Key Gear

Springer jumped, and his perfectly positioned conductor's hat fell right off of his head. He had been so absorbed by watching Magicon unlock the door that he had completely failed to notice that he was being watched. The sudden noise startled him considerably, but he quickly steadied himself and answered. “Yes, everything is fine. I am the assistant conductor, and this pony had my complete permission to break into... Uhhh.... To gain access to this room. You see, it's actually his room, but it was locked.” Springer shifted his hooves nervously; he had began by speaking with authority, but he became less sure of himself as he continued to speak. He was troubled by a certain thought. If these two ponies thought this was suspicious, then what would Vim think? What if they told him. Springer examined the two inquisitive ponies. Wait a moment... That unicorn is no older than I am and the Earth pony is just a filly. He picked up his hat, dusted it off, and placed it on his head. He was the assistant conductor, and these ponies were passengers. He smiled reassuringly. “My name is Springer, and if you need anything during the train ride, then you should be sure to ask me. I'm the assistant conductor, so it's my job to make sure that all of the passengers are comfortable and have everything they need. Let me show you both to your rooms!” In the blink of an eye, Springer had, in his own friendly and insistent manner, walked both ponies to their rooms and shut their doors after them. He smiled, adjusted his hat, and went to inform Vim about the unlocked door. Vim was peering into his coffee mug, examining the ripples that formed as the train made its way across the landscape. The train had just left the station about an hour ago, so Vim was allowing himself a brief moment of rest. As far as he was concerned, he had earned the privilege. Against all odds, the Los Pegasus Express had left the station on time, on schedule, and undamaged. Vim took a sip of his coffee. Across many years, he had established a reputation for himself as the conductor that never made a mistake. His trains were never late to depart. His trains never arrived with damage that was due to anything other than the weather. His trains only rarely ran late to arrive, and his few late arrivals could be blamed solely on the weather as well. Typically, the weather was his only enemy as a conductor. Yet, this train was different. Locked doors, destroyed doors, and a strange magician had made this the most complicated departure that he had ever pulled off. Especially the destroyed door. That had been one of the most obnoxious experiences of his life. He sat down his coffee mug and frowned as he thought back to the earlier event. The doors on the Los Pegasus Express were no ordinary room doors, they were handcrafted by Earth ponies using wood from a rare tree that grew only in the White Tail Woods. Vim had actually swung by the shop where the doors were made so he could observe the process. He had some skills with woodwork himself, but he had never seen anything like this before. Los Pegasus had spared no expense on the train that was to be its namesake. The designer of the train had made a point of saying that even the doors on the train were made with care and precision. All of these thoughts shot through Vim's mind when he surveyed the damage that happened on the door of room 4. There was no way he was going to arrive in Las Pegasus with that kind of damage and keep his reputation as a conductor. Ponies would talk, and he would probably find himself moved to a different train. That was unacceptable. His first thought was to find out what had happened, but, even with Dusky's coaxing, the passenger didn't seem know anything about the event. His next thought was to just get the door fixed. Vim didn't want anypony in the station to know about the destroyed door, and he didn't know of anyone with the skill to fix it… Except maybe for one pony. A unicorn that lived in Canterlot, not very far from the train station. He decided to make the journey, but not before reassuring the troubled unicorn from earlier. His mind was elsewhere, but he couldn't leave before he spoke with her. “You can call me Vim, and I'm the conductor on this train. Your ticket was a mess, but don't worry about that. I had a pretty good look at it, and I know that it's a real ticket. Don't worry, I'm not going to throw you off the train.” Vim laughed at his own joke before he continued. “Now look, this train ride is supposed to be fun. I don't know exactly what's bothering you, but you should let it go here at the station. Think of this as an opportunity for fresh new start. You know?” “The train will be leaving soon, so you should take this time to clean yourself up a bit and freshen up.” Vim spoke confidently, but he was still nervous on the inside. If it took him too long to get the door repaired, then the train would not be leaving soon, and he knew that he would look like a fool to this unicorn. However, he forced those thoughts aside as he continued. “Once the train gets underway, dinner will be served. You should go out there, talk to some ponies, and make some new friends. You know, don't let your past ruin your right now. That's what I like to say. I need to go now, but I hope to see you at dinner with a smile on your face.” Without waiting for a response, Vim left. Vim really didn't like unicorns very much. To him, it always seemed that they had easier existences than Earth ponies, but the sorrowful white unicorn had challenged his perceptions. Whatever had upset her, it was undoubtedly something serious. As he swiftly trotted through Canterlot, he thought about the fact that all ponies seemed to have problems every once in a while regardless of whether they had wings, horns, or just hooves. He would definitely have to check in on the sad unicorn again later. He reached his destination within less than 15 minutes. Despite his age, he was still a rather fast pony. When he knocked on the door, he only had to wait seconds before he was greeted by the sight of a wizened old unicorn with a tan coat, a blue mane, and friendly, orange eyes. The unicorn's cutiemark was a blueprint. His face wore a quizzical expression. The old unicorn greeted Vim cautiously. “Why hello Vim, you remember that I told you your granddaughter's game system would be repaired tomorrow, not today.” Vim meekly replied. “I remember that, but I have something else that needs fixing and I was hoping that maybe you could help me out.” The unicorn stepped outside and peered around. “Vim, there's nothing here to fix.” Vim smiled awkwardly. “Well, yeah, you know. Well... Look, Quick Study, I need you to fix a door, it's back on the train, and we really need to get moving quick.” With that, Vim started trotting back to the train. Quick looked confused but followed. On the way back to the train, Vim explained everything. He described the doors and how hard it had been to acquire them. He described the damage that had been done to the door. Finally, he spent some time ranting about the other problems he had run into. Quick was a fast learner but not a very fast trotter, so the return journey took nearly