The Pony Whose Victory, is his Destiny
As much as I’d like to simply drop everything and go galloping off into the sunset, there are things that need taking care of. I had commitments in Ponyville that needed clearing up first.
The front door opened as Colgate returned from visiting her own house, a flock of bags floating in the air behind her. The bags were emptied onto my kitchen bench, spilling out a collection of green vegetables, fruit, a box of eggs, and some mixed yogurts. Colgate wrapped her bags up and said, “So, this is everything I had in my fridge.”
“Good,” I said as I emptied my own onto another table. Mine tended towards more milk and dairy, but with a good variety of fruits and vegetables. “The Trottingham train is a once a week thing, so we can’t have this all going off while we’re away.”
“That can’t be too much of a problem,” she objected.
Looking out past my fridge door I gave her a serious look. “Last time I forgot to do a clear out, the fruit salad evolved into a functioning civilization and was being invaded by mould monsters out of my yogurt by the time I got home.” I ducked back into the fridge to grab something at the back. “It was like the damn smooze.”
Colgate compared the two piles of food we’d built up between us. “How can we possibly eat all this?”
I leant back out of the fridge and grinned. “Way ahead of you, I caught Caramel while you were gone and had him call in on Lane as well. Everypony’s been told to be here in thirty or so minutes.” I glanced over my shoulder at the kitchen clock. “Speaking of which, we should get started on the food. Colgate, can you throw together a quick salad while I set up a yogurt and cheese platter?”
“Alright,” she replied unevenly, taking a knife and a few vegetables into her hold.
The hurried preparation bore some fruit before the first knock on the door. I put the yogurt bowl I was mixing fruit into on the lounge room coffee table as I went to open the door. Caramel, Carrot Top, and Noi were on my doorstep, a cake sat on Caramel’s back while Noi sat on Carrot’s. Over their shoulders I could see Thunderlane in the distance making his way over with Banana Fluff.
“Hello, Turner,” Caramel greeted me with a hoof bump. “I caught Mac in one of the outer orchards; he’ll be along once he can sneak around AJ.”
“Thanks for that, Caramel,” I replied. “You can put that cake down on the table and see if there’s any record you like the sound of in my collection.”
“Cheers,” he said, brushing past.
I shared a smile with Carrot Top. “Hey, Goldie.” She brought me into a hug and I peered around that wonderful mane of hers to get a look at her little sister. “Hi, Noi, how you feeling now?”
Noi smiled weakly back at me and said, “Really hungry.” She probably hadn’t eaten much, if anything, since the azalea poisoning last night.
“Well we got that covered,” I said before breaking out of the hug with Carrot. Leading them inside, Colgate came out of the kitchen and flashed a smile at Carrot.
“Hi, Carrot,” Colgate said as she walked over.
Carrot paused for a moment before saying, “Hi, uh, should I call you Colgate or Minuette now?”
Colgate shrugged. “You’ve always called me ‘Colgate’ before, so you can keep doing that if you want. Consistency is important.”
There was a knock on the door behind me. “One moment,” I said and left the two mares to talk to each other.
I was greeted with “Hey, bud,” by Thunderlane as I opened the door for him. He looked a little more cheerful today, though the feathers on his wings were still playing catch up. “You said there was free food?” he said while trying to look past me.
“I haven’t decided whether or not to charge you yet, Mr Bottomless Pit,” I said before turning toward a very haggard looking Banana Fluff. “How are you?”
“Getting better.” A cough interrupted her before she finished, “Slowly.”
“You sure you’re up to this?” I asked cautiously.
“Flu’s gone,” she said back hoarsely. “I’m just in the recovery stage.”
Lane leant forward. “Bud, she’ll be fine, but she’s like me right now, the food will help her.”
I stepped aside. “Try not to give yourself a stomach ache.”
“Never had one in my life,” Lane said cheerfully as he made his way in with Banana.
Looking out my door and across the street, I noticed lights on in Ditzy’s house. Figuring that I could be spared from the developing party in my house for a moment, I went across the street to invite my neighbour over. Perhaps Dinky could come over and play with Noi while Ditzy searched the table for muffins.
Knocking on Ditzy’s door, I looked back over at my place, and flicked my head back around again when the door opened. “Hello, Ditzy, I was just…” My eyebrows furrowed as I caught the dulled look on her face. The sort of look that’s halfway to a smile that you only wear when you’re trying to avoid looking sad. “What’s wrong?” I asked quietly.
Ditzy looked back over her shoulder and I leant my head forward to look around the doorframe. Cloud Kicker was sitting on a sofa, zoned out and staring into the distance. I doubt she even noticed me knocking on the door. Looking back at Ditzy, she nodded outside. Getting the signal, I stepped back and Ditzy followed me out. Once the door shut, Ditzy said, “Cloud’s mother has gone MIA.”
“Pegasus?” I asked and Ditzy nodded back. That didn’t sound good. When a guard is declared ‘Missing In Action’, it means that the guard in question has gone missing in one of the few places in Equestria where they can’t be sure that they’re safe.
When this happens to a unicorn or earth pony, there’s some hope that they’ve just been delayed, or gotten lost. A pegasus doesn’t tend to stay lost for long if they can still fly, so calling her MIA at this point just meant, ‘we haven’t found the body yet.’ Considering some of the things out there that could threaten an armed pony, they weren’t likely to.
“Is that all you know?” I asked solemnly, and Ditzy nodded back. I sighed. “I came over to say that there’s a party over my place and there’s free food.” I shot a glance at one of Ditzy’s front windows. “Cloud’s probably not up to that sort of thing, but the offer’s there anyway.”
“Thanks,” she said back.
“Take good care of her,” I said as we nodded our goodbyes and I made my way back across the street.
Music had sprung up in my absence, somepony had figured out how to get my turntable going and put one of the records on. The atmosphere around me quickly shed its depression and became cheerful again as I went back through my door. Inside, a decent party had gotten under way: Colgate and Carrot were chatting on the couch while others had spread around to talk or enjoy the music while eating all the food.
I made my way over to the couch where Carrot and Colgate were talking, getting just close enough to listen in. “…Noi’s teeth probably don’t need any special attention,” Colgate said as she chatted with Carrot. “If anything, the somewhat carrot exclusive diet has probably helped.”
