√100: Treading On Hooves
On the opposite side of the Everfree Forest from Ponyville, there began a hotter portion of Equestria that housed two towns: Little Loosa and Dodge City, both of which had their own train stations. Further south from both of these settlements was a range of wide, snowcapped mountains, the Macintosh Hills, forming a kind of sickle shape that divided Equestrian civilization from the Mysterious South. In the curve of this sickle there was a valley, and in this valley were the Badlands.
From a distance, the easiest parts of the Badlands to see were by far its mountains - broad, flat-topped pillars of rusty-orange sandstone, their sides worn smooth enough to glisten like glass in the searing sunlight. One in particular, a narrow spire with a bulging, rounded top, could be seen even from Dodge City, looming over much of the orange landscape from the rough center of the Badlands and peeking between the Macintosh Hills like a nosy neighbor peering over a fence. If it were on Earth, the mountain would be named something like the Rooster or the Devil’s Rod, but the inhabitants of Dodge City had cleaner minds than that, and so they referred to it as the Spoon.
It was in the shadow of the Spoon, packed into the pass that connected the Badlands to Dodge City, that Amberhoof sat - a collection of baked-pale, scraggly timber buildings crammed together and atop each other higgledy-piggledy in a way that generally resembled a thick, sprawling wall of piled wood, though there was debate among travelers of whether that wood looked most like it was charred, rotting, or driftwood. As Lapis walked the final dozen or so yards down the road that led between the nearest train station and his destination, he saw the true nature of the Badlands: subtly-rolling expanses of reddish-orange sand that was just a little too coarse to be called dust, but which was still light enough to get whipped up into opaque, pore-clogging clouds by every little breeze. Hazy wisps of the sand were blown to and fro about the streets of Amberhoof, the solitary pedestrians familiar enough with the gusts to squint and turn their heads at the appropriate time.
Lapis, however, wasn’t accustomed in the same way, and so he settled for keeping his head down as he approached one of the locals, a fit-looking, well-groomed Earth-pony mare with a coat that was of a similar color to the sand. “Hey, sorry to bother, but would you happen to know where I could find an inn for a night or two?”
The stranger looked up, apparently surprised, examining Lapis up and down with a startlingly-bright pair of leaf-green eyes. She considered for a moment, then spoke. “Head down that road, go up the second staircase on the right, then turn right again and keep going until you see the door with the yellow paint.”
“Thanks,” Lapis said, the stranger nodding as they turned and headed in opposite directions, Nikki remaining perched on Lapis’ back as he headed down the street. What the stranger had meant by staircases shortly became clear - Amberhoof, having far less open space than Ponyville, was built far more vertically, with multiple levels of buildings and houses crammed together atop and against each other so that walking through the town made Lapis feel like a mouse exploring a pile of cardboard boxes. The second staircase on the right led up to a winding, fenced alcove of a walkway, and Lapis wondered whether he was walking on somepony’s roof as he hung a right.
This place has gotta be a logistical nightmare, he thought, peering up at one of the few patches where the sky wasn’t obscured by one of the buildings’ floors. There’s no way all this was planned. Are all the chimneys interconnected? The plumbing, the… whatever-passes-for-magic-wiring? If your chimney gets blocked, does clearing it out mean taking out a wall in your upstairs neighbor’s living room?
Despite however randomly it had been built, Amberhoof felt as sturdy as if it had been carved from stone. Nothing swayed or creaked in the wind, and the timbers thunked with reassuring solidity beneath Lapis’ hooves as he pushed open the yellow door and stepped into the inn.
The proprietor of the building was a pegasus, a trim stallion with a pale yellow coat and a carefully-groomed, dark reddish mane. He, too, took a second or two to look Lapis up and down before speaking. “…Welcome to the Hole-in-the-Wall Inn. How long do you plan on staying?”
“Two nights,” Lapis said, tuning out Nikki as she briefly fluttered for balance atop his head. “Not looking for anything fancy, though - a room and a bed should be plenty. What’re the rates?”
The innkeeper listed off a few rooms along with their rates, adding that breakfast was included for all of the rooms. Lapis thought for a second, then took the cheapest of the bunch. A small, heavy stack of bits made its way between Lapis’ saddlebags and the other side of the counter, and the stallion took a small clipboard out from beneath the counter - then smirked and rolled his eyes. “Oh, almost forgot. I’m Kacha, Kacha Neil. And you are?”
“Lapis Print,” Lapis said, “and this is Nikki.”
“Lapis… Print,” Kacha said, speaking from the corner of his mouth as he scribbled on his clipboard. “Hey, nice, another pigment! My dad was a dyemaker.”
“…Mine was an engineer,” Lapis lied. “But I guess naming me ‘blueprint’ would’ve been a little too much.”
“Well, at least you’re not ‘Dipstick,’” Kacha said, and Lapis snorted as the innkeeper resumed scribbling. “…And that’s two nights, in room double-oh-three, and… done! Here’s your key.”
Kacha grabbed Lapis’ key ring from beneath the desk, and Lapis took it at once. “I’ll show you to the right doorknob. So, what brings you here, Lapis?”
“Broken tools,” Lapis said, following the pegasus down the hall. “Smithing tools, actually. Big swarm of magic bugs chewed through my usual set, and I figured that if you’ve got them here, it’s cheaper than going to Canterlot.”
“Oh, you’re a smith, huh?” Kacha said, glancing back toward Lapis. “I never would’ve guessed, your Mark makes it kinda hard…”
“Nope,” Lapis said. “No, I’m a repair-pony, the metalworking is really more of a side job.” Out of curiosity, he glanced at Kacha’s Cutie Mark, and found it to be a simple picture of a tightly-made bed.
“I get that,” Kacha was saying. “I’m not really an artist, but I paint a little as a hobby. It’s not great, and my friends at the bar give me some trouble for it, but it’s all in good fun.”
Lapis shrugged. “Mine only found out about two weeks ago. I keep kinda busy - only repair-pony in town, I wind up throwing Mend-Alls at everything, so we didn’t talk as much as we liked. I think I got them worried, though - they’ve been checking in with me a lot more than usual, lately.”
“Aw, that sucks,” Kacha said. “I mean, that they’re worried. Good that they’re touching base… and, here we are!” He stopped in front of a sturdy-looking wooden door, then gestured toward the knob. “Alright, so once you’re done, just be sure to check in that key sometime before noon. Any later than that, and I won’t be at the desk. Sound good?”
“Got it,” Lapis said. “It was actually kind of a long train ride over here, so I was thinking I should turn in.”
“Heard that one before,” Kacha said. “Trust me, that walk over here from Dodge City gets everypony ready for a rest stop. Probably why this town’s built here… anyway, I’ll see you in the morning!”
“See you!” Lapis said, waving to Kacha as he turned and walked away down the hall. Then, carefully, he inserted the key into the doorknob, turned it, stepped into the room, and shut the door behind him, locking it tight. Then, he turned to survey his suite.
His room wasn’t a large room by any stretch, but it definitely felt more cozy than cramped. There was a bed in the opposite corner of the room, which had fluffy, inviting blankets and a small, broken chest sitting at its foot.
Nikki took off of Lapis’ head, perching atop one of the bedposts, and Lapis looked around the room as he set down his suitcase - the silence was almost stunning. He made his way over to the bed, then flopped down atop it.
The mattress was just as comfortable as it looked, and as he sunk down into the blankets, he grinned. I get to sleep here for two nights.
For two nights, I get to go to sleep without worrying about sidestepping the Element Bearers. For two nights, I don’t need to worry about where my mask is, or what escape route to take if I spot Twilight walking down the street.
From deep in his chest, Lapis let out a long, slow breath, gradually allowing his limbs to go utterly limp against the cool, soft sheets as he began to sink into a deep, soothing sleep…
…Except something was nagging at him. His brow furrowed, then he groaned, sat up out of bed, and levitated the chest into the patch of light that was pouring in through the window.
It was a long, low chest, stretching maybe five feet wide, two tall, and two deep. Lapis wasn’t sure what wood it was made of, but it was a deep, rich brown color, almost black, contrasting the washed-out, sun-bleached timbers that made up the rest of Amberhoof. The chest was scuffed in a few places, and there was a single scratch that ran the length of its front side, but it was mostly in good condition. The exception was one of the slats of its sturdy, reinforced lid, which had broken into the rest of the chest - it looked as if someone, maybe an overexcited colt, had jumped on the chest and put their hoof through the lid.
