BAD INFLUENCES

by Ali Gonzheimer

PREJUDICE

It was now morning.

I opened my eyes, and there was plenty of light coming from the window, through its white curtains. It was so bright that it took a moment until my vision slowly began to clear; and then I realized… that I was the only one in bed.

“When did I fell asleep?” I thought.

So I got up and went to the living room, where in that moment I found Plumb Bob, sitting in front of the table, with a necklace on his hooves, and several other pieces of jewelry in front of him, which he was staring at with a smile. But then he saw me.

“You’re finally up.” He greet me very casually. But my reaction was very different in that moment:

“Seriously?!” I said, as I started approaching to him: “Ms. Agate took us into her house, and this is how you’re paying her? …Stealing?!” I yelled then. But he only remained sitting there, apparently confused.

“Listen to me now! I’m not gonna let you do it! Even if I end up in jail too, I’m calling the guards, right now!” I threatened him; but he continued speechless, even when I was walking towards the door. But then, Ms. Agate walked into the room.

“Good morning JoySpread!” She said to me, as she approached Plumb Bob, and then she sat next to him.

“Well, what do you think of this one?” He suddenly asked her, showing her the necklace on his hooves.

“It’s great! You’re learning very fast.” She answered.

“Aw, shucks! Thank you Ms. Agate!” He said then, with a weird giggle, that I never thought I would hear from him.

I’m confused.

“What is going on?” I asked then.

“Well, Bob told me that he wanted to learn about my job. And I must tell you, that he’s really good at this.” Ms. Agate explained me, while giving compliments to Plumb Bob.

“Oh, please, Ms. Agate.” He said, showing himself very humble about it. And then they both started laughing.

“I… uhhh…”

I didn’t know what to think about it.

But then she continued talking. “Oh, but don’t worry dear; since you missed breakfast, I made you both a basket of sandwiches for your travel to Canterlot.”

“I… I don’t know what to say.” I said then… and I really didn’t know.

But later after that, we were ready to go this time, and say goodbye to Ms. Agate.

“It’s been a real honor to have stayed here with you Ms. Agate.” Plumb Bob said.

“For me as well. And I have the feeling that we’ll met again In Canterlot.” She said then, to which I replied:

“I hope so.”

“I know so.” Plumb Bob added.

Ms. Agate must be the nicest pony I’ve ever met; that’s why I’m sorry that I really won’t see her again. But after a farewell, we only had walked a couple of blocks when Plumb Bob had already ate half the sandwiches from the basket.

“Why did you ate all the peanut butter ones?” I complained.

“Remember that the guards are still after us…” He spoke with his mouth full. “…And if we have to run, we won’t be able to carry them with us.”

“And filling yourself with them is a better option?”

“Hey, I’m not throwing them away! This isn’t money! …If you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, very funny… Now give me that.” And then I took one sandwich and took a bite. And in that moment I started thinking.

“So… Was it truth, about going to Canterlot?” I asked him in that moment, to which Plumb Bob took a several seconds to respond.

“Absolutely.” He finally answered, with a solid look on his face.

“Then, that was your plan this whole time? Robbing a bank and then escaping to Canterlot?”

“Not exactly. I just decided it.” He said then.

“You just decided it?”

“Yeah, at the moment I told Ms. Agate that we were going.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I don’t want to lie to her, Joy.”

Is logic seemed absurd to me. But in that moment he seemed to be really calm as he was eating his sandwich, so if there was a time for me to ask him anything, it was now:

“Does it mean I can leave now?” But before I got the answer I wanted, he suddenly stopped, and said.

“Wait…”

He suddenly got very alert, which made me pretty nervous.

“What?” I asked then.

Then he pointed out, and right at the end of the street there were two guards walking toward us. So we quickly hid under a table of an outdoor restaurant.

“They’re coming here.” He whispered.

“So what now? Are you finally turning yourself?” I whispered too, with the slight hope for him to say yes. But Plumb Bob only showed himself very thoughtful for a moment, and then he took the pepper from the table over our heads, and then he took off the lid from it.

“Quick, put this in your mouth!” He suddenly said.

“My mou…?” And without a notice, he simply poured the pepper into my mouth. But then I started sneezing.

“Don’t breath!” He shouted.

“There they are!” The guards then saw us, but then Plumb Bob pushed me from under the table.

“Come on, run! And try not to breathe!”

My mouth was full with pepper, but Plumb Bob started running and the guards started chasing us. No one even gave me a chance to explain what was going on.