“I suppose there isn’t anything to worry about then,” Carrot replied.
“Not yet,” Colgate warned. “Most of my problems are with the fillies and colts in town that practically live on sugar. It just takes a few friends and regular afternoon trips to Bon Bon’s stand to ruin all that good behaviour.”
Stepping in, I said, “Still scaring ponies into dental hygiene? I thought we got past that.”
Colgate sat up. “I’ve spent too long fighting against Bon Bon and Sugar Cube Corner to stop now.”
“A worthy crusade to be sure,” I said.
“If it means I don’t need to remove more teeth, it is,” she shot back.
“Well,” Carrot cut in, “As long as Noi doesn’t lose any teeth, I’m happy.” Colgate leant back and beamed that bright white smile of hers at me.
Since this wasn’t a battle I could claim the high ground on, I decided to move on. “Well, I’m going to check on things in the kitchen.”
Carrot stood up, “I’ll come with. Colgate, could you keep an eye on Noi for me?”
“Sure,” she replied with a nod.
On the way to the kitchen we passed Noi dancing to the music from my record player, and Caramel and Mac – he must have arrived while I was gone – were both making huge sandwiches from what condiments were available. The platters of neatly sliced vegetables made it an easy process for them.
In the kitchen itself we found Thunderlane and Banana, one of my knives was held in the latter’s magic along with a cucumber. Banana herself was up reared up, with her back against the counter while Thunderlane used what stability his crippled wings could give him to get up and kiss her.
Carrot Top shut the door behind us with a brief thump.
Banana’s eyes shot open and she dropped the knife she was holding, which in turn sliced through the cucumber before hitting the cutting board and then falling to the floor with a clatter. Lane froze, before awkwardly stepping back. Clearly they’d gotten used to living together over the last few days.
I rubbed my forehead. “You’ve been here, what, five minutes, Lane?”
Lane suddenly looked very sheepish; he glanced back and forth between me and Carrot. “We’ll, uh, give you a minute.” The pair left via the other door, which led out to the hallway instead of the party in the lounge.
With them gone, Carrot went over to the bench with the two halves of cucumber and put the knife back on the cutting board. “So, you’re going on an adventure with Colgate.”
“Got a request from… Siren’s ponies a few hours ago. Apparently there’s been a disappearance and I’m supposed to go look into it. A real last minute thing, I need to catch a train out tomorrow morning.”
“Don’t they have agents for that sort of thing?” she asked.
“Well it is in Trottingham,” I said with a shrug. “They probably want me because it’s my home.” I glanced around my kitchen and added, “Well, my old home. They might also be busy with other problems.”
“What other problems?”
“Another disappearance, something happened to Cloud Kicker’s mum.” Carrot’s eyes widened. I continued, “Two at the same time means they could be related, and other weird things might be happening.” Siren’s hinted as much in a few of the letters she’s sent recently.
We stood in silence, thinking about what could be potentially brewing before Carrot asked, “So why are you taking Colgate?”
“Breezie points,” I replied. Carrot gave me a questioning look, so I added, “She’s a walking rules violation. Time magic is part of her nature – It’s her mark – and right now the only thing stopping the EIS from noticing her is that the problem’s in my basket, but should she draw the notice of somepony else less forgiving, she’ll be in real trouble. The best way out of this is to make herself too useful to lock up. If she builds up a history of using her magic to help other ponies, the authorities won’t stop her. So that’s why I’m dragging her along.”
“Ah…” Carrot shrank down a bit. “And I was just wondering why you didn’t ask me as well.”
I mentally kicked myself. “Oh I’m sorry, Carrot, I didn’t think you’d want to.” I sighed and said, “Tell you what, next adventure, I promise to take you along.”
“Thank you,” she said before drawing me into a hug.
The morning after, with dishes done and an empty fridge switched off to save power, I collected Colgate before making our way to the train station. We both had bags on our backs and I had my hat – with its ‘accessories’ – on my head.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve done any real travel,” Colgate jabbered in the manic way some ponies use to control anxiety, “Or spent more than a day or two away from home.” She paused as we clambered up onto the low platform. “I did turn all my lights off at home, right?”
“You did.”
“Wait, what about—”
I put a hoof on her shoulder to forestall what could turn into a long list of things she’d forgotten. “Colgate, everything is fine, and it will still be fine when we come back home.”
“But what if—”
“You didn’t leave the gas on either.”
Colgate waited patiently on the platform while I paid for a pair of tickets to Trottingham. The conductor had to check the timetable just to be sure the route was even running that day. Once the tickets were paid for – and a receipt written out for a later claim from the EIS – I re-joined Colgate as we waited alone on the empty platform.
“So, you excited about going home?” she asked me.
I nodded calmly. “It’s been a while, I haven’t actually heard from anypony there in a long time.”
Colgate regarded me with surprise. “Don’t your parents write to you?”
Frowning, I said, “Well, I move around too much to give out a postal address, and I was supposed to be keeping a low profile while living in Ponyville.”
“Low profile?” she said sarcastically.
I gave her an aside glance. “I’m sorry, was I the one who saved Princess Luna?”
“Chasing me through Ponyville?” she countered.
“Alright, perhaps I’m slipping up a bit,” I said. “But I digress, I write home with postcards whenever I’m out and about. Mum must have quite the collection by now, along with the occasional photo I’ve sent back as well, but it’s been very one sided.”
“Well it’ll be nice to see them again,” she said cheerfully. “They must have a lot they’ll want to talk about. I’m looking forward to it.”
The prospect of that sent a few thoughts bouncing around my head, few of them good.
Colgate’s smile widened when she saw the frown on my face. “You think it’ll be awkward?”
“Awkward isn’t what I’m afraid of,” I muttered.
A whistle from down the track caught our attention as a column of smoke approached. The plume of smoke darkened as the engineers stifled the flame in preparation for coming into station.
“We might want to go down the edge of the platform,” I said with a nudge and led the way toward the Canterlot side. The locomotive blew its whistle again to let off some more steam as it came into the station. A rattle ran down the line of cars as they all finally came to a halt. The clanking from the engine stopping as the pistons fell to silence while the fire slowly brought steam pressure back up for the take-off.
