• Published 8th Aug 2012
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The Hero of Oaton - thatguyvex



Lunaverse story: Trixie and co. must save a rural town from a corrupt lumber operation

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Chapter 6: Tarnished Efforts

Chapter 6: Tarnished Efforts

Shiny Copper Coin, Count of the Night Court of Luna, scion of his family line controlling the entire province of Stringhalt, was starring boggled eyed at Cheerilee and even took a step back, bumping into the table he’d been standing at. Cheerilee was still smiling, but it faltered a bit as she noticed Shiny’s confusion was being quickly replaced by a…wow should a pony’s face go through that much emotional change that quickly? He looked like he couldn’t decide whether to look happy, angry, sad, or scared. It’d have been cute if she had any notion of what was causing him to do the emotional roulette routine.

“H-h-how have I been!? Cheerilee what are you d-doing here!?” he shook himself and sucked in a deep breath and Cheerilee noticed the other earth pony was schooling his voice to remove the stutter. Good to know he’d worked on that, he’d been trying hard to get it under control back in the old days, without a lot of success as she recalled.

“You shouldn’t be here, Cheerilee. I knew the report said three of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony had shown up in Oaton, but I didn’t realize one of them was going to be you! Stars and moon if she saw you here it could mess up everything!”

“Shiny, slow down, take a breath,” Cheerilee said, trying to give him a reassuring look, but Shiny seemed to be getting more and more agitated by the second, “First of all I’m here because when I heard that it was you here in charge of all this I thought I’d be able to talk to you; get some answers. Seeing you come in here, well I just took the opportunity it presented to talk to you alone, without us having to worry about anypony else being around.”

“Wait, did you…you broke into the compound!?”

“Shiny. Calm. Deep breaths. Besides I didn’t break anything. I just let myself in. Without being seen. Now, who is ‘she’ and what do you mean ‘it could mess up everything’? Also,” she peered around him, lifting a hoof to point at all the cages she was seeing in this dark cabin with a questioning look on her face, “What’s with all the cages?”

“Ch-Cheerilee,” the stutter was back, but he was gritting his teeth, apparently fighting it “T-that isn’t any of your c-c-concern. You’re not safe h-here. T-T-T-Tarnished, if she sees you-“

“Tarnished!?” Cheerilee’s smile was back, temporarily forgetting about the cages, “How is she? It’s been so long, and she never wrote me back, not once. I always thought it’d be nice to visit sometime, just to catch up with her, but jut never seemed to find the time. I’ve managed to keep tabs with most of the old crew, and Tarnished was always such a good friend I felt bad losing touch-“

Cheerilee!” Shiny’s fear was now very much replaced by anger, so much it took Cheerilee of guard and she took a step back. Shiny seemed to realize his outburst and lowered his voice.

“Tarnished is…she…when you left, when everypony s-split off…” he shook his head “My sister did not take it well.”

“Well, yes, it was rough back then. We all had our reasons to go separate ways, I really needed to get my life together and focus on my studies to become a teacher. I do recall that Tarnished was the most vocal about us…not breaking up the group. Still, didn’t she have plans to start up at that veterinary school in Manehattan?”

“No, those were our parents’ plans for her. S-sure she was good with animals, but Tarnished never wanted those days running around with you and the gang to end. You guys were everything to her. Everypony leaving and going their own way, Cheerilee, it hit her hard. She ran away from the e-estate.”

“She did what? But…you managed to find her, right?” asked Cheerilee, honestly surprised. Her memories of Shiny’s little sister were fond ones for her. Tarnished had been the last addition to the crew she’d run with in her youth, the young and sensitive noble mare who got caught up in one crazy gang of ponies’ antics and got swept up in their lifestyle. She’d gotten into the adrenaline rush of those days more so than even Cheerilee had, as if trying to make up for the control and boredom of her life as a noble. She hadn’t been happy about the gang breaking up, or Cheerilee’s decision to start hitting the books to become a teacher. There’d been words, heated ones. Cheerilee had thought Tarnished at least had understood why Cheerilee had wanted to settle down. Granted, she did recall that Tarnished could be quite…emotional. Tended to overreact. Now that she thought about it Cheerilee could imagine Tarnished throwing a bit of a fit and running away from home for a time, but the Copper Coin family should have been able to find her…

Shiny was shaking his head, “We d-didn’t. She certainly learned well from her time with you, because she vanished and our best efforts failed for a l-l-long time to turn up anything more than rumors and vague leads. Then, finally, last year we managed to find solid evidence of her w-whereabouts.”

“That means…” Cheerilee’s eyes slowly widened and she moved to place a hoof on Shiny’s shoulder, but he backed away from her, and she let her hoof drop, “ …oh, oh Shiny, I’m so sorry. She’s been missing that long? I know you two were close. Why didn’t you tell me anything!? You could have written me about this!”

“A-and what would you have been able to do, Cheerilee? Would you have q-q-quit your studies to go find her?”

“Of course! She’s a friend. If she’d gone missing I would’ve happily turned Equestria upside down to find her.”

Shiny finally seemed to lose some of his anger, “That’s why I didn’t tell y-you. Finding Tarnished and brining her home is my p-problem as the next head of the family, and as her brother. Then or now I didn’t want to i-i-involve you. You choose the life you wanted to live and I…I didn’t want to interfere with that. H-having you drop your studies, to spend maybe years looking for my sister, you wouldn’t have b-b-been able to become a teacher that way.”

Cheerilee smiled at him, wanting to give the other earth pony a hug. And a bit of a bonk on the head for being such a dope. It’s not like there was a time limit on her becoming a teacher. She would have gladly put aside the time to help him find Tarnished, years ago. Besides with Cheerilee’s skills and knowledge of the gangs old hangouts and contacts she probably could’ve tracked Tarnished’s movements much faster than the Copper Coin family would have been able to do by using its own ponies or hiring investigators. It’d be a low blow to chide Shiny on that though, and his heart had been in the right place, not telling her. He’d been trying to let her pursue her dreams.

“You were always a good friend Shiny,” she said.

“…yeah, always just a friend,” he muttered and Cheerilee cocked her head, one ear flicking.

“Pardon? Didn’t catch that?” she said honestly, having not really heard him clearly.

“Never mind.”

Cheerilee was once again distracted by the cages, “Anyway…what do these cages have to do with finding Tarnished?”

Shiny gulped and very forcibly talked without a stutter this time, “It’s complicated. Look, you’re here with your Element friends, right? One of them is Trixe Lulamoon correct?”

“Okay, no. No turning my question into a question of your own. My students try that on me all the time. Now, let me ask clearly; why do you have these cages here? It’s not exactly the most legal looking set up you have here, Shiny. What’s going on?”

“Cheerilee, please, don’t. Don’t pull the legality card on me,” Shiny said past several slow breaths, keeping his stutters in check “Not you, of all ponies. The cages are there for a reason, and it’s a reason you, quite frankly, don’t need to know. I have a lot on my plate right now, most important of which right now is capturing Tarnished while the chance remains to do so!”

“So Tarnished is here? Wait, capture? What do you mean capture!?”

Shiny looked away from her sudden intense glare, saying “Yes, she is here. Or, rather, she’s hiding out somewhere in South Everfree. We’ve already had one encounter with her, but she…attacked my guards and escaped. We haven’t been able to track her since, but I have a plan to draw her back out into the open.”

Cheerilee’s eyes widened, “You’re joking?” Chereilee shook her head in shock, “You’re not joking. Why would she do that? Attack other ponies?”

Shiny ran a hoof over his mane, his features pained, his stutter creeping back into his voice, “Are you starting to understand why I don’t want you here? You sh-shouldn’t be involved in this, Cheerile. Last year we have reason to believe Tarnished was involved in the attack on the Hoofington Lumber Guild’s camp and the subsequent destruction of their dam. The same incident your friend Trixie was mixed up in, if my reports are accurate. My family’s magic specialist’s found traces of Tarnished’s magic in the aftermath of that mess.”

“What were they doing there investigating that in the first place?” Cheerilee asked, still trying to wrap her head around the idea of Tarnished doing such things. It didn’t mesh with the memory Cheerilee had of the demure and sensitive young noble mare.

Shiny looked slightly embarrassed as he said, “The Copper Coins, admittedly, weren’t paying very close attention to what was happening in area. It’s at the very furthest border of our holdings and we never considered it a region of any importance. But when we found out a guild from Hoofington had set up shop on our land without proper permits, well it was our duty to investigate the matter. It came as a complete surprise to us that our investigating unicorn discovered a trace of magic that matched Tarnished. Further investigation revealed a number of ponies who reported…some conflicting accounts of the mare responsible for the fire.”