“Follow me!” Plumb Bob said.

He led me to a dead end alley, and then the guards arrived, blocking our only escape.

“It’s over criminals!” Said one of the guards.

“Ok, ok, you caught us. But please, let him go to a hospital first.” Plumb Bob then said.

“What are you talking about?” One of the guards asked, but I was confused too.

“My partner is too sick and he can hardly breathe. Please!” He said then, giving a very convincing performance. In that moment, the two guards approached a few steps closer, staring at me closely. My face looked really sick. I can’t take it much longer… I need to breathe!

“Alright; He’s going to the hospital. But after that…”

But in that moment, Plumb Bob hit me behind my head, making me cough, and a bunch of pepper spread all over the guard’s faces; and then they started sneezing uncontrollably.

“Charge!” He yelled as he pounced on the guards.

And when I finally stopped coughing, I realized what just had happened.

“ROYAL” GUARDS

“This is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong…”

I couldn’t stop repeating, while we both were walking down the main street, wearing the guards’ uniforms.

“…this is wrong, this is wrong…” I kept repeating, until I finally made Plumb Bob angry.

“Could you stop being such a pain in the flank and shut up?! I’m not doing this just for fun! We’re on a mission, to help Ms. Agate.”

“What are you talking about? How is this going to help her?! And help her with what?” I replied.

“Oh, you’ll see…” He answered with a smile.

We were approaching to the same place where Fancy Pants party was last night, and the same security guards were still there, while the other ponies were dismantling everything they used for last night’s party; but as we approached to the place, the security ponies saw us, and they started seeming more and more surprised.

“Hello guys. Do you remember me?” Plumb Bob said to one of the security guards.

“Wait, what?! You two were royal guards all the time?” He shouted.

“Of course we are. We were just out of duty; and we only wanted to have some fun. But, as you didn’t let us enter…”

And in that very instant, one of them started apologizing. “I… I’m sorry. We didn’t know you were…”

“Silence!” Plumb Bob yelled. And now those huge buff ponies seemed very scared.

“That doesn’t matter now. We are on royal business here, and we need your help.” Plumb Bob said.

“We’ll do everything we can, sir.” One of them answered.

“I hope so, ‘cus we’re looking for Fancy Pants, and we need his exact location.”

“I… I’m Sorry, but we don’t know…” But then Plumb Bob interrupted him:

“What was that?”

“I… I’m sorry sir, but I don’t know where he is.” And then Plumb Bob suddenly grabbed his neck threateningly, and stared at him very closely.

“Listen to me, pal. I don’t have the time! So you tell me where he is, or I’ll throw you to the darkest dungeon into the darkest corner of Equestria!”

“No! Please! I… I think he must be on that fancy hotel downtown! Please!” The guard looked terrified. But in that moment Plumb Bob turned at me and winked, and then he turned back to him, with his intimidating expression.

“Alright, we’ll go check. But if we don’t find him, we’ll be back to have a word with you. Is that clear?”

“Y… yes… sir.” The guard stuttered.

Then Plumb Bob simply let him go, then he turned around, and then he walked away. In that moment, the poor guy stared at me, still shaking, and scared. This whole thing is wrong in so many levels that I didn’t have any idea of what to say to him in that moment. So I told him the only thing that came to my mind:

“Thank you for your cooperation.” And after saying that, I walked away, after Plumb Bob, to the fancy hotel downtown.

When we finally arrived, we confirmed what the security pony told us. Fancy Pants was right there, right in front of the hotel. Meanwhile, the hotel employees were taking his dozens of suitcases into his carriage.

“There is our guy.” Plumb Bob said then.

I didn’t know what he was talking about, but it couldn’t be anything good. Then we approached to the entrance of that luxurious place.

“Are you Fancy Pants?” Plumb Bob asked.

“Yes, I am.” He answered, with his typical sarcastic and refined tone.

“Good, we are here for official royal business and we need to speak with you.” Plumb Bob didn’t sound anything like a royal guard, but Fancy Pants didn’t seem to notice the difference.

“Of course. I always have time for the Crystal Empire royal guard.”

“Yeah, yeah… but, we need to talk in private.” In that moment, everypony around stopped what they were doing to look at us in that instant; everypony seeming extremely curious about it. But Fancy Pants didn’t seem even a little surprised at the moment.

“Absolutely.” Fancy Pants said, and then he turned around and walked inside the hotel, and then we walked right after him.

“Now, take all my suitcases into my carriage. I will be back in a moment.” Then he said to the hotel employees while we left the lobby.