The doors along the line of carriages opened as the passengers stepped out to stretch their legs. A conductor announced, “The train to Los Pegasus will be departing in ten minutes.” A queue of ponies formed to use the station lavatory.
Down the end of the platform where we were, things were less crowded. “This is us,” I said as I led Colgate to the carriage on the end of the train. The final car was a slightly different colour than the rest, and attached to the back of the brake van rather than in front of it. A sign beside its door said, “Trottingham passengers only.”
I held out a hoof and said, “Mares first.”
Colgate gave me a sardonic look over her shoulder as she stepped onto the train car, and ear first into a colt stepping out the door. They bounced off each other, with Colgate rubbing her ear while the colt straightened the gold helmet he wore. “Sorry, my bad, you okay?” he asked.
“Well if you…” Colgate started as she looked forward again. “I’m fine.”
The colt smiled and held out a hoof. “Flash Sentry, Twelfth Precinct Gendarmerie.” This was accompanied by a brief flutter of wings and what looked like a brief twinkle of light catching on one of his teeth. It was the kind of look that promised that not only did he have your back, that he was also hiding a spear wherever he kept his hammers.
“I’m…” there was a brief pause, and I knew that if I could see Colgate’s cheeks I’d see her blushing. “…Fine.”
Flash nodded slightly and went “Yes…”
I rolled my eyes and tapped her on the flank, saying, “Minuette, train’s waiting.”
She snapped out of it with an, “Oh.”
“Minuette,” Flash echoed, “that’s a nice name.”
“Yes it is,” I echoed while watching his eyes, nothing appeared.
Flash gallantly stepped aside with a nod for Colgate to pass, she promptly did, her tail perhaps swaying more than necessary. I followed for a few steps before turning around to face the ‘guard’. “Twelfth Precinct’s in Canterlot,” I said out loud, “and that’s law enforcement, not military.” I raised an eyebrow. “You’re a bit far from home.”
“Well,” Flash grinned back at me, “the things we do for love.”
“Is it for a pony or for Equestria?” I challenged.
“Yes,” his grin got wider, and I endured it for a silent moment. “Time Turner?” he asked.
“That’s me,” I said.
“You know,” his head tilted to the left. “I was expecting…”
I shook my head in amusement. “What, were you expecting somepony with pet breezie or a broad accent? Not all adventurers are blatantly obvious.”
“You’ve got an accent,” Flash said.
“I don’t, but I do have the hat,” I said while tapping the brim.
“And Miss Minuette,” he added more seriously, “Wasn’t expecting that.”
“Ah, she’s tagging along with me,” I reassured him. “Trained magus,” I added with a nod, “and likes using her magic for the greater good.”
“The greater good,” Flash followed with a nod. “Train should be leaving soon, let’s take our seats.”
Flash led the way into the carriage proper and took up a guard position at the back of the car while I sat down across from Colgate. Our guard certainly could sell the role. Could be an act, I noted to myself, all the way out here with a self-contradictory name to boot. If he’s actually who he says he is, I’m a griffon’s dinner.
As the train lurched into motion, I caught Colgate shooting a glance Flash’s way with a subtle smile on her face. I gave her a withering look and Colgate snorted back at me. “What? He’s cute. I can look, can’t I?”
I grimaced. “You can, but do you want to get the attention of an operative I don’t know, from an agency that includes rogue casters like you as part of their counter intelligence portfolio?”
The colour drained from Colgate’s face. “You don’t think…”
“I checked,” I reassured her. “He didn’t recognize your real name.”
“Right,” she sighed as she went back to looking over my shoulder at Flash.
“Minuette,” I reminded her.
She snapped out of it, bringing a hoof to her face. “Oh.” She took a deep breath and sighed. “I can’t help it, he’s just there and… never mind.” Colgate closed her eyes and switched over to sit beside me instead with her back to Flash.
Eventually the train came to a halt again, but this time it wasn’t at a station. Somepony in the brake van decoupled our car from the train and a whistle heralded the train as it departed again.
Colgate shot out of her seat. “They’re leaving us behind!”
Looking up from the newspaper I was reading, I said, “Calm down, Minuette. Trottingham’s on a branch line, there’ll be another engine along shortly to pick us up.” Taking a peek out the window, I added, “Speaking of which, here it comes now.”
Colgate leant out the door to get a look herself, while our erstwhile guard stood shock still behind us like a statue. Outside a blue tank engine, a small steam engine for light work, backed up toward us from its branch line. A squeak of its brakes, followed by a hiss of steam out of the engine’s pressure valve, heralded a clatter of the couplings before an earth pony in blue overalls clambered up into the carriage. “Alrighty you lot, we’ll be down in… blimey, Time is that you?”
It took me a moment to recognise the pony. “Stack?” I asked, not quite believing until he nodded back.
“I haven’t seen you in years, you muppet,” he said as he sauntered over.
I put down my newspaper, stood, and bumped hooves with him. “Just been everywhere else you haven’t.” I nodded toward the front of the carriage and added, “Since when do you run Tommy?”
“For five years now,” Stack replied. “Ever since the old gaffer thought he was getting a bit on for all the shovelling.”
Colgate held her head in her hooves. “Oh Celestia, those accents…”
“Hey,” Stack said, taking offence. “You’re the one with the accent here.”
I laughed before making introductions, “Minuette, this is Smoke Stack, old school buddy. Stack this is Minuette, traveling companion.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Stack bent forward and caught his engineer’s cap as it fell off his head, doffing it back on his head as he straightened up. “And who’s that in the back?” he nodded at Flash, who didn’t respond.
“Our escort,” I explained. “We’re here on official business.”
“You? Official?” He said, followed by a bark of laughter. “You’ve never been one for keeping to the straight and narrow.” Stack’s eyes furrowed. “Speaking of which,” he turned for the door, “better get us off the mainline before something else comes along and shafts us. Cheerio,” he finished as he went out and back to the tank engine.
Colgate sat down with a sigh. “Please tell me that nopony else in Trottingham speaks like that.”
I shrugged. “Stack’s got it bit more than most, but it varies.”
The train took off again, the small engine pulling the lone carriage onto branch line, pausing only for Stack to flip the points back again. Then it was all downhill into the Old Valley, bordered on both sides by white cliffs and the greenest grass you could ever imagine.
