Virtual Mischief, Augmented Darkness

by chaoticevl

Virtual Honesty Part 2

Virtual Honest Part 2

Continuing her giggling Pinkie walks over to Twilight. In one smooth motion she moves Twilight from the floor to the nearby bed. Reaching into her mane Pinkie pulls out a chocolate cupcake with purple frosting, and begins to wave it slowly in front of Twilight's nose. “Oh Twili it’s time to wake up and get this yummy cupcake!”

Twilight’s eyes began to flutter in response to Pinkie’s cupcake and a gentle prodding of her side. Her eyes snapped open and focused on the cupcake just a few inches from her face and bolted up right in surprised. “Ooooo what happened and where did that cupcake come from?”

Not wanting Twilight to think too much Pinkie shoves the cupcake into Twilight’s mouth. “Silly Twili I always carry a few extra cupcakes on me at all times.” Pointing over at Thomas she continues. “ As for what happened you fainted when the tiny pony appeared.”

Following Pinkie’s hoof Twilight looks over at Thomas and notices the small magenta pony in his hand waving back at her. Swallowing the cupcake Twilight begins to stammer again. “W-what, h-how, w-where?”

Thomas continues to stare at Screwball watching her wave happily towards Twilight. “I wish I knew Twilight. One minute she’s sitting on the screen of my pocket pc and the next she’s having an argument with Pinkie.”

Taking a moment to spin her beanie Screwball begins to float off Thomas’s palm and lands on his shoulder. “Don’t you remember the update? Mo… I mean Miss Deputes said there might be some new features that she wasn’t aware of.” Standing on her hind hooves and throwing her fore hooves up into the air she causes a shower of confetti to fall around her. “Tada! I’m the new feature!”

“I think I’m even more confused now about what’s going on here then I was to begin with.” Thomas uttered in disbelief.

Before Thomas could think of anything else to say Twilight Spoke up. “Thomas what kind of update is she talking about?”

Looking from Screwball to Twilight, Thomas thinks for a moment trying to think up a way to explain it. “The map we’ve been using to get here wasn’t originally part of my pocket pc. Someone like me made it.” Screwball began to giggle on his shoulder at this statement. Thomas eyed Screwball curiously at her reaction. “Just because it worked doesn’t mean it’s perfect. There could be errors in it or it might not be able to do everything the creator wanted it to do. So they send out updates to add to it to make it better. Speaking of my pocket pc where did it go? I dropped it when you popped out Screwball.”

Putting a fore hoof to her chest proudly she spoke up. “Don’t you worry I have it, or I should say I am it.” To prove what she was saying was true she waved her fore hoof in front of her. In between Thomas and the girls a map of the surround area appeared. Centered were three markers a grey one for him and a pink and purple one for the girls. Moving away from them were four other marks matching the other’s colors. “See while you’re here I have access to everything you need.”

“Ooh pretty!” Pinkie said.

“Fascinating!” Twilight spoke. “But we’ll have to worry about this more later we really need to get moving. If we’re going to find any info on the Element of Harmony since it looks like Screwball here doesn’t know it’s location.”

“Sorry.” Screwball shrugs. “I know it’s here but I don’t know it’s exact location.”

Pinkie grin gets wider again while looking at Screwball “Oh oh oh, can I hide her in my mane?”

“Why would you need to hide her in your mane?” Thomas asks Pinkie as Screwball looks on horrified at the prospect.

“Well She’s not ghostly like you she might cause ponies to freak out at the mini pony flying around without wings or magic?”

“That won’t be necessary. Just like Thomas, I can only be seen or heard by those I want to see or hear me.”

“Aww that’s too bad I would have liked a tiny pony riding in me mane.” Pinkie bemoaned.

“You mean I can make other see or hear me if I want them too?” Thomas asked quite surprised at this revelation.

“Of course. There may be other things you can do as well but I can only see that one at the moment.” Screwball jumped onto Thomas’s head and began to settle herself into a comfortable position. Pointing towards the the door she shouted. “Onward to adventure!”

“Hey that’s my line!” Pinkie smirked at Screwball. “Onward to funventure!” With that last statement she began to bounce for the door.

Twilight just sighed and hoof palmed herself but followed after Pinkie. Thomas laughing to himself soon followed behind Twilight as they made their way down towards the street exit.