That way we arrived to the penthouse upstairs, and right outside the door of the room, his wife was already waiting for him.

“Are we ready to go now darling?” His wife said. But then she saw us and got a little confused.

“Did the Princess sent these guards to escort us?” She asked.

“No, honey. They just need to have a little talk with me. Why don’t you wait for me on the carriage so we can talk in private?” Then she smiled at him and left the floor, but not before Plumb Bob turned to look at her behind while she was walking down the aisle… so disrespectful.

“Shall we?” Fancy Pants said to us, and then he walked into the room, with plenty of confidence, followed by Plumb Bob; but when I tried to walk inside, he stopped me.

“You stay right here and make sure no one comes too close.” Plumb Bob whispered to me.

“What are you gonna do?” I asked him with concerned. But then he outlined an evil grin and said:

“Just talk.”

And then he slowly closed the door.

So I stayed outside, and just a few moments later, I started hearing Plumb Bob’s voice, yelling at Fancy Pants. I was not sure what he was saying, but it sounded pretty bad. Then, full of nerves, I took a look to the aisle to check if no one was around. Meanwhile, I noticed the yelling was getting louder, and more aggressive. I also heard some loud noises; I think I even could hear the frightened whines of Fancy Pants. But after a few minutes of desperation, the door finally opened, and Plumb Bob walked out of the room like nothing happened.

“Come on.” He said to me, as he walks away down the aisle.

I remained static for a moment. I didn’t know what to think right there. But curiosity was eating me inside, so I took a quick peek to the room, and I managed to see Fancy Pants, curled up in a corner, shaking in fear, and surrounded by broken lamps, furniture and stuff. In that moment, it shocked me to see what once was an elegant room; and that pony, who just a moment ago was an elegant and confident stallion. But the damage was already done. So I only walked away quietly, and when I was doing it, I managed to hear a slight sobbing, coming from the room behind me.

Outside the hotel, Plumb Bob was walking down the street acting perfectly normal.

“Alright. Mission… accomplished!” He shouted.

“What are you talking about?! What was that all about?!”

“Like I said. I didn’t do it for fun; I wanted to help Ms. Agate, and I did it. Besides… it was pretty fun.”

“What?! Assaulting one of the most Rich and powerful ponies in all Equestria?! Are you nuts?!” I don’t know why I asked that.

(sigh) “All I did was to convince Mr. “Fancy Pants” to stop making everypony move from their home towns every time he wants something from them. And I also told him that the next time he wants to buy anything, he will have to move his rich and stupid flank to get it…! Now Ms. Agate won’t have to leave the Crystal Empire.” He explained, with a calm smile at the end.

I think I’m gonna get sick.

“Uh… I can’t believe that… I actually cannot believe anything that’s happening.” I said then.

“You better don’t puke on your uniform, Joy. We’re going to need them one more time.”

“What do you mean?” I asked him, still feeling a little dizzy.

“Don’t you see? We’re heading to the Crystal Castle right now.” Then I looked forward and I saw the impressing Crystal Castle, just a few blocks ahead of us. We were approaching to it, and I hadn’t even noticed.

“What? Why?” I asked then.

“Isn’t that obvious?” He answered, and I was about to ask why one more time, but then I started thinking… that maybe we could solve everything up if we got to talk to the Princess in person. Well, at least it might solve everything for me, but I don’t really see much future for Plumb Bob.

“Ok. I get it. But how are we going to get into the castle without being seen?”

And then he answered with a lot of confidence:

“We’re royal guards now, Remember?”

We approached to the entrance of the castle, but there were lots of crystal guards around the place, and especially around the Crystal Heart. And now that we were closer, I started feeling even more nervous.

“Hey, I don’t think this is going to fool anypony.” I said.

“Relax. Just… play your costume.”

And this way we arrived, like two normal guards, passing next to the Crystal Heart, which was being guarded by two strong and intimidating crystal guards; and suddenly, in that moment, they saluted us like soldiers. I was feeling my legs shaking, but we salute them as well, and then we continued our way to the castle. I can’t believe this worked.

We crossed the principal door and then we walked along the corridors of this huge castle. Being here is a lifetime experience, but this is not how I wanted to have it. Ahead of us we saw a large amount of guards next to a giant door. I could only assume that the Princess was inside right now. So then we approached to them, but I kept quiet, hoping Plumb Bob to have any idea of what to say now.

