//------------------------------// // A Day with Royalty - Part 3 // Story: Of Hooves and History // by Ahmad J Charles //------------------------------// The castle’s halls were alive with the distant sounds of busy staff as we made our way down the grand halls to the dining hall, where Haven sat, waiting with a cute fluffy white dog beside her. “Good evening, your Majesty,” I announced, awkwardly stepping in as I realized I was still carrying my skateboard into a royal dining room. Haven must’ve noticed my awkward smile, because she made a subtle gesture and a guard came over with a small cart. I smiled and placed it sideways to avoid it rolling off. “Thanks. You could carry it if you wanted,” I called after the guard as he slipped out down one of the halls, before turning back to Haven, who gestured to a chair beside her. “Come, dear, sit down. I am sure you have much to discuss.” I walked over and slowly rested into the chair, taking in the sight of food before us – hot creamy soup, fresh buttered flatbread, and fresh foliage. I dipped a piece of bread into my bowl of soup as Pipp and Zipp reluctantly shuffled into their seats and took a few nibbles. Sunny and Izzy eagerly ate in silence and made some small talk between themselves. “Zepyhrina, you seem to be disinterested in the food today,” Haven inquired. “What’s the matter, dear?” “We had an intermediary snack,” I said quickly, and Pipp shot me a glare. “Just a sandwich. I presume your daughters have a high level of metabolism?” Haven cocked an eyebrow in my direction, so I rephrased. “Conservation of energy for longer periods between meals.” “Oh yes. Zephyrina is very much a pony of performance – in a different way,” she replied with a smile. I looked over at Pipp whilst reaching for another flatbread. Clearly there was some favoritism in this family. All the reason to kick it with Zipp sooner than later. “How did the negotiation and signing go?” “Not great, Mom,” Zipp replied, looking down guiltily. “It’s one thing to be upset that the law is not compliant with your business desires, and it’s another thing entirely to shout and hurl derogative insults,” Sunny added. “But our brave friend Aiden saved the day with his piercing glare of intimidation!” Izzy crowed joyfully, pumping the hair with a forehoof. I sheepishly bit back a chuckle and turned to Haven. “Well, not exactly like that, but I did give a decently thick streak of assertiveness. Has Ms. Ruby been problematic before?” “Yes. Twice. She’s good at manipulating pegasi into agreement and collaboration with fake friendliness and proud promises. I had plans to give a grand speech in which the official rulings of real estate development and engineering standards would be defined, but those have sadly been postponed for months.” More toppings on the current pizza slice of mystery. “Do you suspect any dirty play at tomorrow’s meeting?” Haven proudly shook her head. “I have confidence in my near-thirty-year reign of this kingdom that my subjects, even the prolific ones, will recognize and submit to the rules and protocols they signed off on as citizens. On second thought, I think your information extraction methods would work better with a relay system.” Now I was the on the other end of the descriptive deciphering stick. After a couple awkward seconds, it clicked, and I nodded in agreement. We agreed to privately meet in the morning and discuss over breakfast. We enjoyed the food, and right as the staff came to clean up, a well-dressed mare arrived with a cart of desert and fruit. “Thanks,” I grinned, tucking into what closely resembled a raspberry jam-filled Danish pastry. Sunny and Izzy took one too. As we wiped up our sugar-lined lips and rose up to prepare for the impending evening, I couldn’t help but smile fondly at Haven with her proud demeanor and motherly aura. Back in my guest suite, Sunny and Izzy brushed their teeth, while I moved the paramotor to the far corner, out of harm’s way. Happily, my skateboard was still here, right beside the door. Pulling a white cord out of my backpack, I pushed it into the iPad and peered along the wall. I soon spotted an outlet beside a bamboo-like plant and jabbed the thick end of the charger into it. Blung! The iPad lit up with a tiny lightning bolt on the status bar. No way… Yes. The iPad was charging comfortably. On Zephyr Heights’ electrical power grid. I gasped in awe, a warming sense of calm flowing over me as the full realization of my haphazard yet instinctual action took mental hold. “It works! It’s charging!” I exclaimed, pointing excitedly to the charging cable as my friends re-entered the room. “You’re saying…” Sunny began, as if she couldn’t fathom it herself, “that your tablet computer, from the human world, is charging… with electricity? Here?!” “Yes!” I reiterated, before quickly unlocking the iPad and opening the Wi-Fi settings. “Sadly the same can’t be said about Internet. But that’s okay.” “Seriously?” came another voice, muffled. Izzy answered the door and in came the royal daughters. “Believe me, it’s a powerful tool that can really damage you if used incorrectly,” I replied, not skipping a beat with their entrance. “I’m glad my access to it was strictly controlled as a child. Not sure what limits your mom sets.” “Now that’s a whole other can of worms I could go on about for hours,” Zipp remarked, smirking at her sister. “But Lil Pipp here would chew me out for it.” I chuckled, before putting on a serious face. “Since we’re all here, with no further mandatory obligations, I think it’s high