“Wow,” Colgate breathed as we passed into the valley.
“The cliffs are a mix of chalk and limestone,” I explained, “and the valley has a high water table, so the countryside is always green.” Judging by the note of longing in my own voice, I’d missed the sight of it. “Means we also have to be careful building as well, there are caves all through the ground here, so we can’t put too much weight on a spot.”
As the train reached the valley floor, the view of the white cliffs was blocked by the greenery surrounding the track. Eventually this also gave way to open fields filled with golden wheat, barley, orchards, and a windmill off in the distance. In the middle of all this was a small town, my home.
The train pulled into a small yard where a platform sat on the siding closest to the town. The other sidings held a few other train cars and the maintenance shed for Trottingham’s tank engine. We came to a halt with a clank and a whistle.
“Come on,” I nudged Colgate and we collected our bags. Our guard, Hurry-up-and-Wait remained where he stood. “Flash, you awake?” I called over, which didn’t really change anything. Colgate and I shared a glance. I couldn’t remember Flash even blinking in the last hour of the train ride.
Colgate hummed in thought, before looking back into one of her bags and pulling out a toothbrush – probably one of many – before using her magic to wave it in front of Flash’s eyes. “I always wondered if they actually just stood sleeping while at their posts,” Colgate mused, “They never seemed to move otherwise.”
I frowned and added, “As much as I’d like to leave him behind…”
Colgate glanced back at me. “Wake him up then.”
“And cop a steel shod hoof to my face for the trouble?” I asked rhetorically. “No thanks. You’re the one with magic.”
Colgate’s eyes narrowed. “I thought you were the brave adventurer with the—” I cut her off with a glare before she could say ‘time turn’.
“It still hurts,” I replied, “and brave doesn’t mean stupid.” One of Colgate’s eyebrows arched, and I added, “Not all the time, at least.”
Colgate spun her toothbrush as it hovered, waiting in the air. “Fine, I’ll do it, but if he’s not happy…” she gave me a ‘you know what I mean’ look.
“Considered yourself temporally insured,” I said as I prepped myself for a time turn.
Colgate sighed and tapped Flash with her brush. When that didn’t work she started running the rough bristles up and down Flash’s muzzle. Colgate looked back at me and I nudged my hat up and pointed at the watch face still concealed underneath, I could only insure for so long. Colgate shifted the hold on her brush and whipped it across his ear instead. Flash’s eye twitched, and as we came to toward the limit of my temporal insurance policy, Colgate poked our Sleepy Sentry in the eye.
Flash jolted slightly, and then stopped. Colgate’s toothbrush flew back across to us and into her bag. With her horn glowing brightly, Colgate pushed me toward the seats. We both sat down and Colgate hissed, “Act like nothing happened.” Then she released the magic she was holding onto with a relieved sigh.
Flash finished his significantly slowed jolt back in real time, with a “–ch”. Then I heard the soft tinkle of mail and metal plate as he probably looked around for the source.
I rummaged around in my bags, looking as distracted as possible. “Everything’s still here.” I looked back up from the bag flap as asked, “Ready to go, Minuette?”
Colgate yawned. “It’ll be good to stretch out legs, mine have gone all stiff.”
“Speaking of stiff,” I said, “Flash, you ready to go?”
It took a second for the guard to snap out of whatever alert gaze he’d gone into. “Did either of you see a horsefly or something?”
“Probably came in the window,” I dismissed as I stood up and put my bags on my back. “We’ve arrived, and that missing pony isn’t going to find itself.”
We gathered the rest of our things, straightened ourselves up and went out onto the platform. It was a station very similar to the one in Ponyville, and built around the same time as well. Along with the other buildings dedicated to the railway line, the station was probably one of the newest structures in Trottingham.
Smoke Stack stood on the other end of the platform speaking to a green pegasus, that took off and flew into town before I could hear what they were saying. Stack waved us over and said, “You’d all better head over to town hall. The mayor will be wanting to see you, Time, what with that official business and so on.”
“Will do, and thanks for the ride, Stack.”
Stack shrugged. “It’s my job, but I appreciate it.”
Our party left the station and went down the chalk cobblestone roads toward town hall. Heads turned to look as we passed, many I dimly recognized. Though I could hardly be sure they recognized me in turn, perhaps the guard following us was more important news.
“What do you think?” I asked Colgate as we walked into a market.
She looked around. “It doesn’t seem all that different from Ponyville at first: green grass, a few trees, a farmer’s market, and that mare over there selling apples even looks a bit like Applejack,” she finished with a nod at a stall owner.
“Must be a cousin,” I replied, an easy assumption since the hat she wore looked exactly like Applejack’s signature headgear.
“But…” Colgate trailed off as she looked around. “When you look closer, it’s different. The houses are sort of squarer…”
“Older architecture,” I chimed in.
“…and everything seems more organized, like rows of teeth,” she compared. “Everything’s beside a street, kind of like Canterlot.”
“That’s probably because of the rebuild,” I said while looking around, “it happened around the same time Canterlot was rebuilt. The layout is organized into a starlike structure with six laneways leading out from the centre circle. Before it all burnt down, the layout would have been something in a ‘build anywhere that isn’t taken’ sort of way.”
“The entire town burnt down?” Colgate asked. “I’ve never heard about anything like that.”
“Well, it was nine-hundred-ish years ago and during one of those big wars that we collectively try to forget. You know,” I said with a shrug, “one of the situations where a good bit of love and tolerance would have fixed everything?” I rolled my eyes. “In short, while everypony else was fighting, the town was razed by griffon raiders taking advantage of the chaos. Fortunately, the town was warned about the attack in advance, so we buried our valuables, harvested our crops, and waited it out in the caverns beneath the town.”
“They never found anypony?” Colgate asked.
“Can’t be sure, but the stories say they didn’t,” I replied candidly. “The caverns are extensive and often flooded. Not a place a bird would go, especially when their kitty half is scared of getting wet.”
“We’ll have to find a guide to help search it then,” Colgate announced. “If somepony’s gone missing, then they’re probably down in the caverns.” Her stride took on a more confident step. “Where else would somepony hide something?”
