The Mystery of the Old Ponyville Time Capsule

by GrangeDisplay

Let’s Not Disappear Like A Firework

Twilight sighed contently as she reviewed her notes from her discussion with Fluttershy. She corrected her grammar as she hummed to herself, remembering that she would have to start the resorting project again first thing in the morning. The last thing she needed was for word to get out and for more ponies to reclaim their items. The rest of her friends would be coming in soon with Rainbow Dash possibly arriving sometime tonight; she might need to ask them to help oversee the process. Trixie and Starlight could also help, but the two were obviously preoccupied with their own task. Twilight just hoped that Trixie and Starlight’s “errand” wasn’t something illegal or potentially world-ending.

As if on cue the sound of voices filtered out from the hallway. Twilight recognized the squabbling of Starlight and Trixie, but their usual discourse was accompanied by other more concerning sounds. The sound of something heavy being dragged in brief intervals and the sound of sticky hooves ripping up the carpet caused Twilight’s ears to flick. She was compelled to her hooves as the thought of the inevitable mess in the hall spreading throughout the castle aggravated her orderly nature. She threw the door open and was met with the surprised faces of Starlight and Trixie.

The unicorns were covered in a sticky substance that matted their coats and caused their manes to jut out in all directions. Trixie carried two shovels on top of her saddle bags and was covered in significantly more goo and red spines than Starlight. She had been holding the missing crossbow in her magic before unceremoniously dropping it in a poor attempt to absolve herself.

Starlight smiled awkwardly as a stray arrow launched from the weapon and shattered a stained-glass window. She was also donning her saddle bags as she followed Trixie. It appeared that she was tasked with pulling a green chest by herself, and for whatever reason, she was only using her muzzle to drag the gooey box through the castle. She looked utterly exhausted as she panted and leaned nonchalantly against the chest. The mares had left a trail of slime and red spikes in their wake, leaving the fine carpet in a tarnished state.

Twilight’s eye twitched as she looked at Starlight, expecting some type of explanation. Starlight scanned the room for an excuse but found none. Luckily, Trixie knew exactly how to defuse the situation. “Twilight, tell Trixie. Have you gotten taller?”

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Twilight knew that she was a stickler from time to time. She had received her fair share of criticism about her penchant for following the rules, with Rainbow Dash alone contributing a lifetime's worth of feedback. Since moving to Ponyville, she had gradually grown to recognize that order wasn’t always the most important thing. But that didn’t mean that rules and order weren’t necessary or important.

Twilight believed that a fundamental aspect of leadership was knowing when to put your hoof down and when not to. Having seen the haggard state of Trixie and Starlight, Twilight put her hoof down. She firmly suggested that they clean up and get some much needed rest, promising to store the chest in her office overnight. They could collect the chest in the morning after Twilight received a proper explanation, and said explanation proved to be interesting.

“I still don’t understand how you ended up going to the swamp first, you said you checked multiple encyclopedias.”

Starlight threw up her hooves, nearly knocking over her morning coffee, “It was an honest mistake. Forgive me for not being an expert on wetland formation!” She huffed and slumped in her chair.

Twilight took a cursory look at her notes and considered what to do next. She was disappointed to hear that Starlight and Trixie had taken and used objects from the time capsule. She was also a little jealous that the pair had been solving a mystery without her, Starlight knew that she loved a good quest and riddle. As she looked at the two before her, she knew that there was little that she could do in this situation. The treasure was already found, the monster was already vanquished, the riddle was already solved, and the twinkie was already devoured. She picked her brain in hopes of finding some angle to approach this from. Some way to flip this whole scenario into a lesson. Her mind drew a blank. Almost every decision made by the residents of the Friendship Castle within the last few days was borderline unethical.

She tapped a rhythm out onto her desk before giving her verdict, “I will tell you now that I am not angry with you two, but I am disappointed.” Twilight ignored Trixie’s groan maintaining her authoritative voice, “You two took things that did not belong to you. The ponies of the future will not be able to undergo this quest because of your decision. I hope you both understand that.”

She stood up and began to pace the room, stopping in front of the chest. She placed a hoof on the chest before remembering that it was still very sticky. “With that being said, you both obviously went through a lot to find it. So, let’s open it up and see what’s inside.”