***

Finding town hall turned out to be a bit harder than they expected. Except for the tall tenement style buildings most had the same looks as any other. Screwball’s map wasn’t that helpful either as nothing was labeled except for the places Thomas had been or seen. Also surprising was the lack of ponies wandering around. It seemed like a ghost town but a constant thrum of nearby machines proved otherwise.

“Hey girls should we maybe walk into one of these workshops and ask somepony where we can find town hall? Instead of having to walk all the way back to the inn just to ask Gin.” Thomas questioned them as they all came to a halt.

Twilight turned towards Thomas and was about to say something when Pinkie’s eyes began to sparkle. “Good idea Tomi!” With that said she blitzed off for the nearest workshop.

Twilight and Thomas just stared at where Pinkie had been. “Um, should we go after her Twilight?”

“I think we can wait here for her.” Twilight said sitting down. "Either she manages to get the info we need or they toss her out and we can try some other place together."

Thomas nods in agreement “Oh hey Twilight, it’s bit late to ask this but what happened with Spike? I’d have figured he’d be here with you since he’s your assistant?”

Twilight’s eyes lowered a bit at this. ”I left him in Ponyville with the owners of Sugarcube Corner at Pinkie’s assurance that Mister and Missus Cake would look after him till I came back. He’s too young for this I didn’t want the possibility of him getting hurt.”

“I hadn’t realized he’s that young. I thought he was just a small dragon.”

“No he’s still technically a baby dragon. Sure he can be pretty mature for his age but he has his moment of foalishness.” Twilight signed remembering some of the silly things he’d get himself into if not watched. “If somepony doesn’t pay attention to him some what he’d gorge himself on ice cream until he’s sick.”

Thomas laughs a bit as he replies. “Yeah I think any kid will do that if they think they can get away with it.”

“What do goats have to do with it?” Twilight asks confused.

“Oh sorry that’s what we call our foals in my world.” Thomas says then quickly adds, “and were not related to goats we just have the same name for our young.”

Twilight looks thoughtful at this information but keeps quiet. Choosing now as a good time to speak Screwball floats off of Thomas’s head and moves in front of Twilight. “I can show you where Spike is right now if you want Twilight?”

“Really? How would you do that?” Twilight asks with a look on her face that screams tell me your secrets.

“Since Thomas see’s him as important I can put a marker on the map to show his current location.” As she explains this she brings up the map and zooms it on Ponyville. “Let’s see. Ah there he is.” The map zooms in again and shows a purple and green marker in a building near the center of Ponyville.

“Where are Mister and Missus Cake?” Twilight asks worriedly.

“I’m sure they're there, but Thomas hasn’t seen enough of them to acknowledge them as important or just doesn’t remember what they look like.” Screwball points accusingly at Thomas as she explains this as though it’s his fault.

Thomas just stares at Screwball for throwing him under a bus for something he doesn’t think he has any control over. An idea pops into his head as he moves his head towards the map. “Wait, what about Celestia? I know she’s important. Can you find her? Maybe we can get her help in this as well?”

Screwball floats onto the map and switches her hat for a detective's one and pulls out a magnifying glass. “I can try.” With that she begins to wander the map looking at it. After about a minute she stop and looks up at Thomas. “Sorry I know she’s here in Equestria, but like the Elements I can’t pinpoint her location. I did get a hit for Nightmare Moon though. She’s currently in Canterlot.” The map zoomed back in on Canterlot castle showing a blackish blue marker in its center.

“At least we get to keep an eye on the big meanie.” Pinkie pops up looking at the map in wonder. The sudden appearance of the pink pony causes everyone else to yelp in surprise.

“When did you get here!?” Twilight nearly shouts as she tries to calm down from the near heart attack her friend gave her.

“I’ve been here for a few minutes, but you two were too busy watching Screwy wander around the glowy map.”

Screwball just glares at Pinkie and in a huff and removes the map. A moment later she's back on top of Thomas’s head trying to stare a hole though Pinkie.

“Screwball you really need to let that go. She just likes giving ponies nicknames it’s not malicious.” Thomas looks up at the tiny pony on his head and gently pokes her. “I’m sure she’ll come around at some point Pinkie.”

