On our way out, Rusty Flashlight flies up to the second floor while I just walk, seeing how I still can’t fly, meeting back up with him afterwards. As I do though, I see a cutie mark. I remember seeing them on a few ponies as I looked at them from the side, but I never got to see one up close. The cutie mark is that of two flashlights that make a plus sign, one pointing down, and the other pointing ahead of him, both having the same rough design as the top of the punctured structure across from the hybridized staircase.
“Hey Rusty.”
“Yeah Carve?”
“Those flashlights that make up your cutie mark...”
“Yeah... what about them?”
“Why do they intersect each other the way they do?”
“Hmm. I do have my trusty flashlight to help me see. The way those flashlights that make up my cutie mark intersect mimics the range of where ponies usually shine flashlights on the job of one like mine.”
“And... why do they look so different from the one you’re holding with that rough soil color design on them?”
“Oh. Well, that design would actually be rust. Rust is one of the many things you’ll commonly see if you’re an urban explorer.”
“A what?!?”
“An urban explorer.”
“What’s that like, Rusty?”
“Let’s just put it this way. You’d be one of the first ponies, or changelings in your case, back inside a given building. In this case, that building is Rolling Acres. Now I know every name that’s present here.”
“I can’t say the same for myself, which only I can say so on a potential level.”
“You don’t have to. I’ll show you around. Just be careful of the glass around here.”
I smirk.
“Heh. You can say that again.”
“Eh. Saving that for when necessary.”
I nod at Rusty as we continue straight to...
“Uh, why are we headed to...”
“The Court of Twelve Trees?”
“Uh, well, that place that gave me terrifying thoughts of the potential aftermath of the failed Canterlot invasion.”
“So, The Court of Twelve Trees.”
“Uh, okay. You can call it that. But why are we headed there?”
“You never experienced the entirety of Rolling Acres, no?”
“Well, not really. I pretty much saw how to navigate it. But that’s it. I never got any details beyond this point. I can’t get any details beyond this point.”
“But why not?”
“Well, I couldn’t get past this part of Rolling Acres because it reminded me of Chrysalis’ hive and its potential future.”
“Welcome to my world. As an urban explorer, memories always pop up at different points in time as I explore. I got used to it a long time ago.”
“I wonder what it’s actually like.”
“It varies. Resurfacing memories can trigger any emotion really: disbelief, ecstaticism, sadness, anger, shock... even confusion.”
“So, what does this ‘court’ remind you of?”
“Equestria, to be honest.”
“Well, what part of Equestria, Rusty? Canterlot? Capital Mountain? Cupcakes?”
“It reminds me of the entire country and its geographical contents.”
;=;
Rusty Flashlight flies into Ponyville with the flashlight he almost never leaves without, taking a deep breath as he lands. The town is exactly how he imagined a town of this size would be like. It’s nothing eye catching, busy, alongside ponies just going about their merry day.
He catches sight of an oak tree shaped house to the west though, scanning for any passersby before he can enter the oddity. It looks to have no writing on it, much like the rest of the town. However, next to the front door is a hot pink sign simply with an open book on it with the standard sand colored pages with a brown cover.
With the coast clear, Rusty Flightlight, out of curiosity, walks up to the front of the door and knocks.
“Hello?!?”
Rusty Flashlight freezes.
That’s weird. I could’ve sworn that house looked vacant. But apparently not.
“Hi. Uh, who’re you?”
Who’s that pony? She looks prestigious.
“Hello!!”
“Wah! Whoa. Wha-”
The pony in front of Rusty giggles as he shakes his head. Having opened the door, the pony before him reveals to be a unicorn with different shades and variations of purple. There are bangs in the indigo mane and tail with two stripes: one that is near pink and one that is practically her coat color. Her cutie mark is of a near hot pink six pointed star covering a white one, all surrounded by five others of the same color as the covered star.
“Sorry about that. I was lost in my thoughts. I’m Rusty Flashlight, you can just call me Rusty. Nice to meet you. And you are...”
“Twilight Sparkle, but Twilight’s just fine.”
“Okay. Thanks for letting me know. I was here because I was looking for places that-”
“Places like The Castle of the Two Sisters?!?”
“Wait. How could you tell?”
“Those flashlights on your cutie mark?”
“Oh that. Yeah, I came exploring different towns across Equestria for infamous vacant places.”
“Well, you could go to The C-”
“I already explored that ages ago. I don’t want to go there again because of the Everfree Forest.”
“I understand. Hey, I know one place that you could visit. Spike had recently seen it before you came here when we were looking for one of my old letters.”
“Spike? Who’s Spike?”
Suddenly, Spike walks up between the two’s conversation.
“Hey Twilight. I found that old letter about the two tickets.”
“Thanks. Hey Spike, what was it that you saw recently when searching for that?”
“Huh? Oh yeah! Akron!”
“Ak- who now? Twilight, can you explain?”
“Sure thing Rusty. Akron is in a place that works almost exactly like the Everfree Forest, sans the many kinds of horrible monsters. Disregarding the weather and the plants, it’s actually pretty safe.”
“Really?”
Spike nods.
“Yeah. It’s kind of like that world’s version of Ponyville. However, whatever you do, beware of Rolling Acres.”
“Well, okay. See you around Twilight. Bye Spike.”
“Take care!”
Twilight waves Rusty Flashlight Goodbye as he takes to the skies to find this new location.