//------------------------------//
// 8 - Haven's Return to The City 
// Story: Haven 
// by Xplounder 
//------------------------------//

“Big Mike’s? What the hay is Big Mike’s?” Haven said, confused. He had been to The City many times, but had never once heard of Big Mike’s. 

“Maybe it’s a bar or something. I don’t know; It sounds like a bar name to me,” Shimmer replied.

“Eh... Maybe, but I’ve never heard of it. It could be that the place is closed. Assuming this has something to do with Everfree, he died years ago. It’s not very often that a place stays open that long,” Haven said in disappointment. 

“But it’s still worth a shot!” Shimmer interjected, realizing that the situation was bringing Haven down. “If we take a train, we can be back at The City by tomorrow!”

“If you have the money for tickets, I guess it could be worth a shot, but I’m not making any bets,” Haven said, still with a disappointed tone.

And sure enough, the two ponies began to make their way down the mountain, on their way to the Crystal Empire to board a train. 

Everything was going smoothly. Aside from the mild exhaustion from having not slept that night, Haven and Shimmer were enjoying a shock-free night walk, interrupted only by frequent small talk about how hungry Shimmer was.

The beaten path from the mountains to the Crystal Empire was beautiful at night. The grass blew in the end-of-spring wind, and the owls hooted from nearby trees. 

As the sun began to rise, the Crystal Empire was in sight, and after a few miles they found themselves once again at the shimmering crystal gateway. The Guard, recognizing them from their previous visit, opened the gates and greeted them cheerfully. 

“That guy sure seems nice,” Haven whispered. 

“He probably just caught glimpse of the money I had last time,” Shimmer said, halfway joking as she pulled a Bit out of her saddle bag to tip the gatekeeper. 

The Gatekeeper, very pleased with the gesture, thanked Shimmer numerous times as the two continued to walk away. 

The train station was right next to the gates, so Haven and Shimmer approached to read the train schedule. Luckily, being as though it was trading season, The City was among the only destination on the map, aside from a few other stops. The earliest train to The City was at 9:00 AM. 

“We still have a couple of hours. While we’re waiting, we should try to get a good breakfast,” Shimmer said, 

“Uh.. I don’t know, Shimmer. I reeeallly don’t want to miss this train,” Haven said, with an overly exaggerated voice.

“I’m buying.” 

“Meh. Two hours is plenty of time to get breakfast. Great thinking, Shimmer!” Haven said as his stomach growled.  

They got breakfast at a small diner about 10 minutes from the train station. It was some of the best food any of them had ever had. French toast with a cup of coffee and a side of custard. It was a dang fine cup of coffee. They’d had I don’t know how many cups of coffee in their day, but that was one of the finest. 

After breakfast, they headed on back to the train station. They were still a little bit early, but that meant that they were among the first in line. When the clock struck ten, the ticket counters opened, and Haven and Shimmer got two tickets to The City. Being that they didn’t have any luggage, other than their saddle bags, they were boarded rather quickly and, soon enough, they were on their way. 

“So, Haven, would you rather lose your horn, or have it growing out of your flank?” Shimmer asked, in a freakishly serious manner. 

Haven chuckled. “Well, I guess if I had to choose between the two, I’d choose my horn to be coming out of my flank.”

“Interesting...” Shimmer trailed off. 

“How about you?” Haven asked. “Would you rather lost your rings, or have them growing out of your head?” 

“Oh, dear. I guess I would have to have them on my head.”  Shimmer said. “But would it hurt my head hanging from the wings like that?” 

“Well, you’d have to work out your neck muscles in able to avoid breaking your neck.”

“I guess I’d go with them on my head then,” Shimmer ended the conversation. 

They arrived in good time at The City, and made their way to the city hall to see if Big Mike’s had any records of existence. On their way, several people recognized Haven from the big scene he had made several days prior. Avoiding the laughing, they soon arrived at their destination: City Hall. It was a very large, beautiful building made almost entirely from wood. 

“What was that all about back there, Haven? The other ponies laughing, I mean,” Shimmer asked.

“It’s a long story,” Haven said, unamused. 

“Okay, then,” Shimmer said as they walked through the beautifully stained wooden doors. 

Haven and Shimmer approached the young mare at the desk who was sorting through paperwork and answering phones. 

“Excuse me,” Haven said. 

“Just a minute, hun,” the worker replied, putting her call on hold. “Okay, what was it you were wanting?”

“Oh, well, I was looking for some business records. I need to know of any place that might be or might have been operating here at some time by the name of Big Mike’s.” Haven said.

Suddenly, at the mention of Big Mike’s, the place went from quiet to quieter, and the young mare working the desk hung up on all of her held calls.

“Big Mike’s?” The mare asked, almost as though she hoped that that wasn’t what she heard.