Easy fix, Lapis thought, gripping the broken pieces of the slat in a telekinetic field. There were a few small, dry scraping noises as the halves of the board ground against the other boards of the chest, until finally, they came together, and-
Lapis winced as his Cutie Mark suddenly seared with heat, magic yanking on his horn hard enough that he stumbled before a sudden weight of fatigue slammed into him. His aura grew to encompass the whole of the chest, brightening to the same candlelight hue it had been in the quartz, and Lapis barely had time to shut his eyes in preparation. Even through his eyelids, the flare of light was strong enough that he winced and looked away, Nikki squawking in surprise from atop the bedpost.
When Lapis slowly, cautiously opened his eyes, the chest looked far better than he was expecting - the slat was repaired, as was every scrape and nick on the chest’s surface. Even the long scratch down its length had vanished, as if it had never existed at all.
“…That’s probably fine,” Lapis muttered. …Actually, no, what the hell was that?! Did I accidentally level up my repair skills, or something?
Lapis glanced around the room, spotted a sheet of paper sitting on a desk by the corner, and floated it over to his side. He tore it in two - then, after a moment’s hesitation, he touched the two halves back together, and the sheet of paper repaired itself with nothing more than the usual burst of warmth and flash of light.
Okay… so it wasn’t that. Maybe this chest was just a special case or something. Lapis hesitated, then decided to leave the matter until the morning. After all, he thought, climbing back into bed, I’ll have all the time in the day to do it with.
A smile spread across his face as he sank back into the pillow, and finally, he relaxed.
Meanwhile, in Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle was standing next to the Carousel Boutique. The light of the evening sun cast a fiery orange tint on the map and compass she held before herself, and while it could have been equally responsible for the narrowed squint of her eyes, there was a slight crease in her brow that spoke of worry. Rarity was standing nearby, peering intently over Twilight’s shoulder.
“…Darling,” Rarity was saying, “I’m really not sure how to say this, but you’ve lived in Ponyville for well over a month, now. Are you sure you still need a map to get to where you’re going?”
“What?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, no, it’s not that I’m lost or anything, it’s… here, take a closer look at this map.” Twilight levitated the map nearer to Rarity, who craned her neck to see as Twilight raised a hoof to point.
“I drew this map as part of a damage report for Mayor Mare earlier this week,” Twilight said. “After the Parasprite attack, somepony had a Harmonic Cascade, and she wanted me to figure out what it had impacted. See this red circle? That, minus this smaller circle around your store, is the affected area.”
Rarity gasped. “Oh, my! Well, it’s a lucky thing my boutique wasn’t touched… although, I have been meaning to get that embroidery cabinet straightened out a bit.”
Twilight gave Rarity a flat look, and Rarity’s eyes widened innocently. “What? Darling, of course it’s a tragedy that somepony was so affected by the Parasprites that they experienced a Cascade. But when a wave of magical cleaning, organizing and lawn-mowing affects all your neighbors, while simply passing your establishment by, of course you must start wondering whatever you might have done wrong!”
“Rarity, it would have also straightened your mane,” Twilight added. “Along with any crooked teeth you may or may not have.”
Rarity paused. “Did you just say ‘teeth?’”
“Yes, I said ‘teeth,’” Twilight said. “When I interviewed Derpy Hooves, she said it felt like some big pair of pliers had just grabbed her teeth by the roots and jammed them back into place. Saved her some dentists’ bills, but… well, it definitely didn’t feel great.”
Rarity winced, shutting her eyes and clamping a hoof to her mouth. “Never mind,” she murmured.
Twilight carried on. “Anyway, when I was doing that damage report for the Mayor, I realized about halfway through that she hadn’t mentioned who was the responsible pony. I wanted to drop by and have a chat with them, but never seemed appropriate to ask the Mayor directly, considering that… well, I wouldn’t want ponies knowing it was me, either. When I drew the map I realized the circle was centered right here-” Twilight touched a hoof to the map again “-but, when I tried to check the residency records, there were no documents under this address.”
Rarity nodded sympathetically. “I’m sure Town Hall was an organizational nightmare, darling. But if you already knew what address to visit…” Rarity turned to face Twilight, touching her own hoof to the map. “…then why the navigational aids?”
Twilight glanced briefly to the side, her ears flicking back. “…Well, I’ve never been there, and it’s Spike’s day off, so… I’d rather not get lost.”
Rarity fixed Twilight with a skeptical grin, then spoke as Twilight blushed. “It’s quite alright, darling. Ponyville wasn’t nearly as much of a planned endeavor as Canterlot must be, so of course you might have some trouble getting around. Now, let me see…” She briefly inspected the map. “And you said this small circle was the Carousel Boutique, so that means this is… just across Cantering Boulevard from Acorn Route!” Rarity nodded, then started toward the central street of Ponyville. “Come along, darling, it’s just a few minutes’ walk!”
A few minutes later, Twilight and Rarity came to a stop in front of a short, squat building with dark red walls, a corkboard, and a large, yellowed glass window. Around the door was a piece of navy trim with three points at its tip, and on the corkboard was a single, small note. “‘On Vacation, Back on Saturday,’” Rarity read aloud. “Hm. Well, that’s disappointing.”
Twilight sighed. “It’s a good thing I prewrote a note.” She lit up her horn, and after a moment or two, a slim, dense-looking book with a folded slip of paper tied to it set itself down on the building’s doorstep.
Rarity examined the book and the note, cocking an eyebrow. “Twilight, darling, may I ask what exactly you’re leaving for this pony to find?”
“Just a book on Cascade theory,” Twilight said. “After I had my first one, I… wasn’t looking to have another, so I did some research on how they worked, and how to prevent them. That’s the book that worked for me, and that’s basically what the note says, along with what parts of the book I’d recommend paying attention to.”
“As well as some well-wishes, I’d assume?”
“And those,” Twilight said, turning away from the building and starting back toward her library.
Rarity beamed as she followed. . “How thoughtful of you, darling! Why, I’m sure whichever pony lives there will be positively delighted for the aid…” She glanced briefly at the corkboard, and her face lit up. “Now wait just a moment, I think I know who they might be!”
Twilight paused, cocking an eyebrow. “You do?”
“Of course, darling. That is the Red Repair Shop, home to the only repair-pony in Ponyville,” Rarity said, gesturing to the building. “He only moved in recently, but he’s been keeping quite busy. Why, just the other day, Amethyst Star was saying to me that she must’ve stuck at least a dozen or two notices onto that very board by now!”
“The only repair-pony in Ponyville?” Twilight asked, cocking an eyebrow. “Well, that can’t be practical. Has he been keeping up?”
“Splendidly, as I hear,” Rarity said. “In fact, one or two ponies have claimed his special talent is Mend-Alls, and that he uses those to do most of his work.”
Twilight’s brow furrowed, and she slowed to a stop as she walked down the road. “Mend-Alls…” She gasped, then shook her head. “…It might be, but I need more proof. Rarity, can I ask you something?”
Rarity frowned. “Of course, dear.”
“Thanks,” Twilight said, igniting her horn - and a moment later, a muddied brown cloak appeared beside her head with a flash of purple light and a snap of wind. “Do you think you could tell me who sold this?”
Rarity levitated the cloak over to herself, wrinkling her nose at the dirt. “Well, not ordinarily, no. But as I do try to keep track of all the fellow outfitters in Ponyville, I believe this particular cloak is the design of one Mr. Rough Cut, proprietor of the Stallion’s Saddlebag store.” Rarity turned the hood inside-out, revealing a semicircle of frayed, feathery fibers. “It’s a hallmark of his to sew the hems in with their ends exposed - he claims it gives his wares a rugged look, though I would be called sloppy if I attempted the same.”
“The Stallion’s Saddlebag,” Twilight muttered. “Rarity, could I ask you to lead me there tomorrow? I think I need to see if Rough Cut remembers who he sold this cloak to.”
“Of course, darling,” Rarity said, “but may I ask what for?”
“You remember Trixie and the Ursa Minor?” Twilight began. “Well, the day after that fiasco, when that giant rainstorm was coming down, I got myself marooned on the water tower chasing after somepony.”
Rarity’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”
Twilight blushed again, her ears flopping back. “Well, it’s kinda embarrassing. So this pony showed up at the library wearing this cloak, trying to return some overdue books, but… well, for some reason I thought he was up to no good. Maybe I was tired from the whole Ursa-Minor thing, or maybe I’m just overprotective of my books, but I started interrogating him, and he started running.”
