Silverstream woke up as the train trekked through a daylight desert setting, a barren wasteland just filled with sand. It was clear that these tracks were newer as there were barely any bumps or turbulence during the smooth ride.
She didn’t remember much from the ride; she crashed not long after boarding, leaning on a grumpy Smolder as she slept before the dragon pushed her against the window. When her eyes opened, she was still leaning against the window.
The hippogriff rubbed a claw against her temple as she sat up, shaking her head before focusing her attention on Smolder, who was casually reading a novel, her legs crossed. Silverstream raised an eyebrow as she looked over her friend’s shoulder.
“Whatcha reading?” She asked suddenly, smiling. She noticed Smolder jump, startled, before the dragon sighed and the book, closing her eyes. When she reopened them, she was looking at Silverstream flatly. Not long afterwards, however, she raised the book to her face.
“It’s the same thing I was reading before you passed out on my shoulder. Gusty: A Mare of Legend. I thought it would be fair to catch up on the pony who basically harnessed the thing we’re looking for to banish a monster.” Smolder explained before opening the book yet again, flipping to the page where she left off. Silverstream gushed enthusiastically. Seeing her friend immerse herself in a world of history and legend was something she loved to see as a history buff herself.
My willingness to learn is contagious! She thought happily. Smolder noticed the beaming hippogriff and looked at her oddly.
“Are… you okay, Silvy?” She asked reluctantly. Silverstream’s grin was unwavering as her excitement rose.
“Good morning, Smolder!” She said randomly. Smolder rolled her eyes and got back to reading her book. This was the time to break out her signature monotone voice.
“Good morning, Silverstream.”
Eventually the train skidded to a stop on the tracks, reaching a dead end in the form of a sand dike protruding from the earth. Of course, the students were the only ones to get off the train, as no one else really had the time nor the willingness to go this far out of Equestria and in the middle of nowhere.
As soon as Silverstream stepped off the train, she felt her claws dig into a strange, hot substance in the ground. Sure, she had touched sand plenty of times before--nearly everyday when she was home, in fact--but this desert sand felt vastly different. Firstly, in some patches, it was scorching hot from the sun beaming down on it all day. Secondly, there was absolutely no sign of water anywhere.
The thought of that shook Silverstream as she subconsciously touched the small pearl fragment necklace resting against her chest.
“Alright now…” a male voice came from behind her, causing the whole crew to turn around and look up. On the last step of the train was All Aboard, the longtime conductor of the Friendship Express, which ran through Ponyville. He cleared his throat and looked down at the young creatures.
“You all need to be careful around these here parts. There are a lot of dangers ‘round here, and even though this dead end ain’t too far from Klugetown, it’s still mighty dangerous once you get there, ya hear?” The blue stallion with his signature deep brown handlebar mustache stated, gazing around the landscape surrounding the idle train. Silverstream also did the same, but really couldn’t find anything dangerous outside of it being so barren and hot.
Barren and hot. Oh dear.
“Um… I quite literally can’t see anything.” Gallus pointed out in a snarky manner, shrugging as he did so. All Aboard responded with a raised eyebrow and slight snort as he stepped back into the train car.
“Y’all will see what I mean. Anyways, have a fun trip! See ya back in Ponyville soon.” He replied, waving as the train oddly started moving backwards. He was familiar with the group as he was in Ponyville basically every day, so they all waved back in a friendly manner. Soon, he was gone, and the group directed their attention to what was obstructed by the train. A huge town loomed ahead of them, causing some ooo’s and aaa’s from the 6 creatures. Of course, they weren’t astonished because of how it looked, but because of how vast and huge the town really was.
In reality, Klugetown was ugly, airship platforms jutting out every which way and an overall dullness of the buildings also becoming evident. In addition to that, there was literally nothing surrounding it. Like, nothing… just the vastness of a giant hole in the desert shrouded by mist and smoke. A dreary sight to say the least.
It was a gigantic town, nevertheless. That was one thing going for it.
