so that Pipsqueak could get on his back, the tiny little thing hopping on with some effort and the two raced out the door and into the sky to go into town. Ozzie grinned and then stomped a hoof before heading for a door on the side of the shop that lead into the main cottage.

"Until they get back would you like anything, Doc? Tea? Coffee? A sandwhich?"

"Not particularly" Doc replied politely, even though a sandwich didn't exactly sound like a bad idea at the time. He was much more excited to hear that there wouldn't be a shortage of ponies to go around. In his eyes, nopony could ever be useless on an airship. There was always plenty to do, big and small! The stallion's main focus remained on his airship. "Although, you haven't got any spare steel piping lying around, have 'ya?" he decided to query. It never hurt, of course. Some of the internals on the Skystorm needed patching anyway, and any sort of steel piping was quite the useful tool, regardless of the problem or how it needed to be used. He didn't exactly want his new friend to go through any special trouble for him though... "No big deal, just stocking up to be sure 'n ready!"

---

Fortunes Wild

(Transcribed from [[10]] by Sweets and Moogie)

The music played. The small covered wagon rocked lightly with the movement from the pony that carted it about. The figure was covered in a red satin cloak, lined with intricate black designs along every edge. Black roses bloomed in the corners. And still, the music played. The pony unhitched itself from the wagon, letting it rest in the center of the square. The sound of gypsy music filled the air and hung like miles of streamers, only to dazzle your ears and not your eyes.

There, in front of the red and pink cart, painted to meticulously, so lovingly. It gleamed in the sunlight as the cloaked figure stood there.

And still, the music played. The trill of a flute in the back. The deep bass of the tuba. The accordion that seemed to make itself known above all other instruments... And then a melody, as if there was song.

From the hoof of the figure, the lovely covering went to kiss the golden sun, and fluttered to the ground. Standing there, before everypony to see was a mare. Young, soft... Slender and feminine, and looked as if she could melt into the wind. Golden blonde fur shimmered, and turquoise hair shone. She was like some golden statue, so delicate and precious. And yet, had nopony at her side.

The mare didn’t seem phased. Her mouth opened, and out came the sound of bells on the summer breeze. Puffed, ruffled sleeves of her blouse swayed with her every moment as she sang, the melody made just for this.

'Come one! Come all! Hear the future! Learn from the past, Come right now, while the present lasts!

Everypony deserves to hear Everypony, loud and clear Everypony deserves to hear their fate Offered up on Libra’s silver plate!

Not looking for fame or fortune? Is it something humbler you seek? Step up, right this way, anypony Come to my wagon Have yourself a peek!

Here, in my little shop of wonders, I have just what anypony wants. A chance for love And eternal happiness With a pony to call your own!

Everypony deserves to hear Everypony, loud and clear Everypony deserves to hear their fate Offered up on Libra’s silver plate!

Here, I’ll make your dreams come true Here, you’ll see the light. I can tell exactly who you’re knight-or princess- is! I can tell you who’s perfect for you!

This, and more I offer you Have your cake and eat it, too! Take a peek at your love and fate Take it from Libra’s silver plate!'

And as she signs this melodious tune, she moves around, and her cart opens in a stand. A marvel of a contraption. Above the booth is a sign; ‘Libra: Matchmaker, Fortune-Teller.’ the rings in her ears shimmer as she whips about, and walks into her stand, head held regal and high. But, there was a kindness to her eyes, and open, approachable air to her sweet face. A banner unravels below the stand;

Red hooves clattered through the small town as he finished a bit of planning here and there. Getting an official signature from the Mayor on the firehouse's new extension, along with repairs that needed to be made. They made a killing from their sale, and finally got a well deserved day off. Fire Chief wasn't always fame and glory and what not, even if this stallion did get a big head sometimes, he at least had a good heart...even though some of the mares in Manehatten might say otherwise.

Pausing from his steps he flicked his ears from the music that filled the square. Other ponies stopped when the song played as he made his way over to the caravan. Black roses and an aura of enchantment seemed to put most of the ponies into an entertained trance, but Wildfire was a bit more level minded in truth to fall for it. For a seemingly careless stallion, he did have responsibilities, he just didn't like flaunting his authority. He didn't like being the head honcho all the time, even if it gave his boys in the firehouse a good laugh sometimes.

His ears perked when the song reached to promises of love and happiness in a pair, and then slowly tilted back in response. He merely offered his smile as he 'joined' in to the dance, even if he wasn't as enthusiastic about it as usual. A lot of mares zoomed up to try and get the reader's attention, after all what girl doesn't love a good love fortune reading?

Placing a hoof to his bristly chin he thought for a moment, there were at least five mares he knew that were probably not into this sort of thing. But that was beside the point.

Finally, mainly to get some mare's attention on his 'sweet and sensitive' side, he trotted over to start the line to the caravan. Why not? It's not like this stuff was real anyway. Besides, a mare is a mare, and who was he to deny opportunity?

"Good afternoon?" he'd say, looking over at the mare who smiled at the town.

Of course, many of the lovely mares flocked to her, wanting a reading. There were the neigh-sayers, who scoffed at her silly little talent. With a flick of her bright mane, she huffed. Why did it take some demonstrations to show she told the truth? How many more lives did she have to make FULL to be taken seriously.

Then, big bright eyes met with quite the sight- a stallion, a big boy, too. A devious, but charming smile came over her muzzle- especially as he said 'Good afternoon' to her. Libra composed herself, fluttering her lashes.

"Good day to you, my dear stallion!" she made a show of looking him up and down (Partly for laughs, but he was pretty cute). "And my, what a handsome one! Don't tell me you've come to seek MY advice?" she asked coyly, hiding her face with her mane, before tossing it back.

"Please sir, grace me with your name. And then, if you so desire, I can give you a reading." He was going to be a fun one. She could tell. Oh yes... Li sensed a negative spirit. Negative about this whole thing. And to the frowns of many distressed mares and fillies, she giggled.

"Calm down, girls, you'll all get your chances... But why not cater to such a fiery spirit?"

WildFire was not expecting that sort of reaction from the mare, but it only made his ego bubble up a bit more. Nothing was wrong with being good looking! As long as you use it right anyway. And from the sight he saw, he was getting a reaction he was familiar with. Batting the eyelashes, a smile that was inviting, and the way she looked over him.

The whole thing reminded him of the sale all over again! When he said they made a killing, he wasn't exaggerating. Then again, who wouldn't make a killing from the fireman calender and photo shoot sale with a bunch of equally 'hunky' studs like him? Now he was getting a big head, shaking it away he made sure to keep his wings folded and his head cool.He didn't want to go having another embarrassing incident again, especially from the way the mare over in the new milkshake pub did from him being his usual 'big macho man' show. Or at least, thinking he was apparently. She was one of the firsts to kick him off of his high horse. Then again, being a Pegasus it wasn't surprising that he was always a high horse himself. Flicking his tail a bit he grinned at the mare and would step a bit closer.

"Handsome eh? I think you're just trying to ruffle my feathers!" he'd say with a chuckle before bowing his head a bit. Even if he was a flirt, he was a gentlecolt.

"WildFire, at your service." he'd say smoothly while lifting his head. He sure was a bright pony that was for sure. Red's, orange's, yellows, and all in different shades too! Flapping his wings a bit before folding them back in, he made sure to give her a bit of elbow room. Even if he did like where this was going. Flicking his ears to her attention to the pouting herd of mares, he waited calmly for her to return. This was going to be interesting.

At least he wasn't playing cards, or however these gypsy girls roll.

"So~ Miss Libra~ How do you say we go about this then lil' miss?"

Libra could not help but laugh at this male. Her own thoughts racing through her head at a hundred miles a minute. How charming... and bright! WildFire, eh? Appropriate name, considering he was gifted with such fiery colors. Even his hooves looked like they were on fire! At any rate, she thanked him for his name.

"Ruffle your feathers? No. Merely stating the obvious." she said with a flick of her tail. As he asked how these things work, he would find her ducked under the stand with the tinkling of her silver jewelry. She dug around, before finding what she truly sought. "Ah, here they are!!!" she exclaimed, popping back up like a daisy. She turned from the silk pouch she held in her hooves back to Wild fire. He... Just captivated her. He was the epitome of manliness, and those dazzling eyes couldn't be easily ripped away from him.

As she tore herself away from those emberous eyes, she opened the sack, revealing it to be a silk cloth. "I have many tarot decks, my friend. And for you, I have picked the Golden Tarot. Easy to read, good for first timers... Those who hold almost no faith in the cards." she spoke in a cryptic tone. Soothing, monotonous, hypnotic. "Wild Fire, my friend..." she would shuffle the cards as she hummed. "If you would so gladly concentrate your emotions, all your desires and wishes into the cards- and then glide your hoof over them all- I will be able to see who you truly are." she closed her eyes, a skilled, gentle hoof laying every card on the silken cloth, in hoof's reach of the stallion.

"Remember, you must concentrate. Do not let your mind wander- even if there IS a gorgeous mare in front of you," with this, she got a few giggles, as she stared up at him from under heavy lids. "Concentrate. All you were, are, and will be. Your very essence... Let every emotion pour itself into the cards. For however much I can read, I will know if you've put a lot of faith into my reading, or very little."

WildFire watched as the mare and he bantered off about along the stage before she would trot along through her caravan of wonders. Relaxing, and giving his wings a flap to calm his usual energetic nerves, she watched her return with golden cards glowing in the shine of Celestia's sun. Perking his ears he smiled at her and tapped a hoof in thought as she explained what he was to do. A smile across his muzzle when she further their little flirtatious conversation, his grin there above his charming little orange tuft of a beard.

Raising a bright red brow about the emotions and transfer of everything into a deck of cards seemed...peculiar, but hey, girls were into this sort of magic know how, so why not take a chance into something with no losses? Closing his eyes, he only smiled and chuckled, peeking one out at the equally attractive gypsy mare with a smirk before returning to his assigned task. His thoughts collected first of how seemingly ridiculous this charade was, and what his daughter would probably think. His smile slowly sank to a seriousness as he began to think about those who are, and were most important to him. More tapping came from his hoof as he tried to relax again, regaining his composure as he tried thinking otherwise. Who he was. He was a firepony of course! He was the chief of his team and he tried everything to make sure ponyville was prepared for every fire or disaster. He was a protector even if he wasn't a police pony or a guard pony, he was a very in charge protector. He thought about who he was before, and his quiet sadness returned before being bucked from his thoughts. And lastly he thought about who he wanted to be. It was there that he drew a blank. He was happy with what he was now. A firepony with a job, a father of his beautiful baby Bon Bon, and a stallion in great physical and mental health. He didn't need to think of the future besides it's safety. He was content...besides...besides that anyway.

Finally concluding his thoughts, he raised his ruby hoof over the golden deck and then returned it to the wooden floor of the caravan, opening his golden eyes again and returning that smirk to his face when seeing the interesting gypsy mare in front of him again. Jingling from the coin jewelery she wore.

"Hopefully your cards got enough of a thoughtful." he'd say with a smile, flapping his wings and seemingly returning to his happy and charming personality.

---

Stubborn as a Glacier

(Transcribed from [[11]] by Rewdalf and Oopsie Daisy)

xThe howl of harsh wind was the only audible sound for miles deep in the Windigo Alps. Every living thing in the area was hidden away, burrowed beneath any available shelter from the frigid cold. A fresh field of snow blanketed the landscape, almost untouched in its entirety. Along the plains of white one could see the distant mountain peaks and few rolling hills, from one of the only relatively flat areas among the jagged rocks, cliffs, and ravines. Time almost seemed to stand still in the absence of any evidence of life, until a deep howl cut through the thick silence...

A small speck in the distance quickly speared down the nearby hill, tossing up a wall of snow as it raced between the few leafless trees that poked out of the ground. Behind, the smaller form of a dog trailed its path as quickly as it could, letting out another call. "I told you! next time you should come with me!" called Glacial Shard, peering back to check on Frostbite. "I hope you can keep up!" The slab of wood that could barely be called a sleigh propelled the Tundra Pony ever faster down the steepening hill, cutting through the flat expanse of untouched snow. Traditionally, Tundra Ponies traveled across great distances by sleigh, granted they had the proper team to do so. Shard on the other hand, preferred the traditional method of getting around, by hoof. His trusty husky companion, while able enough, couldn't pull him around all the time, and he was much more of a friend than a pack dog. Therefore, the duo never used an actual "sleigh" in their travels. Instead, Shard picked up on more... Creative ways of transportation, balancing on a strip of bark from a large tree which he found perched at the peak of the hill. Frostbite though, opted not to ride along with the pony, knowing better than to stick his paws in something so dangerous...

