//------------------------------// // Questions // Story: Equestrian Landings // by qwefg //------------------------------// Celestia Cloud Chaser bent head over hooves as he apologized "Sorry for the mess! If we knew you were coming!" Celestia just nodded as she had more important things on her mind. Her own thoughts were focused somewhere in-between the past and the present. Emberess had been taken care of but the damage she had caused was starting to fester. Questions about Luna were slowly being asked as her ponies began to wonder if Luna was her adopted sister who died to old age... or died on one of the many battlefields. There were a few other villains who had escaped from Tartarus... as one criminal who had escaped from Timberton... Celestia forced another strained smiled as Cloud Chaser interrupted her thoughts "We already prepared a room for you if you need one!" Celestia tried not to roll her eyes as this wasn't what she wanted to talk about. Right now Celestia was starting to see an entire replay of the wars that tore into Equestria when it was being founded along with the added bonus of the unease, confusion, and doubt of the three tribes as they tried to band together and not let the scars of the past control them. There were even a few opportunists pecking at the foundation... The only question was if a new griffin high lord would try expanding his territory or the pony working with him was trying to become the next Sombra. There was even the pain of the past replaying itself as Celestia wasn't alone... No... she had another alicorn helping her... one who the public didn't like as they continued to shine the spot light right on their beloved Solar Princess. To make matters even worse a nagging sensation about the question of his possible... heritage was starting to drive her nuts. It wasn't like she could simply ask him if he really was... related to Luna. That would be like saying 'Oh I just wanted to know if you were possibly my sister's secret foal who was then exiled from Equestria so that you wouldn't suffer from your mother's fallout when she tried to overthrow me and bring about an eternal night that would never end?' Of course before Equestria was founded it had been common for one ruler to execute the offspring of the rival who tried to kill or overthrow them. That was done so that the infant wouldn't try to take revenge against the current ruler or try to undermine their authority in the future as it was a widely practiced tradition amongst unicorns. Sure Celestia and Luna outlawed that distasteful practice, but there were more than enough ponies who still remembered when similar policies were common practice. "Still it is nice to see that you are taking over..." Cloud Chaser started. Celestia did her best to keep up her public smile as she knew Cloud Chaser hadn't realized what she had been thinking about. With one deep breath she smiled pretending that everything was alright as she said "I came to check on Lockheart's message and to check on what he had found." Cloud Chaser stopped for a moment as he then replied "He was... checking for something?" Celestia put on her best motherly smile that always helped invoke a sense of guilt to her little ponies as she replied "I offered to do it, but he ended up convincing me that my presence may end up interfering with the search. Something about him being used to lies and tricks... hopefully he'll learn that not everypony is trying to lie, cheat, or manipulate him." Cloud Chaser slowly nodded "Oh... yes..." he tugged at the collar of his shirt as he began to sweat "And just... what was he checking?" Celestia rubbed her chin as she knew it was an awful thing to do. Sure she had played the same trick before in the past... letting a few vets treat Philomena without informing them about the phoenix's... flare for dramatics. In fact Celestia wasn't even lying as she was telling the truth... and letting him draw his own conclusions about a few statements that were correct... but had nothing to do with him even though they could match what ever he was thinking about. It was times like these Celestia wished she could take a glimpse into another pony's mind if only to take a glimpse at the whatever was going on in their heads. The sky chariot landed on the clouds in front of them as Cloud Chaser suddenly looked nervous. He smiled as he started to back peddle "If you excuse me I have to..." Celestia used her wings to push him forward as she didn't let him escape "As the pony in charge of Cloudsdale I'm sure you would want to know especially after following me all the way up here." What Celestia saw was rather interesting as she hadn't expected to see Lockheart having straps from the sky chariot tied around him as Midnight helped untie him from the chariot. Remedy got out from the chariot after casting a cloud walking spell as she brought three jugs of water in her magic as a new unknown pony carefully placed her foot onto the clouds making sure the cloud would support her instead of having the poor mare fall straight to the ground. As soon as the straps had been undone Lockheart collapsed onto the cloud as he certainly looked out of breath as Midnight simply face hoofed and muttered something underneath her breath as she was embarrassed that Lockheart had collapsed in front of everypony. The new pony after planting all four of her hooves onto the cloud turned to face them only to stare at Celestia in fear. The poor mare's legs were shaking as her fear of heights seemed to have been completely forgotten as she stood in front of Celestia herself. Celestia studied the new pony as she tried to figure out where she came from. She had a pink coat as her yellow mane was tied into a long pony tail as the earth pony held a death grip on the bag that was in her mouth. The biggest hint about her origin wasn't the cape that rested on her back, but the lack of a cutie mark on her side marking her as one of the lost foreign ponies that somehow ended up in Equestria. After many years of dealing with her ponies Celestia prepared to help calm the young mare down... "Either you found it or you warned Celestia of a counterfeit." Lockheart spoke out loud before Celestia could speak "Either way she'll thank you for it." The mare in question glared at Lockheart like a pony who just had the stain on her dress spotted out to the rest of the ponies at a party to see. She took a deep breath through her nose and then bowed. The other ponies nearby had relaxed at the scene as they were now happy that Lockheart's investigation had nothing to do with Cloudsdale's operations. Celestia's horn glowed as she took the object and opened the bag revealing... an Element of Harmony. Celestia watched their reactions as Remedy and Midnight seemed to be waiting for Celestia's response to sate their growing curiosity. The earth pony just seemed nervous as she wasn't sure if it was an Element of Harmony or a forgery. Lockheart... Celestia focused on Lockheart as he seemed uneasy. In fact he wasn't