Rarity cocked an eyebrow. “Did he?”
Twilight nodded, her ears flopping back. “And I chased him. We ended up at the top of the water tower, and I… might’ve accidentally dropped him off the side of it.” Rarity gasped, and Twilight sighed. “I managed to catch him, but when I did, I broke the ladder of the water tower and ran out of magic, so I was stuck up there in the rain. I would’ve been in for a long, cold night if they hadn’t fixed the ladder.
“When I got to the bottom, their cloak - this cloak - was hung on a stick, and by the time I got back to the Golden Oak, they’d already dropped off their library books and disappeared,” Twilight finished. “And since then, I’ve been trying to find them and apologize, but I never even saw what this pony looked like. Even Pinkie didn’t know!”
Rarity slowly nodded, then grinned. “Oh, so it’s a mystery then? Well, you can count me in, darling!”
“Thanks, Rarity,” Twilight said, heaving a sigh of relief. “I know it probably seems silly, but I’ve been feeling really guilty about the whole thing-”
“Oh, it’s not silly at all, Twilight,” Rarity said. “Why, there’s intrigue about every corner of this situation! A mysterious, hooded stallion, unknown even to Pinkie Pie, clever or desperate enough to evade the most magically talented unicorn in all Ponyville after a chase through the pouring rain - and who yet cares enough to risk his escape by refusing to leave her stranded? Why, if it were me, I wouldn’t have stopped thinking about it since the moment it happened!”
“…Uh-huh,” Twilight said, raising an eyebrow as Rarity half-swooned. “I think you missed the part where I almost dropped him off a water tower.”
“Oh, I most certainly did not,” Rarity said. “And that makes his willingness to put the ladder up all the more intriguing, Twilight - even in your adversarial positions, neither of you was willing to leave the other in danger. Separated by mystery, bound together by mutual care…”
Rarity went on, and Twilight lowered her head, her ears flopping back in exasperation as she let out a long, slow sigh. “I’m just trying to say I’m sorry,” she muttered.
Lapis woke up in a cool, soft bed, without any repair jobs or potential risks to the safety of Equestria to worry about, and grinned a wide, content grin.
Slowly, he sat up in bed, yawning and stretching his forelegs above his head. He opened his eyes, and found that the sun was just barely beginning to rise, a few wispy clouds on the horizon glimmering like gold in the first rays of dawn.
I wonder if that other stretch still works? Lapis raised his forelegs, then twisted them together, so that they crossed over each other just before his… are they still called elbows? Eh, whatever. Then, locking his hooves around each other, he pushed his arms away from his chest, as was rewarded with a sensation like a taut ribbon on his upper back.
“There we go,” Lapis muttered, and he began to angle his forelegs up and down, keeping them twisted together so that the taut ribbon was drawn up and down the length of his back. He wasn’t sure where he’d learned the stretch from, but wherever he’d gotten it, it was good - even now, as a pony, it still managed to get the small, cramped muscles between his upper spine and shoulder blades, stretching out some knots of tension that he normally wouldn’t be able to reach.
Lapis ran through a few other stretches until he felt completely relaxed. Then, he climbed out of bed and took in the rest of the room, grinning as he spotted Nikki still asleep on the bedpost - and paused as his eyes landed on the wooden chest. Was that facing the bed last night? It probably was.
He headed out the door, then made his way down the hall toward the main room. Kacha wasn’t there, but there was a clean, empty wooden bowl, a spoon, and a note, which read: Had to head out, breakfast by fireplace - Kacha.
Lapis glanced over at the fireplace, and found a small, steaming pot of oatmeal sitting atop the nearby flagstone, the handle of a ladle poking out the top. He served himself, then made his way back to his room, grimacing at the blandness of the stuff.
“Nikki,” Lapis said as he opened the door - then he froze, staring down at the wooden chest again. How is that facing the door now? I could’ve sworn it was aimed at the bed when I left the room.
Lapis eyed the chest. It’s probably nothing, but…
Carefully, he grabbed the sheet of paper he’d mended last night, and lifted a single, gooey oat from his breakfast. Then, using the oat as an improvised adhesive, Lapis stuck the sheet of paper onto the front side of the chest. As an afterthought, Lapis took a pencil and drew a smiley face on the sheet of paper.
A questioning coo came from the side of the room with the bed on it, and Lapis glanced upward to find Nikki giving him an odd look.
“Probably nothing,” Lapis said, shoving another spoonful of oatmeal down his face. “C’mon, wee’f gotta go find a smi’f.”
Nikki rolled her eyes, then took flight and landed on Lapis’ shoulder, and Lapis turned and left the room, casting one last look at the chest before he shut the door.
Once he was outside, Lapis again found that asking pedestrians for directions was a surprisingly effective method of getting to a smith’s shop - though, he noticed something else strange. Every time he managed to get one of the locals’ attention, they’d always seem surprised for a second or two, looking Lapis up and down as if they expected him to suddenly jump them. As Lapis pushed open the door to the smith’s shop, he was trying to convince himself that it was probably just his imagination. I mean, I’m always a little surprised when random people walk up to me. Maybe it’s the same thing?
“Hello?” Lapis called, stepping into the building. “I’m looking for a consultation, anypony in here?”
“Coming!” a voice called from the back of the workshop, and a second later, an ashy-gray unicorn with an easygoing grin and a pale-orange mane and tail stepped into the storefront. “Welcome to the Copper Coil Forge, my name is Firefly Tap, and I will be your consultant for this visit! What brings you here?”
“Hey, Firefly,” Lapis said. “My name is Lapis Print, and I was wondering where I could procure a set of small-scale smithing tools - basically, whatever I could use for artifice.”
Firefly’s eyes widened, and he cocked his eyebrow. “A full set of artificier’s tools? You sure?”
“Full set,” Lapis said. “Honestly, I’m not expecting you to actually have it, I just wanna know where to send a letter.”
Firefly shrugged, and the grin slid back onto his face. “Well, normally that’d be any one of the ten competing brand-names in Canterlot, but something tells me you’re here to avoid paying for heavy shipping costs.”
“That’d be ideal,” Lapis said.
Firefly nodded. “Alright. So first off, let me see if I can save you a couple hundred bits real quick: what kind of artifice are you planning to do? A couple big things, a few little things, a whole lot of everything, what’s going on?”
“Probably not as much as I’d like,” Lapis said, “but still a fair amount. Basically, what I’m looking for is a starter’s kit, minus the workshop - I’ve already got the forge, gems, and metal, what I’m missing are the tools.”
Firefly’s eyebrows shot up. “A whole workshop? Forge, anvil, grindstone, wire brush, workbench?”
Lapis nodded. “The whole workshop. I started renting a house, and didn’t realize the workshop came with it until after I was paying the bills.”
Firefly laughed. “Gosh, lucky you! I wish all my equipment had just fallen in my hooves that way.” He cleared his throat, then continued. “So, the good news is, that’s two-thirds of the cost gone. The bad news is, the other third is still there, so getting some tools will set you back by a couple hundred bits, most of which are the gem-carvers. …Although, if you can find a guidebook at your library or something, that might knock off a fair bit,” Firefly added.
Lapis winced. “Yeah, I had a guidebook, but a swarm of magic bugs ate half the words. A lot of it’s still there, but the sections on runescribing and gemcarving are basically gone.”
“Oh, that’s it?” Firefly asked, cocking an eyebrow. “Well, it sounds like all you need is a runic cheat-sheet, and a crash course on the basics… Tell you what, actually, I’m not too busy today. How much spare time you got?”
“All day,” Lapis said, blinking in surprise, “but you don’t have to-”
Firefly raised a hoof, revealing a simple, gem-studded bracelet, and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. Like you said, you’ve got a whole forge, and it’d be a shame to let it go to waste. So settle back, and let me give you the run-down.”
Lapis sat down, and Firefly levitated the bracelet off his hoof, setting it on the counter gem-side-down. “Alright, so what do you know about the different types of gems?”
“Not a lot,” Lapis admitted. “I don’t know what amber or emeralds do, but I tested the rest on my workbench, and wrote those down.”
Firefly held up a hoof again. “Whoa-whoa-whoa. All the gems? Including diamond?”
“Well, yeah,” Lapis said, grimacing. “I’m still not sure what the diamond did, but it got me all dizzy for a second or two.”
