Chapter 5: The Other Side of the Coin
Trixie swallowed, barely noticing how dry her mouth had just gotten. She met Sheaf’s hard eyes with her own stare that was probably putting out more calm than she felt. He had to be exaggerating. Time to get answers.
“If what you say is true, then I think I deserve to know exactly what happened one year ago,” she said, proud that the wavering coldness she felt inside wasn’t coming out in her tone. She knew she could…screw up sometimes, but it was hard to swallow she could have done something to endanger an entire village.
“I suppose you do at that,” Sheaf said, his own voice calming while still carrying a undercurrent of anger, “though I still have difficulty believing you forgot so much of that night.”
“Believe me, I never intend to become that intoxicated again barring some kind of severe drinking emergency.”
“Drinking emergency?” Sheaf repeated with a look of mild disbelief.
“Like if my personal window repair pony Windowpane left town.”
“…You have a personal window repair pony?”
“Well, he might as well be. Honestly I think I’m his only regular client.”
“…I’m not even going to ask.”
“It’s for the best. In any case I take no pleasure in failing to recall what happened last time I was in Oaton. I want to know what happened,” Trixie said. Sincerity wasn’t exactly her middle name, true, and admittedly part of her wasn’t entirely sure she did want to know about this. She’d gotten kind of fond to the idea that she’d legitimately saved this village, even if she couldn’t remember the details.
That said, there was more than one reason to want to hear Sheaf’s account. Trixie’s desire to know the truth aside she wasn’t discounting the possibility that Sheaf might still be hiding something. She didn’t look at Raindrops directly but could see peripherally that the pegasus was intently watching the mayor from behind the glasses. Trixie bit back a smile. The spell might not be well known for its accuracy, but she didn’t doubt she could decipher some clues of value from whatever her friend was seeing.
Mayor Sheaf gave her a measuring look before closing his eyes with a sigh.
“Your departure from the tavern that evening was followed by a lot of good natured betting on whether or not you were serious about trying to help us with the Lumber Guild. I think most of us assumed you’d pass out before you’d even get out of the village. You were clearly well past the point of just being…tipsy…”
“Like the line from the song,” said Cheerilee, “I noticed it didn’t leave out the part about Trixie being drunk when all this happened.”
Sheaf shrugged, “My ponies like a good tune and thinking our troubles were swept away by the Princess’ personal apprentice gave them plenty of reason to come up with something to honor our new ‘hero’. The fact that she was drunk the whole time, quite frankly, only added to her image. Might not have noticed Miss Cheerilee, but my ponies like to drink when given half an opportunity, and respect a mare who can hold her liquor.”
“Oh I noticed. Reminds me I need to get details on what goes into that ale,” said Cheerilee, but catching a look from Trixie quickly added, “After we’ve sorted all this out of course.”
“Please, continue mayor Sheaf,” Trixie said, “What happened after I left Oaton?”
“It was about only an hour after you left that we saw the sings of the fire,” Sheaf went on, “The Lumber Guild’s camp wasn’t far from town, but it was far enough nopony could make out what was happening. I told everypony to stay put while I went to investigate. By the time I got there the entire camp was ablaze. Thankfully nopony got badly hurt, but the fires were well out of control and were close to spreading to the forest itself.”
“Do you know for sure what caused this fire?” asked Trixie, leaning in, eyes narrowing intently. This was a crux question she was very keen on hearing the answer to.
“First thing I asked the Guild ponies when I got to them. They told me it was, let me see if I remember the phrasing right, ‘an insane blue mare’ who started the fire.”
“Did they explain how she started the fire?” Trixie pressed, very intentionally using the word ‘she’ instead of ‘I’.
Sheaf grimaced, perhaps noticing her choice of words, “About a dozen different ways if I was to believe each account I got. Bottom line is though, each story pinned the cause of the fire on you. One pony said you did it with a spell, summoned fire straight from your horn. Another claimed it was because of something you threw into the camp, a potion or some such. A few ponies even swore upon Luna that you conjured monsters made out of fire. The only unifying part of the accounts is your involvement and that all this happened after you got into a shouting match with Sawblade.”
“And you call that enough to blame me for everything?” Trixie said with more than a little snap to her tone, “A bunch of conflicting stories half of which sound like they’re the result of some serious exaggeration?”
More than that, there were things about this fire that didn’t make sense, never mind the bizarre accounts of the Lumber Guild ponies. A fire spreading so fast, to cover an entire camp, was something that only could’ve happened with a catalyst beyond her own magic. She just didn’t know any spells to start a fire that size. That camp was right on a river, right? Couldn’t the ponies in the camp have gotten the fire under control? How had it grown beyond their control?
Sheaf shook his head, “If it were just those stories then I wouldn’t be blaming you for anything. No, it’s because of what happened after, at the dam.”
Trixie ground her teeth in mounting frustration. Why was it the more answers she got the more the questions were piling on!? This was supposed to be…well, not simple, but this whole mess was getting far more complicated than she’d thought it would. She was keeping her face natural but she hadn’t even noticed that her front hooves had been shaking until she felt a small, steadying touch on her shoulder. It was one of Raindrops’ wings, the pegasus withdrawing the wing almost as quick as she’d lowered it while giving Trixie a weird look halfway between apology and encouraging. Trixie wasn’t much on physical contact, having a rather sizable personal bubble, but she appreciated the gesture and took a calming breath.
Sheaf raised an eyebrow at the exchange before continuing his narrative.
“The Lumber Guild was fighting to keep the fire from getting too far into the forest, and much as I hated them for what they’d tried to do to my home, I was willing to help. In fact I was planning on returning to Oaton to rouse my ponies to help the Guild with the fire, but before I could I spotted a commotion on the dam. Fireworks, going off all over the bloody thing. Amid the bursts of light I saw the dam catching fire, and you, standing right on top of the whole thing, screaming utter nonsense.”
“…What kind of nonsense?” Trixie asked, her growing bewilderment barely contained by her focus on thinking over this information. Fireworks? Like the illusion spells she used for her performances? She’d developed those spells well before her first real performance in Ponyville, always liking the idea of being able to give herself some proper fanfare wherever and whenever she wanted…but there were just illusions! They couldn’t catch anything on fire. Of course it was possible there were spells other than the illusions going off, but again that came back to her not knowing spells that could light a whole dam on fire. Small stuff, maybe, but not a dam of any real size. But if she was drunk and throwing magic about at random…? Well, magic was far from an exact science, despite some ponies best efforts to see it that way. Trixie couldn’t entirely deny the possibility that if her drunken self was randomly throwing around magic it was possible she might have caused a fire…
“Honestly it was hard to hear exactly. It was slurred and also oddly…amplified…” said Sheaf with a frown, “I’m certain it was you though. I might not have caught all the words, but I recognized your voice, loud as it was.”
