Key Gear

Happy Wars? Wut?? What is that? :3

@@Scootabloom, I could've sworn I saw you pop on for a few seconds… Where are you?!

Yeah, so I looked it up… Strangely, this seems to be what I found: Nope, no subliminal messages there.

Somehow, imagining that thing as Scootaloo just isn't working.

Special grooves? That sounds pretty… Legit. I'm leaning more towards the double-sided tape though. Seems more practical-like. I think that it's the angle. That episode had a few animation idiosyncrasies that I noticed - particularly some of the angles. They just seem to be used at less than optimum times.

Due to a certain issue that I have, I typically type using only three fingers on both hands. My typing speed takes a huge hit, but at least I can get away with doing that without having excess hand pains. To be honest though, I usually type with no fingers and no hands. Speech to text is a wonderful thing.

@, I know I'm pretty tired, so it could just be me… But that car looks like it is upside down…

This, so much to this. Yes! I really do strongly favor Berry Punch as a parent. The whole drunkard angle is a joke that has really gone on for far too long at this point. Tell me about it… So, is Pinkie a super genius or just doesn't give a dang? (Begin your overanalysis.) It's simple. Ponies are made out of a special type of Velcro that sticks to everything. Welcome back! :3 I only want to know one thing. What the hell is that?! O_o Dat pic!

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing myself… Nice to know that I'm not the only one out there

Has school weighed you down? Take a load off! Enjoy some random ponies :3 Edit: Oh gawd... Speech to text DERP

Dude, where in the world have you been?!

@, By the way buddy, I like your avatar so much, that I decided to use this similar looking one. :3

Good thing that I'm not a man… I'm a chicken! Pfffft... You know, I used to be HAL 9000? NewCalamity wasn't a big fan of that HAL 9000 guy either.

Yeah… Guys… I'm just joking.

I heard that he was thinking about merging all of the threads on the site into this one. It turns out that he's really been enjoying himself reading through this thread, and he thinks that the experience should carry on to other areas of the site.

@@Clarity, @, Just a bit of a forewarning, one or both of your characters will probably be stalked the remaining duration of the train ride whenever Dusky gets free time from engineering. Which is… Surprisingly often considering that he's supposed to be the train's engineer. Go figure. Of course, he means you no harm.

Springer was making his way from the caboose back to the front of the train. Unknown to Vim, Springer always did his own check of things before the train departed. He trusted the station crew to have the rooms ready for departure, so Springer didn't bother to roam the rooms checking every nook and cranny. Instead, he just took a quick peek in a few rooms to make sure that everything was in place. Efficiency. It was his favorite word. Springer's first job on train had been as a lowly coach attendant on the Manehattan Arrow. The Arrow was a crowded passenger train that ran the route between Manehattan and Baltimare; it was not very luxurious. As a coach attendant, Springer had to enforce seating arrangements, keep the area clean, and do all the little things that passengers tended to take for granted. Springer shuddered as he remembered his time working on the Arrow. The train was a disaster. The conductor was new to the job and didn't like to make waves. The rest of the train staff could be best described as aggressively lazy; they did nothing and they did a lot to make sure that they continued to do nothing. Springer was appalled by the practices on the train and he worked like a madpony to raise the level of quality for the passengers. In this way, Springer was able to master the skills that, he thought, made a conductor great. He knew how to effortlessly smooth things over with angry passengers. He knew how to save time and get the train moving without delay. He knew how to pick the optimal crew size for every train. He knew the exact size and weight specifications of the various train cars. He was like a walking encyclopedia of train knowledge. To Springer, it made perfect sense when he was promoted to assistant conductor. And yet… No matter what he did, Springer just couldn't seem to impress Vim. Springer shook his head. Sometimes, he found it frustrating. Other times, he found it amusing. Most of the time, he just wished that he would get some credit. But then, here he was on the Los Pegasus Express. Springer stopped right before entering another car as a thought suddenly occurred to him. How exactly did I get transferred to this train? Did Vim... No, it's not possible. Springer moved on to the next train car. Springer stopped in his tracks. There, right in front of him, were the two ponies that he had let on earlier, and, as far as he could tell, they seemed to be having some type of… Conversation? Springer was perplexed. They had both arrived at the train at different times, so he didn't think that they knew each other. Yet, here they were. Springer was terrible at reading the emotions of other ponies, but he figured he'd give it a shot anyway. The red unicorn seemed awkward. The lavender colored earth pony seemed… Like she was in love? Springer shook his head. It wasn't making any sense to him, so he decided to stop thinking about it. Suddenly, he remembered. Both of these ponies had rooms that were locked. He had meant to ask the station master to get a locksmith, but he had completely forgotten after his encounter with Vim. Springer cleared his throat loudly. “Ummmm… Hello there… I just wanted to apologize because I let you board the train without telling you that your rooms were… Well, your rooms are locked. We tried the master key earlier, but it didn't work. So, yeah, you might have to wait a few moments while we get a locksmith on board. Sorry for the delay. Uhhh… By the way, do you two know each other? I'm only asking because… Uhhh... Nevermind…” Springer took a hoof and adjusted his hat while smiling awkwardly. A stray thought fluttered into his mind, and his awkwardness vanished while his smile broadened with enthusiasm. Addressing the red unicorn, he spoke excitedly “Hey, you're a unicorn? You look like you're really go with magic too. Maybe you could just unlock the room door with that? That would save me another trip to the station master and you'd be up to get into your rooms early. Follow me, let's try room 16 first.” Springer decided to assume that the red pony would follow him. He turned around and started making his way to the back of the train again. He would've tried room 4 first, but he didn't want to take the risk of the unicorn's magic alerting Vim. He smiled as he tried to picture how Vim would react to the doors being unlocked without needing to wait for a locksmith from the station. Dusky stood in the shadows next to the entryway that led from the train engine to the rest of the train. He always loved watching the passengers as they boarded the train. He liked to study them. “So many emotions, so little time.” He droned softly to himself in his pleasant sleepy voice. Of course, he was never sleepy, and, strangely, he was never tired either. Dusky was, to put it mildly, a strange pony. He was a unicorn, but he never used any magic - nopony had ever seen his horn glow. Vim constantly raved about his work ethic, but nopony had ever seen him break a sweat. He seemed like he was always asleep, but he was always the first to notice when something was wrong. He had other eccentricities as well. Every once in a while, a passenger would be spooked by Dusky's shadowy form drifting soundlessly through the halls of the train in the middle of the night. Station master's would grumble about his unusual habit of following ponies around train stations for no reason. Behind his back, other train engineers called him Shadow Shovel. None of this bothered Vim. Vim only cared about how much work Dusky could do and how quickly he could do it. Dusky was a workaholic, so, from the moment he started working with Vim, his position was secure. Interesting… Dusky thought to himself as he ambled after the two ponies. He didn't need to run, his long legs guaranteed that he could keep up with his normal, quiet gait.