Pinkie looks a bit sad at this but turns towards Twilight to go over what she found out. “So as soon as I entered I was greeted by the fore pony of this furniture making workshop. Thought I didn’t see anypony actually making any furniture. Just parts of magical torches, but I guess a torch could be considered furniture in some capacity…”

As Pinkie’s tangent continued onto other types of furniture Twilight placed a hoof on her muzzle to stop her from talking. “Focus Pinkie what did you learn from the fore pony?”

“Oh right. Well at first I didn’t learn too much actually. He kept trying to sell me a job.”

This time Thomas stopped her. “How does somepony sell you a job?”

Twilight glared at Thomas for making Pinkie answer the odd question but Pinkie ignored Twilight’s look and continued. “Well he wanted me to buy a bunch of these torches off of them and then sell them. I’d get to keep some of the bits and I’d send the rest back to them to buy more torches.”

“That does sound like trying to sell a job. How weird.” Says Thomas as he motions for Pinkie to continue.

“After a few attempts I got him to understand that I wasn’t interested in the job. At understanding this he almost threw me out, but I did manage to get him to tell me where to find the mayor”s office.”

“Really that’s great Pinkie where is it?” Twilight exclaimed.

“Were actually pretty close it’s just a few blocks over in a warehouse.” Pinkie pointed off in the direction they needed to go and started to move off towards their destination.

Pinkie was right it wasn’t that far from where they had been. The outside looked nearly identical to every other warehouse in the general area. They made their way inside finding rows upon rows of filing cabinets. Thomas walks between a random row of cabinets and starts looking at the labels. Each label is a set of years. Though he didn't understand the significance of said years. Soon noticing the girls were about to leave him behind again Thomas rushes to catch up. Upon doing so he notices Twilight's left eye is twitching and she’s frowning.

“What’s wrong Twilight?” Thomas asks in a worried tone.

Through gritted teeth Twilight hisses out. “This place is just really badly organized. I don’t even need to look into the individual drawers to know it would be nearly impossible to find anything in here.”

“You can organize them after you save the world.” Thomas chided her while smiling.

She Huffed at this. “I know. I can still be annoyed though.”

They soon found what they were looking for a door with a frosted glass window with the word for mayor written in the center. Thomas was a bit surprised he knew this as he hadn’t seemed to be able to read any words before now. “Hmm that’s weird.”

“Did you say something Tomi?” Pinkie asked.

“Nothing to worry about Pinkie just noticing I can read things I couldn’t before.”

“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie sings.

Twilight reaches up and knocks on the door hoping the mayor was inside. A quick shuffling of papers is heard inside followed by the sound of a chair falling over. “W-w-w-who i-i-is i-i-it?” a shaky stallion’s voice yelps though the door.

“Hello? Mister Mayor, may we please come in?” Twilight asks in a calming as possible voice.

The sound of things being moved can once again be heard in the room. After a few moments the sound stops and the door opens. “Come, Come right in. S-sorry for the yelling, but I was afraid you were the rep-representatives of the different workshops around the city.” The stallion that had opened the door was a fairly young in appearance. He had a tan coat, an olive green mane, and the look of someone under a lot of stress. “Have a seat.” He said pointing to the two chairs in front of his desk.

“Thank you.” Twilight and Pinkie sat down in the offered chairs. “This is Pinkie Pie, and I’m Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight says as she points to Pinkie and herself. “Why did you think we might be these representatives Mister Mayor?” Twilight asked.

“The name’s Number Cruncher, but you can just call me Number. I may legally be Mayor of Tall Tale, but this job was forced on me. I’m one of the few ponies in the entire city with a cutie mark for something other than hard work. Most seem to get them for woodworking or construction, But I got mine because I’m quick with numbers and that’s about it. So I’m more a figurehead slash accountant then a working mayor. The representatives for the all of the workshops are the ones who decide how the city actually runs.” Number let out an exasperated sigh as he finished his speech.

“That seems kind mean.” Pinkie looked thoughtfully towards Number Cruncher wondering what she could do about his predicament. In a flash she reached into her mane and pulled out a small box wrapped with a bow. “Here, I believe you will enjoy these!” Pinkie just smiled happily as she handed Number the box.

Placing the box on the desk and quickly opening it, Number found it full of a half dozen lemon squares with random math problems on them in olive green icing. “H-how did you know lemon squares are my favorite?”

“Oh I just had a hunch.” Pinkie giggled.

