//------------------------------// // History // Story: Eris's Riddle // by hahatimeforponies //------------------------------// A little puff of noxious smoke blew away in weak summer breeze, a gentle zephyr through a Ponyville back street. It was just about hitting lunchtime, and a unicorn was inhaling hers, leaning against the back wall of an old terrace. She was pretty sure this stuff was illegal, but what she liked about this town was that everypony was too polite to call her out on it. She smirked at the thought, and pushed the purple sunglasses back up her nose. Man, that sun was bright... She slumped to sit on a small crate. That dizzy feeling was starting to kick in already - better head inside soon. Trying to mix on this was practically impossible, but it was better than trying to deal with nosy neighbours and law enforcement while falling about the place. She checked her pockets for her supply - squat. She made a note to hit up tha- "... the best teacher we could hope for..." She didn't care who said that or what they were saying, she just knew someone was coming. She flicked the smouldering roll of paper away, and hoped nothing flammable was around. "... the perfect stallion you and I must find..." Now just wait a second... She craned her ears to the source of the sound. It was somewhere around the corner, and was being carried on a pretty catchy melody. That's... one heck of a voice! She tossed the electric blue bangs out of her face and nodded gently in time to the singing, keeping a watch on the nearby street corner out of the corner of her eye. "One to really make her heart soar!" At this lyric, the source of the song emerged from around the corner; a unicorn filly, riding side-saddle on the back of a... was that a pint-sized gryphon? Eh, it didn't matter, and neither did the three other fillies bouncing in tow - just that voice. "Hey, kid," she spoke up, lifting her glasses off. Her voice was a little husky from her lunch, and her eyes were possibly a bit bloodshot, but she did her best to appear sober. "You got some serious pipes!" "Uhm..." Sweetie Belle, and exchanged a puzzled look with Kalza. "... thanks?" "I think she means she likes your singing." Dinky gave her a little nudge. "Ohh... thanks!" Realisation dawned, and she repeated in earnest. "It's my special talent, y'know!" "You don't say?" The other unicorn quirked a brow and smirked. An idea crossed her mind - possibly of questionable morals, depending on how old this kid was, but she decided it couldn't hurt to ask. "You ever think of recording? Like, getting that on a record?" "A record? Me?" Sweetie Belle went wide-eyed. The thought had never occurred to her - she was perfectly happy to sing all day long to anypony and everypony, but this was the first time she'd considered committing her voice to posterity. "You should totally sing for a record!" Scootaloo jumped up behind Sweetie Belle. "Yeah! Go for it!" Applebloom chimed in, adding to the stack, much to Kalza's discomfort. "I know ponies who could set you up. Get you started in the business," the stranger added. "That sounds great! When do I start?" "Whoa! Easy, kiddo. You kinda caught me at a bad time, I got... work to do. I'm just on break from mixing. This is my studio." The older unicorn patted the limewashed wall, and swayed a bit. "You should probably, like... tell somepony before you walk into a stranger's house. But hit me up any time! Name's Vinyl Scratch." "And I'm Sweetie Belle!" "Hm. Sweetie Belle." Vinyl nodded, and smiled. "I'll remember that." She gave her front door kick to swing it open, and unhitched her shades from their perch atop her horn. "Now get outta here, back alleys ain't safe for kids. Never know who's gonnrargh!" She made a play-lunge in their direction, mocking some kind of monster. The stack of foals collapsed, giggling, and the group was quickly on their way. Vinyl smirked to herself and retired inside. Where it wasn't so damn bright. "Man, I could really use some lunch..." Rainbow Dash groaned, sailing along in casual flight, a yard or so ahead of the group. The treeline was just breaking, and Fluttershy's cottage was among the familiar buildings starting to appear. "Pinkie's place first stop?" Immediately, Pinkie Pie's face lit up. "Actually..." However, the party pony was quickly deflated at Twilight's objection. "I need to get back to the library right away. We haven't a moment to lose!" Dash sighed and rolled her eyes, only to be yanked down by her tail, brought face to face with Twilight, her horn aglow. "And you should probably track down Scootaloo before she gets herself into trouble." "And Ka-mm?" Before she could spill any further information, she found her jaws slammed shut with another ethereal push. Twilight just gave her another cold glare and released her. "If you guys want to you can go eat without me." "Wow, Twilight, you're really killing yourself over all this." Dash swooped around on the other side, almost teasing. "Can we at least bring lunch to you? Or are we not allowed to be nice to you anymore?" "Pfft, Rainbow, I..." "You hear that?" Applejack cut in. The group stopped, and stood listening