private The Search for the Sword

[Gatekeeper Giggle 2,902]

Link to OCC

 

It started out as a quiet, uneventful morning in Ponyville and all the other lands of Equestria. Celetstia had already raised the sun, but its warm rays were having trouble piercing the gently drizzling dark grey clouds the weather ponies had placed over Ponyville in order to give the freshly planted crops some much needed water. The rest of Equestria was enjoying the warmth of the morning sun and pleasant spring temperatures.  

 

The morning HAD started out uneventful, but as was the norm of Equestria things wouldn't remain that way for very long. A few select ponies will soon find their lives had become much more interesting...

[Randimaxis 8,633]

"Dat's MALARKEY!"

 

"But Chuck, it's right there in front of-"

 

"I don't care one way're the udda - I say it's malarkey!"

 

"Chuck, it's JUNK - we should carve it out and-"

 

"YOUDDA BOSS?  No?  Arrite, den... shut yer hayhole an' quit tellin' me howta do my job!"

 

The door to Luther Blackwater's rich yet reserved office opened, and in came three ponies; two were just mining crew casuals, but between them was Luther's head forepony for the Blackwater Quarry, Chuck List.  The gruff Earth Pony made his way to the desk unafraid, while the other two simply stood near the door, looking nervous.

 

Chuck strolled right up to the large oak desk, and leaned on the desktop towards his boss.

 

"'Ey Boss - dere's some kinda t'ing dat we come across down inna mines, shaft five; really weird lookin' pieca steel o' some sort.  It ain't gems, an' you tol' me dat if it ain't gems, come an' see YOU.  So, here I am."

 

Luther Blackwater's eyes rolled up from his paperwork to look at the stallion through his silver-framed spectacles.

 

"Steel?  Not ore?"

 

Chuck shook his head.  "Nuh-uh... refined an' such."

 

Luther pondered the information for a moment, then stood up.

 

"Fine.  Show me."

 

Chuck nodded.  "You got it, Boss.  YOU LUGS!"  Chuck pointed at the other two.  "GET BACKTA WOIK!"

 

They took off like bugbears out of Tartarus.

 

The two of them made their way down to the mines proper.  Sure enough, jutting out of the wall was what looked like some sort of metal piece, though it was far enough in the wall to keep it from being properly identified.

 

"Dere iddiz," Chuck said, "an' it's right inna way o' minin'.  Y'want we should try a few charges 'round it, 'r maybe we-"

 

"No."  Luther said, then moved up to the wall.  He took his time, lining up his flank with the rock and giving the bottom of the wall a hard look.  After a moment, he nodded and turned around.  He lifted his hooves, and threw them back, aimed at a low portion of the wall.  The resounding CRUNCH was loud, and a whole section of the wall fell away to the floor.

 

It had been an impressive hit, and work in the tunnel paused to look over at the fallen wall.  Luther, however, simply walked over to the debris of his hoofdiwork, and shoved some rocks aside to reveal...

 

"A handle."

 

There, amidst the rocks, was what appeared to be the hilt and handle of a sword... but there was something about the broken hilt that looked... ancient...

 

As Luther stood looking down at it, Chuck walked up next to him.

 

"So, now dadditz free... whatcha gonna do?"

 

Luther looked at the handle with his customary frown deepening.

 

"A letter... to Canterlot."

[Gatekeeper Giggle 2,902]

"Dat's MALARKEY!"

 

"But Chuck, it's right there in front of-"

 

"I don't care one way're the udda - I say it's malarkey!"

 

"Chuck, it's JUNK - we should carve it out and-"

 

"YOUDDA BOSS?  No?  Arrite, den... shut yer hayhole an' quit tellin' me howta do my job!"

 

The door to Luther Blackwater's rich yet reserved office opened, and in came three ponies; two were just mining crew casuals, but between them was Luther's head forepony for the Blackwater Quarry, Chuck List.  The gruff Earth Pony made his way to the desk unafraid, while the other two simply stood near the door, looking nervous.

