It wasn't often a stallion came in and bought an entire four QUARTS of hoof polish. And especially one with less than four hooves to put it on. Morning Glory couldn't quite fathom why he had bought it, nor was he willing to say, leaving her with a cryptic 'you might see, or you might not.'
Why did stallions have to be so weird at times?
"Hey Glory!" came from across the counter. Looking past her raised magazine (surprisingly few customers per day led to boredom very easily...still, it was enough to get by on) Morning Glory came face to face with one of the most recognized faces in Ponyville.
"Hey Pinkie, you here for your Sarsaparilla Pink? It isn't in yet, but it should be here by tomorrow..."
"Yeah, I know, I have it on my calender, but that's not why I'm here, Brushed Palette said she saw Rock Light come in here?"
"Stallion with the wheelchair legs? Yeah, he was in here, but you just missed him by a few minutes."
"Shoot!" Pinkie exclaimed, scuffing at the floor. "Do you happen to know where he went? I kinda need to give him his invitation to the "Hows your Stay in Ponyville Going?' party. You're invited too, of course!" she trailed off on a giggle, passing a bright pink envelope across the counter. " Do you know why he was in here, by the way? Was he getting something for a fillyfriend? If he has a special somepony, I didn't know, and I'd hate to mess up the seating by sending his mare off to an entirely different table..."
"Fillyfriend? I dunno, honestly. He came in here, pulled out a sack of bits and bought four whole quarts of hoofpolish."
"Four quarts? Really? That's more than even Rarity would get...What could he possibly be using that for?"
"If it's any consolation, I saw him heading off to the right of the store after he left..."
"Oh! Thanks Glory, have a nice day!" Pinkie chirped, exiting the store and heading off to the right.
Pinkie Pie was throwing a party? It wasn't that big of surprise. It was sure to be a fun time, though.
~----------------------------------------------------------~
That was a good sale. It wasn't often somepony bought that particular item, something about the texture off-put ponies something fierce.
"Hey! Mister Top Coat!"
"Hmmm? Oh, if it isn't another customer, and such a pretty one to boot my little Pinkie Pie~" Top Coat was honestly too old to be flirting in such a manner, and he knew it, Didn't change the fact that a smiling, giggling young mare was a welcome sight, indeed.
"Hiya! Hey, I was wondering if somepony in particular came in here recently? He's Rock Light, his back legs are in a wheelchair rig?"
"Oh yes! Quite an odd duck, that. Bought up a whole load of rust powder. Don't get a lot of sale on that. We sell it most for the texture, but most folk don't like it all that much. Most times they just mix it up with their actual paint, but he didn't get so much as an ounce of primer." That in itself was particularly odd, he must already have a supply of paint. For what other purpose would he buy such a thing?
"Rust powder? What in Equestria could he be using that for?" Indeed, quite. "Anyway, do you have any idea where he went? I have to give him an invitation, and here's yours too!" With that, she slid a pink envelope across the counter. Top Coat put it in a bin under the counter, then scrunched up his brow in concentration. What had the little runt asked him?
"Oh yes, he asked me where one might go to buy fireworks of some sort. I sent him over to Skyflower's stall. If you hurry, you might be able to catch him."
"Thanks Mister Coat, see you at the party!" And with the tinkling of the bell above the door, the pink pony was gone.
~----------------------------------------------~
"Skyflower! Pony! Rock Light! Wheel legs! Was he here?"
Skyflower gave a start at the sudden appearance of the pink party pony standing in front of her stall.
"Uhm. You mean the stallion wearing the pants and shirt? Yeah, he was just here. Bought my entire stock of sparklers and fuse line. Only things he bought, didn't want any of my better stuff. His loss," she ended with a huff. He did buy a lot, so she couldn't be mad about that...
"Sparklers? Hoof polish, rust powder, and sparklers... is he..." Pinkie Pie suddenly let out a roaring gasp. "He's planning a counter party! I knew it! He's gonna throw a party to combat my own! So devious, how did he even know about the party so soon? I'll have to step up my game and blow his counter party out of the water!" Pinkie pie stated, rearing up on two hooves. "Or maybe we could combine them, and have a super awesome major mega party!"
"You gonna buy some more black powder? By my account, you should be running low..."
"Oh, you're right! I'll take a barrel!"
"Pleasure doing business with you Pinkie."
~------------------------------------------------------~
I suppressed a shiver as I left the Toy Shack and Mothball Barn. Don't ask, there were more than a couple odd store names around here.
"Whats eating you?" Model A whispered out of her pocket.
"Dunno. Just got a shiver down my spine, like someone walked over my grave," I whispered back.