even looking at the Element of Harmony as if he didn't care... or already knew. Which would have been silly as the Elements of Harmony in their dormant state... "Why did you need me to check if you already confirmed it yourself?" Celestia asked herself. Lockheart flinched at the statement has quickly replied "I wasn't sure and I just wanted to play it safe. Honestly I didn't think it was enough to warrant you coming to Cloudsdale yourself to immediately check it out yourself." Celestia blinked as she just realized she accidently said it out loud... and that Lockheart was lying. He was lying to her face as he already knew it was an Element of Harmony before he even told Celestia about it... but how could he have known? He would have had to... Cloud Chaser coughed "What exactly is it?" Celestia smiled as she told part of the truth "This is one of the objects that had went missing during the Everfree Forest Incident." Cloud Chaser nodded as he didn't know the full reason, but pretended he fully understood and agreed with Celestia's judgment as the other important ponies nearby also nodded as they didn't want to look ignorant either. Celestia slowly placed the Element of Laughter in the bag as she couldn't help but wonder how he could tell it was an Element of Harmony. The pony who found it thought it might be an Element of Harmony... but Lockheart already knew. Celestia rubbed her head as the doubts questions that rested in the back of her mind seemed to have grown. In fact her mind was starting to draw up unsettling connections or possible explanations about Lockheart's elusive past... and looking at him up close she could start seeing a rather unsettling resemblance to Nightmare Moon if one simply painted his fur a dark blue... or possibly turn it black. "You may want to take a quick shower as the rest of the committee is getting ready to talk about those changes you were discussing about this week Lockheart." Celestia replied softly as she tried to focus on the task at hoof. Thinking about how a pony may or may not show a resemblance to her long lost sister was not a good thing to think about when that pony stood in front of her. It wasn't good if a pony started to wonder about the crazy possibility that the pony in front of her might actually be her biological nephew or how he was able to know it was an Element of Harmony while revealing information a normal pony shouldn't know. Lockheart glanced at her "You mean you..." "I am taking the mare in question back to Canterlot." Celestia quickly cut off "And placing this item along with the others. I'll let you know how it went after you are done with this and come back to Canterlot." Celestia certainly was not backing away in fear about a possible blood relative that she only found out about yesterday. She just needed to quickly put away the Element of Harmony that had been brought to her so that she could prepare to tell Lockheart tomorrow that she had found him an earth pony tutor. Of course he would need somepony to help him adjust... and then talk about how some of the ponies in Canterlot were talking about Luna... who was revealed by an ancient villain as Celestia needed to figure out how to deal with the questions and how Lockheart would react to those questions. Thank heavens the Royal Guards came back with her sky chariot ready to take Celestia and the foreign mare out of Cloudsdale and back to the relative safety of Canterlot. She quickly pushed the mare onto the chariot ignoring all the questions the other ponies were starting to ask as her Royal Guard took off taking them safely back up into the air allowing her time to think. Celestia did feel a little bit guilty dumping the task of the meeting on Lockheart... or getting Cloudsdale into an uproar at her rather sudden arrival and exit. Still the new Element of Harmony needed to be placed with the other two Elements she had managed to recover... and her ponies needed to get used to Lockheart... and Celestia needed some extra time to get her own feelings settled before she had to inform Lockheart about... Valkyrie's... condition. Celestia wasn't exactly sure just what Lockheart would do if he found out as... she was one of the few friends Lockheart had. He did rush into the Everfree Forest to rescue a pony he only knew for a few days. He also had a bit of a low-self esteem issue similar like Luna as he thought most ponies... If Lockheart... was Luna's... son... then would he understand just why Celestia had banished her own sister... would he understand why Nightmare Moon was a story told to frighten foals as Luna had nearly been censored from all of Equestria's history? Was he afraid that if Celestia knew the truth then she would act like all the previous ponies that had mistreated him in the past? Was he scared of her? "Are you okay?" A voice called out. Celestia opened her mouth only for foreign mare to say "Never really been up so high before." Celestia quickly closed her mouth and tried to calm down. Hopefully somepony would have found where the rest of the escaped Tartarus Prisoners were hiding so that she could hit them until she felt better. It was much easier trying to deal with ancient evils than... what ever this was that she had with Lockheart. Come to think of it just where did the strange pony fit into her life? When did he change from being a pony Celestia was interrogating for information... suddenly become such a big deal. When did trying to talk to him somehow cause her to be more terrified than having to fight an ancient villain that wished to burn her kingdom to ashes? "Are you okay?" another voice asked. Celestia blinked as she realized this one was for her as she chuckled "I'm just glad things went as smoothly as they did." The confusion in the mare's voice was as clear as day as she said "What do you mean by that?" Celestia smiled as she found something to focus on instead of getting lost in her own thoughts again "Let's just say the delegate from Griffinstone wasn't as easy to deal with even when I was the one doing the negotiations." ****** Stardust I ran the brush through my mane again as Comet sniffed at one of the perfume bottles she had brought with her “Personally I prefer Wild Flower Perfume, but Daisy says that Powdered Gem’s new perfume line is going to be the next big hit.” I nodded as I made sure my hair was straight… that it didn’t have any curls, spirals, or bends in it. I could see Comet in the reflection of my mirror frowning as she slowly moved closer to me. She hugged her forelegs around my neck as she tried to get me to smile again. “I’m alright sis…” I replied softly as I tried to reassure her “I just don’t have as much of a taste in fashion as I used to have.” Comet was no longer frowning as she had instead opted for a comical pout as she said “But your hair. You used to love…” she bit her lip as I sighed knowing she was trying to avoid an emotional landmine “I mean…” “It was rough, but I’ve talked to Mr. Good Heart and things are getting better.” I lied as I hadn’t