Trixie shot out her chair as she pulled out the key, she glared at Twilight once she reached the chest. “Just so you know Twilight, Trixie will not be giving you a cut of her treasure!”

A satisfying click was heard by all three mares as they crowded around the wooden box. They gasped at what they saw.

“Sweet Celestia! That's a whole lot of bits!” Starlight yelled as Trixie dove her forehooves into the chest. Cloudy Whistles’ riddle promised bits, but Starlight had no idea that the chest would be filled to the brim with glowing gold coins.

“Trixie feels something in the bottom.”

The mares began clumsily shoveling bits out of the chest until they found their last promised reward. Trixie cupped her hooves around it and pulled it out for all to see. A massive black and yellow firework with intricate star motifs and stripes exited the box.

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“What! I can’t just give it a quick read!” Rainbow chuckled as Fluttershy swiftly ripped the booklet out of her hooves. She had decided to stop by Fluttershy’s cottage to thank her again for watching her Wonderbolts show but was quickly distracted by the white book poking out of Fluttershy’s saddle bag.

Fluttershy huffed as she dropped the booklet in a miniature trash can. “Rainbow it’s very rude to come into somepony’s home and take their things without permission.”

Rainbow rubbed the back of head and made herself comfortable on the couch. “Yeah, my bad Flutters. I was just curious. If it makes you feel any better, it looked just like those egghead comic books you used to read back in the day.”

Fluttershy pulled a box of matches out from one of her drawers. “They weren’t just comic books, Rainbow Dash. They were manega, a form of Neighponese storytelling. And what I made… was very, very bad.” Fire illuminated Fluttershy’s features as she dropped a match into the trash can, ridding the world of her greatest sin once and for all.

“Dang Flutters! I didn’t think that it bothered you that much. Where’d you find that thing anyways?”

Fluttershy continued to watch the manega burn. “Oh, in the Old Ponyville Time Capsule.”

The Wonderbolt gripped the armrest of the couch. “The Old Ponyville Time Capsule?” Dash muttered as she looked away from Fluttershy.

“Mmm-hmm. The construction crew accidentally dug it up. Twilight’s um trying to fix it before anypony gets in trouble.”

A gust of wind almost extinguished the cleansing fire in Fluttershy’s trash can as Rainbow Dash rocketed out of her front door.

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“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash shoved her way through the window to Twilight’s office and collapsed on the floor. “Twilight! Fluttershy told me that you dug up the Old Ponyville Time Capsule!”

Twilight helped Rainbow to her hooves and laughed awkwardly. “What are you…what are you even.” Twilight sputtered as Rainbow Dash gawked at her. She sighed and hung her head in shame. “Yes Rainbow, I dug up the time capsule. But I’ve really learned about this town… and Starlight and Trixie even found some treasure.” Twilight’s consolation smile clearly wasn’t appreciated.

Rainbow looked around the room before coming face-to-face with a shocked Starlight Glimmer. The purple unicorn muttered something about Dash, “being early,” before jumping into the treasure chest and submerging herself in bits. She poured bits over herself as she wore a cocky grin. “Why if it isn’t The Rainbow Dash. Trixie and I were rewarded with all of these bits after finishing a quest.”

Rainbow continued to stare as her wings lay limp at her sides. “We had a slay a sundew just to get it. It was quite the tall order.” She waited for Rainbow to say something, for her to do anything, but she just kept staring. Starlight took her silence as a net positive and delivered the final blow. “And we did all of this without any magic.” She smiled triumphantly.

It took a few minutes for Rainbow Dash to register what she had heard. She shook her entire body into attention before speaking up, “cool.”

It was silent. Now it was Starlight’s turn to stare. Her eye twitched as Rainbow stood awkwardly at the center of the room and ruminated on something. “I-is that all you guys found?”

Twilight propped herself up on her desk as she looked to Rainbow, “That’s actually the most interesting part about th-”

Trixie interjected as she cradled the firework. “Absolutely not Sparkle! This is Trixie’s story to tell. We found this beautiful firecracker at the bottom of the chest! Now maybe if you are uncultured in the ways of fireworks like your Princess of Friendship here, you might not recognize how special this firework is.”