Ocellus was the first to start walking to civilization, so everyone else followed her. Silverstream trailed behind with Sandbar, and from this viewpoint she couldn’t help but notice how much her friends stuck out in the near-colorless landscape. The pastel colors were beaming with energy as they trekked towards Klugetown, the place becoming closer and closer with each step, it seemed. It was quiet, for the most part, before her friends in front of her started to chat amongst each other, prompting Sandbar next to her to clear his throat, indicating a conversation was beginning.
“Ahem… so, Silverstream, what’s the plan once we get there?” Sandbar asked, looking over at her with a questioning look. Silverstream raised an eyebrow and rubbed her chin.
“Hm… well, first of all, I would like to get settled in with Capper, so I can do that while you guys all get something to eat?” She suggested as they walked. Sandbar ran a hoof through his messy mane.
“Well, would you mind if I went with you?” He asked curiously, somewhat nervously even. But the hippogriff shoved that aside and smiled at him.
“I wouldn’t mind at all. It’s nice having a friend to come with me and see someone I haven’t met before.” Silverstream replied happily, clapping her claws together. The earth pony let out a sigh of relief and continued to walk with her.
“That’s great. If anything weird happens, just let me know and we’ll take care of it together.”
Silverstream nodded. It was great having friends who genuinely cared about her.
Silverstream knocked on the door to a large windmill building in the middle of town before stepping back next to Sandbar and waiting for Capper to answer. They waited for a minute with no answer, causing the earth pony to look at her strangely. “You sure you got the right address?”
The hippogriff furrowed her brow and shuffled through her saddlebag before pulling out a scrap of paper. On the paper was the address Headmare Twilight had written down before Silverstream left, and she squinted at it, also looking up to make sure the address was indeed correct as shown by the number adjacent to the door. And it better be, as she gave each of her friends copies of this exact address so they could eventually come once they were done with whatever they were doing.
“Either Headmare Twilight Sparkle has REALLY bad hoofwriting, or we actually are at the right place.” She replied, tucking the paper back in her bag, continuing to stand in front of the door. She noticed Sandbar shift nervously.
“Err… I’ll take the latter. Princess Twilight doesn’t seem like the type to have bad hoofwriting…” He explained, rubbing his chin. Silverstream believed him. The headmare was a clear perfectionist, which was okay in some sorts, but an obsessive one at that… that part was something Silverstream never understood. How could any creature be that worried about anything?
Silverstream was about to go up and knock again before the door suddenly creaked open. She shrieked a little when a single green eye stared back at her, her reaction causing it to squint.
“...yeah?” A charming and sleek masculine voice spoke from behind the door, causing Silverstream to shiver. She was about to reply before Sandbar stepped forward, a stern expression on his tan face.
“My friend and I were sent from Ponyville to meet you, Mr. Capper.” He responded firmly, and the eye stopped squinting at both of them. The door flew open and an anthropomorphic cat stood on his hind legs, towering over the pony and hippogriff. His shaggy brown fur, pompous black hair, and red overcoat were distinguishable features in the feline, to go along with his sharp cat-like eyes. He smirked at them and held out a paw.
“Ah, yes, Twilight Sparkle informed me of your arrival~” Capper announced, taking Silverstream’s claw in his paw and kissing it affectionately. Silverstream recoiled and blushed slightly while the cat moved on to Sandbar, simply shaking his hoof. “The name’s Capper, kiddos. Pleasure making your acquaintance.”
Sandbar chuckled and removed his hoof from Capper’s paw, scratching the back of his mane nervously. “Y-Yeah, Mr. Capper, nice to meet you…” He spoke for both himself and Silverstream and the two of them exchanged glances. Silverstream cleared her throat and nudged her head towards the anthropomorphic cat, basically asking that the pony continue what he was saying as she wasn’t as confident. Sandbar rolled his eyes but ultimately obeyed his friend.