It suddenly clicked in Cheerilee’s mind.

“Tarnished…she shares your coat and mane color.”

Shiny nodded, “Sky blue and crème.”

“And in the dark, with only some moonlight, those could easily be mixed up for azure and silver.”

“I presume that’s the coloring of Trixie then?” Shiny sighed, “I figured as much. The Lumber Guild ponies’ account from a year ago were so conflicting it sounded as if there might’ve been two or more mares involved, and it explains the other magic traces that were found that didn’t belong to Tarnished. I still don’t know what actually happened that night. Tarnished could have caused the fire, but there were…other things that could have been the cause as well…”

“But what was she even doing there in the first place!?” Cheerilee asked, starting to pace, “Why would she want to attack the Lumber Guild at all?”

“We’re not sure why she did it, but have…suspicions. Look, Tarnished isn’t st-stable, mentally. If she saw you here or in Oaton there’s no telling how she’ll react. With you and your Element friends snooping into this affair I can’t…can’t guarantee…”

He seemed to have difficulty saying it, but forced it out, “…your safety…”

Cheerilee shook her head, not able to quite make sense of this, “I don’t understand. Tarnished wouldn’t do anything to harm anypony! It just isn’t in her! You can’t be serious that she’s become so unstable that she’s a danger? How can you be so sure?”

“Our s-second day here overseeing the Lumber Guild the camp was attacked by that b-basilisk. It was driven off, and I p-personally led my guards trying to track it. My unicorn bodyguard doubles as my advisor on m-magic and she could sense Tarnished’s magic on the basilisk. We believe she’s controlling it. W-we managed to track it into the forest. That’s where we ran into her…”

Shiny’s whole form seemed to sag, his ears drooping, his tail sagging. Cheerilee couldn’t help herself, she went over to him and put her hooves around him. This time he didn’t move away. He just spoke in a soft whisper into her shoulder.

“She’s changed so much. She was completely irrational. I’m not even sure she understands what she’s doing, and the moment I mentioned your name, hoping the prospect of visiting you might calm her down, she reacted…badly. Her magic was s-strong, too. Stronger than it ever was w-when she was with you. We couldn’t catch her…so I’ve sent for more of my House Guard and I’m planning catch her in a trap. The cages are part of that plan. Among other things.”

Strength seemed to bleed back into his voice as he looked at her, and he seemed to compose himself, slowly pushing her away. Cheerilee could see the way he slowly put on his ‘noble’ mantle, straightening his posture, calming his features, taking on a mask of authority.

“And you do not need to be involved. You or the Elements of Harmony. It will only aggravate Tarnished, if she hasn’t already spotted you. You need to leave. Now. The last thing I need is to worry about protecting you while trying to capture my sister without hurting her.”

His expression darkened, his stutter completely gone under a tone of dead seriousness, “And I cannot afford for this matter to be made public. I don’t know what kind of game your friend Trixie is playing at with this inspection, but I shall not allow this information to get back to the Night Court. There’s no telling what would happen to Tarnished if she was taking in by the authorities. I might never see her again if they stuck her in some mental hospital, or worse, just jailed her! The only reason I’m telling you any of this is because I know you well enough to understand you wouldn’t leave without some manner of answers and I’m trusting you to keep this information to yourself. So I’m asking you to trust me in turn, Cheerilee, and convince your friends to leave with you, and not return. You have my word I’ll inform you once I’ve taken Tarnished back home and…gotten her some help.”

Cheerilee was silent for a moment, digesting things.

First, she wondered if any of this information really changed anything. Concerning Oaton and the Lumber Guild, specifically. The whole point of Trixie coming here with her and Raindrops had been to assure the town’s well being, which was in jeopardy because the Lumber Guild had rebuilt its dam. Fundamentally nothing about Shiny’s story or the situation with Tarnished changed that. In fact, it was curious to Cheerilee that the dam was there at all. She knew was missing something, an important piece of the puzzle, and she was sure it had to do with those cages. Despite the dim lighting of the cabin she’d managed to get a decent look at them. The bars were thick and spaced closely together, certainly not the kind of thing for holding any standard livestock. There were cages of multiple shapes and sizes as well, some large enough that they could fit multiple ponies if that was the intent; which she didn’t think it was. Talk of capturing Tarnished aside she didn’t see Shiny putting his sister in a cage, no matter how unhinged she’d supposedly become. No, the cages clearly served a different purpose.

Cheerilee’s eyes flicked towards her right ear, where the silver clasp was. She hadn’t hoofed it during the conversation with Shiny because, frankly, she hadn’t wanted to dampen a reunion with an old friend by having Trixie and Raindrops eavesdrop on it. Besides, since they were conducting that inspection right now Cheerilee didn’t want to risk that the transferred sound between the ear clasps was audible to anypony standing nearby. Be rather awkward for Trixie to have to suddenly explain why there was a conversation coming out of her ear.

Cheerilee didn’t think long on what to do.

“Shiny, Tarnished is a dear friend, and since I’m partly responsible for her running away, it’s also partly on me to see she’s brought home. I’m not going to try and force Trixie to leave, either. I don’t think she would, anyway, even if I did try. She’s dedicated to helping Oaton, and she won’t go anywhere until that dam is either taken down or some other way is found to get those farm ponies the water they need for their village to survive. Look Shiny, let me go get her and my other friend Raindrops. Come clean with us completely on what’s going on here. It’ll make all this easie- oh stop shaking your head like that! At least let me finish talking!”

“No, no Cheerilee, not happening,” said Shiny, still shaking his head “I’ve heard plenty about Trixie Lulamoon from my contacts in the Night Court. Word is she’s as intelligent as a rock, and only half as subtle. I may trust you to keep a lid on things, but not her.”

“She’s not that bad,” Cheerilee said, waving a hoof “Really, why does nopony give her any credit? How many goddesses does she have to take part in defeating before somepony in the Night Court gives her the benefit of the doubt? This is why I don’t like politics. She can be trusted. I wouldn’t have suggested you talk to her if I didn’t trust her myself. Besides it’s not like you can avoid her Shiny. She’s inspecting the camp as we speak. She’s going to find these cages and is going to ask questions. What were you planning on telling her?”

“Nothing! I intend to shut down her inspection! I doubt it has any kind of official backing from the Night Court-“

“How do you know that for sure?” interrupted Cheerilee, raising a coy eyebrow, “The Elements of Harmony haven’t been active in Equestria for a very long time. Maybe Princess Luna has given us mares who represent them a little special leeway in what we can do, given we’re the only ones who can safeguard the country from Corona.”

Cheerilee wasn’t all that fond of pressing the lie of the Elements phantom authority with Shiny, but she’d already jeopardized Trixie’s plan by approaching Shiny in the first place, least she could do was back the notion that they did have some authority. Might make Trixie’s job easier or convince Shiny to actually talk straight with them.

Shiny was giving her a small look of surprise, a nervous tick in one of his ears, “Would the Princess take the risk of playing favorites…?” he began to look thoughtful, second guessing himself “But then, you’re right that if the Elements of Harmony really are the only weapon against Corona…blast, maybe Princess Luna would invest some authority in all of you. But enough authority to overturn a Count’s decree for her to leave land that he owns, I wonder?”

Cheerilee put on her best poker face. Which wasn’t half bad, despite how long it’d been since she’d done anything with cards other than play fun and educational games with her class?

“The only way you’d be able to find out for sure, Shiny, would be to write the Princess herself and confirm it. In the meantime, Trixie and Raindrops will still be inspecting the camp. Shiny, please, just trust me. Come clean. We can even help. Trixie’s an excellent illusionist. She might be able to help catch Tarnished!”

For a second Shiny looked as if he was convinced, biting his lower lip and his eyes wavering. Cheerilee sighed as she saw him finally shake his head once more though.

“I’m sorry Cheerilee, but…I can’t risk it. Not when my sister’s well being is on the line. The only pony I can trust to deal with this matter is myself. I have things in hoof. Well in hoof. Yes, the plan will work. I have to. And I can’t be having you or Trixie or Sheaf or anypony interfering. If you do not leave with your friends I’ll…”

Cheerilee gave him a look. Or more precise the look. The look she gave when somepony was about to do something not smart and she wanted them to know in no uncertain terms just how not smart it was. She was still sympathetic towards him. He was her friend, one of her oldest, and it was clear he was under a lot of stress, and she appreciated his position and the situation with Tarnished…but Cheerilee was not a mare that tolerated threats towards her or her friends and it was sounding like he was about to make one.