We stopped in front of the line of guards and salute them like we did earlier. Then they saluted us and then Plumb Bob started talking:

“Hello, fellows!”

In that moment I couldn’t help but hoof-face myself.

“Um… Hello?” One of the royal guards said.

“We need to speak with the Princess pronto. It’s important.” Plumb Bob declared.

“I’m sorry soldier, but the Princess is in the middle of an important meeting with a group of visitors from a faraway land; and she must not be disturbed.”

“But we have an important message for her.” I tried to convince them.

“In that case you must give the message to us, and we will give it to the Princess as soon as possible.” The royal guard declared then.

That’s when I got nervous.

“Uh… am… You see…” Everything was falling apart. I think they were perceiving suspicions about us. But in that crucial moment, Plumb Bob stepped ahead, and approached to one of the guards, wrapping one hoof around him with extreme confidence.

“Can I speak to you in private?” Plumb Bob said.

And this was he walked away with the royal guard to talk in private at the other side of the room, leaving me alone, trying to dissimulate in front of the rest of them. But, even I was sweating profusely, and my legs were shaking, somehow… this was working. Meanwhile, at the other side of the place, Plum b Bob was talking with the royal guard:

“Listen. You look like a good soldier, and I think I can trust you with this information…”

Plumb Bob then started whispering something to the royal guard, but I can’t tell what it is. I could only see that the expression on the royal guard’s face was stunning. And finally, after a couple of minutes, they both came back to the door with us. Plumb Bob seemed confident, while the royal guard looked shocked as he walked back to his position.

“So, what do you say, buddy?” He asked to the royal guard.

“I… I don’t know… This… is too much information to handle right now.” The guard seemed to have troubles to articulate the words.

“We only need a few minutes.” Plumb Bob said, but the guard stayed shocked for a moment, looking at me and Plumb Bob with wide open eyes.

“B… But I have direct orders… from the Princess. Y… You have to understand.” The guard finally said, with nervous voice.

(Sigh) “Ok… Don’t worry. I understand. Orders are orders.” Plumb Bob answered.

“Thank you sir. I really wish I could help you. B… but if you need anything else… I can call all the guards who are out of duty to be on your disposition right away.”

“There’s no need. This is an important mission, and the fewer ponies know about it, the better.” Plumb Bob replied.

“Yes sir. I understand.” The royal guard said.

“Well… I think this can wait a couple hours. We’ll be around the castle for the rest of the day. Make sure the Princess knows about our presence.”

“Of course sir! I will take care of that in person.” Then he saluted us when he said that, and then the rest of the guards, so Plumb Bob and I did the same.

“Alright. Keep up with the good job, soldier!” Plumb Bob said.

“Yes sir!” The guard responded.

And just like that, Plumb Bob and I walked away, leaving the castle. And while we did it, I discretely asked Plumb Bob what was that he had told to the royal guard. Which he responded:

“Not much really.”

But the soldiers were as intrigued as me, and they all started whispering as soon as we left.

“Who were they?” “What did he tell you?” All of them were asking to the one who spoke with Plumb Bob. But he was still a little shocked, and he kept refusing to answer their questions, simply saying:

“I… I can’t tell you that… It’s classified.”

Outside the castle; at the entrance.

“Well… I guess we lost our chance.” Plumb Bob said like it was funny.

“What do you mean? We still have to talk to the Princess!” I shouted.

“Take it easy Joy. It wasn’t really that important.”

“No! Of course it is! We have to… wait… wait a minute. Why did you want to meet the Princess on the first place?” I was starting to question what his intentions were.

“Well, I’ve heard that Princess Cadence is very nice, and I just wanted to meet her. That’s it.”

In that moment I stayed completely shocked while he kept walking. But then he stopped and turned back to me.

“What?” He said.

But in that moment, a couple of guards approached to us and saluted us.

“Alright. In this moment it is official the change of guard.” One of the guards said.

“Say what?” Plumb Bob said.

“For the Crystal Heart. Do a great job, soldiers!” He said to us, and then they walked away, leaving me and Plumb Bob alone with the Crystal Heart.

Then we both looked at each other, and then to the magical artifact that was next to us, floating on its crystal-rock thing.

“Well… It’s time to leave.” Plumb Bob then said, with a slight nervousness.

“What? We can’t leave just like that!” I shouted.

“And why not?”

“Who is going to take care of the Crystal Heart?”

“Oh, it will be alright.”

“No! We can’t just leave alone one of the most powerful artifacts in all of Equestria. Now we must stay here; at least until the next change of guard.”