Firefly facehoofed, then looked up at Lapis with the same grin. “Okay. So, maybe don’t mention that to anypony else. For artificiary purposes, diamonds are linked to mind magic, meaning you need about thirty different permits to put even a spark of magic into a diamond. Even then, you mention diamonds and artifice in front of the wrong cop, you’re getting arrested.”
“Oh,” Lapis said, his eyes widening.
“Yeah,” Firefly agreed. “So, no touchy the magic diamond, the Princess no likey. Anyway, emerald is growth magic, and amber’s an extra-important one - amber does metamagic. And then, you know, ruby is heat, topaz is light, sapphire is cold, amethyst is pull, and quartz is either raw or push magic, depending on which wizard you ask.”
“…Right,” Lapis said, though he’d previously thought that sapphires just conjured water. Encouraging condensation actually makes a lot more sense… huh.
“So, runescribing,” Firefly continued. “You know how with regular magic, you gotta think about casting it, and also want to cast it? The whole intent-and-will speech your Basic Casting teacher drilled into your head a million, billion times in middle school?”
Lapis nodded, and Firefly went on. “Well, for artifice, that ‘will’ part - the part where mana decides to do stuff because you want it to do stuff badly enough - is taken care of when mana gets dumped into a crystal. What runescribing does, is the ‘intent’ part - it tells the magic what to do. So here’s why that works.
“When you’re carving a rune, you shouldn’t just be scratching out a funny shape,” Firefly explained. “You should be thinking, real hard, about what that rune represents - the concept, the action, the result, whatever. And, if you do it right, you end up magically imprinting your intent into the rune, so that the rune winds up affecting mana the same way that the thought behind it would.”
“Imprinting your intent,” Lapis said, raising an eyebrow.
Firefly nodded. “Yeah, it sounds a little weird, but it works. Magic, emotion and intent all like to stay together, you know,” he added, seeing Lapis’ growing skepticism. “It’ll work for any spell, even if you don’t mean for it to imprint on stuff. You cast the same spell in the same place often enough, all the extra wild intent will pick an object in the area and seep into it, bringing along spare magic and even loose emotion, until-” Firefly blanched and cut himself off. “Well, uh, maybe not emotion, so much. …Okay, look, I might be doing some research, but keep it on the down-low, yeah? Plagiarism sounds like ‘plague’ for a reason.”
Lapis snorted. “No worries, and good luck with the patent. …You think that’s how the Everfree Forest happened, though? A whole bunch of… wild intent, coming together into one place?”
Firefly shook his head. “No, that was Discord. But it was way long ago, so for all we know, he was an extra-large clot of intent, and the weird goat-thing in all the storybooks is just an artistic liberty. But anyway…
“Runescribing is that process, but done on purpose in a structured way. Carving the actual rune is just an exercise in focus, to make sure you’ve got the intent for long enough that it sticks - the only reason artificiers use standardized runes is so that we can understand each other’s work.” Firefly snorted. “And hoofwriting. That’s a big one. It’s the imprinted intent that matters, and it’s responsible for most of the telling mana what it’s allowed to do, when and where it’s allowed to do it, yadda, yadda, you get it. The exceptions are the different types of gem, you need those to determine what school of magic is involved.
“So, here’s what that looks like in action,” Firefly said, gesturing to the bracelet on the table. “First off, you tell me, what are these gems?”
Lapis frowned, then leaned closer to inspect the bracelet. There were five of them, arranged in a stretched sort of plus shape, connected to each other by thin, gleaming strips of copper. “Well, the left one is a ruby, and the right one is a quartz, but I don’t have a clue what the three gray ones in the middle are.”
Firefly grinned. “Not bad. The middle three are smoke amber, and they’re the reason this town is called Amberhoof. They do the same metamagic as true amber, almost as well as true amber - but we’ll get to that in a second.
“Basic design of a magic item is pretty standard: iron core to pull mana in, copper coating to channel the mana into the gems, aluminum studs to make sure the mana only flows through the gems one way. In this case, that order is from the ruby, through the smoke amber, to the quartz. With me so far?”
Lapis nodded, and Firefly continued. “So. This bracelet’s what we call an active charm, which basically means that once it’s charged up, it just sits there looking pretty until something wakes it up. And the ruby is what makes that happen. This ruby’s got two big runes on it: an affect inverter, and an effect inverter. Put together, they make what’s called an ‘eye gem,’ which - when it ‘sees’ a trigger - spit-takes out some of the mana inside of it. Since it’s a ruby, this eye gem looks for heat, and all the other little runes on it just say how much heat counts as a trigger, how close that heat has to be, other specific stuff.
“When it spits out magic, that magic takes the path of least resistance - and thanks to some runework, those paths are these three copper bands,” Firefly said. “These little short ones, connecting to the top and bottom smoke amber, are runed to accept quick, weak pulses of mana. And this big long one, that connects all the way to the quartz, is runed to accept a slow, strong pulse. That’s the one that carries the power for the spell, but it won’t happen until later. Right now, it’s these two smoke ambers that matter. Still with me?”
“I… think so,” Lapis said. “The ruby is an eye, when it sees enough heat in a close enough spot, it releases mana. Most of that mana heads to the quartz slowly, but the rest heads to the smoke ambers quickly.”
“Exactly,” Firefly said. “Alright, this is where it gets complicated, so hang onto your rump. Amber, and smoke amber, do metamagic - which is a fancy-pony word for ‘magic that affects magic.’ The top and bottom smoke ambers take their pulses of mana, and convert them into a little bit of information, a little bit of intent. The bottom one is runed to read… the location, of the trigger, that set off, the charm’s eye gem,” Firefly said, narrowing his eyes in concentration. “And the top one reads… the location, of the pony, who is wearing, this charm. Specifically, the point of their body that’s closest to the trigger. Those two pulses of intent get spit out at about the same time, and make their way into the middle smoke amber, which takes the midpoint between those two points in space, and spits that location out toward the quartz. Still with me?”
Lapis shut his eyes and concentrated. “The smoke amber converts magic into information, and processes that information - for this charm, it picks the space that’s exactly between the trigger and the closest part of the pony to the trigger.”
Firefly grinned. “Right on the bits. Now, here’s where the magic happens.” He pointed to the quartz. “At the same time that the location intent from the smoke amber hits the quartz, the big pulse of mana from the ruby also hits the quartz. This provides all of the will and some of the intent to cast a spell - the quartz knows where to do something, and it has the power to do it, but it doesn’t know what to do. That’s where this last rune, a spell rune, comes in.
“This,” Firefly said, pointing to a simple carving of a bursting bubble on the quartz, “is the rune for a very simple kinetic spell: ‘Pop.’ You pick a spot, you go through the incantation, and everything near that location gets pushed outward. The smoke amber provides the location, the ruby’s stores provides the power, and when both of those are put together…”
Firefly put the bracelet back on, then suddenly swung the hoof with the bracelet on it to the side, toward a lit, cracked lantern on his counter. The ruby sharply glowed, and then there was a bright flash of green light and a snap like a bursting balloon-
The lantern shot across the counter, falling sideways, and Firefly’s hoof was pushed in the opposite direction. Firefly ignited his horn, and the lantern was engulfed in a coat of acid-green light as he stood it back up.
“Pop,” Firefly said, shooting Lapis a wide, smug grin. “I love this thing. If I had a bit for every time it’s saved me from scorching my hoof on the forge, I’d be rich.”
Lapis laughed. “No kidding. You got one of those for sale?”
“Sure don’t,” Firefly said, settling down on the other side of the counter. “But once you get those tools? You can make one. Now, here’s the thing - normally, those tools would set you back by three, four hundred bits. But it’s not every day that somepony actually listens when I rant about this stuff, and it just so happens that my cousin Scorpio recently gave me his old spares. So, I may be inclined to let you haggle me down a little…”
“Well, that was unproductive,” Twilight said, stepping out of the Stallion’s Saddlebag.
“Twilight, dear,” Rarity said, smiling. “I’m afraid I wasn’t really expecting Rough Cut to remember. Why, I remember every single dress I’ve ever made, but I fear I certainly cannot recall everypony who’s bought one!”
“But he even had the receipts,” Twilight said, “and he never bothered to write down this stallion’s name?! Just the date! Of all the information to leave out, how do you not record the customer’s NAME?”
“Well, at least Rough Cut recalled what else his customer bought,” Rarity said. “So really, I think you’ve learned something quite valuable in your search. All you’ll need to do is wait until the first snow, and if Mr. Print should emerge from his store wearing blue, you’ll know he was the responsible pony.”
