Melancholy Days

by Zurock

Chapter 11: Penumbra

The train pulled into the Hamestown station in the early deep of night.

Though the trip had been nearly two full days of travel, the journey had never felt quite as long. The essence of distance had been intact however, and all on board had felt the great drift while they had been carried along. The engine had hauled the busy passengers past the grand, grassy plains and then through rocky lowlands. The sunbaked crags and discarded boulders had only grown more numerous into that first night and, upon the fresh morning, the glimmering spires of the Pearl Peaks had become visible. Shining at their silver and snow covered tops, stretching like a wall across the crooked and sharp horizon, even the roots of those mountains had seemed absolutely mammoth. By the end of that morning the train had penetrated the first tunnel of the great hills.

That afternoon and evening had been a ride of rising and falling slopes, claustrophobic tunnels and booming vistas, and curved tracks that had always dipped and weaved around the titanic stones and bent cliffs of the mountains. But for as indirect as the path had been, those on board had an experience that was more or less very straightforward. Research had slowly fallen by the wayside when it had become obvious that there could be only so much preparation for what laid ahead. Most of the passengers had then carried on like they were on a holiday, enjoying what their transportation had offered. And those who had preferred to leave well enough alone had themselves been left well enough alone... except for the occasional spontaneous and circumstantial break for chitchat or tea.

But at last at travel's end, the tired engine finally sat at rest in Hamestown, wheezing with exhaustion and letting its wheels cool. The many passengers disembarked, lead along by Twilight. Rarity lagged behind; the muttering unicorn was having significant trouble getting her luggage to 'go' and most of her progress came from the loyal assistance of her fawning dragon.

As they emerged from the train, most of them felt touched by an invisible sweep of discomfort, the source unknown to them. The feeling of something awry was tucked below being recognized but above being ignored. The night sky was dark with only a few speckles of stars visible in random patches; uneven balls of clouds drifted about and blocked the stellar light. The thin, waning moon fared no better at piercing their coverings. It left a thick blackness about the settlement, hiding much of it from sight. Mysteries for the eyes were everywhere, and only the many hanging oil lamps, burning away with a sour smell, revealed the solid workponyship of the station, streets, and structures of the village.

Twilight was perhaps the only one to pick up on the cause of the pervading shadows: there was no value to having the local pegasi waste strength patrolling the night sky half-successfully (or less.) To most of her companions though, the shielded stars were just one of many things that helped extend a subtle oddness to the place.

In the glowing lamplight they found a welcome party waiting for them. One unicorn stood out as the head of the group. His deep blue coat complemented the night's color well and emphasized his short, graying mane, which was parted in the center and had very easy, almost shaggy curls. Long sideburns framed his middle-aged face, supported at the bottom by scratchings of chin hair, and further below he wore a fine vest which was a few shades lighter than he himself was, accented in a heavy auburn. His particular cutie mark was of crossed, puffed plumes; either dueling or supporting each other; their achromatic, fluffed look had a lot in common with his tail. The pony held himself up like a leader, with a stance that always seemed to be looking ahead, but he spoke with a strength of character that came from understanding well all that had passed behind him.

"Welcome, welcome!" he greeted his visitors. In one way he was tangibly relieved to see them but in another he still injected all of his official and proper respect into his manners. "You're the flock of ponies sent by Princess Celestia, yes? Glad as a goldfinch to have you here at Hamestown! I'm Mayor Quailbert Quillby, in charge of all matters of a civil nature here, and that includes greeting and accommodating guests."

"Thank you for the welcome, Mayor Quillby!" Twilight returned. The formal salutation did much to put her at ease and with but a glance it could be seen that the same applied to the rest of her company. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, student of the Princess," she introduced herself while bending down. Shifting to the side, she invited her companions to present themselves to their host, and they did, one by one.

Mayor Quillby was largely ecstatic to meet each of them. He made sure to place himself directly in front of whomever was speaking, he always responded with a welcoming pleasantry of his own, made sure to use their name once, and gave professional and courteous bows all around. His manner never diminished, not in the slightest, as he stepped through his initiations. Not even for Spike and James, who were both decidedly non-pony in nature and were quite an unexpected sight for the frontiersponies.

