Key Gear

They say that confession is good for the soul. Well, in that case, then it is time for me to confess, and I really do have a lot to confess about. Over the past several days, I've been working on something horrible. Finally, this morning, I could no longer resist. I tossed a coin and all of my dominoes fell. If you are curious and you wish to know more, then click the below spoiler. Very well. My confession begins. The Beginning It all started one day, sometime in the evening. Zoop was attempting to convince me to challenge myself, to expand my horizons. The Conspirators Little did Zoop realize that I had plans, and on the eve of that same day, I set them into motion. Meet my fellow conspirators. I have censored their names to protect the guilty, and they are all guilty. Very guilty. The Plan Unfolds Now that I had my conspirators, there was only one thing left to do. It was time to refine the details of our plan and set it into motion. The Madness Begins to Take Hold I think that I really started to get a bit carried away. Judge for yourself. Yeah, so, the answer was no. *ahem* As you could imagine. And... Yes, I was going to pull Feld0 in with Zoop and... Troll him. I have no regrets. I confess everything. The Dog and Pony Show Finally, after all of the preparations, it was time to begin. I walked through a bunch of full romance RPs, before, finally, it was time. The Reveal We joined the RP. Got some posts in. Now, it was time for me to reveal myself. Zoop didn't believe me. So. That left only one thing. I... I partially betrayed the conspirators for the sake of my own amusement. The Reprise Not content with my earlier adventure, I decided to share some more plans... In Zoop's presence. Later on, he returned to Skype. Fini. Finally, we reach the sole reason that this is online. TL;DR I agreed to join Zoop in trolling. I created an RP with a team of random conspirators. I lured Zoop into it with a really exaggerated sequence of protests against it (and pointing at every other RP first). I waited until the next day. I revealed my deception. I harvested amusement. I regret nothing.

The wind buffeted her terribly. A strong sense of direction had never been Key's strong point, this was particularly a problem outside of an urban environment. Key was originally from Manehattan. Back in Manehattan, she had maintained a mechanics shop and done some locksmithing on the side. Somehow, while on a walk in the area outside of Ponyville, she had lost her way and ended up in this forest. Now, she deeply regretted it. The weather was ominously bad. The clouds were so thick that it blocked out every trace of the stars. The rain was pouring down in sheets. She was completely soaked. The contents of her saddlebag were undoubtedly drenched beyond uselessness. She'd been in worse conditions. For quite some time after her parents disappearance, she had been homeless in Manehattan. She'd gotten into and lost fights with other ponies. Eventually, she learned to hold her own in some conflicts, but she still preferred to run rather than facing the possibility of being badly injured. Now, in this storm, there was no place to run, but she wasn't afraid. Just as the kindness of a stranger had gifted her with a shop and some bits to use to grow it, Key now held out her hopes that somepony, anypony would come along to help her out of the present circumstances. A bolt of lightening lit up the area around her. Key jumped; she was wildly afraid of the possibility that she would get shocked by a stray bolt of lightening. She was soaking wet, and the rain was coming down so heavily. She knew that water could carry current... She needed to find shelter, quickly. Why had the pegasus ponies setup a storm to rage so heavily. The ground was soaked, completely saturated, it seemed to serve no useful purpose. Why weren't they clearing away the storm? Another bolt of lightening. The area around her lit up even brighter than before and this one had landed even closer to her location. Her hair stood on end, but she saw, off in the distance, a welcoming looking cottage - a shelter from the storm. Ignoring the danger posed by the forest's terrain and the blinding rain, Key lowered her head and made a run in the direction of the cottage. She made it nearly to the location when she slipped and skid in some mud. Frozen by misery, she held still and hoped that maybe somepony from the cottage would see her and lend a hoof.

Key froze for a second. Throughout the entire thing, she hadn't thought about the possibility of her brother coming to harm because of her actions. In considering her own well-being, she was certain that she would be more than capable of evading Dusky should it come to that. Her brother, on the other hoof, was too large to hide capably and already had a high profile due to being the stand-in assistant conductor. Key's heart sank. She opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. She wasn't sure of what to say. Her brother had highlighted something else that Key, herself, hadn't fully considered. She had focused on Dawn's wanting the book. She had never stopped to consider the unicorn's motivations. She had dismissed the book as being bait, nothing more than a useless thing planted by Dusky to distract. Now, she realized that her brother was right. The book had been important to Dawn, so perhaps it was important in general. Still, Key's thoughts wandered, and she considered a new alternative. She briefly considered the thought that Dawn and Dusky were working together or somehow connected, but she had no evidence... As he finished speaking, Key looked at Bolt curiously. She was quite certain that she had already explained to him that it was a trap. Dusky had to know. The urge to mention this again was strong, but she didn't do so. Instead, Key decided to allow her brother to focus on something else for the time being. Earlier in the day, Dusky had rattled him. Now, she had unintentionally brought him back into conflict with the engineer. Key decided to, for the moment, focus on something else. Lunch sounded like a great idea. "Yeah, bro, that sounds great actually, I'm starving. Just give me a second." Key went to her room, and then unlocked it. Rushing inside, she poured out the contents of one of her saddlebags and stuffed the book in it. She left her room, locking the door behind her, and then caught up with her brother. Trotting up alongside him, she explained herself. "Like you said, Bolt, I think that we should be careful with this book. I'm taking it with me in here so that nopony can see it unless we want them to." She gestured to her saddlebag. "Maybe we could see if Asteria can check to see if there is something hidden on the pages? She might be able to use her magic? If not, then we could check with Magicon, but... We'd have to be careful, I think, if we dealt with him. He thinks like me... Like I used to think..." She trailed off and started walking, alongside her brother, to the dining car. A few moments later, she brought up something that had been on her mind. "Hey, bro... Asteria said that maybe I could help Ambrosia in the kitchen? Making lunch? I know that she was upset at me earlier, and she kinda took it out on you... Maybe if I help her cook something, do you think it'd help her to think of me as a good pony?" She'd caught the filly's words, but she wasn't really certain of what to make of them. To Ambrosia, Key Gear didn't seem like the type of pony that would be excited by doing kitchen work. Key seemed more like the type of pony that would make a mess while trying to cook even something simple. Just as she was reflecting on this, Ambrosia caught herself and gave pause to her thoughts. She had already been unfair to Key Gear once, earlier in the day. Perhaps Asteria's idea was a good one. It would give her a way to get to know Key Gear as more than just a questionably scruffy filly. Ambrosia didn't react immediately to Dawn's words. Instead, at the mention of the word "birthday", her ears perked up, and her mind's eye immediately filled with visions of all manner of cake's and other treats. A pink cake? No, that wouldn't work. It wouldn't match his style at all, so he wouldn't like it. Probably something green. With yellow and black frosting? No, maybe not. That wouldn't look good at all... Her thoughts continued in a similar vein even as Ice Storm spoke. However, to an outside observer, she continued to give the icy pony her full attention. Ice Storm had missed her lunch? At the thought of missing a meal, Ambrosia was horrified. To her, the only problem that a pony should ever have with meals was becoming overstuffed due to having too many of them. Her commitment to cooking a practical but fantastic lunch redoubled. If Ice had missed a meal, then Ambrosia would need to prepare a lunch that was easy to make quickly. Sandwiches were a good option, in this case. But, normal sandwiches were far too boring for Ambrosia's tastes. "Your