“They would already have looked,” I pointed out and added, “If they aren’t still looking now.” Colgate deflated a little bit. My father used to point out that with so many ponies in the world, most of your own ideas would have been thought up by somepony else as well. The key thing was that when you do find an idea nopony has acted on, you need to act on it as soon as possible. “We’d better check with the mayor to see what’s been done and build on that.”
“Who’s the mayor?” Colgate asked.
“Well…” I said while looking around, Trottingham had changed while I was gone. “Old Chestnut used to be the mayor, but now I’m not sure. It was a long time ago.”
The avenue opened out into the centre circle of the town. It wasn’t too crowded today, and most ponies were sitting under the massive oak tree that dominated the space. On one side of the circle was Town Hall, a somewhat imposing building that – saving renovations – was built from solid wood and marble from a different and darker era.
On the other side of the old oak was the Horseshoe Theatre, its entrance guarded by a pony wearing black armour. The Theatre is one of the premiere centres of the performing arts in Equestria, where actors learn and perform their trade into front of Trottingham’s critical audience before touring the rest of the country. Many of Bridleway actors learned from the masters who performed here.
We got a few more looks as we crossed over to the marble steps and big mahogany front doors of town hall. “Flash,” I said back over my shoulder, “let’s make an entrance.”
Our guard grinned and took a brief flap forward ahead of Colgate and me, before pushing the doors open. Flash walked through the gap, scanned the lobby, and stood aside. I walked in with Colgate beside me, the both of us looking important with our guard and confident demeanour.
It was a shame nopony was there to see it.
“Ah,” I muttered dejectedly. Colgate giggle snorted, while Flash kept his professional demeanour up.
A door opened at the back of the lobby and a mare with a little holster of quills and paper on her back hurried over to greet us. “Mr Turner, It’s a pleasure.”
“The same,” I replied while trying to place her face in my memories of home. While most ponies in Trottingham gave me faint memories, this clerk didn’t match any.
“And you,” the clerk said toward Colgate. “Apologies, we were only forewarned of your arrival a few minutes ago. The Mayor is just finishing something up and will be with you in a moment, if you’d like to wait in his office?”
I blinked. “Uh, thank you.”
“Please, come this way,” she said turned to lead us.
I shrugged at Colgate and followed the clerk’s lead across the lobby past a receptionist desk that sat unoccupied, but not unused, and just past Trottingham’s own royal clock where it sat in a place of honour at the base of a double stairway. This royal clock looked just like the one I kept time by in Ponyville, though the Trottingham one was significantly older.
We continued up the flight of stairs built on either side of the royal clock, at the top of the staircase was another mahogany door emblazoned with, ‘Mayor’s Office’. We stopped before the door and our guide nodded back at me and said, “Please make yourselves comfortable, and Mr Turner, it’s good to have you back in town again, sir.”
“Thank you,” I replied, whoever you are.
Colgate used her magic to open the door and we walked into a room that sharply contrasted with the grand atrium. It was light and airy for a start: a section of wall had been replaced with a huge glass window that bathed the room in light, presumably for the carpet’s sake which was a well-tended field of grass. The grass flooring, growing in actual earth, gave the room a uniquely fresh smell, and judging from the slight wetness of the grass, it had been watered recently.
“Wow,” Colgate breathed as she turned around to take the entire room in. “It’s so, so…”
“Earth pony,” I added. Not just any earth pony either, this was the work of a master in the art of lawn maintenance.
A slight pit started forming in my stomach as I glanced over at Colgate, who twisted on the spot of grass where she stood. “It feels nice to stand on this.”
Flash grunted, “It’s okay,” showing typical pegasus disdain for anything on the ground.
I kept looking at all the little details around the office. “I’m more impressed by the effort it takes to grow a lawn inside on the first floor of a building.”
“Assuming it took much effort at all,” said another voice, the kind of voice that waved a red flag in front of a bull to tempt it, the owner knowing full well that not only could he take the bull by the horns, but he could ride it to Canterlot and back. “Bit o’ plastic, some piping for drip watering hooked into the bathroom, and roll a bit o’ me namesake down over it all. Only took a few hours, might even have sung a bit.”
I’d guessed it, but I still didn’t believe it. Turning around to look back at the door I asked, “Who was mad enough to make you Mayor?”
The greying stallion in the doorway grinned back at me. “That’s the great part of democracy, son, its everypony’s fault.” His grin disappeared as he turned to look at Flash Sentry. “’Okay’, is it?” he said with an aggressive shrug. The mayor threw his head back over his shoulder, “Get out.”
Flash straightened and glared back, the mayor met the glare with his own as his lips split just enough to show a hint of his teeth. Flash’s eyes shifted to me and I gave him a slight shrug, I knew better than to get involved. The guard’s glare retreated back to a neutral expression and walked stiffly toward the door where the mayor’s secretary waited.
“Inky,” the mayor said without looking back over his shoulder, “keep Iron Sides here distracted and cancel my next meeting, I’ve got to spend quality time with Time.” The secretary didn’t seem to have a problem with that, eyeing Sentry’s armour as he walked toward her. Flash was a little more enthusiastic as he reached the door as well.
Once the door shut, the mayor continued, “When that flippy little twit Ollie came back here babbling that you of all ponies had just gotten off the train, I thought he was pulling my leg like one of those bloody actors,” he nodded toward the theatre. “Imagine my surprise seeing you walk in here bold as brass without so much as a telegram saying, ‘Coming home, stop. Prepare a parade, stop. And a virgin mare, stop.’” He nodded at Colgate with a slight grin. “Though I can see you’ve taken care of that last part.”
“Excuse me,” Colgate said with a glare while lowering her horn.
The mayor brought a hoof to his chest. “I’m sorry, did I offend you? Honest mistake, you’re not a virgin.” Colgate must have flinched, so the mayor struck again, “No, I’m right, you are a virgin.” He returned his attention to me. “Which is a shame, because I want to have grandfoals before I die of a bloody aneurism.” Colgate squeaked, the mayor grinned.
“It’ll be your own fault too,” I chastised. “Getting elected mayor? Your mane’s going grey already.”
He snorted back at me. “I’ve held this office for years and my reign of terror still has a long time yet.”
“Colgate,” I began, pointing toward the mayor. “This is my father, Sod Turner. And, Dad, this is Colgate – also Minuette – she’s here to help me investigate the disappearance.”
