//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Uneventful // by QrV //------------------------------// Chapter 3 The Pancake did not serve exclusively pancakes, but they were definitely its main source of income and were widely agreed to be the best item on the menu. Nopony in Emerald Pines ever made pancakes. Why would they, if they could just go to The Pancake and buy much better ones. Soon, The Pancakes chef will be the only pony in town knowing how to make pancakes, making the two generation long plot to monopolize the pancake industry in Emerald Pines a success. Even the interior design of the place seemed to be pancake themed. Light wooden walls and furniture, round tables and chairs with round seats, paintings depicting exclusively flat, circular objects, round windows looking at the back yard with a round pond (no fish in it, presumably due to round fish being too hard to come by). The candelabras hanging from the ceiling were actually cartwheels with candles on them. Even the plates were flat and round, if you can believe such a thing. In preparation for the inevitable wave of hungry, involuntary tourists, the owners called in all friends and family, who were adding tables to the back yard and scouring the town in search of eggs, milk, flour and sugar, but otherwise the place was very quiet, with not a single table taken yet. A calm before the storm no doubt. Keeping in mind Bixi was supposed to look for them soon, Rain Shadow picked a table right in front of the entrance. Mere seconds after they took their seats a young female unicorn with her hair braided into a ponytail and tiny flour freckles all over her face, came over and said cheerfully: -Hello and welcome to The Pancake! - she gave them menus - We have the best pancakes under Celestia's reign, but we also have a full lunch menu, if you'd like something else - She smiled at them. If the other sings weren't present, one could tell by how genuine and energetic she was that the cataclysm was yet to strike this place. Nopony can stay this happy and innocent after serving pancakes to a significant part of a convention. Even with everypony coming in slowly due to the queue, it's going to be quite an endurance run. Rain Shadow, who worked some shifts at her aunt's candy and souvenir store when entire trips of little fillies came in, was happy that she got to experience this pony before all of that takes its toll on her. -It'll be pancakes - Rain Shadow said, abandoning her apocalyptic visions. She glimpsed at the menu, saw that they still served what she had the last time she was there and said - The Chef's Special for me. All the menu said about the Special was that it is 'The best thing you ever had and more'. If Rain Shadow’s memory served her right, that was a rather accurate description, at least when it comes to pancakes. -Great! And for you? - the waitress asked Maud. -Same, but double - Maud didn't even bother looking at the menu, or the pony asking, instead she was playing with her pet rock by pushing it in circles on the table. Inexplicably, it seemed like she was trying to catch it and it was escaping her grasp. -I don't know miss, The Special is really big... -Yeah Maud, if I remember right that would be larger than some fillies when they get their cutie marks. Maud looked up at them and said: -I could eat a Caledonian mountain. Having no response to that, and not exactly feeling like discouraging someone ordering more, the waitress cut any potential discussion by smiling even wider asking: -Anything else? -Nope, we're good. -Great! - the waitress noticed Maud was back to playing with her rock and didn't bother asking her separately - We are working at one hundred percent right now so your orders should be ready in just a couple of minutes - she said, striking a very official looking pose. Rain Shadow has never seen somepony this proud of a quickly made stack of pancakes. At least not before the pony who is making said stack even knew they were going to make it. As the waitress trotted away happily, Rain Shadow took a look around. She had a couple of minutes to kill, with an empty stomach aggravated by the perspective of soon to be consumed food and the characteristic smell a place like this wouldn't be able to get rid of in a million years, and the only distraction being a very one sided conversation with Maud. Unfortunately a quick survey of her surroundings presented no alternatives to trying to chat with Maud; The Pancake had no customers, as all of the locals fled to avoid the hungry tourists, and all the tables and other furniture were cleaned to a shine, offering no food for thought. Starved in more ways than one, she turned back to Maud, who was still playing with Boulder, stoically pushing him around the space where, hopefully soon, her plate will be. The characteristic sound of stone scratching on polished wood, joined after a moment by the sizzling of pancake batter, has launched her back to her childhood, to a moment where a silly game involving rocks has caused her to be as hungry as she felt right now. Longer ago than she would like it to be, little Rain and a bunch of her friends were practicing throwing rocks at a target. And there probably wouldn't be any problem with that, if they weren't a group of pegasi throwing rocks at a cloud, which one of them sculpted into a proper target. They even calculated that most of their projectiles should hit a bare rock wall, hurting