private Pony Mystery Theater: Act II, Exit Trixie, Stage Right.

Key Gear · March 29, 2013

It was roughly one hour into the afternoon, and, aside from the occasional pegasus pony, the sky was clear. The sun shined brightly over the landscape. It was a beautiful summer day, the perfect day for a train ride across the scenic Equestrian landscape. The Ponyville train station was somewhat busy, as was normal for this time of day, but there was something new. A certain silent buzz seemed to fill the air.

Vim looked around the station, savoring the buzz. For the first time in the last few days, everything seemed somewhat normal. It had all started with Trixie. She'd boarded the train the night before its departure from Canterlot and, from that point onward, things went wrong. Mercifully, none of that mattered at the present. Trixie was gone and would trouble him no more, Vim was certain of this.

Just a few hours earlier, several passengers had worked together to search the entirety of the train. They had tediously gone through every room on the train, but they had found no trace of Trixie and precious few clues to the events of the previous day and a half. As far as the conductor was concerned, this was confirmation enough that Trixie was gone. Unfortunately, the train had lost some time while waiting for the search to be completed.

Faced with a delay, Vim had initially thought, just for a moment, about canceling the journey. It had been one of the more problematic trains that he had ever been a conductor on. But, in a discussion with his friend, Berry Nut, after the search was completed, his friend had assured him that the best course of action would be to proceed. After all, with Trixie completely gone, the magic show that the train was destined for would likely be delayed, regardless. Everything had seemingly worked out for the better.

It was with this thought in mind, that Vim had approached the Stationmaster to ask about taking tickets for the second leg of the train's journey. His reputation had preceded him. Nearly as soon as he had begun to make his way around the station, many of the other railroad ponies had started whispering among themselves. Among railroad ponies, Vim was, for his long and successful career, considered to be a legend.

On that day in particular, there had been quite a few trains in the Ponyville station. This meant that the word of his presence spread quickly. By the time he had reached the Stationmaster's office, he didn't even need to introduce himself, he was expected. His request to accept tickets was taken as fact by the Stationmaster just as soon as Vim had made it. On one hoof, he felt unhappy with being able to command so much respect by just his mere presence, but on the other hoof, Vim delighted in being able to do what he needed to do to get his train back on track. Undoubtedly, the word of his presence would make its way through the entirety of Ponyville before too much longer.

He had just seen his old friend, Berry Nut off. He'd attempted to talk the older unicorn in joining him for the train ride to Los Pegasus, but Berry would hear nothing of it. The eccentric unicorn had mentioned that the surprise of running into his old friend was already a sufficient enough pleasantry for him and that Vim would know where to find him in the future.

Now, at the present moment, Vim waited near the entrance of the train. The baggage car had been cleverly converted into a welcoming area of sorts. Trixie's boxes and everything else had been searched then then transported into storage at the train station. Vim smiled, it was one less thing to worry about. Now, all he needed was a full train again...

The tall, shadowy pony stood remarkably still, using a magnifying glass to inspect the side of the train engine. His face was expressionless. His gaze was focused. "Hey hey." The greeting, spoken smoothly and with a sotto voice, prompted no response from the tall unicorn. Cheval was undeterred, and he continued to approach without showing a trace of irritation. "Somepony told me that you're Dusky Coal, and you need some kind of help from a specialist. Well, I'm not a specialist, but my conductor sent me over here. So, I figured that working with Vim's engineer would be a treat."

Dusky stirred. He turned his head to regard Cheval, a slightly chubby unicorn with chestnut-colored fur a black mane and tail. While Dusky's expression remained neutral, his voice carried some annoyance as he replied. "I am an engineer, yes, and I work with Vim, this is true as well. However, I doubt that Vim, himself, would ascribe any claims of ownership over me. You may refer to me by my name, if you please." Cheval shrugged. "Well, sure, that works fine for me. What's the problem that you're having?"

After a distracted look towards the train engine, Dusky answered. "Hmmm... It's simple, really... This train is losing water. The reason that this is happening is because an anomalous magical occurrence seems to have interacted with something in the neighboring vicinity and resulted in the proliferation of unnatural crystalline composites, altering the metallurgical structure of the material in a few, isolated areas. This defect can be repaired through the application of a purifying force, magical, to counter the effects of the heretofore mentioned..." Cheval cut Dusky off with a pleasant but forceful laugh. Dusky bristled. "You find this amusing?"