been completely honest to him “Still no matter what happens I still love my little sister.” Comet pouted as she spread her wings out “In case you haven’t noticed I’m not little anymore. Besides you have been hanging out with that bug pony…” I smirked as I couldn't help but joke back “Does little Comet have a crush on the Cuddle Bug?” She blushed a little “Oh come on. You didn’t seem to mind him when he was Mister Cuddle.” Comet frowned and gave me a gentle whack in the back of my head with her wings “That was a bad prank and you know it. I mean shouldn’t you be…” “Frightened or possibly terrified of the big scary bug pony?” I joked back “He’s just a guy that ran into the same bad luck I did…” I couldn’t help but shiver at the memory as Duran and what he was planning on doing to me “Besides he’s just a pony. It’s not like all unicorns are stuck up jerks or all earth ponies have bricks for brains.” “Or all pegasi being air heads.” Comet finished as a small smile came to her face “But I’m allowed to be a little bit angry right?” I drew my little sister in closer and hugged her “Of course you’re allowed to be a little angry… but just remember who you are angry at and don't take it out on those around you... how has your training been going?” Comet rolled her eyes “Say what you want but you are going to be looking at the next pony who’s going to win Best Young Flyer Competition!I’ll be so awesome I’ll even do a Sonic Rainboom!” I couldn’t help but chuckle “Hey I can do it!” “Not if you keep adding pounds.” I playfully replied Comet sat down on her hind legs and crossed her forelegs as she muttered “It’s not my fault there’s so many good things to eat came out this month.” I smiled as the white coated Pegasus tried to not look at her stomach as her long mane only ended up slowly falling over her face as she looked down. I tried not to laugh as she quickly raised her head and tried to pretend she hadn’t checked. Her mane was dark blue, but after meeting Lily she added aqua green highlights and red-violet highlight at the edges of her tail. She used to wear dresses all the time until she finally got her cutie mark. Now she had put away most of her dresses or starting looking for shorter hemlines. Her cutie mark kind of reminded me of an aviator badge. My little sister was a good mare, but she tended to be a little bit jumpy as she was more likely to take flight than actually fight. Of course funny enough she was one of the first to try to get used to Cuddle Bug and the other changelings… just as long as they stayed in one form and preferably pony form. After Cuddle Bug revealed his changeling form she dashed behind the couch and hid until I told everything was alright. Comet went over to my chemistry set and sniffed again “What are you making over here? Some sort of perfume?” “Stuff.” I pathetically replied “Nothing that’s safe to digest or…” Comet rolled her eyes “Stone Mortar is still making you whip up stuff? I know it’s all ‘fascinating’ and stuff you somehow picked up zebra alchemy during you missing trip, but couldn’t you try making perfume instead?” I did my best to smile as Comet had made it a habit of calling my disappearance a "trip". I didn't live at home with them anymore and bought myself a small place to live in as I tried to make sense of my own messed up memories. Stone Mortar one of my old teachers discovered a few of the things that I had been experimenting with and he was fascinated by it. “Perfume is nice, but this ‘fascinating’ and stuff makes a lot more bits.” I replied as I rolled open one of the scrolls. Comet did her best not to gasp as she saw how much I was being paid “New stuff is fancy stuff and fancy stuff is expensive… especially with proper instructions in how to make them.” Comet stared at the various chemical compounds, cleaners, and gardening items “Still seems strange… and what is Thermite exactly?” I gulped as Comet was thankfully standing away from the box with all the warning symbols plastered all over it. She knew well enough not to go near anything with a warning label and I made sure to keep anything with a warning label safely wrapped up... and then placed into a steel box with a lock or a glass beaker to be put into a steel box with a lock. I nervously chuckled as I replied “An attempt to recreate dragon fire.” Comet shrugged as I tried not to sigh in relief. Some ponies try to deal with their issues by not thinking about it… I was trying to ignore it and use it to bring me some comfort. It was much easier to sleep at night knowing I had enough dangerous chemicals, mixtures and explosives to make Duran the second pony on the moon if he ever tried coming back and with the access Stone Mortar has given me I had been able to make a few items that your average pony wouldn’t have been able to get their hooves on. Comet stared at the box and tilted her head to the side “Why is it listed as a spice?” Besides some of the items… well some are helpful in ways I didn’t expect. “Because to some drakes thermite is the equivalent of jalapeño peppers... it's a really hot pepper that makes your mouth feel like it's on fire.” I replied off hoof “Still it’s hard to make and none of the dragons know how to make it.” I know dragons had different biology and they also ate gems for food. They also only eat thermite when it is raw in much the same way people didn't like it when you sprayed a jalapeño pepper in their face. Personally I found it both amazing and horrifying at the same time. Comet just shook her head “So we were going to go out and see what most of the commotion was about…” The words died on her mouth as the door opened up. One of Celestia's Royal Guard entered the room as I tried to figure out what was going on. The pegasus took off her helmet as she said "I'm sorry to inform your friend Valkyrie... she has been injured in the line of duty." My body tensed up as I said "What happened?" The pegasus hung her head as she said "Valkyrie... she was turned to stone by a Cockatrice. Celestia is doing her best to help." I couldn't believe that something happened to Valkyrie. I just stayed in my seat as I listened to the pegasus before me tell me what happened. ****** Maxwell "Well if you find any programmers let me know." Dawn finished as she pulled out her bag of bits "And just to be clear their looking for more of a Java or CC+ than trying to make it say Hello world or create the next HAL." I took the bits and pulled up the contract "I'll put it on the board and try to see if I can't find you anything. What's the expected pay or work environment?" Dawn smiled "It's Equestria. We promise the building to be above ground and for the egg heads to start small." She pulled out a small scroll "Just be prepared to work with some Equestrian unicorns and try to explain the concept to them as personally... I wouldn't mind having a calculator again." I nodded as explaining it did seem a little bit silly, but magic tended to end up being a short cut for a lot of things... for better or for worse sometimes. How