Something in her eyes must have clued Shiny into the shift in mood, because he stiffened, trailing off for a moment before finally finishing his sentence with, “…ask you all politely to reconsider?”

“My lord!” a female voice suddenly said from the door, “That mare Trixie has arrived and Sawdust is taking her around…the…camp…”

Cheerilee was looking over her shoulder at the same rust coated unicorn who had met them in Oaton, who was giving Cheerilee and Shiny a slightly boggle eyed stare. The unicorn snapped out of her daze quickly and with a glow of white magic shrouding her horn she telekinetically drew the short sword buckled to her side.

“Back away from the Count! How did you get in here!?”

Cheerilee turned to face the unicorn mare, tensing her body to move quickly if need be, but otherwise had a calm expression. Shiny was the one to speak up first, stepping up next to Cheerilee.

“You may stand down Cut n’ Dry, this mare was just leaving.”

“She was?” asked Cut n’ Dry, still holding her sword in her magic, poised to strike.

“I was?” asked Cheerilee.

Shiny gave her a look. Cheerilee was impressed. It was a good approximation of her own ‘look’. Shiny had certainly grown from being the shy young noble she’d known back in the day.

“Yes, you are. I won’t demand you leave Oaton today, but I expect you three to be off my land within the next forty eight hours. Do not attempt any further interference with this affair, Cheerilee. I’m asking you as a friend this time. Don’t make me…ask it as something other than a friend. Please.”

“Lord…Copper Coin…?” Cut n’ Dry looked confused as Shiny’s tone and the way he was looking at Cheerilee.

Cheerilee met Shiny’s eyes, seeing he was resolved to pursue this course. He wasn’t going to cooperate, and she doubted he was going to give Trixie an easy time with the inspection. If she pressed him further, now, he’d probably order his guards to have them thrown out. Even if Cheerilee felt confident in winning such a brawl, it ultimately wouldn’t help. Besides, she’d gotten far more information than she thought she would when she snuck into this camp. Not the incriminating, hard evidence Trixie needed to oust the Lumber Guild and protect Oaton, but certainly something that might give them a new direction to investigate. Might also put Trixie’s mind at ease a bit, knowing the fire at the damn might not have been her doing.

“Alright…I’m going,” she said, “Just remember, Shiny, that offer of cooperating is still open. Any time you feel like coming clean with us in full, I’ll be ready to listen, and help anyway I can.”

As she walked pass Cut n’ Dry the unicorn gave Cheerilee a wary look, not sheathing her sword. Cheerilee smiled at the guardsmare and tipped an invisible cap to her, saying softly, so only Cut n’ Dry could hear, “Keep him safe.”

Once she was outside the cabin it was an easy affair to begin sneaking her way to the back entrance she’d used to enter. She could faintly hear Cut n’ Dry asking Shiny something, but didn’t catch his reply, but he sounded flustered.

As she shadowed her way back towards the back gate she didn’t go through it, but rather passed it by. She could remain unseen for as long as she paid attention to where she was going, and whatever she might have told Shiny, there was still that large central building she wanted to check out. Cheerilee was not done searching for clues.

She wondered idly as she crept her way slowly around to the other side of the camp, winding her way towards the north end of the camp, how Trixie and Raindrops were doing.


----------


Cut n’ Dry watched the magenta mare leave with confusion still swirling in her. Keep Lord Shiny safe? Of course she would! It went without saying! But…but how did that mare even know Lord Shiny? And why had Lord Shiny not asked to have the intruder apprehended?

“My lord, are you unharmed?” she asked, returning her weapon to its sheath and approaching him with a respectful bow.

“Um, y-yes, I’m fine, you n-n-needn’t be concerned, and please, cease bowing your head,” her lord said, face a little red. She did as she was told, but maintained a respectful, straight posture.

“Now then, your report?” he said, seemingly now more composed, controlling his stutter. Cut n’ Dry was a little surprised to have heard in the first place. It’d been some time since she’d last heard him so much as trip over a syllable. Had that mare, Cheerilee, upset her lord?

“Sawdust is leading the Elements of Harmony through the camp,” Cut n’ Dry said, frowning slightly, “I came as soon as I could excuse myself without arousing suspicion. I had to ask Bootheel where you went, my lord, and I apologize that lazy bum didn’t accompany you. As your personal guards we should remain at your side-“

“It’s quite all right,” Lord Shiny said, turning his attention to the papers strewn on the table, “I told him to stay at the main building. I was just tidying up here, making sure all was prepared for tomorrow. Now, how to deal with this Trixie character…?”

“Might I suggest bludgeoning across the head, stuffing her in a sack, and mailing her back to Ponyville?”

“Unfortunately I doubt such a direct method will be an option. I’ll keep your plan in mind, though. For now, let’s see about putting this inspection nonsense to an end. I assume you came here to fetch me. Let me guess, at Sawdusts’s behest?”

Cut n’ Dry blanched, rather perturbed that in fact Sawdust had ‘asked’ her to go get Lord Shiny to speak with Trixie. One, because it showed disrespect to her lord to demand he come to them rather than vice versa. And two, because it meant Cut n’ Dry had to go find her lord and hence wasn’t spending time admiring the…uh…wingspan, yes, wingspan, of that athletic yet adorable pegasus mare, Raindrops.

“You’re assumption is correct my lord. Sawdust does not know his place. I could always inform him you are indisposed. You don’t need to speak with that…that irritating unicorn mare anyway.”

“Wish that was true, but I suspect I’ll have to speak with her personally to…impress upon her the importance of leaving. Cut n’ Dry, I can trust you to remain loyal to me during this trying time?”

Her eyes widened, shocked at the question, “O-of course my lord! You can always count on me. You have my loyalty.”

Lord Shiny nodded, smiling slightly, “I suppose I didn’t have to ask. You’ve proven to be more than up to any task I’ve given you, and followed my lead without question, despite the dubious nature of this while ‘plan’ I’ve cooked up.”

“My lord,” Cut n’ Dry said, briefly meeting his eyes before looking away. She never could quite bring herself to look him in the eye for long. Not because she was trying to hide anything, but because she never wanted to show anything but absolute respect for him, “you gave me and my brother a second chance at life when we’d hit our lowest point. A little bending, or outright breaking, of the law is an inconsequential matter in light of all you’ve given to me.”

When she said that her eyes briefly flicked backwards, towards her flank. Her cutie mark was hidden by the armor she wore, but she could all but feel the pair of outstretched white wings she knew were there.

“Still,” Shiny said, “In the event that things…go poorly, I want you to understand I appreciate your loyalty. If, for whatever reason, the worst comes to pass and you find yourself no longer in my service-“

“My lord, stop,” Cut n’ Dry said, raising a hoof, and surprised at her own boldness at cutting him off. She had to take a second to compose herself before she resumed what she wanted to say, “There will never be a time when I do not consider myself your loyal servant.”

“…Well, t-t-that’s…” Shiny said, stutter returning, but he grit his teeth and schooled it back to normal, “That is now, but circumstances may occur where I will no longer be able to retain your services. In that event I have prepared instructions for you; a thank you of sorts for all your years of service. Those instructions are in my office here at the camp, right desk drawer. Follow them, and you and your brother should be set for a time, at least until you can find other work. A mare of your talents should certainly be able to-“

“Lord Shiny,” Cut n’ Dry couldn’t believe her own audacity at interrupting her lord twice in a row, but she couldn’t listen to this, “There will be no need for that. The plan will work. Your sister, your family’s debt, all will be taken care of. You have me at your command.”

Shiny stared at her, then slowly shook his head in apparent wonderment, “Very well, then. I shan’t question you again, Cut n’ Dry. Now then, shall we go see these Elements of Harmony? What can you tell me about them?”

As they strode out of the cabin, Cut n’ Dry locking it firmly behind them, she said, “The unicorn, Trixie Lulamoon, is a bragging, arrogant, self important jerk, from what I’ve seen. Grating, but not dangerous. The pegaus of the group is named Raindrops, and she…um…seems nice?” Cut n’ Dry hoped her face wasn’t reddening, but she felt the heat on her face, “Far more intelligent and serious minded than either of her companions, by all appearances. As for the third mare, Cheerilee…well if you don’t mind my saying my lord you seem to know her far better than I.”