"I'm just so absolutely pleased to have you all out here," he said to them when he had finished his rounds. He gave them another watchful look in the dancing lamplight, passing his chestnut-colored eyes about them, contented and hopeful. "My, what an assortment you are!" he breathed with stirred awe. "If you don't mind my saying, out here we believe deeply in using our own strength and unity to overcome the harsh difficulties that get set before us; a certain affection for our own independence, you understand. So it wasn't without swallowing some of our peacock pride that we had to ask for help. Still, the Princess has certainly come through for us!" Again he seemed eager to just bask in their fresh presence, gasping, "Such a dynamic group! And talented, I'd wager! Thank you so much for coming!"

Overly flattered, and even somewhat charmed by the elder stallion's graciousness, Twilight assured him, "We're glad to help in any way we can, Mayor Quillby. Really."

"Perfect! I'm as giddy as a gull to hear it!" The first cracks of concern started to push through his formal front. He related to them, with reduced enthusiasm, "We had another bout of mischief just today. Things certainly haven't been getting any better with time."

To the arrivals, the message came as a reminder of why they were out here. They let the warmth of their welcoming sink in as quickly as possible while they stiffened themselves for serious matters.

Twilight asked, "Just today? What happened?"

"Oh, more food taken from our stock and more tools and supplies broken," moaned Quillby dimly. He held himself up though, fighting back against the grim prospects that rattled him inside. "But, it's late tonight. This is an hour for owls!" he suddenly spoke, trying to be as jolly as he could be. "Come, gather your things and we'll get you settled in for the night! We can worry about all these bothersome troubles in the morning."

Rarity, who had only briefly paused to give her full attention to the mayor during his introduction (as a lady should,) was still exerting herself in her attempt to pull her bags from the train. Her horn sparked like a worn flint wheel desperately trying to ignite a fire. Light flashed up only to drip and jump and fall away in gleaming embers. Her luggage's progress didn't reflect her effort. Bags popped up an inch off the ground for fleeting moments, or jumped to the side suddenly, or dragged forward a step or two, or even rolled over onto the floor. But none got much in the way of distance towards her. It was like an invisible man wildly tugging at overly heavy bagged barbells, failing to move them along with all his fervorous, burning zeal. Spike had significantly more success merely walking up to an item and hauling it out himself. All the while the frustrated unicorn spat and cursed to herself, though in the most ladylike fashion.

Her toil was spotted by the mayor, who approached her and politely intoned, "Pardon, miss. I think you'll find it's just a little bit different out here. Takes more concentration than you may be used to. Allow me." The mayor's horn illuminated. His eyes sharpened and a heavy tension swarmed into his body. It was like watching a bodybuilder slowly draw up a massive weight except without all the bulging, flushed muscles. Rarity's luggage picked itself off the ground, quickly swooped out of the train carriage, and deposited itself in an austere wooden cart, of which there were many in a row lined up against the train station wall. Releasing his magical grip, the mayor puffed out his tight breath and wiped some sweat from his brow.

"There you are, miss!" he nodded to the unicorn. "I'd recommend you get some practice in for yourself when you have the time, if you want to insist on using magic. But around here we like to be a bit more sparse with it and look for more practical solutions." He slapped the two-wheeled cart he had dropped her bags in, and a sturdy sound bounced back.

"I see, thank you...," Rarity said dismally. No matter how robustly built the cart appeared it was still just a collection of unpainted wooden beams and boards on tasteless wheels. It would be a travesty to hitch such a styleless monstrosity to herself.

Witnessing the event, Applejack scratched the side of her head and did an impromptu self-assessment. She certainly didn't feel any different than normal. But then again, she wasn't in her element: an endless orchard of trees which sprouted ripe and ready apples just waiting to be bucked free. She looked over at her other friends, particularly Rainbow Dash and Twilight, wondering.