do you explain a sprinkler system when you control where it rains? Trying to explain crop rotation, or farming techniques on how to keep the soil healthy to an earth pony farm was difficult when their magic worked better than any man made fertilizer. Pocket Ace chuckled when Dawn left the room "Should I just turn one of the bed rooms into an office for you?" "Don't blame me." I replied with a small grin on my face "More job offers mean more costumers visiting to check the boards which gives you more people that will end up buying something while they are here." The door opened up as Pocket Ace frowned and snorted a little like an angry horse as Ivan entered the room. I'll admit that Ivan wasn't one of my favorite people, but he was part of a large group... a group that needed information and paid good money for it... even if it came from our makeshift mess we called a Tavern. Ivan pulled up a chair as Pocket Ace just stared at him letting the human turned earth pony know that he was welcome to this establishment... the owner wouldn't mind him leaving as soon as possible. Ivan smiled "I'll take what ever takes a while for him to make." Pocket Ace nodded "One Buck Special coming right up." "You know you shouldn't agitate him." I whispered back to Ivan. Ivan chuckled "Look if you need helping turning this into a proper bar..." "What do you want this time?" I flatly replied before he could finish that sentence. Ivan rolled his eyes as he was one of those people who either didn't like the Equestrians... or thought we were better than them. His dirty white coat and black mane made him look like he belonged in dark alleyway with a knife or a gun ready to mug some poor unsuspecting soul. The reason why he came to our bar was because it mostly focused on players... and Ivan's group wanted to make it a player exclusive bar. Even with all the rejections Ivan still offers the same bargain each time he came in. While this place did carter to a lot of humans... Equestrians also mingled in the crowd sometimes and they were the ones who offered jobs for any adventures who wanted to give it a shot. They provided jobs for us and the humans had a place to mingle as they had regained a small slice of home. Of course it didn't hurt that a lot more therstals had started checking out the place during the night or Pocket Ace finding a few other natives of Equestria to help run this place. Ivan pulled out a golden pocket watch not to check want time it was, but just to show it off even if the clock didn't work. Either this was his latest attempt to show how good his group was doing... or how much money I could make if I accepted his offer. Maybe it was my own bias tainting my judgment, but I did not want to be a part of any group that reminded me of Duran's twisted logic. We landed in Equestria, but we are not heroes. We are simply people lost in a new world and we either needed to learn to live along side them... or figure out how we go back home. Running around with a sword and calling ourselves kings was the worst thing we could do. Ivan started at the watch checking the time or simply pretending that his pocket watch actually worked "A trade of knowledge... and rumors. Why exactly has the exclusive alicorn left the shinning halls of Canterlot?" Sure I wasn't exactly a fan of Lockheart... I mean he wasn't a bad guy... but he wasn't exactly a great guy either... Still I didn't like how Ivan had said it. "He went to check up on some meeting in Cloudsdale." I replied as that knowledge really wasn't worth much "What's the problem with that?" Ivan frowned "Because he's an imposter." I couldn't help but scoff at that comment "No offense, but the same could be said about us." None of us were really ponies. Calling Lockheart an imposter would be hypocritical really and at least he admits that he isn't an alicorn. He's just a random human just like the rest of us. Ivan glanced at the kitchen as he whispered "Have you thought about my other offer?" I rolled my eyes "Again... No offense but I would rather live in this bar than whatever place you or your friends have set up in the bad lands. Now what about the other question?" Ivan glared at me as he softly replied in the same grace as a convict holding a gun underneath the table "The coming times are about to change things." "And Discord isn't cracking free for another couple hundred years." I snarked back "So unless you plan to..." Ivan snapped the pocket watch shut "As soon as Lockheart arrived an incident happened in the gardens as one statue had been removed from the Canterlot's garden maze. During this time descriptions of otherworldly or "chaotic" events happened. Discord's imprisonment only lasts until the thousandth year if someone doesn't try to interfere." He drew himself closer to me as he continued "How long do you think this false peace will last when people cry out his name for retribution for having their lives stolen or for a group of fools to try to release him in the hopes of being sent back home? If you won't secure this place for the coming disaster then just come with me and see the one you should be following." I pretended to smile as I firmly replied "You're question?" Ivan frowned obviously unhappy at my response. He was one of those people who believed some of us worked for Discord... that we had hero and villain players. It was that type of thinking that made Duran justify all of his insane actions and create the demonic changelings that were more feral than sentient. Of course if you tried to explain that to people like him than it just further proved that Duran was a villain class player instead of some self claimed hero. Besides if there really was a group of humans who were worshiping Discord than why haven't they tried to free Discord already? Ivan sighed as he finally moved onto why he had come here in the first place "A certain individual has caused waves. She calls herself Brass Balls of all things... probably due to an accident in her arrival, but that doesn't excuse her actions." I nodded as I couldn't help but wonder just what exactly this person did to piss them off "We couldn't find anything about her... until yesterday as we just recently found out that she was the person responsible for Valkyrie's current condition." That was when I felt the shiver down my spine as I quickly replied "What happened?" I had seen just how far we could fall if a mad man was at the wheel. All it took was someone to focus on the worst aspects of our fears and turn ordinary people into committing actions they would have never thought possible. Duran was living proof of that as he turned a quest in finding and using the Elements of Harmony into a nightmare worthy of the Rainbow Factor. Was Brass just another individual who followed Duran's crazy form of logic forcing Ivan's group to kick her out? Ivan blinked "You didn't hear? Apparently Ms Brass had obtained a cockatrice and used it on Valkyrie. We don't know the full story, but apparently it had to do something with pony