“Indeed, I won’t hide it from you, I do know Cheerilee quite well,” Shiny said as he looked around, as if expecting to see the mare in question. He even glanced under the cabin, seemingly just in case, “Perhaps too well. She…is a very old friend. One I’d lost touch with, admittedly. Maybe I should have told her about Tarnished. Of all ponies outside the family, she deserved to know…”

Cut n’ Dry couldn’t venture a comment. For all her loyalty to Lord Shiny she made it a point to not inquire too deeply in his personal affairs. She knew the basic details of the situation with Tarnished, but only enough to do her job and enact her part in his plan to bring his sister home. Shiny sighed as they came around the cabin, and in the distance they could spot the entourage of what had to be Trixie and Raindrops being led around the camp by Sawdust.

“Well, nothing for it now. Let’s have us a chat with the Element of Magic.”


----------


“And as you can see our central building is right over here at the back of the camp,” said Sawdust in a cordial and jovial tone, “We’ll be heading in there shortly, once you’re satisfied with the rest of the camp. Do you have any questions so far?”

Trixie kept the mounting desire to frown off her face and instead looked around, one eyebrow arching, “Just how many ponies are working out of this camp?”

“Oh, several dozen,” said Sawdust casually, and Trixie paused a second, thinking.

“Hold it,” she said, “Only a few dozen? Why all these additional buildings then? You could hold a hundred or more ponies in here?”

“Hey, yeah,” said Raindrops, floating nearby with a few slow flaps of her wings, “I was noticing how big this place looked. What’s the deal there? Some of these cabins are even locked? Why?”

Sawdust smiled widely, not seeming slightly perturbed by the question, which frustrated Trixie because he’d been that way since he’d met them at the gate. Relaxed, friendly, and utterly unconcerned with her being there. Not exactly the way somepony with something to hide acted. Which meant either he was a very good actor, or he wasn’t the one doing the hiding. Trixie couldn’t tell which yet.

“Oh, while our operation is currently only supporting a few dozen workers, more will be coming. I wanted to ensure the camp was already set to take care of my employees when they arrive. The locked cabins merely indicate which cabins are not currently in use. No point leaving them open if nopony is using them currently.”

“Why so few to start then? Wouldn’t building this camp take a lot of ponypower?” Trixie asked, trying to find some crack in the story. She seriously suspected the locked cabins. You didn’t put a lock on something because it wasn’t being used, you put a lock on something because you didn’t want anypony getting in. So far she hadn’t had to press the issue of her ‘inspection’ to go anywhere…well, she’d see how the conversation with Sawdust panned out. Cheerilee was probably already in the camp, snooping around. As long as Sawdust’s attention was on her and Raindrops it’d make Cheerilee’s task easier.

“Ah, I can see where that might seem odd, but honestly most of this camp was already built. The fire from last year destroyed the dam, and much of the east end of the camp, but the rest was left intact. It was somewhat dilapidated after a year, but cleaning up an old, partially burned camp is much easier and faster than building a whole new one,” Sawdust said, pride in his voice, “But even then my ponies certainly worked hard to get everything set up quickly.”

“Why even come back here?” Trixie pressed, “Is the lumber in South Everfree really worth the trouble? Or putting an entire village at risk?”

Finally, some kind of reaction! It wasn’t much but Sawdust did pause in his steps briefly, but only for a moment before he put on that calm, confident smile of his.

“I’m afraid that the decision to resume lumber operations in this area was not entirely my own, Miss Trixie. You see the Copper Coin family now owns a…controlling share of the Hoofington Lumber Guild.”

Now it was Trixie’s turn to pause in surprise, though it was Raindrops that spoke up first.

“So waitasec, are you saying you got no control over where your own Guild goes? That you wouldn’t be here if the Copper Coins didn’t tell you to be?”

“Not exactly, on both questions, Miss Raindrops. I still have final word on all operations my Guild undertakes, at least by the letter of the law. However the Copper Coins can…make certain things difficult for the Guild, were we not to follow suggested courses of action. Now, that said, were the choice entirely my own I would still seriously consider continuing operations here. There is a great deal of untapped resources in this region that are ideal for developing a growing business. Now I imagine your line of questioning is referring to the ethics of what is occurring to the unfortunate hamlet downstream from us. Oaton, I believe?”

Trixie snorted, getting more and more fed up with this pony, “Don’t act like you don’t know the town’s name. Oaton relies on that river to keep their farmland irrigated. You understand exactly what your Lumber Guild being here is doing. What’s your justification for it?”

“Please, Miss Trixie, no pony is more concerned than I am about the well being of Oaton. The ponies there were wronged by my father, and circumstances have unfortunately placed me in the same position. I have allowed some water through, so the villagers of Oaton do not suffer from thirst…but there is little more I can do about the dam. It is by…heavy suggestion, of Lord Shiny Copper Coin that the river be redirected to Hoofington River itself, and that we transport the lumber over water. Were I to deny him, my entire Guild would suffer for it. I’m sorry, but Oaton must accept things as they are, for the moment at least.”

Trixie head tilted, one ear flicking in partial curiosity and in partial frustration. What was this pony’s game?

“For the moment?”

Sawdust looked like he was about to say more but he glanced over to his right and Trixie followed his gaze to the sight of two ponies approaching them. One of which was the unicorn guardsmare Trixie met in Oaton, the one with the stubborn attitude, and the other was a sea blue earth pony with a crème colored mane and tail. Before the two got within earshot Sawdust looked at Trixie and said quietly, “If you prove capable, perhaps I’ll tell you.”

“You are Representative Trixie Lulamoon, I take it?” asked the sky blue earth pony as he approached, giving them all quick once over looks, one of which lingered slightly longer on Sawdust with a faint crease of displeasure in his brow.

Trixie cleared her throat and took a step forward, head held high. She didn’t know what to make of what Sawdust had said but she put it from her mind, focusing her attention on the pony in front of her, “I am. Count Shiny Copper Coin, I presume?”

She was certain if for no other reason than his cutie mark incorporated a part of the Copper Coin family heraldry, but had to ask anyway. Next to her Raindrops stopped hovering in the air and settled on the ground, and Trixie noticed out of the corner of her eye that that rust colored unicorn mare was looking at Raindrops without trying to make it obvious; and wasn’t doing a very good job of it. Raindrops for her part was tensely standing by Trixie’s side, eyes focused on Count Shiny. Good, so far Trixie wasn’t sure how effective the glasses were being at their job, but at least Raindrops was still using them. Trixie hoped Raindrops wouldn’t hold it against her, having the pegasus using such an item.

“That is correct,” said Shiny, and Trixie noted that while he was carrying himself with all the poise and pride that seemed to fit the image of a noble, there was a nervousness to his posture and a very deliberate slowness to the way he spoke, as if he was carefully controlling each word he spoke, “I have been informed by my servant here that you have arrived to conduct some manner of inspection on this lumber operation. I trust you have some manner of documentation to prove the veracity of this?”

Ouch, he was going straight for the nitty-gritty on this, was he? If Trixie had had another day of preparation for this plan she could have whipped up some proper illusionary enchantments on some paper to make halfway decent forgeries of some kind of official inspection papers; but she’d been winging things since she’d arrived in Oaton. Taking a quick, calming breath, she talked fast.

“While Oaton made an official request for aid this is an uncommon set of circumstances, since this is the first time we mares who bear the Elements of Harmony have been sent in any official capacity to protect the citizens of Equestria. Our mere word should be proof enough of the validity of our being here, or would you question a mare who embodies the very Element of Honesty?”

Raindrops glanced sidelong at her, and Trixie sort of half-smiled encouragingly at the jasmine pegasus. Shiny looked between the two, eyes slowly settling on Raindrops, “I take it that is who you are, Miss Raindrops? Element of Honesty?”

Raindrops straightened her shoulders and flicked her wings slightly, and met the noble stallion’s gaze, “That’s right.”

“And you, in all honestly, can tell me that you are here as part of an official, sanctioned inspection of this lumber site in order to…what, exactly?”

Trixie tried to keep the nervousness off her face. She knew Raindrops was capable of bending the truth, Element or not, and that Raindrops was usually more about being honest with herself than doing so with others…but Trixie couldn’t deny feeling a stab of concern as she held her breath.

“I can say I am here to make sure the village of Oaton is safe and that my friends don’t get into too much trouble,” again a sidelong look at Trixie, “This inspection is just a part of doing that.”

“That didn’t answer the question. Is this so-called ‘inspection’ officially backed by anypony in the Night Court? By the Princess herself?” Shiny asked.

