//------------------------------//
// Great Work, Jamjars 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

A cloud of steam accompanied the chariot's opening, rushing from the door with a hiss and dispersing into the air. In it, a bulky, misshapen figure was silhouetted, and the steam writhed as if torn at by strong winds, quickly parted and blown away.

The chariot's occupant was a mare, the same shade of gray as its exterior, and everything except her face, hooves and tail were armored in gleaming silver. Layer after layer of overlapping fins and blades protruded in ridges from every edge, reinforced by unwieldly external coils of metal. Vein-like hoses snaked through the fins closer to her coat and along the back of her neck, pulsating with the same glowing orange, and five jet-like fans were mounted on her back, sides and shoulders, spinning menacingly. The entire contraption looked easily-dentable and useless as armor, and maybe even like a liability, but Starlight had to admit it was madly intimidating. Jamjars' salivating expression backed up her assessment.

"She looks like someone took that giant room in the Flame District and turned it into a pony," Maple whispered, mouth agape.

Next to her, Shinespark looked irritated. "That looks far too heavy for one mare to lift on her own. I bet she's copying my idea for power armor. If those fans let her fly..."

Everyone else was frozen into silence as she approached, backed by the properly-armored griffon guards, slowly and purposefully and not wobbling an inch as she descended the curved, sloped colosseum ramp. Even the fight in the center seemed to have stopped.

SWOOOOOSH!

With a rush of air and a vibrating crash so heavy it caused the impenetrable mare to stumble, a hulking bathtub of a griffon was suddenly standing between her and Starlight's party. "Ho there, fair Meltdown!" Wallace Whitewing boomed, giving her a respectful salute. "I thought you would be in the palace, lending a brain to that Ironridge business that's had everyone's goats as of late!"

"Wallace." Meltdown bowed shortly, voice cool and in stark contrast to her magmatic appearance.

Wallace nobly cleared his throat. "Not to doubt your purpose, Milady, but today, this arena is the grand stage of many up-and-comers from the bottoms of the lower leagues! Must you really scare away the audience they fight so hard for with your imposing presence?"

Meltdown stood completely impassive, not moving beneath her windy armor. "The local branch of my office received a tip from an anonymous citizen that a new ship arrived from Ironridge and its crew was heading this way. A griffon, a pegasus, a unicorn, an earth pony and several fillies. Which might even be that group there." Her orange eyes blinked past him, looking straight at Starlight and her friends. "If true, it would be unfortunate if they made contact with any house representatives here who have agendas of their own. Stormhoof's decision was already made without input from the other houses, and Lord Gazelle wants to limit the fallout and infighting that could occur as much as possible. So, I came to see for myself."

Gerardo and Shinespark suddenly flushed, sheepish. "You're talking about us!" Jamjars shouted, waving her hooves indignantly.

That got the attention of both Meltdown and Wallace. "Really." The armored mare stepped closer in interest.

Sputtering, Gerardo spoke up, slightly cowed under Wallace's proud gaze. "Indeed we are! And for your information, not only do we possess knowledge you likely do not, we have been trying to reach someone important ever since we arrived, and your city guards have been most incompetent in telling us how to do that!"

Shinespark nodded, stepping up alongside him. "We've approached several sets of Stormhoof guards, and they mistook us for liars or attention-seekers."

Meltdown raised an eyebrow at Wallace, and he gave a photogenic grin. "My apologies, Milady! It seems I have much personal growth left to accomplish if my mere presence in a city cannot bolster its guard to greater heights of competence!"

"I'll have a word with the captain of the guard." Meltdown closed her eyes and shook her head. "Don't let my presence distract you from the tournament. Guards, put my chariot somewhere where it's out of sight. You six, follow me. I'd like to talk."

"See?" Jamjars stuck her tongue out at Gerardo as they left their seats and formed into a line. "Getting someone who knew what they were doing is easy. You were just bad at it."

"Silence, missy," Gerardo hissed between his teeth. "For all we know, from the reception she received, this is in fact a mare who will lead us to our deaths!"

"That's not entirely inaccurate," Wallace boomed, and Starlight realized he was following along. "Meltdown's face is the last thing many a villain see before they are arrested for judgement by the Goddess. She has an uncanny nose for sniffing out heresy. And she's in charge of the Empire's tax collection bureau. Most villains find crossing her path to be a hair-raising experience they rarely emerge from with their freedom."

Meltdown's fans spun as she walked, sending a wash of warm air back over Starlight and toasting her fur. "The Power Distribution Agency isn't a tax collection bureau, Wallace," she said with a tone that suggested she didn't really believe it but had to say it anyway. "Don't you have a tournament to see to?"

"My final bout of the day ended mere minutes before you arrived! I see no reason not to give you an escort, Milady," Wallace assured, eyes twinkling. "Hearing the latest on Ironridge is merely an extra helping of thrills upon my already well-rounded diet."

Gerardo's chest puffed out so hard it looked ready to explode, but Meltdown quickly shut it down. "I do," she countered. "House Izvaldi has no reason to access priority information until I've cleared it and Stormhoof, Lord Gazelle and I put together tonight's public knowledge dispatch for the presses. You can wait out of earshot until I've determined everything sensitive has been discussed."

Wallace and Gerardo drooped as one. "Very well, then!" Wallace swelled back up, crossing his heart with a talon. "I swear on my honor I shall remain at bay until further notice!" He gave a thumbs-up to everyone else. "Try not to get quarantined in the palace for months of investigations, citizens. May we meet again!"





Sans Wallace, the seven made their way through a tunnel beneath the colosseum bowl, designed for easy transportation without clambering over rows and rows of benches. Intervals regularly turned off to private boxes and balconies, and Meltdown chose one, high enough that the area around it was completely unpolulated. She sat with her back to the arena, eyes fixed on the tunnel entry and fans blowing into the abyss, and motioned for the others to take seats. "Tell me what you think is important," she requested.

Gerardo swallowed, speaking up. "First off, we have indeed just traveled from Ironridge, and come with news several days later than Kero's. If you doubt we are who we say we are, there are two mares upon the other ship, known as Sharpie and Brightcoil, whose acquaintances I made shortly before they departed, who should be able to vouch we were in the city at the time."

Meltdown slowly nodded, and Starlight wondered if she was recording the conversation.

"The situation in Ironridge is this," Shinespark began, stepping in. "There was a short, intense burst of conflict sponsored by a rogue ambassador from Yakyakistan. All the fighting has been resolved, and the new leadership has talked with Yakyakistan to try to repair relations. However, the battles destroyed almost all of the city's economy. All of Sosa is gone, the mines are flooded and offline, the city has no power, and the skyport has largely been smashed and destabilized. Right now, what Ironridge needs more than anything is for the word to be spread not to send any more airships, since there's no way for them to recharge and leave the city. If you are going to send ships, send materials to help rebuild the charging stations and generators, not armies."

"...It would have been useful to know that yesterday evening," Meltdown finally sighed. "Stormhoof dispatched military intervention in the middle of the night."

Everyone blinked. "But the newspaper..." Maple raised a hoof.

"Was given an incomplete version of events, for public safety and riot control," Meltdown finished. "And already to presses. So you're saying the Varsidelian fleet will vanish without a trace, not because of an intercepting armada but because they won't have power to return by."

Shinespark and Gerardo nodded.

"Whether that's true or not, it doesn't sound urgent." Meltdown's fans continued blowing, her armor glinting in the late afternoon sunlight. "So we have time for a complete version of events. I already have the others' stories memorized, so where yours contradicts and lines up with theirs should prove insightful, and more than demonstrate whether someone is lying."