//------------------------------//
// 89 - Jurisdictional Crossover 
// Story: Fading Suns: A New World 
// by David Silver 
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"The first day and already explosions?" fumed Mayor Mare with a scowl, her words echoed in human tongued faithfully. "Is anypony injured?"

Bon Bon inclined her head. "We're both fine, and it only caught two of us. The human involved was far worse off. It happened too quickly for me to say if the explosion was closer to him, or ponies are just made of tougher stuff."

Trixie put a hoof to her chest. "They were against the Great and Powerful Trixie, and also an earth pony. They had no chance." A soft mocking laugh issued from her as she turned back towards Gregor. "Now about finding the culprit."

Laud raised a hand. "None are above suspicion. While the current evidence leans towards an outside party, it is, at best, circumstantial. I want every person, every single person to be tested for explosives residue."

Bon Bon hiked a brow. "I imagine you will find Trixie and I will test positively."

Spike lifted his shoulders. "Well, duh. I bet he wants to know who else shows up."

Mayor Mare nudged Laud with a hoof. "I just arrived, so I will decline your request. This aside, I need these explosives removed from where they could cause harm to Ponyville."

Laud glanced in the direction of the town. It would take a ten minute hike to get into where the buildings began, the landing pad placed well away to avoid the ships coming and going causing damage and more noise than they had to. "Miss Mayor, the amount of explosives they have could reduce this pad to rubble, and Ponyville would be unharmed."

The merchant grunted softly, his hands moving towards his hips. "I see you making proclamations, but not any setup to actually follow through. How do you plan to test a single person, let alone this crowd?" A smile appeared suddenly, like the rising sun after a dark and troubled night. "Unless you'd care to rent some?"

Laud's face tightened, but there was no hesitation. "Get started. None are to come or leave until I have a full accounting of the test results."

"You heard the man." The merchant snapped firmly and pointed back towards his own ship. "May I suggest you may wish to have one for yourself, to ensure no unwanted materials are coming or going from this pad of yours."

"Yes!" Mayor Mare was pointing a hoof at the merchant. "Yes, we would like one to keep. Does it operate on magic or electricity?"

The man seemed surprised at that. "You say the two as if they were equally valid."

"Aren't they?" One ear skewed to the side, the other erect and at him. "We have both, though I'm not sure if this pad is wired just yet?" She looked to Laud.

"Not yet, but that stands to change." He did his best to hide that ponies still surprised even him at times with how deceptively advanced they were at times. Primitives they were not, despite so many other markers. "But that's another day's project. Everyone!" he boomed the last at the crowd of staring ponies. "You will be asked to approach one by one. This is harmless. You may leave after that, or resume shopping. Until then remain calm and wait for your turn."

Soft whispers spread from pony to pony, the mood seeming more curious than anything else.

Father Gregor extended his hands, palmside up. "Allow me to be the first, as a sign of good faith. If one of mine has strayed... I will not protect them. Had the ponies not proven so resilient, they could have murdered an expecting mother. That will not--" His words did not pause for Bon Bon's vivid blush that overwhelmed the entire front of her body. "--stand. By Amalthea, whoever caused this must be made to stand to justice."

Other men were busy setting up booths, running thick wires from them back into the belly of the ship. The master of the merchants hadn't moved. "This was certainly not the act of one of mine. To strike one of ours and valued customers? It would be beyond logic."

"Malice does not always follow logic," coldly noted Laud, a frown on his face. "No one is above suspicion and all should be tested."

"Including you, Sir?" he said in such a casual way, as if it were only natural.

"Me and Laud weren't even..." Spike trailed off, shaking his head. "No, that's fine. Check us out."

Laud brought down a hand on Spike's shoulder. "Yes, we aren't afraid of it. Let the truth be revealed."

Gregor was first, as he had volunteered. Thin lines of energy appeared briefly over his form before he was allowed to step free. Many things were detected, but none of them volatile. "Of course, I do wield a magic of sorts. The prayers of Saint Amalthea flow through me at her benevolent allowance, but that would certainly not cause this."

Bon Bon rolled a hoof softly. "I want to hear more about that, and you promised a prenatal session. We should set an appointment."

"I would offer it right this moment, to any woman caught in a blast, but you seem to be well, and this matter must be cleared away before more ill will is spread." He dipped his head towards Bon Bon. "Pray forgive me."

"I understand... Tomorrow? Noon?" She turned to his ship. "I'll come here."

Others were being scanned, three at a time with three booths ready to accept and disgorge people as they came. Gregor slipped away from the crowd, returning towards his ship. "That Hawkwood means well, but he is chasing vapor," he sighed out along the way. "Review the cameras. I want to know who was not on the ship shortly before and during the explosions. I want a full log of who entered and who left today and when."