“Ok, I think you’re taking this entire “guard” thing a little too serious. We’re not really real guards, you know?” He said, but I don’t think he understood how important this was.

“We have to protect the Crystal Heart.”

After listening to my words, he stared at me for a moment. I think he finally knew I was serious about this. And suddenly, Plumb Bob started scratching his chin, seeming very awkward about this whole situation.

“Alright. You do that… and I’m going to have lunch. I’m starving.” He said, and then he walked away, just like that.

“What? You’re leaving me alone with this?” I shouted then.

“Oh, relax. How many ponies will it take to keep safe one magic piece of rock? Besides, right now, we are the two most dangerous “criminals” on this entire kingdom. Nothing is going to happen.”

“And now what? You dragged me all the way here just to leave me like this?” I said then, pretty annoyed.

“Oh, don’t you cry like a baby! I’ll be back soon… So, have fun being a crystal guard!” He said, sarcastically.

And then he left. And while I was watching him walking away I started thinking; that I really wish I could leave too. But unlike him, I do have a conscious; and it’s telling me that I have to stay here… I hope I’m making the right choice.

THE CHASING

After a couple of hours, it was getting late. It had been a while since Plumb Bob left; which was actually what I wanted. Now finally I could think in peace… and this, isn’t bad at all! I only have to stand by the Crystal Heart, and every time a guard passes by, I have to salute him like a soldier… this is actually pretty great! I’m actually starting to consider making my life as a royal guard of the Crystal Empire. After all, I really like how I look on this uniform… If only it wasn’t stolen.

“Are you done playing “guard”?” That took me by surprise.

Plumb Bob was standing right there, eating from a bag of chips, and he wasn’t wearing the crystal guard uniform anymore.

“What are you doing here? I thought you were gone.” I asked him then.

“I said I’d be back. And I’m a stallion of my word.”

“Yeah? well… Why don’t you just leave me alone? I’m doing fine since you left, you know?”

“Oh, really? And what’s your plan? Pretending to be a guard for the rest of your life?”

“No. What I’m going to do is that I’m going to wait until Princess Cadence is available, and then I’m going to ask her for indulgence; and after I pay my debt to society, I will try to join the force of guards of Equestria.”

I finished talking, and I could notice Plumb Bob was little surprised.

“Amazing… how you planned your entire life so quickly. Considering that you were trying to end it when I found you.” He commented with sarcasm. And then I kept staring at him with anger.

“Alright, I’ll respect your decision. But I seriously doubt they’ll give you any “indulgence”. Because, just so you know; they are already looking for Two criminals on crystal guard uniforms.”

After these words I stayed shocked for a few seconds, and then I quickly ripped off my uniform, while Plumb Bob seemed like he was about to laugh. But before he could say anything, I looked at him with anger and said:

“Shut up and give me a chip.”

After that, we both walked away from the Crystal Castle. But as we walked away from the area, I was already resigning to having any kind of positive future.

“And what’s next?” I asked to Plumb Bob.

“Canterlot.” He answered me, with his mouth full of chips.

“And what’s next after that?” I asked him then, in a really depressing tone.

“Oh, you really are a case, aren’t you?” He told me.

“Why?” I asked him with my face down.

“Come on! You are on the shiniest empire in all of Equestria! Would it kill you to try to have some fun? Enjoy it, Joy!” He shouted.

But I remained in silence for a moment, which seemed to confuse Plumb Bob a little.

“Would it kill me? …Let me ask you something. If I… were to die, I disappeared, or just gone tomorrow, would anypony feel sorrow, or show love, or would it matter?”

My words seemed to confuse him even more.

“But you know what? I came way too far on this game to turn and walk away and not say that I got to say.”

This alerted Plumb Bob, who then stared at me with a little more serious look on his eyes, and then he asked me in a threatening tone:

“And what do you exactly you mean by that?”

“What the buck you take me for?! A joke?! Do you always act like that?! Before I do that, I beg Celestia to kick me out! To the Moon or Sun, So what?! Yet you’re all steady trying to “enjoy” your life, thinking you’re acting tough. But you ain’t gonna do nothing but piss me off, and only twist me off!”

“That’s not…” He tried to talk in that moment, but I interrupted him:

“Hey JoySpread, you’re gonna let him get away with that? He tried to play you; you can’t let him escape with that! And I fell this trap! This ain’t right! This is crazy the way we act! When we confuse being nuts with being bad! Well, this nonsense has to stop…!