time we address the elephants in the room and the red flags we’ve spotted.” “The most obvious stuff of importance and warning points,” Sunny quickly rephrased, but Pipp already nodded. I pulled out the stylus and unplugged the iPad, skimming through my media app before pulling up a video on buried structures. Sunny eagerly sided up to me and peered over, her eyes keen with interest. “Many large structures are…” a guy’s American accent began, before I abruptly closed the video player, earning a disappointed look from my friend. “I played that merely as a starter incentive to get your minds in the mood,” I remarked drily, before facing Pipp and Zipp directly. “If I’m brutally honest, being with you two and your mom has been one of the best experiences I’ve had since arriving in Equestria. It… reminds me of my own family.” “Do you miss them?” Zipp asked concerningly. I nodded with a lowered head, and Sunny immediately wrapped her forehooves around me snugly. Instinctively, I caressed her forelock. “It’s okay Sunny. Nothing to be too distraught about. It is true that I miss them dearly. However, it’s not worth being overly sad over, and I hold confidence and hope that I will return. Which brings me to what I actually wanted to talk with you all about tonight.” I closed the windows and blinds, checking to ensure no one (not even guards) were flying around nearby attempting to eavesdrop. Izzy, Pipp, and Zipp all sat in a circle on the bed, with me across from them. “For the Royal Sisters, this might be a bit of a shock, and kind of a concerning refresher for Sunny and Izzy. From the experiences we have had these past few days, I have strong conviction that there is a joint effort between Sprout and at least two other ponies to keep Equestria divided and blame me for it. Now the evidence to prove this is incomplete, so we’re going to take this pre-bedtime moment to recap our observations and discuss them, as well as the best path forward.” Pipp’s eyes widened, and Sunny cast the first hoof. “As peaceful inter-nation travel was enacted a few months back, earth ponies visiting or even residing in Zephyr Heights is not unordinary. So we can’t be sure where exactly Shootie came from.” Zipp’s eyebrows sprung up like a popping skateboard. “Shootie?” Izzy briefly filled her in, before providing feedback of her own. “There’s also that plausible meeting point. Did Shootie and Sprout conspire there?” “Maybe a third pony was involved,” Pipp added quickly. “Somepony in charge of the prisoner transferring process who was crooked and couldn’t resist a bribe. Unless…” “Hold up,” Zipp butted in. “What did he look like?” Izzy gave a run-down, and Zipp nodded subtly but attentively. “I think it’s fair to say that Shootie is actually Sprout. No pony can have the same feathering color exactly, because naturally all pony hoof feathering hair strands get lighter towards the tip. And reddish-black, of all color tones? Seems too good to be false.” Well done, Detective Zipp, I thought with admiration, despite feeling there was one last part of the picture. “Where do you even get body and hair dye?” “Bridlewood,” Izzy replied quickly. “Unicorns collect different plants that produce various colors when crushed to a powder or smeared on a surface.” “Great. We should’ve asked that when were back there,” I hissed in frustration. How could I forget such a key question? Shutting out my inner flares, my mind locked onto something; the pouch Hitch gave me! When we met in the meadow he’d been out of breath and tossed it so quickly I hadn’t bothered to ask about it, but now it felt crucial to find out. I rummaged through my backpack and pulled it out, eagerly untying the thin rope that held it shut. To our surprise, inside was simply a torn-up sheet of paper. Izzy gently lifted the numerous pieces and arranged them on the bed. We began playing a little game of puzzle, trying to figure out what scrap of paper went where. It didn’t look like a lengthy letter – more of a diagram with a letter attached. Finally after half an hour of fussing, the scraps finally aligned. “Freeze, all of you!” I ordered, slowly reaching for the iPad so as not to cause any micro-breezes. Steadily, I lifted the tablet above the paper and snapped a few photos, before setting it aside. “Smart move, Aiden,” Zipp remarked, tapping her head with her wingtips. You’re really growing on me, Z. With breaths withheld, we all peered closely at the paper, trying to decipher the rough sketches and symbols drawn on it. There were two swiggly lines leading from one area to another, with a diversion to a red X and a flask symbol with a little arrow. “Yep. It all fits,” Sunny declared. “Just… something else I thought. Who was manufacturing the dye?” “Easy. Ms. Ruby,” I replied, pointing to a small insignia on the top left of the paper. “That’s the same logo I saw in the lobby when we entered her building. Also says, ‘Ruby Textile and Coloring, Inc. In partnership with Canterlogic.’” “Hey! Initials!” Izzy said excitedly, pointing near the X symbol. “Says ‘S.CL 2 Shoot3.’” Not wanting to be left out, Pipp sprinkled in her two cents. “And there’s a short note, too. ‘From the shadows of V, comes the birth of Shootie, when the Pegasus Vapor Vici transforms you into thee.’” Zipp and I shared a smug mug face. It was too good to be true – everything was laid out. Hitch may have felt major FOMO gloom, but his trash bin finding had almost single-handedly solved the entire case. But what was Sprout and Vapor Vici’s whereabouts now? That was our next challenge.