first ever vacation?!" Wide-eyed at the thought of going for so long without a breather, Ambrosia let the question tumble from her mouth, and it was quickly followed by more concern. "And, you missed lunch today? Ice Storm, you poor thing! Let me get you something right now!" Slipping past Ice Storm, Ambrosia entered the dining car to make something for her hungry guest. She would make something a bit fancier later, but, at the moment she wanted to make sure that Ice Storm wasn't starving. A starving pony on a train where Ambrosia was cooking, that was a bad thing. The dining car was quite a bit nicer than the standard dining car onboard most trains. The arrangement was simple but effective. Rather than the normal "booth-style" dining areas on most passenger trains, the Los Pegasus Express had been equipped with normal chairs and tables. The chairs were arranged four to a table, and the tables lined both sides of the car. Four tables made for a total of 16 seats. Despite being a train car and sharing space with the kitchen, the dining area was surprisingly roomy, owing a lot to the clever method that had been used to give the Los Pegasus Express just a few more inches of width to each train car. Not wasting much time, Ambrosia went straight to the kitchen and fixed a quick but substantial salad for Ice Storm. It was a pear salad with pears, cheese, avocado, and some hazelnuts. It was topped off with a sprinkling of sugar and some pepper for taste. It only took her a few moments to complete the salad, and she set the finished product on one of the tables closest to the kitchen. With a broad smile, Ambrosia addressed Ice Storm. "Well, it isn't a full meal, but I made you a pear salad to tide you over until lunch is ready. I can't very well call myself a cook if I have ponies starving right next to the kitchen while I prepare a meal. That just wouldn't be right." Ambrosia laughed, her characteristic cheeriness was in full force. Similarly to how Dusky considered the train engine his own domain, to Ambrosia, the kitchen was her kingdom. When she was there and ponies were hungry, it was time to start getting things done. After waiting for Ice Storm's response, Ambrosia addressed Dawn and Asteria. "I think that we should get started on lunch now. Just imagine... If Ice Storm missed lunch, then maybe the boarding time of the train messed up other pony's meals as well. We can't have hungry ponies on the train, so I think that we should make something that's quick but still filling. Maybe more salads? I'm not sure if they should all be pear salads though... What do you think about strawberry salads, lettuce wraps with mushroom, and for dessert... Well... Hmmm..." Her thoughts went back to Dawn's birthday. A birthday cake would make a wonderful dessert, but there were a few problems with the idea. She wasn't sure that Dawn would want to have a party on the train, and she wanted to keep lunch simple, to allow the passengers to interact with each other. "Dawn, since it's your birthday, then maybe we could have a party for you on the train? We could probably cook the cake now, and we could celebrate your birthday around dinnertime, after the passengers have had a chance to get to know you? Otherwise, they'd probably wonder who you were and the party wouldn't be nearly as fun! To cut down on cooking time, we could make the cake a cinnamon cake and make cinnamon cookies for lunch at the same time, since they both use cinnamon? So, what do you think? Dinnertime birthday party?" Unable to resist, Ambrosia grinned when she finished talking. She loved a good party...

She had forgotten that her brother was in the room. At the sound of his voice, she turned her head to face him. She then realized that there was nopony else there except for the two of them, and the thought, combined with Bolt's furtive glance around the room, caused her some concern. Glancing down at the book that she was still cradling, Key believed that she knew where the conversation was heading. In the presence of Bolt, alone, Key saw no need for deception. "Bolt. I took this book from Dusky. I ran into Asteria because... Well, she was in my way when I was trying to get the book out of there." Key shrugged, trying her best to appear nonchalant. "Look, it's not really what it seems to be. I knew that you had been on the search team earlier, but I thought that maybe Dusky was still hiding something, so I went to have a look." She started talking fast, picking up more speed as she went along. "When I went in, the room was empty, basically. I looked in his toolbox. Nothing but tools. Then there were some empty cardboard boxes that were stacked weirdly. I looked in there, and the bottom of the boxes were fake. I figured it out, opened one, and there was this book. That's when I realized that the whole thing was probably a trap. I guessed that if that stuff had been there, a bunch of empty boxes in a strange stack, the search would have found them earlier. So, I started to put everything back." "That's when this really weird thing happened. A unicorn, not Dusky, came into the room using a spell to make herself really shadowy. She was blue, not like me but lighter, kinda like Trixie, but she was younger than Trixie, I think. Anyways, she said her name was Dawn, but... Bolt. The first thing that she did was ask for this book. After that, she gave this bogus story about looking for her cat and she helped me to straighten the room out. I didn't know what she was going to do, because she was so odd. So, I started running, and she actually covered for me when I shot outta there. So, really, Dawn's crazy, who is she anyway?" Key caught her breath, and then continued. "Anyways, that's when I ran into Asteria. Bolt, I think that the whole thing was probably a trap, either for me or for the unicorn. See, so... I didn't steal this book, by the way. The door was unlocked, the boxes were unlocked, the whole thing was just a ruse. Dusky had even emptied the boxes and put the stuff on a shelf way outta my reach, just so that the stack of empty boxes would look even more suspicious. So, yeah, like I said earlier. It's not what it seems like. The book was practically given to me." Key grinned at her brother. Her reasoning made perfect sense to her, and she figured that he would follow along with it. Mindful of what Vim had told him, Dusky strolled towards his domain with a bored expression. Vim had departed to alert the stationmaster that the train would soon be departing and, probably, to smooth over any feelings that had been injured by Dusky's own queries. The shadowy pony didn't particularly care about angering others if it was the best way to go about achieving an objective. Emotions were intriguing to observe, but they were also a weakness, one that he was happy to have been able to overcome. With his long stride, he'd reached the train engine in no time. He slowly opened to door to his area, fully expecting to see a mess. Instead, what he saw was far more surprising. The room was in perfect condition. In fact, everything was exactly how he had left it. Carefully, Dusky checked around the room for cats. The truth was that he really didn't like the creatures at all, they were curious and curiously competent at making messes of things and leaving no trace of their presence but fur. In this case, not even the smallest piece of fur was present. It was odd. The room had apparently been cleaned with surgical precision. Perhaps, Vim's relaying of events had been completely accurate, but there was only one way that Dusky could make certain. Reaching for the third cardboard box in his stack, he carefully removed the top of it and then removed the false bottom. Then, he stared. Amazingly, right there, as if it had been completely undisturbed was the small book that he had placed there earlier. Feeling a sense of silent frustration, Dusky retried the book and leafed through its pages carefully, looking for any sign that it had been disturbed. He found none. It was as if nopony had ever been there, and the thought made no sense to him. Surely, somepony had entered, retrieved the book, and exited. Everything had been so carefully arranged... "HELLO THERE!" A mare's voice suddenly boomed from the entrance to the train engine. Turning his head with deliberate slowness, Dusky focused a cold, unblinking stare on the unicorn that had just loudly proclaimed her presence. She waved at him, mindlessly. "Hello Dusky! You like what I did to the place! I cleaned up a bit! Oh... Well, too bad you didn't see it after my cat had gotten lost in here. She knocked over a bunch of stuff! Don't worry though, everything is as good as new! So! Whaddya think!?" She waved a hoof, indicated the room's cleanliness. For a few moments, Dusky continued to stare, in his mind, he attempted to discern the motivations of the this unicorn. Showing not even the smallest signs of discomfort, the unicorn spoke again. "My name's Dawn by the