Cheval's smile was luminous as he replied to Dusky, guilelessly. "I don't even understand what you're saying, Dusky. Like I said, I'm no specialist. I'm just an ordinary engineer. I'll tell you what, though. Why don't you just tell me what the solution is. You could just let me know what you need me to do, and I'd be happy to help a fellow engineer out. It'd save time, too." Still seemingly irritated, Dusky nodded. "Heat the areas that I indicate, using your magic. Stop when I tell you to."

"Uh huh. Well, let's start!" Cheval had never met a pony that he couldn't get along with. He'd gotten off to a rocky start with Dusky, but now he was eager to see if he could earn some points from the seemingly aloof unicorn. Silently, Dusky indicated an area of the train engine with a hoof and then offered his magnifying glass to Cheval. The area did have something wrong with it, and it looked, to Cheval, to be ice. "Ice magic?" He offered, but Dusky shook his head. "No. Ice magic is controlled and it can be targeted with some degree of precision. What you see here is just a counter product, the unintended effect, of a different type of magic."

Deciding not to waste any further time, Cheval's horn started to glow with a fiery red as he targeted a spell at the area that Dusky had indicated. While he was doing so, Dusky sauntered to another area of the train engine and waited. After a certain amount of time, he said simply. "I think that is sufficient." Then, he indicated the next area with another gesture of a hoof. This repeated approximately two or three times until the job was done.

When Dusky stepped forward to survey the train engine one final time, Cheval decided to finally ask a question that he had been considering silently. "Hey, I've got something that's been bothering me. Why not just get any unicorn to melt this ice then?" Dusky sighed. "This isn't normal ice, it's something more... Hmmm... Durable." Cheval's curiosity was still unsatisfied. "Well, if you don't mind my asking. What did you need my help for anyway? After all, we're both unicorns, you could've just done this yourself, right?" Dusky smiled, it was an expression that didn't altogether seem natural for him. "I don't use magic."

Despite himself, Cheval stared. "What? Why not?" Dusky's smile broadened, just slightly. "Cheval, it was a pleasure working with you. I look forward to perhaps working with you again, on a larger and less rushed project, in the future." With a shrug, Cheval turned his back to Dusky and began to walk away. He'd made it about 5 steps before he realized something. However, Dusky spoke before he could mention his realization. "Yes, I know your name. I'm well-versed in the activities of other engineers of some repute. However, you should consider introducing yourself in addition to your normal redundant greeting. 'Hey hey,' indeed."

With a final glance over his shoulder, Cheval went on his way. He'd never met a pony that he couldn't get along with, but Dusky was certainly a strange one. He definitely pushed the limits. Behind him, Dusky stood still, silently making yet another check of the train engine.

The Ponyville market wasn't completely packed, but there was certainly enough activity taking place to make it somewhat challenging to get around without bumping into somepony. It was still around the time that quite a few ponies went to lunch, so the market was filled with the normal lunchtime crowd. In addition to that, there seemed to be a few ponies from nearby restaurants trying to restock supplies that they had run short on, many of them carried lists that were so long that they dragged on the ground as they hustled from place to place.

Ambrosia made her way through the crowd with light, graceful steps despite the saddlebags that she was carrying and mindful of the purple filly that she was traveling with. She was a lemon-furred earth pony with a plum-colored mane and a pleasant disposition. She had just left the train, not too long ago. After speaking with the Stationmaster, Vim had told her that he was anticipating having a full train for the journey to Los Pegasus. For Ambrosia, this meant one thing - she would need to gather all of the necessary supplies to make sure that the kitchen ran smoothly.

Unlike many cooks, Ambrosia didn't need a list to know the status of the storeroom. She had reorganized it earlier in the day, and the list of ingredients that were low on stock or missing was kept completely in her memory. "Oh goodness, excuse me." Another pony, a unicorn, had collided into her while waving at from friends. "No problem, really." Ambrosia hastily responded and continued on her way, speaking to Asteria after the two were a few steps away. "I can't ever recall this place being quite this busy the last few times that I was here... It must be lunchtime, but still..."