“There are spells that can amplify sound, they’re actually pretty simple,” Trixie said, wracking her mind for something, any kind of memory of these events.
“So you’re admitting it was you there?”
“I didn’t say any such thing!” Trixie snapped, “In fact nothing your saying is making this sound like it was me! I can’t light anything on fire with a spell because I don’t know any evocation spells of that level of power! My illusions are just figments, no matter how amazingly detailed or real they might seem they can’t cause a real affect!”
“It was you, Trixie Lulamoon. I saw you plain as a full moon standing on that dam, yammering some nonsense about ‘slaying monsters’ or something and popping off your harmless ‘illusions’ left and right! The dam started burning right while you were doing that so who else could it have been but you!?”
“Whoa, whoa, let’s back this up a sec,” said Raindrops before the shouting got any louder, “This still isn’t explaining how Trixie ended up almost destroying Oaton.”
Sheaf rolled his eyes, “I’m honestly surprised none of you have figured this out yet. It’s simple cause and effect.”
“The dam,” Cheerilee said suddenly, looking thoughtful, “I’d wondered, honestly, why Oaton hadn’t been damaged by the dam’s destruction.”
Trixie and Raindrops both looked at the schoolteacher mare, Trixie feeling her ears flatten against the back of her skull as she realized what Cheerilee was talking about.
“That’s…is the river large enough for there to be that much water…?” Trixie said, eyes blinking in disbelief. She hadn’t really looked at the dried up river, at its size.
“Yes,” said Sheaf, “Dried up like it is the river probably doesn’t look like much, but in its proper state it’s quite large. Damned up, the reservoir of water created was more than big enough that its sudden release would have done a lot of damage to what was immediately downriver…specifically Oaton, which you might not have noticed does sit in something of a shallow valley. Even if the water wouldn’t have destroyed our homes entirely the flooding would have made the area unlivable. Any who didn’t drown would have ended up homeless.”
It was such a simple detail Trixie was shocked to her core she hadn’t thought of it when she’d first heard the song. Destroying a dam, obviously the water would’ve had to go somewhere. She’d just sort of…assumed the river was so small that the amount of freed water was insignificant. Was she really so caught up in playing the part of hero, enjoying some time in the limelight, that she was ignoring some of her basic deductive reasoning skills? What was wrong with her?
Don’t let it get to you, she thought harshly to herself, you’re not the same as you were then. You’re smarter, more capable, and overall better now than you’ve ever been Trixie. Besides, there’s a hole in his story.
“Oaton is still here though…” she said, waving an arm.
“Yes, yes it is. When it became obvious the dam was about to burst, you just vanished in a giant poof of smoke, and there wasn’t any time to think about things. I…with some help from some of the Lumber Guild’s unicorns, were able to create a barrier to redirect the flood away from the village and into the forest, towards where the fires had already spread.”
Trixie hadn’t missed the slight hesitation in the mayor’s voice when talking about the help he’d gotten from the Lumber Guild in dealing with that flood. Was he still hiding something? Probably. Everypony’s got a secret; that was…what, Rule Two, or Rule Six of the Night Court? She’d never bothered to memorize them, mainly because Trixie figured with the way the Night Court tended to work any ‘rules’ it had were subjective at best…
…there were times she really questioned the value of the Night Court as a whole…but that was for other times when she wasn’t busy trying to save a village and questioning her own value. Stupid dam, why was it so flammable in the first place!? She wanted a drink…wait, that’s apparently what caused all this in the first place. She wanted…uh…exercise? She and Raindrops had started up a semi-regular exercise routine, somewhat in secret. It was grueling, as Trixie was far from what one would call athletic, or even ‘in shape’, but she found the exercise at least had a way of relaxing her in a so-tired-need-to-pass-out kind of way.
“Alright, fine” she said, teeth grinding slightly, “I…don’t remember doing anything you’re saying but regardless of what I did or didn’t do the fact remains I’m here, now, to help Oaton. To do that I need your cooperation. Whether you like me or not, or blame me for that flood or not, are you willing to work with me this time around?”
Sheaf’s lips were pressed tight and he looked like he was chewing on something sour but with a irritated flick of his tail he said, “I am. Providing you give me your word as a Representative of the Night Court that this time you won’t do anything to endanger the lives of my ponies.”
“You have it,” Trixie said firmly. She’d already promised something similar to Bushel, she didn’t have much problem doing the same with her father. Quite frankly the promise to the filly was a lot more personal and important. The thought that she might have nearly gotten that poor filly drowned a year ago didn’t sit well in her stomach, leaving a sour feeling in her gut. If what Sheaf was saying had any truth to it she could have been responsible for a lot of damage being done. Though was it really her fault, she wondered? Lulamoon, her drunken alter ego, was probably the one who thought burning down a dam was a good idea…though the how of it all still mystified her. She knew her illusions couldn’t cause real effects like that! Then there was that whole bit about healing Bushel…
“Mayor, there’s something else I’d like to ask about,” she said, “Two things, actually, but first things first; I heard that last year your eldest daughter was sick with something…?”
“Yes. We didn’t know what it was…still don’t.”
“What were the symptoms? When did they appear?” Cheerilee asked.
“More to the point, how did I cure her of it?” added Trixie
Sheaf looked between the two mares before settling his eyes on Cheerilee, “Bushel started to get really severe headaches a few days before Trixie’s arrival in Oaton. Not long after that the headaches got joined by a fever that just got worse and worse until she couldn’t walk. Maybe a day before the whole mess with Trixie my daughter lost consciousness. Me and my wife sent for the doctor over in Bridlesville, but we didn’t have enough bits to pay for her services.”
“What kind of doctor won’t help a sick filly because of something stupid like that!?” snapped Raindrops, stamping a hoof.
“It’s…not that unusual,” said Trixie and winced a bit as the pegasus shot her a glare. The glasses did nothing to soften that look and while Trixie thought she and Raindrops were on pretty good terms overall and she did understand that the pegasus was trying very hard to handle her anger issues…that look still terrified her a little. Was it odd that she could still feel a bit of fear towards her friend but still very much consider her a friend? Meh, Trixie cared not for other pony’s definition of ‘odd’ anyway.
“Are you kidding me!? If your job is healing ponies then you don’t go around denying them just because they’re a few bits short!” Raindrops practically growled, eyes flashing dangerously.
“I’m not saying it’s right,” said Trixie, forcing her tone to remain level , “I’m just saying that it’s not that unusual. Ponyville’s rather lucky to have a hospital that offers cheap medical care. Most private doctors are…pricy.”
Raindrops was still clearly fuming but the pegasus mare let the matter drop, crossing her forelegs across her chest with a snort and irritated flutter of her wings.