The two noticed the farm pony's telling stare and looked at each other, then themselves. Rainbow Dash flexed her wings and stretched a bit but then shook her head with a light shrug. Nothing unusual she felt either (but again, she also wasn't in her element.) Twilight flashed her horn some, crossing her eyes a little to look at it curiously. She also stared inwards briefly, searching herself. In private, she whispered to her two friends, "I feel alright. It's definitely different here... It feels kind of like... being thirsty... but not in my throat... Hmm." She brushed past her discomfort immediately, more brightly telling them, "I think I'll be okay." As if to prove it to herself, she magically lifted her own bag and tossed it into one of the waiting carts, expending even less effort than Mayor Quillby had to.

The remaining bags were gathered and split into as few of the simple carts as possible, with assistance by the mayor and the few other ponies who accompanied him. When it appeared that they had everything, the mayor turned backed to his guests and asked, "Well, ready to come along?"

Although nearly all were agreeably ready, Twilight thought for a moment. "Mayor Quillby," she interrupted, "if it's all the same to you, I'd like to go see the robbed food supply and vandalized tools right now, instead of letting it sit until morning."

A little surprised, but also a least somewhat impressed, the stallion replied humbly, "Miss Twilight, as far as I am concerned this is your investigation, so you're as free as a jaybird to do as you like. I'll take you right there."

"Thank you." To her friends, she said, "I'll go check things out..." But as she looked at their supportive faces, warm in the rays of the lamps, she opened up, "... and anypony who wants to come with me is more than welcome. We're all in this together, after all." With a bit of a start and some embarrassed guilt, she tacked on, "Oh! Fluttershy, could you please come, at least? I'll want your opinion."

"Oh, of course, Twilight," the pegasus responded willingly and went to stand besides her friend.

There was nary a pause before Applejack trotted over to join the separate party, showing her eager support not with any words but with a broad and sure smile. Rainbow Dash was fast to follow. Most of the others were more than willing to join as well but when they saw how full the breakaway group had gotten they calmly accepted roles of tending to the luggage and preparing the night's lodging instead.

Mayor Quillby directed the other townsponies to take the rest of the guests to where they would be staying while he himself graciously invited Twilight and her company to follow after him.

James watched as they stepped off the station platform and into the dimmer radius of the lamps.

Well, he was here now. Not that there had been any going back once he had boarded the train. And there those ponies went to start handling their assigned duties. Nothing too bad so far, it seemed. Definitely nothing that required his attention, and nothing he wanted to interfere with anyway. Of course... it could be argued that he couldn't stay out of the way of something he knew nothing about...

Suddenly, he double-checked his cart-packed bag, making sure it was secure, and then began to head off after Twilight's group. There was a comment or two from Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Rarity about his belated decision but overall they thought nothing different about his choice than Applejack's or Rainbow Dash's.

He caught up with the others in short order, their hoofbeats being the closest and loudest sound in a night filled with lively silence. There were no noises from the buildings; almost certainly most of the hardworking ponies of Hamestown were resting up for another day of sweaty, sustaining work. But all beyond the glow of the hung lamps, which dangled from nails driven into simple wooden posts that lined the streets, came the sounds of a living night. Breaths of wind brushed against surfaces broad and thin, flowed through cracks and alleys, and bent and creaked out-of-sight wood. Somewhere, the buzzing of insects thrived, overridden by the occasional call of a night bird. From the same place, the rustle and rubbing of leaves in the breeze came. The sounds of a forest alive; not far off at all.

There was no specific mention of James' accompaniment by the group. Whatever thoughts Rainbow Dash and Applejack had weren't shared, but Fluttershy offered a smile. Twilight was pleased with his choice herself, though more as an instinct and less as a decision. The more uncomfortable her hidden thoughts of the whole situation became, like a chipped stone wedged between hoof and horseshoe, the more she was ready to take every advantage she could possibly get. Whatever she had believed about his presence before... now she would rather have him here than not.

Mayor Quillby unloaded fact, thought, and opinion onto them as he lead the way. It was a convoluted slurry of information, built on the skeleton of what was probably a prepared speech for visitors; a history of home and village from one who had lived it, but mixed now also with the modern troubles that they had come to address. So many decades had gone by of steady, cautious work. The settlement itself was a long-building success. But in just the past months, shortly after work on expanding the town more had started, these strange and confounding troubles had come up. Thefts and vandalism, mostly. And for the townsponies, no solution seemed to adequately solve, and no explanation seemed to adequately explain, all that was going on. The mayor quietly suggested that a certain kind of desperation had set in and, in a narrow vote, the community had decided to appeal for help. It was a relief how startlingly swiftly Princess Celestia had picked up their cause.