for a moment. From where they were, just beyond the outskirts of Ponyville, they could hear some kind of commotion, the faint rumble of a far-off crowd in uproar. Rainbow Dash didn't need to be told twice, and bolted ahead to investigate. The others hastened after her. From her perch atop the library, Dash had a perfect view of the ruckus below - a veritable sea of ponies, crowded around a clearing. In the clearing, three entourages stood, clearly separated from each other. She could just about make out the familiar face of the Mayor, flanked by her magistrates, on one side, and on another, Prince Blueblood, surrounded by guards and sprawled across the seat of a chariot. Opposing them was a third retinue, headed up by a white pegasus in antiquated guard dress uniform, his pale blue mane cropped short and pinned back with an olive wreath, and a cape in Clousdale cerulean draped across his back. Consul Jetstream was hard to miss, and he was even harder to sleep through - a fact to which the wincing front row of the audience could attest. "Slavery and death!" He bellowed, pacing and gesturing for maximum effect. Even above the murmurs of the crowd, Rainbow Dash could hear him perfectly. "Are what awaits us beyond our borders. Our bubble has burst. Our ivory tower has - in a painfully literal fashion..." Blueblood looked about ready to explode. "... collapsed. We cannot afford this disunity any longer! This is an emergency situation and it calls for emergency measures!" "You forget, Consul," The Mayor had some surprising power in her voice, easily able to compete with Jetstream's pontification. "That if we abandon the very laws we are trying to protect, we are no better than those who wish to see them crumble. Martial law may look rosy from up in the air, but on the ground, you'd see that the rights of ponies are crucial! Those who would sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither!" "Regardless of your views on Celestia," Blueblood's tone was substantially less strained, telling of a voice amplification spell. "Our current laws have served us well for centuries! Canterlot has been the de facto capital of Equestria since time immemorial, the simplest solution is to carry on that tradition and let the monarchy deal with this cri-" The Mayor scowled and cut him off. "You're just saying that because it puts you in control!" The crowd erupted in cheers and boos, and the shouting match continued. Pamf. A burst of purple light at her side drew Rainbow Dash's attention away from the public debate. Twilight had teleported to sit next to her in one of the upper branches. Precariously so, but sitting nonetheless. "I think they got here a little early." "Shoot..." the unicorn grumbled. "If we don't step in now, this could get ugly." "Wait a minute, who's 'we'?" "I'm gonna need all the backup I can get here. The others should already be making their way there." "Fine..." Dash sighed, and kicked off the tree and entered into a glide, carrying herself effortlessly to the clearing. Twilight was already there when she landed, and just behind her, Fluttershy and Derpy dropped Applejack and Rarity in to join the fray. "Alright! Calm down everypony!" Twilight conjured a large gavel and sounding block from thin air, and banged them together a few times, before letting them evaporate. The crowd fell silent again, and the debating parties observed a Twilight's authority grudgingly. "First of all, a public debate is highly unorthodox for a matter of state this important. This meeting should be being conducted indoors, in private." "I don't see why we should; these matters do concern everypony, so I think everypony should have the right to know," the Mayor retorted. "For once, I think she's on to something," Jetstream chimed in. The Mayor raised her arm to argue, but backed down when Twilight frowned and brought the gavel out again. "Fine. I'll make that concession. Second, lay off the insults! We can't afford to be petty at a time like this! We're all adults here, so let's act like adults. Alright?" Twilight's scornful tone and folded arms were met with irritated mutters, but eventual murmurs of agreement. "Now that that's cleared up, we can move on to some constructive dialogue. No shouting, no melodrama, just discuss. Okay? As you were." She took a step back, prompting the others to retreat to the edges. "As I was saying..." Blueblood cleared his throat, and idly twiddled his cane in his hands. "Implementing drastic change at a time like this is extremely risky. Apart from anything else, Trottingham and the northern border fall under Canterlot jurisdiction, so I'd be responsible for most of the mess at any rate..." "You're already responsible for one mess, Blueblood, the last gryphon horde strolled up to your front door like they owned the place," Jetstream cut in. "The Canterlot Guard have gotten rusty, and rusty armour breaks." "Look, since we clearly can't decide among ourselves, we should hold a referendum! To save paperwork we can hold it alongside an election... you!" The Mayor cast a finger in Applejack's direction. It took the crowd - and her - a moment to figure out who was