"I'll be sure to wait for you at the bottom!" Shard called out again, kneeling lower onto the strip of debris to keep himself balanced. The hill steepened and his speed increased, as he dug into the snow and carved out a deeper trail, tossing snow aside on his descent. Every minute of his day had to be some sort of competition or new stunt, no matter who or what wanted to get in his way. Life never got boring as he and Frostbite migrated across the Windigo Alps...

"Wait up, Boots! We've been walking for hours!" a tired voice called from the mountain edge as a flash of red and white zoomed up the steep snow trail. "Where does that darn dog get all her energy.." The exhausted snow-coloured pony muttered to herself with a half smile planted on her face as she watched the husky come rushing back to her. She laughed as the dog sat right in front of her in her ladylike demeanour, looking up at her expectantly with an excited wagging tail. "Alright, alright. Just one you little pest." She reached for the saddlebag hanging on her haunches and pulled out a bag of dog treats, handing one to her impatient companion. After she had eaten it in her unusual polite manner, Shiver petted her head and then continued up the mountain. The weather wasn't at its greatest as the cold winds hit the two with quite an amount of force. The tundra pony tightened the fastening on her hooded parker and made sure her snow boots were secure before she whistled to Boots and continued upwards. She was hoping to reach the peak sometime soon before evening hit, just to have somewhere to sleep before the winds became any stronger. Blizzards were often very unpredictable and random in the harsh Windigo Alps, and one could never be too careful when out in the wilderness without a tribe to protect them. But what fun would that be?

Speaking of fun, something interesting suddenly caught her eye. She turned to see some stranger sliding down the mountain on a piece of driftwood behind her, being followed by his own husky companion. "Amateurs," she muttered as she pulled a face, wondering how immature this pony was. Clearly they were some wannabe daredevil that she was better off avoiding. Usually when she encountered another pony out here, they were very criticising about her lifestyle. Plus she didn't particularly enjoy the company of others anyway since she much preferred being by herself. That was the whole reason she was out here by herself. So to avoid any possible interactions with the mysterious sled pony, Shiver kept heading upwards hoping she wouldn't be seen. Which was how she usually acted whenever the threat of another pony's presence interfered with her and Boots' travels.

The slope eventually evened out ahead, forming a snow covered plain at the base of the hill, but Shard didn't stop there. He was focused on the rush, as he usually became when perpetrating any kind of dangerous activity. The chilly weather had turned to frigid cold for the stallion, as the wind blew through his exposed mane. It was impossible to keep his hood up while moving so quickly, but it didn't matter. There was no freeze that was too much to handle, and the uncovered parts of Shard's body were usually secured with wraps to at least prevent any additional contact with the air. Frostbite, with his perpetual winter coat, trailed behind with bits of snow clinging to his pelt. With the amount of body heat the husky mustered up each day, it never seemed like he could even get cold.

With the amount of momentum the pony had gained, he pushing ever faster through the slush, staying balanced atop the rather useful bit debris. Frostbite had also quickened his pace, hoping to bridge the gap that had formed between them, now that the two were on even ground. As Shard skidded on, the seemingly endless blanket of white in front of him slowly began to reveal a black stain. From where he was situated, one couldn't see that the plains were about to open up into a cliff. As his husky companion gained up with the stallion, the ground beneath the pony suddenly fell away, splitting into a jagged set of crevices. With one leap, the husky, who had finally caught up, threw himself into the air. At the last moment, Frostbite latched onto the piece of driftwood as it arched downward, throwing both dog and pony out of view, as they appeared to be swallowed beneath the layer of perfectly even snow...

---

Mysterious Obelisk

(Transcribed from [[12]] by Thundercloud, Dream Gaze and Ashti Sandburst)

Another peaceful day dawns in Ponyville. The darkness ebbs as Luna heads off to sleep and her sister Celestia being forth a new day with shimmering bands of red, orange and gold. The morning is strangely peaceful, calm...and quiet. As dawn cascades over the horizon, some subtle changes can be noticed in the dim morning light. Just outside of town, a wheat field appeared overnight in one of the empty hills. The wheat is golden and healthy, shimmering in the light. The field looks well-tended even though no farm is nearby, and the field is almost perfectly rectangular. Obviously it didn't grow there naturally.

Across town, things seem slightly different than they did the previous night. Things are either turned upside-down or facing in different directions than they were at dusk. Things seem to be misplaced, sometimes in strange places. Small things, little changes, but enough to cause interruptions in routine while still sleepy ponies try to figure out what's different.

Most notably however is found in the center of town. In the middle of the town square is a massive red stone Obelisk. Standing over ten feet tall and made of smooth red granite, its polished sides gleam. It's clearly new and heavy, and there was no way of knowing where it came from. It was not there yesterday, and no construction could be heard overnight.

The obelisk appears broken. While straight on all four sides, there are five lines straight across it every two feet or so. The sides themselves have images on two opposite sides, and writing on the other sides. The writing appears to be pictographs of some kind. The images reveal two possible pictures, both of a long, serpentine creature. But it is hard to tell because the obelisk seems to have been assemble incorrectly. The images and pictographs have been mixed up, causing a jumble of images and words, making no sense by themselves.

The Mayor yawns on her way to work. Even with her normal coffee and pastries, she doubts she will have much luck awaking from her drowsiness. This is going to be a long day.

She almost runs into the obelisk before seeing it, and drops her coffee. Thankfully her precious donuts are tucked away in her saddlebags. She's going to need them after this. "Sweet Celestia! Where did This come from?"

Dream Gaze had spent his evening in the Everfree forest and so was unaware of the chaos that waited for him when the town came into view. What really took his interest though was the obelisk in the middle of town. "What in the world?... Just keep going to the mountain Dream Gaze, prioritize your work." The unicorn didn't wan to be caught in what ever happened next, especially after a night in Everfree. So he continued walking through town hoping to get his research and ingredients back to his home.

A chariot passed through the sky, pulled by a pegasus in armor. From a far distance it was possible to imagine a royal guard, but the chariot as the pegasus was different and also he leaded someone, a unicorn in suit.

The pegasus was Bastion and his was no more a royal guard, but the personal bodyguard of the Sandlander ambassador : Salamalec Sandburst of Elysion. This one had received a message from Shazadeh, his "guardian angel", a message which told that it was a surprise for him... of course he was perplex, knowing Shazadeh it was surely a situation which put him in the edge of death... thus he prepared himself.

Being closer of the place, the Ambassador saw the obelisk and at this moment he took a question look. He was of course a relic-hunter and had visited many ruins... but that ? Bastion blinked while Ashti frowned. In the air, Bastion make a turn of the edifice and the unicorn took this opportunity to analyze it.

Some minute later, the chariot landed aside of the place. Leaving the vehicle, he detached his friend, and both walked towards the obelisk. From all the people on the place, the Ambassador from Deerham, a foreign city, was the one which was distinguish from others : He had a pegasus guard, he was clothed, wore a eye-patch, and had some foreign attire. But no pony looked to him, and this one came closer of the obelisk. He closed his eyes... he could felt some magic particle from it. He did some backwards steps...

Eme ehsas... ana var behinzudi zanînja eth... Discord...? (this feeling... I have already knew it... Discord...?)

Mayor Prose is pacing back and forth around the weird statue as Dream Gaze approaches, fretting and talking softly to herself. This latest mystery has her rather upset.

"Why does this sort of thing keep happening in my quiet little town? It used to be so peaceful, and now it seems once a month something strange or dangerous is going on!" She nervously taps the obelisk with her hoof and skitters back, flinching. It seems solid enough. "Ooh, if this is somepony's idea of a joke, I don't find it very funny!"

The mayor noticed a shadow on the ground and looked up to see a chariot being pulled by a pegasus guard. She backed away a bit as it landed and the two occupants approached the obelisk. She didn't understand anything that was being said except the last word. That one word filled her with dread. She trotted over.

"Discord? It can't be! The Elements of Harmony sealed him away again! Do...do you think he could somehow be responsible for this ugly thing?"

"... Unacceptable! Simply unacceptable!" Augen Horns was, as is not common to him, furious as he slammed his head upwards, sending the dumpster that was on top of him into the air. It landed sloppily behind him with a loud thud and a jarring wobble, but Augen ignored it. There was something else bothering him, his eyelids twitching at the sensation coursing through his soul. "In the name of The Deity, something's not right here. This isn't even the right dumpster. And I sense a disturbance in the horse. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT," he said irately at a grey-white background pony that seemed perturbed by his ramblings. She simply shook her head and wandered off, while Augen continued with his own concerns. "... I do say," he continued as he tossed a wooden stick into the air, "that unpleasant spirits may be at work. Mighty Deity, please guide me on the path to rectification." When the stick hit the ground, the goat leaned in to see where it had pointed. "... To the town square it is, then."

After a little while, the scoundrelous priest had arrived in the town square, staring upon a large stone structure that seemed to have appeared without any explanation. "... An obelisk? Odd," the goat muttered to himself, tilting his head aside curiously. A couple of ponies had gotten close to the obelisk, the mayor even seemed to have tapped on it. Augen clutched tightly to a Hercinian rosary of the Old Faith. "I do hope that whatever this thing is... That it doesn't fail to excite." The goat grinned, unsure whether his concerns aimed towards safety for fellow beings or the excitement of some peril to arise. Curious, the goat also progressed closer to the strange stone monument.

Dream Gaze soon reached the middle of town and got a closer look at the Obelisk. He didn't care much for the confused ponies around him and he intended to continue through the town... Until he saw a familiar face studying the Obelisk '...If he's here then this is more serious then I thought' The unicorn chose that moment to turn his 'sixth sense' back on and soon discovered why this Obelisk would be a problem 'Chaos magic... I haven't felt this since my studies in Canterlot... For the love of Equestria I don't have time for this.' He sighed in frustration before walking closer to the Obelisk, being sure to keep his distance from the Sandlander.

Dream Gaze was aware of his status and could only assume that the Pegasus with him was his protection... why somepony like Salamalec needed a bodyguard he didn't know, in the past he had shown he was quite capable of defending himself. Despite his comrade's title Dream Gaze still insisted on calling him Ashti, since after their first meeting Dream Gaze viewed him as a friend, not a superior. "Ashti Sandburst... We have got to stop meeting like this comrade"

"Discord? It can't be! The Elements of Harmony sealed him away again! Do...do you think he could somehow be responsible for this ugly thing?"

The ambassador turned back towards the voice. This mare... Ashti have already saw her a couple of time. He was not sure, but her "tie" indicated a high administrative function, she was maybe the Ponyville's mayor. He asked it to Bastion, which replied positively to him. Then, the Ambassador did a slightly reverence and used of a quiet voice mixed with a slight foreign accent.

I do not think so Your Honor... May the sun keeping you, I am Ashti Sandburst. It was simply a statement of fact, I have met Discord before his defeat, but the "aura" which emanates from this obelisk... It is similar to Discord's... but... well, I am sorry, Madam Mayor. I have maybe a little too much of imagination... anyway, I would like to propose you to make evacuate the city...

And he continued in a low voice.

Even if it is what I think, then run away will be useless...

During this chat with mayor, Ashti get a idea, a little one, a little silly and illogical but... maybe Discord was not alone. Maybe there is another Draconequus... somewhere... it could maybe be why Shazadeh send him here. The immortal unicorn liked to give near-death training to Ashti. But if this is a Discord bis, Ashti was prepared : after all the physical and mental training he have been subjected reinforced his spirit and mana.

"Ashti Sandburst... We have got to stop meeting like this comrade" ... eh ?

Leaving his reflections, he turned the head on saw an comrade. Dream Gaze... what's he doing here ? Bastion crown walked near of his friend.

Hehe, I heard that a monument for me has been erected... thus...

The mayor was growing more and more upset by the moment. Flustered, she started to pace. "Evacuate? No, no, no, that simply won't do. We didn't evacuate when Nightmare moon attacked, nor when Discord terrorized us. We've faced Ursa Minors and parasprites, this...this Thing won't make me force my little ponies from their homes." She put her hoof down, literally. "No! We shall simply have to find a way to remove this. It hasn't done anything yet except be a gaudy piece of art. I won't be threatened by a few blocks of stone. It looks like it's ready to fall over anyway."

She was already planning to call up some of the local construction ponies when another unicorn walked up. The two seemed to know one another. But seeing as they weren't helping her remove the obelisk she turns away, almost headbutting a goat.

"Oh dear! Excuse me, I'm not really paying attention. This..." She gestures to the obelisk, "Statue thing has me a might distracted."

The obelisk remains stationary. But it does give off a hint of magic to those sensitive to such things. Indeed, the magic of chaos is ingrained within the very stone itself. Slightly menacing, but not giving off an evil feeling per say. Not the same level of magic as something constructed by Discord himself, but more powerful than average unicorn magic.