“Regardless,” said Sheaf after a moment, “Bushel’s condition was getting worse, and it only added to the…tension between me and the Lumber Guild’s leader, Sawblade. But to your second question, Trixie, I was sort of hoping you’d be able to explain that one to me. I was there when you did it, but I still don’t understand what happened.”
“Could you describe it in detail?” Cheerilee pressed.
“Well this was all after she’d dealt with Sawblade and his permits, which I’m going to assume you’ll want to know about as well.”
“Be nice,” said Trixie, “Assuming I did that and it wasn’t some exaggeration of events.”
Sheaf, for the first time, looked a little ashamed, “That much, at least, was something you did that helped us. It was actually so simple I’m surprised I didn’t think of it myself. You see Sawblade brought in the sheriff from Bridlesville, wanting you arrested for destruction of his property. You claimed, quite drunk still, that since he didn’t have permission to build there that the building’s themselves, including the dam, were forfeit as illegal construction. Sawblade threw his permits at your hooves, claiming them as the only proof he needed of his Guild’s right to build, and you just poured some whiskey on them and lit them on fire with a little magic spark.”
Raindrops shook her head, “What was it with you and fire that night Trixie?”
“I don’t know! I’m not some pyromaniac! I’m more surprised I’d waste good whiskey. Still, that was a smart move on my part, for me being drunk.”
“How so?” asked the confused Raindrops.
Cheerilee suddenly chuckled, “Official documents are magically laminated! Any kind of permit, or license, or official note would have a magic lamination on it that prevents damage from mundane sources. Even my teaching certificate is laminated by that enchantment!
“Meaning…what?” Raindrops asked, raising a hoof.
“Meaning,” Cheerilee said, pointing at Raindrops like she was calling on her class, “In order to alter or destroy an official document like that you’d need something specific to either counter the lamentation enchantment or a powerful enough spell to burn through it! And I’m willing to bet burning whiskey doesn’t count in that regard.”
Trixie looked at Cheerilee with a sidelong, wondering glance “How do you know all this? I…am only vaguely recalling hearing about this and I’ve actually studied the Night Court’s procedures.”
“Yes, but you’re not a teacher,” Cheerilee stated, then coughed.
Trixie’s eyes narrowed, “So this has nothing to do with your previous…lifestyle? Haven’t had any reason to know what it takes to mess with official Night Court documents?”
“Of course not!” Cheerilee said firmly, then grinned wryly, “For the most part.”
“Waitwaitwait, how did you know to burn the permits like that then, if even you’re just now remembering about this magic lamentation?” asked Raindrops.
“It’s…possible that my,” Trixie heaved out an annoyed sigh “ ‘Lulamoon’ personality remembered that particular detail. Honestly I don’t know how else it could have happened.”
“So…are you saying being drunk can make you smarter?”
“No. No it doesn’t. It makes me relaxed, when I’m buzzed. And clearly when I’m smashed I’m not smarter so much as…luckier?” Trixie didn’t even like saying that and felt like retracting it. She didn’t put much stock in the concept of ‘luck’. In her experience there was no such thing.
“Right, so Trixie burned up the permits, and that proved they were fake,” said Sheaf, moving the conversation along before it got further derailed by theorizing about the affects of alcohol on Trixie, “The sheriff who’d been brought to arrest her verified this, so while they didn’t really put her in the clear for the arson per se, it meant Sawblade and the Lumber Guild were going to be investigated for possessing illegally forged documents.”
“Bushel said something about that sheriff being in the Lumber Guild’s pocket though?” Trixie said, curious as to why this sheriff would switch sides so easily.
Sheaf actually laughed, a rough deep guttural sound that was one part bitter one part genuine amusement, “Sheriff Switch Hit isn’t the most…reliable pony I’ve ever met. Never mind him. The Lumber Guild may have paid him off to look the other way concerning their building with fake permits, and I don’t doubt he knew, but with proof of the permits being fake being publicly shown with my entire town to see it…well his hooves were tied. He had to file for an investigation of the Lumber Guild and cut ties with them, or sink with them.”
“Okay, okay, now back to what happened with Bushel,” Trixie said, starting to feel exhausted with all of this new information. It was all information she needed to know, but it was tiring to absorb all of this alongside the blow to her ego concerning the flood she’d almost caused. No, did cause, but was lucky enough to have other ponies covering for her. She couldn’t even decide if it was better or worse that she didn’t remember doing it. It still baffled her how it had happened like Sheaf described. Could he be lying? Everypony lies, it was a fact of life, but his anger seemed pretty genuine. She felt she was good at reading other ponies and while she sensed there were things Sheaf wasn’t talking about, his account at the dam at least sounded truthful…as unlikely as its details sounded to her.
“Yes. After things had settled down after the permit thing my wife came to tell me that Bushel’s fever had worsened. You overheard and insisted upon seeing her. I was…hesitant to say the least, but the whole town was cheering you as our hero. How could I tell them otherwise? How could I, as their mayor, deny the pony they were cheering a chance to help my daughter?”
Trixie understood. She understood perfectly. You don’t tell the audience the nature of the illusion, because their believing in it is the whole point of the performance. Even casting a little doubt into the utter veracity of the act isn’t something any proper magician allows, because the point is to believe with utter faith that the illusion is true. Sheaf couldn’t tell his fellow villagers that the mare they were heralding as a hero was also the one who nearly got them all killed through her drunken antics, or that he was fearful that she might hurt his daughter due to that same recklessness.
“Don’t misunderstand; I had every intention of keeping a close eye on you while you examined her. I may have spent most of my life in Oaton, but I did…learn some magic in my time. My daughter’s safety, my family’s safety is the single most important thing to me,” said Sheaf in a hard tone, eyes locked on Trixie’s, “Now, when you entered my daughter’s room I was there with my wife, so if you want you can confirm this with her. You went up to her bed, looked her over, then said ‘she just needs to be fed’, and then you touched your horn to her forehead. Your horn glowed, and this went on for a minute or two. I didn’t stop you because, far as I could tell, you weren't casting a spell, you were just…putting out magic. I assumed this was just you being drunk. Once you were done you just grinned and told us she’d be alright, and then that was that.”
“That was that?” Trixie asked.
“You left immediately afterward. My ponies asked you to stay for a celebration but you said something about Princess Luna having a special room for punishing ponies who were late for appointments and galloped off into the night. My ponies celebrated anyway, cost us a week’s worth of ale in one night, and by the next day Potato Sack and Spit Shine were working on the first lines of that damn song I’ve heard sung every night in the tavern downstairs for the past year.”
Trixie slowly levitated the whiskey she’d set down on Sheaf’s desk earlier and brought it to her lips, taking a single quick sip. Nope, not getting drunk, just needed to get the buzz going again to help her focus. First in her mind was what Sheaf had said she’d done with Bushel. Something about it was tickling the back of her mind. She thought she almost remembered that part. A faint recollection of being in a small room with the tiny yellow filly being wrapped up in sweat soaked sheets…her horn touching the filly’s forehead and…feeling something there.