named Remedy Cross who was with Lockheart as he currently was not residing in Canterlot during that day. We would also like to know the story behind that if possible." I felt my teeth clenching together as Ivan was attempting to mislead me. Lockheart was at Cloudsdale and Valkyrie was taking a trip to see Cerberus... a few people wanted to see if she could take pictures. Still it was a cheap trick to play as Pocket Ace stood outside the open door with the "buck special"... a sandwich made from rock hard bread and what ever he was about to throw out in the garbage, but had yet to look inedible. "I'll let you know if I find anything out." I calmly replied. Ivan left a large bag on the table "Here is some... assistance in helping you find her current location." He opened it up to reveal a large assortment of gems "Morganna also wishes you the best of luck even if you don't wish for a meeting between the two of you." I pulled the bag of gems closer to me and made note to have Pocket Ace check how much these gems were really worth "If she wants a meeting then tell her to come here to meet me." Ivan shook his head as he picked up his chief special and left the room. Pocket Ace just shook his head as he was happy that Ivan was gone. I took another glance at the gems as... I just talked to people. People came because they wanted a place to feel comfortable... they talked about quests because most games have the bar as the quest hub or library. All we did was play on that old joke so they wouldn't feel as lost as they really were in this new crazy world. Pocket Ace sighed "Want me to grab your sword?" I shook my head "Look... I know that look. You want to do something and yet you don't know what to do so why don't you just go up and try asking Celestia if there's anything she can do or anything you can do for her to help out?" He placed a hoof on my shoulder and chuckled "It would certainly be a lot easier than grabbing a sword and search the world for a crazy mare." I couldn't help but smile "So any idea what we should do with these?" Pocket Ace rubbed his chin "Use them. Wasn't there a group trying to buy gems for some crazy experiment?" ****** Stardust I stood outside as I stared at the bar. Maxwell talked about trying to get a sign that would draw in attention or one better than the current sign they had hanging up. Comet stared at the sign “Why do they have a picture of a mollusk?” I couldn’t help but snort “It’s a Helix fossil.” Comet stared at me in confusion “What? What’s so funny?” I shook my head as somepony had written underneath the picture “We shall maintain the anarchy” I opened up the door as a couple of ponies, griffins, and diamond dogs were enjoying themselves. There didn’t seem to be much order as one table had a group talking about their latest adventure as the table next to them was making trading cards. One small group was made up of diamond dogs and griffins as they were making small models and toys of anima and cartoons that didn’t exist in Equestria. This place could easily be called a mad house as I saw a diamond dog trying to sell newspapers as a few ponies in armor gathered around a large wooden quest board. They even somehow managed to get a karaoke machine set up that had been crafted from a record player, a few non equestrian songs that had been made, and a microphone that was rigged up to a few speakers made out of improvised megaphones. It was a place Discord would probably feel right at home and it made my head hurt. After countless talks with my family and my therapist from the Everfree incident… it was hard to make sense of certain things when I saw conflictions in my memories sometimes. I just took a deep breath and looked at my very real smaller sister who stood right beside me. “What can our humble establishment do for two fine mares?” a familiar voice replied causing me to look up and see Pocket Ace smiling. Comet blushed at the comment as I’m pretty sure the earth pony stallion winked at her shortly after seeing her blush. I just smirked as he somehow traversed through the maze of bodies and made it to us… as he wore a black tuxedo with a white collar shirt as a deck of cards rested in his right chest pocket. Somehow I was surprised he wasn’t setting up another poker game or was he just getting ready until we came barging in. He made a small bow as he said “Nice to see you again Lady Dust.” “It’s Stardust. Not Duchess Star or Lady Dust.” I quickly replied only to have him grin “I… need to talk with Maxwell.” Pocket Ace nodded “Talk, business, or pleasure?’ I scuffed my hoof against the hard wood floor “Just talk… and possibly business.” Pocket Ace nodded as he lead us to a booth that seemed to have been hidden from the room before leaving us with a menu that listed the price of his food… and the average price of certain services from “adventure squad” to “Board listing and ranking” while rumors seemed to have various prices. There was even a section for renting rooms. To anypony else this would have been beyond weird… but it felt expected from a place like this as it seemed to operate on it’s own rules. In fact having normal menus might have seemed even stranger somehow. Comet glanced at the menu “What are you planning on doing?” I took another look at the prices… as I didn’t know exactly what I was doing. Celestia was going to try to help Valkyrie to the best of her ability. There shouldn’t be anything wrong with just leaving it up to her, but… “Valkyrie rushed to my aid when I was in trouble.” I replied honestly out loud to both my little sister and to myself “She could have just waited, but she did what she could do to help and… If I don’t try doing something then… it wouldn’t sit right with me.” I glanced at her and smiled “Besides she helped him out so it might not be that bad.” What exactly I wanted Maxwell to do as I had no idea. Would gathering cockatrices help? Magic wouldn’t exactly help as Celestia was the closest thing to an expert one could get. The best I could do was removing problems instead of solving them… all I could think of at the moment was letting Maxwell know and see if he knew anything… or keep an ear out if he heard of anything. Comet just stared at the menu “They offer a price for foal sitting and at that price!” “You do remember mom’s stories about us?” I chuckled “The baby gate didn’t stop either of us. Besides what other bar tries to offer jobs for weather management in the Bad Lands?” I couldn’t help but chuckle at it as sounded a bit insane, but no one was living in the Bad Lands which made property values cheap… especially when you didn’t need to buy the land in the first place. Comet didn’t respond for a moment “It does pay well… really well actually.” “You do realize that a couple of other ponies tried expanding in the frozen north only to fail spectacularly.” I quickly quipped back “Heck a few of the ponies in this room could probably tell you how different weather can be in different regions.” Honestly I hoped she didn’t give the job too much