Banned for being bored.

I honestly don't know. :3 @@NewCalamity, you heard anything? :?

He's always anonymous. He does come through every once in a while, but... He doesn't really like to hang around in here. I think it's the temptation to waste time that does it. You know, Feld0 is insanely efficient.

Adorable ponies is just about the only adorable thing that I like. Other than ponies, not much affects me.

Some of the artwork that leans more towards friend-shipping is really quite adorable. Other than that, I don't really care for shipping at all. Actually, I normally don't care too much for adorable things either. This show is my one aberration from normal. Not sure what to think about that… Seriously, I'm quite the robot. I'm totally down for that… As you all know, I have the Scootastare… Now comes avatar sized! Actually, I really do have a blast around this place. There is evidence to prove it. Now, Feld0 on the other hand rarely gets an occasion to actually enjoy his own creation.

Key watched Day shift awkwardly. She was reasonably good at reading other ponies, and Day was a book. Normally, she would've cared less about making others uncomfortable. But, this detective was going to be a huge help to her if everything worked out well. Besides that, he had accepted the case without hesitation, and if it hadn't been for him, then there is no way that she would've known that Trixie would be on this train. She made up her mind to not give him such a hard time in the future. In Manehattan, Key had grown used to the random shouting of street vendors and other loud noises that came out of nowhere. She didn't even blink when the conductor shouted, and she noticed that while Day was startled just for a moment, the moment didn't last long at all. Maybe he is tougher than he looks… Key's face betrayed her confusion. She tried hard to remember the last time that anyone had ever told her “after you”. She drew a blank. She looked at the detective with a bemused expression for few, long awkward seconds before taking her ticket in her mouth and approaching the conductor. After a few steps, she stopped. She remembered something. She put down her train ticket, turned to Day and spoke. “Thank you!” She then picked up her ticket and continued towards the conductor. “Eggs, bread, milk, cheese. Check, check, check, check… Apples. Flour. Check. Sugar. Check.” The cook was buzzing around the kitchen's supply area like a hyperactive worker bee. She was nearly finished with her third inventory of the supplies. She always checked at least three times. She didn't need a list; she knew all of the supplies by heart. Ambrosia was an earth pony with pleasant, lemon colored fur and a plum colored mane. She was the least experienced member of the train's crew, but already she had earned the respect of Vim and other seasoned conductors with her excellent work ethic and fantastic cooking. Her first assignment as a chef had been on the train route between Baltimare and Fillydelphia. During the weeks that she worked as a chef on that route, supplies had been managed perfectly, the food had been cooked on schedule, and not a single passenger had ever complained. Indeed, passengers raved about her expertise. She was soon transferred to Vim's old train, the Los Pegasus Limited. At first, she was panicked at the thought of working with one of the best conductors in all of Equestria. Her panic only intensified when she learned that one of Vim's eccentricities was that he preferred to use the absolute minimum crew size. How would she manage without a steward and maybe a waiter? On the morning of her first day working with Vim, she was so nervous that she briefly considered calling in sick. That was when she pulled herself together. All of her life, she had always wanted to be known not just as another good chef, but as the absolute best chef. On that fist day working on the Los Pegasus Limited, she realized that it wasn't enough to want to be the absolute best chef. She had to do more than want; she had to become what she dreamed. So, on that day, she pulled herself together and made up her mind to do her best - no matter what. It turned out that her best was more than enough. She effortlessly handled her duties as a chef, and, when the assistant conductor had to deliver an