“It’s nice—” Colgate began gratingly.
“Hold on,” Dad cut Colgate off, “What disappearance?” he scowled.
My eyes narrowed. “I was told somepony went missing.”
The old Sod tensed and cursed under his breath. “I called that thing off, it’s not a disappearance.” I held up a hoof and twirled it, motioning for him to continue. Dad just sighed, “It’s just Page.”
A pit opened up behind my heart, and I froze. Colgate on the other hoof didn’t see the relevance and asked, “Why’d you call it off? Do you know where she is?”
“It’s not the first time,” Dad said as he went to sit behind his desk. “She throws herself into her writing; sometimes you don’t see her for weeks.” He snorted. “The only time she leaves her desk is when she’s forced to, or otherwise she’s off in her own little world. A couple of her school friends filed a report with the guard after they hadn’t seen her for a few months, and I called it off because she told me not to worry because she’d be out of touch for a while.” He bent down behind his desk, where I heard a drawer slide out.
“And they believed you?” Colgate asked.
Sod Turner dropped a file onto the desktop with a snort. “Why not? I’m her father after all, and it’s not the first time one of my kids ran off into the sunset,” he said while giving me a pointed look.
I grumbled, “At least I sent postcards.”
“You get a ‘C’ for participating, your sister gets the A+ for submitting a letter,” he slid a piece of writing paper out, “and season tickets to the Trottingham Company’s Bridleway shows.” A set of red bordered tickets were slid out onto the desk.
Stepping closer I looked down at the list of applicable shows covered: there were the usual classics like Roamer and Tulip and Celestia, the only new show on the list was Princess of Love. “Huh, I actually saw this one when I was in Manehattan last month,” I said pointing at Princess of Love.
Colgate looked at me with an arched eyebrow. “You went to see a romance?”
“It was more than ‘a romance’,” I countered. “It wasn’t much of a romance in the conventional sense anyway.”
“Did you enjoy it?” Dad asked.
“It was accurate,” I admitted. “It managed to keep close to the actual events, while embellishing the story for the audience without losing its point. So it was pretty good.”
“Good,” Dad replied, “Because Page wrote it.”
I blinked. “Really?”
“So she works for the Theatre then,” Colgate surmised. “What does the letter say?”
Dad spun the latter around and read it out aloud, “Dear Father, I’m working on something new over at the theatre, and I’ll be out of contact for a year while it develops. It’s a big secret, and so I can’t talk about it, or be seen for a while. Tell mother I love her. Page Turner.”
Frowning I mused, “Sounds like her.” Pausing to consider my ability to judge, I added, “I think.”
Sod harrumphed. “I last saw her almost a year ago, before this letter was left on my desk. But I thought this was her writing, so I called off the investigation.”
“But,” Colgate said, “You’re not sure.”
“She’s my daughter,” Dad replied, “When I heard nothing after a month I started to worry again, but I trust her. She’ll reappear when she wants to.”
“But,” Colgate added, “Why is the EIS interested when you shut down the investigation?”
“Don’t know, don’t care,” Dad replied.
“Dad,” I began. “We’ve been sent here with a guard neither of us know as escort and given very little detail about who we’re supposed to be looking for.” I raised an eyebrow, “Does this add up?” I prompted.
Dad growled. “When it doesn’t add up, you don’t know the whole equation.” He kicked something solid under his desk. “If that’s it, then some jacked up twit’s trying to be clever, switching multipliers around and cancelling stuff out, and in my town too,” he said while tapping himself in the chest.
“This doesn’t mean there’s a plot or a scheme,” I said, trying to sound reasonable. “Don’t assume malice,” I half quoted a piece of advice Siren had given me many years before. “The EIS probably have their reasons for looking into this and not telling us everything.”
“You said it yourself,” Colgate began, “Siren didn’t send you here. Do you trust the entire EIS?”
“Nope,” I said. “Just saying we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Especially if we can’t see the whole equation,” I added while shooting a glance at my father.
Sod harrumphed. “I prefer to think they’re all out to get me, so when I find they’re not, I’m pleasantly surprised.”
“So,” Colgate asked, “if there is a trap, what do we do?”
“We spring it.” I smiled at Colgate and finished, “On our terms.”
Colgate gave me a questioning look. “Why would you willingly walk into a trap?”
“Because the best way to figure out what someone is doing is to make them think that everything is going according to their plan.” I gave her an aside glance. “Can’t let them know that you’re onto them.” Turning back to look at Dad, I said, “So whatever’s going on, Page is involved. We need to find her.”
Sod stood up, waved at us to follow and went over to window. The window looked down over the town square. “Then you’ll need to go speak with them,” he nodded toward the theatre on the other side. “She spent the better part of her time over there before we stopped seeing her.”
“Right, talk to the actors, got it,” I said before turning to leave.
“You probably won’t get it,” dad said over his shoulder. “The Black Knight’s guarding the door, and they haven’t let anyone in for a month.”
“Worth a try anyway,” I said with a shrug. “At least we can pretend to be following the script the EIS set out for us.” I beckoned at Colgate. “Let’s get Hurry-Up-and-Wait and see what kind of show the actors have in store for us.”
“Right,” Colgate said and turned for the door.
Dad stood up and leant forward, supporting himself on his desk as he glared at me. “Don’t you go disappearing either; your mother has been waiting a long time to see you again. If you skip town again, I’ll send somepony to tie you up and drag you back here.”
I smiled sheepishly as I followed Colgate, and said, “I’ll keep that in mind.”
We picked up Flash on our way out. True to his name, the colt had moved quickly on dad’s assistant, and was flirting with her across the reception desk. The assistant had a goofy smile on her face as she giggled at something the guard said to her. I called out to him as we crossed the lobby and Flash said his goodbyes before joining us again, the assistant gazing forlornly after us as we left town hall.
Outside, the sun was lower in the sky and more ponies had gathered around the town oak for afternoon tea. A couple carts had appeared, offering tea, coffee, biscuits, and scones, while a small flock of birds circled above – probably watching for crumbs or an unattended scone.
Somewhere a clock chimed four times. Four O’clock, Tea Time. My own belly growled to demand a full pot of tea and a side of scones, orange scones if possible. Unfortunately the other half of this endeavour didn’t share my hunger.