A smile crept onto Augen Horns' face as the mayor narrowly avoided a collision with him. She justified her actions by regard of the obelisk, but Augen simply waved the concern aside and stepped back several paces to give her some more space.

"Ah, 'tis no issue by me, honorable Mayor. If anything, I ought apologize for lingering so close out of sight. Oh, sorry. Rude of me not to introduce myself." Augen bowed slightly before continuing, not wanting to leave any disrespect in his first impression to the mayor. "Er, I am Augen Horns, a rabbi from Hercinia... So what's this I hear about Discord, helements of armory, evacuating the city, and not evacuating the city? Seems like quite a situation, this thing is..."

Augen walked right up to the obelisk before turning back to look towards the others. "If I'm not mistaken, this thingy-ma-bobelisk seems to have some mystical properties about it. Not comfortable with the evacuation idea m'self, but would it really be safe to just tear the thing down... I mean, before having it properly evaluated, that is?" As Augen Horns concluded his input on the matter, he hopped up and gave the side of the obelisk a hard tap with his horns, mostly to see if anything would happen.

"Destroying it did come to mind... But Chaos magic is extremely unpredictable. There would be no telling what would happen if this was broken." The Unicorn had never experienced the effects of chaos magic himself, he simply imagined the effects of poison joke and multiplied that by 10... he didn't like the mental image that gave him. "Well Augen, I'm Dream Gaze. I'm a mage who lives in that abandoned dragon cave on top of that mountain over there... not much else to tell really."

He had heard some word around town that apparently an ice witch had cursed the mountain peak so that it would be forever in cased in snow... what they didn't know was it was Dream Gaze himself that froze the mountain peak and sealed the entrance to the dragon cave. Only the brave or incredibly stupid would go up there and most if not all the ponies here were neither and this thought made him smirk.

"Evacuate? No, no, no, that simply won't do. We didn't evacuate when Nightmare moon attacked, nor when Discord terrorized us. We've faced Ursa Minors and parasprites, this...this Thing won't make me force my little ponies from their homes."

Ashti listened but not very concerned. He was not in Equestria when the parasprites and Nightmare Moon came. He just gave his advice.

I am sorry Madam Mayor... I am from a distant nation. I understand that my advice do not count... but if I remember right, the events that you despites was sudden ones. In our case, maybe you have a chance to prevent "unfortunate" events... But it is not my duty, after-all.

Then he walked out of her and, followed by Bastion, looked to the obelisk another time.

He left Dream Gaze speaking with Augen and consulted his friend.

So... Bastion, what we will do... ? We return to Manehattan or... we stay here...? Can... I propose you a tea, Your Excellency ? ... Worried about this city, eh ? So be it.

In fact the young bodyguard was more worries by the inhabitants than the city. He was a royal guard, on had received a military formation. But even if his cast was not the wars or to protect Celestia, but protect the foreigner dignitaries and guest, one of his duty was to protect the peoples... occasionally. Even if, for now, he was at the service of Ashti as he alway wanted... and his friend was his priority.

The Sandlander left the place with Bastion, and both friends took a table on a café and some refreshments. Why waiting under the sun and many people, when they can waits sit in tranquility and with drinks...?

Mayor Prose blinks and nods. "Oh my, Hercinia? It's been years since I've been there. Lovely area, but not quite home. I stayed with a lovely goat couple, so full of stories." She shakes her head. "Well, anyway, welcome, Rabbi. I hope your stay won't be marred by this, latest threat. Discord, as they mentioned, was an evil Dracoequus who turned our town upside down. The Helem...no, no, Elements of Harony refers to six mares who live here. Local heroes, imbued with power from ancient relics and students...of sorts, to Princess Celestia herself. In fact, I should inform them both."

She starts to walk to the Town Hall, but glances over at the other two. A wizard who lives on the dragon mountain, and a foreign...diplomat, perhaps? But her ears droop as she hears the wisdom. Her pride may be one thing, but if she could prevent a disaster and possible injury by evacuating the town...then perhaps that would be best.

"Hmmm...if it prevents anypony from getting hurt, maybe evacuations would be-"

• Crack!*

She gasps at the goat and pushes him away with her head. "What are you doing? Even I know you shouldn't just whack a magical item, you have no idea what it will do!"

The obelisk doesn't do much of anything. No explosion, no magical backlash, no turning anything into something else. However, the section that Augen Headbutted mores slightly from the force. It rotates smoothly, no grinding of stone, no sound at all. It spins as if on an axis, the rest of the obelisk remaining stationary. It twists a few inches to the side, just enough to be off-kilter, and stops.

"Ah, 'tis a pleasure to meet'cha, Dream Gaze." His gaze turned towards the mountain in mention, though Augen was oblivious to the state of things. "Oh wow... Dragon cave, you say?" Augen paused and pondered, curious as to what that'd be like. When the Mayor spoke again, the goat turned to face her.

Augen Horns flinched as the mayor mentioned her stay in Hercinia. "Lovely area? Huh... Not many of those left in Hercinia nowadays. But I guess it all depends on yer cup o' tea. Anyway, hopefully these helement folks'll know what to do. In the meantime, I'll do my best to investigate. I've dealt with magical mumbo-jumbo before and whatnot. Maybe I'll be able to figure something out."

Just as the mayor seemed to walk off, Augen gave the obelisk a whack, creating a loud cracking sound. This seemed to bother the mayor, as she'd quickly pushed Augen aside. The lightweight goat skidded across the ground a few meters before rolling to his feet. "Oww... Heyhey, just doin' my job, Mayor. It looks as though something or other's happenin'. Rather it be to me than the unprepared." The goat pointed a hoof at the obelisk, where that section of the structure seemed to have reacted.

"Well... That explains why the images on it seem a bit random. It seems it is divided into segments... Anypony feel like solving a puzzle?" The Unicorn was still more interested in destroying it but even he knew that was incredibly stupid... Against his better judgment he used his magic on the segment of the stone that Augen moved and continued to rotate it until it seemed the images on its surface took shape. Unless anything relevant happens he will continue this pattern with the other segments until the images and writing was in the right places. 'This better not release doomsday or something...'

Ashti settled himself on a café near of the obelisk's place but a little apart of the crowd. A macchiatto in hoof, he sip it up with a drinking straw.

So, the obelisk is had been activate or something like this ? No, Sir. It's just...

The voice of bastion resounded from the hight, this one was in the air for a better view. next he came back to his friend.

Somepony have damaged the monolith... Oh... ? I hope this will not release pandemonium on us.

What did Shazadeh planned... ? It was the thought of Ashti more intrigued by him than the obelisk.

Read more: http://friendshipismagicrpg.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=deadthreads&action=display&thread=5212#ixzz2Q54o3DIz

---

Silent Night in the Park

(Modified Transcript from [[13]] by Dream Gaze and cc)

In the middle of a windy night in the the park, Jamais had laid down on a patch of grass while gazing up at Princess Luna's beautiful star lit sky. She never could get a good nights sleep, mostly do to her over active thoughts and her travels... But tonight was different... She had no jobs for clients. No goal to work toward. She had nothing to do... The young gazelle reached into the pouch around her neck, pulled out a small ornate music box and placed it in front of her before lifting the lid.

Small chimes could be heard on the wind as the box played it's soft melody and the gazelle placed her head on the soft grass as she listened to it with a great sense of nostalgia, completely unaware of her surroundings.

Under the beautiful moss-green foliage, Hawthorne looked up into the night-sky and wondered, not for the first time, what it truly was out there. Were there planets, just like this one, that housed intelligent life? Were there pony-like life forms out there, with intelligence beyond our understanding and comprehension? Or perhaps there were entire planets filled with pepper shakers that killed people. Or maybe the sun was a big ball of gas. Whatever it was, it made him want to write, and so he continued with his newest story, 'The Deviant Strain'.

"Tears formed underneath her heavy eyelids as the emotions that she had held back for so long, too long, crashed through her mental dam. She pulled him close to her, never again wishing to ever have to let him go. 'You fool. You damn fool.' she murmured, each syllable springing forwards more and more hidden love that she'd thought gone."

All of a sudden, a chorus of chimes hit the air, punctuating each second with another note, each more beautiful than the last. It caught Hawthorne's ear, and he looked around for the source of the melody, only to find a beautiful gazelle lying down on the grass with a music box next to her. Normally, he would have been too shy to go sit down next to her, but both her and the music were truly beautiful. He came up next to her and sat on his haunches, looking up at the night "Should I compare this song to a winter's night, it is colder but with a sweeter end in sight." He said, as if reciting a poem. a warm smile crossed his face as he looked at the gazelle "I couldn't help but hear your music, and I wanted to come over here and listen to it with you. My name's Hawthorne Frost, but you can call me Thorn."

Jamais raised her head when she noticed a purple unicorn had sat down next to her while she was reminiscing about her childhood. He introduced himself as Thorn and she was rather curious about his motives and couldn't help but be cautious. The last purple unicorn she met was an ice mage and she didn't like the cold at all... Still... he might end up being her next client, so she saw this as an opportunity to get another goal to work towards. Calm and collected, she took a small card with fine print out of the bag around her neck. It will read as follows...

Jamais Gazelle
Traveler for hire
Must offer equivalent exchange for services

This was pretty much how she introduced herself to anypony that came near her showing interest. She saw no need to speak and thus, remained silent while waiting for Thorn to speak again. This would keep up the ruse that she was a mute and she could communicate just fine without speech. 'This unicorn will understand soon enough' she thought to herself

Levitating the card with his magic, Thorn read the card with a glimmer of humor. When he next opened his mouth, his voice sounded completely different, almost cold.... or regretful. It was clear he was not actually feeling these emotions, it was like a part he was acting out

"Ponies cannot obtain anything without first sacrificing something. In order to obtain anything, something of equal value is required. That is magic's law of equivalent exchange. As a colt, I truly believed that to be the true way of the world." His smile returned to his face, and his voice returned to normal

"Do you know where that's from Jamais? a story called Full-metal Unicorn. But if you're trading cards...." his horn glowed lightly with magic as he rummaged through his cloak's pocket, pulling out a quill, a piece of spare parchment, a yo-yo, a notebook, what appeared to be an apple, a small bit of rope and ,finally, a small black card with light blue writing on it

Hawthorne Frost
Freelance Journalist
Pay is negotiable

Although she had not read the book he spoke of, the quote could not have been more true. For her work she gave up her time, effort and sometimes even put her life at risk. she wasn't doing that for free, the gazelle would want something worth the value of the job if somepony wanted it done so badly. Jamais gave the card a quick read before giving a nod to the unicorn. The music box soon slowed to a stop, it's chimes vanishing on the wind. Jamais picked it up and placed it back in her bag before looking back at Thorn with her aqua blue eyes. So Thorn was a journalist... now that she thought about it, she did read a book with the unicorn's name on the cover and began to wonder. Was this the same pony? She reached into her bag and pulled out a book titled 'A long time coming' and compared the name of the author to the card. Her eyes widened in astonishment when the same name was on the book and she gestured with a hoof between the unicorn and the book in front of her. It was as if she was inquiring if he was the author of the great story.

Thorn smiled, this gazelle certainly knew her literature. Although he was surprised she'd been able to identify him, he'd written that name under the moniker 'Verne' , but maybe she'd just heard about his true identity on one of her travels.

"Ah, I see you've read one of my books. So, you're a romance fan. Got a bloke at home who you want to be all lovey-dovey for or are you single?" He realized how blunt a question that must have sounded and blushed slightly "I mean.... I'm sure a beautiful gazelle like you would have a loved-one at home. There's no doubt about it!" He didn't notice, however, that this would have dug his grave even further

Jamais couldn't help but smile and nod to confirm she read the book. Despite publishing it under an alias Jamais found it easy to identify him as the author, her sources were never wrong after all and she gathered as much info as she could where ever she went. It might just be useful later. However at the mention of her relationship status her ears flattened against her head and she looked at the ground rather shy. She was indeed single and looking but it was hard to find someone to bond with in her line of work. The gazelle was a traveler, she was never in one spot for to long and she was always looking for a job to do, her purpose in life. As After Thorn tried to sugar coat his rather blunt question Jamais shook her head and tried to regain her composure. She would need it for what she was about to do, because the next question was hard to do with gestures. "... What about... you?" Her voice could be compared to a church mouse, quiet, and a little high in pitch. It made her seem more young and defenseless then she actually was... She sat there and waited for a response, hoping that his reaction wouldn't be too bad.

Thorn's head perked up as he heard her voice. A warm smile lit his face, as if looking at something truly beautiful "Did anypony ever tell you that your voice is REALLY cute?" His smile continued for another few seconds, before he shook his head to try and recover his thoughts "but no, not currently. I'm on my own, alone. It gets hard having to travel, you know? So many new places to see and write about, so many things to do and so many things to know. You can lose yourself to it. Heck, that's one of the reasons I wrote 'A long time coming'. You've got to have some sort of love to hold onto, or else you become a shell."