"Whatever. Are you done with your shopping trip yet? If we don't hurry up and do something that guy's gonna do something awful, I just know it!"
Model A quit her grumbling as I finally got back to my house, unloading my haul and preparing a few buckets to begin the mixture.
"So, cheating involves all this random junk how? None of this stuff is gonna help us stop that guy, you've just wasted our time!"
I gave a low snort as I worked to crack open my latest acquisition.
"Model A, you wouldn't happen to know what happens when we make a mixture of powdered rust, and...rrrggggggh," I cracked a smile as the case on one of the thirty Etch a Sketch's I bought finally opened, "And aluminum powder?"
"Can't say I do. What, are we gonna decorate that chunk of Model W into submission?"
"Nope. We're gonna use his weakness against him," I said cryptically.
"His weakness is tacky glitter mixture?" she snarked back at me.
"You'll see."
~--------------------------------------------------~
Zantedeschia slid back on a wave of viny protrusions. He was finally done. He had done as the precious asked, building the perfect alter for it. It was glorious, all sleek edges with leafy finishes. It was perfect. There could be nothing less for the precious. All that was left was to put the precious in the alter.
As the precious left it's place from around his neck, Zantedeschia was hit by a wave of disorientation. What was he doing? Where was he, for that matter?
He had been... Oh no, that thing...it had latched onto his neck while he was traveling through the forest, whispered things, promised him things...
What had he done? He had built something for it! It told him to build it, the... Zantedeschia stopped, a powerful smell hitting his nostrils. strong, acrid, artificial...hoof polish and...smoke?
Looking toward the doorway connecting to the stairway, Zantedeschia saw a figure standing there, a pony illuminated from behind by flickering flames.
The tower was on fire.
Zantedeschia knew then, in glorious certainty. He was going to die. If the stairway was aflame, that meant the lower levels of the tower were as well. As tall as the tower was it would be impossible to scale the outside, even if one weren't worried of the flames.
"Does he look different to you?" Asked the pony, his body covered in a thin blue/yellow/white set of armor. Zantedeschia couldn't see anypony else with him, and why would he willing drag another pony into this death trap? Perhaps he was simply a bit loopy from the smoke.
"He doesn't have the Model W in him any more!" replied a female voice from the same location as the stallion. Perhaps it was Zantedeschia himself that was getting loopy from the smoke. A lingering memory sparked, wasn't that the same voice that had called the pre- that disgusting thing Model W before? Why, why did thinking hurt so much?
With but a light gasp, Zantedeschia fell into a dead faint.
~------------------------------------------------------------~
The zebra tipped over, slumping onto the floor.
"So... does that mean I win?" I asked.
It had taken a while, carting the foul smelling gloop to the tower. Even longer, painting it one the various walls up the stairway, all along the outside. To an extent. Maybe I should have added in some glue. Tying the fuze to the line of sparklers all the way up the stairway had been relatively easy, and all it took to light the fuse was a a single buster shot. Thank goodness nail polish is so flammable.
You wanna know what you get when you mix powdered rust and aluminum powder? An extremely hot burning chemical reaction called thermite . They use this shit to burn and melt metal in forges. It didn't matter that all the stuff the tower was made from was green, make the flame hot enough, and even the ground will burn.
"You idiot! That poor sap built it a body, we gotta get outta here!"
"And your suggestions for that that are? We sure aren't getting back down that stairway..." Maybe I should have thought this through better. Given myself an exit strategy.
"Just go out the way you did last time!"
So she wanted me to jump out the window. Again. Well not quite again seeing as I didn't willingly exit it the first time, but you know what I mean.
"Fine," I muttered, grabbing the limp body of the zebra and leaping out of the burning tower.
~-----------------------------------------~
"Twilight! Ya gotta come quick!" came the rushed tones from a particular multihued pegasus.
Twilight raised her attention from the half written letter in front of her, gazing with tired eyes of one having spent the entire night awake. There hadn't been hide nor hair of the mysterious armored pony after he had run off, so the frustration of her failure had driven her to try to compensate. Taking over the finance and property forms for replacing the building the newcomer had destroyed, was one of the ways she had found to help. It wasn't all that difficult. It was simply really boring, and time consuming.
"Rainbow Dash?" she choked out past a yawn. "Whats up? Did Pinkie accidentally turn her tail into a snake again? Somehow?" It was a valid concern. She kept on doing it, and nopony knew how she was doing it, including Pinkie herself.
"What? No! White Tail Woods is on fire!"
Twilight blearily stared at her hovering friend for a few seconds before responding.