Twilight tried to protest, but Trixie silenced her with a hoof. “When Trixie was just beginning her illustrious career, she had to resort to underground and slightly illegal markets in order to acquire fireworks. But at the time, the fireworks market was a…up in the air. Fireworks varied greatly in quality and prices were all over the place. Then, Al Capony came into the picture.”

“Al…Capony?” Rainbow muttered in bewilderment.

“Yes Al Capony! The greatest firework designer, manufacturer, and seller in the game. Capony made a consistently good product. Everypony who needed a firework wanted one from Al Capony, even Trixie. But, almost as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared. He had many enemies who were jealous of his output and reputation. His remaining products still go for big prices on the market, not that Trixie would know. I make my own fireworks now heavily inspired by Al Capony’s genius. This firework here is a never before seen original of his! It is possible that this Cloudy Whistles was Al Capony or at least somepony close to him!”

Rainbow continued nodding as Trixie finished, her mouth moved but no words came out. The firework was the size of a grownpony’s head. It was a simple shape with a long cylindrical base and cone shaped top. The cylinder was painted with black and yellow stripes, while the cone was decorated with stars.

Rainbow raised a hoof to touch it, but Trixie ripped it out of her range. It took a few moments before the pegasus became aware again. She cringed slightly as she spoke, “So this Capony was a big deal huh? What are you going to do with the firecracker?”

Trixie fondled the explosive in her eyes as she contemplated Rainbow’s question. “Trixie could get a big pay out if she sells this to the highest bidder. But, as a fan of Capony’s artistry, I would love to ignite it myself and see what might be his greatest work.”

Believing that she was safe to talk, Twilight stepped out from behind her desk. “Or we could turn the firecracker over to the authorities. This Al Capony is bad news. Whoever this pony is, they’re on the Royal Guards Watchlist!”

Trixie rolled her eyes as she kissed the firework. “Oh, as if you care about following the law! Out of all the ponies in this room, Trixie is the only one that hasn’t committed some high-level offense such as…” She pointed an accusatory hoof to Twilight and Starlight, “using magic to rob ponies of their autonomy through mind or personality control or…” She pointed to Rainbow Dash, “causing mass destruction of property!”

Rainbow Dash seemed to have returned to her usual self as she listened to Trixie’s accusations. “Who even told you about that!”

Trixie scoffed as she turned away from everypony. “Sometimes Trixie pays attention to your boring life stories. If you all can commit crimes against the crown at least once, so can Trixie. I wouldn’t expect any of you to understand the plight of the common pony who actually faces real consequences, since you're all tools of the shadow government. They clearly erase all of your misdeeds in order to preserve your public images. It is only by word of mouth that your wrongdoings live on!”

Starlight, having long grown used to being reminded of her less than stellar past, recovered the quickest. “Trixie! How many times do I have to tell you that there is no shadow government pulling the strings from the background!”

Trixie paced around the room and purposefully spoke loud enough to be heard by a hypothetical recording device. “Well, Starlight! If the shadow government did exist, then Trixie would like a better deal! Must she find this Al Capony to prove herself worthy of Celestia’s light!”

Twilight groaned and face hoofed as she looked to any pony for help. “You know what Trixie, if finding Al Capony keeps you preoccupied then I give you full support.”

Trixie beamed at Twilight’s support. “A backing from Celestia’s little lightlet is as good as law. This is the final push that Trixie needed to search for her idol! Starlight let us interrogate this little town and find our mastermind.” Trixie pushed into Starlight’s haunches as they marched to the door.

Rainbow Dash leaped into the air and stretched out her entire body to block the door frame. “Stop! You can’t ask ponies in town about this.”

Nopony in the room seemed moved by Rainbow’s plea, she began to sweat as she scrambled for an explanation. “You can’t ask ponies in town about this… b-because they’ll totally freak out! Yeah. We had a big…no…HUGE problem with fireworks back in the day. It was so bad that it was a big issue during the mayoral elections. Mayor Mare basically won because she promised to obliterate anypony who sold fireworks illegally. If you bring up this mess again…ponies will riot or shun you or worse.”

