//------------------------------//
// Rummage  
// Story: Sins of the Mother 
// by Chelis 
//------------------------------//





Cotton Candy and Starburst


A little known secret about the city of Canterlot would be the "SHTF Storage". It was a windowless building, probably a minute’s walk away from the train station, that was to be used when the emergency becomes too extreme or “when shit hits the fan.”

There were a few times in its history where the building was close to opening, and it's contents distributed among the finest of Canterlot's defenders. Either of  those emergencies either didn’t happen or it was something that the common Equestian military could handle. So for the few generations the building stood for, it was mostly deprived of life except the one time every week, when the inventory was checked, rechecked, and the perishables were replaced.

For the Children of Harmony, it was a mandatory pit stop on their way to the Griffon Kingdom.

They left the empty Ponyville-Canterlot late night express, past the just-as-empty station, and into the lifeless streets of Canterlot, with Starburst around ten feet ahead of the rest of them to act as the scout, because the guards running into a princess and a group of teens in the middle of the night in Canterlot would raise some dangerous and unnecessary questions. Since it was around midnight, it was common knowledge to the group that the guards would be changing from the late night to the graveyard patrols, which gave them only a thirty minute window to pack and head back to the train, which left to the next leg of its trip in forty minutes. Starburst was first to the unmarked solid wood door, and gave it a few pushes and pulls to jar it open.

Nothing.

The locked door situation was remedied when the rest of the group arrived. Anthea learned lock-picking magic a while back, so it was a simple spell to open the door. They closed it behind them and began to scramble around in the dark for the light source. One prod to the ribs while searching for a light source and messing with whatever prodded the person later, the lights finally came alive. It was a simple room, filled with uniforms, clothes, canned goods, many types of survival gear, various sizes of canteens and other gear.  The rest of the building laid hidden by the chain link counter, where the weapons were most likely stored. The slot in the chain link counter was big enough for Cotton Candy to squeeze through.

"Are the weapons back there?" Starburst asked as they began to distribute knapsacks hanging from racks among the group. There were different sized bags, from small to extra large. The strength of each person determined what size and how much they were carrying.  

"Yes, Ma'am!"

"Musket, Sword, Ammo. Look for flintlock pistols if they got- Never mind, I bet they are behind this cabinet."

Cotton Candy began to rush through the back room, smashing wooden crates filled with straw and fresh weapons. She grabbed one or two at a time and place them against the wall, one for everyone except Golden Delicious, who was carrying his own.

"Anthea, can you unlock this one for me?" Starburst asked, trying to force her way into the wooden engraved cabinet on the corner of the room. Anthea struggled with the lock, it was more intricate and made with actual steel. But, she never failed to open a lock, and the sound of the click echoed throughout. Sure enough, it was filled with hand engraved pistols, all of them new, all of them ready for action. Starburst began to hand them out between her friends, while keeping 4 for herself, she always loved to dual wield them for one reason or another.
Even Turquoise was getting into the personal style action as Cotton handed him his gear.

"Don't want the sword. Now, give me that!" he said, as he enthusiastically pointed to the large and heavy looking long sword hanging  on a glass case behind her. The poor girl took a while trying to get the sword that was tall as her through the slot. Cotton Candy slid through the counter slot once her job was done, and was rewarded with her own bag of food, clothes, and goods for the road.

"Everyone has weapons, food, supplies, and necessities. I think we are ready," Starburst said as she eyeballed everyone in the room.  They were wearing the same clothes as before, as they all agreed to change in the train, with the difference of the giant knapsacks on their back and the rifles slinged on their shoulders. "Alright, Let's go get get our parents."

They quietly left the store room and onto the abandoned streets, staying as close as the can to the walls of the buildings. Starburst would peek out from the corners, making sure none of the patrols were within sight. The process continued until they reached the station. The muskets and swords were quietly shoved through the caboose's only unlocked window, and there they planned to stay at or the duration of the trip to the next stop, least someone would recognize them. They presented the conductor their tickets and made their way to the caboose, where they flung the rest of their gear on the wooden floor and sat in a circle, awaiting the 'jolt' that told them they were on their way.

Starburst looked the most on edge, but had a cool smile when the jolt came, signaling the next leg of the young journey was at hand."Next Stop: Crystal Empire."