nopony. What they didn't consider, was that the stones they launched would bounce of the wall, chipping it and shattering themselves, bombarding old Thunderclop's house with something only a little short of an avalanche. As a punishment they had to clean his house, and they wouldn't get to eat before they did. The house was a mess even without their help, so she went to bed hungry and exhausted that day. She swept rock shards and pebbles from the floor for hours... -Who ordered the single special? - a voice asked. Rain Shadow shook her head. -That would be me - she said. She got so lost in her memories she could almost feel her neck hurt from all that work. And she absolutely felt the gut twisting hunger. As soon as the pony placed her plate in front of her, she took a large bite from it, leaned back in her chairs with her eyes closed to enjoy to the taste and savor the feeling of quickly dissipating stomach pain. Meanwhile the pony who served her said to Maud: -The Double will take a bit longer, but I promise it's worth the wait, you know. -It's fine - Maud was ready to wait for the mountain she said she could eat to come to her - It should take twice as long. Rain Shadow opened her eyes and what she saw confirmed her suspicions. Unless the waitress aged several decades since she took their order, the pony who served the same order was a close relative of hers. She looked almost exactly the same, had a very similar voice and a very similar, though a bit more worn out, smile. She turned back to Rain Shadow and asked: -So, how are you liking our little specialty? -It's even better than I remembered. -Oh, so you were here before? - Rain Shadow confirmed with a single nod and she continued - It's such a shame what happened to you, you know. Is it true that half of the train has been stolen without anypony noticing? -I see the rumor train is going full steam ahead already - Rain Shadow said with a smile - Surprisingly, that's not that far from the truth. Two carriages full of baggage were stolen inside the tunnel and nopony noticed until the train saw the light of day again. -Oh goodness, that's awful! So many things went missing in that tunnel lately I knew something crazy must have happened to have everypony talking about it again, you know. Old Granny Heckletrott didn’t get her shipment of apples earlier this month and... -Wait - Rain Shadow raised an eyebrow - you're saying this isn't the first time things were stolen from the train? -Oh no. Bags and suitcases have been disappearing in there for months, you know. -And the police aren't doing anything about it? -They were, you know - she waved her hoof dismissively - But nothing they did helped. Until now everyone was sure it was a gang of pegasi lifting the bags from the train, you know, since they vanished without a trace every time. I don't know how many pegasi it takes to lift a train car, but I don't think that theory holds any water anymore, you know. -Yeah, I can see why you'd think that - Rain Shadow pondered for a moment - I assume none of the stolen baggage was found? -I'm afraid that is the truth - the pony frowned - If your things were taken and you can't pay for the food we can work something out, you know. -Thank you, we are fine luckily. But I know someone who lost something very dear to him... At that point a pony walked by her, carrying a plate so stacked with pancakes and other goodness only an earth pony could have even lifted it. As he entered Maud's field of view, Rain Shadow thought she almost noticed a small spark of emotion in her eyes, not enough to even be sure it was there, let alone tell what it was, but a spark nonetheless. After setting the plate down in front of Maud, the pony wiped the sweat of his brow and said: -Unfortunately I don't get to make The Double Special very often, so every time I do make it I am surprised with its size. Remember - he added looking straight at Maud - there's no shame in not eating all of it. You really don't want to regret ordering this - he smiled. Maud looked at him, her eyes not ones to know regret, and simply started eating. The pony, having served thousands of meals in his life, recognized she doesn't want to talk, wished them a good day and turned around to walk away. -Honey, let's let them eat in peace - he said to the other pony. -Of course, of course, but I haven't asked them about the thing yet, you know. -Do it quick then - he replied, rolling his eyes - I think I spotted more customers through the window. -Sure, sure - she said and turned towards Rain Shadow - I actually meant to ask you about my niece. She's the one who took your orders - she clarified, seeing a confused expression on Rain Shadow's face - it's her first time helping us, you know. -Really? She was really well prepared then. The only reason I could tell she was new to this is her smile. It was like I was her friend, you know? But I'm sure she'll learn. The pony didn't know how to respond to such feedback and just stood there trying to think of something to say for a moment, but luckily for her, she was quickly bailed out by somepony calling for her from the kitchen. She smiled and said: -Have a good one, you know. She nodded at Rain Shadow and then at Maud and started to walk away when Maud said: -I know. The pony's face blanked for a moment as her mind hung up on Maud's claim to knowledge, but it was quickly dismissed as she smiled and trotted away to the kitchen. She also