//------------------------------// // Running Around Town // Story: Dimension Jumper // by redtau //------------------------------// It was just before noon when the frightened and strange young filly walked into the pawn shop on the outskirts of Ponyville. The story of woe and hardship she painted: a failing farm, the coin found in a field they had not plowed in centuries, hope for medicine for a sick mother, all fell on deaf ears. Hard Sell had heard it all before and was not about to spend one bit more for whatever junk this filly had found than it was worth. The coin itself did get his attention though. “How much is it worth?” “Oh,” Hard Sale flipped it over, “it's hard to say. If it IS an authentic piece, then it is worth about 25 bits.” He licked his lips, “Maybe double that to a collector. I've got a friend in town who is an expert on pre-nightmare relics, I'll have him come take a look at it.” They are going to rob you blind. Over 1000 years old in that condition and it's only worth fifty bits at best? “When might your friend get here?” “Oh, probably 45-50 minutes.” “Ok, I have a quick errand to run. I'll be back with the coin soon, alright?” He frowned, “I'd rather you left the coin here so it doesn't get lost.” “Can you give me soemthing for it? A note or bill of holding?” He grumbled a bit and then filled out a holding slip for the coin and handed it over. “Be right back.” I walked out the door. If he swaps that coin for a fake... “Then I shall just go and get another and take it to a different shop. And when the new coin comes back appraised differently I shall return and demand my original’s return. With guards if necessary.” I pulled a small satchel and two of the books from my backpack. “Right now, we have some ponies to repay and we can return those books” How do you plan to do that? “Easy, I'll just say I found the books near the forest edge and-” I mean, how do you plan to get through the shield. “What shield?” I looked up the road to my destination. Sure enough, a purple hued bubble surrounded the library. I watched as one pony walked right through the energy and into the tree. “What is that?” It feels a little like the spell she used to shut off my abilities. Touch that and you will have no illusion I can extend the hologram from your leg to your whole body if you want. The shield should not be able to shut me off, but it will tap my resources. “Uhg” I hated whispering to myself in public, “I guess I'll just deal with this later.” I put the books away. “At least we can give these herbs to Aloe and Lotus.” I walked into the spa with a smile and a plan, I had run into a strange one-legged pony on the edge of town, begging to have these herbs brought here as payment for a debt. It was a wonderful plan, except for the part where the spa was empty and a little sign that read “Out To Lunch” sat on the counter. “Well, that's even easier.” I sat down the pack of herbs and looked for paper and pen. “There has to be some in the back room.” I walked back towards the “Employees Only” door. Are you sure this is a good idea? “Relax,” I whispered, “they are out to lunch. I'm sure-” “And you told me to be quiet when we had that- that THING in OUR spa!” The urge to sit still and be quiet so as not to get caught rooted me to the spot. Aloe was fussing at somepony, and it sounded like they were fighting over me. “I couldn't have known, it even fooled Twilight a couple of times. At least we weren't openly friendly with it.” “Now don't start. If that wall eyed mail-mare knows it enough to greet it by name AND have it come to her defense, then she obviously knows it too well.” “Really though, fired? Just for knowing somepony?” “Some CREATURE! A creature that attacked Twilight and ran amuck through the hospital and chased that poor Portaloo-” “Scootaloo.” “Chased that poor little filly all through the streets! If one of our biggest clients hadn't been there to pull the child to saftey Celestia only knows what it might have done.” I had heard enough and went back to the front area. I felt a little sick. FIRED HER!? THEY FIRED HER?! Give me control Sarah, I am going down to the post office and- Calm down D, the only thing you would do in that case is confirm their deluded belief that a monster is Ditzy's friend. “Come on, lets just get out of here.” I looked down at the bag, thinking for a moment. “D, give me a claw, fine point.” My left hoof stretched into a hand with a single long black blade at the end of my index finger. With care I scratched the words My debt is paid -Sarah into the bag, careful not to tear or spill any of the plants and powders within. Happy