emergency message to Canterlot, she actually stepped up and took on that role as well. It was hard work, but she learned something new about herself that day. She learned that the greater the challenge, the more she enjoyed the accomplishment. When the train reached its destination, she heard Vim remark to the station master that having her on board was like having at least four good ponies working in the kitchen and a decent assistant conductor too. Ambrosia beamed delight as she remembered that day. She stepped out into the dining area and looked around. The tables were immaculate. Despite being a train car and having some space set aside for the kitchen, the dining area was surprisingly roomy. While, it wasn't quite as comfy as the parlor, but it was more than sufficient to feed a train full of hungry ponies. Ambrosia wandered to the kitchen, grabbed her favorite cookbook, and then settled down to plan dinner. Vim was in his element. His cheerful, good-natured smile was genuine as passengers started both lining up and just getting on board. He always planned a more orderly boarding process, but his excitement usually prevented that from happening. This pegasus seems like a nice kid. This unicorn… May not be so bad after all… Vim sprang into action. His smile radiated. "Flow, Timeshift - a very good morning to you both! Flow, you have room five. You're right across the hall from our special guest, Trixie! Timeshift, you have room thirteen. It's a lucky number!" While his smile and cheerful demeanor never wavered, Vim felt sorry for the young pegasus. Trixie's behavior since boarding the train had been, at best, unusual. While he had heard enough about her to not be surprised by her favoring the third person perspective, Vim was not expecting her to be able to carry complete conversations with herself about rather trivial things. Vim interrupted his thoughts to greet the newcomer, a rather fancy looking blue unicorn with a raindrop as a cutie mark. After a quick glance at the ticket, he said “Welcome aboard!” Vim caught a glance of a ticket out of the corner of his eye. “Welcome aboard!” Vim quickly shouted a greeting to a unicorn with a rather dark coat and a dull gray mane. “Hello, welcome aboard!” Vim said pleasantly as a rather intellectual looking blue pony boarded the train. Somehow, the blue pony looks familiar to Vim, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him. I hate getting old… In his younger days, his memory had been flawless, but he had been suffering from momentary bouts of forgetfulness lately. They bothered him considerably. His smile faded just a tad. A green earth pony with spiky blue hair approached the boarding platform and flashed a ticket. Vim recognized him and broke into a rare grin. “Hey there! I know you! You're Electrobolt! You're the pony that won the Equestrian Video Game Tournament!” Vim laughed a hearty laugh. “My granddaughter dragged me out to that blasted event! I protested, but how could I refuse those eyes. You know? Anyway, I'm happy that I went. I've never seen any earth pony do what you did. All those unicorns with their magic, and they were beaten by an earth pony!” Vim seemed to savor the thought. Vim took a hoof and gave Electrobolt a heavy pat on the back. “You know, you're my granddaughter's hero. And, mine as well. During that final match, my mouth was open the entire time. My granddaughter has dragged me out to those blasted events for years and I've never seen an earth pony win. You've got grit kid. Let me tell you, if you're ever interested in the job on the train, you come see me and I'll take good care you.” Vim thought for a second, and then added “And the next time you're in Canterlot, let me know. I'd like you to meet my granddaughter, I think you're both around the same age and she's quite a fine mare. A fella like you would be great to have around more often. You know? Anyway, you've got room 10, and it's an honor to have you on board.” Vim glanced up just in time to see Springer flying towards the caboose. Springer landed in the caboose with a thud. Flying was not his strong point. @@Aureity “Hey buddy!” Springer cheerfully shouted at a unicorn that was behind him next to the railing. Springer gave a little wave before breaking into a brisk trot towards the front of the train.