She shook her head. She needed to talk to Raindrops about what the pegasus might have seen through the glasses enchantment. After that, the Lumber Guild, and her supposed ‘inspection’ needed to get under way.
“Mayor Sheaf, thank you for speaking with me and answering our questions,” Trixie said, hesitated a second before adding, “I won’t take up any more of your time, as I now have a lot I need to do.”
“You’re going to speak with the Lumber Guild, right? Perform your little inspection,” Sheaf said, leaning forward intently, “Tread carefully, Trixie Lulamoon. The Copper Coins are the ones running the show there, now, and they’ve already proven they care even less about the safety of ponies than the previous leader of the Lumber Guild did.”
“Oh, we’ll be careful of them, you can count on that,” said Trixie.
It wasn’t until she, Cheerilee, and Raindrops had left the room that she paused.
Wait, what did he mean by ‘previous’ leader of the Lumber Guild?
----------
Bushel jumped upon the small table, rearing up on her hind legs and waving one hoof in the air while using her other to point at the table beneath her.
“Now I, the Great and Powerful Trixie shall shock and amaze you by turning this horrible dam into a pile of cinders with a flash of my incredible magic might!”
“Hey you can’t do that,” cried Milkdrop, “You don’t gotta horn!”
“Ugh, it’s hidden under my awesome wizard hat, duh!” said Bushel, pointing at the tablecloth she’d bundled up around her head.
“Nope, you’re an earth pony sissy, you can’t do magic,” said Milkdrop and poked her brother Breadcrumb, “Right, right?”
Breadcrumb, however was too busy staring at Bushel, expectantly waiting for her to light the table on fire or at the very least make a show of trying. Milkdrop gave up after a few more jostles and rolled her eyes.
Confident her audience was now back to paying attention to her and that her mother was too busy in the kitchen to mind her using the living room table as a temporary Lumber Guild Dam the energetic little yellow filly began to recite her magic chant.
“Abrazabra, bim, bob, boo, awesiomus magickus explodius!”
“…are those real magic words?” deadpanned Milkdrop.
“Yes. Yes they are. From a real magic book. That I read. For real.”
“The ‘dam’ isn’t burning down though,” noted Milkdrop.
“Oh come on! Use your imagination!”
“Daddy said imagination doesn’t plant crops,” was Milkdrop’s comment.
“I like the fire! It’s really pretty!” said Breadcrumb.
“See? Brother totally can see my amazing skills!”
Bushel noted that now Milkdrop was starring at the table with wide eyes, mouth hanging open. Curious, she looked down…and nearly hopped off the table, which was smoking.
“Whoa! How’d I do that!?”
There was a friendly chuckle from the other side of the room and the two fillies and little colt all looked to see the return of Trixie and her two friends. Bushel’s face immediately brightened with a smile, seeing that Trixie’s horn was glowing, her hat floating next to her. The azure unicorn made a small bow and the smoke around the table vanished.
“My apologies my little ponies, but Bushel’s performance was so inspiring I felt the need to add a little special affects of my own.”
Hearing Trixie’s words ignited a bright bulb of pride in Bushel’s chest and she practically danced up to the unicorn, “That was cool! I wish I could do magic. Being an earth pony is so dull…um, not that you’re not awesome too Miss Cheerilee!”
“Oh being an earth pony isn’t so bad,” said the schoolteacher, “You’ll find when you get older that you’ve got a magic of your own.”
“Well said,” Trixie was nodding, and then looked at her hat in consideration, ten to Bushel’s surprise she floated it over to rest on the filly’s head, “Tell you what, why don’t you hold onto this for a little while.”
“W-w-w-w-what!? Really!?” Bushel knew she was looking so completely uncool in front of her idol right now but she didn’t even care!
Trixie gave her two friends a knowing look and then leaned her head down next to Bushel to whisper, “Might get dicey, what with all the heroing me and my friends will be doing, so I’d just like you to look after my hat until this is all done, so it doesn’t get damaged. In exchange for this service to me I’ll teach you a little magic.”
“But…I’m an earth pony…” Bushel breathed.
Trixie smiled, bouncing a bit from her saddlebags and rolling it along her hoof until it rolled off the back, but to Bushel’s surprise it didn’t drop to the floor, it just seemed to vanish.
“That just means you can’t do spells. What I’ll teach you is magic,” Trixie said with a wink.
Bushel could only nod in response, the normally chatty filly now at a complete loss for words. Best. Day. Ever!
“Are you all not staying for lunch?” came her mother’s voice from the kitchen, and Bushel turned to see Picturesque glancing out at them all from the doorway.
“I’m afraid we’ve got too much to do to take a lunch break, but if you’ll have us I’m certain come dinner time we’ll all be famished,” said Trixie.
Picturesque giggled, hiding the expression with one hoof that was wrapped around a ladle, “Of course. I’ll look forward to seeing you all come dinnertime. I trust my husband wasn’t…too wordy with you all?”
That was good point, Bushel thought! They’d spent a lot of time in there talking with her father. What was all that talking about? Weren’t heroes supposed to get out there and mix it up with the bad ponies? Maybe Trixie just needed a lot of information to plan tactics or something?
“Let’s just say our conversation was informative,” Trixie said, and Bushel wasn’t sure why but the azure unicorn cast a brief look at her that to Bushel seemed…worried? No, that was just Bushel’s imagination. Hero’s didn’t get worried about things.
“So, we going or what?” asked Raindrops, and Bushel wondered again why the pretty jasmine pegasus was wearing those dorky glasses.
“Yes, let’s go,” said Trixie and gave Bushel one last look, “Remember, keep the hat safe until I get back.”
“Like my life depended on it!” cried Bushel, snapping a salute.
After the three had left Bushel and her siblings played a time longer, Bushel inventing a new role for herself, the Awesome and Amazing Bushel! Breadcrumb at least seemed pretty impressed. After her mother finished making lunch the whole family gathered around the table to eat. It was about halfway through the meal that Bushel groaned, rubbing her forehead.
“Bushel?” her mother looked at her with concern, “Are you okay?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine ma,” said Bushel, continuing to eat her dandelion sandwich.
It was just a headache, no big deal.
----------
Cheerilee trotted alongside her friends up the small dirt path with a bounce to her steps. It was a rather beautiful day and while the circumstances of their being there might not have been for relaxation she couldn’t help but enjoy the view of the surrounding landscape. The ponies of Oaton had certainly chosen a beautiful locale to build their village. The fields to the west were like a rolling ocean of green, while the portion of the Southern Everfree forest that dominated the view to the east and north was an enticing sight, with tall and powerful pines stretching to the sky. Quite a bit different than the more deciduous trees found in Northern Everfree. It would be such a good place to take the class for a field trip sometime to discuss the differences between the various types of trees…
“Cheerilee are you paying attention!?” Trixie’s voice snapped Cheerilee out of her thoughts and she looked over to her friend.