"By fire, you mean-"
"THERE IS A GIANT PILLAR OF FIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FOREST, TWILIGHT." Rainbow Dash stated with as much ferocity as she could without yelling, before dragging Twilight to a nearby window.
Looking outside, Twilight was greeted by a harsh source of light that tried with all of it's might to drown out the gaze of the sun. Indeed, a tremendous pillar of hungry flame reaching from the treetops and ever skyward. It was noticeably far away, which made the brightness of the flames and the width of the pillar quite worrying.
Twilight wiped the sleep from her eyes, turning to her loyal friend, "Rainbow Dash, go gather the others and tell them to meet us out there. After that, gather every pegasus you can find and see what you can do about that fire, I'll gather the guard and we'll meet you there."
"On it!" Rainbow Dash stated, a hoof raised to her brow in a salute before flying out the window.
Twilight gave a quick look back to the raging fire before turning to leave with a huff.
~-----------------------------------------~
"Hey."
"Hey, hey Ammy?"
"Aaaaaammy,"
"What?" Amethyst replied, looking up from her desk at the pegasus with a muted yellow coat, and a red tinted mane and tail.
"The forest is on fire." She stated glibly, gesturing towards an open window.
Amethyst gave a low sigh, pushing her fedora back on her head as she got up to look at whatever her friend Ember had decided needed her attention. It had been a slow month, with nary a single job to line their pockets. Amethyst had been forced to take a part time job at the quills and sofa store, to pay for the office and other expenses. Why couldn't ponies bring them some mysteries to solve?
Upon reaching the window, Amethyst was greeted by an odd sight. Huh, the forest is on fire.
Amethyst turned and gave her companion a cold look.
"What? I didn't do it, I swear!" she claimed, splaying her ears in indignation.
Amethyst turned back to the blaze in the distance, silently cranking though some mental calculations.
"Distance... the curve of the flames...Hey Ember?"
"Yeah Ammy?"
"I don't recall ever seeing a tower reaching about the height of two hundred and thirty seven town hall's coming out of the middle of White Tail Woods, do you?" Amethyst asked with a tilt of her head.
"No, there's never been anything out there taller than the trees themselves," Ember replied.
Odd. So somepony had been trying to hide a giant tower? Before somepony set it on fire, of course. That's not all that energy efficient, especially for a structure going straight up. How did they manage to hide the tower from sight, as well as making it so a random pegasus didn't fly into the side of it? It had to be a unicorn, but nopony in the area fit the profile. Twilight Sparkle, maybe. She certainly had the magic punch needed to hide the tower, although the aesthetic of a giant tower didn't really fit her personality. She willingly lived in the old town library. It was certainly a stable abode, but with the scent of must and-
"Ammy! Wake up!"
Amethyst gave a start, coming out of her thoughts to an annoyed Ember trying to get her attention.
"Sorry, what? I was thinking of something."
"I said, 'do you think we should go check it out?' but you were just standing there, staring off into the distance and drooling."
Amethyst raised a leg to check, much to Ember's amusement as it was proven to be a false claim. She then gave Ember a long, thoughtful look.
"What?"
"Nothing, I'm just used to it being me that keeps us on track. You're right, there's something going on, and I intend to get to the bottom of it."
With a shared smile, the two mares set off for White Tail Woods.
~-----------------------------------------~
It surprisingly went better the second time around. As well as one can do, jumping out a window from a ridiculous height. The tower continued to rage with crackling flames, yet surprisingly none of the flames spread beyond the tower itself.
"I think you overdid it." Model A stated smugly.
"Jerk threw me out a skyscraper, I let him off easy," I replied haughtily. "Is he all right, you think? That chunk is back up in the top of the tower, right?" All the better, let the damn thing burn to cinders with the rest of its tower.
"I can't tell for sure, but he looks fine," Model A stated, shooting some sort of pinkish light towards the downed zebra, "his pulse is reading steady, and I can't see anything wrong, aside from the minor lacerations around his neck where Model W was grabbing on..." her inspection of the zebra finished, the pink light winked out.
"I thought Model W just sat around in giant chunks and sucked the life out of anyone stupid enough to walk too close. Why was this particular chunk having this guy make it a body?" I asked, turning my back on the zebra and gazing back up at the top of the tower.
"I don't know, I'm still learning this as I go along, alright? Hey, I got multiple life forms, coming from town in a hurry!" she cut off, flashing some sort of radar HUD in front of my eyes.
"Can you tell when they'll be here? Like, how long before they get, 'here'? Just asking."
"What do I look like, a stopwatch? They'll get here when those five red dots touch the green and the red dot!" she snapped.