There was only a short pause, a slight narrowing of Raindrops eyes past the thick glasses perched on her muzzle, and she said, in a very even tone, “To the extent of my knowledge.”

Trixie almost smiled, impressed with Raindrops managing both a true yet cryptic response.

Count Shiny, though, seemed less than impressed. Trixie noted he was slightly shifting the weight on his hooves as if he wanted to nervously shuffle about and was trying to contain the fact. His eyes occasionally darted to one of the locked cabins, and Trixie noted it was the same one he and that guardsmare of his had come around the corner of. Oh, she was sure there was something important in those locked cabins now!

“Count Shiny,” she said, “If you wish to confirm our inspection’s validity you may feel free to do so through proper channels,” which would take him several days at least, “In the meantime I really must insist that we be allowed to continue. I asked you to meet with me in hopes you’d be willing to show me around yourself, and perhaps explain to me why you feel that dam is necessary for this lumber operation. There is an entire village of ponies downstream who need that water.”

For just an instant there was a flash of anger in Shiny’s dark blue eyes, but the look vanished almost as fast as it had appeared.

“An ‘entire village’, by which you mean a small hamlet of little more than thirty or so ponies. The lumber operation here, once it reaches full steam, could supply enough bits to buy the worth of that hamlet several hundred times over.“

Trixie frowned. Several hundred times? Even a village as small as Oaton was worth more than that. What was he going on about? Lumber was that lucrative an industry, though Trixie had to admit she wasn’t too knowledgeable on the subject. She’d need to ask Cheerilee later.

“Because of that I have made several offers to Mayor Sheaf and the ponies of that hamlet to purchase their land wholesale from them and even pay for their relocation to a new home deeper in my family’s territory, land that could use skilled and experienced farm ponies to work it. I’d even pay them a proper wage for their labor! But every time I have made the offer it has been declined, rather rudely I might add, by Mayor Sheaf.”

“Alright, so you’ve made them an offer,” said Raindrops, frowning “So what? That doesn’t give you any special right to ignore their situation. Their village still needs water to survive, and they’re not getting enough. What are you using it for besides making it a little easier to transport lumber?”

“Hey, speak to Lord Shiny with some respect…” said the guardsmare, then she blinked, and coughed into a hoof, giving Raindrops a look that was oddly conflicted, making Trixie wonder what was going on with the unicorn mare, “Just, you know, as a matter of courtesy. He is a Count of the Night Court of Luna.”

“It’s alright Cut n’ Dry,” said Shiny, “It’s clear these mares are very…incensed towards the well being of that hamlet. Look, Miss Raindrops, I don’t know what else I can tell you. The Hoofington Lumber Guild is now a critical part of the Copper Coin’s financial interests and I can’t put my family’s well being, and by extension the well being of my entire province in jeopardy because one hamlet of thirty ponies is being stubborn! I have done all I can in making them an offer to take care of them, which has been declined multiple times. I don’t see what this ‘inspection’ of yours is meant to do other than waste my time and the time of the Lumber Guild. What do you expect to find?”

“Perhaps nothing, perhaps everything,” Trxie said, intentionally keeping things cryptic, “We won’t know what we’re seeking to find until we’ve found it. But ‘it’ will certainly be sought. By me. Oaton’s rights and well being will be protected.”

“Their well being would be best served by accepting my offer,” said Shiny.

“If they want to stay on their land then nopony should be allowed to force them off it,” Trixie replied, sounding confident, though a part of her…if she were being honest with herself, was a little conflicted. On one hoof she was pretty entrenched in the notion she had to save Oaton, though how much of the reason for that was satisfying her self-image and how much of it was genuinely wanting to help the ponies of Oaton even she wasn’t sure. On the other hoof, the practical side of her sort of was seeing how Lord Shiny was being relatively fair in offering the villagers of Oaton a chance to relocate, at his own expense no less!

“It’s not their land, strictly speaking, now is it?” asked Shiny “It’s always belonged to the Copper Coins. We just haven’t paid it much mind. If one wanted to get into the gritty letter of the law Oaton probably owes enough back taxes to foreclose the entire hamlet several times over, but here’s the funny thing I imagine you didn’t know…Oaton, as a village, doesn’t exist in any logs or records.”

“…What?” Trixie was now taken utterly off guard, her ears flopping down against the back of her head as her eyes widened a bit. Raindrops immediately frowned and took a step towards her, eyes concerned.

“Trixie? What’s that mean?”

“It means,” Lord Shiny said, “Oaton was never registered in any municipal records. Officially it doesn’t exist. Never has.”

“It also means,” said Trixie with a small shake of her head, “That Oaton…couldn’t have…”

She trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence.

“Couldn’t have what?” Raindrops asked, raising a hoof in question.

“Couldn’t have officially registered for any kind of inspection at all, or even basic aid,” said Lord Shiny. To Trixie’s surprise, though his tone was now confident, there wasn’t a smile on his face. In fact the sky blue earth pony didn’t look any more pleased than she did, just…hard, resolved to the situation, “I’m afraid, Miss Trixie Lulamoon, that if you are here by any kind of official capacity, then it is in error of the law. Oaton cannot request official aide because of its non-status. By extension, this land is free for my family to do with as it wishes. Even if you did complete this inspection of yours, what good would it do?”

Trixie was still trying to process this. Why hadn’t Sheaf said anything!? Or…did he even know? Certainly wouldn’t be the first time in Equestria’s history a group of ponies settled in somewhere remote and just never filed the paperwork to register their existence as a settlement. Usually there were parts of the Night Court that functioned alongside Equestria’s courier and exploration guilds and companies to ensure any such settlements were found and properly registered…but occasionally a settlement would slip through the cracks. Oaton was just remote enough that it wasn’t inconceivable for it to have been such a settlement. But still…with Bridlesville being a much larger settlement nearby, practically a day’s walking distance…shouldn’t Oaton have been a shoe-in to be registered at some point in time? There was a train waystation right next to it for pony’s sake! It didn’t make sense. Was she missing something? Or was it just bad luck?

Either way, she had to press on. This wasn’t over yet.

“Well,” she said, forcing herself to sound calm and unperturbed by events, though anything but that was true and it was an effort to keep her face passive, “Be that as it may, I still fully intend to finish what I started here. I’m certain that, regardless of Oaton’s status on paper, the fact that real living breathing ponies call that ‘hamlet’ home means more to Princess Luna than a few scribbles on a scroll in some archive. If you doubt that, feel free to ask her yourself. As her personal apprentice, why, I could probably put you in touch with her rather quickly.”

Bluff, bluff, bluff the confident noble! Trixie had zero intention of calling in Princess Luna on this, and in fact rather hoped she never caught wind of any of this, though she realized there was a ice cubes chance on the surface of the sun of that occurring. But Lord Shiny didn’t have to know that. Admittedly though it was a little like sucking on sour grapes, falling back to the old ‘I’m the Princess’ apprentice!’ routine. In the past it was just her bragging to everypony around Canterlot. Now, it was a tactic to try and put pressure on Shiny.

It seemed to work, somewhat. Lord Shiny coughed, nervousness well hidden but still there for Trixie’s keen eye to pick up on, as he said “I am aware of your relationship with the Princess, and do not doubt how much her highness cares for her little ponies. However she may agree with me that the needs of the province as a whole outweigh the needs a single group. I am not removing the Lumber Guild from this area, Trixie Lulamoon. If you persist in badgering this operation, I’m afraid I may have to resort to force to remove you from these premises. Indeed, I am giving you a forty eight hour deadline to be gone from this area.”

Trixie grit her teeth behind tightly closed lips, not willing to give it up quite yet, “You can’t just throw us out. We have every right to finish inspecting-“

Count Shiny cut her off mid-sentence, and for just a moment at the start of it his voice stuttered before he schooled it to normal “R-R-Representative Lulamoon, th-the only reason I’ve entertained even speaking with you is because a certain pony whose opinion I hold in good esteem has vouched for you. However that alone is not enough for me to let you run roughshod over me. It is only due to polite courtesy that I give you fair warning to leave these premises before I have my guards assist you through the gates.

Raindrops had flared her wings out and took a protective step in front of Trixie, putting herself partway between Trixie and Count Shiny. By the same token Cut n’ Dry did the same, so that she and the jasmine pegasus were facing off. Raindrops looked hard and determined, and Cut n’ Dry wore a similar expression, though Trixie noted a hint of…hesitation? After a second Raindrops squinted at Cut n’ Dry, seeing something through the glasses Trixie surmised, and similarly suddenly looked hesitant. Neither mare moved aside though. Trixie looked to see how everypony else was reacting.