“Blue…” Twilight muttered. “…Blue! That’s it! C’mon, we need to talk to Pinkie Pie.”
Lapis Print emerged from the Copper Coil with his saddlebags considerably heavier - sure, he was out two hundred and eighty bits, but the weight of the assorted hammers, tongs, and cutting tools of various degrees of precision was well more than enough to make up the slack.
And honestly, I should’ve paid Firefly just as much for his explanation, Lapis thought, as he went down a flight of stairs and stepped onto the ground-level streets of Amberhoof. It’ll easily be just as important for my future endeavors with artifice.
There were a few slanted rays of sunlight pouring through the few gaps in the town’s strange layout, but the street was shadowed enough that it felt almost like an indoor environment, Lapis’ fellow pedestrians stepping into and out of easy visibility as he proceeded back along the route toward the inn. As he walked, however, he started noticing a few small, strange details.
For one thing, almost every piece of furniture he looked at was broken in some way. He passed a table and a set of chairs, all of which had one leg that was broken off early, and propped upright by either a rock or a smaller chunk of wood. Even the table had a large chunk taken out of its edge. One or two broken furnishings would’ve been odd, but if it was every single one…
Wait, no, Lapis thought, as he spotted an unbroken table at the corner of the street, by a shop that appeared to be selling hay dogs. That one looks fine. It was a simple, but elegant design, a wooden circle with four legs, and it was made from the same type of dark, rich wood as the chest back at Lapis’ room in the inn.
Looks nice, Lapis thought as he rounded a corner. I wonder where that wood’s coming from.
Continuing his walk back, though, Lapis began to feel worried. For some strange reason, he was starting to feel unwelcome - it was as if the other ponies on the street wanted him gone, or else they wanted too much for him to stay.
It’s the looks, Lapis realized, as he passed a greenish Earth-pony, who fixed him with a brief, almost startled-seeming examination before hurrying in the opposite direction. Do I have something on my face, maybe? Lapis paused for a second or two, leaning on a dark wooden chair as he checked his reflection in a window, but the glass was too uneven - his reflection was far too distorted for him to make out anything of value.
Frowning, Lapis climbed down off the chair, absently giving it a once-over. This chair, too, was brand-new and unbroken, and it seemed to be made entirely of the same dark wood as the chest - a deep, almost dark-chocolate brown that seemed to have a faint red tint. The more Lapis looked at it, the more he began to feel unsettled, until eventually he turned and walked in the opposite direction.
Am I having a panic attack? he began to wonder, dread rising in his gut as he turned another corner and came within sight of the staircase that would take him to the inn. Amanda always said they felt like this, like boss music you couldn’t hear was getting closer. Lapis shivered, ignoring another strange look from one of the passersby, and began to climb up the staircase - then stopped, halfway up.
Across the street, there was another piece of dark wood furniture - a pristine, unbroken end-table, between two other end-tables with chipped drawers, not far from the door of a flower shop. And though it was too far away for Lapis to make out for sure, he could almost swear he saw the edge of a piece of paper, flapping gently against the backside of the end-table.
Probably fine, Lapis thought, hurrying up the stairs, doing his best to ignore the startled expression of the Earth-pony stepping out of the flower shop. He pushed his way inside the inn, brushing past the empty counter, and made his way to his room - then, just outside the door of his room, he froze, suddenly remembering that the strange wooden chest was just inside. If that thing’s moved, then forget checking out - I’m leaving now.
Slowly, Lapis pushed open the door - and to his relief, the dark wooden chest was precisely where he’d left it, the note of paper remaining just where he’d left it. Lapis let out a sigh of relief he hadn’t realized he was holding in, stepping the rest of the way into the room and shutting the door behind him. Okay. All good.
Nikki landed on Lapis’ bedpost again, shooting Lapis a worried look, which he waved off. “Probably just paranoid. Don’t worry about it - I’m sure it’s just been a while since things have gone my way.”
It would’ve made more sense for Lapis to store the tools inside the chest, at least for now. That didn’t stop him from cramming as many of them into his suitcase as he could and keeping the rest inside his saddlebags, casting one final suspicious look at the chest before he left to find some food.
“Pinkie?” Twilight called, as she stepped through the doors that led into Sugarcube Corner. “It’s Twilight and Rarity. Are you home?”
“Oh, hey, Twilight!” Pinkie chirped, poking her head out of the kitchen. “You girls picked a good time - there’s three hundred cupcakes in here that need sprinkles in here, right now! Here, catch!”
“Whoa!” Twilight said, telekinetically snatching two jars of gray sprinkles out of the air just before they hit her face. “Pinkie, slow down, we need to ask you about somepony.”
“Well, ask about them in here!” Pinkie said, sticking her head back through the doorway. “Most of these aren’t gonna sprinkle themselves!”
“‘…Most?’” Twilight asked.
Rarity shook her head warningly. “It’s Pinkie,” she murmured, and Twilight sighed, then walked into the kitchen.
Inside, Pinkie was busy applying coats of blue frosting to several trays of creamy white cupcakes, which Twilight looked at only for a second or two before beginning to apply sprinkles. “So, Pinkie, I was wondering if you’d made any progress on finding-”
“Can you make this a little quicker, Twilight?” Pinkie asked. “I’ve really gotta get these done by eight, or else it’ll take way too long to heat up my liquid propane burner.”
“Okay,” Twilight said, beginning to shake the sprinkles a little faster, Rarity cocking an eyebrow and picking up the other jar. “Anyway, this is about-”
“Sorry, Twilight, but it’s really gotta be faster than that,” Pinkie said.
Twilight sighed, then shook the sprinkles faster still. “It’s about-”
“Just a teensy-tiny, eeny-meeny-weeny-bit faster, please?” Pinkie said. “But don’t worry, I’m listening!”
Twilight groaned, then pulled the lid off both her own sprinkle jar and Rarity’s. She floated the sprinkles directly out of the jars, spread them into a thin sheet over the remaining unsprinkled cupcakes, then let them go - and just like that, the cupcakes were now sprinkled.
“Wow, Twilight!” Pinkie said, looking over the sheets of pastries. “Great work! I should ask you for help with cupcakes more often, you’re sprink-tacular!”
“Can I please just ask you the question now?!” Twilight asked, putting her hoof down and looking around at the trays of cupcakes. “What are all these even for, anyway?”
Pinkie giggled, holding one of the cream-and-blue cupcakes up, the thin gray sprinkles glinting in the light of the afternoon sun. “Can’t you tell? They’re for the new repair-pony in town, silly!”
Twilight and Rarity both froze, looking over at each other before turning back to Pinkie. “Wait, what?”
“I’ve been having the hardest time finding him ever since he moved into Ponyville,” Pinkie said, bouncing over to the fridge. “It felt like every time I caught a glimpse of him, he’d just disappear, or start running in the opposite direction! But then Mr. Cake had him over to fix a table, and even though I didn’t catch him, I remembered to ask Mr. Cake aaaall about it a few days later, and it turns out his name is Lapis Print! He’s a repair-pony, and he’s super-busy, and he lives in the Red Repair Shop near Cantering Boulevard!”
“…What?” Twilight asked again, cocking her head in bewilderment.
“I know, right?!” Pinkie said, poking her head out from behind the fridge door. “I was in there! I had some of his blueberry scones, and I didn’t even know it! Anyway, ever since I found out, I’ve been building up supplies to throw a super-duper-looper-perfect party, to help make up for not being able to find him sooner. I thought I was all ready to go yesterday, but then it turned out he was on vacation, so then I had to get even better prepared!” Pinkie paused, then gasped, jumping three feet straight up into the air. “Oh no! I think I forgot to shred confetti for the partillery!”
“Pinkie, dear,” Rarity began, but Pinkie was already gone, disappearing out the door to the shop in a bubblegum blur. There followed a few brief moments of utter stunned silence.
Rarity was first to break the quiet, igniting her horn and shutting the refrigerator door, which Pinkie had left open in her haste. “Well, that was certainly unexpected. To think Pinkie Pie knew of our mysterious repair-pony all this time, and was having just as much difficulty finding him as you were…”
“Wait,” Twilight said, shaking her head. “But that doesn’t make any sense! Rainbow Dash told me all about trying to get away from Pinkie, it just isn’t possible!”
Rarity frowned, tapping a hoof to her chin, then her eyes widened. “…Twilight, would you say the same thing about trying to get away from yourself?”