I was apparently the green dot, and I have to assume the red dot next to me indicates the zebra...If it had been six red dots coming for me, I would have been positive that it was the mane six, coming to check out whats happening. Typical. Giant tower that's apparently invisible until you get right up next to it? Meh. Fiery tower? Yeah, lets go check that out. Although I guess the whole 'invisible' thing might have put them off the scent a bit.
"Henshin!" I called out, causing a rush of sparklies and light to whirl around me in a tight circle, before revealing me once more to the world. Minus one leg. I couldn't take the chance it might be Twilight, out on the hunt for the 'grey armored pony', so I decided to meet whomever it might be with my normal face. Model A hovered around me, quickly ducking into my wheelchair pocket as I moved closer to the zebra, hopefully disguising my apparent intentions. Me? 'Oh yeah, I was just trying to help this guy out.' Maybe they would buy it.
Out of the dense trees came...no other than the mane six. Without Rainbow Dash. A little ways behind them however, were a smattering of official looking guards. THANKS Model A, for warning me about THOSE. What ever would I do without your backup? Oh look, even MORE trailing along behind THEM! Radar was useless. At least they were less threatening than those that came before them. A blue unicorn wearing a fedora of all things, followed closely by a pegasus with dull yellow coloring. Dark red hair. Didn't recognize either of them, they had to be background ponies.
"Rock? Is that you?" Came the dulcet tones of the mane six's resident fashionista. Crap. I had forgotten about wanting to talk to her alone, figure out where I stood with her.
"Rarity, hi! Hello...there..." I spouted awkwardly. I think I managed to disguise my faltering speech with my next sentence, "Do any of you know anything about medicine? That armored pony flew down from the top of the tower in a pink bubble, set this zebra down, and just left him here. He's breathing, but he wont wake up!" I strained my voice, trying to add in a hint of compassion. I mean, sure I cared what happened to the guy, I'm not heartless. But I already knew from Model A's assessment that he was apparently fine, and I kinda wanted their attention off of me.
"Armored pony? Was it the grey one I was talking to you about yesterday?" Twilight exclaimed, pushing past her friends and getting up in my face. Completely ignoring the downed zebra. Priorities, Twilight...
"Uhm, no..."I said, scrunching my face up in what I hoped was an expression of contemplation, "He had blue, white and yellow armor. He asked me earlier to get some supplies, and when I brought them, he mixed them all together. He took them inside the plant tower, and soon after that it started burning. And then he jumped off the top with the zebra, who might I again point out won't wake up." I stated forcefully at the end, getting my involvement in all of this out of the way, while simultaneously trying to get her attention back on something that wasn't me, or mega-me.
"What? Yes! I can do that! I know a few medical diagnostic spells, just give me a second," Twilight brushed past me, lighting up her horn and casting a pale light on the unconscious zebra.
"Rock, what about you, are you alright?" Rarity asked, moving closer. Pinkie Pie had during my explanation pumped a hoof in the air, and then settled back down with a shit eating grin. God only knows what was going through her mind. The others each gave me a nod, -or in Fluttershy's case, looked at me past a wall of pink hair. Guess that tells me how well we 'know' each other.- and walked over to stand next to Twilight. The guards had dispersed, running around the still burning tower.
"I'm fine. Still a little loopy from Discord, but that was yesterday, I'm sure it'll go away eventually," I said, giving her a smile.
"Discord? Oh, I bet he's behind this whole thing," she flouted, giving Fluttershy a look. "This positively reeks of his foul clutches! Fluttershy, why can't you keep that ruffian in line?" Fluttershy actually came out of her hair fort, and gave Rarity an even stare. Rarity reluctantly backed down.
"Yeah, he did some sort of memory thing, and I couldn't even remember where I lived, I had to flag down one of my co-workers to help me home. Speaking of, I remember some things, and not so well other things. Like, I remember you," I gestured at Rarity, then to the rest of them, leaving out the two newcomers who were staying back, and silent. "But I don't remember all that much. We're...friends, right?"
I goofed. I have no idea what I did wrong, but at the word 'friends' Rarity got wide eyed, and broke out into tears. She turned and ran off before I could so much as ask what was wrong. She actually managed to get a fair distance away before I heard her scream "DISCORD!" at the top of her lungs.
"You don't remember anything, sugarcube?" Applejack asked, a shocked look upon her face.
"Ummm...no? Is there something in particular I should be remembering?" I asked the increasingly shocked cowpony.
She actually went through several stammering starts, before clamming up and giving me the cold shoulder. To her credit, it seemed like she was trying to figure out what to say.