 

Chuck strolled right up to the large oak desk, and leaned on the desktop towards his boss.

 

"'Ey Boss - dere's some kinda t'ing dat we come across down inna mines, shaft five; really weird lookin' pieca steel o' some sort.  It ain't gems, an' you tol' me dat if it ain't gems, come an' see YOU.  So, here I am."

 

Luther Blackwater's eyes rolled up from his paperwork to look at the stallion through his silver-framed spectacles.

 

"Steel?  Not ore?"

 

Chuck shook his head.  "Nuh-uh... refined an' such."

 

Luther pondered the information for a moment, then stood up.

 

"Fine.  Show me."

 

Chuck nodded.  "You got it, Boss.  YOU LUGS!"  Chuck pointed at the other two.  "GET BACKTA WOIK!"

 

They took off like bugbears out of Tartarus.

 

The two of them made their way down to the mines proper.  Sure enough, jutting out of the wall was what looked like some sort of metal piece, though it was far enough in the wall to keep it from being properly identified.

 

"Dere iddiz," Chuck said, "an' it's right inna way o' minin'.  Y'want we should try a few charges 'round it, 'r maybe we-"

 

"No."  Luther said, then moved up to the wall.  He took his time, lining up his flank with the rock and giving the bottom of the wall a hard look.  After a moment, he nodded and turned around.  He lifted his hooves, and threw them back, aimed at a low portion of the wall.  The resounding CRUNCH was loud, and a whole section of the wall fell away to the floor.

 

It had been an impressive hit, and work in the tunnel paused to look over at the fallen wall.  Luther, however, simply walked over to the debris of his hoofdiwork, and shoved some rocks aside to reveal...

 

"A handle."

 

There, amidst the rocks, was what appeared to be the hilt and handle of a sword... but there was something about the broken hilt that looked... ancient...

 

As Luther stood looking down at it, Chuck walked up next to him.

 

"So, now dadditz free... whatcha gonna do?"

 

Luther looked at the handle with his customary frown deepening.

 

"A letter... to Canterlot."

After roughly three to four days in the mail, the letter arrived at the head office of the Historical Preservation Society of Canterlot. The esteemed Dusty Relic, founder of the illustrious society, opened the letter with an extremely bored expression on his face. He had been trapped in the office all day, doing the tedious work of keeping the society running smoothly. He hated all this administrative work, and much preferred being out in the field, getting his hooves dirty. And as he read the letter, he realized that this was his chance to do exactly that! If this sword handle was exactly what he thought it was, judging from the description in the letter, it would be the find of the century! Actually finding one of the pieces of the Sword of Legend would allow him to retire and end his career on the high note somepony of his status so richly deserved. And if it wasn't actually a part of the Sword of Legend, well... this would still be a good excuse to get out of the office and organize an expedition, so really it was a win-win situation.

 

After getting the letter, Dusty Relic immediately set to work organizing an expedition to the mine. The mine in which the sword hilt had been found would need to be excavated. According to legend, each of the pieces of the Sword had been interred in an elaborate labyrinth designed to test the mettle of potential seekers of the Sword. Dusty Relic thought it was very likely the ruins of the labyrinth would be near where the sword hilt was found, and the ruins would most definitely be filled with valuable relics in need of preservation. Getting the mine owner to allow the excavation would be tricky, but he had experience dealing with hard to work with land owners. 

 

The hardest part to organizing any expedition was getting somepony to finance it. Usually, the ponies who were wealthy enough to afford it considered it a waste of their time and money. Dusty Relic was fully prepared for the process of wheedling and begging wealthy business owners and nobles for money, but he was pleasantly surprised as an extremely wealthy donor contacted him within a few hours of getting the letter. Soon, the expedition to the mine was completely organized and ready to go in record time. Perhaps the most astonishing thing of all was that the financier, one Dividend Yield, had insisted on going along with the expedition! 

 

Within a day of getting the letter, the Historical Preservation Society of Canterlot already had several wagons full of supplies and workers heading to the Blackwater Mine. 