has worked in this business for quite a few years and learned how to handle a tough customer. And in this case it meant letting them handle themselves. Left alone, the two hungry ponies went ahead and started eating. Sitting opposite each other at a round table, with their mouths constantly full, they had no choice but to stare at each other or into their plates. Maud elected to do the latter, and began to systematically empty her plate at the pace of a moving glacier, which is the fastest speed you'll never notice. On the other side of the table Rain Shadow decided to see, if the way Maud eats matches up with everything else she has learned about her so far. You can learn a lot about a person by the way they perform such mundane tasks as consuming food, and besides, you can ask any granny and they'll tell you watching someone enjoy their meal can be much more enjoyable than having said meal yourself. Though Rain Shadow did not feel like becoming an old lady just yet and wanted to enjoy eating herself as well. The way Maud Pie ate might be the closest thing to a cosmic constant in this world, where all of the movements in space are effectively dependent on the quality of an alicorns alarm clock. She worked in cycles, each one a perfect replica of the others - first she would lower her head to take a bite, start chewing as her head raised back to the default position and lower it again as she was ready to swallow, which occurred somewhere along the way. None of that happened too quickly however, and the majestic pace of the entire process made it easy for ponies around her to perceive what was happening as a force of nature at work, slowly eroding a serving of food, especially as the states the food found itself in between sometimes looked bizarrely akin to the works of wind or flowing water, twisted and held in place by some mysterious, difficult to comprehend forces. Rain Shadow found herself almost hypnotized, quickly discovering, that the certainty that each time Maud began to chew, she will stop doing after exactly the same amount of time, with the jaw movements being perfectly identical, makes her feel relaxed and, in some weird, mystic way, protected. The slow, repetitive movements entranced her, somehow making this not only the best pancakes she ever had, but also the best time she ever had eating anything. Trying to match the rhythm of Maud, her heart slowed down and her muscles relaxed. Without noticing, she slouched in her seat, the comforting sight of The Perfect Eater combined with large intake of sugar making her feel warm and fuzzy inside. She was as close to falling asleep at the table as it is possible in the middle of eating a massive stack of pancakes herself. Similarly, Maud seemed to be completely lost in the process of eating, not changing her pace as the only thing that could stop her, which was the food running out, slowly crept closer and closer. But Rain Shadow was not allowed to experience what happens when the unstoppable force of Maud meets the immovable object of nothing, as a group of chatting ponies walked in through The Pancakes main door. Their conversations, and, luckily incomprehensible, jokes pierced the bubble of peace and quiet that has formed around Rain Shadow's head, making her jump up to sit straight again and look around slightly confused. Their arrival also reminded her that they were in fact waiting for somepony, so, squinting slightly due to inexplicably feeling like she has just woken up, she began to scan the newly arrived group for familiar faces. Fortunately, the group quickly dispersed, splitting into groups of three and four, and taking over the far corner of the restaurant. As they went away, Rain Shadow spotted the pony she was looking for. A unicorn trying to look as small as possible, with his ears laid back and looking nervously around, growing more and more visibly distressed as he wasn't finding what he was looking for. As soon as their eyes met all of that stress disappeared from his appearance, his overwhelming relief visible even in the way he walked over to their table and how happily he rested his behind on the chair next to them. -So, how did it go, Bixi? - Rain Shadow asked. Bixi lifted himself back up a little and looked at her, not sure what she meant. His mind was still completely occupied by the hell of being possibly forced to ask for directions in a town currently so crowded with outsiders, most ponies on the street would be as lost as he was, so he would just have to keep asking and making more and more of a fool of himself. -What did go how? -  he asked, trying very hard not to think about the last five minutes of walking along a street, trying not to look lost in case someone wants to help him. -What were you about to do when we last spoke? -Oh, right - he said after a spell - It honestly went way better than I expected. Luckily I have a pretty good memory so I could answer all of their questions pretty easily - he smiled coyly - I was a little afraid when he asked me what I had on the stolen train car - he added - but I think I managed to describe it pretty well! The officer didn't ask me any questions and was writing all the time so I'm feeling rather optimistic about this whole thing! It might turn out to be a fun little adventure after all. -Yeah, sure! - Rain Shadow, being one conversation with the local ponies ahead of him, wasn't so convinced - Speaking of turning this into fun, maybe