There weren’t many ponies from the Lumber Guild in the camp, and what few that were there were looking at the them curiously, except for Sawdust. Sawdust met her eyes with that slightly lidded, calm expression of his and just barely shook his head at her.

Trixie sighed. It was an all too familiar one that reminded her of fruitless times back in Canterlot, whenever something inevitably had gone wrong for her. She rather suddenly felt in full force just how tired she was, as if this situation had sapped all the momentum she’d been riding on. For a second she just wanted to lay down and sleep, but she shook it off, forcing her mind to focus past the exhaustion. She knew there had to be something worth finding around here, but the ‘inspection’ wasn’t getting them anywhere. She’d have to try more extreme measures later tonight, pending what Cheerilee may have found. She fixed Count Shiny with as confident a stare as she could manage, holding her head high.

“Very well, if you insist upon being difficult I and my friend will leave. For now. But this is far from over Count Shiny. Oaton will have its water back, even if I have to go to Canterlot myself to register them as a settlement!”

It was an empty promise, for the most part, given that it’d take days to do the that kind of paperwork short of a serious noble in the Night Court pulling strings, and even if Oaton was registered that wouldn’t change their land was still technically owned by the Copper Coins, but she had to say something.

“Do whatever you feel you have to,” said Count Shiny, turning away from her, “As shall I. Cut n’ Dry, escort these mares to the gate if you would. Sawdust…come with me, you and I have…matters to discuss.”


----------


“Well that was a complete and utter waste!” Trixie said as she kicked a nearby offending rock, her face a mask of frustration.

“Trixie, relax,” said Raindrops, walking next to her and giving her friend a look somewhere between concerned and encouraging, “I think we managed to learn more than you think.”

“Like what?” Trixie asked, waving a hoof in the air, “Like Lord Count Stubborn Jerk is a…a…stubborn jerk!?”

Trixie paused. Okay, maybe she was rather tired, because she was losing her train of thought mid sentence.

Raindrops was looking at her with her teal eyes flashing with equal parts anger and worry, “Alright, that’s it. Trixie, first thing we do when we get back to Oaton, very first thing, is you’re getting some sleep!”

‘Pfft,” Trixie whinnied, “I’m fine. Really. Just a little…fatigued. I have far too many things to do to worry about…” she trailed off. Had she really just been about to say she didn’t have time for sleep? Sleep, one of her favorite things in the whole wide world?

Well…yes, yes she was. Normally Trixie thoroughly enjoyed the life-long quest of avoiding hard work and finding any proper opportunity to take a load off. But something had changed. She didn’t know if it was something that had been happening since she’d arrived in Ponyville. She was normally still pretty lazy, except…except when her friend’ s needed help. And when Ponyville needed saving. She was starting to notice a bizarre, uncharacteristic growing sense of…responsibility to the town she was Representative of. But in this case it wasn’t Ponyville in danger, but a far smaller, more remote hamlet. That wasn’t the point though, the point was that she’d been asked to come here, asked to take on the role of the town’s hero. It made her feel needed, and in response she was readily willing to push on despite the fatigue on her body. Wasn’t that what a hero was supposed to do? Push on no matter how hard things got.

She shook her head, trying to clear her mind, which was feeling rather cotton stuffed. She collected herself and met Raindrops’ hard stare.

“I’ll be alright Raindrops. When we meet back up with Cheerilee we’ll go back to Oaton and work out a new plan, depending on what she’s found. Also still need to finish studying that spell to reverse basilisk stone…thingy…” she shook her head, no, not letting tiredness affect her, “Never liked learning spells from books, utterly unintu…unitru…not natural.”

Raindrops had a look on her face that wasn’t quite the ‘I’m about to hit you’ look Trixie had seen before, but the pegasus seemed about ready to jump Trixie and drag her to a bed, throw her in it and if needed pummel Trixie into sleep/unconsciousness. Instead of doing that though Raindrops hung her head slightly, heaving out a heavy sigh, and kept walking alongside Trixie until they’d gotten a fair distance from the Lumber Guild camp.

“So, where were we supposed to meet up with Cheerilee anyway?” Raindrops asked.

Trixie paused, titled her head, and then put a hoof to her face, “I don’t think we even decided that before splitting up. Well…okay, she’s smart enough to meet up with us in Oaton, so let’s just get back to town. By the way, did you see anything with the glasses?”

Raindrops paused, looking away for a moment, and Trixie wondered if that had been a bit of red she saw on the jasmine pegasus’ face.

“Aside from some ponies needing to keep their mind out of the gutter, there were two things that bugged me. One, that Sawdust guy, his mind was a total blank.”

“Blank…? What do you mean?”

“Just that. I didn’t see a thing. Not a single image.”

Trixie blinked, “That’s not a good sign. Either he’s mentally trained to keep his surface thoughts clear, which shouldn’t be a common skill for a lumber pony, or he has some kind of magic that’s blocking the glasses. Argh, I should’ve tried using my magic sight to see if he was shielding his mind…wait, no hat, couldn’t hid the horn glow. And he’s got that bowler cap, so if he was shielding himself I couldn’t have seen if he was casting. But why would he be doing that in the first place? He couldn’t have figured the glasses were enchanted, let alone with what kind of enchantment. So he has another reason? But wh-“

Raindrops put a hoof to her mouth, forestalling any more words.

“Enough, think about it later, when we’re back with Cheerilee. Speaking of her, that was the other weird thing I saw. Count Shiny, a lot of his thoughts seemed to be about her. A lot o images, of Cheerilee from what I can only guess was from a long time ago, because of the way she…er…had her mane. There was another mare too, one that looked a lot like Shiny. All he was thinking about while he was talking with you were Cheerilee and this other mare. Except for one instant where he was imagining bucking you out the gate.”

“I seem to have that affect on someponies…” Trixie muttered, shaking her head, “Why would he be thinking about Cheerilee? That doesn’t…” a look from Raindrops “…er, right, think about it later. Alright, alright, let’s just get back to Oaton then. Hopefully Cheerilee is already there waiting for us.”


----------


The hallway was empty and quiet, a Lumber Guild earth pony having just walked by a minute ago, carrying a stack of scrolls from a room on the right side of the hallway into a room on the left. This pony didn’t see the quick peeking head of a magenta mare as she carefully looked around the hallway corner, then silently and quickly slipped into the hallway and tip-hoofed her way down, hunkered low, and smiling in a mischievous manner.

Getting into the camp’s main building had been…a little tricky. The bottom floor of the place seemed pretty busy, and from the sound and smells wafting from the place she figured there had to be some kind of cafeteria in there. One peek through a window had shown far too many ponies to easily slip around, but Cheerilee was unperturbed. Stealth was a matter of simply being where the eyes of others weren’t, moving in a manner that didn’t draw attention, and when needed, looking like you belonged where you were…

…other times it meant climbing up a tool shed to reach a second floor window that happened to be open and clambering through…you know, whatever works. Sure she could have just used the invisibility amulet to make things easier, but she still wanted to hold onto that as an emergency measure.

Now that she was on the second floor her hope was to find some kind of office or archive that could give her an idea of what Shiny was doing here with the Lumber Guild. Sure, getting Tarnished back was the prime goal, but she new Shiny, could read him pretty well. If this was just about Tarnished then Shiny wouldn’t have brought in the Lumber Guild, and she doubted he’d need all those cages in those cabins. Nope, she was pretty sure there was another side to this, and Shiny, well, he was a tad obsessive compulsive if she recalled. He’d keep documentation of what he was doing. Records for records’ sake.

Spotting a pony carrying a bunch of scrolls was a good sign she was on the right track. Careful to keep an eye out for the earth pony’s return she approached the door on the right and slipped inside, closing the door behind her quietly.

“Alrighty, let’s see what we can see…” Cheerilee couldn’t help but giggle a bit. It’d been a long time since she’d done anything like this and it did feel rather good, the fast heart rate, the way her senses were keenly alert. Just a small taste of the old adrenaline.

The room she’d entered was a cramped office, with shelves lining all walls beside the one she’d entered. A single table in the center of the room, long and rectangular, was covered with a map of the region and a number of tacked on notes, and a case of scrolls. The shelves themselves contained many more scrolls, most of them in small labeled sub-sections that were dated. Putting a hoof to her chin she briefly debated where to check first. She didn’t imagine she had a lot of time and it’d already taken quite a bit to get inside here. Trixie and Raindrops probably wouldn’t be able to keep up their inspection for long, from the way Shiny had been talking.