“More or less. You were explaining your dastardly plans, right?” she said with a wide smile.
“Dastardly!? There’s nothing ‘dastardly’ going on with my plans. My plans are perfectly legitimate and legal…well, maybe not entirely legal in the strictest sense of the words definition, but we’re the ones in the right, so rule bending is allowed! Besides I’m pretty sure it’s these Copper Coins that are the dastards around here, among other things,” Trixie said with a huff, then raised a hoof for the three of them to stop.
Up ahead the path bend around a portion of the forest that spread out from its main body and the dry riverbed followed this curve. Just barely in the distance it was possible to hear a rhythmic, loud cracking sound, and one of the trees was seen to twist and fall behind the tree line with a loud crash.
“We’re almost there, and now that we’re out of Oaton I can ensure you two are fully informed on these magic items I’ve made,” said Trixie, turning her horn to the saddlebags on her back and flipping one of them open. From there she floated out three small silver ear clasps, and a little amulet with a sapphire embedded in it.
“So, what, more stuff like these glasses?” Raindrops asked, hoofing the glasses and eying the other items suspiciously, “Do the ear clasps let us hear a pony’s thoughts now?”
“What? No. Raindrops I had one night to prepare these,” Trixie said, shoulder’s slumping a bit and Cheerilee wondered just how much steam the unicorn really had left in her for the day, “I wouldn’t waste time on multiple items that do basically the same thing. Mostly. The ear clasps all do the same thing I guess, but that’s kind of their point. They’re for each of us…here…”
She floated one up to one of her own ears, while floating the other two towards her friends, one apiece. Cheerilee exchanged a glance with Raindrops, and shrugged with a grin, “Not like they’re likely to turn us into newts, right?”
She put the ear clasp on her right ear, flopping the ear back and forth to make sure it was on tight but comfortably. Raindrops did the same after giving Trixie one last questioning look to which the unicorn just waved a hoof for her to go ahead.
“Okay, now what?” asked Raindrops.
Trixie cleared her throat, a confident half smile on her face as she pressed a hoof to the ear clasp on her own ear, “Listen closely. *ahem* Can you hear me loudly and clearly?”
“…Yes…” said Raindrops in a bland monotone, with an expression to match.
“Quite clearly,” confirmed Cheerilee, not sure where Trixie was going with this.
“Behold! Or rather, behear!" Cheerilee winced at the abuse of the Equestrian language, "These ear clasps grant us the ability to communicate with each other clearly over a distance!”
“...you’re standing right there, Trixie.”
“Yes, of course I am, Raindrops.”
“…so, how are we not going to hear you loudly and clearly?”
Cheerilee put a hoof to her mouth, surpassing a giggle as Trixie blinked and realized what Raindrops was trying to say. Trixie recovered with grace, or that is to say she only blushed a little bit as she turned and with a flick of her tail trotted on down the road a few dozen feet. Cheerilee saw her touch the ear clasp again and this time Cheerilee heard Trixie quite clearly in her own ear where she was wearing the ear piece.
“Now, my joking friends, can you hear me? Touch your own ear clasp and speak and I should hear your answer.”
Cheerilee touched her own ear clasp and soon Raindrops did the same, “I heard you clearly.”
“Same here,” said Raindrops, looking thoughtful, “This is…actually kind of useful. I like this far more than the glasses. What are these thing’s limits?”
Trixie, still a few dozen feet away, said, “The enchantment has a limited range, maybe a mile, mile and a half. I decided to develop these enchantments, the glasses, these ear clasps, the amulet, when I realized we’d need all sorts of advantages when dealing with Corona, when she inevitably rears her overbearing flaming head. This messaging spell is something I’ve developed so we Elements can keep in contact, even if we’re separated…or if one of us ends up turned invisible by Poison Joke. I’m working on ways to boost the range, but for now this should do. While we’re investigating we might have to split up, so being able to speak to each other should prove useful.”
“Neat,” said Cheerilee, “Not very subtle, what with having to touch the ear clasp to make it work, but I can see where these will come in handy. What about the amulet?”
“An even simpler thing. It’s just an invisibility spell. Normally I’d just sustain that myself, but the problem is that I have to be there to maintain the spell for other ponies. But I put a layered duration enchantment on the amulet. It won’t last long…we’re talking ten minutes tops, but if you wear the amulet and press the gem you’ll turn invisible. Sorry, no sound dampening…I’m not quite up to putting multiple-duration enchantments on the same item. And again, one night. Very tiring.”
“You okay, Trixie?” asked Raindrops, “You didn’t sleep last night and you’ve been pushing yourself pretty hard. Not to mention there was that whole bit about the dam-“
“I’m fine,” said Trixie, rather hastily, “Just fine. Not tired, much. And as for the dam…well, wasn’t that really Lulamoon, not me?”
“You do realize you two are the same pony, right?” asked Cheerilee.
“Are we?”
Okaaaay…Cheerilee was climbing into Raindrops camp on this one; Trixie needed sleep, and soon.
Cheerilee and Raindrops caught up with Trixie and the three resumed their walk, though Trixie was quick to resume the conversation.
“Raindrops, I know you’re a bit uncomfortable with the glasses, but did you see anything from mayor Sheaf, or any other pony so far, that seemed…out of the ordinary?”
“You mean other than the interesting mental images that Copper Coin guard stallion had about you?”
Trixie audibly gagged.
Raindrops shook her head, “Sorry, but viable vengeance for making me wear these things before telling me what they did. Seriously, I don’t like peeping into ponies minds. Just…doesn’t feel right. But to answer your question seriously; I didn’t see much that wasn’t in tune with what any pony was saying…except…”
“Except?” Trixie pressed and Cheerilee leaned forward as well, curious.
“Except that whenever the Lumber Guild was brought up he thought about two specific ponies, both of which matched your description of Sawblade. Unicorns, violet, with blue manes and tails. Only one was clearly older and one was clearly younger. In Sheaf’s...though, image, thingies, these two were butting heads a lot, glaring at each other. Then when he first started talking about you destroying the dam his head was filled with thoughts of a lot of water, holding it all back, with that younger violet unicorn by his side. Oh, and one last thing, not sure what it means, but when he was thinking about the dam being on fire, the flames were red.”