being pointed at. "Yes, you! Applejack! You're an honest hardworking citizen of Ponyville, don't you agree with my... reasonable proposition?" "Uhm..." The farmer pony frowned, and adjusted her hat. "Ah don't think y'should be draggin' me into this, regardless o' what ah think." The Mayor rolled her eyes. "Ugh, there's no time for that kind of red tape!" Jetstream threw his arms up in frustration. "It's tactical suicide! My officers can attest to that, isn't that right Wing Commander Rainbow Dash?" "What?" It took a moment for it to click that she was being asked a question. "Hey, leave me out of this! This is your thing, not mine." While Jetstream fumed at this insubordination, Blueblood thumbed his chin in thought, before looking to Twilight. "Sparkle, you're from Canterlot, aren't you? Talk some sense into these country oafs." Twilight just furrowed her brow. "I'm arbitrating." "Your highness..." A voice came from the nearby crowd, taking advantage of the deteriorating order. A unicorn stallion in a sharp suit stepped forward to make his presence known better. Rarity went wide-eyed at Fancy Pants' courage. "You would do well to show some courtesy. The ponies of Ponyville have been gracious enough to play host to us in our hour of ne-" "Silence, you old fool!" Crack. The foot of Blueblood's cane swung from rest to swat Fancy Pants across the cheek; the sheer surprise sent him stumbling to the ground. Immediately, Rarity raced across the clearing to help him up, aided by his assistant from earlier. He blinked a little in disbelief, and briefly touched a finger to his lips. A red smear came away. "Your hubris will be your undoing," he spat back. Rarity shot Blueblood a look like jagged icicles as she helped him away for medical attention. "Okay, maybe time we take a little recess..." Twilight chuckled awkwardly, bringing out the phantom gavel again for the sake of formality. "I'll say, I won't be part of a meeting with that kind of barbarous behaviour!" Jetstream flared out his wings, and kicked into the sky. His delegation shrugged to each other, and followed suit. "Good day to you, sirs and dames!" He huffed, and his party took off in the direction of Cloudsdale. "Oh, you're one to talk about barbarism! You and your... your... shut up! Guards, get me out of here..." Blueblood shrank back into his seat and snapped his fingers, and slowly and shakily, his chariot began to heave into the air. His pegasus guards did not look particularly pleased. The crowd quickly began to disperse, leaving the Mayor's officials to bicker among themselves, and Twilight and her friends to muse glumly on the whole affair. "Did all of that seem a little too familiar for anypony else's liking?" Twilight frowned, watching the departing parties disappear across the horizon. After a short pause, Applejack spoke up. "Eeyup." "Did something happen? I didn't see anything!" Spike called from around Twilight's knees. "Aha! Here's my charts from that night!" Twilight pulled a few crumpled scrolls left sticking out of a drawer, sandwiched in between two books. Out the window behind her, the sun was starting to set. Rainbow Dash was slumped over the banister of her mezzanine, swatting some of the mess of books around idly. "Finally! If I spend any more time in a library today, I'm gonna start turning into an egghead..." She held up one book at arms length, examining it with trepidation - Daring Do and the Sapphire Stone. "Well you're certainly not getting any more eloquent," Rarity remarked off-hand, casually examining her nails in a seat by the opposite window. Dash tensed up in frustration, but let it go. Applejack, laid back in a chair by the table, lifted her hat and rolled her eyes. The thump of the charts on the table brought all their attentions back to the matter at hand. Spike jumped a little, and nearly fell off the table, but for a timely flick of Zecora's staff. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Derpy were absent. The first chart was a large-scale map of Equestria; it charted everywhere known to modern ponies, from Neighvada in the west to Mane in the east. Large parts of the map were just blank; the south-western edge stopped more or less at the Everfree Forest, a conspicuous bare spot rose from the bottom marked simply 'Lost Lands', and Twilight had written 'Gryphon Kingdoms' and 'Zebrica' on the map herself, with arrows pointing off the northern and southeastern edges respectively. Twilight quirked a brow, and took a moment to underline 'Lost Lands' with 'Hippaea?'. The second map was of a smaller scale, depicting just Ponyville and the surrounding area. On this had been scrawled a series of numbers, lines and circles; the librarian murmured some nothings to herself while she examined them. After a few mental calculations, muttering something about 'mean distances and headings' and 'relative scales', she took a long, folding wooden ruler, measured out an angle, and drew out a line of a very precise length. The tip stopped a couple of finger-widths from Trottingham. "Hm. Just as I thought." "Thought what?" "Girls, pack your stuff. We're heading for Trottingham in the morning."