Thomas walked next to the mayor to get a look into the box. Seeing the writing on the little pastries he smacked himself and gives the pink pony a look of utter disbelief. “I will never understand how you do these things Pinkie.”

Pinkie looks towards Thomas just a bit and gives him a sly wink. Twilight just shakes her head a bit. “Sorry to interrupt, but we came here hoping to get some information.”

Number had just finished scarfing down his second lemon square. “Oh right sorry, What can I help you with?”

“We were wondering if you had gotten any reports of an object landing in or around the town that came streaking out of the sky sometime yesterday?” Twilight’s eyes glittered in hope that the mayor would have heard something.

“Let me think. I do remember seeing something come down in the forest to the south west of us. It was the same direction these two new unicorns came from in a strange vehicle.”

“Did you happen to notice if they were carrying a stone orb?”

“Nope sorry. Didn’t really get to see to much of what they were carrying. They just rode in on their machine and started to sing. I’m slightly grateful for that song as it actually managed to calm everypony down. I take it back I did see one thing they brought with them.” Number opened one of his desk drawers and pulled out a torch with quartz stone for the light source.

“Hey that’s the kind of torch that the rude fore pony I met wanted me to buy and sell!” Pinkie hopped up and down in her chair in recognition of the torch.

“They somehow managed to convince the entire group of representatives to switch their productions from what they originally made to these things.” Number puts the torch on the desk and slides it towards Twilight. “This is just a show model so it doesn’t actually work but they claimed they would keep plants growing in the dark till Princess Celestia manages to get the sun up again.”

“Is that even possible, I know earth ponies can speed up the grows of plants with their innate magic, but they still need sunlight for it work.” Twilight taps her hoof against her chin in thought. “Do you know where we could find them I’d be interested in figuring out how they’ve managed to do this?”

“Sorry Miss Sparkle, But I don’t actually know where they’re currently hold up. After convincing the representatives they moved on to another portion of the city and I haven’t seen them since.”

Screwball started to beep on top of Thomas’s head causing both Twilight and Pinkie to look at him funny. She put her hoof to her mouth to stop herself and then spoke up when the beeping stopped. “That was a reminder of the time. You might want to head back to the inn soon.”

Looking up at his head mounted passenger. “Thanks Screwball.”

Pinkie raises her hoof. “Ya Thanks Sc..”

Twilight’s hoof quickly flew into Pinkie’s mouth to stop her from saying any more. “Yes, thank you Number, but we have to be going we’re supposed to me up with some friends at the inn to see if they found anything regarding the object were looking for.”

“No problem. I’m sorry I couldn’t help more. And thanks again Miss Pie for the lemon squares they taste just like the ones my mother would make me as a foal.”

“You’re welcome. If you ever find yourself in Ponyville I’ll gladly throw you a welcome party with the biggest bestest lemon square you’ve ever had!” Pinkie twirled around in her chair tossing confetti everywhere.

“Sorry for the mess Number. Pinkie’s just very excitable.”

“What mess Twilight?” Pinkie asks with a large grin on her face.

“What do you mean what mess, the con-fet-ti…” Twilight looks around the room it was exactly how it was before Pinkie threw confetti everywhere. “Never mind let’s just get going.”

Thomas not able to control himself bursts out in laughter and smacks the nearby wall causing a loud thump.

“W-w-what in Celestia’s name was that?” Number cried out in fear.

“I’m sure it was just a mouse.” Stated Twilight while looking cross in Thomas’s direction.

“Ye-Yes, just a mouse. Why didn’t I think of that?” Number Crunch visibly calmed down. “I think once the sun’s back in the sky, I’ll take your suggestion Miss Pie and come see Ponyville.”

Holding the door open for Twilight and Thomas, Pinkie waves back at Number. “I’ll keep my eye out for you. Make sure you come hungry!”

They quickly make their way outside. It still seemed pretty devoid of wandering ponies even with the time nearing evening. Twilight stops and looks towards Thomas with a slightly annoyed look on her face. “Was laughing like that really necessary Thomas? You hitting that wall could have given that poor stallion a heart attack. He already seemed pretty on edge.”

Looking a bit ashamed Thomas scratches the back of his head. “Sorry Twilight, But I was watching her when she threw that confetti. I still don’t know where it went, so I couldn’t help myself. It was just too funny and you walked right into that set up like you had the gag planned.”