Even while Trixie was pacing back and forth, chewing that information over, Cheerilee’s own thoughts began to rapidly go over the rather deep mine of random trivia she possessed. As a schoolteacher she’d studied hard to become learned on a remarkably wide variety of subjects. A part of her mind had been busily going over the symptoms and known magical cures of numerous sicknesses since getting the story on Bushel’s condition. So far she hadn’t thought of anything specific that would fit, as headaches and fevers were common symptoms for a lot of potential ailments. Trixie’s actions, putting out magic in close proximity to the filly, seemed like the most specific clue to that mystery, and it did tickle something in Cheerilee’s mind, but she’d need to reference some books to learn more. Fortunately she’d packed a few reference encyclopedias, figuring some research material would be useful during this whole affair. Mostly to research the basilisk, since she wasn’t too familiar with those creatures, but she had other stuff. Speaking of the basilisk, she wondered when it might make an appearance.
The schoolteacher glanced around, just in case her thinking about it happened to act as a summons. Luck worked that way. But nope, no giant frilled lizard to be seen. Oh well, back to thinking! Aloud this time!
“Okay the two unicorns I’m going to surmise are related, either brothers, or father and son,” Cheerilee said, “Or maybe evil clones?”
Trixie stared at her and Cheerilee grinned, “Father and son most likely,” the schoolteacher admitted.
“Makes sense, but what about these red flames? Could it be a property of the wood the dam was made from?”
“Ooo, that’s a good guess Trixie! You get a bronze star.”
“What, no silver star? So that’s what you think it is?”
“Not at all, but it’s a good guess,” said Cheerilee, to which Trixie made a small ‘pfft’ sound, “No its probably either a random element of the magic that was used to cause the fire, or the fire was caused by a unique source that doesn’t burn a conventional color, or the temperature of the flame itself could also affect color. Until we discover what exactly caused the flame we’re just stuck speculating.”
“Sounds like that’s what we’re going to have to do a lot of,” said Raindrops, scuffing the ground, “Feel like we’re just flapping our wings without moving any clouds!”
“We’ll find something at the Lumber Guild’s camp, I’m sure of it,” Trixie said, and after a second floated the invisibility amulet over to Cheerilee, who took it around one hoof and gave the unicorn a questioning look.
“The plan,” Trixie said, “Is that while me and Raindrops keep the camp distracted with this inspection I’m going to conduct, you’re going to snoop around and see what you can find.”
Cheerilee smiled impishly as she slipped the amulet around her neck, “So I get to play spy? How fun! Though I warn you, back when I played Gates and Golems my characters had the worst luck with search checks.”
Trixie and Raindrops starred at her. Cheerilee gave a light chuckle.
“What, just because I had a wild youth doesn’t mean I didn’t do more normal things too.”
“…I’m not sure that counts as normal,” said Trixie, “But, yeah, I was sort of assuming your previous experience with…er…more clandestine activities would make you most suited to sneak around the camp.”
“Just because a mare knows how a to pick a lock suddenly everypony starts assuming things,” Cheerilee said with another chuckle, examining the amulet, “So you say all I have to do is press the sapphire?”
“That’s right. Like I said, should last you about ten minutes. Not long, but hopefully enough.”
“And whiles she’s doing that we’re…inspecting?” Raindrops asked, making an off-hoof gesture.
“Officially our story is that due to ‘registered’ complains from Oaton’s citizenry we’ve been dispatched as Elements of Harmony to conduct a ‘inspection of the harmonious status of the Lumber Guild’s activities’. There’s likely to be some complaints, but I don’t think we’ll have too much trouble. They won’t want to risk it if we’re legitimately sanctioned.”
“Which we’re not, Trixie,” Raindrops said, “Are you sure this is a good idea? What will the Princess do if she finds out?”
“When, not if,” said Trixie with a sigh, “She’ll find out, sooner or later. Honestly I can’t say how she’ll react. She might blow it off, or she might get…pretty angry with me.”
“Let her,” said Cheerilee suddenly, and the schoolteacher just shrugged as both Trixie and Raindrops starred at her. When they kept starring at her Cheerilee felt the need to explain.
“Look, has there been any official word concerning just what we…are, as Elements of Harmony? Any official word at all as to our political status?”
“None, because I don’t think anypony is quite sure if we have any,” Trixie said, then looked away darkly and added “Not that that stops them from trying to use us like we do.”
“That’s sort of what I mean,” said Cheerilee, “Look, our lives have gotten kind of turned upside down since the Longest Night Celebration. We’re all still the same mares, more or less, but suddenly we have all these politicians from the Night Court messing with our lives! I’m not even that heavily affected yet, haven’t been directly targeted like Carrot Top, Ditzy or Lyra have! Ditzy's daughter was foalnapped for ponies sake! And you know what? It makes me kind of mad that nothings been done about all this! If Princess Luna wants to get huffy over us trying to throw our weight around as Elements of Harmony, then she can take her complaints and shove them where the moon fails to shine, far as I’m concerned…unless she wants to get off her godly behind and do something about her Night Court messing with my friends lives!”
Cheerilee took a deep breath. She usually didn’t do outbursts like that, but, well, she had been holding it in a bit of late. She didn’t like seeing her friends having to constantly deal with political schemes that were, by and large, completely pointless. The Elements of Harmony weren’t some political tool! But if ponies wanted to see them that way, well then, Cheerilee didn’t see it as wrong to do a little turnabout, which was basically what Trixie was planning here.
“That’s all well and good…” said Trixie, “But you’ve never seen Luna angry before.”
“Fair enough. Then again, she’s never seen me angry before,” said Cheerilee.
Raindrops suddenly laughed, shaking her head, “What would you do, give her a lecture?”
“With a quiz afterwards to make sure she learned her lesson!” said Cheerilee with a grin that might have had a touch of ruefulness to it.
Trixie was still looking nervously at Cheerilee and the magenta mare gave her friend a slightly apologetic look, “Try not to worry about it Trixie. Whatever happens after this, you know all of us, me, Raindrops, Carrot Top, Ditzy, Lyra, we all will support you.”
“I know and…thank you. I was…well it doesn’t matter, we still have to save Oaton first.”
Cheerilee wondered what the azure unicorn was thinking, tried to read Trixie’s expression, which was still nervous and a little sullen. Cheerilee was reminded that one of the main reasons she came on this trip was to become more familiar with Trixie, a friend she was still learning so much about. She’d committed plenty of faux pas in her time due to not really understanding the dynamics of a pony, or the situation. Recently she’d even completely misread a situation concerning Trixie’s issue with sex…and while Cheerilee had managed to apologize and put that incident behind her it was just a glaring example of how little she understood the showmare.
----------
Raindrops had to give to Cheerilee, while the earth pony mare was undeniably a talented teacher, she had certainly developed some interesting skills in her youth. Before Raindrops and Trixie had finished their approach to the Lumber Guild’s camp the schoolteacher had broken off into the forest where the sounds of trees being cut down could be heard, saying she’d use the forest cover to swing around and come at the camp from another direction, and that she’d link up with them once the ‘inspection’ was done with. With that Cheerilee had vanished into the tall grass across the dry river bed and Raindrops completely lost sight of her. Apparently Trixie had picked the right one for the job.
