The next morning dawned, and I am proud to report that criminal was caught and jailed. Last I heard his trial was coming up for his theft. But I had more important things to deal with than deal with every single little crime and problem. If I was truly function efficiently as sheriff, I needed to ensure I could have several sets of eyes and ears on the ground to keep an eye on things for my operations.
To this end I appointed two extra deputies and had them tackle the mini problems and small scale matters of small order. I had other business to attend to. As the sun shone over Maretime Bay, I had a few idea about seeing to the town. If I knew anything about this story, CanterLogic was the prime manufacturer of military equipment and gear in the region, and as such it seemed like a sensible place to start my assessment of our capability to defend ourselves.
I left the station and closed the door, already seeing Deputies Rufus and Dahlia at work keeping the town in order. It warmed my cold heart to see justice being dispensed so efficiently, as it helped keep this town in line.
I made my way through the streets of Maretime Bay towards the CanterLogic factory, which certainly dominated the local skyline. The front end of the building was fronted in heavy glass which seemed to make the building shine in the sunlight, with an entrance at the front built in the familiar Maretime Bay style. The building was built on a hill, and extended a long way backwards (as factories should do), to give plenty of space for making things. I made my way up the hill, already a bit short of breath even as I reached the top. Seriously, how could anybody see me as a threat, huh? I'd struggle to keep up with a fly!
Up ahead was the entrance, and two security guards were standing there, weapons held at attention. "State your business," said one of the guards.
"Sheriff Sprout Cloverleaf," I said. "Under the powers granted to me under the Police and Law Enforcement Act, I am here to inspect production capabilities of this factory."
The other guard checked the information. "What happened to Sheriff Hitch?"
"He's away on a mission," I explained. "He left me in charge. Now then, I believe you two have a job to do- after all, remember who your boss is."
"Of course," the first guard said, and opened the door. "It's just with the country having been put on alert status we need to be certain of all proper security measures and equipment lines, that's all."
"Doing your job," I replied. "Excellent work. Carry on, you two."
They nodded as I stepped through the door, and into the atrium of the factory. The signage directed me underground to the production floors, so I went down the stairs and into the production section of this massive facility.
Production lines snaked throughout the building, covered in all sorts of equipment, and gear for various different tasks and jobs. I took a closer look at several of them. The first was a spotting scope which the owner wore to keep an eye on the skies.
I took out a book and took some notes on it, noting its distinct weaknesses. I headed through the room and off to another part of the plant, which was making a metal hat with a white antenna and red dot on the top.
This reference had gotten a chuckle out of me when I'd seen the film. It's clearly an allusion to the tin foil hats conspiracy theory. I took a look inside and looked at the mechanical workings. Again, a problematic piece of equipment which had various flaws, which I noted down.
The third and final item to attract my eye was a box that seemed quite innocous at first. I trotted over to it and hit the button on the side. The top burst open and large numbers of balloons flew out, causing the pack to float upwards before it crashed into the ceiling and popped, falling back down to earth with a bang.
What a useless piece of junk. Sunny had been right on at least one thing in that regard. I needed to talk with the mare in charge if I was actually going to get anything useful done around these parts. I exited the plant, noting the complete lack of proper engineering safety on most of the base.
I found my way upstairs again to try and locate Phyllis' office. I knew it was in the building somewhere, as it was clearly marked on a map, but none of the reference markers made much sense to me as the film only shows very little of the factory. I had completed the ascent via the lift and turned to the right, following the signs throughout the facility and towards the destination I needed to get to, just a little bit away.
The administration levels couldn't have been more different than the production levels, in that they felt like a nicely maintained office. A bit bland, but nicely maintained nonetheless. Pictures of Phyllis were everywhere, and this I could only assume was where Sprout had gotten his vanity from. I continued onwards through the corridors and doors until I had found the relevant office.
I knocked on the door, and waited.
"Enter!" said a voice.
I pushed it open, and found Phyllis sitting at her desk, glancing at a computer monitor which looked like it was straight out of the 1980s. She looked up, and looked a little surprised. "Oh. Hello Sprout. I wasn't expecting to see you here."
I closed the door behind me and took a seat. "As part of my duties as sheriff I undertook an inspection of the factory and its production capabilities. And what I found wasn't good."
"Sprout, has Sunny been putting silly ideas in your head again? At least she can't influence you now, ever since she ran off with that unicorn. Poor girl probably has a fried brain now."
I took out my notes. "I found goggles that allow the wearer to watch the skies whilst rendering them unable to see anything in front of them, making them functionally useless. Pegasi could exploit that! I also found an anti mind reading helmet that doesn't work, and a balloon pack which lacks any sort of release equipment, making it impossible for the wearer to land unless they either crash into something or the balloons run out of helium. All of these devices are hindrances rather than helps, and I say we should do something to-"
"Sprout." The single word cut through the air quite fiercely. "There's nothing to be concerned about. The nation may be in a state of alert, but they always do that whenever something happens. I doubt the unicorns and pegasi could mount an attack on us without fighting each other, and besides the traps and splatapault batteries would drive them off with no difficulty! This factory has kept our citizens safe for years, and will continue to do so for years to come."
This was going nowhere. I needed evidence if I was going to convince Phyllis that the world was in danger, as the spirit had hinted. Not even appealing to her bigotry had worked. "I'll come back with evidence of the danger we are all in, and it will be good."
I left the office, frustrated, and exited the factory.
I wandered along the seafront path, which would slowly lead me out of town. Some ponies seemed to be playing on the beach. Good for them.
I knew I had to find something good if I was going to convince them that we had to do something. But what, exactly? It's not as if the enemy will just casually drop their battle plans right into your hooves. I had to find conclusive proof of what was going on.
I made my way out of the town and onto the cliffside path, which was very long and a bit steep. The lighthouse loomed in the distance, which was always a nice thing to see.
I turned a corner and soon went into another corner of town. This was a side area seemingly full of old production gear and machinery which once had a use, but no longer saw much use anymore.
Suddenly, there was a bright flash, and an explosion dropped before me. "What the?" I asked, before rolling out of the way of the blast and landing nearby. I was at a slight loss for words at what had just happened, and then I looked over.
More blasts soon began to rock the area, and I touched down with some skill to try and see what was going on. There was a lot of smoke, so it was hard to see what was going on.
And then it spoke. "Well, it looks as though the meddlers got here before me!"