way! Could you believe that there are two of us on this train! It's amazing to me! What's your name, is it Dusky?" Masking his irritation with a monotone, Dusky finally spoke. "No. My name is Dusky Coal." The mare blinked in confusion as Dusky continued. "I appreciate your sense of cleanliness, but I have questions. First, this door was shut, how did your cat enter. Second, why didn't I see you when I made my way over to this location. Finally..." Dusky paused and continued to calmly stare. Not waiting for him to continue, Dawn happily volunteered answers to his questions. "I don't know how she managed to get in here, maybe it was earlier when somepony else entered? And, maybe my cat just went in when the door was opened? Maybe? I'm sorry if that's not helpful." Dawn pouted for just a moment before a smile bounced back onto her face. "Don't worry, I definitely know the answer to your second question! I was invisible! It's a new spell that I've been working on. It's super fun! You wanna try it?!" Allowing the hint of a frown to show, Dusky spoke with just a hint of menace in his voice. "If I may inquire, what was the point of your deception? And... No... I am not interested in your spell. I have no need to hide myself." Tilting her head to the side, Dawn answered more calmly than before. "Well, I guess there wasn't really a point to it, but I was kinda surprised to see that you had no idea I was there. You know, for a unicorn as intelligent as you, I'd guess that you were really good with magic, but you're not. That's pretty sad." Not allowing himself to rise to the bait, Dusky remarked simply. "Indeed. I find your answers to be satisfactory. You're dismissed. Please, shut the door behind you. I must prepare the train for departure." Dawn shrugged, remarking over her shoulder before leaving, "Ok, fine. By the way, Ambrosia's making lunch, so whenever you're done being mysterious, you should come to get some food or something." She shut the door on her way out. After she'd left, Dusky took some moments to consider the exchange.

I just started listening to this one a lot, recently: It's called Rise of the Machines and it really lives up to the title. You can almost see the mecha army coming. Now, for something totally awesome. You need to listen to it a few times before you can *feel* it, but Rex Imperium is... Wow. Here's the wonderful thing. It has a reprise. : o

She gave Asteria a smiling but quizzical look. She did want lunch, but she wasn't certain if she wanted to cook it. Key had never been much for cooking. Even warming food up was a task for her. She simply didn't have the patience necessary to sit around and watch things, it was much more useful to go and do something else while her food was warming up. Because of this, she usually burned things, lots of things, badly. Despite her reluctance, the thought of helping to cook lunch was something that seemed as though it might be fun. Still, Key hesitated at the thought of cooking with Ambrosia... This was the very same pony that had been rather heated about Key's revelation that she was a thief. She realized though, that perhaps by having fun with Ambrosia and Asteria, she could change the cook's negative perception. She would ask her brother for his thoughts on things, after the other ponies had left. With a glance, Key could immediately see that Summerfall was about to say something that went beyond a simple greeting. The mare had something to say, something important. Reading her body language, Key wasn't sure what to make of it. She didn't know who Summerfall was or what she did. In fact, she had never even seen the mare until just a few moments before, but Summerfall undoubtedly seemed to think that Key looked familiar, somehow. Key started to worry. Quickly, she searched the depths of her memory. Key's thoughts went back to Manehattan. Was this pony a shopkeeper in Manehattan that she had wronged? Shopkeeper's hadn't been the only ponies that she had run afoul of. While she had told the ponies on the train that she had only stolen what she needed to survive, that had not been entirely true. Of course, it was impossible to develop the skills that she possessed by simply being a conventional thief. She frowned, deeply. Summerfall's query rubbed Key the wrong way. It seemed probing, and it carried with it a familiarity that was, at this point, only one-sided. She was speaking as though she was familiar with Key, but this was plainly not the case. Even though she had tried to remember, Key couldn't recall ever having seen the mare before. Yet, Summerfall seemed to know something about her. Key replied, maintaining a neutral tone. "Yes, I'm doing well." At the mention of her parents, Key felt her stomach tighten. What did Summerfall know? Mercifully, the answer swiftly followed Key's unasked question. On the inside, Key was relieved. Far from being a pony that she had angered in Manehattan, Summerfall seemed to, literally, be a member of her parents' fan club. It had been too long since she had met a pony that remembered the stories that her parents had both written and been featured in. The sad truth was that, after their failed expedition to the Frozen North, it was as if all traces of them had been wiped out from the memories of the average pony. They were only well known among the elite members of Equestria's larger cities, and then, only because of their association with the wealthy Stacks family back in Manehattan. A pony that was familiar with her parents, for their own sake, was both a rare and a welcome thing, indeed. Temporarily stunned, Key could only manage a simple response. "Thank you..." As Summerfall left the area, Key's curious blue eyes followed the mare's path. She had many questions that she wanted to ask Summerfall, but the mare had left before Key was able to say anything else. This action, leaving so quickly, only further enforced Key's positive opinion of Summerfall. The mare wasn't like the ponies that just wanted Key to spill as many stories and facts about her parents as possible. Summerfall was a good pony, she respected Key's privacy and she had offered assistance while expecting nothing in return. Key smiled. Ambrosia had managed to make it through the first passenger car without colliding into anything or anypony. While making her way through the second passenger car, she wondered what could have possibly brought all of those ponies to the same car, just sitting around talking? Something must have happened, but at least it was not likely to have been anything like the weird happenings that occurred on the train prior to their current stop. Asteria had been there with the small gathering as well. Ambrosia had been slightly relieved to see that she was fine. However, Ambrosia had never truly thought that the filly would be in danger. She herself had wondered off many times in her younger years, and she was none the worse for it. The sound of a pony trotting up behind her, caused her to stop. It wasn't Dawn Rider, because he was right there with her and had no reason to trot. Ambrosia turned to see who it was, just as Asteria began to speak. Smiling warmly, Ambrosia responded without hesitation and without any trace of condemnation for Asteria's actions. "Asteria, it's alright. I accept your apology, and it was good of you to be concerned enough to offer it. The truth, though, is that I wasn't really worried. When I was your age, I used to wonder around sometimes, chasing butterflies and anything else that caught my attention. I was a bit absent minded, actually." Ambrosia laughed softly before continuing. "That's why I wasn't worried. You see, no matter how far I wandered, I was always safe. I always came back home." She stopped to consider something. "Well, it only helped that the other ponies in my small hometown knew to look out for me. They would return me to my parents all of the time. It was quite funny, actually. Well, look at me, I'm just rambling. Asteria, look, it's ok. I was never upset at you." Without another word, Ambrosia reach out and gave the younger pony a reassuring hug, hoping that Asteria didn't mind its suddenness. Releasing the filly, she turned to Dawn Rider and addressed both him and Asteria. "Hey, I have an idea? Maybe, the both of you could help me with preparing lunch? We could figure out a menu and then get to making it? Come on!" Ambrosia happily broke into a trot, only stopping when she ran across an unfamiliar face in the third passenger car. An icy looking unicorn was just about to enter the dining car. Ambrosia came to a stop and addressed the new passenger cheerfully. Her cheer was only increased by the thought that maybe this pony would be good for keeping a healthy quantity of ice onboard. "Hello there! I'm Ambrosia, the train's cook. These are my friends, Dawn Rider and Asteria. And..." Ambrosia too a second to appraise Ice Storm. "You look like a hungry pony? What's your name, and are you from Ponyville, originally?"