Which unfortunately meant Raindrops was still stuck on glasses duty. Still irked her, but she was getting used to the big clunky glasses perched on her snout. Trixie made it clear she wanted Raindrops to focus on as many ponies as possible here, both the Lumber Guild ponies and the ones wearing livery for the Copper Coins.
“It’s not likely that Count Shiny will meet with us personally, if he’s here, but if he does I can’t wait to see what you’ll spot in his head,” said Trixie as they walked up towards the camp.
“Assuming we can make any sense of it,” said Raindrops, eyes looking over what was before them.
The Lumber Guild clearly had some good ponies working for them in regards to construction. There were three sections to it, far as she could tell, all of it built on a big hill that had its top flattened out. The first section was what looked to be almost a small walled compound with a wall of thickly bound logs forming a palisade around a series of log cabins all arranged in a neatly ordered set of rows, with one larger cabin built at the end of these rows. Next to this was the dam itself, an impressive edifice that was almost all timber built, with the bottom section made from compacted earth. The dam obviously spanned the length of the river, and Raindrops could see a pair of grated gates that were letting out a small flow of water, creating the trickle in the otherwise dry riverbed. The top of the dam was slanted, with a single plank walkway spanning it. Behind this was a large reservoir of water and while she couldn’t see it she heard the sound of further construction along the west banks of this reservoir. The final part of the camp was on the other side of the dry river and reservoir, the staging ground for the logging efforts. It was a big clearing where trees were piled up in various stages of preparation for transport, with teams of ponies working to cut off branches and move the logs into piles that were in turn being stacked to be moved onto large rafts floating in the reservoir.
Impressive for something that hadn’t started up too long ago, according to Bushel. Raindrops noted that the Lumber Guild ponies were easy to spot due to their distinctive bowler caps they wore, much as Trixie had described in her memories of last year. That also made the Copper Coin ponies easy to spot, even without their blue tabards with the red fish. There was one such pony patrolling on top of the dam, and another pair standing at the gate of the palisade Raindrops and Trixie were cantering up to.
“In the name of the Copper Coin family of Counts halt and declare yourself!” said one guard, stamping a hoof and drawing himself up to his full height of…almost up to Raindrop’s chin. She noted the wings on the green stallion with the short black mane and it make her realize this was the first other pegasus she’d seen since leaving Ponyville. Odd. Oaton was almost all earth ponies, and even the Lumber Guild didn’t seem to have that many pegasi in their ranks. Guess that sort of made sense, given all the heavy labor with the logging would’ve been more for earth ponies, or unicorns who could easily manipulate tools. It did make her think, though, that Oaton’s water problem could be solved if they just had a few pegasi to organize some rain for them.
…Something she’d bring up with the mayor when they got back to Oaton.
The other Copper Coin guard was a female earth pony, black coated and with a hot pink mane that reminded Raindrops of Pinkie Pie’s, if Pinkie Pie styled her mane into pigtails. Looked uncomfortable, with that chain coif the guards wore. The chainmail armor was actually a little surprising. Raindrops didn’t know much military stuff, but she’d only ever seen armor on the Royal Guard. She didn’t think the nobles equipped their House Guard with anything too heavy…but these guards worth thick chainmail and had broadswords strapped to their barrels, while also carrying spears between their fetlocks. Seemed a little overkill for ponies guarding a lumber camp.
Trixie cleared her throat and held her head high, taking on an officious pose, “I am the Element of Magic and Representative of the Night Court in Ponyville, Trixie,” what, no Great and Powerful this time, was she learning?, “And the mare by my side is the Element of Honestly, Raindrops. We are here to speak with the leader of the Lumber Guild and Count Shiny Copper Coin, so we may conduct an inspection of the harmonious status of this lumber operation.”
Raindrops looked her over, feeling a crawling sense of worry. Trixie was still doing a decent job of hiding it but her fatigue was getting more obvious; a slight tremble to her legs, a faint flutter of her eyelids lowering for a second. Raindrops had gotten better at spotting when Trixie was reaching her physical limits since their little workout sessions. She had to, because Trixie had a bad habit of not paying attention to her limits. If Raindrops didn’t tell Trixie when to stop the unicorn would keep right on stubbornly going with an exercise to the point of exhaustion. Right now Trixie was pushing it and the jasmine pegasus clenched her jaw, resolving that tonight she was going to make sure Trixie got some sleep.
She blinked, not realizing that the glasses’ enchantment had formed a mist around Trixie’s head, with images swirling around it. Raindrops looked away quickly, but not before catching an image of Trixie…smacking a copy of herself with her own hat? And was that an image of Bushel, stuck in bed, with water rising around her? What was Trixie thinking about…?
Raindrops shook her head. She shouldn’t be looking at her friend’s thoughts. She hated these glasses. She instead, with reluctance, focused on the guard in front of her. Trixie had told her to watch for any clues. So far the only thing she was seeing that this pony seemed to be thinking about was apparently a dice game, though if the game was one already played or one the stallion intended to play Raindrops had no idea. Stupid abstract glasses. Why did Trixie think these things were going to help again?
To Trixie’s words the two Copper Coin guards exchanged looks, the green pegasus saying, “My lord has already been informed of your…intent, Miss Lulamoon,” Trixie’s eyebrow twitched, the stallion smiled, not pleasantly “And we have been informed to tell you that should you wish to conduct an inspection that he is willing to meet with you later this evening to discuss the proposition.”
“It is not a proposition,” said Trixie firmly “This is an official inspection by the Elements of Harmony to address the concerns of some of Equestria’s citizens, who live under the protection of Princess Luna herself. Tell Lord Shiny that to deny this inspection is tantamount to denying his own duty as a member of Equestria’s nobility to ensure the safety of all who live in his domain.”
Raindrops saw the images of the card game dissolve into an image of the pegasus stallion throttling Trixie, and she instinctively stepped a little closer to the unicorn mare, eyes boring into the guard. He seemed to notice her shift in mood and eased his stance.
“I can pass along the message Miss Lulamoon, but I doubt my lord will-“
“Now now, that won’t be necessary,” said a calm, smooth male tone as the palisade’s gate swung open and two ponies came strolling out to meet them.
One Raindrops recognized as the rust colored unicorn guardsmare who they’d met in Oaton. The guardsmare gave Trixie a look of distaste, but that look vanished the moment she looked over at Raindrops. Raindrops for her part felt her face heat up as she noticed that this unicorn mare was apparently thinking quite a bit about a certain jasmine pegasus in glasses. Okay looking elsewhere now…wow, how’d that mare guess Raindrops was that limber? Yes, looking at other pony now!