His guards bowed with steepled fingers, silently agreeing to his demands. As soon as his feet were on the ramp, they advanced past him to see his will be done. "I will not allow the good name of the church to be so sullied. If..." He trailed off with a weary sigh. "Pancreator watch over us."

Back at the scene, the crowd was being rapidly processed. Some ponies went right back to shopping as if nothing had happened. Some wandered off, but most of those seemed like they were just tired of shopping for the day. Other ponies were still waiting by the entrance for their turn. Laud stroked his chin softly, taking it all in. "They really don't seem to be all that upset by this."

Spike shrugged softly. "Besides the hurt human, what really happened? Two ponies got rattled, but are fine, and one stand closed up. Ponyville's seen worse on the average week it feels like at times. Compared to a bugbear attack, this was nothing."

"Have you seen one of those?" asked Trixie, apparently still hovering about. "I hear they are quite fierce. Not that I couldn't handle them, of course."

Spike hiked a thumb at the castle in the distance. "Twilight and friends have fought one before. They are mean. Took 'em most of the day to get it under control."

"Anything?" Laud was by the operators of the booths.

"Plenty." The human gestured at spewing sheets of papers. "The ponies all seem to have more on them they have any right to be holding at once. The scanners freak out a little bit trying to scan each one. That one's full of explosives, by the way." He inclined his head towards where Trixie was gabbing with Spike. "An unhealthy quantity, but most of it seems to be smoke producing rather than properly demolitions grade."

"Smoke producing?" Laud struggled to imagine why a lot of smoke would be required. "Still, that isn't what caused this, I should imagine."

"Certainly not." He nudged the paper before it could bunch up, allowing it to continue spilling free. "We should be done with the crowd in about ten minutes. Where do you want the bill?"

Ah, yes, the fun part of getting 'favors' from merchants. "I expect some manner of discount, seeing as this is for the benefit of one of your own. We will pay full price for the one we are to keep. I'd take the bill, but I'll spare you that. Submit it to the fleet above." He gestured with closed fingers to the sky. "I will inform them it should be paid."

"Of course, Sir." Seemingly satisfied, the operator's attention was largely fixated on the papers spilling out of the booth. "That is a lot of sugar."

A filly stepped free, perhaps having come with the other younger ponies. Her rump was decorated with two candy canes in a vague heart shape. "That wath interething." She trotted off as if nothing very big had happened.

Spike landed atop one of the booths. "Hey, Laud, check this out." He took off just as quickly.

Laud nodded towards the operator. "Seems he's found something. Keep up the good work." He strode purposefully after Spike. Thankfully his squire was easy to spot while flying. He was led back to the stand, its contents strewn about haphazardly. "What did you find?"

"This." Spike landed and dropped to a crouch in the same motion, pointing to something.

Laud came in closer to have a look, having to crouch himself to get a better look. A thin line ran along the black surface of the landing pad. "What is... this?" It led towards the stand, and he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck raising. The odds of it being involved... "Spike, go see if the technicians by the booth have something portable to come here and determine what this is made of."

"I'm on it." He saluted sharply and launched into the air, heading back towards the booths.

That left Laud to peer at the line, following it as it went away from the stand. "Where do you go...?" It had been quite a step for Spike to spot that faint line in the black. "I will have to compliment him later." Laud had certainly missed it, though he hadn't spent the time to really examine the area, which was his own fault. No, Spike had done well.

He began to follow that line away from the stand, one slow step after the other. So faint and narrow was it that moving much faster threatened to have him lose sight of it entirely. Still, he was moving, and that was enough. It was not headed towards either ship, to his surprise. It appeared, instead, to be veering directly for one of the walls. "What in the Pancreator's name..."

He had just arrived at the base of the pad walls where the line went to and stopped. There was a gap between the line and the wall, but it wasn't a very large one. "Where..." He walked a step beyond the line, examining the wall intently. The wall was decorated with all manner of pony art, some of it two dimensional, others three dimensional, cut into or bulging out of the wall, all throwing off his attempts to spot any trails. "It must be here...

But what about down? He crouched, trying Spike's method. There. Not too far from where the line stopped, there was more of it, in a little circle, wider than the line, as if... "Something burned."

"Fuse," announced Spike as he landed. "They say it was something that burned real quick. Harmless, by itself, but could have been--"

"--We've found our trigger," cut in Laud. "I've been following the line and it seems to have gone up the wall here. It burned along the wall and pooled here." He pointed to the wider circle. Someone set this off from outside the landing pad. Who, and why, are two questions that demand answers."

"Want me to follow it?" He lifted into the air on flapping wings. "I can get up there really quick."

"Do so... but not like that." He undid his blade, still in the sheath, and thrust it at Spike. "I entrust this to you until you return, but I will not send my squire into what may be lethal danger with a training blade at his hip."