Pinkie and even Screwball burst into laughter at the thought of Twilight being in on the gag. Twilight just huffed and started to walk again. “Come on let’s get back to the inn. We don’t want to be late for dinner.”

***

Walking into the inn Thomas saw that they were the last group to arrive. The rest had already occupied a booth in the corner. Walking towards the group Rarity was the first to notice their arrival. “Yoo hoo Dahlings, over here. You’re just in time Gin is just about finished. While she refused to tell me what exactly she would be serving it smells divine.” Everypony at the table nodded and murmured their agreement.

“You’re right it does smell really good in here.” Said Twilight as she climbs into the booth next to Rarity.

Pinkie takes the opposite seat and sits next to Applejack. “Yum, It smells just like something my Granny Pie used to make, though I can’t remember what she called it.”

As the girls continued to discuss what the smells could turn out to be Thomas moves off to the side to make sure he was out of Gin’s way when she showed up. He didn’t have to wait long as she came out carrying a large tray on her her back with what looked like small pot pies.

“I’m glad you girls showed up. I was hoping these wouldn’t go to waste.” Gin says as she being to pass out the dishes around the booth. “I hope you’re all hungry. It has been a while since I made enough Spinach Flan for more than just myself.”

Licking her lips in hunger “This smells and looks exactly like something my Granny Pie used to make for me as a filly. I can’t wait to dig in.”

Gin just laughs. “I’m glad to find out somepony else knows how to make this. Well I will leave you girls too it. When your done just leave the dishes on the counter and I’ll get to them later. If you need anything further just call out and I’ll be out as soon as I can.”

While the girls quickly dug into their food, Thomas decided to introduce the rest of the table to Screwball since the rest hadn’t seemed to notice the tiny pony laying on his head. He reached up and pulled her from her perch and gently set her on the table. “Girls I’d like you to meet Screwball.”

Being sat down between Twilight and Pinkie, Screwball scooted a bit closer to Twilight. Waving and smiling at the group she spoke up “Hello everypony, I’m Screwball.”

Their reactions were mixed but not quite what Thomas had expected them to be. Rarity and Fluttershy actually looked horrified, Rainbow’s eyes showed interest and curiosity, and Applejack had the weirdest reaction. She actually looked mad. Looking up at Thomas with gritted teeth she spoke up. “Sugar cube, What In Tartarus have you done?”

“Done? I haven’t done anything.” Thomas started to explain where Screwball came from and had her show off the map momentarily. Finishing up he asks. “What exactly did you think I had done?”

Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy all looked a bit sheepish and Rainbow just continued to stare at the small pony. “ Ah think Ah speak for the most of us when I say we thought you captured and shrunk a pony to do your dirty work.”

Thomas just groaned and Screwball began to laugh so hard she rolled off of the table. Fluttershy gasped but quickly let out a sigh of relief as Screwball floated back up into view via her propeller beanie. “That was great! I didn’t think I could laugh that hard. I think I will enjoy this trip.” Screwball continued to laugh as she made he way back to her perch on Thomas’s head.

“If she’s not a living thing like you claim, how does she know how to feel anything?” Rarity spoke up asking a question even Twilight hadn’t thought about. Much to said ponies chagrin.

“I wish I could tell you. She’s capable of things most programs I know of are completely incapable of. My being here shouldn’t be possible either so I’ve decided to just accept it and when I get back to my world I’ll see if I can get any answers.”

Having just finished her meal Twilight speaks up. “Now that the introductions are out of the way. I think we should go over what we learned if anything. While it took us longer than I would have liked, Pinkie and I did manage to find the mayor’s office. Number Cruncher told us about seeing an object flying into the forest to the south west. Shortly afterward two unicorns showed up in town coming from the same direction.” Fluttershy squeaked at this information but was ignored as Twilight continued. “It seems these two managed to calm the town down with a song, but also convinced the entire town to change what they were producing. It seems kind odd, but I’m not completely convinced the events are connected.” Fluttershy once again squeaked.

“Twilight I think Fluttershy has something she wants to say.” Thomas said smiling at the shy pegasus.

"Oh um yes I do, if you don’t mind that is?” Fluttershy tried to squeeze into a ball as she said this not really wanting the attention she was suddenly getting.

“Go right ahead Flutters were all ears!” Pinkie says moving her ears back and forth bring a small smile to the shy ponies face.