you'd like to eat something? These pancakes are absolutely amazing! Right, Maud? Maud was stuck staring at the post-apocalyptic landscape that was occupying the space in front of her. Once lush and capable of feeding multiple ponies, it had been ravaged by some cataclysmic event, left bare and blindingly shiny. A mountain turned into a plain of glass. The scale of destruction was staggering. -It's great - she said, realizing some input was expected from her. -See? Even she liked them, and I'm pretty sure there were no rocks in there. -I don't know - Bixi murmured, while looking over his shoulder at another group entering the restaurant - I think I'll pass, I'd rather be a bit more hungry for these delicacies you're trying to sell me. -I'm not selling anything. You, however, are missing out on a real treat. A real delicacy, as you've aptly called it - Bixi shook his head slowly, with a weak smile - Ok, ok. What do you want to do then? We have at least a couple of hours before the train leaves and I've already done everything I wanted to do here - she pointed at her empty plate. -We should go see the tunnel - said Maud almost instantly. -What tunnel? - Rain Shadow wondered. -The train tunnel of course - Bixi instantly understood what Maud meant - I'd love to go take a look at it too. You don't get too look at a cross-section of a mountain every day. -I guess you don't - admitted Rain Shadow - If my sense of direction serves me right, and it is yet to fail me, that path should lead you to the tunnel - she pointed through the back door, where, behind the perfectly circular pond, the forest started and a small clearing was visible. -And what about you? You're not going with us? - asked Bixi, trace amounts of disappointment detectable in his voice. -Don't worry, I'll go see the tunnel with you. I don't know why but I kind of want to see it now. But I'm going to fly back to the train station and see how much time we have to spare first. We wouldn't want to miss the train, would we? -Definitely not! - Bixi shuddered at the very thought of that - We'll get going then. It's not that far away I think, maybe we will manage to get there before you! -Sure, we can do a little race. Just don't get lost in the forest, I have feeling there won't be too many volunteers willing to search for you. *** Living in a town where the only tourist attraction is the train station (it reliably attracts tourist for at least as long as it takes the train to depart again), is not only tough, but probably also your fault. With just a tiny bit of creative marketing and applied gossip you can turn even the most mundane landmark into a five star tourist trap. It's not like some pony from Canterlot is going to travel across half of Equestria to visit a town he read about in a tourist guide, see that the fabled "Circle of Featherstones" is literally a bunch of rocks arranged in a circle, and come back home to inform every pony he or she knows about what a scam they were the subject of. No pony from Canterlot would ever admit to getting tricked by a bunch of highlanders, no, they would tell their friends what a great time they had and recommend the trip to them, only to smugly ask them how it was once they inevitably get disappointed too. And nopony wants to admit they didn't like something a friend of theirs recommended they did, so they will pretend they loved it and recommend it to all of their friends in hope of getting some revenge. But then again, maybe you don't want that type of ponies in your little cozy town. They'll only ever come once, but you might think it's still too much. You might think it's not worth it. You might even be right! Maud Pie and Red Beryl were walking through the pine forest surrounding the town of Emerald Pines, enjoying the fresh air and the perspective of delving deep into the rock flesh of mountain. The aura of palpable excitement surrounded the two ponies. In the cool shade cast by the mountain, chilling shivers of anticipation were quaking their bodies. This inexplicable agitation demanded elaboration. -Do you think we'll see anything unusual in there? -What is unusual? -Well... - Bixi stuttered - You know, anything interesting. -Rocks are interesting - Maud stated - We will find rocks in that tunnel. -Sure... After a long moment of silence, during which Bixi lost all hope for an 'interesting' conversation with Maud, she continued, as if such pauses were natural. -It was built using magic, so the builders have already found anything obviously valuable. I do not know of any unusual findings in there, and I would if there were any. However, the walls of the tunnel were cut cleanly, meaning there will be sights of indescribable beauty all around us once we get inside. A unicorn excavator might know how to carve out a tunnel and not make it collapse, but the glamor of slumbering magma, gently tucked in by the tectonic drift after it did its part in shaping Equestria, eludes them. For them, a cluster of iron rich olivine is just a dirty wall. They might respect the force of a million tons of rocks above their heads, but the power equivalent to a billion toiling ponies below their hooves is something they are not only ignorant to, but also unable to comprehend on even the most basic level of elements pressured into forming an involuntary union by the sheer weight of the world surrounding them. How can something that is happening everywhere since the start of time be