//------------------------------// // Virtual Honesty Part 1 // Story: Virtual Mischief, Augmented Darkness // by chaoticevl //------------------------------// Virtual Honesty Part 1 Stepping off the train the first thing Thomas noticed was the complete lack of any other passengers. The second thing he noticed was that Tall Tale seemed to be a much more industrialized town. There seemed to quite a few ten story buildings, but a lot of the town still seemed to be made of warehouses and workshops. The girls finished putting on their saddle bags, left the train and stepped up behind Thomas on the train platform. “Hey girls?” Thomas speaks up as he looks back towards the group of mares. “How did you manage to convince the engineer and conductors to bring you here?” Giggling madly Pinkie looks towards Thomas and says “She threw her weight around!” “Pinkie!” Twilight chastises her. “I didn’t throw my weight around.” Looking towards Thomas. “I asked nicely, but when they refused I had to tell them that I was Princess Celestia’s personal student and that if I didn’t get to Tall Tale soon the sun might never come up again.” “As I said she threw her weight around.” Pinkie said continuing to giggle, ignoring Twilight’s glare. “Well I’m glad you girls managed to get here without too many issues.” Thomas smiled towards the group hoping they could see he was sincere. “So where do we go first?” Stepping forward and pointing towards the center of town Applejack speaks up. “There’s an Inn around town square that the conductor swears by. Tall Tale really isn’t a touristy town, so they should have a room or two for us to use.” With their initial destination set the group began to move on towards the center of town. Pinkie continues her happy pronking gait while the rest solemnly walk. Even Rainbow Dash the one who preferred to float about was walking. Thomas noticed as they got farther from the train station the more ponies he could see wandering about. They all had this spooked but determined look about them. Quite a few gave cursory glances towards the recently arrived group of mares, but none seemed all that shocked. “Pinkie? Does anything seem odd to you about these ponies?” Thomas asks as he tries to keep pace with the bouncing ball of energy. “Nope!” Pinkie states mid bounce slowly floating back down to the ground. “Why? Should there be something wrong with them? They look scared, but what pony isn’t scared when the sun hasn’t risen even once in two days time. Do you think they should be screaming in panic?” “Yes!? I mean sure they’ve had a day to calm down about the sun for the moment, but how often does a ghostly bipedal creature walk into town?” Thomas asks. “Even if for some reason they think I’m a strange type of minotaur the fact I’m see through should cause some sort of reaction!” The entire group stops at this and looks at Thomas. Each of them gaining a look of understanding that he was right. Before any of them could say anything Pinkie quickly bounced her way towards an oncoming unicorn stallion. Stunned and not sure what she could be thinking Thomas and the rest of the girls just stare slack jawed as Pinkie has a quick conversation with the stallion. Pinkie points excitedly towards the group and the stallion looks over. A quick shrug and what looked like an answer the stallion turns and continues on his way. Pinkie with a knowing smile on her face bounces back and stops in front of Thomas. “It seems your only haunting us!” Sings Pinkie “Mr. Carver said he only saw five mares standing over here. He did add that the Mare with the hat might be interested in a new invention they just started making.” “Why would Ah have any interest in some random invention?” Applejack asks as she looks towards the retreating stallion. Pinkie shrugs. “He seemed to think it would be great for a farm pony like you.” “How would he know Applejack’s a farmer?” Wonders Thomas aloud. Rarity walks towards Applejack and points a hoof at her. “She does give off the aura of a farmer, darling. Just look at her, The well worn stetson on her head, her cutie mark, and those well toned muscles that show how hard she works.” Blushing Applejack pulls her hat down a bit over her eyes and speaks up. “Ah think he gets the idea Rares.” The girls begin to walk on and Thomas just stares at Applejack for a moment before catching up with the group. It didn’t take the group very long to find the inn that the train conductor had suggested. The inn itself looked like a two story log cabin. A Sign hung over the door that pictured a sleeping pony on a bed and another pony holding up a frothing mug. Looking towards the sign with a confused look on his face. “Is that sign the inn’s name or showing what they offer?” Pinkie looks back at