with my work, my hoof went back to normal and I walked out of the spa. “eep” I looked down and found a yellow pegasus that I had startled. “Sorry miss, um” “I'm Fluttershy.” “What?” “I said my name is Fluttershy.” I think she said her name was Fluttershy. “Well miss Fluttershy, I'm afraid the spa is closed for lunch right now. And here I was hoping to get a quick hoof-i-cure.” She smiled a little at that. “OK”” “Well, I'm sorry for startling you. You take care, OK?” I walked on bye, headed towards the pawn shop. Visual scans indicate that pegasus was nearby on three different occasions today. I looked around and didn't notice the yellow mare anywhere. “Do you think we are being followed?” There is the distinct possibility. She may suspect you since your appearance is new in town and you have been muttering to yourself. I grunted, not liking the idea. I approached the pawn shop and I felt I was starting to look suspicious, the way I kept glancing over my shoulder. Hard Sell was there with another stallion, eying my coin closely. “Good news I hope?” They looked up a little guiltily. “Very good news miss.” The new stallion smiled at me. “My name is Filthy Rich, and as a numismatist and lover of history I can tell you have a completely authentic pre-nightmare bit. Something in this condition can easily fetch over a hundred bits.” “Of course, as a pawn shop I can't offer you full market price, nor could Mr. Rich attempt to contact you separately about this coin if you decide not to sell it to me.” “Ok, that all sounds fair,” I was trying to calculate what I might be able to buy with a hundred bit limit. “I can offer you 70 bits for it.” I frowned “Couldn't you at least offer me 80?” “72?” “75.” “73” “Come on Hard,” Filthy Rich elbowed the stallion. “Fine, 75.” He huffed and counted out the bits, handing them over with a bill of sale. “Now, Mr. Rich, I believe you were interested in the coin?” “Yes, but as per our contract for arising items I am unable to purchase it for at least eighty days. At such time I will return to the store, 70 bits in hand.” “70? But you said this coin was worth 100 easy.” Filthy Rich smiled. “That is true, but if such a coin were to sit in your shop for 80 days and go unsold then I would expect at least a 30% reduction in price to help move the piece.” “That- I- You-.... DAMN IT FILTHY!” “Please, I prefer Rich.” I giggled at the pair as I left, cash in hoof, for the market. 75 bits was a small fortune, and I was able to pick up food for a few weeks, as well as a couple of other supplies like sleeping bag, tent, rope, and a few other things. I was packing the last of it into my overstuffed backpack, as well as the remaining 20 bits, when I got a hoof on my shoulder. “Pardon us miss.” It was a guard, in full armor, with a spear in its other hoof. One day, I'm going to learn how they can balance like that. “Yes, how can I help officer?” “Can you come with us for a little while, we have some questions we would like to ask you.” “Of course, lead the way to the guard house.” Machina had already generated several entirely plausible backgrounds for me, complete with names, places, cutie-marks and everything. “Actually, the library is closer and this will only take a moment.” Well shit, this was going to be very bad indeed. Time to think fast. “Dashing armor you have there.” “Thank you miss.” OK, you want me? It was a little code we had, when I couldn't talk openly. First letter of the first word determined who I addressed, D for D and M for Machina. The next set of questions and comments would be laced with as much double meaning as I could manage. We walked a little further before I popped the next question. “Does this have something to do with that creature everyponies talking about? I heard it drained all the power from the hospital.” “It was only one wing miss.” “Oh dear.” I was in need of power, I can draw at a distance even when I'm at nearly 0% charge. What are you planning Sarah? “Your a unicorn, aren't you? You must have pretty good range with your magic. Do you catch thieves like they do in the plays? All heroic stance, not moving a muscle but you can pin a thief at 30 paces?” He blushed. “I'm not quite that strong, 22 paces is my best, and I was hardly looking heroic after having just jumped a fence.” OK, so something with me, with drawing power, at range... where are you going with this? The library came into view, and I bought valuable time ogling the shield. “What is that around the library?” “It's an anti-illusion shield. The creature can hide as a pony, so if it touches the shield, it's true form is shown.” “It must take a