Starlight looked to Trixie with a concerned expression. “Is it really that bad, Dash?”

Rainbow nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, it's really that bad. If you really need to find out more, keep it quiet and don’t ask any pony directly. And DON’T show that firework around. In all honesty, only the four of us should know about it.” She looked at Twilight. “Just us four. Not Rarity, not Pinkie, not Applejack, and especially not Fluttershy!”

The four of them exchanged looks before nodding in agreement.

Rainbow Dash stayed in the doorway, watching Trixie and Starlight leave with the treasure chest and firecracker. It took a couple of tries for Twilight to regain her attention and have her take a seat in front of her desk.

Rainbow shifted in her seat. “Those two sure made themselves comfortable with robbing a Ponyville monument.”

Twilight looked at her apologetically and offered a sympathetic shrug. “I know I could have handled this better, Dash. I'm sorry. But maybe this is for the best. Somepony a hundred years from now could have gotten seriously hurt looking for that treasure, and the firecracker is in good hooves now.”

Rainbow raised a skeptical eyebrow and puckered her lips. “You consider Trixie ‘good hooves.’”

“She is as long as she stays in Ponyville where Starlight and I can keep an eye on her.” Twilight pulled out a scroll and apprehended a quill with her magic. Rainbow rolled her eyes and slumped further in her chair knowing full well that they were about to have one of those conversations. “So, I was talking to Fluttershy about how you first met our friends, and she mentioned that you met Rarity and Pinkie at a party?”

The pegasus tilted her head from side-to-side as she thought about it. “Yeah, something like that. I had met Rares a little bit before the party after following Fluttershy to Ponyville.

Twilight began writing things down onto her scroll, she looked up inquisitively. “You followed her?”

Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head. “Uh…yeah, I was a bit worried about her. I was used to her always kinda…staying home you know. She would always hang around by herself and I would try to visit her when I could. I was surprised to see that she had suddenly made friends and was being invited to parties and was even thinking about moving away. She never really told me about it, so I had to go and investigate.”

“Was it…odd to see Fluttershy in a new environment?” Twilight asked.

Rainbow was silent for a while, she sighed. “A little bit. At the time, I wasn’t with the weather team and I wasn’t old enough to be a Wonderbolt yet. I spent most of my time just practicing and hanging out. Which was awesome, but kinda…boring sometimes. Everypony else had such a clear idea of how they could spend their time. AJ had the farm, Pinks was at the Corner, Rarity was pulling shifts at this toy shop, and Shy was learning about animals around town and hanging out with Captain FF.”

Twilight’s mouth hung agape as she checked her notes. “Okay first off, Rarity worked at a toy shop? Second, you know who FF is?”

Her friend smiled. “Yep, the place was super weird. They mostly sold these creepy dolls that covered the walls. Rarity would sow all their little clothes and paint their faces. She was miserable, but she needed the money. The Captain’s name was Firefly, but everypony called her FF. She was so cool! She’d trap and release monsters from the Everfree and keep the town safe. She was borderline senile when I met her, but she could still put up a mean fight. Shy would help FF out around her home, and FF actually left Shy her cottage as a thank you.”

Twilight looked on with awe. “I didn’t know about all that Dash. We actually found a message from FF in the capsule, she seemed pretty…cool as you would say.”

“Yeah, she really was. She even kinda helped me get on the weather team. She had a lot of sway in this town, being super old and all. Someponies just know how to call in a favor.”

Comments

[ibanix]

Interesting! I approve. Looking forward to more.

[Wild Stallion]

“They weren’t just comic books, Rainbow Dash. They were manega, a form of Neighponese storytelling. And what I made… was very, very bad.”

Come on Flutters. How bad could it be?!

“Trixie! How many times do I have to tell you that there is no shadow government pulling the strings from the background!”

Of course not! It's a bunch of Shadowy humans from the ninth dimension who pull your strings Starlight!

Nopony in the room seemed moved by Rainbow’s plea, she began to sweat as she scrambled for an explanation.

Well that doesn't sound like Rainbow Dash knows more than she's telling.

Rainbow Dash is totally the pony who made those fireworks isn't she? That or someone close to her like Fire Fly.