the sign and with a smile on her face she says “It’s a bit of both.” Continuing to stare at the sign Thomas realizes too late that the girls have already gone inside and the door has closed behind them. “Crap!” Thomas mutters to himself as he tries to decide if he should pull the door open or not. “If I open that door I’m going to spook someone and I’m sure that will cause more problems than help.” Thomas looks down at his hands and remembers he still has the remotes. Though invisible to him they he could still feel them if he tried. “Duh I just need to see them and I can use this to teleport myself to their side. Now I just need to find a vantage point.” Moving to the right of the door Thomas tries to see inside the building through the large bay window. The view is blocked by a large curtain though. “Come on I just need a peek inside!” Thomas was about to give up looking for a break in this curtain and look for another way. When it was pulled back by the wide grinning visage of Pinkie Pie. “Thank you Pinkie.” Thomas states as he smiles back and quickly teleports behind her into the building. Pinkie turns towards Thomas and giggles. “Silly Tomi Why didn’t you just come in the through the door?” “Sorry Pinkie I didn’t want to scare anypony by opening a door when no one can see me” Thomas scratches the back of his head in an embarrassed manner as he explains himself. “But you’re a ghost you could have just walked through it all spooky like!” As she says this she waves her fore hooves around in an imitation of a ghost. Thomas Laughs at Pinkie’s antics as he tries to explain. “It doesn’t work that way Pinkie. My hands are almost solid they wouldn’t pass through the door. The rest of me would but I couldn’t do anything more then look into the room.” The room they were in was large but cozy looking with a large fireplace roaring in the corner and magical orbs lighting the rest of the room. Other than the girls and Thomas there wasn’t anypony else in the room. Twilight and Rarity were standing near the bar looking around for the staff. Fluttershy had wandered over towards some paintings that looked like they might be of the local area. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were walking up to the second floor to search for staff. Walking up to Twilight and Rarity with Pinkie in tow Thomas couldn’t help but wonder where the staff were. “Did any of you call out for anypony by chance?” “A lady does not shout for service, Thomas.” Rarity chided. Rolling his eyes a bit Thomas looked back at Pinkie. “Hey Pinkie got any bells on you?” “Of course I do!” Pinkie reached into her mane quickly pulling out an assortment of brass bells. “I’ve got a small one,” this bell looked like it was made for a mouse. “A medium one,” This one was the perfect size to get someone’s attention but she kept going. “A large one,” Said large bell looked like something a town crier would wield. “And last an extra large one!” The last bell was as big as she was and Thomas had no clue where she had kept that one and truly didn’t want to find out. “I think the medium one will work for our purposes Pinkie.” Thomas picked up the medium bell and passed it towards Rarity. “If you wouldn’t mind ringing this for a bit.” Pinkie quickly put away her extra bells. Thomas just shook his head at the absurdity. “Of Course Darling” Rarity began to ring the bell. It let out a cheerful peal that seemed to be louder than it really had any right being. There was a sudden sound of falling kitchenware from behind the bar. Rarity stopped ringing the bell as she was quite started by the noise. Soon an older earth Mare walked out from the back room. She had a dark blue coat and with purplish mane that was slowly fading to grey. Her cutie mark was a set of playing cards. She had a slightly surprised look on her face. “My hearing must be going in my old age. When did you lot come in?” The mare asked. Speaking a bit louder than she normally would Rarity spoke up. “We’ve only been here a few moments. Miss?” “Oh pardon my manners. We don’t get many newcomers to town. I’m Gin Rummy, I’m the proprietress of The Sleeping Drunk Inn. So what can I do fer ya?” Thomas just face palmed at hearing the name of the inn. Pinkie giggles at him, and Gin looks towards her wondering what’s so funny. “Oh well we were hoping you’d have a room for the six of us?” Rarity reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a bag of bits. “Six of you? I only see four.” Said Gin Rummy looking around the room. “Oh yes dear, the other two are upstairs. They went looking for well, you Miss Rummy. They should be back down in a moment or two.” Rarity looked a bit sheepish. “Ah no problem. Well I’ve got four empty rooms. You can all take the largest one which has