At last they reached their destination, close to the edge of town. Or, close as indicated by there being no more lamps beyond that point anyway. Past the last rings of light was nothing but darkness and the sounds of the forest playing loudly. The mayor stopped in front of what appeared to be a long, deep barn, though not painted in any glorious shade of red. It was a large hut built of dry, thin wood, and the dirt in front was well-stamped and trampled on from the townsponies hauling containers in and out of this warehouse.

Taking a key out of his breast pocket with his teeth, Mayor Quillby undid a padlock which kept the building sealed. Sliding the door to the side with his hoof, he took a single step in towards the cold blackness that was inside. From his immediate left, he grabbed a lamp that waited on the wall (again with his teeth) and lit it with some spirited effort from his magic. With the light pushing out and filling the length of the barn, he lead them inside.

As they went into the spreading light, all of the visiting group was immediately arrested by an unexpected sight.

"Uh... Twilight...," Applejack said with squinted eyes and a furrowed brow, "... this don't look like no raid by a pack of hungry critters to me."

The same sentiment was echoed with word, or gasp, or stance by all the others. If it was a warehouse, it certainly wasn't housing very many wares anymore. There were a scant few barrels and crates here and there, sitting lonely or in small groups, but there was quite literally nothing else. It was a vacant dirt lot surrounded by four walls, and the only signs of any activity where the shapes in the dirt where a lot more containers used to sit.

Confronted with this unanticipated sight, Twilight had to ask the mayor, "Are you sure this is the right building?"

"Positive," came his assured response. "We're prickly as a partridge when it comes to inventory, particularly where food is concerned. This is the one that was burgled and, as you can see yourself, there sure was a pelican bill's worth taken."

"Alright, alright," accepted Applejack while she scratched her head. "It's just... no spilled barrels, no scraps laying about, no mayhem, no destruction..." Dealing with pests was a familiar part of her farm life but it didn't help her make heads or tails of this. "There's not one sign of the disorderly or improper-like pilfering that you might expect."

In complete agreement, Twilight nodded. This find was just another item to add onto her tipping scale of uncertainty. Seeking another opinion, she turned and asked, "Fluttershy?"

The pegasus was equally caught with surprise by the discovery. She had come anticipating the remains of a hungry or upset animal's tantrum and this did not match her expectations at all. She was carefully stepping through the scene, head low to the ground as she searched for any sign of what creature could be responsible. She disappointingly replied to her friend, "Oh, I don't know what to tell you, Twilight. I don't see any tufts of fur, or feathers, or claw marks, or paw prints..."

Something about it all irked Rainbow Dash, and she chimed in, half-sarcastically, "Yeah, of course not, because what kind of animal sneaks away with whole things of food, barrel and all?" In confusion, she demanded of Mayor Quillby, "What even made you think animals did this?"

The mayor wasn't disturbed by Rainbow Dash's implied suggestion. Being as self-sufficient as they were, the frontiersponies obviously weren't obtuse enough to have ignored the possibility of a more standard theft. But they had rejected that version of events. He explained easily enough, "Well, who else could have done it? We're the only ponies around for miles and miles and miles."

Twilight's brain processed and calculated, trying to piece together all she knew into a coherent story, trying to find the unknown gaps which could hold the lost keys to hidden answers. She questioned the mayor, "And you're sure nopony has been accidentally placing food supplies in the wrong building? Or that some townspony wasn't taking from here without authorization?"

"Goodness, yes, I'm sure," he answered, still not offended. It was becoming clear that the threat posed by these thefts were worse to him than any unintentional insult to Hamestown's honor. "Like I said, we're very meticulous with inventory. You have to be, out here. And an error would go noticed immediately." Considering the matter of an internal betrayal, he was soft and attempted to be as helpful as he could be in explaining, "And we're too tight-knit a community for a theft like that. But even if we were to assume one of our own swiped everything... how, without being seen? And why? Who would be vulture enough to take so much, to nearly clean this warehouse out, and where would they even hide it all?"