Springer nodded his head at Arcanel's reinforcement of his inquiry. In fact, his desire to know about what had happened was growing by the second. He had the feeling, the same feeling that he had when he was about to take an inefficient process and make it efficient. Somehow, he was certain that Magicon had the answer to providing a course of action from their present circumstance. Certainly, the confusion that he felt in the room would soon give way to knowledge, efficient knowledge. Magicon's openness, however reluctant, was greatly appreciated by Springer. Just as the troubled pegasus had shared his dream, even though he understood nothing of it, the efficient thing right now was for Magicon to share his own thoughts. As Magicon spoke, Springer quickly went through the passenger list in his mind, sorting out the unicorns and trying to think of which would be capable of "a good ounce of magic". Asteria was too young. Dusky never seemed to use magic. There were no others, so it had to be Dawn unless one of the newer passengers had done so, which seemed unlikely. He was well prepared to hear that it was Dawn that had triggered Magicon's senses, but he was not prepared for what Magicon said. The news was startling and it prompted Springer to question, silently, the nature of the medical pony. As he did so, it occurred to him. Dawn was, in many ways, an unknown factor. He knew that she was capable of rescuing him from his earlier state, but she had provided no details as to either the nature of the original spell or the nature of her own healing magic. Certainly, when his life was in danger, it was not efficient to stop and talk. She had done the right thing by acting quickly to save him. However, by not providing further details, she had left herself open to misunderstandings. While Magicon ran through the details, Springer's thoughts focused elsewhere. The details, in this case, seemed secondary in significance to the possibility of Dawn being somehow involved with his dream. It had been so strange, so unusual. If she was responsible for the dream, then her movements, made sense and were extremely efficient. Most likely, she had acted without being aware that Magicon was extremely sensitive to magic, so she had optimized her own plan using magic. Yet... To what end? It still made no sense. Lapis had given voice to Springer's lingering thoughts. Springer decided to continue listening. Simply repeating Lapis's remarks would have done nothing to further the investigation. However, he did make a note of Lapis's feelings regarding Dawn. In fact, they mirrored the thought that had occurred to him just a few moments before. There was something that seemed to be unusual about the unicorn. Springer was terrible at reading ponies, but one thing about his nurse had definitely concerned him. Again, he came to the spells. What had Dawn's spell done? What had the original effect been caused by? Going directly to Dawn might have held additional benefits, Springer thought. If nothing else came of it, having her aware of the process might ensure the input of an additional pony into the problem solving. Since she was magically inclined, she might be able to offer insights similar to Magicon's but slightly different due to her knowledge of healing magic. He spoke. "I agree. Asking her would be far more efficient than simply pondering her motivations. If we need to know about Dawn, then what better source than Dawn, herself?" After he had spoken, Arcanel spoke to Magicon. Arcanel's words made sense, but one thing caused Springer to doubt. He could accept that Dawn was a curious pony, but he couldn't figure out what was there to investigate. As far as Springer was aware of, Dawn was not aware of the details of their investigation. While she certainly knew about the search, she would only have known that the search had been fruitless. She would not have known the exact circumstances that required a search. She would certainly not have known about the paper. If she was taking action to investigate, then she knew more than she should have based on simply being a medical pony. Springer frowned. Being direct was exactly what he had planned on doing. To him, it was the only way. If she was offended, then that would simply have to be a side effect. Regardless of her feelings, she had an obligation to ensure his care, so he didn't see the point in being anything other than direct. It wasn't like she would fail in her duties as a medical pony simply because she was offended by questions. What did they have to lose? If she refused to answer, then this would mean that their suspicions were justified. It seemed simple to him. He was curious about the spell that she had used, and he had to admit that Arcanel's approach to questioning Dawn was better than his own. Springer's simple approach would result in no information if Dawn was offended. Arcanel's more nuanced suggestion had the potential to provide information without causing offense. Such broad inquiries would be unlikely to alarm Dawn, ensuring that she answered in her fullest. To Springer, tracing Dawn's trail of magic sounded like a lot of work with a fairly predictable outcome. Regardless of the steps taken, they would still have to confront Dawn at the end of the trail. Adding all of the additional work seemed inefficient to Springer. "I don't think that we need to go through all of this. We are not trying to discern guilt or innocence, I think. Ummm... What we are trying to do is to efficiently come to an understanding of what happened. For myself, I don't think that she is either guilty or innocent of anything, but the facts that we have now suggest that she may have had the opportunity to do something that pertains to my dream and the paper. We should act on this fact, discover if it is true or false." He stopped to think for a moment, and then, he continued. "Then, there is another problem. The spell that she used to revive me was powerful. If we were to trace her magical aura, then we would end up retracing her path back to this original location or into Ponyville. The train is about to leave, Vim rarely runs behind schedule by more than a few minutes. We really don't have the time to search all of Ponyville. Why don't we just go directly to Dawn and ask her something? Lapis is right. We need the answers that Dawn can give us. Arcanel, I think that the questions that you derived earlier would be the efficient ones to ask. "Since you are the other pony on this train with an interest in my well-being and the questions were yours, perhaps you should go to speak with Dawn? She would conclude that you were simply looking after me, as you have been. Her suspicions would not be raised. In fact... Because of Magicon, we know where she is right now. You could trace her path yourself. Leave through the caboose, fly to the train engine. If she is there, then you can speak with her, simply, ask your questions, gather her answers and return. It would be a paradigm of efficiency. While you did this, the rest of us could... Ummm... We could seek a meal. I'm rather hungry and it is nearly lunch time. Is this plan acceptable?"