“Uh- Yeah... Big Mike’s. You ever hear of it?” Have asked, very confused.

‘Look hun,” the mare began, pulling out a pen and writing something down on a piece of paper as she whispered. “You’re lucky, and I mean very lucky, that Discord’s guards aren't here right now. You’d be taken to the castle on the spot if you were to even whisper that name around one of them. See-” the mare paused and looked both ways, “Mike was a friend of mine. He got involved in some weird stuff. Mind you, he never let me in on exactly what it was. And I think he did that for my own good too. I don’t think he wanted what happened to him to happen to me. Anyway, here,” the mare said, handing the paper over to Haven. “Be sure you’re alone when you read that. Now leave.” The mare ended sternly, returning to her work as if nothing had happened. 

Haven tried his best to walk out nonchalantly, but it was pretty obvious by the look on his face that something had happened. Fortunately for him, however, Discord’s guards were too busy collecting “taxes” from the vendors to notice that something fishy was up. 

Haven and Shimmer headed to a small park away from all of the vendors, as well as Discord’s guards. 

“Let’s read it already!” Shimmer slightly shouted.

Haven double checked his surroundings to make sure the coast was clear and pulled out the note. Surprisingly short, it read:

“Go to Kenny’s Motel - Kenny was a good friend of Mike’s. Tell him 
I sent you there.”

“Kenny’s Motel?” Haven thought out loud. “I think I stayed the night there before I left the city. Seemed like a pretty shady place as far as I could tell.” 

“Do you think it’s safe? You don’t think it could be a trap, could it?” Shimmer said, concerned. 

“A trap? I highly doubt it. All we asked for was Big Mike’s. There’s no reason that they would want to catch us in a trap.” Haven said, reassuringly. 

The duo left the park and began to head to Kenny’s Motel. They hurried there quickly, and arrived in a matter of minutes. Sure enough, it was the same place Haven had stayed several nights prior. The two approached the door just as soon as Kenny barged out of it.

“The light was on last night; I’m sure of it!” Kenny yelled to a couple of other stallions who were following closely behind him. 

They were loaded to the ‘T’ with mountain climbing supplies, and seemed to be in a great hurry. 

“If we take a train, we could make it there by nightfall, but we need to leave ASAP,” another one of the stallions said, exiting out the door. 

Haven and Shimmer stood there in disarray, watching the three stallions hurry off. 

“Oh, crap. They’re talking about the light at the mountain. They have to be talking about the light at the mountain! What else could they be talking about besides that light at the mountain?! And worse - What are they going to do when they find out it was us who made it come on?! Crap! Crap! Crap!” Haven yelled, almost going into a panic. 

“Shut up, Haven! They’ll be gone for at least a couple of days. We have time to leave if anything goes wrong. But for now, guess what?” Shimmer said, almost happily.

“What?” Haven said, beginning to calm down.  

“They left the door unlocked,” Shimmer said with a smirk. 

“Do you think it’s safe to go in? What if there are more in there?” Haven asked.

“Only one way to find out,” Shimmer replied, opening the door.

It was empty. Completely empty. The lights were out, the room was clean, and there was no sign of anypony sticking around.

“Oh, yeah...” Shimmer murmured happily under her breath. 

They began to search the place top to bottom, making sure to leave no trace of their snooping.Unfortunately, however, they found nothing. Either these guys were brilliant at covering their tracks, or they weren't up to anything more than maybe a few backroom poker games. 

The two ponies were about to end their search when Shimmer came across something of interest. 

“Haven, check this out!” 

Haven turned around to see a faded outline of letters above the front door. The letters read “Big Mike’s”.

“This must be where Big Mike’s used to be.” Haven said, excitedly. 

This fueled the fire within the two ponies, and they began to search for clues faster and more thoroughly than before. But even still, nothing was found, and the duo was about to give up until Shimmer accidentally tripped on a rug. 

“Whoa! Shimmer!” Haven exclaimed.

“Oh, come on, Haven, I only tripped. It’s not that big of a deal.” Shimmer muttered while regaining herself from the fall, “ 

“I’m not talking about that! I’m talking about what’s under the rug! look!” Haven said excitedly. 

And sure enough, underneath the rug was a large door that looked to be a cellar entrance. 

Shimmer turned around and began to tug on the handle but it didn’t budge.

“It’s locked.” Shimmer said, angrily. “Wait- Haven, try the key!”.

Haven pulled the key that was in Joseph Everfree’s letter out of his saddlebag and approached the lock. He gently stuck it in and hoped for the best as he began to turn the key. 

*click*

Haven sighed with relief and began to chuckle in happiness, and with a light of his horn, he used his magic to pull open the hatch, and the two ponies entered inside. 



Next Chapter: Haven’s Fate