They were fair points, Twilight thought. While from a fresh outside perspective it might have seemed strange to consider this the work of some troublesome animals, the townsponies' refusal to blame one of their own was logically sound for them. Her mind pondered about all the failed settlements before Hamestown; none of them had lasted even half as long as this one had. To live out here was a challenge and, to meet that challenge as successfully as they had, the frontiersponies had to come together with incredible coordination and teamwork; just like the difficulties Twilight and her friends had overcome through unity in the past, or even Sidlesong and company in their story. And she would no sooner accuse her friends than any of the townsponies would accuse each other, not when alternate explanations (even incomplete ones) were still available. It was just a matter of finding some evidence that would point towards the truth...

"And this isn't the first time a theft like this has happened either, right?" she asked.

"No," Mayor Quillby said glumly, "and it has been getting disturbingly more common."

This prompted Applejack to complain, "Well, what have y'all been doing to try and stop it?"

"We've started locking the warehouses and sheds, and only a select few of us have keys to them. But... it hasn't done any good." He patted his vest pocket and felt his keys still there, but nonetheless he gave a crestfallen sigh at how pointless the security effort had proven.

Rainbow Dash thought back. Mayor Quillby had to undo the lock to get inside so the lock was still intact despite the burglary. "Unless our thieves have a key themselves," she declared, "they must be finding another way inside." She hastily scanned the room: no breaks or cracks in the walls, no windows, and no signs of digging or dust around the outside. She paused, and then looked up. The barn had a wide cupola at the top with vents on all four sides; a bulge out of the roof that let in cold night air. "What about up there?" she asked aloud while she spread her wings and flew up to the space.

"Hm?" Mayor Quillby's eyes followed her flight. "Oh, it's only for light and ventilation. Those vents have been securely bolted in since before all this even started. Nothing could-"

With but a tap of her hoof, the vent frame that Rainbow Dash pressed on popped out effortlessly and clacked onto the barn roof, scraping as it slid down. The mayor's sentence turned in to a drone, lengthily drawing out the last syllable uttered from his now slack jaw. The rest of crowd gazed up, all coming to the same conclusion, while Rainbow Dash poked her head out of the fresh hole in the cupola. Fluttershy went up to investigate as well.

"Looks like we found how they're getting in and out," Applejack said.

"WHO though...," Twilight emphasized. She was still pestered by all the holes in her knowledge. "They take mostly everything and are careful not to leave any evidence behind..."

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash descended after a moment more, and the more colorful of the pegasi stated, "There's no tracks or anything up there. That I could see, anyway. The bolts were taken off though, so it was done on purpose for sure." The shy pegasus nodded along, indicating she didn't find any animal traces up there either.

Twilight looked about the scene again, still trying to puzzle it together. Her idle glances caught sight of James, who was meandering about the room incredibly slowly. His one arm was folded across his chest, and the other arm was seated by his elbow upon the first. His open palm rested in the crook of his neck, under his tilted head. To her observation, it was certain that he was taking in everything too, building his own explanations.

Unsure that there was anything more to learn here, at least for tonight, the unicorn said, "Let's have a look at the broken tools now, Mayor Quillby."

"Of course, of course. This way, please."

They exited the building, the mayor extinguished his lamp and returned it, and he sealed and locked the door before leading them on. He told them that the tool shed of interest wasn't far but he also mentioned that it was more of a general storage location. They crossed the road and passed between some other structures before coming upon it. It wasn't all that different from the barn that the food had been stored in, at least in some ways. It was a shorter and wider structure with much less depth, and its construction was a little more ramshackle, if still sturdy. It was, however, large enough that the moniker of 'shed' was perhaps a little too humble.

Once more the mayor had to undo a padlock, push open a door, and ignite a provided lamp to illuminate the inside. And once more, the visitors were surprised by what they found. Doubly so, this time.

"What in tarnation...?" Applejack moaned quietly to herself.