The Gazelle blushed at his comment, this wasn't the reaction she was expecting at all. Her? Cute? She only talked on the rare occasion, seeing it as unnecessary if she could get her point across. In her case 'Actions speak louder then words.'... Some laughed at her voice others couldn't hear her but... no one ever said her voice was cute.

She recovered around the same time Thorn did and Jamais listened as he explained. She closed her aqua eyes and nodded slowly in agreement. Those words could not have been more true and she knew this all to well... yet there were many out in this vast world that go their entire life without experiencing it and that thought saddened her. She stared at Thorn, her eyes showing sympathy and a sense of understanding for the situation before she took a small ink pot and a quill from her bag. She opened the book in front of her and presented Thorn with the quill, silently asking for him to sign it.

Thorn grinned, this gazelle seemed not only very interesting, but very interested in him too. It was only proven to be even more so when she asked for his autograph. "Sure, Jamais.... actually, do you mind if I call you Jay?" His horn glowed a dull red light, levitating the quill, dipping it in the ink and starting to write on the page she'd offered

'To Jamais, May you find someone as loving as Valorous Dawn.' and below it, he did his signature, a rather curvaceous V with each side curling into a small ball at the end.

"Is that what you wanted, Jay?" He asked, holding the quill in mid-air, making sure that any drops would hit the book. He wanted it to look as close to perfect as physically possible

Jamais had to think for a moment before giving a nod to show she accepted the nickname and watched closely as the quill dragged itself along the front page of the book. When she read the autograph, a small smile creeped up onto her face. She hoped she would find that special someone soon... Her thoughts were cut off as a burst of blue flames erupted in front of the two before taking shape. When the flames dispersed, a note was left hovering in front of Jamais and it read...

Dear Jamais

I am in need of your services once more. I will give you the details when you arrive. Don't keep me waiting, you know where to find me.

Signed Dream Gaze

A job? Now? The gazelle didn't do a good job hiding her annoyance. She really didn't want to go deal with this particular client at his home. Mostly because it was freezing up on that mountain... Still at the end of the day... it was a job and she wanted to fulfill her purpose. With a sigh she closed the book and placed her items back into her bag before looking back to Thorn knowing that he had seen the note. Hopefully he understood that she had to do this job dispite her dislike for the client's location. "Thank You... Hawthorne..."

---

Under the North Star

(Modified Transcript from [[14]] by Thunderheart and Axel)

An older Light blue Stallion in a comfy wool hat and a warm parka trudged across a cold and icy white tundra as his grey, nearly white eyes sharply gazed upon the seemingly harsh and unforgiving land. He looked back at the purple colt not too far behind him and smiled as he watched as he green eyes darted around looking at everything, brining a contented smile to the bearded ponies face. He looked around as he motioned for the colt to come over and pointed up at the darkening sky.

“Soon a bright star will shine right that way” he said lifting one of his snow shoed hooves up and pointing north. “Heim and most of our camps can be found using it as a navigational aid. Because if you follow the North Star it will take you into the hills and into clear air and you will see where you need to go home” he smiled softly and nuzzled the colt as he moved along.

“I remember when my own father, who was just a forger among the tribe taught me this lesson. He told me if I was alone to always look for the North Star and everything will be alright. To trust in the merkingar um vindi and that as long as you stay a kind and gentle pony that nothing shall befoul you” he finished with a gentle smile as he looked up at the now appearing star. Gazing upon it fondly as he watched as his son joined him.

It reminded him of his own youth, when he had a lot less responsibility and could fool around more. He could do so much of that anymore seeing as he was the first of his own family to be made Tribal Chieftain. He shook his head softly as he giggled as he looked down at his son beside him and his thoughts drifted to his daughter taking care of the sick and elderly in the tribe’s only permanent city of Heim.

He finished his brief trip thru nostalgia and deep thought as he snapped out of it and looked around and spotted a quite rare delicacy by mere chance, some Purple mountain flowers. He smiled widely as he cantered on over and motioned for Vindur to join him over there as he smiled lovingly to the colt. “Here my son you may have first pickings, for I love you and wish for you to be best taken care of” he said tenderly, he was a naturally caring pony but by comparison when it came to his foals came before him.

Vindur never ceased to be amazed by the dancing lights in the sky. What did that weird old wise man of the tribe call them? Aurarorara Burials? Something like that. Either way, they were beautiful. Everything around Vindur was pretty fascinating in his opinion. The mountains, the hilltops, even the snow was particularly beautiful at the moment. The sun struck it all in just the right way to make it a feast for the eyes.

Vindur's father motioned for him to go to him, so Vindur obeyed. After all, he had been told he was learning something important today.

Vitur began to explain how to navigate with the star to the north that would appear soon and Vindur listened intently. The last thing he wanted was to get lost out here in the tundra without any way back home. Then his father nuzzled him and he pulled away slightly at first, but smiled at his father and nuzzled him back anyway. It didn't matter if his father was embarrassing; Vindur had a special place for everyone in his family in his heart.

Vitur finished his speech and the star in question appeared."Wow," he heard himself utter. It was amazing, and Vindur was sure he'd be able to keep it in memory. Quite a site, that star; and very noticeable.

Suddenly, his father seemed to have spotted something. Vindur followed him over to a small patch of... purple mountain flowers. His mouth was watering already, but he held back so his father would get first pick, as was respectful. To his surprise, however, Vitur let him have first pick. "Whoa, seriously?" the colt asked, which was responded to with a nod. Vindur smiled and added a "Thanks!" before walking over to make his choice. After much deliberation (about ten seconds' worth, much longer than he could normally stand to wait), he chose one in the center. He had no idea why, but the center flowers always seemed to taste the best. He sighed contentedly upon finishing it and backed up so his father could choose one as well.

Vitur giggled softly at his son, he seemed to want to be old but was still a foal at heart. The old tundra stallion smiled as he looked up and saw the very lights that gave him his cutie mark, the northern lights aka the aurora borealis. He thoughts returned to him again as he heard his son thank him for the opportunity to have first dibs on the purple mountain flowers and he lowered his head softly so his son could hear easier.

“Remember son to only eat only a few and bring a majority back to the tribal herd” he started as he started to pick the flowers and put them in his son’s pack. “If you really are going to take over for me you must think of the tribe at all times for there good and safety.” He finished as he packed the last in his own pack and shut it softly and turned back to the north star.

---

Dark Ponies

The Night Mare's Return

In the northernmost outskirts of Equestria, a sinister figure stared towards the country’s boundary from its castle. The full figure of Nightmare Moon stood on the balcony of her new, corrupted home, disdain in her turquoise eyes as she thought back. Two years ago, the Elements of Harmony had torn her soul from Luna, the royal alicorn of Equestria. The malevolent mistress had tried to corrupt the young pony, but failed when the older sister banished her, along with her beloved younger sister, to the moon. After Nightmare Moon’s return and immediate defeat, her soul had been sealed by the royal magicians of Canterlot. Unfortunately for the foals, She though, they forgot that I could slowly drain power from inside my magical prison. After months of biding my strength, escaping had been easy. Now free, I will soon have my revenge!

Her brooding was disrupted by several knocked on a large wooden door. Scowling as thoughts of the destruction diminished, she turned and announced “Enter!” With the creaking of the aged wood, the door parted as an earth pony strode in. His pitch black coat and mane seemed to blend in with the lack of light throughout the castle. The fire in his red eyes swept from side to side until he knew that they were alone, and bowed in deep respect. “Nightmare moon, I have done my best to gather as much forces as I can. With the combined efforts of propaganda along the borders of the lands, I have acquired for you an army of about two thousand ponies who wish to overthrown the princesses.” “Two thousand?” The mistress inquired, the aura of her mane growing stiff in anger. “Two thousand? Is that all you could muster? Your efforts will be worthless if we do not bring more to the cause. Equestria, despite being peaceful, has twice the number of trained guards, while we only have a few militants!” The messenger cowered beneath the fury of his lord. “Your majesty, if I must say… we’ve spent months searching, and if it helps, we have the allegiance of a flock of griffins and a dragon. Is that not enough?”

“With forces like that, we would be better off throwing ourselves into the sea” She seethed, glaring at nothing in particular. It has come to realization that ponies would not be the answer to her desires, and a need for something more would have to take its place. The ebony alicorn softened her gaze, a sly presence creeping inwards. “Yet… all is not lost, my earth pony. What is your name, figure of darkness?” The underling shuddered, as if saying it would surely banish him to somewhere most unpleasant. “Shadow…. S-s-trike, your m-m-ajesty.” He said meekly. “Well Shadow Strike, follow my hoofsteps, as you will have much to learn about the devices of an Alicorn.” Nightmare Moon brushed past the pony she addressed, pacing to the far end of the castle. As Shadow Strike followed, sighing in relief, the fallen goddess continued speaking. “There’s a field of magic a lot of ponies do not know about. Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth ponies all learn the simplest forms of magic, that of physical energy, weather manipulation, or earthly attunement, respectively. They never grasp the abilities that greater magicians have, and are usually left to live their lives in blind ignorance.”

As they proceeded to an unmarked room, Nightmare Moon shoved the door open, revealing a surprisingly small chamber. Vines slithered down the walls, hungrily attaching themselves to every crack and corner. A portion of the cobblestone roof had fallen, letting the moon shine in all of its glory on a pedestal on the center. A smooth, glass orb sat on top of it, a grey haze swirling in the center in mystical patterns. As the two stepped up to the platform, the alicorn set her hoof on the smooth, stone cold, sphere...

---

The Perfect Crime

(Transcribed from [[15]] by Aquablossom and Asteria)

Aqua smiled at the pony leaving the shop. "I hope you are satisfied with your flowers!" She was interning at the Tulip Bud, a flower shop in Canterlot. She moved the three bits into the cash register, sweeping the flower petals off the counter with her other hoof. She looked at the silver vases on the display case, realizing the beauty of them for the first time. She walked out from behind the counter, delicately picking a tall one up with her mouth. She put it down on the counter, watching the light glisten off the sides. A costumer walked in, and she put the jar back, taking her position behind the counter. She looked up, smiling uneasily at the costumer. She was standoffish, and not happy. The mare's coat was a deep black, with a bright red mane. "Can I help you?" She saw her eyeballing the vases. "Are you interested in a vase ma'm?

The black mare was wearing an equally dark cloak that hid the majority of her scarlet colored mane. Her crimson eyes glanced at each vase, inspecting them with a stern gaze, examining their quality and brand names. "Is this a Hoofenthal elaborate green vase?" the dark pelted mare commented in a vaguely alluring voice, almost seeming to have prior knowledge as she pointed a black hoof at a fancy green vase. It was hard to tell her intentions, but her outfit was definitely suspicious, especially considering the norm of garb worn by Canterlot ponies. She seemed to be hiding a long horn beneath her hood, suggesting she might be well versed in magic. Upon a closer inspection, Aqua would find that this unicorn was well above average in height, able to easily stare most stallions in the eye as she glanced down across the store toward the intern. Her fiery eyes pierced through the worker, their intention unknown as they worked over her every detail.

Aqua stared, blinking suddenly. "Uhh...Yes. It is. Are you interested in it?" She looked away, embarrassed that she had been staring. The vase was intricate, with green circles making up a goose neck flower vase. The light shone through it and cast little sparkles all over the mares cloak. She smiled at her as the mare looked her over, trying to take some pressure off. She shrugged, stretching her wings out and hoping to get the mare to break her deathly stare. She walked out from behind the counter, grabbing it with her muzzle. Aqua then set it on the counter. "Is there anything else I could show you? Perhaps this one" She picked up a purple urn with sun designs on the side. "This one was made with Princess Celestia's cutie mark in mind. I love this-" She was cut of by the mare staring again. She smiled uneasily and put the urn back, taking her place behind the counter again.

The unicorn had a stoic, expressionless face, showing no immediate sign of approval or disapproval of the young pegasus. "I have no interest in this particular vase," she replied ominously, almost begging the question why she would ask at all if she had no intention of buying. "I have pressing business to attend to Lady Blossom. The reports of your expertise are not unfounded, thank you, but I must take my leave," she remarked politely, the unicorn pulling her gaze away from the pegasus as she turned around. Her large black cloak floated up somewhat as she turned to leave the store. The mare took a few steady steps, and as quickly as she had arrived, she was already gone.

The green vase she was interested in remained on the counter it was left at, an odd reminder to her short visit. The adjacent vase, an identical style vase that was a deep blue had vanished from sight, apparently being taken while the pair spoke. The unicorn was already well on her way down the street, the former visitor seeming no need to rush down the street, almost as there was some aura of confidence or innocence about her.