Alright. I'm all ready for the not a pony day, now. In fact... I'm all decked out. I feel so awesome! LOL. Funny thing is... This is generally my username on other sites. Has been since the first Spyro games. Thank you, Marco! =D

In truth, Vim hadn't actually noticed that she had doubted him. Instead, the surprising news of Dusky's offer to her had dominated his thoughts, but he was still pleased to hear that she was happy. "You're welcome, and don't worry about it." The conductor answered her with a pleased smile, while his mind returned to the subject of Dusky. This was the second passenger that the unusual engineer had managed to put on the train without the passenger having to pay a bit. The first had been Asteria, Lapis's research assistant. After a moment of thought, Vim saw no connection between the mare and the filly, and he returned Summerfall's introduction. "Well, Summerfall, my name is Vim, and it's a pleasure to meet you as well." Most likely, he thought to himself, Dusky was simply feeling generous for some odd reason. He did have strange changes in mood sometimes, but it was unusual for this to happen during the day. It was the second time that Dawn had mentioned that he was a weather team captain, so Ambrosia guessed that the remark was for Vim's benefit. She glanced at him to discern his reaction. The amused flicker in Vim's dark red eyes betrayed no reaction to the information. Ambrosia wasn't surprised. Vim was typically able to greet the passengers quite cheerily regardless of his actual mood or thoughts. Quite some time ago, she had noticed that Vim's self-control went both ways. He rarely reacted to what the passengers told him in anything but a cheerful way, even if they told him something noteworthy or impressive about themselves. She was certain that Celestia, herself, could show up and Vim would treat her just like he treated everypony. She blinked, though, as she realized that he did have the habit of being more friendly towards earth ponies than others. It was well known by many that Vim had a slight bias against unicorns of all types and was generally neutral towards pegasus ponies. She grinned as Dawn Rider purchased his train ticket. For his part, the conductor responded quickly. "Sounds good! Trust me you'll love the journey. When you get back home, the weather team will hardly believe what you'll tell them. Particularly about Los Pegasus, that place is remarkable. I've been there a few times, it's a showy place, let me tell you." While talking, Vim exchanged Dawn's bits for a ticket and a room key. Other than Trixie's, room 11 had been the last room unfilled, so now, he was ready to depart. While he was talking to Dawn, Ambrosia took a peak into Vim's saddlebag to see how ticket sales had gone. There were no tickets left, so the train would be full, exactly as he had told her. However, there were not enough bits to account for the tickets. It looked like two additional passengers had boarded without paying. She knew that Dawn, the unicorn, had taken a room, so that was probably one of them. However, she couldn't place the other. The glance had only taken a split second. Much like she was able to instantly recognize the amount of restocking that a kitchen needed, Ambrosia was generally talented at taking an account of a variety of things extremely quickly. It was a skill that sometimes greatly surprised other ponies, particularly because she seemed to be blissfully unaware of having it. She never mentioned it to anypony, and she never manufactured situations to show it off. It was just there. Vim's enthusiasm was boosted significantly by having gotten rid of the last train ticket. He laughed loudly at Dawn's reprise of his own bad attempt at humor from just a few moments ago. "Neither can I, Dawn. Welcome aboard!" After a nod of her head to Vim, Ambrosia breathed a sigh of relief, and then she nudged Dawn Rider towards the interior of the train before heading in, herself. She really wanted to go check on the kitchen. It was just a bit past the time that she would normally have prepared lunch of the passengers on the train. She wasn't overly concerned about the delay, because a late brunch had been server earlier in the day. Still, she wasn't certain how hungry the newer passengers would be, and she was eager to start cooking. Suddenly, an overly enthusiastic voice interrupted her thoughts. "HELLO THERE!" Ambrosia squeaked with surprise and hopped backwards a bit. Right in front of her, just a few feet away, was the medical pony that she had seen earlier, apparently Dawn was finished with whatever she had been doing in the train engine. "Hiya!" She repeated her greeting while waving at Ambrosia and Dawn Rider, as if they were some distance away. Ambrosia backed up a bit more opened her mouth to introduce herself, but she was quickly drowned out by the fast paced chatter that followed the second greetings. "Hi! My name's Dawn! And, I think that your name is Dawn, too! I heard everypony call you DAWN! That's so amazing! Do you know how rare it is to meet ponies that have my name!? Well, I wouldn't know. Because I haven't met any! Do you like cats! I like cats a lot! Hey! I actually have a lot of cats! Wait! You're not a Dawn like me, you have wings! I wish I had wings. I bet I could fly with magic! Are you any good at flying! I bet you are! Maybe?!" While talking, Dawn continued walking until her broadly smiling face was just about a half-foot away from Dawn Rider's. Feeling more than a little horrified as the blue mare chattered wildly, Ambrosia looked around for Vim, hoping that he could rein in the overly enthusiastic pony. However, Vim was already off in the distance, speaking with Dusky about something. She had to take matters into her own hooves. Since the mare was acting like a badly behaved filly, Ambrosia decided that a parental approach would work best. Reaching out with authority, she barred Dawn's path and and gently began pushing her away from Dawn Rider while speaking in the polite but unmistakable tone of a parent irritated with their filly's behavior. "Yes, that's nice, dear. I'm sure that there will be plenty of time to talk about all of this later, but we really need to be getting on our way. I'm running late on getting lunch ready, and this pony is hungry. I really don't think that Dawn Rider has time to talk with you about all of this right now, and you should probably call him Rider to prevent misunderstandings, don't you think? You wouldn't want anypony to think that you were talking to yourself." Looking confused, even as she backed up, Dawn stuttered while Ambrosia spoke. "Wait... But... I... Well, no! Rider sounds stupid. No! I won't call him that! I want to..." Ambrosia stared cooly at the unicorn until she stopped talking. With a firm but pleasant smile, Ambrosia spoke approvingly to the now sulking unicorn. "That's much better. I think that you should probably wait here for Vim and Dusky before you join us for lunch. I need somepony to let them know that the meal is being prepared." Dawn rolled her eyes at Ambrosia and fell backwards into a grumpy pose with her front hooves crossed. As Ambrosia continued on the way into the next car, Dawn glared at the mare with extreme annoyance. Out of the train engine, her tabby cat, Flo, slowly meandered and sat next to her, watching Ambrosia with what seemed like the same antagonistic expression. Ambrosia swept into the first passenger car as if she was on a mission, but she stopped abruptly at the site of a small group of ponies, including the passenger that she had seen earlier. "Hello everypony!" She greeting them with a grin, already recovered from her encounter with the unusual unicorn. "Anyone hungry for lunch? I'm just on my way to start cooking. Sooo, maybe you'd all like to join me in the dining car?" Without another word, assuming that the hungry would tag along with her, Ambrosia worked her way through the other ponies and carried onwards to the dining car. Asteria's cheerfulness, even in response to Key's own cheery reply, seemed oddly reminiscent of Dawn's somewhat disturbing cheerfulness from just a few moments earlier in the train engine. Key watched the unicorn filly carefully. Dawn had wanted the book, Key was certain of it, and now, Asteria had appeared directly in front of Key just a few moments later. She wondered how plausible it would be for a unicorn to be able to so dramatically change their appearance. However, she dismissed the thought when she recalled that Asteria had been with Lapis earlier in the day. Perhaps really it was a chance encounter? Key had expected for Asteria to be just slightly irritated by the way that she had been invited to lunch. She had purposefully made the invitation rudely by addressing it to her brother instead of Asteria, because she had wanted to test the nature of the unicorn filly. An ally would have to be trustworthy, which meant that they would need to be able to trust her intentions even if they were not overly clear. Key was becoming used to the notion that trust was something that had to be exchanged equally. She had only learned it after boarding the train the previous day, but now, she was determined to put her knowledge into practice. As Asteria turned to the book, Key stood still and her smile froze into place. Key could have easily gone around Asteria and retrieved the book herself, but there had been two downsides to this approach. It would have required her to turn her back to the filly, and it would have left Asteria's nature as something of a puzzle to her. Key didn't like the thought of facing away from any pony that she was unfamiliar with, and she thought that puzzles were for solving as quickly as possible. If Bolt had been present, originally, she would have likely taken a different approach. However, now, she was happy that things had worked out in the way that they did. By asking