“Wow, wow wow…” Then he interrupted all of sudden.

In that moment I was gasping and sweating and I feel like my blood was boiling.

“You know what? I think I understand you.” Plumb Bob then said, which was weird. I wasn’t even sure of what I just said.

Then he slowly turned around to look up at the Castle; making me wonder what he was thinking.

“What’s wrong now?” I asked him then, still gasping a little.

“Everything! Don’t you see? Just look at us!” And then I did it, but I still wasn’t sure of what he meant. But then he continued:

“This stupid society makes no sense! And it’s not meant for ponies like us! Ponies who live their own lifes! Ponies who don’t care what everypony else cares! And this pisses me off!”

Now I was scared. He was about to explode. But in that moment, he took a big rock from the ground, and threw it against the Crystal Castle.

“Buck the police!”

The rock flied through a window, and instantly, an alarm horn sounded, and group of guards came out to the balcony.

“There they are!” One of the guards yelled.

Then I turned to Plumb Bob, but he already had started running.

“Come on Joy! We’re leaving this kingdom!”

“Wh… What?! But… But…”

“Come on!” He replied, yelling at me from the distance.

Then I looked back to the Castle, and I got terrified. There were dozens of crystal guards gathering at the entrance, and they were all staring at me. Now it wasn’t the time to think, so I started galloping as hard as I could.

Plumb Bob and I made our way through the Empire, crossing streets imprudently, pushing other ponies in our way, and galloping through narrow alleys. But it didn’t matter how far of the Castle we were; there were alarm bells sounding all over the Empire. It was so loud that I couldn’t almost take it… It was destroying my nerves! So right now I could only follow Plumb Bob, because he was the one leading me all over this kingdom.

In some point, we turned around a corner, and started running down an avenue… I was very agitated, but it only got worse when Plumb Bob spoke to me:

“Don’t look back!”

But that was just what I did. And I only managed to scare myself to death, because right behind us there was what it could be the entire royal guard of the Crystal Empire, chasing us down the avenue in battle formation. It was so terrifying that I couldn’t even scream; but Plumb Bob turned to look at me in that moment, and tried to calm me down:

“You better don’t wet yourself! You’ll see we’re getting out of this!”

We approached to the fancy hotel we visited earlier, and outside of the building there were employees working, carrying lots of suitcases to the top of a carriage. And in that moment, when we passed by the hotel, they all quit what they were doing, and stared at both of us. That’s when Plumb Bob spoke to them:

“Hi guys!”

And as soon as we passed, all the employees at the place left what they were doing and started pushing that same carriage from a side. The army of guards was approaching full speed, until they overturned the carriage, a ton of suitcases fell to the ground, completely blocking the entire avenue. This seemed to have taken the crystal guards by surprise, because the avalanche of suitcases stopped them altogether, burying the ones that were on front, while one by one, the ones on the back started crashing against the pile of baggage on the street. Then Plumb Bob looked over his shoulder, with an impish grin on his face.

“Thank you guys!” He shouted then.

Then the hotel employees said goodbye to us, waving their hooves on the air while the many crystal guards were trying to stand up, and rescue their partners from the mountain of baggage. A very peculiar scene, while we were getting away on the distance.

Right outside the Empire, Plumb Bob lead me to a wide open field, where there was a cart parked, with two ponies in front of it. Then he jumped on board, for then to stare at me.

“What are you waiting for?” He asked me, since I was standing in front of the vehicle, staring at it with complete stupefaction.

“I think I need a little more context here.” I told him.

In that moment he was about to yell at me, when one of the ponies pulling the cart spoke:

“Are we ready to go now?”

“Of course. Just a sec.” Then he turned back at me and said: “What? Are you waiting for an invitation?” And then he stared at me.

In that moment I only could look at the vehicle, and the impatient face of Plumb Bob, and since I didn’t have much time to think, I simply sighed in resignation… I guess this was another trip I couldn’t say no to; so I jumped on the cart, and then it finally started moving.

Then, one of the ponies pulling the cart turned back to us and said:

“You are going to have to wear these… if you’re trying to hide or something.” And then he threw us a couple of capes with hoodies. And once we put them on, I stared at Plumb Bob.

“What?” He said.

“You’re gonna have to give me a lot of explanations of what just happened here.” I claimed to Plumb Bob, but he simply smiled, and turned to look at the road ahead.

In that moment, I looked back. I couldn’t believe that this is how we’re leaving the Crystal Empire… leaving the Crystal Empire, in chaos.