Aqua looked at the green vase, sighing. "Yet another failed purchase." She picked up the green vase, putting it back on the shelf. She looked around for the unicorn. The blue vase was gone. "What the hay?" Her mouth hardened. She hung up her apron and locked the store. "I'll just have to catch her then." She ran out the door, flapping her wings. She glided over the streets, spotting the black mare in the crowd. "And there you are." She went down, hitting the ground. she trotted behind the mare, watching her. "So why do you say you have to go, but then take what I offered to you?" she muttered, squinting. As the mare turned onto a residential street, Aqua took off, gliding into the air. She landed in the mare's backyard, peering through the window. She realized how slim the cloak was, and realized there was nowhere to hide the vase. "Well she is a unicorn. She could of used magic." She rounded around the house knocking on the door. The mare answered, but slowly. As soon as she opened the door Aqua started talking. "Why did you steal that vase? It was worth 30 bits! Why would you steal from anypony!"

---

The Great Devourers

(Transcribed from [[16]] by Asteria and Lightning Flash)

The sun shone down brightly on the city of Canterlot, promising a great afternoon to the citizens of the Equestrian Capital. The sun of course wasn't obligated to keep any promises and silently watched the city as the heavy knocking on a door filled the air of the busy residential district of the upper class metropolis.

Inside the home that belonged to the door, the resident was rudely awakened having slept in well past noon. The large resident was jolted awake and hopped out of his bed, stumbling out of his bed before landing on the ground in a crumpled mess. "Wha? Who is here? It's barely past noon, I should be asleep..." a deep and tired voice called out to the door as it beckoned him over.

"Sir Gerrard, your assistance is required immediately. You are the only qualified person in Canterlot who can aid in the plight of the city," a formal voice replied to him from outside his house. The sleepy character blinked his golden eyes and collected himself and stood back in a normal posture, quickly becoming identifiable as a black pelted griffon with silver head plumage. He wiped his eye with a black talon and let out a loud yawn with an equally dark beak as he walked over and opened his door.

A tall unicorn mare shrouded in a black cloak peered across to him with crimson eyes as he opened the door to spot a courier. The griffon strangely wasn't alarmed by her vaguely frightening appearance, probably used to speaking with the unique looking mail mare. She levitated a scroll with a royal seal imprinted on it and handed it to the griffon, placing it in his dark talon. Gerrard quickly opened the document and sighed, darting back into his home as he collected large saddle bags that seemed to be brimming to edges with supplies. "I gotta go immediately, talk to you later Asteria," he explained quickly, the dark pelted griffon giving a powerful wing flap as he took to the air and flew off towards the Canterlot Park. Something important must have been happening there to get the large hybrid flying across the town so fast.

Lightning Flash slowly flew down the streets of Canterlot, his lean form floating only a few feet above the ground as he made his way around the city. Occasionally, a pony would call out to him and wave, most likely having seen one of his posters near the derby racetrack. To these ponies, he would simply flash them a small smile and give a polite nod. Every once in a while, he'd wave back or answer the pony with an informal," 'llo." It was just another normal day in the life of the competetive flyer.

While finding his way around an unfamiliar section of the city, he saw a griffin overhead flying towards the park. Curiosity overcame him and he couldn't resist the urge to follow the dark feathered creature.

"Oh please please don't make it what I think it is," he grumbled aloud to himself, the black pelted griffon seeming a bit distraught as he flew to the park. A few gasps were heard from beneath the griffon as he flew over the park, probably startling a few unicorns who weren't used to seeing such a character in their city. His keen griffon eyes spotted something in the city, signaling for him to land in a grassy grove in the park. Two unicorn guards approached the griffon, holding their spears up as they spoke with the griffon.

"Are you Gerrard Grayfeather? I would have thought that he was a pegasus. Well I guess that doesn't matter if you have the documents to prove your identity," a dark pelted unicorn guard explained, glancing back at a sewer entrance behind him. "So you mean to tell me that THOSE monsters are devouring the pipes?" the griffon commented in a strong voice, seeming really worried as he glanced into the darkness. "Yes sir, please venture inside, our city's future depends on it," the unicorn remarked, stepping aside for the griffon.

While silently trailing behind the dark feathered griffon, Lightning Flash heard him gurmble something aloud. Unfortunately, he was too far away to make out the words. When the griffon landed, so did he, making sure he was close enough this time to hear what was going on.

Flying casually near the group, he overheard the guards talk with the griffon about some creatures that were eating pipes in the sewers. Wait a minute... eating?! The pegasus's wings snapped flat against his form as he dropped down onto the grass with a soft thud. Fear gripped the stallion as he trotted over to the guards and asked nervously,"Ya don't mean parasprites, do ya?" The guards nodded their heads in unison. The flyer froze, his body locked in fear; his ear twitched; and beads of sweat trickled down the side of his face. If it weren't for his flight goggles, one would have been able to see that his eyes pupils were mere dots in a sea of white.

Smiling nervously, he slowly backed away and said,"Well, I 'ppreciate the help 'n' all, but I think it's about time I take my leave." With that he bolted into a nearby bush, sizzling blue lightning clearly marking his path for a few seconds, as if a shaking bush were all that normal, anyway.

"And here I thought that the legendary Flash was some sort of hero or something. Turns out that you're nothing more than a coward who flies fast, at least away from his problems," the griffon mused aloud, never even taking a glance at the pegasus as he prodded the guards for questions. How did Gerrard identify him already, he seemed to have been silently flying after the griffon. "Racers these days, am I right, or am I right?" he taunted lightly, jabbing a guard on the side lightly as he forced an awkward laugh out of both guards.

"We are only talking about Parasprites, not a fast racer like Firebolt," he added as a last dagger to the pride of the pegasus as he walked into the large sewers. The sewers were surprisingly wide open at closer inspection, a large section of piping on the ceiling totally chewed away from what could only be explained as ravenous parasprites. The griffon glazed over the situation with his golden eyes, letting out an audible sigh as he prepared to search through his large saddle bags with a black talon.

The griffon hit all the right buttons when he insulted Lightning Flash. Not only did he outright call the pegasus a coward, but he also brought up a painful loss that he had suffered at the hands of his competetor, Firebolt, some time ago. Not wanting the griffon to get away with this, he leapt from the bush and snorted angrily, calling out to him, "I'll show ya who the coward is!"

Then, he tore off into the sewer, completely startling both guards as a blue trail of sizzling electricity exploded next to them, accompanied by the deep boom of thunder. He halted only when he caught up to Gerrard, pushing his goggles up so that he could see.

He said nothing, fully knowing that he had just played into the griffon's claws. Even so, those accusations that were made against him were inexcusable and would most definitely be disproven as soon as possible.

After the stallion had cooled down a few minutes later, he asked,"How d'ya s'ppose we fix this problem, Plumber?" He added the last word more as payback than anything.

When the pegasus called him a plumber, the griffon paused a moment, putting on the most devilish of smirks. "Now now child, simmer down. I am not a plumber, plumbers simply fix pipes. I am an irrigation architect, I make sure that thirsty ponies get to drink water and eat all the grass off of their well watered lawns they need to survive. You might say that I am a hero, bringing water to the unwashed masses. I earned a degree from the royal university of Canterlot while you were sleeping through flight classes," he remarked smugly, gently tapping Flash on the cheek in a taunting and vaguely reassuring manner.

"I gotta make sure that the area is clear, and then I will repair the damage to your pipe system," he explained in a less joking manner, his face becoming a lot more stern as he decided to be serious. The griffon pulled out a wrench, the odd tool gleaming strangely in the light of the tunnels. He took a few steps around a corner in the old waterway as he looked around for the ravenous eaters. His eagle eyes didn't spot anything interesting and quickly rounded back around the corner, coming back into view. "F-flash, watch out there is one right behind you, it's going for your tail!" he remarked in an alarmed voice, pointing a claw behind the stallion as he tried to get pegasus worked up over non existant creatures.

---

The Start of Insanity

(Transcribed from [[17]] by Tenebris and CC)

Deep in the back alleys of Manehatten a small shop was set up amongst the outskirts of one of the seedy markets. A small plain caravan was parked in front of the building, the design was not that of Equestrian make, but something foreign.

The blinds to the stores windows where closed shut tight. But there where two signs, one that said "OPEN" and another that said, "Udanganyifu’s emporium of voodoo arts. Come and gain your hearts desire." It was apparent that the place was being rented, and the pony using the store would likely move on somewhere else in the next few days or weeks.

Right now the streets where relatively empty, and few ponies could be seen down the dark alleys. This solitude magnified the a strange wrongness that came from the place. It seemed to flow with an unpleasant vibe. Though to the right pony, its mysterious nature would no doubt be very appealing.

The back alleys of Manehattan seemed worryingly quiet for such a quiet morning, however a strange noise could be heard, like a miniature tornado, before a sudden pop, whereupon stood a strange pony in a black cloak. A bump came from the top of his cloak, where it hid a horn. He seemed to be muttering to himself "Damn old magic, nowhere near as efficient as the stuff they teach the kids nowadays. I'll need to take a brush up course the next time I can find a teacher." He started moving forwards, occasionally looking from side-to-side as if worried he'd be caught by someone or something. Finally sure that nothing would cause him trouble as he walked into the open, he moved quickly from shadow to shadow. He had to admit, it was becoming extremely troublesome to have to cloak himself in such a way. He was, after all, one of the Discordian generals, there should have been no hiding needed. Breaking his cover when he was close enough, he looked at his target.

The caravan seemed extremely plain and, if it had been in Zevrica, it would have been frightfully boring. However, this was not Zevrica, this was Equestria and such a sight was rare. There were so few zebras in this land, maybe not as few as there had been back in the discord days, but still few enough that such a sight was extremely rare. It was, in fact, rather surprising that such an iconic thing would be in the middle of a Manehattan market. It made him smile, not just because it made his target much, much easier to find. He always liked seeing little oddities like this, after all, he wasn't even supposed to be alive in this day and age, so he was like this caravan in a way. Both flourishing in places they shouldn't be found.

After a moment, he knocked on the door a few times, before pushing it open, feeling that he had announced himself properly. He looked around the inside and smiled, before calling out for the stallion he needed to see "Is there a Mr. Udanganyifu in here?" he asked, the cloak completely hiding him, the only things that were showing was his orange legs.

A ring of a bell sounded as the door was opened. The room was dark, but as he walked in the door closed shut behind him and the while room flashed into full light! the walls where decorated in various tribal items such as masks and even a couple of spears. Throughout the room items where lazaly thrown around such as skulls, potions, dragon scales, locks of hair, bottled flowers, and all kinds of potion ingredients. At the end of a room was a table with a cloth beautifully draped over it, and several chairs around as though it was made for meetings, a deck of cards was sitting right in its middle. But possibly the most interesting thing was the many dolls that hanged from the ceiling on strings. There where dolls for all manner of creature, earth ponies, peguses, unicorns, griffins, and even a few dragons of various shapes, genders and colours. By far the most striking ones though where two alicorns in the corner, one white with a rainbow main, the other dark blue with specks of white in her main… both where riddled with needles and cuts.

The silence was then ended by the sound of a disembodied voice, "My… A unicorn to grace my current home is such a treat. Please don’t bother to wipe your feet." There was a strange judging nature to its voice, as thought it watched every movement, learning something every instant, "I am the one named Udanganyifu. What brings you to this house of Voodoo? I assure you there is very much that I can do."

The stallion inside the caravan looked around and saw the beauty of the room. Everything seemed to be extremely foreign, definitely a strong Zevrican vibe coming from the room. There were tribal masks on the walls and a couple of spears that he could only hope had tasted blood some time recently. Around the room lay scattered skulls, potions and dragon scales. Dragon Scales? What kind of cruel stallion would kill something so beautiful for something as petty as it's scale. He could only hope the poor creature died of natural causes. Then next to them there was locks of hair and bottled flowers, both of which were clearly part of a potion that was yet unmade. He suddenly heard a slight twinging like a tautened string. He looked at them and recognized them, with a fit of rage. There was one for the damned princesses, Celestia and Luna. His fit of rage was barely controllable. He was about to do something that he'd probably regret later on, when a voice came out of nowhere. "My… A unicorn to grace my current home is such a treat. Please don’t bother to wipe your feet." Oh, this guy was going to try for the respectable guy approach? the stallion laughed as he heard him talk. It was such a clear act, and so see-through that it was actually hurting his head a little bit.

"What brings me to your house of voodoo? You must not recognize me, Udanganyifu, maybe the stained glass never showed me in detail." he pulled his hood down and shook his hair out as it fell down his neck. It was Loki Pallas, one of the heads of the Discord cult that had so famously followed Discord a millenia ago. "I heard that a certain zebra I could mention was a fan of the master, and that he was hoping to bring him back. Well, naturally, I thought I had to offer my services, because alone you might not be able to do anything. Together, however...." he used his magic to yank the Celestia doll off of the string and held it in a strong cloud of magic. Then after a second, he crushed it into dust by increasing the pressure of his spell. "..... we can take out those who would stop our master."