A small shop, selling seasonings and spices, caught her eye, and Ambrosia changed course and trotted in its direction. Mercifully, this was one of the few shops without much of a line in front of it. Speaking partially to herself and partially to Asteria, she rattled off a few things as she approached the stand. "Well, I think I need to get seasoning for salads, maybe some garlic bread, then deserts... Not sure which ones though..." She cleared her throat to catch the attention of the merchant.

"Excuse me, sir, I'm buying supplies for a train heading to Los Pegasus. I just need to get some seasoning so that..." The older pegasus pony that she was addressing spoke with alarm. "Wait, you need to buy enough seasoning to fill an entire train? I don't have that much of anything here, I'm afraid that you'd better just..." Ambrosia laughed cheerfully, disarming the agitated pony. "Oh, no no no. I just need a few things that I can carry myself." She smiled brightly and then began to name off a few items... She stopped when she reached desserts... "Umm, Asteria, what do you think I make? Cookies, cake, or..." Ambrosia appeared lost in thought.

The blue filly lied on her bed with her face pressed into a pillow. An almost imperceptible groan could be heard. She was bored, and it was a tragic situation, at best. Earlier in the day, she was certain that she was on the verge of the adventure of a lifetime. Progress had finally been made concerning her missing book, the train engineer had tipped his hoof somewhat, and things regarding Trixie were finally starting to become clear. That was when the setbacks began.

A thorough search of the train had revealed absolutely nothing amiss. The engineer had busied himself with preparing the train for the journey to Los Pegasus. Trixie was gone. Key Gear had gone from having seemingly dozens of interesting things to contemplate to having nothing to think about. She was especially disappointed by the engineer. Whatever his purposes and his powers were, he seemed nowhere near as interested in revealing as Key was in finding out. Despite strong hints that the engineer knew something about the book and her missing parents, that was still the extent of Key's knowledge.

In the midst of all of this, the detective that she had originally brought with her onboard the train had been summoned back to Manehattan. He, along with several other passengers, was no longer onboard the train. On one hoof, this meant that she wouldn't have to worry about paying him. On the other hoof, this meant that he had, probably correctly, judged that his skills were more in need at another location.

Still, not everything was a total loss. Her brother, Electrobolt, had been promoted to assistant conductor. Of course, since he was her brother, this meant that she would be one of the first ponies to know if something important happened on the train. Key smiled broadly as she thought about how random it was that her brother had picked up a job on a train ride that was supposed to have just been a vacation for him.

She blinked. Where was Electrobolt? She hadn't seen him since the search of the train had been completed, and that now felt like forever ago. Key rolled out of her bed and onto her hooves. Still drowsy, despite her nap, she stumbled for just a moment before finally managing to make her way towards her room door. Her brother's room was right across the hall, so she didn't have very far to go.

Unfortunately, when she reached his door, it was locked. Not thinking to knock, Key went back to her room, sleepily, fished out her lock picking set, and started to go back to her brother's door. She stopped for a moment as a dimly remembered thought came to her. Glancing by her bed, she saw the two saddlebags with cookies in them that Bolt had dropped off earlier. Smiling, Key took them with her on her trip to her brother's room.

When she reached the door, this time, she grabbed a tension wrench and a pick and quickly set the pins. In a matter of seconds, the door was unlocked. Quietly, Key opened the door and made her way in, shutting it behind her. Bolt was sleeping peacefully on his bed. After a moment of indecision, not sure if she wanted to wake him up from his own nap, Key made up her mind. Trotting up to him, she nudged him gently with a hoof.

Dawn had left Springer's room, just moments before. Before leaving, she had checked up on him and reassured him that she would be joining the train to keep an eye on his health. She had also told the troubled assistant conductor that she intended to do everything in her power to ensure his safety. She had meant every word of it. Without knowing why, she found herself driven to protect the green pegasus. But, for now, she was starving.

She was a baby blue-colored unicorn with a darker blue mane and tail. Since her arrival on the train, earlier that day, she hadn't had a chance to get anything to eat. Walking quietly into the kitchen, Dawn quickly set about making herself a light salad. Thankfully, Ambrosia, the cook, had a relatively straightforward way of organizing things, so Dawn didn't have any problems finding what she needed and returning things afterwards.