two Celestia sized beds if you don’t mind sharing. Or you can do two to a room with the other three. It’s up to you.” “How much for the rooms?” Rarity asks with a shrewd look in her eyes. “I charge by the pony, not by room. We really don’t get enough ponies staying that I need to worry about rooms being full. Knowing that look in your eye like I do, as I see it in the mirror quite often. I’ll give you a fair deal since I like the the cut of your jib. It’s normally three bits a pony, but I’ll take fifteen bits for the lot of ya. And I’ll throw in dinner as well. How does that sound?” Gin Rummy smirked knowing she won the intended round of haggling with her first offer. “Yay complimentary dinner!” Pinkie shouts while jumping into the air. “Based on my companions joy, I guess we’ll be taking that offer Miss Rummy.” Rarity counts out and hands over fifteen bits to Gin Rummy. “Just call me Gin, hun. Everypony else does.” Gin smiles as she takes the offered bits. “Have you decided which rooms you’ll be taking yet?” Applejack and Rainbow Dash come back down after hearing Pinkies shout. “Ah see you girls found the owner” Applejack says as she tips her hat towards Gin Rummy. “Yes we did darlings. We’re now trying to decide if we should share a large room or take three separate rooms.” Applejack takes a quick look at Thomas. “Ah think we should take the big one. It will make planning our route easier.” “Anypony have any issues with sharing a room together?” Rarity asks but is quickly met with every pony shaking their heads no. “Well then Gin I believe we will take the large room.” Gin Rummy moved quickly to the other end of the bar. Looking for a moment underneath it she comes back with a set of keys in her mouth and passed them over to Rarity. “Here you go. One key goes to the room and the other to the closet. I have to keep them locked to keep the local varmints from nesting in them. I make dinner at six o’clock on the dot so if you want any make sure you’re here by then. If you need anything else just shout and I’ll be along shortly.” “Thank you Gin. We’ll keep that in mind. Come on girls let’s go see our lodgings.” Rarity says heading for the stairs. Reaching the top of the stairs they find their room at the end of the hall and begin to file in. Thomas being the last one to enter gasps at the size of the beds. “ I know Celestia is bigger than your average pony but does she really have a bed this size?” The room was large enough to support both beds but there wasn’t much excess space to leave anything just lying around. Twilight starts to laugh at Thomas’s question. “Actually Thomas her bed is actually a bit bigger than these. She actually rolls around a lot when she sleeps.” “That’s not something I would have expected at all!” Both Thomas and Rainbow Dash say at the same time. “Jinx” Pinkie yells as she begins to giggle. Rainbow just glares daggers at Thomas. “Hey what did I do?” Thomas asks looking at her. Pinkie reaches over to punch Thomas in the arm and passes through him forgetting that he’s nearly incorporeal once again. “Hey no fair Tomi, you talked you have to take your punishment!” “Sorry Pinkie where I’m from only the people who said the same thing can claim jinx. Plus how would I ever get released from that? I don’t think I can buy you anything.” As Pinkie sits there thinking Rainbow flies over to the bed farthest from Thomas and sits down next to Fluttershy and Applejack. “Enough of that nonsense. Now that we’re here in Tall Tale how are we going to find the element?” Rainbows voice is still terse but she’s no longer glaring at Thomas. Twilight and Rarity sit on the other bed patting the empty space for Pinkie to join them. Thomas decides to sit down between the feet of the two beds so he can see everypony. All the girls look over to Twilight waiting for her to say something. “Well,” Twilight begins. “Nothing out right screams you can find the element here. But Maybe Thomas’s map will be able to show us its location since it did lead us here to begin with.” “Oh right, the map.” Thomas reaches into his pants and pulls out his pocket pc and starts up Anymapwiki. The map currently shows all of Equestria so Thomas zooms in on Tall Tale. “The map still shows Applejack’s cutie mark above Tall Tale but when I zoom in closer the symbol turns transparent over the whole city.” “Some help you are!” Rainbow grumbles at Thomas. “Okay So the map knows it’s here but not its exact location. So we’re going to have to split up and comb the city. Maybe something will jump out at us and give us a lead.” says Twilight looking thoughtful. “We should probably fan out in teams of two. We can meet back here at dinner time and go over what we each found.” “Me and Fluttershy can get around the outskirts