There was silence for some time. suddenly there he was, the zebra was sitting at the table at the far end of the room as though he’d appeared out of nowhere. "So… not just a unicorn, but a servant of chaos many years old? This is not an event that I have foretold." He stared intently at the face across from him, as though he was searching for seems of a mask. He wore a tattered suit like outfit concealing pockets filled with small bottles, knives, scissors, and many other delicate tools.

"You bare a resemblance to a pony I once admired. But to that my doubts are even higher." He got up and walked over to the stallion. Suddenly the head of every doll hanging from the ceiling turned all at once to face Loki. "Do you claim to be the one of chaos that has returned from death? That is something the most powerful voodoo can’t do in a breath." The loud noise of the door locking sounded from behind him. "I am the one of countless guile. Not a pony could copy my potent style. Forever I’ve lived with my loyalties in hiding. But yet you prance in with a style quite contriving." The ground beneath him began to poor a strange green gas that slowly rose around him. Eyes and teeth seemed to appear all around in its cloud, "You come to a master who’s magic is powerful. If you can’t prove your clams you're friends will be mournful."

A wicked smile slowly spread across his lips, "The thought of a fellow servant to Discord is intriguing. I hope what you want will prove to be congealing." A almost demonic cackling began to sound though the whole room, "Prove you are this pony ancient, and our discussion may be far more complacent."

Loki listened to the zebra infront of him accuse him of lying, of claiming to be Loki Pallas. He WAS Loki Pallas, there was nothing to claim other than his own existence. As he continued to get angrier and angrier, even the dolls on the ceiling starting to turn to look at him couldn't freak him out, his anger was much to much for that. A strange gas rose from the floor, from within which eyes and teeth came out and threatened him. This was too much. His anger wouldn't take any more. As his horn glowed with magic, the lights in the caravan started to flicker, before cutting off completely, leaving him to just take off his sunglasses and reveal the famously pupilless eyes, now livid with rage. "HOW DARE THEE?!?" He cried out, before shooting a cloud of magic at the eyes and teeth infront of him. "I CAME TO YOUR HOME TO FIND SOMEONE WHO FINALLY UNDERSTOOD THE TRUE NATURE OF MY MASTER, AND YOU ASSAIL ME WITH CHEAP TRICKS AND GAS THAT MIGHT SCARE A DELUSIONAL CHILD AT BEST?!? YOU ARE LITTLE MORE THAN A PARLOR FOOL, FIT FOR LICKING THE SHOES OF THE ROYALS AND NOWHERE NEAR GOOD ENOUGH TO WALK BY MY MASTER'S SIDE." he calmed down, and gave him a glare. He allowed the room to relight before saying much more calmly

"You want proof that I am me? That I am the warrior of a 1000 years? Well then, look no further than my body." He pulled his buckler off, and let his cloak fall off. He had the famous scar on his chest where he had been cut by the blade of one of Celestia's captain of the guards, and his cutie mark showed the illusionist twirl. "I got this mark of shame when I lost my duel to that multi-damned bootlicker on the fields that one day became this very city. Hundreds of soldiers marched with my cutie mark upon their uniform, knowing that I was one of the few gifted enough to walk with the master of chaos through the world of insanity. Does thou still want proof, rhymster?"

As the magic from Loki’s horn burst forth the gas was pushed away and the delicately hanging mechanisms and strings above them rattled and tangled slightly. Udan stood wide eyed at the unicorn that actually spoke in the royal Canterlot Voice. He actually saw through Udan’s deceptions? This was the first pony to ever do that. The zebra’s normally smiling or complacent face showed the slightest detection of fear as he was plunged into a situation he was not prepared for.

Udan listened to him speak in complete silence until he was invited to inspect his body. Not a single word passed his lips as he slowly snaked his way towards Loki. He moved almost like a nervous animal, in awe of the relic that stood before him. As he came to the other equine he raised a magnifying glass to his eye to look at the scare, he then slowly drew a small torch and shone it in Loki’s eye, he inspected the pupils with a bemused fascination. He then gently moved his way towards the unicorn’s cutie mark and inspected it’s pattern with his magnifying glass. Then, with a slate of hand that lasted less then a second he drew scissors from his sleeve, took the tiniest cut from Loki’s tail, then returned both to the inside of his sleeve.

He stepped back to look over the orange stallion as a whole, "By his lordship…" He was silent for a few moments more, "The Loki Pallas, fabled… To contain myself, I’m barely able." He seemed to be deep in thought before saying, "How did you know I was a servant to our lord. For most that position would be rather absurd."

This zebra was seriously testing Loki's patience. First he accused me of being an imposter, and now he's poking and prodding me and.... did he just cut off a part of my tail? His rage was still bubbling under the surface, and was liable to break out into a wave of fury at any moment. However, he was trying to stay calm. "How did you know I was a servant to our lord? For most that position would be rather absurd." "If you wish to know all that I know, to the black market thou must go. For there might be plenty scum and fools around, but that's where most information can be found." he replied, rhyming like the zebra did, matching his tone. But, it was true, all Loki had had to do was look for information sellers on the black market to track down a fellow Discordian. What was the old saying, as long as one man knows your secret, you can never be truly safe from prying eyes? Well, all Udan could be glad about was that these prying eyes were those of an ally.

"but if you have as many connections as I do, almost any information can be within a hoof's grasp. Now, we really must go somewhere less stuffy, this caravan is stifling." his horn glowed with a light orange ball of energy, and when it grew there seemed to be a gust of air through the caravan, as if a cold southwestern had blown through a window, sending papers and dolls knocking around. Finally, the caravan seemed to fade around them, replaced by an open view of the nearby countryside. Underneath the hooves of the two stallions was a flat roof, a strange red color. This was one of the buildings on the other side of town "Ahhh...... Inefficient as it may be, Magic really gets your blood flowing in the morning." Loki said, rolling his shoulders as he looked over the view, the wind keeping up and blowing his hair around. He couldn't help but feel a little bit chilly as he shivered slightly in the wind. "Rather wish I'd brought my cloak now."

Udan furrowed his brows as the unicorn replied with rhyme to inform him. He realised this was something he was going to have to try one day. It likely was very affective if you could do it without getting caught, and he needed a way to find new pray.

Udan was about to protest that his caravan was in fact not stuffy, rather very cosy, but before he was able to speak he was stopped by the sight of Loki activating his magic once again. His eyes opened wide as he watched his papers fly around and a couple of his tolls fall from the ceiling. He gasped as their scene changed from the creepy caravan to that of the open country side.

Udan marvelled at the display he just witnessed, almost envying the magic Loki wielded. "Rather wish I'd brought my cloak now."

The zebra then stood up straight, a little off balance from the sudden change. He observed his surroundings, luckily he recognised where they where and wasn’t too far from the city. Turning too the unicorn he said slightly disgruntled, "Next time I hope you’ll give warning before teleporting. Such brash actions have my insides contorting." He took on a facade of calmness after that, trying to hide the slight nervous wonder he had at standing with such a famous figure from the history of discord, "How have you survived after all these years? And why have you come now and taken me here? I must say though the chance to work with such a legend is not without pride. Did you come here straight away or your time do you bide?"

Loki smiled at the zebra's display of weakness. Such a proud, undefatiguable individual disturbed by something as matter-of-fact as teleportation? Seriously, what did they put the kids through nowadays, they're all weak. He lamented for a second the loss of tradition, but then his usual grin flashed over his face "Don't worry about it so much, Udan. Teleportation is a meager act that I can do, and if you get to know me for long enough you'll see, and probably live through, a lot more. You'd better stop being so nauseous if we're going to work together. I mean seriously, what was your foalhood like if you can't even manage to deal with such relatively minor magic."

The cold was starting to get too much for Loki, and he decided he should do something about it. His horn glowed once more, before his body seemed to be covered with a light red mist, that would have seemed burning hot to the touch. He sighed with contentment as it warmed him up "Ahh.... brilliant. Now, You were asking how I'm still alive? Why, Udan, do you hate me so much that you wish for me to no longer exist? Well, tough tata, I'm not going anywhere." He winked, before turning his face to look the zebra in the eyes, showing the honesty behind them "Honestly, back then magic was.... better. Magic isn't so much a literal concept as it is an unrenewable resource, or at least in my way of thinking it's such. There was a time when mere unicorns could lift the sun and the moon, and now such an act is claimed to be god-level acts. Back then, magic was rampant and powerful, and people could master it properly. I've not met any coporimancers that could even close to my level since I woke up in this era. I happened to know someone who had the ability to put people to stone, and thereby eternally renew their bodies. You know those who claim that cryogenics will save ponies lives and let them live on until a cure is found? Well, they're usually wrong. It's truly petrigenics which has the true power of preventing death until a cure. So, this body might look little older than a young stallion, but really? I'm old enough to be your great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather. Heck, I don't know, I could be actually." He thought about the concept of there being someone in this world that he was actually the ancestor of, and the weird fact that he could be the same age as his descendant at the same time.

" However, to make it more clear, I was petrified until such a time that Discord would be powerful enough to rise again and I'd be able to fight at his side. But.... it had a time delay of a day or two, and in that time he'd been turned back to stone and I couldn't do anything to help him anymore. So, I decided to see if I could find someone who was either blind enough to not notice that I was taking advantage of them, or to find a few ponies who would follow him because of what he stands for, and that I wouldn't have to take advantage of to get them to work for my cause. As for your other question, why do I take you out here? Because your caravan is stuffy and it's hard to breathe inside such a small area. As for why you, well you're a discordian. After the second defeat of our master, it's not exactly been easy to find someone who would still follow him. Maybe ponies just prefer order nowadays, or maybe those who would follow him are no longer loyal to him because of his track record. Either way, you're a diamond in the rough. Congratulations, Udan." he then cackled lightly, saying "Oh, and years and here doesn't quite rhyme. You're losing your touch, my friend."

A little anger sparked in Udan as he heard his ability to handle magic being questioned. Sure this may have been a small spell but it was also his first ever teleportation. He could handle magic just fine, He’d just never teleported before is all. He in fact was a master of Zebra magic.

Before he said anything though he overheard how cold Loki was apparently getting and smiled at his intolerance to the wind. Mind you, Equestria was much colder then his homeland. It was fortunate that he was wearing the clothing he was, but it wouldn’t be long before the wind started to get to him as well. He also didn’t smile at the unicorn’s joke. He was still getting over the shock of the whole situation.

He stood there listening to him monologue, documenting every syllable in his memory. He shook his head. They where different species, and Udan was pretty certain he was pure blood zebra. It was impossible that they where related… Wasn’t it?

Uden couldn’t help but stare at him when he began to explain how he was still here. A smile crept up his face at the beautiful convenience of the situation. How marvellous that he now had somepony to work with, and not some pawn who’s mind he’s altered with chemicals, but an actual, willing, comrade in this mission for chaos and anarchy! His incredible high was swiftly brought down by the remark against his rhyming. So now he was also insulting his Speech!

"My joy, your remark has managed to erode. Take care or my anger may begin to explode." He looked around before continuing, "It is good that you still breath. With this joining, chaos we may bequeath. But don’t insult my traditional arts. Tis from these hooves much chaos does start." He reached in to his jacket and pulled out a very small vile of clear liquid. "My tale is that of a master ignored. But just of my potential. For my performances left non bored."

He smashed the vile on the ground in front of them. It burst in a flash of colours before leaving a simple luminous blue cloud of swirling shapes before them. He raised his hoof and the mist seemed to follow it as it went up in height. "My birth place was Zebrica, a hot but homely land. There I was renowned as a practitioner of magic that only the best could understand." The mist changed shape to a map. Of the place he spoke. It zoomed in showing a swirling image of savannahs and strange tribal buildings. "My farther was a voodoo master. Under his guidance I learnt so much faster." Images of skulls, potions appeared, "My skills where proficient, and rare. Non of my peers could hope to compare." There was an image of a bewitched zebra, his eyes hollow and unthinking as he moved to the direction of Udan who held a voodoo puppet over him. "I made magic shows, and told zebras their fortune. They’d never suspect my true contortion. Their praise was my fuel, their money my toy. With lies I’d rule, and soon feed off their joy." The mist changed shape again to show Udan standing triumphantly on a stage before a mesmerised crowd. Suddenly the mist changed colour, it began to turn from blue, to yellow.