“Probably,” Twilight replied, staring off into the distance. She hesitated, then her own eyes grew wide in turn, as she turned to stare at Rarity. “You don’t think…”
“I think I do,” Rarity said. “But why in Equestria would he be hiding from Pinkie Pie in the first place? She’s certainly excitable, but that’s certainly no reason to completely avoid her!”
“Rarity, have you ever seen him, either?” Twilight asked.
Rarity hesitated. “Well, no. Before yesterday, I’d only heard of him, but if he shops at the Saddlebag, I can’t imagine he’d be terribly interested in my wares, and I can’t say I’d ever gone looking for a repair-pony, either.”
“That’s still three out of six,” Twilight muttered. Then, she shook her head, starting to pace across the kitchen. “No, there’s still no reason to suspect something strange at play here. I’m sure there’s dozens of ponies in Ponyville I’ve never met.”
“…But how many of them have never met Pinkie Pie?” Rarity asked, and Twilight stopped in her tracks.
“Tomorrow, we need to ask Applejack,” Twilight eventually said. “That should settle it. Out of Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and her, Applejack is the most likely to have hired him at some point.”
“And if we find out anything else unusual?” Rarity asked.
“Then we start suspecting something strange.”
Lapis woke up the following morning feeling exhausted. He didn’t even bother to open his eyes at first, still mentally running through the events of the previous day.
He’d spotted a few further pieces of dark wood furniture, all of them broken, and the strange looks had continued all through the day. He’d been able to purchase a few additional copper ingots, along with a bag full of grape-sized chunks of smoke amber, but all the same, he felt like he was just about ready to get out of Amberhoof.
At least in Ponyville, I know what my problems are, Lapis thought, slowly prying his eyes open. The wooden chest was right in his field of vision…
…And the sticky note with the smiley face on it was pointed right at him.
Lapis felt his heart skip a beat, then kick firmly into overdrive, adrenaline beginning to burn in his veins as the tingle of fear in his gut intensified. That was pointed at the door yesterday. I know it was pointed at the door yesterday, because I pointed it there.
“Nikki, are you seeing this?” Lapis muttered. “Am I going crazy?”
He glanced over at Nikki, saw that she was still asleep, and groaned. “Nikki, c’mon, up and at ‘em. Something’s up.”
Lapis glanced back in the direction of the chest - then yelped in surprise, scrambling back on the bed, until he was pressed flat against the corner. “Nikki!” he said. “Nikki, wake up, right now!”
The chest was no longer in the middle of the room. It was, in fact, right next to the side of Lapis’ bed, and Lapis could swear that even the sheet of paper he’d stuck to the face of the chest had moved - instead of being flat on the front of the chest, it was now on the lid, so that the chest now seemed to smile up at him.
Mimic, Lapis thought.
Nikki woke up, looked bewildered upon spotting Lapis, then glanced at the chest and had a double-take.
“We’re leaving,” Lapis said, not taking his eyes off the chest. “We are leaving this town, right the fuck now. I haven’t seen it move yet, but when I glanced at you, it got from the middle of the room, to where it is now. I don’t think it wants to move unless it knows nothing’s watching it. Keep watching it, I need to pack.”
Lapis didn’t take his eyes off the mimic the entire time he was packing, and even once he was done, he stayed in the corner of the room by the door with his saddlebags on his back and his suitcase at his side. He didn’t blink as Nikki flew onto his shoulder, instead winking with each eye in turn. He kept his eyes open as he opened the door, stepped through it, and began to pull it shut.
With the very last inch of space between the door, he slipped, and in the instant that Lapis blinked, the chest had turned to face him, the smiley face he’d drawn the morning before now staring right toward him - then, Lapis shut the door, shivering as he made his way to the counter.
“Hey,” Kacha said, as Lapis hurried up to the desk. “You alright? I head a bit of noise while you were in there.”
“Bad dream,” Lapis muttered. “Right, here’s the key. So is there anything else to the check-out process, or do I just go?”
“Nope, you pretty much just leave,” Kacha said, glancing briefly into the space behind the counter, then looking back up to face Lapis. “I mean, unless there’s anything else you wanna look into…” A look of confusion dawned on Kacha’s face. “…Hey, am I crazy, or was that coffee table not there five seconds ago?”
“Coffee table?” Lapis asked, frowning as he turned to look - then he froze in his tracks as he spotted the dark wooden coffee table sitting in the far corner of the inn’s main room. Sitting at the very center of the table, was the sheet of paper with the smiley face, oriented in line with where Lapis was standing.
“Okay, is this some kind of joke or something?” Lapis asked, not taking his eyes off the table. “Did you move that?”
“Move what, the table?” Kacha said, stepping out from behind the counter and glancing over at Lapis. “Hey you look pale… er than usual, anyway. You okay?”
“Yeah, real funny,” Lapis muttered. “C’mon, Nikki, we’re going.”
“Hey,” Kacha said, as Lapis walked out of the building. “Hey! What’d I say?”
Lapis didn’t respond, and Kacha sighed, casting another glance back at the door. Yikes, whatever that dream was, it must’ve scared him bad. I gotta figure out how I got him mad, though, or else I’m gonna end up in a wall… whuh?
Kacha looked at where the coffee table had been, and was exasperated to realize it was gone. “Okay,” he said aloud. “You did it, my report’s toast now! Congratulations, you’re promoted…”
Kacha frowned, then he felt his eyes snap open as a possibility occurred to him. “Aw, grub,” he muttered, and then he was down the hall, sweeping a wave of green fire across the length of his body with half a thought. He pushed open the door to room double-oh-three, checked the foot of the bed, and froze as he saw the empty space at the foot of the bed.
“Oh, crack my chitin,” Cochineal breathed, the acid-green-turquoise lenses of his compound eyes glittering as he dropped the last vestiges of his disguise. “Firefly, you maggot-riddled pile of-”
Atop one of the walkways at the very top of Amberhoof, Firefly was watching as the very topmost inches of Lapis Print’s head disappeared over the horizon - and even still, he waited the standard count of thirty before turning back to the rest of the town. “Clear!” he called.
And as one, the residents of Amberhoof heaved a sigh of relief, waves of green fire washing over their bodies as every Changeling in the outpost dropped their disguises at once.
“…Okay, who was that guy?” Scorpio asked, from off to Firefly’s left.
“Not a clue,” Firefly said. “He didn’t scan like anypony I’ve ever encountered. But I’m pretty sure he’s taken up residence in our Ponyville watchpoint.”
Scorpio sighed, rubbing his forehead with a hoof as a set of buzzing wingbeats drew closer. “The Queen won’t be happy about this.”
“The Queen isn’t happy about anything,” Firefly muttered, not looking over as the approaching Changeling touched down by his side. “What’s up your shell now, Squish?”
“For the last time, Firefly, my name is Cochineal,” the outpost’s commander said, Scorpio rolling his eyes and taking off as Cochineal turned his glittering eyes on Firefly. “And y’know, this time, I think it might really be the last time. You know why?”
“Because of the artifice stuff?” Firefly snorted. “It’s called ‘creating an asset,’ Squish. You should try it sometime, I hear it looks great on reports. I hear your reports could use a little padding, too.”
Cochineal took a slow, deep breath. “No, actually, though I’m sure the Queen will be thrilled to hear you’re chipping away at one of our race’s precious advantages over the prey. No, I was thinking about how Lapis Print down there managed to get one of your little pet projects back into action.”
“They’re not mine, Squish, I discovered them,” Firefly sighed. “We’ve been over this, remember? Just because you find some neat new mountain in the West, doesn’t mean it’s your mountain-”
“Yeah, well, you’re the one who said breaking them takes them out of commission-”
“Because it does,” Firefly said. “Now, which one of us was it who left the Imprint in the same room as a magically talented repair-pony?”
“You were,” Cochineal said, “y’know, because you were kinda the one in charge of disposing of them in the first place?”
Firefly hesitated. “Uh… that’s no fair.”
“Yeah, sure it’s not.” Cochineal clicked his shell, and a pair of armored guards touched down on the walkway. “Now, your little pet scared him off, but I don’t think they mean anything about us to the average pony. But, that’s not a risk we can take again, so you’re going to clean up your mess, under supervision, and then we’ll see what the Greater Hive thinks about the little lines you draw in the sand.”