“W-well as Dashie,” Rainbow’s chest puffed out proudly at this. “and I were wandering around the edge of the forest we ran into a few rather irate animals. They all seemed to have the same story. First their upset that the sun hasn’t come up yet. I did manage to explain why and that we’re trying to fix that. Their second problem seems to be the torches that are popping up everywhere and the ponies that brought them into the town.” Fluttershy looked a bit apprehensive about continuing but Rainbow tried to encourage her. “I asked them why they were upset at these ponies and they claimed their torches are messing with their sleep cycles just as bad as the lack of sun is. Then I asked them how they knew who brought the torches and they told us to go a bit deeper into the forest and look for the king.”

Hating to interrupt her Thomas still had to ask. “The forest animals have a king?”

Fluttershy was surprised at the question but smiled as she answered. “Not so much a ruler like our Princess Celestia. Their king is just the oldest most respected animal in the area. In this case it was a large great horned owl.”

Rainbow pipes up at this moment. “Yeah it was big. If Fluttershy hadn’t been there I think he would have tried to peck out my eyes. He wasn’t very happy to see us.”

Fluttershy continues. “Dash is right he wasn’t to pleased to see us but I managed to calm him down with the same info I gave the other animals. Then we asked him about the torches. He claimed he came across a campsite of two ponies with an odd cart. They were awoken when the sky lit up with a glowing orb that slowly floated down to them. When they grabbed it in their magic their eyes widened and there was a flurry of movement as the two started to build a set of torches. He didn’t understand exactly what the torches were but the light didn’t feel right. He flew deeper into the forest as the ponies packed up and headed for the town.”

“Interesting.” Twilight said. “Well that certainly confirms the that those two are who we should be looking for. Good job Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash. Now we just need to find them and figure out what they’re doing.”

Rarity’s horn lit up and a rummaging sound could be heard from under the booth. Floating from under the table in Rarity’s aura came four of the previously mentioned torches. “Well Darlings Applejack and I managed to find out some of what they’re doing.”

Applejack tipped her hat a bit and spoke up. “Yeah, Rares and Ah managed to track down that feller that Pinkie had talked with. Wouldn’t tell us much till we bought a few of these blasted things off him.”

“Yes he was rather adamant that for us to do any business we’d have to do a bit of quid pro quo.” Pinkie and Rainbow began to giggle at this causing Rarity to blush realizing where their minds had just gone. Now flustered Rarity spoke up in a slightly angry voice. “You both know that I meant we had to buy these torches!”

This cause Rainbow and Pinkie to laugh even harder. Even Applejack wasn’t immune to their infectious laughter as she pulled her hat down over her face to hide the giggling.

“We know Rarity we're just messing with you.” Rainbow said as she got her laughing under control.

Rarity huffed, unamused at her friends antics but continued the story. “He told us that each of these torches is enchanted to help plants continue to grow in the dark. It’s supposed to simulate sunlight.”

“That shouldn't be possible!” Twilight nearly yelled “mage light doesn’t have the same signature as sunlight. Can I look one over Rarity?”

“Of course darling. Do what you need to.” Rarity said passing one over to Twilight. “It seems they intend to start selling these to other towns soon through a recruiting drive. Farming communities seem to be top priority as they have the most to lose right now. He even suggest I sell these for a modest profit and then send him the initial cost that we just paid and he’d send us more.”

“Hey!” Pinkie shouted. “That’s exactly what the rude fore pony I talked to wanted me to do as well.”

“Um, Well, yes it seems all the workshops in town have the same sorts of set up. Some put the torches together with the materials they purchase from other workshops. Some of those make the wooden bases while a few select others enchant the gems. It also seems that the enchanters only know half the spells that go into these as our mysterious pair of unicorns have a machine that carves and does the other half the enchantments first. Which they sell to the main group of enchanters for a decent some. He even dared to call them the saviors of ponykind.”

“Your forgetting the best part there Rares.” Applejack smiled as Rarity began to frown. “Before we left Rares here used her feminine wiles to get him to tell us where these so call saviors were hold up with their machine.”

“I know there had been some quid pro quo going on.” Giggles Pinkie causing Rainbow and Applejack to burst out in laughter again at Rarity’s expense.

Huffing again Rarity continued. “He didn’t so much as give me an address but directions on how to get there from the inn.”