"But then a massage came that to me was grand. A god of pranks and chaos from a far off land. I tried to sail there, to see knew sights, and give this ‘god’ what was my right." The scene changed again to the flowing ocean and finally Equestria, plummeted into the chaos of Discord. "When I got there unfortunately… all was well." The mist changed to a calm view of normal Equestria, "At this unexpected truth my anger did swell!" The mist turned a dark red and showed the image a harbour filled with screaming ponies, fleeing from a massive rising mist of gnashing teeth and striking claws. "I discovered not a god of pranks, but a land of peace and friendship! To me to take this was a difficult hardship."

The mist settled into a calm white, and formed into the perfect shape of Discords statue after his second defeat. "It is my dream, my pledge, to bring back what was taken… Soon they will find Discord REAWAKEN!!!" Instantly the statue exploded out, colours of all variety poured in all directions like some kind of mutated rainbow. The last specs of the mist where of images of chaos that where more felt then seen.

He took a moment to steady himself and turned back to the Unicorn. "I’m glad your here, Loki. With a second pair of hooves my plans will be more then just spooky." He held out his hoof to Loki to shake, "How shall we approach this esteemed dream? The direct approach or dealings obscene?"

"My joy, your remark has managed to erode. Take care or my anger may begin to explode. It is good that you still breath. With this joining, chaos we may bequeath. But don’t insult my traditional arts. Tis from these hooves much chaos does start." He reached in to his jacket and pulled out a very small vile of clear liquid. "My tale is that of a master ignored. But just of my potential. For my performances left none bored." Oh great, he was being melodramatic. There was nothing worse than a zebra who thought someone would be impressed by his droining. If they had their way most of them would never shut up.

As loki watched, Udan had smashed a vial of liquid, causing colors to burst out and paint a picture. Loki had to fight the urge to smash his head into something, hard. This guy was a walking stereotype of zebras. He did Voodoo, he lived in a caravan and he spoke in rhyming couplets. Loki wouldn't be surprised if he kidnapped foals and sold them to griffins.

"My birth place was Zebrica, a hot but homely land. There I was renowned as a practitioner of magic that only the best could understand." A map appeared and Loki knew where it was of. It was Zebrica, a small area just above the coast against the Quiet Sea. He hadn't had the pleasure to go their personally but to know that his ally was from such an illustrious place was... okay, it was sort of boring. But still, at least it was different "My father was a voodoo master. Under his guidance I learnt so much faster." Faster than what? Is he just screwing up his sentences to make rhymes now? "My skills where proficient, and rare. None of my peers could hope to compare." a picture of a stunned zebra that was clearly under Udan's command popped up, making Loki grit his teeth. there was no skill in mind-trapping people with voodoo, it was the most barbaric of the dark arts. It wasn't even chaotic, it was crass. Where was the highclass of causing someone to act out of character and see how many people discovered the truth? Where was the cruel joy that came from messing with someone's head and inserting doubts? There was no joy that could be derived by such barbarism. "I made magic shows, and told zebras their fortune. They’d never suspect my true contortion. Their praise was my fuel, their money my toy. With lies I’d rule, and soon feed off their joy." Well, at least this had SOME form of class. He knew how to make his magic interesting at least, instead of sheer crude crassity.

"But then a massage came that to me was grand. A god of pranks and chaos from a far off land. I tried to sail there, to see knew sights, and give this ‘god’ what was my right." This was what set Loki off into a rage, he was having to stop himself from just diving on the zebra and pummeling the everliving snot out of him. Who was he to claim that being by discord's side was his right. He had no rights until he had proved himself to the master personally. It made Loki feel positively sick just listening to this revolting drivel. "When I got there unfortunately… all was well. At this unexpected truth my anger did swell!" Oh, anger was swelling alright, even if Udan didn't understand why Loki wanted to maul him right now. He didn't care about the silly images being plastered around him, that was done a dime a dozen in his day. What he cared about was the damn prideful attitude of the stallion infront of him. "I discovered not a god of pranks, but a land of peace and friendship! To me to take this was a difficult hardship." And now he wasn't even rhyming properly. What a blithering idiot! "It is my dream, my pledge, to bring back what was taken… Soon they will find Discord REAWAKEN!!! I’m glad you're here, Loki. With a second pair of hooves my plans will be more then just spooky." Udan held his hoof out for Loki to shake. Did he not notice how angry he was? "How shall we approach this esteemed dream? The direct approach or dealings obscene?" "Well...." Loki started, before slamming his hoof into the wrist of the other stallion with all his strength, a punch that in his day could shatter bone. He didn't know how well his strength had stayed up since the old days, but he was sure he'd atrophied slightly. ".... Know this. Discord is NOT a god of pranks. He's a god of chaos. Pranks are what foals play on each other. Furthermore, you deserve NOTHING from him until you prove yourself, and so far you've proved nothing. In fact, you've proved yourself unworthy. What gives you the right to claim that he owes you anything?" His voice turned into one of cold fury, something that had often send the weak hearted fleeing with their tail between their legs. It wasn't as obvious as the Royal Canterlottian voice, it was sheer evil incarnate. "Voodoo is crass. You believe that the true power is being able to control people by their body not working as they want? that's a load of rubbish. You have to destroy someone completely and utterly, let their soul be crushed and their mind fall into putty at your hands. No drugs, nor body-stealing will ever make up for the true destruction you should be able to sew with your own hooves. Using pathetic tricks like voodoo is about as high-brow as a monkey throwing it's waste around. You don't understand the first thing about chaos, and you don't know the first thing about discord. How DARE you presume to be his servant whilst giving people your 'right'!?!

---

It's in the Cards

(Transcribed from [[18]] by Sweets and Korvus)

Trottingham... A little place, but easily very interesting to the roving eyes of this hooded figure. She pulled her wagon silently, only the sound of her clopping hooves on cobblestone making noise. What a small place, she thought as head lifted. Bright eyes sparkled in wonder. Ponyville wasn't the biggest town, but certainly bigger than this, right? She sighed, and grinned wide. Sure, small was no problem! Not a problem at all!

The cart stopped abruptly in the market square, out of the way of ponies looking to buy and trade. And music played. She grinned. I can handle this being such a small town... After all...

The cape, so black, decorated at the borders with lovely red roses, kissed the sun and billowed down upon the light breeze that signaled the change from Spring to Summer. Then, it would be time for this mysterious young mare to shed her black robes, and go for the white.

And as she thought, her mind a clockwork toy ever spinning, the music played. Her cart would begin to open and unfurl like some mechanical flower in bloom. The wood creaked and the cogs grunted as they did the thing they were made to.

And still the music played, followed by a catchy little melody. The golden mare opened her mouth, standing demurely before her opening cart, that morphed and changed with an odd beauty. And, form her maw, came the voice of wind against bluebells, the voice of tinkling jingle bells in winter. She sang to that tune, that she knew by heart.

'Come one! Come all! Hear the future! Learn from the past, Come right now, while the present lasts!

Everypony deserves to hear Everypony, loud and clear Everypony deserves to hear their fate Offered up on Libra’s silver plate!

Not looking for fame or fortune? Is it something humbler you seek? Step up, right this way, anypony Come to my wagon Have yourself a peek!

Here, in my little shop of wonders, I have just what anypony wants. A chance for love And eternal happiness With a pony to call your own!

Everypony deserves to hear Everypony, loud and clear Everypony deserves to hear their fate Offered up on Libra’s silver plate!

Here, I’ll make your dreams come true Here, you’ll see the light. I can tell exactly who you’re knight-or princess- is! I can tell you who’s perfect for you!

This, and more I offer you Have your cake and eat it, too! Take a peek at your love and fate Take it from Libra’s silver plate!'

And as this cheerful melody was sung, she would dance, and such grace... Brought many of the ponies that stared to dancing lightly as well, finding this new mare enchanting, and so very mysterious. She just opened up like a newly emerged butterfly from its cocoon. Her puffed sleeves billowed, each ruffle on her blouse danced. Her silver jewelry twinkled coyly at the ponies as she pranced back to her cart- now, her stand. Above, a sign:

‘Libra: Matchmaker, Fortune-Teller... Open To All!'

In the few years that Nightshade had spent alive, he had spent very little of it in contemplation as to where his travels would take him. That's not to say that he didn't have goals- only that the goal did not edify him near as much as the journey did, and the unpredictability of Equestria's landscape (to one so inexperienced as he once was, at least) suited him just fine.

That said, he still found himself more than a little bitter to be back home.

Since arriving, he had not come by to see his parents- he couldn't even recall where they had lived, much less whether or not they'd care to see their wanderlust-driven son again. He hadn't come to see any old friends, either, as what friends he had had were likely either gone or far too estranged from him to bother. He wasn't so certain he would've bothered anyway; he had come here with a purpose, after all, and what sort of magus would he be to shirk his true reason for coming here?

The vibrant and often flamboyant nature of ponykind might have been striking, to those who did not share it, and from Ponyville to Canterlot to here in old Trottingham, Nightshade was not unlike a raincloud over a circus. Dull, dark, solid colors stood out better against the rich brightness of his fellow pony better than a raging draconequus. That’s how Nightshade felt, at any rate; he was always a little consternated, being nearly corpselike as he was, and supposed this was why he took some delight in his time alone. Out in the wilderness there was still no lack of brightness and beauty, Equestria seeming to have a knack for it more than anything else, but the trees had no eyes with which to judge his ashen form, and the animals had no words with which to speak of it.

Still, at least Nightshade could conjure up some excuse for the few heads he turned in Trottingham- he was a distinct creature, and he couldn’t doubt that some might think they recognized him from years past. He did not pause to find out, however, as his quarry was in the market square. He approached with a steady, businesslike canter, guided by the singing he could only just hear over the usual hustle and bustle of a town’s place of commerce. His eyes narrowed as he beheld the unfolding cart. Red as they were, they did not much help his case in regards to looking somewhere close to normal, but he valued them for how easily they intimidated more cautious and fearful creatures.

And so, with little regard for anyone that he might have shoved out of the way in the process of his approach, Nightshade approached the fortune-teller’s stall, shunting aside anyone that might have thought to obstruct him. His eyes were set upon those of the proprietor, the fortune teller herself, no doubt, and his expression was unponylike in how humorless it was. “You’re the fortune teller, then,” he observed, “I’m here to talk about your work. Your technique, if you'd like. I write my own fate, so don't bother asking.” He wasn’t sure whether he was being petulant or straightforward, and supposed it didn’t matter so long as he got what he had come for.

Ponies in the crowd would give odd looks to the dimly colored unicorn that shoved past them. They all wanted a look at the fortune teller, the lovely mare that stood inside her stand, inviting and warm

And that mysterious glint in her eyes. A spark of something- what it was, nopony could put their hoof on. It drew many in, begging to be the first of the many fortunes to be told today. All the while, Libra giggled, and smiled cheerfully. Bright, shining eyes would catch the movement of a figure every now and again, at a glance. Dark, stark, and a dreary air hit her as he bluntly pushed through those that were begging for her attention.

Libra's smile left her, and she just stared at this new face in shock. Wrote his own fate? Don't bother asking? Slowly, a more devious smile would be beheld, and eyes would half close, in a way that spoke 'come hither,' as they smoldered. "Sir... Are you insinuating that I write your fate?" she asked, those eyes flashing. "If this is the case, you need not be concerned. Lots of ponies think that way at first." she giggled, that smoldering look relinquishing its power before cheerful gaze looked upon the unicorn.

"I do not write your fate... I merely read what path you take on your way through this journey called life. Only you have any say in how you live it."

"I insinuate..." Nightshade began, diving headfirst into the sentence without much clue as to how he would end it. This wasn't unfamiliar to him- even the hint of new information caused him chase it like a starving predator, acting hastily and, indeed, foolishly in pursuit of his new target. The pause held in the air for a moment, and Nightshade kept a serious face all the while, trying to make it look as though he was pausing dramatically.

"I insinuate that I do not need to be told my future. Telling it to me would change it, wouldn't it?" he concluded, a falter in his crimson eyes belying just a little uncertainty in his own words. He took another step forward, cemented before the crowd and unwilling to allow any obstructions. "I'm not here to have my fortune told, anyway. I'm here to learn how you do it." As he spoke, he lifted his head up slightly, ensuring that the dark grey horn poking up through his black mane was clearly visible; it ended in a point, and Nightshade often though he would be far less authoritative with the rounded horns he had noted some ponies having.

Inspiration came to him; a challenge, of course! The mage was an egotist, through and through, and anypony with a horn from Twilight Sparkle to the shameless showboat Trixie could hold within them a shred of superiority above the less magically-inclined. It was inherent, Nightshade was convinced, as even he found himself looking down on the magic-free masses from time to time. Perhaps it was natural; were not all the secrets of Equestria there to be unlocked by those who could harness its power?