thought. Any job offering that much bits for a short time was a lot harder than it looked like on paper. “Oh Stardust… how are you doing?” Maxwell spoke surprising both of us. I did my best to smile “I’m doing alright… not as well as you apparently.” He chuckled nervously but I could see his unease “Is everything alright with you?” Maxwell shook his head “No… I just received some bad news, but enough about me. What did you want to talk about?” I glanced back at the menu as… I didn’t know exactly what to say “Remember Valkyrie?” To my unspoken relief and sorrow Maxwell sighed “You heard about it too? I can’t believe it happened to her out of all people... Do you think that Princess Celestia will be able to help?” Comet to my surprise and embarrassment shouted “Of course she can! She’s Princess Celestia!” Maxwell quickly raised his fore hooves and apologized “Sorry! I just… I’m nervous alright. Who’s is she?” I smiled happy to switch to a different topic “Comet is my sister and a descent flier.” “And the upcoming best flier at the next Young Flier’s Competition!” She bragged out loud as she turned around “I even have a cutie mark to prove it!” Maxwell coughed nervously as I just realized how that could have been interpreted as she showed her cutie mark. To his credit Maxwell did his best not to look guilty as he tried his best not to look at her flank. I'll admit that his nervous blush was rather cute. Still I cut him a brake and said “She recently got her cutie mark a month ago and she was… a bit nervous.” Comet frowned “Not everypony gets their cutie marks right away.” I hugged her as it had been a little bit rough on her. Maxwell couldn’t help but chuckle as most of the ponies in this place didn’t even have a cutie mark. “So what’s up with all the strange prices?” Comet asked trying to change the subject. Maxwell shrugged “Depends on the question. If you ask a new arrival to Equestria about weather management vs and Equestrian pony then you get two different, but none the less correct answers. It’s my job to help manage the mess in-between and find just what exactly my cliental is looking for amiss this sea of chaos.” “And the foal sitting price?” Comet dead panned. Maxwell rolled his eyes “You try taking care of a baby that walks on ceilings. Those prices are for foals in their magical flux states which parents will want ponies who can protect them from anything.” Comet blinked as she stared at the picture “You can’t be serious.” Maxwell simply nodded “Socky the monster is what they called it. It’s what you get with a sock puppet, a come to life spell, and whatever magic haphazardly mixed into the equation near a basket of dirty laundry. Not all cases are like that… but most ponies don't go for that service unless it has become that bad and the “baby sitters” do the job because it pays that much. That and a few of the nobles feel better at having “professional foal sitters” looking after their bundle of joy.” I looked back at the listing “Or ensuring their bundle of joy doesn’t damage anything in their estate during their magical fluxes.” “That too.” Maxwell quickly replied “Besides Celestia is trying to hire a pony to teach Lockheart earth pony magic and the rumors about some of those stories? It makes these jobs seem sane in comparison.” Maxwell went silent for a few seconds before saying “Have you… tried asking help from Lockheart?” I shook my head “He’s in Cloudsdale, but he is supposed to be coming back to Canterlot soon… why?” Maxwell coughed as he fidgeted in his seat “Because he’s… you know… different.” Comet just blinked as Maxwell sighed “When the problem arose he was one of the few that came rushing and… as much as I hate to say it.” He took a deep breath and sighed out loud “Things could have been a lot worse if he wasn’t there. He may not be the strongest person out there… but you do have to admit he was quite skilled at making a scene.” I nodded as his Discord impersonation fooled us all. Sure he took a beating after his disguise fell apart, but he was one of the few ponies that tried their best to rescue me before Celestia saved the day. “That and…” Maxwell looked really unease as he said “The person responsible for it… has some sort of grudge against… Remedy Cross. Whatever she knows about the person responsible for this could help… and Brass might come after her.” Comet shook her head “What… do you want to use her as bait!” Maxwell quickly shook his head “Of course not… besides if that really would have worked then… wouldn’t she have tried something already or when they were at Cloudsdale?” He sighed “Besides I… I just don’t know what I can do right now. All I know is that Brass turned Valkyrie into a lawn ornament and that Celestia is going to try to help… I don’t even know how it happened! It’s just…” “Frustrating.” I replied as he nodded “It’s frustrating to see what happened and… being unable to do anything about it.” Maxwell sighed as a small smile appeared on his face “It sure is… Still rumor has it that Celestia is gather up the Elements of Harmony. I hear she even as a new one coming in today!” I shook my head “Of course you would still need those who matched the Elements…” A small shiver went up my spine as I remembered Duran “Of course Celestia will know what she is doing.” Maxwell slumped back into his seat “She’ll do a better job than we did… well… I did…” I leaned in closer “So just between you and me… which ones would you call candidates. Personally I’m putting my bits on Remedy being kindness.” Maxwell stared at my for a moment in disbelief “You can’t be serious!” I smiled “oh come on. Can’t you just picture her in a nice small wooden cabin being surrounded by animals?” Maxwell cracked a small grin “Sure I can. The only question is if their stuffed and if she’s sporting a hunting rifle. Or would a scene of her stuffing a dead rabbit full of cotton be more fitting?” I shook my head “What about Steel Halberd being the Element of Laughter? You could picture him popping out of a cake and singing party tunes.” Maxwell shook his head “What type of party are we talking about and where’s the cake for the men in the room?” Comet rubbed her chin “I could see Remedy being kindness.” Both of us stopped and turned to stare at her “Well sure she isn’t warm and cuddly, but she does make sure no pony gets picked on and she does help out with Celestia’s school for the gifted from time to time.” I blinked as the pony most people were afraid of… working at Celestia’s school for the gifted sounded… off a little bit off “What exactly does she do there?” Comet took a deep breath and whispered “Promise not a word leaves this table?” Both of us nodded “She… helps out with the birthday parties. Mostly for foals who had moved into the boarding school section and can’t really visit their family’s back home. She has a soft spot for foals.” “But just to be clear Steel Halberd doesn’t host birthday parties and pop out of cakes?” Maxwell slowly replied. Comet sighed in disappointment “No he doesn’t… and he has such