twice as long. The old unicorn listened in silence. He knew that Vim was venting, and he wasn't worried. When they arrived at the door, Vim stepped back and held his breath as Quick examined the ruins of the door. The unicorn looked over every inch of the debris. He poked, prodded. He shifted pieces of wood back and forth and tested the weight of some pieces with his hooves. After what seemed like an eternity to Vim, Quick grinned broadly. “I can fix it, and it will only take a few moments, but you'll have to pay me double my normal rate for dragging me out here to work on something so simple.” Before Vim could speak a word, the old unicorn's horn lit up with a bright glow and the pieces of the ravaged door were flying into place. After about a minute of whirling wood, the door was fixed. Vim was completely taken aback. He had heard that Quick could fix anything, but he didn't know it that it had been meant literally. To Vim, the damaged door was anything but simple. Quick's grin broadened at the sight of Vim's confusion. “I started in life as a wood worker making doors just like this using just my hooves. Of course, magic makes everything just a bit faster. I know you have to get going, so I will add the cost of this repair to the bill for the game system. Safe travels, Vim!” Quick waved as he trotted off. Vim stood for just a few moments before shaking his head and bolting to wrap up the final preparations and get the train moving - he still had enough time to make the deadline for departure. Vim took another sip of his coffee as he silently thanked Celestia that Quick Study had been able to help them out. He didn't mind having to pay, but he definitely would have minded not being able to get the door repaired or, worse, getting the door fixed but running late to his destination. Quick had, basically, saved his reputation. Vim looked thoughtful for a few moments as he pondered the possibility that maybe unicorns weren't so bad after all. He decided that he would definitely go and speak with the white unicorn from room 2 again. He normally didn't socialize with the passengers during dinner, but, today, he would make an exception. Vim glanced outside the window at the setting sun and wondered how preparations were going in the kitchen. Normally, he would never worry about Ambrosia running into trouble, but this was definitely not shaping up to be a normal train ride. He shook his head and hoped that the young cook would pull off her usual flawless meal. After all of the shenanigans and disorganization that occurred earlier, he needed something to reassure the passengers that this train ride would be one to remember. The cook was buzzing again, but, this time, the atmosphere was pure electric. Ambrosia had finished planning the evening's meal and was rushing to get all of the dishes prepared. She was never really a fan of serving meals with any specific theme, so she was planning her usual eclectic combination dishes. She was certain that the passengers would be hungry after waiting at the station, so she intended to make sure that she cooked more than enough food for the many passengers. To save time and to ensure that she would be able to spend at least some time speaking with passengers, she decided to use a few of the tables in the dining car as makeshift buffet areas. The tables were now beginning to fill with food - vegetarian pizza, dinner rolls, berry pie, apple casserole, carrot cake, a giant Celestia salad, a tremendous variety of sandwiches, and, her personal favorite, lasagna with eggplant and spinach. Then, there were the drinks - water (of course), fruit punch, apple cider, and an unusual spicy jalapeno drink that was Vim's personal favorite. Ambrosia was nearly done filling out the tables with food and drinks. In her mind, she ran down a quick calculation. She was using 2 tables to hold the food, and there were only 6 tables remaining. There were 14 guests, so some tables would probably have 3 ponies if everyone came to dinner. Perfect! She thought. She knew that Vim always preferred for his passengers to interact during the meals. A sudden blur of green obscured her vision. Springer had arrived to raid the kitchen. “Hi Ambrosia! Dinner's ready?” The pegasus spoke as he reached for a roll. Ambrosia gave Springer's hoof a sharp pop with a ladle and glowered until he took a few steps away. “Yes, Springer, dinner is ready. Could you get the passengers for me?” She smiled, but Springer looked miserable. “I think I'm too hungry to get the passengers, you'd better ask Vim to help you instead.” Ambrosia laughed, shook her head, and tossed a dinner roll at him. Springer snapped it out of the air and shot out of the kitchen and towards the last passenger car on the train. For each of the 4 rooms in the passenger car, he knocked on the door and loudly announced that dinner was being served. After finishing up with the last passenger car, he shot back through the parlor and kitchen and towards the remaining passenger cars. Vim heard the sound of his assistant conductor rousing the passengers for dinner and breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, the train ride was starting to resemble some type of normalcy. He would finish his coffee and wait a few moments before checking in on the passengers in the dining car. Key Gear had been reading through one of her books on the subject of the Frozen North when she heard the call for dinner. She was starving, and just the thought of dinner was enough for her mouth to water. She tossed the book aside and galloped towards the kitchen at breakneck speed. When she arrived, she was happy to see that she was the first passengers there. The food looked so perfect that it seemed to practically sparkle. Key's eyes danced among the various delicacies. A voice interrupted Key's reverie, it was the cook. “Hello there! My name is Ambrosia, and I…” Key was hungry and really didn't really feel like any formalities. “Hey! The food looks great! Where are the dishes?!” The cook didn't seem to mind Key's curtness and gestured towards the tables with an amused expression. Key was too hungry to be embarrassed. “Ok, thanks!” She grabbed a plate from the table closest to the food and trotted to one of the buffet tables. She couldn't decide between all of the various dishes so she grabbed small portions of everything. She took her plate back to her table and immediately started diving into her food with no regard for either manners or cleanliness. The cook wandered over and asked her if she wanted something to drink. Key gestured absently towards the drinks, and the cook looked shocked. “Are you sure? You know, we actually have some nice fruit punch and…” Key stopped eating, nodded vigorously, and then continued with the business of sustenance. The cook shrugged, filled Key's glass with a rather interesting looking beverage, and then continued waiting for more passengers to arrive. (OOC: It's dinnertime! This is a buffet style meal, so don't wait for service. Feel free to write your character as wandering in, fixing a plate of food, pouring themselves a drink, and having a seat. Nope, you don't have to wait on the cook or anypony else. Food is serious business!)