The two guards touched down, leveling stinger-serrated spears at Firefly’s neck, and he glanced toward the Greater Hive - the spire buried in the stone, the mountain that the ponies of Dodge City called “The Spoon.” From this angle it loomed, like it was about to fall through the pass, crushing Firefly through every floor of Amberhoof in one stroke. Then, he looked back at Cochineal. “Y’know, Cochi, there’s an easier solution here.”
“Oh, now you give enough of a heap to use my real name,” Cochineal said, but he didn’t fly away.
“He’s not far off,” Firefly said, gesturing down the road. “You could solve all your worries at once. Let me clean up on my own, and get these two big bugs chasing after him instead of me. One more group of worried friends, one more pony in a pod. So what? What’s one more pony, one more drop of water from the ocean?”
Cochineal looked out toward the path, and though the two guards didn’t lower their spears from Firefly’s neck, they glanced at each other, then at Cochineal, awaiting their orders. Their commanded didn’t move, the glare on his face hardening like gemspittle into amber as he watched the point where the path met the horizon.
“One too many,” Cochineal said, not looking at Firefly. “Get him out of my sight.”
“You’re making a mistake, Squish,” Firefly snapped, as the guards trained their gazes on him again, directing him down the stairs at spearpoint. “The Queen’ll eat both our heads and you know it, you roach!”
“She doesn’t actually do that,” Cochineal said, his voice weary. “Nah, what she’ll do is stick us both in a wall, and let the real roaches drop filth on our heads. Move him along, please, and shut him up if he talks again.”
“Oh, that's real mature of you, Squish,” Firefly snarled.
Cochineal sighed and turned to look at Firefly, the look on his face disappointed as he nodded to one of the guards. The guard nodded in reply, and shortly afterward, he punctuated the commander’s wordless retort with the blunt, copper-reinforced butt of his spear.
“You think he wishes he was on the other end?” Firefly heard one of the guards say, as the corners of his vision went dark, and the other snickered.
“Nah,” Cochineal said, gesturing to the spear. “If I know him, he’s wishing he was holding his hoofwork.”
Lucky guess, you grub of an oooww, Firefly thought, and then everything went quiet.
Meanwhile, back in Ponyville, Twilight and Rarity were heading up the hill toward the Apple family barn. To both of their mild surprise, Pinkie was bouncing along behind them, humming a cheerful tune to herself.
Applejack emerged from the apple-cellar just as they crested the hill, and regarded the trio with faint surprise. “Why, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Ah wasn’t expectin’ to see all y’all up here today! What’s the occasion?”
“Not casual, I’m afraid,” Rarity said, coming to a halt. “Applejack, we’re terribly sorry to bother, but have you ever enlisted the services of a unicorn by the name of Lapis Print?”
Applejack’s eyebrows shot up. “What, has he been givin’ the rest of y’all the slip, too?”
Twilight and Rarity exchanged grim looks, then Twilight nodded. “He has, yes. Rarity’s never met him, I’ve only seen him once, and Pinkie Pie couldn’t find him for weeks after he moved here. Given that all of us are Element Bearers, I have reason to suspect he might be-”
“Landssakes,” Applejack muttered, facehoofing. Then, she heaved a sigh and spoke, her voice loud and clear. “Twi, Big Mac is an acquaintance of Lapis’. The two o’ them had a talk recently, about whether and why he was steerin’ clear of me, and Big Mac was kind enough to share a detail or two. Ah was hopin’ Ah wouldn’t need to explain it to all y’all, but here we are.”
“Explain what?” Twilight asked, cocking her head in confusion.
“Explain,” Applejack said, “that you, me, and every other pony he’s avoidin’ have one thing in common, besides bein’ able to use some fancy magic bangles. We’ve saved Equestria, Twi. Most other ponies haven’t done that. They might imagine they can, but when it comes down to it, most of them don’t think they really could, and a lot of them know that we have. That puts us on one side of a fence, and them on the other.”
“You think he’s nervous around us?” Pinkie asked, sitting down and cocking her head in confusion.
Applejack nodded. “Or Big Mac thinks so, anyhow. An’ for what it’s worth, he’s not hidin’ that he exists - hay, every job Ah hired him to do, he did. He’s just a bit like how Fluttershy is around folks she doesn’ know - he’ll be there if he needs to be, but he sure ain’t gonna waltz on up and start talkin’ if he can help it.”
“Oh,” Rarity muttered. “Well, that isn’t nearly as exciting as what I had in mind.”
“Ah s’pect not,” Applejack said. “Now, since y’all’re up here anyhow, could Ah bother you to come over an’ help me sort through a barrel or two of these apples?”
“Hmm…” Pinkie said, her eyes narrowing in deep thought. “…Only if we hurry. I might have an entire party to re-coordinate with Fluttershy ASAP, and three hundred cupcakes to eat. Oh, and also an appointment at noon, to renew my ballooning license!”
“Of course, Applejack,” Twilight said, starting down the stairs, then she looked over at Pinkie. “You have a ballooning license?”
“Well, duh!” Pinkie said, gesturing to her Cutie Mark. “Ooh, hey! You wanna go for a flight sometime? The view’s great, it really helps you see why Rainbow lives up there!”
“I have a ballooning license too, y’know,” Twilight said. “But thank you, Pinkie. …And thanks to you too, Applejack. I was getting a little worried about this whole situation.”
“Ah know the feelin’,” Applejack muttered. “Hey, Rares, what’s the matter? You scared of puttin’ yer hooves to work?”
Rarity scoffed. “Not a bit, thank you. I was just… hoping this might turn out to be a little more exciting, that’s all.”
“It’s Ponyville,” Twilight said, approaching the first barrel of apples. “It never stays boring for long. …Applejack, what exactly are we sorting for, here?”
“Go through each barrel in turn, toss any bad ones you find up the stairs, and make sure there’s no apples in there what shouldn’t be,” Applejack said. “That one’s s’posed to be all Honeycrisp, but Ah think Ah spotted a couple Galas in there.”
“…And are those mostly red with green patches, or with yellow?”
Applejack shrugged. “Both could be either, dependin’. Jus’ trust me, some o’ them will feel different.”
“Right,” Twilight said, and she began to sort through the barrel - and as she did, sure enough, she began to make a small stack to the side of the barrel, finding that some of the apples really did just feel different.
Twilight would’ve felt a lot better about her discovery, if not for the fact that - for some reason she just couldn’t quite put her hoof on - something else felt different, too.
Dear Princess Celestia, she began to compose, and realized she didn't yet know how to continue.
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I love it!
Mimic town scares me too much to hate the concept of them being changeling pets. Excellent chapter my friend!
I like the new chapter and I love mimics too!
After it was revealed that the 'Red Repair Shop' was a changeling outpost, I kind of figured that Amberhoof would be as well. Especially with it's location by the Badlands. (IIRC, the ponies don't learn that the hive is there until waaaaaay later) It's in a prime location to act as both a border fortress, and as a staging and rallying area for ongoing espionage efforts.
I wonder what a Fluttershy influenced, Welcome to Ponyville, Sorry for Scaring You, 1 Month+ Makeup Party will look like. It's clearly non-optional at this point.
Edit: Also, that mimic was great! I hope it follows Lapis home, he could use a pet.
Man. Now I wish I had a mimic friend
So hmm, is the Mimic friendly and just wants to stay with him? Or is it dangerous?
Well it's probably not dangerous, given it didn't do a thing to him while he was asleep, it just stayed near him... so I guess it's just happy it got fixed up and wants to stay with him. :3
What in the world is with this incredible update schedule, your popping out 10k words a week my dude
always fear the sapient-pearwood items. ALWAYS!!!!!!
Loved this chapter. I recently finished RB's latest Detective Rarity story; it was nice to see those character traits echoed here.
I must say, I really enjoy this series! the characters are compelling and the comedy is also great.
*looks at patch notes* What's an "undlear?"
Sounds like lapis earned himself the loyalty of his very own Luggage. Or would this one be a Chester?
Man I Love all the Artifice stuff, and I cannot wait to learn more with Lapis, it's amazing. Also a "ghost town" of changelings is a super cool idea.
Sidenote: I can't wait to eventually have to learn a forgotten language to figure out what chapter number we're on
I really like this approach when it comes to inserting a character into MLP when the intent is for "main" events to play out the same way as in the show.
I often think that the main characters in many "Inserted into Equestria" don't really add to the plot. Many of them have the OC / Self-Insert follow along main cast episode-by-episode and the plot continues as normal, accomplishing everything that would have even if the new character was never there.