“We were wondering if we could, uh, bring some our friends we brought along here and stay while we search for… something…” His voice trailed off near the end, but Capper didn’t seem to budge. He chuckled quietly and crouched to face the small pony at eye level. He smiled, and to Silverstream, it seemed like an odd mix of friendliness and creepiness. How was that even possible?
The cat stared at Sandbar, eyeing him from head to hoof. “Kiddo, I’m fine with your fellas staying at my place for a bit. You may have to curl up on blankets and sleep on the floor, at least some of y’all, since I don’t nearly have enough beds for all of y’all…” He finished the sentence scratching his chin as he stood up straight again, his green eyes darting around the perimeter. Silverstream did the same.
A lone tumbleweed rolled by behind them.
“Um… what were you looking at, Mr. Capper?” She asked, raising an eyebrow as well as a claw. Capper stared straight forward before twitching a little. He then brought his paw to his chin again and scratched it some more.
“I was feeling a musical number coming along…” He responded with a low hum, adjusting the collar on his scarlet coat. Then, in an instant, he snapped his fingers, smirking as he looked down at the two of them. “But I’ll just wait into your friends get here. Enough standing around. Why don’t y’all come inside already?”
Silverstream and Sandbar eagerly shook their heads and Capper held the door open for them in response, allowing them to trot inside of his humble domain. He looked gazed around the empty surroundings, letting out a huff before shutting the door and employing a dozen of the locks he had attached to it after Tempest Shadow and her gang of Storm soldiers snuck in like nothing at all.
Silverstream dug through the books in Capper’s personal library, coming across some that were a real doozy, like:
Revenge of the Zombie Abyssinians.
Tales and Tails from a Frightened Armadillo.
Why Cats are better than Dogs.
And so forth. Oh brother.
Silverstream rolled her eyes at the last title, not because she had an opinion on such a vague and one-sided statement, but because of the sheer circumstances involving it. A cat--err, Abyssinian--having a book about how much better cats were versus dogs, basically lavishing his own race with a coddling piece of literature. It was more frivolous than humorous, in the opinion of the browsing hippogriff. She eventually started ignoring those mindless titles and progressed further along the shelf, searching for a book that could lead to more information on the Prosperity Platter.
Capper laid on a sofa near the circular window of the residence and Sandbar sat on a lush chair several paces behind Silverstream, facing away from her and towards the bipedal cat. They both shared some tea--the hippogriff was offered some but she respectfully declined, asking for some water instead to replenish the seapony side of her. Both of them talked while she checked the arrangement of books leaning against one of the walls of the place.
“So… y’all are from Ponyville?” Capper’s voice spoke softly as he lounged on the sofa, afternoon light basking him in a golden glow. Sandbar was quiet for several moments, perhaps sipping some of the tea that was he was offered and accepted, but it wasn’t too long before he was talking again.
“Yeah. It’s definitely a nice little town… you ever, y’know, visited your friends there? It’s practically the capital of friendship nowadays.” He replied. Unlike Sandbar, Capper took a very limited amount of time to gather his thoughts and a response.
The bipedal cat chuckled and sipped his tea. “Why, I haven’t had the chance. Equestria is a faraway place it simply is too hard to get a ticket here in Klugetown most of the time… y’all arrived at the right time. By the time the summer’s over, a lot of tickets become available in town, so y’all can go get some there once they can be bought.”
Even though she knew he wasn’t specifically talking to her, she felt like she needed to take what he explained into account, and she did, making a brief mental note in her head.
At the end of the summer, Silverstream, get some tickets so we aren’t stuck here for the first day of school.
The hippogriff smiled a little and gave herself a little “mhm,” which caused Capper and Sandbar to turn their heads towards her behind her back.
“Uhh… you find somethin’, little lady?” Capper’s voice rang out through Silverstream’s head as it was directed towards her. She stopped what she was doing and her body went still, her pupils shrinking to the size of coins before turning to them both. Sandbar appeared to be shocked, an expression similar to Silverstream’s on his face as well, while Capper’s expression was more smuggy than anything. He chuckled and stood up, walking towards the frightened Silverstream.
