I ended up sleeping in that morning and eventually one of the foals was sent to wake me up so I wouldn't sleep the day away. Breakfast was a simple meal of toast and fruit as I was rushed into the foyer to meet with Psyche and Fancy Pants. Most of the family had departed on the pretense of having errands to run, which was true, but they were also using it as an excuse to speak to their friends about possible locations for the Tower. Fancy Pants was dressed in his customary black suit and bowtie, monocle currently being wiped against a cleaning cloth. He returned both objects to their proper places as Psyche motioned towards me standing in the doorway.
"Inaba, this is my good friend Fancy Pants." I curtsied "Fancy Pants, this is Lady Inaba, the Duchess of Inverness."
Fancy Pants gave a deep bow "I apologize if I'm undressed Your Grace, I had no idea that there would be a foreign noble present."
I waved him off "It's fine, Psyche didn't even know I was going to be here till last night and please no formalities they're obnoxious and time is short. I hope I haven't kept y'all waiting too long, I slept in on accident usually I'm up by eight thirty."
"Not long at all we had just finished catching up with one another when you came in." I sat on an offered cushion "Now that we are all here we can proceed with business. Psyche has explained your dilemma to me and I know a place that will likely suit your needs. It may be a bit too close to the financial district but that's the main reason the park is so underutilized. It wouldn't surprise me if most ponies don't even realize it's there."
"Amity Park, isn't it supposed to be haunted?" Psyche asked.
"Come now my friend I think ghosts are the least of Inaba's worries." Psyche looked at me.
I shrugged "I couldn't care less about them. As long as they aren't fool enough to impede me they can be ignored. If they stand, float or whatever they do and become a problem because of it then they'll be dealt with." I got up "Lead on Fancy Pants."
Fancy Pants was right it was to close to the financial district for my liking. The park itself was great slightly out of the way, lots of trees, a plethora of trails that lead in circles and loops. But that was part of the problem; it was way to open and would be difficult to defend if we had to fallback to it. It was a small flaw that could be worked around if a more suitable location could not be found. After all XANA had left several of the Towers in wide open areas and just left monsters behind to protect them...then again when the show was all said and done he had also been destroyed, best not to repeat obvious mistakes.
"Uncle! Uncle!" I turned around just in time to see a mocha earth pony trip and go sprawling, only a quick jump saved me from being landed on "Sorry about that." he stood up and adjusted his spiral adorned glasses.
"You alright Mesmer?" Psyche asked.
He tossed his head to get his chalk white mane out his face "Yes Uncle, Wither has found a spot a great spot for the 'you know what'" he waggled his eyebrows conspiratorially "and I was sent to fetch everypony, excuse me, I mean everybody."
I nodded "We might as well see it, If that's alright with everyone else?" there was a round of nods "Well then, lead on Mesmer."
We ended up having to go halfway across town to meet up with Wither and be led the remaining half mile and almost to the edge of the cliff that part of Canterlot hung off of. From there we were led to a trail head that had been hidden by the growth of several large bushes and small trees. A quick bit of pruning and we had a clear, if slightly overgrown pathway to follow. The trail led us downward toward the cliff and wherever there was a break in the foliage we had a stunning view of the countryside below. After a few minutes the path made a sharp right, back towards the city, and began to clear as it leveled out. It opened up into a large clearing backed up by a sheer cliff, wooded on the right and an open view to the left. There was plenty of space for the Tower and it was pretty easy to get to if you knew where it was.
It was the perfect place to put the Tower; I was very surprised to learn that places like this existed all over the city if you just knew where to look. I filed that little gem of information away for later; never knew when you were going to need to find a safe haven. We spent the next three hours visiting other sites but none where as good as the first cliff side clearing or even Amity Park. In the end I chose the clearing over the park based on the defensive value of the cliff side. Fancy Pants wasn’t bothered in the least that I had chosen the clearing sighting that it had a beauty Amity Park was lacking.
“So, now that you have a location when will construction start?” Fancy Pants asked
I smiled “Immediately,” I digivolved into Antylamon and set down the Catch-a-Ride as he picked his jaw off the ground “I should have given you a warning but I was under the impression that Psyche had filled you in on my abilities. I guess I was mistaken, this device is how we shall construct the Tower.”
I explained the machine and its basic operations and functions, answering many questions about it and myself for him as we went along. Apparently Psyche had deliberately left out information when he briefed Fancy Pants about me and the reason for the location search. I let the Tower digistruct while we continued to speak and I confirmed that yes the city was going to be attacked and that all this was not a drill or convoluted prank thought up by the Princesses. He seemed to take it all rather well, if sitting in silence with a thoughtful look could be considered that. He had one last question for me and it was one I had been expecting much earlier in our conversation.
"How do you know all of this?"
"I'm an extra-dimensional creature and your world is part of a well known series of shows and toys of which yours is the current, and most popular, incarnation." he started at me "You don't believe me do you? After everything I told you this is what you're having trouble with?"
He cleared his throat "Sorry I know it shouldn't be but..." he sighed "you're right. I just need a moment
to process all of this." he was silent for a moment "What...what do you really look like?"
I gave a small smile "This is my true form...our as close to one as I have. Though it isn't my original form or even species."
"Would you be able to show me what looks like?"
I hesitated "I can but I'd rather not, lately I've developed the habit of using it more often than I probably should. When the city is attacked I might be forced to use it, until then I'd rather not."
He nodded "I understand, thank you for putting up with my rather intrusive questioning."
"It's fine, everyone is allowed to ask questions. You just don't always get the answers you're looking for." he blinked "Now, why don't we get some lunch?"
Lunch reminded me of my family's annual beach trip as everyone had returned to the house. Dawn was having an animated conversation with Fleur about a trip they were planning to take with the baby once it was born. Lunch consisted of do it yourself sandwiches, fresh fruit, and potato chips or hat fries. Rather than all easy in the kitchen we ate in the family room and conversations were started about everything from who the best Wonderbolt is to who they had agreed needed to be warned about the validity of the impending attack. The long and short of the latter issue was simplified to everyone outside the EI who wouldn't tell those they knew to be in the EI. It certainly made for an interesting, if somewhat eclectic list, for some reason I didn't sound that the EI would remain in the dark.
After lunch Dawn, Fleur, and two of the other mares dragged me and some of the fillies out to go shopping. I didn’t have a terrible time when we were out but shopping wasn’t really my thing, I didn’t hate it but I never really enjoyed it either. They seemed to have a lot of fun; Fleur in particular seemed to enjoy picking outfits for the others to try on while she supervised. I mostly sat round but I did find a few hats that I ended up getting and ordering another large enough for me to wear as Antylamon. As we shopped we discreetly spread a warning about the impending attack which was met with…mixed results. I was surprised by how many believed us, most accepted it well enough usually commenting that it made sense.
Around five we went back to the house to drop off our purchases and gather everyone so we could all go out to eat. Rather than an upscale ultra-fancy place we went to a nice local diner and most of us ended up eating breakfast for dinner. They easily had some of the best hash browns I’d ever eaten, even if I couldn’t get ham or bacon or really any meat at all. The more time I spent around them the better I liked them, if there was any possibility that I could get them to move to Trottingham I’d do it in a heartbeat. When I broached the subject I learned that it would be very difficult, he’d basically have to be appointed as Trottingham’s land lord which was very unlikely because of the way things were set up for the city-state.
I opted to sleep on the couch that night so Fleur and Fancy Pants could use the main guest room. I didn't know if the Changelings had replaced anyone else and none of us saw any point in taking unnecessary risks. I fell asleep quickly, knowing that tomorrow would be a very difficult day.