“Come on,” Colgate called back as she led the way through the crowd. Flash overtook me and I picked up the pace as we entered the eye of the storm. By some unspoken agreement, none of the Trottingham locals went within fifteen lengths of the Theatre entrance, and I didn’t feel too thrilled about it either. Colgate seemed to catch on and pulled up with Flash Sentry beside her about ten lengths from the statue at the centre.
I approached a little more gently and stopped beside her. “Minuette, this is the Black Knight.” Standing in front of the open side of the theatre’s horseshoe shape was a suit of Unicornian style armour. It was the kind of kit normally on display in Canterlot mansions that provides full coverage from hoof to horn in plate. It was, quite naturally, black, and a caparison style cape in dark grey completed the set. The knight didn’t look armed, but anything could be concealed under the cape.
Colgate’s eyes shifted from the knight and back to me a few times. “Is there actually somepony in there?”
“The Black Knight himself.” I frowned and added, “Or at least we think it’s a ‘him’.”
“I thought he was just a story,” Colgate said.
“He is,” Flash said as he straightened himself up, looking unshaken. “The stories of the rogue knight date back to before Equestria’s founding. The armour might be that old, the pony...” Flash shook his head.
“It is a story,” I said evenly, “The best kind of story, one that keeps being retold and performed through the ages. When a good actor plays a character, most ponies might never imagine anyone else could fit that role, but with some characters an actor finds he can’t be anything else anymore.” I stared into the eye slit of the knight’s helm and caught a brief hint of blue in the shadow. “Rumour has it that this one never took the armour off again.”
Everything was silent for a moment, even the crowd behind us had fallen quiet. The knight still hadn’t moved, but you could almost feel a watchful feeling in the air. I leaned a little closer to Colgate and whispered, “Go on, he’s waiting.”
Colgate tensed, but then released. “Uh… isn’t this your thing?”
“You were leading a moment ago,” I replied. “Isn’t he ‘blocking your path’?” Deepening my voice I added, “If somepony tries to block…”
Colgate took a breath to steady herself, and was about to step forward when the statue’s head turned to face her. “I don’t rock,” she almost squeaked.
“I do,” Flash said with a grin before stepping forward. I followed our guard forward a few lengths, and as we stepped closer the knight turned to properly face us, we had his attention.
I opened my mouth, reconsidered my words and greeted with, “Hail, Sir Knight, we wish to speak with the troupe leader of the theatre.”
“Entry denied,” replied an echo like voice. “The troupe is currently out on tour, and theatre is closed.”
I tried to catch the blue of his eyes again and asked, “Did Page Turner go with them? If I can’t speak to the leader, I’ll happily talk to my sister.”
If the knight was surprised by my words, I couldn’t see it through his mask. “Miss Turner is currently occupied, and I won’t allow anything to disturb her.” There was a subtle movement in the knight’s stance and helm tilted forward to point his horn toward us. It wasn’t said, but the threat was there.
So she’s in there, I noted inwardly.
Flash didn’t take the threat lightly, stepping forward and opening his wings to challenge the Black Knight. “We’re here on behest of her Royal Highness, let us in.”
The knight widened his stance. “Be it queen, princess, or guard, none shall pass me.”
Our guard started forward to accept the challenge, saying, “If you think you can just—” and the knight responded before he could finish his sentence. The following tussle moved quickly, too fast for me to follow. A few moments decided the battle, and the knight threw Flash onto his back before slamming a hoof against his helmet to knock him out.
Colgate gasped, “Celestia!” Similar gasps came from the crowd gathered behind us.
“Whoa,” I said to myself. After blinking a few times, I decided I needed to see it again for myself. “Colgate,” I said while tapping her on the shoulder. “I’m going to roll that back, can you slow it down?”
“Yeah…”
“Reset,” I said aloud, and the fight broke out again. I gave Colgate a nudge and she activated her ‘clock-up’ time spell, slowing our time down to about a quarter of the normal. This time around, we had front row seats to see everything in glorious detail.
As Flash Guarding stepped forward to challenge the knight, the black armoured figure held up a hoof to stop him. Flash slapped it down and pumped his wings to shoot forward. The knight dug in with his hind-hooves and met The Flash with his armoured bulk. Flash, in the air, had only the momentum of his body versus the Black Knight and the earth beneath him – Flash couldn’t beat both. It was a good thing Flash was armoured as well, otherwise that could have been really bad.
As it was, the impact didn’t do our guard any favours. Flash was thrown back as the Knight went on the offensive. Flash brought up a leg to stop him in much the same way the knight had done a moment before. Instead of meeting Flash head on, the knight grabbed the outstretched leg, pulled his enemy closer and holding the leg against his armoured chest before pulling Flash into a barrel roll. The knight rolled easily over and back onto his hooves while Flash’s outstretched wings had caught against the ground. The knight wordlessly stepped over and struck the turtled guard across the helmet, knocking him out.
The low clang of hoof against helmet quickly sped up as Colgate ended her spell with a relieved sigh. The Black Knight’s head snapped around to face us as we stood just a couple of lengths away from him.
“If this,” the knight said as he tapped Sentry, “is what amounts to close combat training from a professional soldier; then the Royal Guard is grossly unprepared for what threatens Equestria from within and without.” A brief movement beneath the knight’s cape shook dust from its threads and laid it properly on his armour again. “Take him and go elsewhere, none shall pass my watch.”
“Minuette,” I asked, “bring Flash over and put him on my back.” I didn’t want to get any closer to the knight than I had to, mostly because I didn’t want to have to ask Colgate to replace my teeth.
A blue glow surrounded the unconscious guard and he was lifted up into the air. Beneath him a few feathers and a bit of red was left on the ground. To me it looked like Flash had broken a blood feather during the tumble onto his back.
As the magic released him, I nearly buckled under the weight. “Ugh, how do guards fly in this armour?”
Colgate lit her horn again and stood beside me, moving Flash so he sat across both our backs. “Better?” she asked.
“Much,” I replied with a sigh. “Let’s get going, we’re not going to get any answers here.” At least not without a little bit of sneaking, I figured. There was more than one way to open a lock box.
We slowly turned and started walking away, doing our best to match pace. Before we turned a corner, I looked back over my shoulder, and Flash, watching the Black Knight look at something green on the ground.