“Got you covered there Rarity!” Thomas said in an excited tone. “Hey Screwball can you please put the map on the table so she can trace out where we need to go.”

Screwball began to spin her propeller and flew down to the table and saluted Thomas. With a Wave of her fore hoof a map of Tall Tale appeared glowing across the table. Centering it on the in she spoke up. “Just touch the map with where you want to go and it will draw a line with the directions.”

“Oh this is just perfect dear. Thank you.” Rarity quickly began to draw the directions on the map leading them to a small warehouse on the outskirts of the town. “There we go. It seems they didn’t stray too far from where they came into town.”

“Something with this set up sounds really fishy to me sugar cubes.” Applejack said looking thoughtful. “Rarity how much did that varmint charge you for those things again?”

“I believe he charged me forty bits for all of them. Why?”

“Ah just remember that he seemed a bit forceful in wanting you to sell those on for him.”

Thomas’s eyes widened in realization. “I see what you’re getting at Applejack. It sounds like a pyramid scheme.”

“Uh what Thomas?” Asks Applejack.

“A pyramid scheme. Where I come from it’s a pretty frowned upon method of making money as they tend to break the law. In essence those at the top make the most money by promising a way to get rich quick by recruiting other to sell what they offer.”

"So these two lousy polecats are raking in the bits while the citizens of Tall Tale do all the work.” said Applejack now ticked off once again.

“Ah ha!” Twilight yells in excitement. “That’s what they’ve done.”

"What happened, Twilight?" Thomas asks as he looks at the now seething unicorn.

"This,” she waves the torch around. “is just an generic magical torch. There is no way for this thing to help plants grow. The only thing that separates this from any other magical torch is they somehow embedded a spell into it that causes the viewer to believe the torch can do what the holder says it can.”

A large grin settled onto Pinkie’s face as she picked up a torch from the table. “Hey Dashie, this torch will help you become a Wonderbolt. I’ll sell it to you for a bit.”

“Really!” Rainbow shrieks. She pulls out of bit from her saddlebags and tosses it to Pinkie.

Pinkie hands the torch over to Rainbow. “I’d say that works pretty well Twili. A bit too well if you ask me."

“You’re right Pinkie.” Twilight’s horn began to glow. A moment later the strain that was on her face was released as her spell covered the table. “That should remove that spell from these torches but I don’t think I can cast that over an entire town.”

Rainbow stopped nuzzling the torch against her face and sat up in confusion. “Why the buck am I nuzzling this thing?”

“Silly Dashie. It’s because you thought it would get you into the Wonderbolts.” Pinkie happily replied.

Rainbow just sat there stunned not quite sure what happened or why but she decided to not question it and tossed the torch onto the table.

“Twilight Sparkle, may I borrow one of those dispelled torches?” Screwball asked looking hopeful.

“Uh sure Screwball.” Twilight picks one up and puts it in front of Screwball. “What exactly are you going to do with it.”

“Analyze it.” She said happily. Screwball waved the map away and walked up to the torch and started licking it. Twilight just looked at her dumbfounded, which caused the others to stare at Screwball as well. Picking up the torch like it weighed nothing she tossed it into the air. In one quick motion she jumped after the torch and swallowed it whole. The girls reactions ran the gamut of disgust to amusement.

Even Thomas was shocked to see this. “Screwball what did you just do?”

Screwball didn’t answer right away as her eyes began to glow different colors as lines of computer code scrolled down them. This soon stopped as she landed on the table and burped. The torch was lightly ejected from Screwball’s mouth and lands in the middle of the table spinning to a stop. “I told you I was going to analyze it.” She smiled at all the shocked faces around the table. “I can now make these if they're needed.” Screwball pulled off her beanie and reached inside pulling out a full size torch and tossed it on the table.

Twilight picked it up examining it and even turning it on. To say she was stunned would be an understatement as she began to mutter to herself. “How? How? How?”

Moving her head down on par with Screwball’s, Pinkie asked a simple question with a big smile on her face. “You're not turning into a deus ex machina, are you Screwball?”

Screwball flies away from Pinkie’s face at high speed and yells in anger. “How dare you! You pink menace! I am not you! I have rules! Just because you don’t know them or follow them doesn’t make me a deus ex machina!”

The yelling pulled Twilight from her trance. “What happened?” She looked between everypony at the table and Thomas.

