private Midnight in Manehattan Part 2

[crispy fries 432]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

"Thank you for your time Ms. Blue," she said she finished scribbling down what she had just said, "I think I will go with Illiad to look for Swift. Seems like a good way to find the answers I'm looking for."

 

Ballpoint wasn't supposed to be back in Canterlot for a few days, so she figured she could spend time on the search.

[Illiad Easle 3,137]

@@crispy fries,

 

Sleipnir was surprised. "You've run out of questions already? You haven't even asked about the battle or anything really outside of general knowledge. The receptionist could have answered those questions, but okay. I have other matters to attend to if you have no further questions. Two is quite insufficient for a search party." 

the queen rose from her throne and proceeded towards another exit to the room, her cyan hair flowing lightly behind her.

[crispy fries 432]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

"Alright, Illiad, where's the first stop on the search for this guy? Y'know, maybe we should ask the Zebra what's up, since he seemed to be a big deal in what happened leading up to the attack. What's your beef with the griffon anyways? Just what did she steal?"

[Illiad Easle 3,137]

@@crispy fries,

 

Illiad held his hooves up in defense. "I don't know anything about an artifact, I only heard vaguely about the attack too. I don't know this griffon nor do I personally have a problem with them, but they clearly angered the changelings here so it must have been something bad. The Zebra does sound like a good place to start though, my only lead is towards the Badlands, but that's the best I've gotten so far." 

[crispy fries 432]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

"Well, I heard there was some Zebra showing up for some kind of important magic thing downtown tonight. Considering there aren't a whole lot of Zebras in Equestria, I bet that's him. I can probably flash my press pass and get us in. It's going on at some hotel."

[Illiad Easle 3,137]

@@crispy fries,

 

Illiad stretched as he got up from his surprisingly comfortable seat. "It wouldn't happen to be the hotel we are currently beneath would it? That would be awfully convenient now wouldn't it. Especially considering the number of hotels in this city." 

[crispy fries 432]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

"What, you think it's that easy? I wish. The hotel is across town, some swanky place called the 'Waldorf' or whatever. It's in the ballroom. C'mon, if we hail a cab now, we can maybe get there before next week. Let's go," said Ballpoint as she got back into the elevator.

[Illiad Easle 3,137]

@@crispy fries,

 

"The Waldorf?" Illiad looked impressed as he made his way back to the elevator. "Weren't they busted for mafia involvement life a bunch of other high end businesses? It's good to hear that they possibly recovered from it. Or I'm not thinking of the right business. I haven't been out of Dodge in a long time."

 

(So, are we going with modern tech levels? What comparative year would you say it is to our time there?) 

[Guest]

( I was going to post this once you guys posted about exiting the place, but I'm going o the gym now so see you guys in an hour+ )

 

While there was a lack of a visible body, there was distinctly charred area over the rubble. Second deduced that the monster had dissipated there. He walked over, scraping off a bit of the charred mess with his claw. Cautiously, he tasted it.

 

If his odd behaviour hadn't drawn the attention of many onlookers already, this would have.

 

'Hmm.... Tastes like normal solidified lava. The monster was an unstable mess held together by magic.' he deduced, spitting out the black shit.

 

This still begged the question: what exactly had summoned this monster? Dark clouds spilling out of the portal indicated that It lead to either draconia or... Tartarus.

 

Judging by the presence of magic, Tartarus was the best bet.

[crispy fries 432]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

(I'm going to go with 50s level tech)

 

"I heard they weren't directly related. Just that the mafia did some stuff there," Ballpoint said, stepping out of the elevator.

 

As she walked through the lobby and out the front doors, a passing stallion bumped into her.

 

"Watch it!" he said.

 

"Blow it out your ass!" retorted Ballpoint.

 

"The ponies in this town," she remarked as she flagged down a cab.

[Illiad Easle 3,137]

@@crispy fries,

 

Illiad was taken aback by his new traveling partner's actions, but decided not to say anything about it as he waited for the taxi. "Huh, it's just what I've heard. Dodge is really disconnected from everyday stuff and news. A great place to escape if you want to be just out of reasonable contact, though the new phone and telegraph lines are pretty nice." He pulled a clipboard from his bag with a map on it, he started plotting possible routes to the badlands whilst muttering under his breath. "He can't go too far from civilization else he'd risk starvation and she is under no such restriction as she can hunt for her food. Makes it hard to follow her or him given he's indistinguishable from any other changeling when disguised." 

[crispy fries 432]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

"Geez, you just got phones over in Dodge? I'd probably bash my head in with a shovel from boredom if I lived there", said Ballpoint as she got into the back of the cab. "We're going to the Waldorf," she said to the cab driver.

 

"So what do you do in Dodge if you're so disconnected?"