Time for a distraction...

I need to come up with a way of getting into the swing of this Halloween spirit… But it will have to wait until after I finish my RP post, y'all keep distracting me with freakiness!

@, So, something's really been wrong today. Folks have been overly concerned with my sleep schedule, and trying to make cupcakes using processes that are not certified as safe. (Yep, I mean a certain .) If I didn't know any better, I would say that Halloween was starting early this year… @, Somehow, the post above yours does not fill me with confidence…

I must have been a little bit off when I said that. You know, I just can't remember typing it…

Yep, questionable plans were definitely being pursued. I have the proof in the status: http://mlpforums.com/statuses/id/108484/

Yeah, there are a handful of weird things like that. I'm going to do my best to clean them up, but we'll see. It will have to wait until I get the train moving in my RP, will be pleased.

That was part of the joke… It wasn't an auto message. I actually typed it in… :3 That's part of an incredibly obnoxious bug that I have been hunting down for over a week now. Finally, I think I will be able to slay that dragon during this weekend. I have a few other bugs that I need to close as well, mostly related to the character counter not registering the correct amount of characters. All of them are ready to get knocked down and cleaned out.

Dude, I was making a joke

This post concerns an issue of technical or general support. Because of this, it would be best to open a support ticket for it. The ticket system was created to make it easier for members to receive assistance with precisely these sorts of queries. For more information about it, please visit the original announcement thread. Thank you. This is an automatically generated message, by the way.

No worries, you aren't the only one out there with family members like this. As Rarity would say, “They are uncouth!” I'm the same way as you, I don't like alcohol (I don't drink period) and I have the habit of being quite polite. Some of my family members… Are definitely not the same. I think that loving your family does not mean you have to be like them or that you have to be proud of them. Frankly, the most important thing is that you love your family, and sometimes disapproving of their behavior is part of actually loving them.

I don't think the helium is necessary, just a vocal range that is pretty screwed up. (I really love singing along to that song, and I can actually sound pretty close on a day without allergies affecting my voice.)

I still can't believe it either. It feels like just yesterday I was a little kid reading about Neil Armstrong. Going to the moon? The ultimate adventure! Unless you are banished there by Celesta. In that case...

Uhhhh........ What if I did?

Hmmmm, well I guess that's what a star child is? >_< Yep, that's about it. It's complicated though because the only thing that Zoop holds dear is his bald head. So, to break him, you need to figure out some way for him to actually grow hair. I'm not sure what it is, but it looks like it would be quite productive working on the site. :3 ALLOFMYWANT!!

@, You know, the last sequence in that music video reminded me strongly of the last hour or so of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Either way, I'm pretty sure that's how Feld0 starts his work on the server.

Jonke is so wonderfully modest. He has made something that is really quite amazing… That's why I always have Zoop make the announcements, he's actually bulletproof. I, on the other hand, am only fireproof. Bullets still shred me quite nicely. Hmmmm..... A technician from the other side? I'm cool with that.

Yeah, I do too. At the moment though, I am mostly working on things that are behind-the-scenes. And, that's only on the weekends. My ability to get serious work done during the week has taken a nosedive. Too much stuff in real life to mop up from Monday through Friday.