As it was, Flash was going to be out for a while, and remain concussed for a good period after waking up. Rather than buying a room at one of the town’s inns, I decided to lead Colgate toward a cheaper alternative. I’d have to visit soon anyway, or risk being physically dragged there later.
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The Black Knight is looking at something green on the ground... that can't possibly have any importance in the next chapter.
for this fic never joining the land of the dead!
Also obligatory
Great to see a new chapter, was enjoyable as always
Also Sod's virgin comment
Wait a minute, is that train the one I think it is? Nice to see Tme Turner does have a family.
4798689
Chekov's gun, if it's not important to the story, don't include it
Ah Minecraft, can't blame ya for the delay if that's one of the reasons
Minecraft is one helluva addicting game.
How is 5th addition? I've staying at 3.5 after 4th addition disappointed me.
I may or may not have performed a literal fist pump when I saw this had updated. Good thing no one was around.
Very interesting chapter. Loved the world building in Trottingham. And something green on the ground where a certain guard had been injured. Hmm... could our dear Flash really be a changeling?
The Train to Trottingham is Thomas the Tank Engine?
Its got white cliffs and beyond green fields? Heavenly
And there was a great fire of Trottingham at some point.
The secretary is Inky Pie?
Love his dad's name! I see so many jokes coming out of that.
Not sure about what character Sod is based on, his trap bit sounds Holmes or Dr Who like but he's a bit more down to earth than them.
My mind immediately leapt to Dr. Horrible, and this makes me wonder how he has more than one.
4799768 Why use 3.5 when you can use Pathfinder?
4798979
Red Herring.
If you want to fool your readers, make them speculate about an unimportant detail.
Not saying this IS one, but it could be
4799768
Well 5th Edition's limited to the starter set until the Player's Handbook is released in a week or so, but it's showing a lot of promise.
I've been told it's a lot like second edition, but with all the best parts of the 3.5 and 4th editions. The biggest thing is how smoothly it runs, 4th tends to end up with a long drawn out fight where 5th can be won in a couple of turns. Couple of night's back a rogue in my game had the distinct pleasure of calling out "Boom head shot!" as hit a goblin out of a tree with a single arrow to it's face.
It's also more deadly, we nearly lost the same rogue when he got mauled by ~Suddenly Wolves~
If you want to look into it, Wizards of the Coast have released the Basic Rules as a free PDF from their website. I printed the entire thing off.
4800994
Interesting,..
Link?
4801100
You can find the download here: http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules?x=dnd/basicrules
You've been missed.
I am so glad you are not dead Rodinga. For a while, I was beginning to think something happened.
Then a notification came to my inbox.
My favorite fimfiction story updated? Holy Pineapples YES!
EDIT: This really made my day. I had a rather cruddy one too, so the timing was perfect.
4801207 Oh you sod I've missed you! And your awesome profile picture!
This was brilliant, kudos friend.
As for who inspired Sod...? Yeah, I got nothing.
Thomas the Tank Engine? Really? Loving it, please keep up the stellar job!
My fucking mindset in a nutshell.
4816354
Dude, do you not realize that a self-fulfilling paradox is a type of stable time loop? It's basically the 'I'm my own grandpa' theorem where the mere act of traveling back in time (and what you do) makes it possible/causes the time travel in the first place. You said as much yourself; if Future-Twilight hadn't traveled back, she wouldn't have needed to travel back in the first place; therein making a paradox.
4798979 Chekov's Green Stuph On Da Ground is best trope.
Will there be a pony who walks the path of heaven? And quotes his grandmother?
I have no idea how I missed this one before. I'd read the first chapter, but apparently never favourited or tracked it for reasons which escape me - I must have been distracted or it was very late at night or something.
So it was a nice surprise to find a lengthy good story waiting for me to read it: good fanfiction I find is harder to come by at the moment.
Nicely done, looking forward to the next chapter.
I wonder
When can we expect a new chapter?
Wait, there's a FIFTH edition of D&D out now?! Didn't 4E just come out a few years ago?
Am i the only one who wants to read the story of this civilization? Or at least a story about them trying to conquer Time Turner.
Turn tables, time powers which they use to aid others and abuse to acquire currency, and a coolness factor that cannot be conceived by any normal mortal. Are we sure this isn't Dave Strider reincarnated as a pony?
Thanks for the comment stream, Chimera. I've been waiting for you to finish before answering some of the rhetorical questions.
5122783
1) Both types of magic have the same penalties, and naturally both are hard to notice. The protection is technically the same, but witnesses to mind control are much less forthcoming.
2) Oh it's just you seeing that innuendo. The story is loaded with moments that only the audience would interpret like that while the characters are blissfully oblivious.
I know my audience, you've all been reading Winningverse for too long.
5125530
Well, he's just getting in before the universe hits the Save button.
5117119
Yep, and they both know it.
I'll try to get the next chapter out soon.
5129116 Sweet. Thanks for answering my questions. Can't wait to see the next chapter!
I re-read this today in one sitting. The previous time I had read this was when I was completing my mandated military service. It has not been updated since those boring days, when I read this out on patrol in the cold, damp, windy condition of the Hanko archipelago.
And you know what?
That's a damn shame. This is easily one of the best stories on this site. It's slice-of-life-y, but Turner's character has more than enough depth to change something that would probably be boring anywhere else, into something magical and interesting. I like all of the characters in this story, and that's actually a huge rarity for me. It's just written so well.
I realize that people have a hard time caring about ponies these days. It's understandable, people grow up, and I myself can say I have a hard time actually watching the new episodes. But I think this story stood the test of time. It doesn't make me cringe. It doesn't make me gag. It actually gets me hyped up about the Equestria-that-might-have-been.
I could go on and actually review everything from start to finish, but that's not the point of this comment. I'm here to remind you, the reader, and you the author, to not give up. I don't think this story will fade into obscurity. And if it will, it will stay featured on my user page till the end of time.
Eagerly waiting for an update,
Your friend, your fan,
SliQster
6106151 Check the writers user page. I asked about the progress on the story and was told that it was not moving very fast due to real life stuff but still in progress. Best you can do to help keep the writer going would probably be to just keep showing your enthusiasm for it.