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@, @@Randimaxis,

 

 

Copper was panting a little bit.  He was in the middle of a race in Ponyville and he was trying his best to beat the pack of racers behind him.  The race was the Running of the Leaves, the most famous race in Ponyville, and he was honored to be a part of it every year.  This one in particular because he was racing a mare who he became  friends with before the race happened.  There was also a suspected cheater in the race, but he would have to take care of it later.  The race came to a cliff where it was still safe to run on, the ponies just have to still be careful about the edge.

Edited March 29, 2016 by DwhitetheGamer

[Gatekeeper Giggle 2,902]

@, @@Randimaxis,

 

 

Copper was panting a little bit.  He was in the middle of a race in Ponyville and he was trying his best to beat the pack of racers behind him.  The race was the Running of the Leaves, the most famous race in Ponyville, and he was honored to be a part of it every year.  This one in particular because he was racing a mare who he became  friends with before the race happened.  There was also a suspected cheater in the race, but he would have to take care of it later.  The race came to a cliff where it was still safe to run on, the ponies just have to still be careful about the edge.

The running of the leaves was rather competitive this year, more so than other years. There weren't as many casual runners this year, most of the ponies here had trained for the event and were in it to win. Even so, very few of them could match Copper's speed and skill on the track, and he took a healthy lead over almost all of the competitors early on in the race. But not all of the of the other racers were lagging behind him, his long time friendly rival Marigold Bolt had been right beside him for most of the race, and was running along with him even now.

 

"Hey Copper, you look like you're a little out of breath! Maybe you should take a break!" Marigold liked to tease, and sometimes even taunt, her competitors but Copper knew from experience she was a honorable and mostly friendly opponent. 

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@, 

 

Copper grinned at Marigold.  He knew she was a respectable pony as he was, and he wasn't going to let some measly taunt let him down.  "And quit the race?  No chance!"  he said and pushed himself a little harder, pulling in front of Marigold.  He smiled, knowing he might not win, but he gave it his all if he didn't.

[Samurai Equine 45,936]

(EDITED on request)

 

Meanwhile, in a distant part of Equestria's Solar Empire, about as far to the east as you can go to a place called Japon...

 

A frightening roar bellows through the open fields!

A herd of qilin run back to the forests they came from. Making sure they have left is an armored, tri-colored pony and a manticore. Obviously, it was the manticore who was roaring loudly. Once gone, the armored pony nods and turns to the manticore. "That should settle it. You shouldn't have any more problems with qilins trying to steal your homes anymore." The samurai pony bows respectfully. Pleased, the two of them part ways.

 

As he makes his way through the woods, the samurai pony notices that part of his chest armor has been damaged. "Hmm... That's not good. The smith that forged this armor is on vacation. Won't be back for a good while Maybe I can hire some other pony to fix it. It's a little insulting, but this really can't wait..."

 

While he makes his way back to the city, he notices something in the woods. A glimmer from an abandoned cave catches his eye. Moving in closer, the samurai pony looks inside the cave. Deep, deep inside, past the rocks and cobwebs, past many things within this cave, it looks like there is something discarded within. "Hmm... Where have I seen that kind of shape before? ... Maybe it's some kind of relic? Only one way to find out." Pulling out a small camera and some papers from his armor, the samurai pony aims and snaps a picture of the strange artifact. As the picture develops, he begins writing a letter to go with it.

 

While he is there, the samurai pony decides to cover up the cave and make it look less noticeable. He closes the cave with vines and discarded wood. One of the papers he pulled out was a foldable map, which he marks the location of the cave on. He puts the map away to keep for himself. That's all he can do for now. Just beyond the next ridge is the big city. Light, sounds, and a hustle and bustle of eastern culture mixed with some western influences. And of course, the first thing he does is find a post box just on the outskirts of the city. Once there, he takes the picture and the letter he wrote, and properly mails them to a chain of correspondents. "There. Now the best archaeologists in Equestria will know about it. It's in their hands now."

Edited April 7, 2016 by Samurai Equine