Choice made, she went for the table.

The map showed the Lumber Camp in the center, with the South Everfree forest stretching for miles to the east, northeast, and southeast. Oaton was little more than a blip a little ways to the south. On the far west side of the map was the grand Hoofington River, to which a small blue dotted line denoting the redirected unnamed river of Oaton’s connection to the dam next to the Lumber Guild camp. Of interest were a number of markings and lines that didn’t seem to have anything to do with the topography.

A red dotted line marched its way through the northeast edge of the forest, stopping at a point right by the Lumber Guild’s actual lumber yard. The line was marked ‘shipment route’ and by a large X where it ended by the lumber yard was a note ‘Meet client at fourth hour after midnight, Bootheel&Sleetcloud&Cut n’ Dry, be watchful for T, attack likely’.

Inside the forest itself were several red circles, many of which were crossed out by more Xs. A nearby note read, ‘She must be in deeper, the basilisk makes searching dangerous.’ One of the circles, one deep in the southeast part of the forest read, ‘Observe Oaton from here, Cut n’ Dry made odd report of voices in trees and uncomfortable feeling. T’s magic? When reinforcements arrive from home, resume search from here.’

Cheerilee didn’t have Ditzy’s photographic memory but as a teacher she was well versed in memorization techniques for the mind and took a moment to make mental notes on the locations of the map makers, and memorize the details of the notes. She heard a door open in the hallway and was instantly under the table, shuffling herself over to the far end and staying low just before the door to the office opened. Same earth pony from before, a brown coated mare with a blond mane and tail. Cheerilee watched the mare’s hooves circle around the table, and slowly shifted herself so she was always at the furthest end of the table from the mare. Cheerilee heard the shuffling of scrolls for a moment as the mare apparently arranged something on the shelves. Cheerilee held her breath as the mare dropped a scroll, and bent down to pick it up with her mouth.

Fortunately the mare seemed rather tired and her eyes were lidded heavily with a need for sleep and she picked up the scroll without noticing the magenta mare underneath the table. Cheerilee held back a sigh of relief; she’d almost had to use the amulet there.

After the mare left the room Cheerilee crawled out from under the table and turned her attention to the small pile o scrolls on the table by the map. She snatched one out and unrolled it with her nose, slowly reading the contents.

S,

I am writing to inform you that I’m sending additional security on my end for the first shipment of goods. Given the problem we’ve had the last time we tried this through this route and method I feel the extra precautions are warranted. Inform your ponies to be ready to receive and transfer the goods at the agreed meeting point on Sunday, at the fourth hour. You will also be given the needed materials for controlling the goods and keeping them docile. No more using second hoof couriers, and I’m sending an expert on animal behavior and control to ensure there aren’t any problems like we had last time. Keep in mind that any problems that do arise and any and all contact between us is cut. Ensure things go smoothly and we’ll both be richer ponies for it.

-C

Cheerilee frowned at the note. Nothing in it was stated clearly, probably by intention, but it didn’t take her entire intellect to deduce that the ‘goods’ being transported were living creatures; animals of some sort if the letter was any indication. Why would anypony be shipping animals like this, through a forest, then to some random lumber camp in the middle of nowhere…where…nopony would see it happen…

Cheerilee suddenly recalled a brief time during her wilder days of youth she’d spent a few nights binging around the clubs and seedier bars of Hoofington. While her memory wasn’t sharp due to the possibly deadly amounts of alcohol she’d consumed at the time she did remember one night being taken by some affluent businesspony who thought she was a good luck charm for gambling purposes to a place beneath one of the taverns. There’s been a sizable underground racing track where ponies had bet on the outcome of a cockatrice race. Cheerilee remembered vaguely asking where they even got the cockatrices for the race, given that they were a protected species. The answer to the question had been to tell her not to ask questions; or in layponies terms, because it was illegal. The kind of illegal that makes a pony a lot of bits.

Shiny…what have you gotten yourself into…? Cheerilee thought, as one more piece of the puzzle fell into place. She rolled up the note and tucked it into her mane, and was about to check another when the door suddenly opened. She blinked in surprised. She hadn’t heard anypony approach! Hoofsteps were usually pretty loud on the wood floorboards of this place, but she hadn’t heard any! Yet now she was looking right at an earth pony stallion with a dark brown coat and lighter brown mane, wearing the clear armor and tabard of a Copper Coin guard. In fact it was the same stallion who’d been with the guardsmare in Oaton.

He paused in the doorway, staring at her with green eyes that slowly roved over her as his eyebrow quirked up. Rather than look surprised, or begin shouting ‘intruder’, the guard smiled suggestively.

“Hey there.”

“Hey…” Cheerilee said, “Would you believe me if I said I got lost looking for the little filly’s room?”

“Oh I’ll believe all kinds of things beautiful,” the guard said, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him, “But not that you’re here by accident. Nope, mamma didn’t raise me to be no fool, even in the face of such deliciously shaped flank.”

His movements were casual on the surface, but Cheerilee read the tension in them. She mentally sighed. This wasn’t going to play out pleasantly. She adopted a cheerful smile.

“That’s too bad, and here I was hoping you’d be a gentlestallion and be nice enough to show me the way out.”

The stallion but a hoof to his chest, “I’m the very soul of gentleness. Especially when dealing with a smoking hot mare. Speaking of which, even though I’m about to take you into custody and ask my lord what he wants done with you, do you think you’d be willing to put in a good word for me with that unicorn friend of yours. The one with the rocking silver mane and lean little haunches?”

He was almost to her, almost to hoof’s reach. Cheerilee tensed, even as she kept her own smile up, “I’ll consider it, but it’s doubtful it’d do you any good. She’s not really into that kind of thing…what was your name again?”

“Bootheel,” the guard said with an even wider and raunchier grin, “And I’m not worried about what she’s into. I like a challenge. As the saying goes ‘once you take the Heel it’s all you’ll ever want to feel’.”

Cheerilee suddenly felt a lot less conflicted over what she was about to do as Bootheel reached for her and she ducked under his hoof, stepping forward and body checking the guard. The stallion had her outweighed, but that…didn’t matter. Cheerilee packed a lot of punch in her fairly average frame and knew just where to strike to break an opponent’s center of gravity. Bootheel went stumbling back and fell on his haunches, the wind knocked out of him.

Cheerilee didn’t give him a moment to recover, turning around and delivering a solid buck straight to Bootheel’s chest, slamming him back into the wall. That…caused noise. She imagined she had a minute at most before ponies started to come to see what was happening. She moved to go for the door, but was shocked when Bootheel actually got to his hooves and intercepted her with a flying tackle.

…perhaps the stallion was a bit tougher than Cheerilee had given him credit for?

Still if he was planning to try and grapple her he was in for a unpleasant surprise. She’d had much larger, tougher creatures try to pin her down; one of which, her former minotaur boyfriend had had the benefit of arms, hands, and opposable thumbs. And he more often than not had been pinned by her. Good times.

Bootheel tried to use his weight to keep her down but she, like a slippery eel, wiggled from his grasp, locked her hind legs around his waist, snaked a foreleg up and around his neck, and with one heave flipped Bootheel over so he was on bottom and she was on top, pressing one arm on his neck.

Despite his now very precarious position, Bootheel looked her up and down, and grinned widely.

“Would you consider bearing my foals?”

Cheerilee head butted the stallion between the eyes, which began to swirl around. Her head apparently was a tad harder than his.

“…take that…as a…maybe?”

With those words Bootheel fell unconscious.

Cheerilee stared at him a second, as if daring him to wake back up and make another crack, then got off him and shoved the guard under the table. She already heard multiple hoofsteps approaching from outside. With a sigh, realizing the narrow hallway outside had no place for her to hide in; she pressed her hoof to the amulet. She felt a slight tingling sensation and watched as her form vanished from view like chalk being erased from a blackboard.

A number of ponies entered the room, and Cheerilee waited until she had a clear moment before slipping out.

From there getting outside the building and finding her way back out of the lumber camp was easy enough, the amulet’s duration lasting her all the way until she got the forest past the lumber yard across from the dam. Safely hidden among the trees she began heading along the forest edge southward, her mind lost in thought.

She’d collected a lot of puzzle pieces. Now it was just a matter of getting back together with her friends and get those pieces put together.

…As she moved through the forest, unbeknownst to Cheerilee, her every step was being followed by two pairs of eyes. One small and dark blue, filled with equal parts anger and sadness, and another, larger yellow pair of eyes that were slit like those of a lizard.