considered unusual? We are about to enter the most spectacular museum of all time, one that was made by nature itself. We will be admiring the lustre of minerals, the purely incidental patterns formed by millennia of movements so minuscule, our meaningless bodies are absurdly inadequate in comparison. We will be looking at rocks. Rocks are interesting. The silence after that tirade lasted almost a minute, not even the birds daring to interrupt it. -Wow - was all Bixi managed to respond with - You sure know how to make someone want to do something. I'm ready to look at rocks! -Me and my sisters have a thing for manipulation. They walked a few more steps, when Bixi stopped, looked all around them and said: -Are you sure we're going the right way? I can't see the train tracks anywhere and all these trees look the same. They're even covered in moss from every side, and the sun is hidden behind the mountain tops, how am I even supposed to know what direction we're heading?! Maud stopped as well, and for the first time really looked at the trees surrounding them. They were all pines, and their trunks were indeed covered with moss up to the height of several ponies, where the living branches of the trees started. The ground was also covered in the same moss, making the entire landscape look monotone and confusing, as everything as far as the eye could see looked pretty much the same. Considering this was the northern side of a mountain and the sun never directly reached the ground in these parts, the low level of vegetation was not out of the ordinary. The mare slowly walked to the nearest pine, and looked closely at the moss covering it. She then ran her hoof over it, causing a surprisingly glassy, loud crunching noise. She than raised her hoof to her nose and smelled the bits of moss that stuck to it. -These are not emeralds - she announced, as confident as always - I smell iron. -Emeralds are green, not red, so there shouldn't be much iron in them - Bixi agreed - but why would there be any emeralds on the trees here? -The town is called Emerald Pines. But these look like peridot crystals - the disdain for whoever named the town was so absent from Maud's voice, the remaining void sucked in some of the light from the surrounding area. Or maybe it was just a cloud temporarily obscuring the sun. -Wait, is this really not moss? - he asked and touched the tree trunk himself. And instantly jumped away - It's sharp! -Yes, crystals do that sometimes. -But why are all these trees covered in them? This makes no sense. -Magic - explained Maud. It almost sounded like she was upset about that being the reason. -Lame - Bixi shared her sentiment. They moved on, both quietly wondering what sort of magic anomaly they found themselves in. Soon they found the train tracks, carved into the hill they were walking on. The face of the mountain was clearly visible not far away. They were getting close to the tunnel. From where they were, it looked like a mouth open in utter shock, the impression only strengthened by two perfectly round holes carved above it symmetrically on its sides, performing the role of eyes open in morbid surprise rather admirably. The sight must have been truly exhilarating every time the train came out of the tunnel. -There you are! - said Rain Shadow, landing right beside them - I barely made it on time it seems! I forgot how hard it is to fly after a heavy meal - She was breathing heavily and covered in sweat - Let's say I won, considering I could have landed a couple meters further ahead and be there first. -Won what? -The little race we were having of course! - her voice sounded odd, as if she was trying really hard to not pant heavily while talking. -Oh, right. I've kind of forgotten about it - he turned to Maud - We could have won if we didn't spend time looking at peridot moss. Rain Shadow blinked twice, as her mind decided to discard his statement due to multiple instances of nonsense. -Let's get going! - she said cheerfully. A few meters to the right of the tunnel entrance, a small shack leaned against the rocky mountainside. A minuscule building by any means, it was only as wide as its inconspicuous door and stuck out even less from between the rocks. Even with the ground in front of it heavily trodden with fresh hoof prints, it looked all but abandoned with a thick layer of moss on its slanted roof. Without changing her course, as if she was going there from the very start, Maud headed straight for the shack's door and opened it slowly, causing it to cry out a metallic scream of pain of long atrophied flexibility of its hinges. The little closet was stacked top to bottom with various tools and equipment, be it for maintaining the train tracks, climbing the mountains or picnicking. It had everything a pony visiting these parts could need, including the lamps required to be able to fully appreciate the inside of a mountain. Maud grabbed a lamp for herself and headed towards the tunnel. Bixi soon followed her, levitating one close to his head, but Rain Shadow hesitated, looking worried at the ground. -I guess these are from the police searching the tunnel earlier? -Who else would they belong to? - said Bixi over his shoulder - Come Rain, we don't have unlimited time. -Sure, sure, I'm coming. I just don't want to bump into anypony in a dark tunnel, you know. The three ponies walked into the gaping mouth of the mountain. The cold darkness swallowed them reluctantly.