a great flank.” Maxwell shook his head “Two mares. One Stallion… can we move onto a topic that is easier for the male at the table to talk about?” I broke out a grin “We could get you into a cake.” Maxwell frowned “And how exactly does that make it easier on me?” “Because you would get to see a lot of pretty mares when you finally popped out?” I replied back as he stared at me for a few seconds unable to say anything. Maxwell shook his head “You should come here more often.” Comet smiled as she her head was still on the table, but now staring at Pocket Ace’s direction “Maybe we should?" I shook my head “I’ll let you know if I’m able to talk to Lockheart, but I highly doubt it. He’s an alicorn and it would be hard to be able to get time to talk to him.” Her eyes lighted up when she saw the bar suddenly sing “Hakuna Matata!” without the same precision and grace of a what you would expect from this place as a few people sang off key... Which somehow made it all the more harder not to be swept along in if you knew the lyrics. Comet pointed her hoof at the stage “Anypony can sing up there!” “That’s the point of it.” Maxwell replied with a smirk “A place where you don’t have to worry about feeling normal despite the madness of the world around us.” I shook my head as I knew Comet was going to want to explore this place “I’d ask Pocket Ace to see if they have any songs you know of first.” Comet was gone in a blur as I couldn’t help but chuckle. Maxwell just sat back in his seat and closed his eyes trying to relax as there really wasn’t much we could do besides wait. Hopefully tomorrow would hold the answers we needed. ****** Luke Have you ever tried putting together one of those really big puzzles? You know the type that has all those little random shapes and pieces as you are trying to make that simple picture you see on the front of the box? Have you ever had a pet jump up on the table knocking aside all those pieces you had put together and when you start putting them back together… you realize that you are suddenly missing a few pieces? That’s what I felt as I worked at my lab table. Actually it was just large chunk of rock carved to have a flat table surface as a few glass beakers and a mixing mortar rested on it. The walls had enough crystals to give me light and I went over one of the books Brass brought us as the rest of the amateur chemists looked over one of the other books trying to see if they could mix any of the toxins together. I almost sure that a starter's chemistry set was more advanced than what I had as that came with it's own Bunsen burner. I wasn't even able to make do with a candle since... candles were not exactly essentials considering how hard it was to sleep at night with all the glowing crystals. I rubbed my eyes as I bottled up another mixed patch of poison to be tested latter as Duke said “Any luck?” I glanced back at the dark brown unicorn with dreadlocks and said “Depends on what you’re asking for. We can kill him, but the question is which poison and which dosage?” Duke frowned as he was one of our resident teleporters who had run himself ragged trying to get us all to safety. He was also one of the unicorn teleports who would have the unhappy task of warning us if Discord was free on the surface or teleporting to the surface to warn Celestia if things went bad down here. Duke sighed as he said “Well what do you need me to get then?” “It’s not a lack of materials so much as…” I paused for a second trying to sum it up “It’s how long it will take. When Tirek did his magic drain of Equestria he grew bigger so if we ignore any magical benefits or additions…” Duke promptly face palmed and groaned “A dose for a pony sized target wouldn’t work on a target the size of an elephant.” “Thus we have a time limit and we don’t know how powerful Discord’s magic will make him.” I quickly added “Of course the second less reliable option would be Poison Joke. That roughly takes a day to snap into effect… but it’s Poison Joke.” Both of us sighed as Poison Joke not only ran on it’s own rules… but neither of us knew just how effective it would be. It might turn Tirek into the size of a mouse which would make things easier to deal with… or Tirek might end up sounding like a chipmunk ready to incinerate us. It was times like these I wish we had modern technology and some sort of dead man’s switch strapped to his heart. Right now we don’t even have a radio much less a remote control switch. Duke glanced at the blue flowers “Can’t you just use both?” I shook my head “Poison Joke works by it’s own rules and as a general rule of thumb… it isn’t wise to mix medications as it could make the “joke” come into effect sooner or the poison might run it’s course faster than expected. I really wish we had a human turned donkey or something similar.” Duke stared at me strangely “Donkey… you’re kidding me.” I couldn’t help but chuckle “Diamond Dogs can move through the ground like fish. Griffon fly just like ponies. Donkeys seem to be the least magical race which would make them the most effective group at fighting Tirek right alongside with… cows maybe?” Duke held up a hoof and took a deep breath “Just for the sake of argument… what exactly would we do with them if we found a group of donkeys and cows to fight by our sides?” I shrugged “I don’t know… have a second line of defense to throw Poison Joke at Tirek in case the poison doesn’t run it’s course fast enough? Personally I just plan to find a lethal strain and test it on something large… like a chimera or something and see how long it takes. Then guess a half dosage and stick it into Tirek threatening him if he doesn’t follow us we don’t cure him.” Duke smiled “Which of course is a big fat lie.” “Would you doubt these big innocent eyes?” I mockingly replied doing my best puppy dog pout “And when has a group of ponies ever turned out to be devious?” Duke rolled his eyes “Roughly about after we gagged him and tossed him into a prison cell.” I shrugged as that sadly made sense. Still as long as they didn’t have someone like Luna I highly doubt anyone would know where to find us. It was one of the things that I was both thankful and hated as at least that era would be closer to what everyone was used to in terms of technology or magical substitute. “What about the other two criminals?” I asked out of curiosity “Is that spider really…” “I have no idea.” Duke replied honestly “It’s a big spider… he was able to resist some attempts at spells, but Brass was able to turn him into a lawn ornament. Even if he really is a G1 villain… would you admit trying to commit genocide to an entire race when you are held hostage by a group of dangerous people?" "Assuming he's the same G1 spider or not some retcon character." I countered "After all G1 Tirek had Rainbow of Darkness. This one drains magic making him grow bigger and stronger." I opened up the next book a glanced over the contents and frowned a little. Equestria didn’t have a lot of poisons… most of it was to hamper one’s movements