[Illiad Easle 3,137]

@@crispy fries,

 

Illiad joined her in the cab. "I was working for the Canterlot Archives as part of an effort to transcribe the history of the buffalo tribes for posterity sake. They move around a bunch so even if Dodge had phones the whole time I'd still be disconnected between excursions to their camps. It's tedious work but fulfilling in a way. They've also had me work in plotting boundaries so incidents like Appaloosa don't happen again." 

[crispy fries 432]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

"Sounds kinda boring. I like my job as an investigative journalist because I can do stuff, move around, take some agency. Plus, I always like to find out what goes on behind the scenes. Hey did you hear about that new television thing? It looks ridiculous."

[Illiad Easle 3,137]

@@crispy fries,

 

"I think it's pretty cool to get away from all this hustle and bustle and just relax. It can be boring at times, my favorite was working in the archives as an assistant curator, that's the job I'll be going back to once the transcription project is done anyway. Also, I think the television thing is pretty cool, the ability to have pictures associated with the radio sounds will add a bit of depth to entertainment. A theater in your own home if you will." 

[crispy fries 432]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

"Man, you could bring the news straight to your face. You wouldn't have to go out to the movies, or even read the paper. Hell, I might be out of a job. But anyways, where are these badlands that this griffon and your guy ran off to? Sounds like it'd be out by Appleoosa."

[Illiad Easle 3,137]

@@crispy fries,

 

"You're not too far off, Appaloosa is in the southwest, part of the plains area that the locals refer to as the mild west, and the badlands run right along the southeastern coast. It is not very hospitable territory, perfect if you want to get away from civilization and can live off the land. And you don't mind the risk of dragons." 

[crispy fries 432]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

"You must really have a pair if you're gonna run off to dragon country. Aside from that, seems pretty boring," said Ballpoint.

 

After a crawl through traffic, the taxi arrived at the Waldorf.

 

"Here's our stop," Ballpoint said as she handed a handful of bits to the taxi driver.

[Illiad Easle 3,137]

@@crispy fries,

 

Illiad exited the taxi, "From what I've heard about the one chasing her, the Badlands would be a decent place to try and escape from him. But given both of them fought against the monster I'd say neither of them are actually scared of what's out there. Not much can compare to that thing. From what I've heard." 

[Guest]

@illiad easel

 

Second Sight delved into his memory.'reports say a changeling queen and her subjects were crucial in ending the battle.' He mused. It was by now, almost common knowledge that the queen at the hay tower.

 

'Perhaps I should pay her a visit. I wonder if she's accepting guests'

 

A carriage dropped Second Sight off at the hay tower. He smirked. 'Smart ones, these changelings. Hiding in broad daylight. No wonder they stayed a secret for so long.'

 

He approached the receptionist of the hay tower, taking off his hat to ( hopefully ) make himself more approachable. "Hello. I am Second Sight. May I speak with your queen regarding the monster? I wish to learn more about it."

[crispy fries 432]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

As Ballpoint approached the entrance of the Waldorf, she levitated her press pass and showed it to the doorman. "He's with me," she said, pointing to Illiad.

 

The doorman let them in. The main hall was bustling with a variety of mages from all over Equestria, but as Ballpoint searched through the crowd, she saw a set of stripes.

[Illiad Easle 3,137]

@,

 

The receptionist looked up at the griffon with a slightly incredulous, slightly surprised expression. "You're certainly different from our usual client base. I'm afraid Midnight is busy at the moment, but I would be happy to answer some of your questions if I can."

 

@@crispy fries,

 

Illiad was impressed by the gathering of such magical talents in a single area, he could tell most of them were from Canterlot, likely professors from Celestia's school. "I wonder what the convention could be for all these to be here and not in Canterlot?"

Edited March 6, 2016 by Illiad Easle

[crispy fries 432]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

"Well, from what I hear, the monster attack is the big draw. It was a pretty big magical thing, so I guess they all wanted to find out more about it. They rescheduled the whole thing because so many of the guests decided to come out here instead of Canterlot. Hey, there's the Zebra!" said Ballpoint, pointing to Janeri.

Edited March 6, 2016 by crispy fries

[Illiad Easle 3,137]

@@crispy fries,

 

Illiad shrugged, "Lucky us I suppose, if the convention were in Canterlot it would be a bit more difficult for us to find that zebra."

 

Illiad was surprised to hear that the reporter had found him already. "We're certainly on a lucky streak today aren't we?" 

[crispy fries 432]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

"What can I say? I've got a good eye. Plus, a zebra stands out like a sore thumb," said Ballpoint as she approached Janeri, "Excuse me, I'm a reporter with the Canterlot Press. I've gotten good word that you were directly involved in the Manehattan attack two months ago. Care to tell me about it?"

 

"Ah, I was wondering when somepony would find out," said Janeri, "Before I answer your questions, I would just like to know who told you. Was it Swift? Salleria?"