If that was the case, then the future was a secret that Nightshade had no interest in leaving undisturbed. For all his talk of writing his own future, his mind nonetheless spun at the possibility that he could know his own fate, let alone the fate of others. With such a power, he could be unbeatable- no trap would ever surprise him, no puzzle could ever vex him, and no ambush would ever succeed. What more could a pony of his enterprising endeavors ask for?

And so was the challenge issued; "That is, if your fortune-telling really is magic. It's not above a pony to use a few parlor tricks to make some bits on the side, don't you agree?"

What a stark male! Libra had to grin at his faltering confidence though. "If you choose to rewrite your story, that's your prerogative. Me simply telling you what could happen will not change a thing." as she spoke, she pulled form under the silk-covered counter a deck of cards. Not simple playing cards, these were far larger. And her hooves just played with them, eyes never moving form the crimson eyes of the unicorn.

Without a single glance, she rifled through these cards, on lookers staring as she did so... And placed a card, face up upon the counter. The picture on this card was of three unicorns, staring out to sea expectantly. Their horns glowed in some spell or another, frozen forever as a symbol. "However, you are a proud stallion- and for good reason! You have many accomplishments to be proud of. But just as a ship may sink before reaching harbor, you may celebrate too soon for your own to port safely." she said in a cryptic omonotone. That smug smile would change, and glazed over eyes turned cold.

"Make no mistake, my gift is real. There IS no illusion, sir..." she said with a steely edged voice. How dare this male think her gift a trick! She only glared briefly, before eyes thawed, and card was placed back into her deck.

Nightshade, to some discredit of what was perhaps an exceptionally scholarly mind, was still wrapped up in thoughts of power. It wiped away all misgivings and nervousness, and a smirk even edged its way across his face as he thought of it. Like an infusion of courage from some drunken god, Nightshade was relaxed, looking like he was as ready to fight the seeress as he was to learn her secrets.

Who could challenge him, with the future known to him? Not even the Princesses could out-think a pony who already knew their every move. How shameful indeed that such power should be relegated to some sideshow attraction, cast about by some over-theatrical songstress as though it was some sort of parlor game. Nightshade was no mere conjurer! He trafficked in powers both grand and ruinous, not distracting little amusements.

His gaze did not remain on the fortune-teller. Instead, it leveled upon the cards and, in particular, the cards drawn. Was this it? A casting of cards? He supposed it wasn't unlikely- he had read of such practices alluded before, but had dismissed it as folklore. Even now he was a little skeptical- this could be nothing more than some anachronistic slinging-about of half-forgotten symbols and dated art. Still, he had read much in the efficacy of bone-casting by the more ancient and far-flung of creatures; the predictions of Einarth Twobeards were of ominous accuracy, and the accounts assured that Einarth had been right a concerning number of times.

"Your gift?" he repeated, somewhat curiously now. She attributed something to herself, something inherent, but how did that relate to the cards? Perhaps not everyone could be like Einarth or this Libra-girl, but Nightshade was more than certain that his magical knowledge could rival even those of Equestria's grander mystical academies. "What gift? he did not speak quite as derisively- he was genuinely intrigued, now, and spoke with a genuine fascination. "It looks to me like it's the cards that hold the secrets to the future."

A more blunt pony might have balked at Libra's wish to speak in riddles, but Nightshade had devoted his life to magic. Riddles and obtuse haranguing were par for the course.

That smile slowly faded. She didn't seem to take a shining to this stallion, no matter how intriguing and... captivating his eyes were. He was so thin, obviously too wrapped up in his studies to even consider food or civil conversation. Her whole world began to consist of showing him. Ponies rarely ever doubted her gift before. He was really the only pony who was ever so skeptical. She also had the slightest inkling he was looking down on her because she was an earth pony... She calmed herself with a deep breath, eyes calming gazing at the stallion.

"The cards hold the secrets- but it takes a special to be able to choose the ones that tell somepony what they need to know. Here, let me grab another deck." she spoke offhandedly, smirking. From under her counter did she pull a golden silk pouch. "This, is the Gilded Tarot. It's perfect for those not so inept. Go on, try to pick one card without looking at them. See if you know what it means, and what it has to do with ME."

Challenges can be played both ways, and Libra definitely understood that. She smiled cunningly, eyes heavily lidded. She wore light eyeshadow, and it just made that glint of mystery in them even brighter.

"Even a simple earth pony like me can do it, right?" she grinned, theatrically extending a hoof while balancing on her hind legs. "If you can accurately pick and read a single card... I'll tell you what you want to know."

As Libra stared into those eyes, she could sense a slight change in their gleam. There was no humor in them, but there was this... insatiable hunger behind them. This burning desire to know, and to find things to figure out- it was interesting, to say the least.

Libra had never had the need to seek information out. Only to know about the mystical and how it could help other ponies. Moreso, she always wanted to know how to help ponies in the love department. She had seen so many lonely ponies, remembered traits, remembered interests, and always paired her friends up with other friends... The pairings always worked! It wasn't until she had gotten her parents back together (after a particularly painful separation) that she discovered she felt an immense joy in seeing to ponies deeply in love with each other.

And now, here she was, staring these intimidating eyes that didn't seem so. They changed even further after his spoke of showing her a piece of art and asking about it's creation. And then, that new challenge.

Your move... With that playful smile.

Challenge Accepted. She would turn from him ,holding the cards in her hooves, head raised and nose turned up snootily. "Well, pardon me. One so magically inclined SHOULD know how to work them. After all, magic is an inborn ability, right?" she asked, opening a coy eye to stare out at him from its corner. A grin- bright and white and gleaming'- sat on a lovely face, on a head that was tilted just so, giving her the playful look so desired, but kept herself appealing to the audience that leaned forward with excitement. these two magical ponies in such a duel. And then, from through this gleaming, joyful and engaging came a giggle. A sweet noise, that showed that now, knowing the rules was having a good time. Wait... What?

Nightshade did so love a duel. Duels of wits and words- be they chess or be they discourse- were as pleasing to him as any duel involving spells and incantations. More so, in fact, as the stress of magical use on a pony did incite some bitterness in both parties. Strain and strife, even only in the moment, could fertilize even the smallest seeds of hate in the right pony. Nightshade found that tactful words and jovial tones kept emotions, and the chance for any bitterness, well restrained.

Nevertheless, Nightshade was somewhat glad to have come off so viciously to their audience. It allowed for a little less tact, a little more spice, and a means to parry and riposte her point with ease. It was simple, and as audacious as could be. Though Nightshade was a pony of precision, he knew that a heavy-hoofed blow could easily leave an opponent staggered: "And just what would an earth pony know about magic in the first place?" he declared, a wide smile as clear in his tone as on his face, "You're casting those cards around and talking about the future like you've got a horn the envy of Celestia herself poking out of your head, and it simply isn't so!" No more was he indignant or furious; no, now was the time to press home this advantage, and so his tone was more jovial than anything Condescending at worst, but ultimately looking to press this new girl further.

In his crimson eyes was a recognition- her laugh had resonated with him, and he had accepted that she knew the rules. Now, she would have to play.

Again, he spoke low. He drew a little closer to her as he did, setting his forelegs upon the stall. "You can choose your game, but you can't change the rules..." he paused, allowing a mischievous glint to make itself clear in his eye, "Lucky for you, we make these rules up as we go.".

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A Mysterious Exchange

(Transcribed from [[19]] by Asteria and Temie)

The loud roars of trains filled the air on a sunny afternoon on the edge of Canterlot. The heavy beating of wheels on steel could be heard as numerous ponies walked back and forth between trains and the platforms. Many eager ponies entered the town, ready to go shop the amazing wares that only Canterlot had to offer.

A strange unicorn mare stood near the edge of the platform, her body garbed in a black cloak that hid all of her features. Her crimson eyes peered out from beneath the cowl of her outfit, glancing back into town as if she were patiently waiting for someone. A dark pelted griffon with a bag tightly fastened around his neck exited the famous unicorn town, his yellow eyes spotting the darkly garbed unicorn. He smirked faintly, approaching her as he reached into his bag for something. The pair silently discussed something, nodding back and forth as some sort of exchange was made. The griffon quickly boarded a train and left Canterlot immediately, leaving the strange mare alone. With their exchange finished, she left the train station, walking back into Canterlot, destination unknown.

Vintage had decided to spend her free time of from work in Canterlot and had brought her art supplies and pet rat, Oliver with her. With Oliver riding atop her head and her old blue saddle bag jammed pack with art supplies she bounded off the train and noticed that a pony who looked like she was waiting for a passenger. As all the ponies got off the train and it departed Vi noticed that no one had stopped for this pony. She felt terrible that the pony she was waiting for didn't get off so being friendly and all she went up to the pony. Before she could get there she noticed the griffon gave the pony something which she hastily stowed away.

"Hello there, I'm Vintage. What is your name? Vintage asked intriguingly.

"What did that griffon give you?"

"It's so warm out, why are you wearing that cloak?"

"Do you need help with anything? Are you waiting for anypony?"

Sounding more oppressively than she had meant Vintage cheerily stared at the pony.

The black mare had no intention at all of going onto any train, silently watching her griffon friend leave. When addressed suddenly by her white counterpart, the cloaked mare blinked, the suddenness of her appearance being a bit disturbing. "Hello Lady Vintage, I am Asteria," she remarked simply, not sure of the intent of the cerulean maned mare.

"The griffon gave me money for services rendered. I wear a cloak for privacy. I was waiting for my griffon friend and he just recently arrived. I am no longer waiting for anyone in particular," she patiently replied to the unicorn, Vintage able to detect the patience required to ask so many questions in a row with no room to insert her own comments.

"I was about to return to my office and check if further work was required of me," the black unicorn explained for the eager mare, her stoic face hiding any thoughts she might have had about the inquisitive unicorn that had asked her so many questions.

Vintage wished she had stuck her hoof in her mouth to keep her from talking. What had gotten into her, asking such a strange pony so many strange questions.

"Oh my, I'm sorry. I don't know what got into me. I'm heading into town maybe I can accompany you to your office? Well, is your office even in Canterlot?"

Looking at the big mare she realized what a shrimp of a pony she must have looked like talking to such a elegant pony. She felt overwhelmed and helpless, what was she doing?!? She thought to herself; Well Vintage, you've finally lost it, Congratz.

Asteria paused faintly, thinking over the odd offer from the friendly green eyed unicorn. "I have never received a request to visit my office. If that is what you wish to do, then I will do nothing to hinder you, please follow me to my officer here in Canterlot," the black mare calmly remarked, gesturing for Vintage to follow after her. Her black hood glowed a deep red as she carefully lowered the hood of her cloak to better reveal her head in the light of the day. The light of the day revealed that her pelt was indeed the darkest of blacks. Her short scarlet mane was clearly visible as it lifelessly draped down her neck. The strange mare glanced back on visage with her crimson eyes, curious as to what brought her here.

"May I ask what brings you here to Canterlot? And may I also ask why you are interested in my establishment in particular?" the unicorn asked patiently, offering the very talkative mare two questions of her own. It seemed as if Asteria was completely unaware of why this white mare had asked her so many questions, but it was rather hard to tell if that was the case, her unchanging expression masking her thoughts well.

Vintage watched as the mare removed to show the way she really looked. She wasn't a pony that appeared very light hearted, then again Vintage never judged a book by it's cover. Looking at her on white pelt that glimmered in the sunlight she flipped her short blue mane.

" I came to Canterlot to visit the gallery. I just loved meeting new ponies and you just stuck out to me and you seemed very intersting. I was being a little rude when I questioned you."

As she stood there her pet rat, Oliver, climbed out of her saddle bag and sat on her head. Normally this wouldn't have bothered Vintage, but she wanted to impress this pony.

Asteria calmly trotted beside Vintage as she explained that she was here for some art show. She listened as the slightly hyper unicorn explained that she was interested in making friends with her. The white mare then suggested that she stood out, drawing her calm gaze of the mysterious unicorn.

"In Equestria, black pelts are not the norm in world full of brightly colored ponies. I took no offense in your inquiry, it is only natural to question things that you do not understand," she calmly remarked for Vi, the unicorn genuinely seeming to not be bothered by her quick flow of personal questions. "The gallery? I returned a stolen piece of artwork to the gallery not too long ago. I wonder if it is the same one?" Asteria explained calmly, not making a huge spectacle of herself as she mentioned it so casually.

The black mare watched the rat climb atop her new associate's head, whiskers feverishly shaking as the strange pet reacted to the environment. The Canterlot pony did not seem frightened by the sudden appearance of the rodent, her head faintly cocking to the side as she examined it. "Lady Vintage, your pet seems to be rather lively. There are some ponies in this city who will not appreciate it's appearance though. While ponies in Canterlot have more education, relative to other cities in Equestria, they are also disproportionally bothered by such creatures," she remarked calmly for Vintage, the strange unicorn never seeming to be bothered by anything.

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(Transcribed from [[]] by and )

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