“Why so shocked, girl?”
Silverstream simply stared up at the taller bipedal, gulping nervously, before raising a claw and pointing it at him shakily.
“You… have incredible hearing.”
Wow, Silverstream, who knew? She thought to herself.
Capper’s smirk widened as he coifed his slicked back hair and adjusted his collar, clearing his throat in the process. He lowered her claw with a single paw and leaned over to face her directly.
“I know I do, Miss Silverseem--err, what’s your name again?” He interrupted his presumably less humble statement to ask her quite an embarrassing question. After all, she had given him her name less than 15 minutes ago.
“Silverstream… hey, Mr. Capper, I do have a major, MAJOR question I need to ask you!” Silverstream corrected with the statement, putting on her best fake smile. A bead of sweat dripped down the side of her head as she stared up at the cat, after all she was still quite nervous around him after hearing of a near-disgusting act he committed on Headmare Twilight and the professors in attempting to sell them. What kind of danger would they be at risk for? She smartly pushed a grotesque image out of her mind and focused on her host, who was clearly curious.
“Please do tell me, my dear. I can’t assist in your search for… something… without knowing what it is.” Capper brought up a good point. Of course, it was obvious, but she was admittedly tired at the current moment, so she would take all the help she could muster.
“...It’s called the Prosperity Platter.” Silverstream dug through her bag and eventually pulled out the same book that possessed information on the artifact; Supernatural Sensations: Legendary Artifacts of the Land. Capper raised an eyebrow and took the book right out of her claws, looking at the table of contents before flipping to the subject matter. He read over the pages quickly and curiously before giving it back to her with a shrug.
“Can’t say I’ve heard of it, sister. But, maybe there’s somethin’ in this library that talks about it.” The smooth-talking bipedal cat announced, already looking to his fruitful yet humble library. His paws traced along the spines of the many books he had at his disposal, and as he made his way down the shelves, Silverstream moved out of the way, allowing him to have as much space as he needed. Capper smirked and continued to search.
Several minutes passed before the cat purred in surprise and snatched a book right out of the shelf. He blew some dust off the book before gracefully offering it to Silverstream. She took the book with an awkward smile, feeling no more or less comfortable with him, even with his calm and laid back demeanor. After this she inspected the book, marvelling at its brown leather texture, which felt great in her light magenta claws. The title and text on the cover and spine saved it from its blandness, however, as they were lined in gold that shimmered in the residence’s dim light. There was also a design below the title that was also lined in glossy gold; five leaves along with a gust of wind underneath.
Oh, right. The title.
Gusty the Great: An Autobiography.
Things just got interesting!, Silverstream thought to herself.
Capper noticed the hippogriff smiling to herself and chuckled, walking back over to his sofa. Sandbar was leaning on the back of his seat, trying to see the book over Silverstream’s shoulder as she flipped through the yellow pages. It was quite a large book, but that was expected from an Equestrian hero. Silverstream was sure the adventures Gusty went on were incredibly action-packed and, well, awesome!
Silverstream grabbed a chair next to Sandbar and sat down, flipping to a page that was labeled “The Platter.” It undoubtedly had something to do with what they were looking for. She was about to read before she heard Capper chuckle from his position on the sofa. She looked up at him with a questioning look, just enough time to see his smirk.
“Aren’t y’all gonna read aloud to your friend and I?”
Silverstream blushed and smiled a little, flustered, darting her eyes down to the page. Maybe they could be friends, instead of just him being a mild-manner host for them. He seemed like a nice enough guy.
Well, my friends, I have acquired an extraordinary treasure.
Whilst I searched thru the ruins of the kingdom I had mentioned in the previous entry, my hooves came across a hard metal, one that I have never felt nor seen before. Here I saw an incredible scene, a golden disk that looked as if it was served to a king. Of course, it had been, and I had found just what I was looking for:
The platter. A platter that was so epic and true, it shone the brightest of all...