It was a mess. Smashed and broken splinters of wood were everywhere, snipped and shredded wires were loosely left in dead coils, once-shaped stones were now crumbled pebbles and rocks, and bent, torn, and twisted metal was scattered on the floor. This scene was more like what they had first expected to find at the barn. That experience had changed their expectations, only for everything to be turned on its head again here.

Applejack whistled once in awe and stated, "Looks like a whirlwind whipped through here."

Hovering off the ground to avoid all the jagged bits and sharp edges, Rainbow Dash floated over the wreckage and pointed out, "But what about these? All these bags of fertilizer are in one piece. And some seed bags here! This crate looks full of wheels; they're fine. And it doesn't look like anything happened to those hoses and tubes over there." She drifted about more but ceased calling out what she was seeing; it had become obvious to them all that quite a lot of things in the shed had survived untouched; a stark contrast to the ravaged chaos that now coated the floor.

Even more, this find teasingly tickled and taunted Twilight's deductive nose. No only was the crime here different, it had also been gone about in a completely different way. And yet, there was the inconsistency of it all. She looked between debris on the ground and the different bags, stacks, barrels, pallets, and crates that were still in one piece. Her big notice was the fact that the items which were destroyed were completely and aggressively destroyed with precision, while the spared items were completely and mercifully untouched. Two categories treated in supremely opposite ways. Whoever wrecked these tools did it with specificity and intention.

"I don't think this is the work of any wild animal either," she said.

Fluttershy began floating above the destruction, somewhat put off by the carnage and her fears of what might have caused it, but she still searched amongst it for clues. However, she seemed to agree with Twilight and wasn't able to find anything which suggested an animal was responsible.

While Mayor Quillby waited at the door, the rest of them spread out to search, careful of the dangerous bits sticking out of the unorganized mess. Rainbow Dash, following up upon what they had learned at the warehouse, took an immediate interest in the ceiling and looked for an ingress point. Twilight kept her eyes going between the broken items and the spared supplies, trying to figure out the vandal's reason for such distinction. It was in doing this that she noticed James was doing the same thing.

He carefully moved shreds of metal and broken shafts of wood about, piecing together what kinds of things had been ruined, but he also always had an eye towards the untouched items. Different saws and blades and rakes and hammers, among other things, had been decimated. But there, as still and as safe as the day they had been placed in storage, were bags of very loose items, soft building materials, some equipment for irrigation, and various miscellanea that could have an assortment of obtuse uses. For instance, there was even a tiny sack of gold nuggets next to large, soft bag labeled 'a pound of feathers.' What united one set of items into a class slated for destruction?

Twilight wondered what he thought of all this. But she didn't feel in position to ask him. Not just yet.

She turned and asked the mayor instead, "Was anything taken at all?"

"No, not a thing," Quillby insisted. "It's all accounted for, if in several pieces."

Tapping a hoof on her chin, Twilight muttered low, "Steals the food... breaks only some of the tools and supplies... why is that...?"

The mayor, who hadn't quite heard the unicorn's mumblings, suddenly confided, "It's really been a frightening state of affairs for us. All this damaged equipment not only hurts our progress on the expansion but it hurts our farming as well." With a dismal and depressed outlook, he continued, "If it gets much worse, and we aren't able to sufficiently replace the lost food supplies, we're going to have real trouble come winter... like hens without a house. We... might even have to abandon the settlement." Dark dreams brewed behind his eyes, withering like the colored leaves of autumn.

Twilight resolved to herself at the same time as she swore to him, "Mr. Mayor, we're not going to let that happen. We'll get to the bottom of this." And her words were the comfort he needed to hold onto his hope.

In only a minute or two the others came back, having finished poking through the scene. Rainbow Dash reported, "Part of the roof in the corner has been ripped out of place. Like, the nails have been completely torn out and it's resting only on the supports now, so it can be picked up and moved out of the way. That's how our perp's been getting around the lock."

"Ripped and torn, you say? Little too muscly a task for a raccoon," said Applejack.

Fluttershy wasn't completely fraught with worry, but these new mysteries added onto her existing concerns. With a controlled nervousness, she stated, "I don't know what could have done this. There's been nothing left behind, and this doesn't look like the work of any animal I've ever known."