lot of power to keep that up.” Yeah, I'll bet. What I wouldn't love to reach out and drain that thing dry. “Why don't you do something like that?” “What?” What? “A shield. Don't let someone snatch away your chance to show off.” The guard chuckled a little. “Heh, maybe later.” That yellow pegasus is in the bushes to your right. I think she might have told the guards from the way she is watching you. Wonderful, everything was falling into place. “Hey, its Fluttershy!” I pointed to the yellow pegasus. “HI FLUTTERSHY! I wonder why she is hiding like that.” When the guard turned to look, I made the angriest face I could at her. “eep!” The mare became a butter yellow blur as she ran for the shelter of the library. “TWIILLIIIGHT!!!” “Now that really isn't like her.” I mentioned. The guard got a concerned look and moved about a pace or two forward, hefting his spear. I waited for the fleeing mare to touch the shield. “Now” I whispered. The shield wobbled, flickered, and went out just as Fluttershy touched it. “Is that supposed to happen with shields?” I asked the guard. “HALT!” The guard was now in full pursuit of the pegasus, so I did my best to make myself scarce. “Ah, the conquering hero returns.” I trudged into the re-purposed bedroom, waving at Nightmare's helm perched atop a collection of armor. Much of the crumbling furniture had been cleared away, leaving room for sleeping and cooking in the fireplace. “Did everything go as planed?” “No, it was all shit.” I flopped down onto the ancient mattress, more dust than fluff, and started to pull and divide my shopping. “Can't get into the library without my illusion dropping, had to leave the herbs and ingredients with just a note, and I was nearly caught by the guard.” On the upside, we did manage to get 75 bits for that coin, and that bought us a lot of supplies. Yeah, and Sarah was able to get away without revealing herself. “It never ceases to amaze me that you can function with two so diametrically opposed entities in one mind.” I grinned. “It's not easy, but it helps to know that each has their own strengths and weaknesses. D is good at illusion and close combat, though he is a little bloodthirsty. Machina is great at construction and precision, and amazing at ranged combat, but she can be a little distant and overly clinical.” “Biologic and mechanical both in nature and thought, intriguing.” “Anyway, Machina is going to have to rig up a more mechanical version of the illusion spell, one that won't get shut down by the shield.” We can probably expect an increase in guards, as well as an adjustment to that shield. I sighed and mixed up flour, sugar, eggs, and milk. “Pancakes for dinner, hooray.” I threw another couple of logs onto the fireplace and used a battered breastplate as an impromptu skillet. “How are we with exploration, have we gotten a good idea of the castle's size yet?” Accessing. So far we have seen: a large day court, a large night court, a small courtroom, 17 dining halls of various size, two royal bedrooms, servants passages, servants quarters, 23 large state rooms- “It amazes me that we have yet to run across a single kitchen.” I used a small dagger to flip pancakes. Seven separate armories, five towers and two large gates. And a partridge and a pear tree. “You found a bird and a fruit tree in the castle?” “It's a joke Nightmare, we are still completing the list you gave us. We have, what, twenty percent of the castle explored? Twenty-five?” I estimate 23.227% “Right, there are still the lower levels, the dungeons, the moats, the store rooms, the library and the outer wall left to find.” And the kitchens! Don't forget the kitchens. I stuffed hot pancake into my mouth. “We are going to need clean water soon too. D, how much charge did you get off of that shield?” A good bit. I have healed all of your injuries incurred since we arrived and could still provide enough oomph to fight something really nasty. I can even do a few medium range teleports. “Cool. Can we set a teleport to bring us back here? We might need that in the future if the guards catch us. How is your charge Machina?” 32.8%. I really could use some more. At the moment it is going to be a slight drain just to keep that hologram up and running. Anything like weapon or armor reconfiguring is going to be taxing too. “OK so our priorities for tomorrow are parts for an electric generator and water storage and filtration.” I banked the fire and laid out the sleeping bag. Hey Sarah. “Yes?” Why did you buy a tent? We have a roof over our heads. “One with a half dozen holes in it. I'd rather not wake up to a small lake where my bed was.”