“It’s just Pinkie being Pinkie, Twilight. I wouldn’t worry about it.” Said Rainbow waving Twilight’s question off.

“Okay? Well I think we should go back up stairs and get an early night. That way we can wake up early and deal with these mystery unicorns.” Twilight said looking a bit sleepy.

Pinkie quickly cleaned up the dishes from the table, and started heading back to the kitchen. Rarity tried to stop her by calling out to her. “Pinkie, dear you know Gin just said to leave the bowls on the bar?”

“Oh I know.” Pinkie sang “But after such a great meal I want to do something nice for her so I’m going to wash these and leave her a note. I’ll meet you girls up stairs in a minute.” She quickly vanished through the door leaving the rest to head upstairs.

As the girls got ready for bed Thomas became a bit nervous. “Um girls I don’t want to be a problem, but I don’t feel tired. I'm not sure I can sleep normally while I’m here.” He looked around seeing nothing but confused faces. “I don’t really want to just stay here watching you sleep all night. It would be kinda creepy.”

Rarity was the first to get what Thomas was saying. “Oh I see you’re right that would be a problem. We could let you out the door and you could keep watch for the night.”

“I’m sorry Rarity but guard duty is probably the most mind numbing thing I could ever think of doing. I was actually thinking you could leave the curtains open just a bit for me to come and go through it. Since sleep isn’t exactly something I can do right now I might as well make myself useful and go scout out our mysterious unicorns.”

“That sounds like a great idea!” Pinkie said as she walked in through the door.

“Are you really sure that’s a good idea Pinks? What if he tries to stab us in the back.” Rainbow asked accusingly pointing a hoof at Thomas.

“Oh Dashie, he’s had plenty of opportunities to betray us and hasn’t yet. If Twilight was still awake she’d agree with me." Everypony's head looked towards the now snoozing pony. "Thomas is trying to help us. Right Thomas?”

“I have no reason to betray any of you. While I’m here I’ll do everything I can to help correct what I messed up.” Thomas said all this standing ramrod straight with his right hand over his heart.

“Fine.” Rainbow huffed and laid down.

Pinkie walked over to the Curtain and pulled it aside just enough to see the street below. “There that should be enough for you to see the roof of the room when you come back. Good luck.”

“Thanks Pinkie.” With that Thomas unconsciously reached for the button on the remote that should have been in his left hand pushed it. In an instant he was outside. Turning he looked up to see a smiling and waving Pinkie Pie. Waving back Thomas began to walk onward towards the warehouse. “Hey Screwball, you there?

Feeling her move on his head a bit she replied. “Yep I go where you go.”

“Good let’s go find out what we’re up against!”

Author's Note:

Well this is the longest chapter I've written yet. I hope not to go this high too often.
In case anyone cares Spinach Flan is a real thing and if I was any kind of cook I might just try this out myself it looks pretty good.
And since I keep mentioning them the torches look something like the below picture. Just imagine them a bit straighter. My own artistic skills are horrible so drawing it myself isn't an option.

This thing is apparently from runscape. I've never played it but I figured I'd give credit where it's due.

And lastly a map. With their routes marked will update it as they progress.

Comments

[SilverStarApple]

22XX, for when 20XX just isn't enough.

[chaoticevl]

hehe, True, but I had to put it far enough into the future for things to work. 20XX just isn't far enough. Plus 20XX is too tied in with Megaman X to sound right being used for anything else.

[WorldWalker128]

“Aww that’s too bad I would have liked a tiny pony riding in me mane.” Pinkie bemoaned.

fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/144/f/1/pinkie_pirate_wallpaper_by_dadio46-d50z2xw.jpg
I'm glad to see an update, but you need to do a bit of proofreading. This wasn't the only error. Spellcheck only helps so much. Punctuation seems to be the main issue.

Pinkie walked over to the Curtain and pulled it aside just enough to see the street below.

why is that capitalized?

[chaoticevl]

8397592
Thanks for the heads up will correct next chance i get on my pc.

[Coolmathgamer124]

I actually have a theory that pinkie pies hair is a portal to another dimension, cause if you think about it, we see her take an unwrapped lollipop out of her hair/mane and eat it. If it was normal hair that lollipop would of been un eatable

[Coolmathgamer124]

"Were pretty close its just a few blocks over there"
Should be
We're pretty close,it's just a few blocks