But in this story, it all lines up together.
It would make sense that someone has to be repairing all the damage done to Ponyville on a regular basis. There are a lot of background characters that don't interact with the main cast, or at the very least don't do so often. The only difference here is that this "background character" is actively avoiding them.
I've been loving the story so far and I hope to see more.
Okay. Honestly took me a few rereads of the changeling sections to understand what's going on.
The changelings found mimics, or something close to them, and tried to "decommission them" by breaking them. It didn't quite work. Blacksmith was giving away too many secrets, and tried to tell the commander that he can go and pod Lapis. Commander
sent him off with an armed guard to take Lapis down. Or to properly destroy the mimics. Fixed-up mimic is tailing Lapis, bonded to the pony who fixed him.None of that was quite clear at first, but I understand now. Very interesting stuff– but in the show, changelings can turn into intimate objects. Are there mimics and changeling-mimics too, or is that retconned?
This, and its paragraph, is also confusing. I think this paragraph is suggesting that the Commander is ordering the Blacksmith to go destroy all the mimics completely, refusing to let the Blacksmith take and pod Lapis? And that quote is him saying that the mimics wont give away the fact that they are changelings?
I don't have any specific suggestions, but making these sections more clear could help with readers understanding what's going on. Or maybe I'm just a big goober who missed a lot of obvious double-meanings. Probably not, there was heavy usage of pronouns, which can get confusing fast.
Or maybe you want it to be confusing. In which case, you succeeded?
At any rate, Lapis is going to have several heart attacks before he can figure out that the mimic he fixed is friendly.
All in all, a really fun chapter. I especially love that things are still going on, despite the MC not being there. Just one of my favorite writing devices to use. The Mane Six suddenly putting their heads together is great, and Applejack jumping to the conclusion that Lapis is a male-fluttershy when it comes to shyness is both hilarious and absolutely adorable! Honestly, I almost wish that was true! Maybe in another story, Lapis is the perfect MC for this one....
Yes
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It's hilarious what it did with the smiley face, 100% deliberate.
Don't worry, Rarity, the truth is a lot more interesting than what you probably had in mind. Big Mac just came to the conclusion that required the fewest assumptions, which usually is the most boring possible answer and is therefore normally correct.
Also, I absolutely love how artifice is constructed, here. Honestly, "magic engineering" is selling it a bit short. Given how it seems the gems process information, "magic computer engineering" would be more accurate. It wouldn't take much to start building logic gates, and a computer is little more than a lot of logic gates strung together. Unfortunately getting anything to run well by modern standards on MagicOS would probably take more gems than most dragons' hoards.
Oh so close and yet so far. On both fronts of the chapter. Not sure I entirely support the idea of the whole 'haunted furniture' horror thing you had going on there. But a while village of infiltrator changelings? That is a concept I don't normally come across and I surprisingly enjoyed it.
Now, it becomes a question of whether Twilight and/or Rarity can hold onto the idea of Applejack's 'shyness' explanation of Lapis Print. Or if they'll still feel curious about this mystery pony simply because of how much effort he's putting into remaining anonymous?
I can't help but notice that you didn't exclude hundreds of feet, fierce loyalty towards its owner and burning hatred for everything else.
Reminds me of discworld and rincewind and his chest
Soon as I read the bit about green eyes I had wondered, then the Weeping Luggage made its appearance and I assumed I was looking into things too heavily.
It's Dodge Junction, not Dodge City. Dodge City is the one that's in Kansas and about five hundred westerns.
Maybe I missed something but what’s with this ai stuff? Is this story actually partially generated or is that just a joke? Sorry for not being in the know
Rarity is not the only one dissapointed, i thought the Chase would start, and lapis would have to be recuerda bye the elementos XD, oh well, lets wait more.
Returning from the trip a bit early...might help him evade Pinkie.
Can't a guy punch an interdimensional portal in reality in peace? Seems like everything is after him. Well, at least Twilight and Rarity have been given an explanation that will satisfy them for now...
Sussy chest
I wonder if that chest will gather and save some of its friends for fixing and moving to lapis town?
also smokey amber I wonder if that is a changeling specialty material? also, I bet Saphire can be water if willing to accept variety!
Had me going for a minute. Forgot changelings could happen. Was thinking for the longest stretch Amberhoof was a mimic colony. A "town" where 75-99% of everything was a mimic of some kind.
We need lapis to have a pet mimic. So great chapter
Watch it be Thorax
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I've got impression that commander considered smith's proposition on podding Print and rejected it as too risky (one too many) and that mimics if even discovered will not lead to any suspicion that there's changelings since there's no connection (I don’t think they mean anything about us).
so lapis has a shapeshifting luggage now? neat!
Also i canot wait till pinkie confrunts lapis and finds out that the reason she was avoided was because she would throw a party. might mess with her that someone would hide from her because of that
Well your story made me stay up til 4 am, been awhile since I've read a story that did that to me.
Bard: I put my gear in the chest at my bed's foot rest
DM: Roll
Bard:..o..kay? 8?
DM: you put your gear in the chest and go about your business
Bard:...aight? *plays some gigs in the tavern and returns to bed*
bard: I want to put my coins in my satchell before going to sleep
DM: roll
Bard:... *14*
DM: you open the lid to toss your coins inside haphazardly, and while you turn around to go to bed you hear a burp
Bard: wh- o HELL NO! MY LOOT!
DM: the mimic notices your agitation and jumps out the window, cackling all the way
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Like This?
pbs.twimg.com/media/EnHolL1XIAQenSp?format=jpg&name=small
('Mimic Colony' by Kate Irwin D&D 5e Tasha's Cauldron of Everything)
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My guess is that the patch note was about accidentally swapping the letter ‘c’ to a letter ‘d’ (“seconds” to “sedonds”) so the joke is that they don’t know how to fix it, so it even effects the patch notes sometimes.
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The “patch notes” is making the story seem like a video game as a more interesting way to say “I fixed X and Y.”, at least from my interpretation.
I realised that Amberhoof was a changeling/mimic town around about the time when we learnt of the dark wood furniture following Lapis around.
It would be nice to have a pet friendly mimic, could help with the to-the-point-of-irrational hiding from the Element Bearers.
Also: What’s Special Agent Sweety Drops going to think about the new pet mimic?
What's the bet that the next chapter number is gonna come in the form of a quadratic equation
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yeah I'm just thrown off. sometimes they feel like sincere actual patchnotes othertimes they're like "but wait that's not how that works is this a joke?".
This may be my fav chapter! I so do enjoy the logical & practical approach you take with magic, very refreshing. Better than some point and speak a phrase kind of hogwash many book series do.
When I heard in the previous chapter that the town was next to the badlands, I thought, “the town is gonna be mostly/entirely changelings, isn’t it?” It was a slow build up of creepiness, and green-colored confirmations. The people stopping for 2 seconds every time they’re spoken to in surprise was a clue, and it took about midway for me to catch on. The green eyes on the Innkeeper was a clue, and the “acid-green magic” was a dead giveaway.
A really cool design like that shouldn’t have green anywhere near its color-scheme, it should have some kind of soft glowing orange, an acid-green is just such a drastic difference I noticed instantly.
The buildup with the mimics was also great, I first figured they were changelings attempting to absorb emotions while he slept, and I assumed confirmation when he woke up feeling exhausted. Seeing them in various states of disrepair all over town helped with the building tension, and if I saw that in that room move like he did, I’d have threatened to turn it into sawdust and pushed it out the window. I do not like objects that move in between blinks of an eye. I Do not like it, Sam I am, I want to smash it with a Sledgham’.
Good chapter, don’t forget to check for mimics!
Wow good job on the creepy levels of the mimic/changeling town.
I like how Rarity hints that Twilight and him will get together (if Twilight's life was a story).
“Oh, I most certainly did not,” Rarity said. “And that makes his willingness to put the ladder up all the more intriguing, Twilight - even in your adversarial positions, neither of you was willing to leave the other in danger. Separated by mystery, bound together by mutual care…”
So this is a left-field reference, but this is what Cochi's nickname put me in mind of...
"Marlow Briggs and the Bugs Go Squish!"
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"nope, I don't want nothing to do with it!"
I’ll admit, I didn’t see Changeling ghost town coming. This chapter was fun, I hope that the mimic following us is friendly, living chests are great if they are friendly.
Lapis is thinking Mimics, but all I could think of is...
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But can they get it to run Doom?