Twilight looked to James once, thinking that perhaps he might also offer his thoughts without being prompted. But whatever his thoughts were, he was keeping them to himself for the moment.

Taking everything into herself, she tried to organize it all in her head as well as plan out a distinctive trail for getting to the heart of this matter. Time was needed, and so she announced to them all, "I think we've seen all we can see for now. Let's sleep on it, and maybe daylight can give us a few more clues."

Mayor Quillby, still buoyed by Twilight's promise, replied, "Grand, grand. Let me lock up, and I'll take you straight to your lodgings."

---

Hamestown wasn't a traveler's town so it made sense to all the visitors retrospectively that there would be no inn. The townsponies had instead made space for them in a large meeting hall of some sort. Tables and benches were stacked against a far wall to make space for large, stuffed blankets and heavy quilts that now coated the smooth stone floor, suitable enough to sleep on. There was a half-circular design to the room, with the wall at the center of the half-circle being built of layered, mortared stone. Just below, the floor was blackened and ashy from the frequent fires which burned there to heat the hall. Tonight, the whipping and cracking fire warmed them.

Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Spike had all the personal bags sorted nicely when the others arrived, and they were eager to hear of what they had missed while tending to the luggage. As they all were finding different spaces to huddle about the fire, Twilight and the rest related what they had discovered and their different opinions on what those discoveries meant.

"I'm not sure I like this," Rarity worried, after all had been told. "It sounds like something much more dreadful is going on than we were lead to believe."

"I don't like it at all!" Fluttershy said, strained with displeasure. With the new knowledge and a little bit of time on her side, the fear of ferocious creatures had faded and was replaced with her motherly concern for all the unknown forest critters. "They're putting the blame on some poor, blameless animals even though there's no reason to believe they did anything!" Her adorably soft anger receded and she pushed the blanket she was snuggled in further up over her head, whispering, "B-but... something is out there, doing something..."

Applejack, sprawled on her back with hooves behind her head and her hat at her side, suggested consolingly, "They just been playing their hoof as best they can, Fluttershy. I think this whole hullabaloo has really been taking them for a ride and they didn't know what to think. So, they reported what they could figure to the Princess and... well, here we are."

Seated next to Rarity, Spike's opinion wasn't far from hers. But his natural curiosity had been constantly at work since hearing everything and he wondered aloud what was incidentally passing through most of the others' minds: "But if it's not animals, and there aren't any other ponies around, who could be doing this?"

Careful to still evenly rotate the prong which skewered the marshmallow she was toasting, Pinkie Pie laughed a bubbly laugh, adopted a phony, dour tone of voice, and narrated, "Maybe it's ghosts or goblins! Specters of the past from BEYOND THE PEARL PEAKS! OOOoooOOO~!"

"Pinkie, we're not camping, knock it off," complained Rainbow Dash, who was sacked out in a fashion not all that different from Applejack.

"Oh, or MAYBE," the pink pony persisted, now falsely wicked, "it's a bunch of mole-ponies who live in a secret underground society that has plans to keep encroaching ponies-"

"They've been coming in through the roofs, Pinkie," Rainbow Dash moaned.

"OR MAYBE, it's tree-hugging acrobats, out for vengeance!"

"I give up."

It was an amusing diversion while it lasted and Twilight allowed herself to get a giggle in at Pinkie Pie's offbeat suggestions. But she understood better than ever how absolutely serious this situation was. She had seen it reflected in Mayor Quillby's eyes. To think, she had once thought that Princess Celestia was tossing her out here to dispose of her. No, it had been another act of deep trust on the Princess's part, and now it was up to her and her friends to see this through to a happy end.

"There's nothing that says this is random harassment from the animals at all. Somepony is up to something but we don't know who or what," she summarized openly, wishing to keep all her friends included in her thoughts. "I'm convinced that what's been happening to the townsponies' things was planned, but to what end? Why steal what they did? Why destroy what they did?"

"They smashed everything that could reasonably be used as a weapon," James said.