Asteria about the book, Key had reversed the situation. Now, the other filly would turn away from her. If Asteria hesitated, then Key would know that Asteria shared at least a small amount of her own aversion to this, and she would know that Asteria didn't fully trust her. In addition to this, giving Asteria the opportunity to take possession of the book was an excellent way to measure her intentions. If Asteria just took a look and passed it on, then Key's paranoia would be proven wrong. If Asteria took the book and it lingered in her possession, then Key's suspicions of her motives would be proven correct. The worst possible scenario, one that Key was well aware of, was that Asteria would take the book and attempt to leave. Now, with Bolt in the doorway to the next car, running was safely out of the question. This left teleportation as an option for escape, but Key was certain that she could launch herself into Asteria and overpower her before the unicorn filly could get a spell off. As Asteria lifted the book with her magic, Key's eyes narrowed. She had failed to consider the fact that both teleportation and levitation would cause Asteria's horn to glow, making it difficult to discern if action was needed. She tensed, but her silent alarm was unnecessary. Asteria simply flipped through the sheets of the book, as if checking to confirm what Key had said. Key interpreted the action as confirmation that Asteria's cheerfulness was something of a front for a filly that was more wary than she portrayed herself as being. As Asteria returned the book with a cheerful smile, Key relaxed. She mirrored Asteria's smile with a more muted smile than the other filly, but her eyes belied her expression. They sparkled like those of a small kitten raiding a stock of catnip. Asteria had passed the last test. Key was not offended. In fact, she was honestly delighted. Asteria hadn't hesitated to turn her back to Key. She hadn't spent too much time with the book in her possession. She hadn't attempted to escape with the book. Finally, she had returned it promptly and courteously. Key could care less what Asteria said. To her, it was plain that the filly would be a capable and trustworthy associate. As an added bonus, Key observed, Asteria had remained blissfully unaware of Key's own motivations. The thoughts had flown through her mind in just a flicker of a moment before Key spoke happily. "Hey, no problem. I know what you mean. It doesn't make any sense. I mean... Hiding a blank book?" Key grinned. "It's kind of weird. Really weird." She kept her remarks vague and hoped that nopony would ask for more details on how she had come by the book, especially not her brother. The sound of a low rumble from his direction caused Key to look over with a bemused expression. Lunch sounded good to her. It sounded especially good, considering that it would give her a chance to put the book in front of some other ponies. She was positive that Dusky had intended for her to find the book, so she was sure that it had no intrinsic value. He wasn't a stupid pony. He would have ensured that there was nothing to point towards him for any of the odd things that had happened. However, she had taken the book despite her disappointment and panic, because she realized that no other pony would know of its uselessness except for her and Dusky. Even if the book was of no intrinsic value, itself, Key had every intention of using its existence to pick out the motivations of others, and possibly, to bait Dusky into something unexpected. Making a trap for the clever engineer with his own bait was something that Key was certain she would be able to do. He was underestimating her and her brother, she just knew it. Still, the presence of Dawn, the unicorn, had been odd. It was both unexpected and unwelcome. She had been there, looking for the book, perhaps... Key needed to know more about Dawn. The unicorn's frightful entrance into the train engine had... The unexpected voice cut into her thoughts. Key looked over and saw an unfamiliar face. Replying to the stranger, Key welcomed her onboard, taking the opportunity to subtly share her thoughts with Asteria. "Ummm... Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Key Gear. This is my friend, Asteria, and my brother, Electrobolt, is the assistant conductor. You weren't really interrupting anything, actually. Sorry if we're in your way." Relief flooded over Key. Ambrosia's sudden entrance practically guaranteed that she would be able to avoid expanding on the topic of the book that she was now cradling as though it was of great value. She didn't follow the cook, immediately, though. Instead, she lingered for a few moments, reflecting on the events that had just occurred. Pleased that the last ticket had been disbursed, Vim collected his saddlebag and headed over to where Dusky was. The engineer had just finished his ritualistic torment of the stationmaster, who had skittered off with an annoyed look just a few moments before. Now, strangely, Dusky was sitting and looking up into the sky. Vim turned to see what had attracted Dusky's attention, but he couldn't see anything. When he was within hearing range, Vim cleared his throat and then spoke. "Hey Dusky, I'm guessing that you've got everything ready for us to depart without any problems? I saw you taking a look at the train engine, any reason for the water leak earlier?" Dusky nodded idly but continued to sit in silence for a few moments, his dark eyes following something as it made its way across the horizon. When he spoke, it was a trancelike voice. "It's a butterfly, Vim. Remarkable, isn't it? On the surface, such a dainty creature, and yet... It is powerful. I didn't realize quite how powerful it is until just today, though. Vim, it was a filly that brought this creature to my attention..." As Dusky trailed off, Vim's look of confusion was palpable. He cleared his throat, a little louder than before. "Dusky. You know, I like butterflies as much as the next pony, but I've got a job to do. I think you have one to do. So, just let me know when you want to do it, because I'll be right here." Dusky responded dreamily in the same tone that he had just used. "Ah, but Vim... My job is to clear the path for the butterfly to flourish, not to destroy it. The premature destruction of the butterfly would be a travesty against the order of nature." While he had often seen others be subjected to Dusky's odd philosophy, Vim hadn't dealt with it himself since Dusky had first started working with him as a colt. Since that time, Vim's patience had degraded considerably. His red eyes flickered with an incendiary mixture of exasperation and irritation, while he struggled to come up with an appropriate response. Dusky continued. "Hmmm... I think that this may be related to the flowers that I spoke to you of. Earlier in the day, I think..." Even though he was still looking away, Dusky seemed to sense Vim's growing irritation. After a moment, he spoke in a less distant manner. "My apologies, sir. I am somewhat distracted by my earlier findings." Vim cut in and ranted gruffly; his normal self-control was shaken by his engineer's odd demeanor. "Ok. Great. That's what I wanted to hear about, and I wanted to hear about it a few minutes ago. You know, neither of us really has the time for this, right now. Dusky, I have a train to run, and you know, there's no butterflies to worry about on a train, so how about we focus on that?" Dusky directed his gaze towards Vim, and Vim could see, clearly, that his eyes were lacking their normal vitality. "Actually, I deeply suspect that there may be a butterfly on the train, joining us for the journey to Los Pegasus." Vim looked away to hide his concern and confusion, voicing his discontent curtly, "Uh huh." Seemingly oblivious, Dusky continued in something that was a closer match to his usual manner of speech. For Vim's benefit, Dusky spoke simpler than he normally would have. "Actually, the train engine had ice damage, but it wasn't normal ice. This ice had resulted from magic, and I suspect that it was the direct result of the portal that had been opened during Trixie's show. I'm not particularly familiar with the exact nature of this type of magic, but... It wasn't the normal magic employed by a unicorn. I think that was something different." Glancing back at Dusky, Vim spoke. "So, what you're telling me is that with no Trixie, there's no problems?" Dusky smiled at Vim's simplicity. "Correct. Assuming that Magicon doesn't make use of the spell a second time, himself. Frankly, I'm surprised that he was able to do so in the first place, because it should have only been possible if Trixie, herself, had willed it to be possible. Yet, she seemed upset..." The conductor shrugged. To him, it was neither here nor there. "It was probably part of the show. You know, cheap thrills and all of that kind of stuff. Speaking of which, did ya happen to notice that sound, earlier?" Dusky, now back to his normal self, nodded. "I heard and I saw. It was Springer's nurse, Dawn, I think?" Vim replied, "Yeah." Dusky's smile broadened. "I'm unconcerned. There's absolutely nothing of interest to a medic in my area, though I can't speak for those creatures that she surrounds herself with. Is there a policy on the maximum number of cats onboard a train?" The thought of taking a count of Dawn's cats hadn't seemed important to Vim. "Yeah, there's a limit, but, really, I've only seen two, myself, and I think that's all there is to it. I don't mind a couple of cats. She's watching Springer, so a few pets are fine by me so long as they don't annoy the other passengers." Dusky nodded. "That's a reasonable perspective. I do think that you should caution her against letting them run wildly throughout the train, though. Some passengers and possibly some train crew members may be allergic." Vim raised an eyebrow at Dusky's remark.