or quickly kill it’s target. There wasn’t a lot of in-between like keeping the victim alive for roughly about three to four hours. That or this book was simply lacking the "slow acting poisons" section. “See if we have any Zebra players or anyone who can use a dart gun.” I muttered to myself “At this point dart guns with venom seem to be our best option for dealing with Tirek after he deals with Discord.” I could hear Duke starting to pace as neither of us liked talking about the major flaw in our plan. Keeping Discord distracted long enough to get Tirek to get a surprise power drain would be difficult. Not only that we would also have to… sacrifice a few Equestrians so that he would be strong enough for a power drain on Discord. I’m not sure it would have worked if he did manage to hit Discord the first time they meet… but I’m willing to bet even he had limits since Tirek was barely able to do anything or even drain any powerful and important ponies before Discord helped him out. Maybe he was trying to avoid Celestia's wrath... but Tirek didn't even try attacking Canterlot until he drained half of Equestria. Maybe letting him drain a couple of those savage changelings might help deal with that morality choice. Personally I hated the fact our "secret weapon" had too many unknowns or missing details. “Bright side…” Duke hesitated a little “The web has some resistance… something one of the guards found out when he tried to escape of course the web doesn’t last very long.” I turned around and faced him “How long? Days, hours?” Duke scratched the back of his head “Hours and the web just falls apart or “dissolves” during that time so don’t expect any anti-magic silk garments for any future fights, but hopefully strong enough to give Discord some trouble... if he doesn't grow bored and turn them into French fries or something.” I took a deep breath as it wasn’t a complete lost. We just had to send the spider first and hope he could bind or distract Discord long enough for Tirek to work his magic. Maybe find the large worm creature from the Discord episode and trying to got a bottle of it's sneeze... or cold gunk. That had an effect when it hit Discord when he wasn't expecting it. “What about the other prisoner?” I needed to know if I needed to produce a few extra vials for someone other than Tirek “Found anything useful?” Duke shook his head “Our third guest little bit smarter and a bit more paranoid. We are trying to find some more information… but we haven't gotten anything from it.” “It?” I couldn’t help but ask. Duke nodded “A few of the others… they don’t like referring to the prisoners as… people. They know Tirek is already set for the chop block and essentially the other two criminals are cannon fodder for the fight against Discord so they don’t want to refer to them as people.” I shrugged as it sadly did make sense. A lot of people would easily say they would shoot or kill some evil criminal or monster if they had too… but having to keep that same monster alive while you waited for the unknown excitation date to finally arrive? I wonder if this is how a prison guard feels as they watch the criminals on death row. Duke glanced at me “That and… a few of the supply runners… well it turns out Brass is not a popular pony.” I couldn’t help but chuckle “In case you haven’t noticed none of us are popular until Discord breaks free.” Duke nodded as he seemed a little bit skeptic “The thing is… she has someone going to a lot of the player run establishments And he is paying people to find out where she is hiding.” I took a deep breath and calmly replied “You do realize that’s because if they figure out where she is… they know where we are. Even if she is caught outside of this place I’m willing to bet Celestia has a unicorn ready to pry her memories out of her skull and then look them over to see where we are hiding.” Duke scratched the back of his head “I mean… what if she really is trouble?” “A search for Brass right after a Tartarus Jail break?” I deadpanned “You do realize that this is Celestia we are talking about… the same pony who sent Twilight to Ponyville so she could find and use the Elements of Harmony to use on her sister? This is just another plan made by Celestia in an attempt to figure out where we are hiding." Duke sighed either in relief or slight irritation as he would also half to help spread the word that this was a trap set by Celestia to figure out where the hell we had vanished to. It made sense really… figure out how loyal we were and then just try to catch one of us to pry the knowledge of our locations out of our heads. It also meant that anyone who was on the mission wasn’t allowed to go to the surface during this period which was going to be a pain in the butt to explain to everyone else for the rest of the week. That left the scouts on the surface to keep bringing in supplies as we waited for Discord’s arrival. Duke scratched his chin “So… how long until Discord is free?” I shrugged “I’ll stop waiting for Discord when Celestia puts his statue back in the garden. Until then I’m just going with the bet that Discord is slowly breaking free and when that day comes… we’ll be here ready to stop him.” The door opened up as a chipper blue Pegasus with light blue and white highlights in her mane cheerfully chirped “You won’t believe what I found!” Green flames consumed her as a changeling now stood in her place as I smiled. Crystal the human turned changeling was a handy addition to our group as changelings could get in and out of places with ease. Her horn glowed pulling out a large cloth as I could feel my mouth starting to salivate as I stared at it. It was a black powder… the holy grail of modern weaponry… the step away from TNT or the spark needed to light the explosive hail of lead upon your hated foes. Crystal shook her head “It’s not TV strong as it is… kind of weak, but still someone named Stardust is making some of this stuff.” I took a deep breath and tried be calm… key word was try “Get one of the recruiters ready and check how she is before anyone tries to give her a tour of the place.” Last thing we needed was someone losing their mind as they made weapon grades explosives “If she looks alright then give the opening speech and when you do make sure that no one else is watching. We have the villains and right now anyone in the Royal Guard would love to get their hooves on us.” As much as I would love making barrels of TNT for a insurance plan after Discord was taken care off… it wouldn’t do us any good if we got caught before Discord broke free. Still we had time to revise our plans and of course we have a few scouts checking around Canterlot trying to figure out where Celestia could have placed him. Discord was kept in Canterlot so that Celestia would know when he broke free. It stood to reason that she would keep it nearby or at least have some sort of records for where she hid him and now that we had Tirek in our grasp… it would be nice to figure out where Discord’s stony butt was hiding.