He had been more or less invisible amongst them, staring into the fire, drawing his own conclusions. But he had never stopped listening. When he spoke, it was the first they had heard from him for awhile, and they jumped. Half from the general surprise but half from what his suggestion implied to them. The remark left the fire as the only speaker for a good few, long moments.

"That's... we shouldn't assume...," Twilight started uncomfortably, not feeling keen with his suggestion at all. But the instant he had uttered his thought, it was absorbed by her and fell into place among her mental dossier, and she couldn't deny that he had a point. If she hadn't noticed it consciously when they had first surveyed that tool shed, the separation between what was and wasn't targeted was now sharply clear in her head.

To drive his suggestion home to them all, he shared his thinking: "Anything bladed: axes, saws, even shovels... gone. Anything sharp: poles and spikes... trashed. Anything that wouldn't come in handy in a fight was left alone."

Pushing up a bit, Applejack questioned him, "That's a mite dark... don'tcha think? Why would a pony do something like that?"

"As a guess? ... Someone is planning to attack and they don't want the townsponies to be able to defend themselves." There was a distaste in his voice, like he didn't appreciate the thought any more than the rest of them, but he knew he'd be lying to himself if he hadn't read that possibility. It just didn't seem real. For Equestria.

Rainbow Dash picked herself up all the way. She was hardened and serious now. Nothing about anything he had said was sitting well with her, and in a small, sequestered place, she resented him for even introducing the thoughts. "Hold on," she strenuously confronted him, "what makes you so sure somepony is going to attack the settlement?"

In part because of how much he despised his deduction himself, he returned the pegasus' sour attitude. "Did I say I'm sure? It's just a guess, based off of what we know."

Twilight said, "But there has to be-" She started again, changing her words, "But there's hopefully another explanation. We need to keep looking for more evidence of who is behind this, AND why."

"Right," James immediately agreed. "We only know so much at the moment and it's definitely not enough to draw any certain conclusions or take any solid action. And..." His gaze had barely left the hypnotic burn of the fire. He proceeded slowly, knowing that his take on the subject already wasn't appreciated by all of them, "... I've just been thinking... it would also make sense for our mysterious troublemakers to break the 'weapons' in preemptive defense... if they didn't want to be attacked by the townsponies."

Again the fire ran away with the conversation for several seconds; with pops and roars. Twilight only uneasily gave up a disbelieving, "... What...?"

"Well... they stole the food," he reasoned, "and they wouldn't have done that if they were going to seize the town anyway."

Burning silence.

"We NEED to find out more," Twilight insisted. Not with antagonism or objection... but with a subtle, hastened panic.

"Agreed," he said.

Comments

[JBL]

That slight hint of drama. Different from the usual philosophic musings, but welcome nonetheless.

[RagingCacti]

4202064

Im quite happy that its past the philosophical ranting. It was getting a little preachy, where every little thing is talked about in depth. Even things that wouldnt even mark a difference in the species. "Why dont you want to come back to the spa if you like it?" "I just dont want to spend my time like that." Not exactly what I would talk in depth about with a ruler from the planet of Omacron Percei 8. It was starting to get very, very peachy, and overly complex for what is trying to be gotten across. This new "murder mystery-esque" plot is a welcome change. Though I'm suspecting that there is now more than one human living in the picturesque pastures of pastel ponies.

It still has the feeling that he writes the chapter, then goes back through with a thesaurus. But it has always been that way, and isnt all that bad.

[Zurock]

4204195

Interesting comment! I started thinking about it some, but then realized I had more thoughts about it than would be fit to dump into a comment box, so I pulled them together as much next blog post on my writing: Here you go!

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts!
- Zurock

[RagingCacti]

4211520

Ive... Ive never prompted such a response before... Cool. Anyway, thanks for the really, really in depth response. My point was slightly different, something along the lines of "shouldn't they(Fluttershy and Rarity) already know that some people want to pursue different things, and not have to have a long conversation about it." However, your explanation fulfills it all the same. I want to write more, but I have to skedaddle to work. Ill come back later, haha.

[Theresa]

Twilight doesn't really get the dark side of people who end doing bad stuff because she lives in this world where the elements take of the worst of it and the rest don't exist. He gets it being a former soldier.