Welcome back Swoop. Your previous time in service to the site was marked by both wisdom and wordplay, dashing deeds and delightful rapport, artistic skill and a sig that remains remarkable. It's good to have you back on board. Your assistance will be, as always, appreciated.

Sweet Celestia... It's glorious. xD I only hope that I can jump into the sig as either myself or my OC and stop her before she goes jumping off of there.

With a pleasant smile, Vim nodded at both of the pegasus ponies. He was quite happy to see that Flow had managed to find a friend onboard the train. With all of the strange things that Flow had been subjected to, the conductor couldn't help but feel slightly guilty. This was the reason that he had assigned Alex to Room 6. He liked the idea of the two pegasus ponies perhaps developing a friendship that carried on after the train's journey was complete. He spoke to Alex, before he forgot. "Alex, I have your room key and ticket right here. Just remember to get 'em from me before you board." Off to his left, he saw Dusky Coal, the engineer, striding off towards the stationmaster. Vim resisted the urge to facehoof. For whatever reason, Dusky had the longstanding habit of grilling the stationmasters on the maintenance performed on the train before departure. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to the stationmasters, because of course, the procedures were the same almost everywhere. Vim appreciated Dusky's thoroughness, but still, he had tried many times to ensure that the engineer understood the importance of maintaining good relations with the stationmasters. The sound was jarring, but Vim wasn't startled. As a railway pony, he was already accustomed to loud, unexpected sounds. In fact, he easily recognized the sound of the door to the train engine being slammed. With a raised eyebrow and a deep frown, Vim looked over his shoulder. The door had been slammed loudly enough to be heard around the entirety of the station. When he saw Dawn, his look of incredulity grew. "Dawn? What in Hades are you doing in Dusky's place?" The baby blue mare smiled and blushed slightly. "Oh gosh! I'm sorry Vim! I was looking for one of my cats, but I couldn't find her. At least, I think that I couldn't. But, I went in and there she was, making a big mess in Dusky's room. All of his nice neat stuff was knocked everywhere. She didn't mean to! She's such a nice kitty! But, you have to get to know her, first! Vim! Would you like to meet her!!!" Dawn had been moving towards Vim, while she was speaking. When she finished, her wildly sparkling eyes were just a foot away from Vim's own. The conductor's answer was simple. "No, Dawn. You know, I'm watching out for passengers, now. I don't have time for cats, and honestly, I think that you should be watching my assistant conductor? Don't you think?" Crestfallen, Dawn looked down. "Right, okay. I'll clean up the mess, and then I will go to check on Springer. Is this ok, Vim?" She smiled and looked at him hopefully. Vim nodded. With a small nod of her head, Dawn opened the door to the train engine, again. This time, a small blue kitten came slinking out, looking remarkably sullen and covered in dust. Vim squinted his eyes while looking at the small kitten. He couldn't figure how it had been able to make it into the train engine in the first place. If the door had been shut before Dawn opened it, then it didn't seem possible for anything to make it inside or outside the room. As crazy as it seemed, Vim was certain that Dawn had either brought the cat into the room herself or she had teleported it. Neither option made sense, and nothing that had been said explained why the door had been slammed. He shrugged. She was strange, but she was a capable medical pony. He would explain the situation to Dusky, later, and let the engineer check on things himself. For just a moment, he questioned whether he should allow Dawn to clean up after her cat's misbehavior without keeping an eye on things. However, Vim decided against it. If he could trust her with the life of a crew member or passenger, then he could surely trust her to not tamper with Dusky's things. Besides, they would be on a train, and Dusky kept meticulous track of his things. There was no way to take something without him noticing. Immediately, he recognized the hopeful cadence of a potential passenger. However, his normal introduction, including the ticket prices and a cheery laugh, were put on hold when she mentioned Dusky. Instead, Vim listened to her in silence, surprised by Dusky offering this passenger a free ticket without first consulting with him. Not wanting to disturb or alarm the mare, he kept his thoughts off his face. He waited until she had finished speaking before responding. After a hearty laugh, he smiled broadly while he answered her. "Well, of course that's ok with me! My engineer is one of my most trusted crew members. If he offers an emergency ticket, then I trust his judgement. You know, there's no need to second guess him? If you want, then you can have Room 7. It's right next door to Flow and Alex, here, so if you want to meet some fellow passengers, now's as good a chance as any." Vim gestured at the two pegasus ponies. "Just make sure that the three of you board, soonish. I really want to get this train moving on track." He laughed heartily at his own cheesy joke as he grabbed Summerfall's ticket and room key and gave them to her. She beamed quietly when Dawn spoke about how he would most likely enjoy himself on the train. Her smile faded just slightly when Dawn mentioned that he had listened to ponystep a lot "when he was younger". As far as she was concerned, ponystep was music for every age, but she knew that some ponies reacted badly when they found out that a fully grown mare considered it to be her favorite genre. She prepared for a lecture, but Dawn didn't deliver one. Instead, he simply noted that he enjoyed the music of Blue Eyes. It was a style from a bygone era, but Ambrosia didn't mind. "That's neat, actually. And... Yeah. That kind of music is much better for helping me to think my way through a hard problem than ponystep, but I think that ponystep is way better for cooking. Hey! Speaking of that, maybe you'd like to help me cook since you helped out with the shopping?" Letting her mind wander somewhat, Ambrosia thought about how much she was looking forward to meeting all of the new faces that would be present. As they approached the train, she saw and ignored Dusky. He was having his normal discussion with the stationmaster before the train left the station. She hadn't said anything to Vim about it, but Dusky had missed performing this particular task when they had left Canterlot on the previous day. Judging by the stationmaster's look of irritation, Dusky was making up for lost time. The sound caused Ambrosia to jump a little. While they were still just a bit far from the train, the sound was still quite a bit loud and unexpected. She recognized the sound as being the hard, metallic ring of a train engine door being slammed. She didn't even need to look at Dusky to know that he was likely less than pleased by the sound. Peering in the direction of the train, Ambrosia could