of town pretty easily. Plus with her being able to understand the local varmints, as Gin put it, we might be able see if they’ve noticed anything odd.” States Rainbow proudly. The look on Fluttershy’s face couldn’t decide what it wanted to be. Part of her was happy she got to talk with the local animals with Rainbow, but the other half was concerned about exploring some place she’s never been before. Before Fluttershy could reject the idea Rainbow Put her arm around her and said. “Don’t worry Flutters, you have nothing to fear with me by your side!” Rainbows chest puffed out in bravado and Fluttershy just sighed in acceptance. “I’ll go with Applejack.” Stated Rarity “I’m kind of curious as to what that stallion pinkie talked to meant. And it never hurts to get in the good graces of a business owner in another town.” Applejack rolled her eyes at Rarity. “You do know this isn’t a business transaction right Rares?” “Oh Darling, just because we’re trying to save the world doesn’t mean we can’t do a bit of schmoozing. You never know when being well connected will help out.” Rarity just smiled knowingly at Applejack. “That just leaves Pinkie, Thomas, and myself to wander around and maybe check in with the mayor.” Twilight looked towards Pinkie and Thomas to see if they had any problems with the decisions made. With their plans set the girls started to leave the room. Twilight and Pinkie were the last to go. As Twilight was just about to walk out the door Pinkie started to vibrate. Twilight hearing a strange noise stops and looks back at Pinkie. “Pinkie what’s wrong?” Twilight asked looking quite concerned. Pinkies eyes began to spin and her mane exploded in confetti, and as quickly as it started it stopped. “wooo, I haven’t had a doozy like that happen in quite a while! Something odd is about to happen in this room.” “What do you mean something odd is going to happen in this room and what in Celestia’s name just happened to you?” Twilight’s worried tone slowly turned into an exasperated one. “It’s my Pinkie sense Twily, and it just reminded me about something!” Pinkie hopped up and down facing Thomas. “Ask Screwy maybe she can help us. She did last time you needed help.” “That doesn’t answer my question Pinkie!” Twilight just sighed as Pinkie ignored her. “Oh yeah maybe she can help us.” Thomas tapped the app again on his pocket pc. Not seeing a button to summon her Thomas’s eyebrows scrunched together. “I’m not sure exactly how I got her to show up last time. It seems like an accident as I didn’t push anything.” “Hey Screwy!” Pinkie Chirped towards Thomas’s device. The screen changed showing screwball sitting on her haunches with her fore hooves crossed with a rather ticked expression on her face. She quickly looked away in a huff. “Did Screwy show up?” Pinkie’s smile never left her face even though Thomas’s face looked concerned. Hearing this Screwball’s face looked forwards again looking even more mad than before. Before Thomas could react she reached towards him and pulled herself out of his pocket pc. She was about the size of his palm and about as solid looking as the ponies around him. “What the!” Thomas yells as he accidentally drops his device. The pocket pc instantly vanishes leaving a floating Screwball in the air being held there by the propeller on her beanie. Pinkie just Awed at the cute little pony just floating there. Twilight fell to her haunches in surprise as Screwball slowly spins in place to face Pinkie. Thomas doesn’t move he just stares in confusion. Screwball still looking mad points at Pinkie. “My name is Screwball! Not Screwy!” Reaching into her beanie she pulls out a cream pie slightly bigger than herself and throws it at Pinkie. Pinkie just opens her mouth and eats it whole. “Oh yummy pie is always tasty, even when they’re thrown!” Pinkie reaches out and grabs Screwball out of the air and pulls her into a hug. “Aww such a cutie! Can I keep her Thomas?” “Noooo! Let me go you pink stomach with legs!” Screwball struggled trying to get out of Pinkies hug. Getting some of his senses back Thomas straightens up. “Pinkie I think you should let her go.” Reluctantly Pinkie did as Thomas suggested. Screwball spinning her tail like a second propeller made a dash behind Thomas’s shoulder. She hung off of his right shoulder and peered over him sticking her tongue out at Pinkie. Thomas could actually feel her weight on his shoulder. Reaching over his right side Thomas grabbed Screwball as lightly as he could and put her in his palm. “W-w-w-w-what!?” Twilight stammered just before her eyes rolled back into her head and she passes out. Screwball just smiled at Thomas from his palm. Pinkie starts giggling again and Thomas just stands there looking down at Screwball in confusion.