----------

Trixie’s return to Oaton was much quieter than her initial arrival. She looked to see that most the farmponies were working out in their fields. At first this confused her because, well, no water obviously, so what was the point? Then she realized that they were working at preparing their fields because they thought the water was coming back, that she was going to get them their irrigation river back, and soon. She gulped, suddenly a lot less relaxed. How were they going to take…well…her lackluster first go at the Lumber Guild?

As she and Raindrops entered Oaton proper she spotted Mayor Sheaf leaving a house on the south end of town. Spotting her the mayor trotted over to them.

“Mayor Sheaf,” she said, nodding her head.

He gave her a quick once over, then turned his head to Raindrops, “Well, don’t see any columns of smoke in the distance so I can only guess there was a lot less burning down of things than last time? What happened?”

Raindrops looked to Trixie, who coughed nervously before saying, “Less fire, yes. But through a little ‘inspection’ and some discourse we managed to learn a lot. Many things. Many clues. There’s certainly something fishy going on in that camp.”

“…You have no idea at all what’s going on there or how to get rid of them, do you?” deadpanned Sheaf.

“Not at all! I just need some time to confer with my friends and put the pieces of the puzzle together, as it were. By the way, have you seen Cheerilee?”

Sheaf nodded his head down the road, “That’s here right there, ain’t it?”

Trixie and Raindrops both turned their heads to see the Element of Laughter cantering down the road, looking behind her with squinting eyes. Trixie wondered why she and Raindrops hadn’t seen Cheerilee, if she’d been that close behind them? As Cheerilee got to them she smiled at Trixie and Raindrops, wiping her brow with a hoof, then gave Trixie a mock salute, face a mask of pretend seriousness.

“Operative Cheerilee reporting a mostly successful mission! I’ve acquired critical intel on enemy movements and motives.”

When everypony just starred at her Cheerilee sighed and lowered her hoof, “Too much?”

Trixie shrugged, “So what did you find…and what do you mean by ‘mostly successful’?”

“Ladies, why don’t we take this conversation inside?” said Sheaf, gesturing with his head at the fields, where ponies were starting to return from their work. Trixie did note it was getting into evening, the sun starting its decent towards the horizon, “I’d prefer to hear all this without my town crowding around to try and hear what’s going in. Some of them have…high hopes you’d already have gotten rid of the Lumber Guild and Copper Coins. Better I know everything you’ve discovered so I can figure out what to tell them.”

“Perhaps that’d be for the best,” said Trixie, not at all liking the idea of having to see any disappointment on the faces of those who were counting on her. The first day might not have been as fruitful as she’d wanted it to be, but she’d reserve final judgment until she’d heard what Cheerilee had learned. The day might not be an entire bust.


----------


Trixie was struggling with every hoofstep now to get down the hallway. She had been on her hooves for most the day and her muscles were not being gentle in reminding her that she was flesh and blood. Raindrops hadn’t been all that gentle about it either. Trixie was only heading for the guest room of Sheaf’s house because Raindrops and Cheerilee had promised they’d both drag her to the bed and tie her to it if she didn’t call it a night. Trixie thought that was rather unfair, given those other two mares were going to be staying up for a little while longer to try and work out a plan of action.

Trixie’s own mind was like a mud strewn mire, with thoughts trudging through it with halting slowness. Cheerilee had learned quite a lot, and Trixie wasn’t sure what had caught her off guard more, that Cheerilee knew Count Shiny personally, or that the Count was apparently trying to both capture his runaway sister and possibly run some sort of smuggling ring involving unknown wildlife.

How those two things were even remotely related eluded Trixie.

On the plus side, it was possible that she wasn’t directly responsible for the fires burning down the dam last year, as Cheerilee had pointed out this ‘Tarnished’ mare bore similar coloring to her own. It was also a boon that at least they had some evidence of the Copper Coins pulling something illegal. The note Cheerilee had found, unfortunately, didn’t actually name any names. As evidence it was next to useless, but Trixie felt encouraged. Between the note and the markings on the map Cheerilee had seen they knew there was a ‘shipment’ coming through the forest at four in the morning.

If she went to sleep now, she could get plenty of sleep before the ‘fourth hour’. The plan was to try and stake out this ‘shipment’ and find out exactly what it was. It was a shame Cheerilee had had to use the invisibility amulet, but at least it’d gotten her out of the lumber camp, and for this part of the plan Trixie could keep her friend’s invisible with her own magic. There was also a small worry that the guard having seen Cheerilee would mean Shiny now likely knew his office had been infiltrated. It would make him more wary.

Then there was the matter of Oaton's non-status as a settlement. She had avoided bringing it up with Sheaf for the moment, if only because the reason Sheaf never got his village registered wasn't an immediate issue until they managed to find some solid dirt on the Copper Coins or Lumber Guild. Talking with him about it was on her 'to-do' list though.

Trixie was so mixed up in her thoughts she barely saw Bushel before bumping into the filly.

“Bushel? Shouldn’t you be in bed *yawn* at this time of evening?”

The filly still had Trixie’s hat on and was shuffling nervously on her hooves, but also was buzzing with excitement, “Oh, I just wanted to make sure I got your hat back to you! You said to hold onto it until you got back and I’ve been taking real good care of it! Milkdrop wanted to use it to try and jump off the roof but I told her no because that wasn’t what magic hats are for and mom would yell at us anyway for playing on the roof again.”

Trixie was envious of the filly’s energy, smiling softly and putting a hoof on Bushel’s head, “You did a good job there my enthusiastic little filly. Why don’t you hold onto it a little longer, return it when I’ve gotten your village all nice and safe.”

“Okay! Wait…um…so its not safe now?”

“Well, it will be soon,” Trixie said cautiously, “Me and my friends have a plan, and before the next day is out I’m sure we’ll have both the Lumber Guild and the Copper Coins sorted out. Just be patient.”

Bushel seemed confused, the filly scrunching up her brow in thought, “Can’t you just burn down the dam and tell all the bad ponies to leave us alone, or else you’ll beat them all up?”

Trixie, in a less fatigued state, probably could have thought up a quick way to put the filly’s fears to rest, but as it was she was taken aback and desperately stretched her currently dulled mind for a way to explain things to the pony who most wanted to see her as the hero from song.

“I…the bad ponies are…well they’re not always so bad that the hero can just fight them directly. Last time…well…they sort of where. This time the bad ponies are hiding themselves and what they’re doing. The Great and Powerful Trixie is going to have to shine the light of justice into the gloom to root out the bad ponies to make sure she’s getting the right ones. Understand?”

It wasn’t her best piece of fast talking. Bushel still looked a little confused, but she gave a little nod, “Okay…you’ll find the bad ponies but they’re hiding. Maybe I could help you look for them?”

“You’re already helping me plenty,” said Trixie, “By believing. And of course protecting my hat.”

“It’s a really cool magic hat,” Bushel said, putting a hoof on it with a smile. Now that was better, Trixie much preferred to see her audience smiling.

Bushel went back to her room, which apparently was shared with her two siblings. Trixie caught a glimpse of Breadcrumb and Milkdrop sharing a bed, which Bushel also clambered into. Trixie breathed a light laugh. The sight brought back memories of growing up in Neigh Orleans and having to share a bed with her many cousins.

Going to the guest bedroom Trixie levitated off her cape and tossed it to the side, followed by her saddlebags. She paused, looking at the saddlebags and briefly considered ignoring Raindrops and Cheerilee’s warnings. She did have that petrification removal spell to study after all. She heaved a sigh, knowing her friends would fulfill their threat if they found her still awake. Raindrops had promised to wake her in five hours, enough time to get some rest and still get to the spot where the ‘shipment’ was to show up by the fourth hour.

Trixie stretched her aching limbs and flopped onto the guest rooms only bed…only dully realizing that either she and her friends were going to have to either sleep in shifts or that somepony would have to make do with the floor. Too tired to care now.

Trixie had only just closed her eyes when a piercing roar echoed from outside the room’s window and she snapped them back open.

At first she thought she’d imagined it, but a second later another roar sounded, even closer. She barely stumbled off the bed and reached the window in time to see what was causing the racket.

Oaton’s homes were mostly still lit with the lights of family’s that hadn’t quite bedded down for the night, and the night itself was a clear and star filled one, Luna’s moon at three quarters full and casting a dull silvery glow over the village.

Making the twenty five foot long shadowy form of a basilisk stomping into town all the easier to see…