"You're...Fluttershy, right, you go to the spa with Rarity," I stated, directing my attention to Fluttershy. She retreated almost immediately back into her hair fort, refusing to talk to me. Bollocks. I wouldn't be getting any information today, seeing as the primary source of information ran off crying, the secondary source has her orange lips sealed tighter than a lasso round a bulls horns, and Fluttershy was being Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie just looked confused throughout all of this, so I don't think she knew anything. Dashie was STILL nowhere to be seen, and all more the shame(Rainbow Dash best Pony! Seriously though, RD was my favorite, and I hadn't seen even a hair of her. Major disappointment.)
"Huh. What about you Pinkie," I started, directing my question at the pink hued pony, "Do you know why she ran off like that? Or why Applejack's sitting there, shaking like a leaf and trying to ignore me?"
Pinkie Pie gave me a long, hard look before submitting her opinion.
"Nope!"
~---------------------------------------------------------------------------~
This whole situation was fishy. Thankfully Ember had heeded her advice, staying quiet and simply observing with her from a distance. Ordinarily, simply asking a question was the best way to accrue an influx of information, but luckily they were graced with a loose lipped suspect.
Rock Light. Amethyst had immediately remembered him from his initial 'Welcome to Ponyville' party, but didn't know much else about him besides the fact that he was a mail delivery pony. Slightly hard to forget the only pony in Ponyville with three legs.
That in itself brought up some crucial questions. Why had he been out in White Tail Woods in the first place? Why, when confronted with a mysterious pony asking him to buy 'supplies', did he actually comply and acquire the goods for him?
It might be as simple as just Discord sticking a paw inside his head and turning him every which way, which he hinted at. But Discords pranks are always temporary, and this stinks of something much more lasting.
Amethyst snapped out of her thoughts, focusing on the retreating white mare with the purple mane. If she wasn't mistaken, that had been Rarity, proprietor of Carousel Boutique. Something the handicapped stallion had said caused her to run off crying. Something about memory?
It was time to try to get to the bottom of things. It was going to be flashy, tiring spell , but it was easier than checking out every single leaf in the area. Amethyst gently pushed Ember away, concentrating on the beating of her heart. With a minute surge of effort, the telltale azure glow of her magic slowly wrapped it's way around her horn, bathing the area in its light.
The forest was...noisy, for lack of a better word. magical beasts and critters roamed these woods, spreading their influence with each touch upon the trail, with each slight brush against the side of a tree, or even each mote of sunlight that managed to make it's way past the treetops, striking the ground and giving the vegetation life.
Amethyst tightened her awareness, focusing on the clearing directly before her.
She was nearly overwhelmed, the magical backlash equivalent of looking at a particularly bright light. Each of the mares standing before her overflowed with energy, drenching the area around them.
The pink haired pegasus exuded an aura of... gentleness. It was soothing to concentrate on her, but Amethyst continued on. The orange pony wearing the stetson had this... feeling around her. Like if she said something, you could be one hundred percent certain it was the truth. Pinkie Pie was... it was slightly intoxicating to focus on her for too long, a sense of happiness that washed over her the longer she stared...
The zebra...a dark, foul odor came from his neck, like a skunk had sprayed him, but it was coming out of his neck instead of being layered on the outside.
Twilight... It hurt to look at her for too long. The variety of spells she had done in the last day alone was enough to make Amethysts eyes water.
From each of them though, the faint sounds of echos could be heard, lingering whispers that strayed just outside her reach, evading her understanding.
From each of them...except Rock Light. From him, was almost nothing...nothing but the faint scent of petunias...
"I!" Amethyst nearly yelled, cutting off the magic to her horn. "I forgot my oven! It's still on!"
Without a single glance to see if anypony had believed her bluff, Amethyst quickly grabbed Ember and headed back to town.
"...Gonna tell me whats going on?" Ember pressed, looking at Amethyst worriedly, "Cause I know full well the office doesn't have an oven. What did you see?"
"It wasn't so much what I saw, but what I heard, and smelled. That stallion, Rock Light wasn't lying when he said Discord did a 'memory thing'. But he was definitely leaving something out." Amethyst finally stopped, confident in the distance the two of them had put between the group of ponies and themselves. "Out of everypony in that clearing, only one pony wasn't affected by a memory spell of some sort. You and me too," Amethyst cut in, interrupting Embers shocked comment. "In fact, the only magic I could get a feel on from him was the briefest scent of petunias."
At the now confused expression of her friend, Amethyst elaborated, "It's chaos magic."
"Chaos magic...smells like petunias?" Ember asked, trying to stop a giggle from erupting.
"Yes."
"...Why?"
"Exactly."