The crowds of ponies had converged onto the square, littered with vendors and stalls offering more things than Thunder knew existed. Some stalls for games that had foals throwing spears at targets along a cable. Others for using arrows to hit targets that popped up from layered scenery. It was almost amusing to watch the young ones flinging arrows and spears only to tumble over on themselves.
The stalls that didn't offer the amusement sold odds and ends that may have been useful to the residents but held no use to Thunder. Small bits of food did, though, and he finally reneged.
A stall offered some rather odd looking apples, striped in a rainbow pattern. "Uh. What are those?"
The mare behind the stall smiled. "Never had a zap apple before, stranger?" When he shook his head, she smiled. "They got a bit of a kick. Bet you'll like it. It's two crowns apiece."
Thunder thought a moment, then reached into the bag that held the odd coins. He set two of them down, and she took them with a smile. Crowns. Right. Not sure why they’re called that, but forget it.
The apple did kick, but Thunder didn’t mind at all as he walked through the stalls. It all blurred together in a cascade of sound, till one spike in volume caught him.
“...From the good Driver Brothers themselves, we bring the power! Command machines with the stomp of a hoof! Breathe fire! Summon lightning! All these powers are yours with the condensed power of the Vigor! Magic in a bottle, now accessible to any and all ponies! You know our Prophet is kind. You know our Prophet is wise! And, he has commanded the good Brothers themselves to bring this marvelous invention to the masses!”
Thunder watched the crowd, as the pony on the grandstand continued to call out.
“Breathe fire? Lightning? How does all that happen?” One mare said to Thunder’s left.
“I know,” came the answer from his right. “Everypony has some kind of magic in them, but this really seems to go beyond even that.”
“The stories I hear is that it changes your body,” the left pony said, a small giggle escaping her lips. “Can you imagine?”
“That’s ridiculous!” her companion said.
Thunder listened to the two, beginning to question what he was hearing himself. Change a pony? How? Shouldn’t that kind of stuff not happen to ponies in the first place?
Any attempt to relieve his curiosity failed as soon as a teal mare with violet and blue hair sauntered up to him, bottles of something held in baskets on her flanks. “Care to give it a try, mister?”
The bottle levitated out to Thunder, who took it in an unsteady hoof. He examined the bottle, noting the odd design of the bottle. It had a top figure of a mare, seeming to swoon backward, the stopper in the shape of a heart protruded out of her chest.
Thunder looked at the bottle with some apprehension, but took the stopper in his teeth and yanked it out. Spitting it aside, he held it tight to drain the liquid into his mouth, swallowing immediately.
The vile stuff slid down his throat, making him shiver involuntarily. He gagged, then a sudden rush hit him. His vision blurred a bit, and he swore he saw the mare in question draw a heart outline in the air, a line of smoke appearing behind the hoof, before blowing a kiss that dropped Thunder to his knees.
He sat, gasping, trying to collect his now scattered thoughts. He shook his head, then looked up to see he was not alone.
“Bit of a kick, eh friend?” It seemed the pony on the stage had moved up in front of Thunder and now helped him upright. Thunder nodded, and the pony laughed. “They kick, but the kickback makes it all the more useful! Possession lets you command machines all over Ascension, telling them to do what you want! Isn’t that wonderful? And all you have to do is focus on the machine and stomp your hoof.”
Thunder collected himself, standing on his hooves again. “Where did this stuff come from, anyway?”
“The Driver Brothers themselves help distribute the Vigors all over Ascension. But, the marvelous invention of this bottled magic came from the Prophet himself! In his divine wisdom he decided to allow the profit and glory to his followers!”
More from this Prophet? thought Thunder. Seems there may be more to this than what’s on the surface.
The pony was still talking, but Thunder didn’t hear any of it. Most was geared to the crowd, and Thunder heard the word “cells” used, but the strength in his legs was back, and he was moving away.
--
The metal gate had a sign declaring “Raffle Stage” and Thunder knew that there was a way to his objective there. The mechanical gatekeeper seemed to think differently.
“Sorry, buddy. But, without a pass, I can't let you into the Stage. It’s all full!”
It had repeated that about ten times by now, despite Thunder’s protests.
It’s official. I hate machines. He turned back, the crowd from the Vigor stage in eyesight. What was also in his sight was a teal unicorn with violet and blue mane who winked at him. The Vigor? He turned back to the gatekeeper. So, all I have to do is focus and stomp my hoof? Alright. At this point I’ll even try a crackpot idea like that. He locked his eyes on the machine, who swayed there on its one support bar but did not acknowledge Thunder. He brought up his right hoof, then back down again with a loud stomp.
Suddenly, a wisp of something that Thunder couldn’t identify snaked its way out from under his hoof, hovering like a smoke trail to the machine. It wrapped the steel stallion in a blue aura, who made a whirring noise.
“Oh! Senator! How could I have not recognized you!” The gate swung open obediently. “So sorry to keep you waiting. Enjoy the raffle!”
Thunder walked slowly past the machine, who tipped his hat to the passing pony.
The yard there had fewer ponies and stalls, but a pair of brown coated ponies, each with dark red mane going down their necks trotted up to meet him.
“You?” Thunder could barely contain his surprise. “What are…”
The mare levitated a coin to Thunder. “Heads…”
“Or tails?” The stallion finished.
“Why are you here? What the hay is going on?” He demanded.
“Come on, now. Heads…”
“Or tails.”
He snatched the coin out of the glow, flipping the disc into the air with a practiced flourish of a wing. “Tails," he said in a monotone.
The stallion floated out a platter under the coin, which landed with a clatter. The two twin ponies looked at the coin, and the male smiled. “Finally!”
The mare shook her head, levitating a piece of chalk to the board that was strapped to the stallions side. “Yes, yes. Congratulations, brother. It was bound to happen. No one is completely the same.”
"So you say.”
The two turned away from Thunder, who began to voice a protest, until he saw two things.
One was the boards on the stallion’s sides. The “Heads” column had roughly a hundred ticks on it, and as the stallion turned, he saw the other board had the exact same thing. Only one lone line was in the “Tails” column.
The second thing was their flanks, and the Cutie Mark that they both had.
And both shared.
They rounded a corner, and Thunder gave chase. He had been moving faster, but the two had disappeared into the large courtyard that sat behind the buildings. Many other ponies, a few colts and fillies played around.
But no sign of the pair of brown ponies with the half Cutie Mark.
What does three circles around a blue ball mean anyway? And what was on those circles? More balls?