The other pony in question was stallion, young looking, perhaps close to Raindrops own age. He was a unicorn, with a dark violet coat and a neatly trimmed swept back mane of summer blue. He wore a black bowler cap perched on his head, which shaded a pair of blue eyes that were partially closed like the unicorn was sleepy. His smile was wide and bright as he swept his bowler cap off his head and bowed to her and Trixie.
“Pleasure to meet you both, Miss Trixie, Miss Raindrops. Please don’t mind the standoffish nature of those assigned to protect me and my operation, they’re just doing their jobs. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sawdust, current head of the Hoofington Lumber Guild, and you can consider me at your service. Now, I’ve heard-” a sidelong glance at the rust colored guardsmare “-that you’re interested in conducting an inspection of our little logging business? Excellent! Quite good, I would be more than happy to act as your guide and answer any questions you may have. I’m certain Count Shiny Copper Coin will be understanding and agree that there is no reason at all to deny you the right to inspect to your heart’s content.”
For a second Trixie appeared to be at a loss for words, before Raindrops nudged her with a wing and the azure unicorn nodded her head, “Yes, yes of course. Very good to see you’re being so understanding…Sawdust, you said? You wouldn’t happen to be familiar with a Sawblade, would you?”
“Ah, yes, my father. He is…no longer in charge of Lumber Guild operations. As you should well know Miss Trixie, given you were the one primarily responsible for his early retirement. My deepest thanks, by the way.”
“…thanks…?” Trixie blinked, and Raindrops felt a similar confusion. This wasn’t the conversation either mare was expecting to have with the leader of the Lumber Guild.
“Yes, if it wasn’t for you we would still be stuck under the guidance of a pony who did not…shall we say, have the best business sense? While I regret my father must consider his poor choices from behind bars, it has given me the opportunity to redirect the Guild’s efforts towards a more profitable future for not just ourselves, but all the ponies living in this region. Now, shall we begin your inspection? I’m certain you’re eager to start.”
Raindrops was now thoroughly worried. There was something wrong here. Not with Sawdust’s manner, per se. He was being friendly, and sounded genuine. But she was…she couldn’t explain it, sensed something off about his tone. It was just a subtle smoothness to it that felt…mechanical. Cold. The warmth in his words felt fake.
But that a minor issue next to the glasses enchantment and what they were showing her…or rather what they weren’t showing.
The mist around Sawdust’s head, where a pony’s thoughts were supposed to be shown, was completely empty.
----------
Cheerilee held the mirror around the corner of the cabin and confirmed there was no pony looking her way. With swiftness that was quite unlike the easy going schoolteacher’s normal canter she moved across the gap between this log cabin and the next in a mere second. Her ears were perked and listening for any sound of approaching ponies, and her eyes flicked left and right with regularity. She tucked the mirror back into her saddlebag.
Her heart was beating at a quick pace that was sending a pleasant thrill through her. She enjoyed her life as one of Ponyville’s teachers and wouldn’t give it up for anything, let alone going back to her wild early years, but she couldn’t deny a certain…nostalgia this was making her feel.
Getting into the Lumber Guild’s camp had been pretty easy, to the point where she hadn’t needed to rely on Trixie’s amulet yet..hm, should it be called Trixie’s Necklace of Invisibility, perhaps? Knowing Trixie she’d want something more flashy in a name, Trixie’s Incredible Talisman of the Unseen Pony or something along those lines. In any case, she hadn’t needed it for sneaking up to this point.
The ponies in bowler caps were very focused on their work so she’d flitted through the logging area without any trouble, even snatching a bowler cap off a napping pony to give her a temporary disguise when she had to cross the open space between the logging area and the dam. She wouldn’t have been able to cross the top of the dam, but looking at it from the back there had been a wood walkway across the back end that led to the Lumber Guild’s walled camp. She’d had to slip off into the water once to avoid a curious Copper Coin guard who’d peeked over at the walkway, but that was the only real trouble she had. Once she was at the palisade it wasn’t difficult to find a side gate that wasn’t guarded and instead just has a simple padlock. No match for Cheerilee and a little bobby-pin she kept wrapped in her mane; you know, just in case she forgot her house key or something.
Once inside the walled camp she’d begun looking around for anything suspicious, and had quickly noted that, of the rows of log cabins, only about half even looked like they were being used. There were at least four she’d seen that looked dark and empty, with big padlocks on their front doors. And even bigger padlocks on the back doors which Cheerilee noted were quite a bit larger.
She made note of the fact that the cabins with these back doors were all facing towards the reservoir, where there was another gate at the north east end of the palisade that led to a long dock.
The cabin she was behind now was the last one in the row on the north end, past which was a clearing where the camp’s main building was erected, a two story affair with an even larger three story watch tower. While she’d noted that around most the camp was the emblem she assumed was that of the Lumber Guild’s, that of a tree with a bowler cap on it, this tower was clearly flying the blue flag and three red fish of the Copper Coins.
Little much, Cheerilee thought, examining this main building. Chances were if there was anything incriminating about any of the activities going on around here, it’d be in there. First though she should try popping the locks on one of those cabins with the large back doors and seeing just what was in there. She was about to turn around and do exactly that when she noticed the doors of the main building open and a pony walk out, heading by himself towards the cabin she was hiding behind.
The cabins had some space under them just big enough for a pony to hide under, so by the time this pony reached the cabin there was no Cheerilee to be seen. She heard him go up the wood steps to the cabin’s back door and with some clinking and clanking the padlock came off. She poked her head out just enough to see a crème colored tail swish inside, the door starting to close behind it. She reached up and gently stopped the door and wiggled out from under the cabin. Quietly she went up to the door and peeked inside.
The interior was darkly lit and was filled with a musty scent that reminded her of a barn. She saw the pony standing just inside, muttering over a table piled with scrolls and a map. Cheerilee’s eyes widened. So it was him! Same blue coat, like a lake, and same curly mane of crème shades. Same cutie mark of a large red fish jumping out of the water.
Cheerilee suppressed a chuckle. Trixie would probably scold her for doing something so reckless and outside of the plan, but she couldn’t help herself, it had been so long, and she wanted to prank.
Cheerilee crept inside and closed the door behind her and then came up behind the stallion’s left side, tapping his shoulder, then darted right as his head snapped left.
“Guess who?” she said with a bright grin as she tapped the stallions’ right shoulder and stayed put so he could turn around and get a good look at her.
Those eyes, wide and a little sunken, the color of fresh grass, were the same as she remembered.
“Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-,” oh, that was so cute, he still stuttered, “Ch-Cheerilee!?”
Cheerilee laughed, and nodded, “Long time no see, Shiny. How have you been?”