see that the medical pony was speaking with Vim. She had heard about the medic, but she hadn't really interacted with her much at all. Had she been the cause of the noise? Ambrosia didn't dwell on it the noise. Instead, she intended to introduce Dawn Rider to Vim, and she hoped that the pegasus was really interested in boarding the train. Dawn Rider seemed like he would be a lot of fun to have on board. She could see Alex and Flow speaking near to where the conductor was standing. She was close enough to Vim to catch his terrible pun, and she looked apologetically at Dawn Rider before turning back towards the conductor. After waiting for Vim to finish with the passenger, she spoke to him. "Hi Vim! I hope that we have an extra room on the train, because I have an extra passenger right here. Meet Dawn Rider, he helped me to do some shopping around in market, and he was looking to enjoy some good cooking!" With a wink at Vim, she indicated Dawn's presence with a wide sweep of her hoof. Enjoying the opportunity to have some fun with a new passenger, Vim deadpanned. "I'm not surprised. In fact, the food is the only reason that I became a conductor of this train. So, Dawn Rider, eh? You know, I have Room 11 available for 100 bits. I think its reasonable. You know, I was just telling these other passengers that the food is the best reason to travel." With some effort, he restrained a grin before continuing. "Certainly, the food is much better than the stuff you can eat while flying. 'course, I've never flown anywhere myself, so I wouldn't really know, I guess. I do know that you can run out of supplies and it's a lot of work. Even if somepony is a good flier, like I'm guessing you are? There is something that you should know, though. See, you're the second Dawn on board this train. I hope you like cats. Soooo... Room 11? 100 bits?" Ambrosia grinned as she watched Vim talk with Dawn. The conductor was irrepressible sometimes. She hadn't even bothered to shut the door to the first passenger car. She had flung it open, and built back speed as quickly as she could. Behind her, the door had shut with a noise that was, mercifully, completely drowned out by the sound of Dawn slamming the engine door. Key briefly thought about why the strange unicorn was going through such great lengths to cover for her. It didn't make any sense, seemingly. There was a poof, and Key's vision filled with the sight of a purple unicorn filly about a little less than a meter away. With her eyes open wide, Key attempted to stop her mad dash by using her front hooves to break her momentum. It worked, but not nearly well enough. Too tired to think of much else to do, Key lifted her hooves off the ground before making contact and jerked herself to the side so that she could, hopefully, avoid a head-on collision with Asteria. She hit Asteria going at a pretty decent speed but, mercifully, not nearly hard enough to break anything or cause serious injury. Still, there was a small whirlwind of purple and blue fur for a moment as the two fillies tumbled into each other. When the dust settled, Asteria stood to her hooves and introduced herself, apparently none the worse for wear. Key didn't bother getting up, and for a moment, she didn't bother greeting Asteria. Her mind was elsewhere, because the book that she had been carrying was no longer in sight. Her eyes scanned the floor wildly, looking for the book. Not seeing it anywhere around them, she turned back to speak to the other filly. "Yeah, I'm..." She stopped mid-sentence, right there, on the floor behind Asteria, was the small black volume that she had been carrying in her mouth. As soon as her eyes caught sight of it, she immediately looked back to other filly. She didn't want the unicorn to have a clue about what was behind her and levitate the book out of reach. With a similar thought, she adjusted her position but stayed on the floor where she had landed. The way that the unicorn filly had appeared out of nowhere agitated Key's paranoia. Her concerns were only heightened by the fact that the book had landed behind this strange pony. What if it had been purposeful? In which case, Key was counting on the fact that spells were not instant. It would be easier to kick off into a devastating and unexpected attack from a position at an angle than just facing her opponent at a normal height. She blinked, though, when she realized that she had seen the filly before. Key recognized her as Lapis's assistant. She had forgotten almost all about the quiet purple unicorn from earlier in the day. Perhaps, Key thought, this was an opportunity to make an unlikely ally. Oblivious to the few moments of awkward silence, Key spoke cheerfully. "Yeah, I'm Key Gear. Uhhh... Don't mind me, I'm rather comfortable down here. Hey, Asteria. I was carrying a book. When I collided with you, it landed behind you. You mind taking a look at it and let me know what you think? See... The pages are blank, but I still think it's important." Key breathed a silent sigh of relief. In truth, she hated dealing with unicorns, even seemingly friendly ones, when she was by herself. Key had an extremely strong dislike for being levitated in any way or otherwise moved about via magic. Her brother's presence was a relief. Not wanting to concern him, she stood to her own hooves as she answered. "Hey, bro. I..." She stopped and considered what to say. She didn't want to let him know that she had taken something that was possibly not hers. "I just ran into Asteria here when I was on my way to the dining car. Err... I seriously ran into her, actually." She decided to leave out the fact that Asteria had teleported into a crash. "Hey, maybe you'd like to join us for lunch, because that's where I was going? I found a book when I was looking around the train. It's pretty tiny thing, so that's probably how you overlooked it in the search. All of the pages are blank, so I was hoping that Asteria could check it for hidden messages or something." He looked frightened for a moment. "Writing in my sleep? Could that really be possible?" Springer was oblivious to Lapis's attempt at humor. In the back of his mind, a memory stirred. It tingled like a sneeze before it died down, again. He sighed. Yet another missing memory. Springer raised an eyebrow. "Actually..." He started to speak, but Magicon had already left the room. He directed his remarks to Lapis and Arcanel, instead. "Actually, I think that... Perhaps this disturbance is connected to this very same strangeness that we just witnessed here. Perhaps someone is using magic to attempt to confuse us? I think that we should check to see what Magicon is speaking about." With those words, Springer rolled himself out of bed and onto his hooves. His walk bespoke of his tiredness, but he made it to the room door and opened it just in time to see Magicon concentrating on something or another. Springer sat down and watched Magicon inquisitively, not wanting to disturb the process. When, finally, Magicon turned around, Springer spoke. "Magicon, this disturbance in the magical world... Ummm... What was it, exactly? I believe that it may be relevant to the strange sheet of paper and the other unusual circumstances at present."