With her meal prepared, she took a seat at one of the tables in the dining car. She didn't even manage to nibble her food though before she felt an eerie feeling. Glancing around the dining car with wide eyes, Dawn wasn't able to figure out exactly what was bothering her, until she saw her cat, Flo. Her small, cream-colored tabby cat had never entered the dining car. Instead, it stood in the door that divided the dining car and parlor car, staring idly. Dawn decided to accept the cat's invitation.

Taking her food with her, she moved over to the parlor car. Dawn breathed a sigh of relief as her cat purred pleasantly. This was a much better room. She settled down in one of the chairs near the far side of the car and ate her food in silence, stopping every every once in a while to look, wistfully, in the direction where, just the night before, there had been a stage.

Springer was tucked away in bed. While he was tired, he didn't feel sleepy in the slightest. Even though he had promised the nurse, Dawn, that he would get some rest, his mind refused to cease its activity. The search of the train had revealed nothing and yet... Springer found himself concerned that something was not as it should have been.

"I have an odd feeling." Springer began, addressing his statement to both Lapis and Arcanel. "I know that it is odd, because it definitely isn't an efficient thought. I have no evidence, no data. But, something concerns me. I just find it strange that we found nearly nothing out of the ordinary when we searched the entirety of this train. In fact, even that strange blue cat is gone. It can't be this simple. It just can't be."

Springer shook his head and set up in bed. Holding out his hooves in front of him, he seemed to be weighing something invisible. "Even my memories are improving. Trixie is gone without a trace. Vim is adding additional passengers to the train... I have no reason to be concerned. This truly is inefficient, but... Still... I just don't feel as though everything is over. I would advise the both of you to remain observant, and keep a close eye on the newer passengers. Trixie may attempt to reboard the train... Ummm..."

The tired pegasus seemed to recall something. "Actually... I... Umm... I just realized something. We didn't search the entirety of the train..." Springer gestured with a hoof at the immobile train on the opposite site of the room. "If one of you stood on one of these shelves, you could take my train down... Ummmm... Be careful with it though... Just look and see if you find anything... Ummm... That shouldn't be on a train."

There's a blank sheet of paper rolled up and placed into one of the train cars. So it begins.

In other news, this post was typed while under the influence of medication. If you see anything that makes no sense, let me know and I'll get on it ASAP.

Edited September 15, 2013 by Luminescence

Bari · March 29, 2013

Out in the market part of Ponyville, a lemon mare and a purple filly were running errands. The filly, Asteria, felt overjoyed. She always enjoyed being about in a town or city, just seeing the sights. Sure, this was more like a mission than sight-seeing, but it was fun nonetheless. Ambrosia was weaving her way through the crowd, just trying to get to one of the shops. A pony bumped into Asteria's chaperon, but promptly apologized. So all was well. Ambrosia took a quick second to give her observation's on the unusually large amount of activity, which sounded about right to Asteria. Her tummy growled again, but she didn't want to bug Ambrosia about it. Getting sidetracked now would just upset the flow.

In no time at all, the pair reached a shop of some sort, most likely the one Ambrosia had in mind. It was clear to Asteria that the lemon mare was buying spices or something, but the filly didn't know all that much about cooking. At the very least, the shop smelled lovely. A familiar voice broke through her daydream and it was clear Ambrosia wanted something from her. She looked up to see a pegasus stallion with an odd look on his face quickly fading. In a moment the words returned to her. Something about dessert. "Um, would carrot cake be okay? I love carrot cake, especially if it has cinnamon in it! Oh, and maybe cinnamon in the frosting too." she replied very cheerfully.

Elsewhere, in the room of a green pegasus, the mood wasn't as cheery. Lapis lamented on the failure of the search. They had not found the book he had so desired, and the show mare Trixie had not been found either. It wasn't a fun sensation to search fruitlessly. Nevertheless, the blue stallion tried to stay positive. Beside him, the white pegasus stallion Arcanel listened to Springer with as much intensity as himself. As Springer did a run down of the current situation, a growing sense of defeat entered Lapis's heart. His odd obsession with the book had at least lowered to an acceptable level. He still had some hope, but it didn't seem as important. Right now, making sense of all these events was what mattered.

But then Springer told them to stay observant, and it snapped him to attention. If Trixie was actually very dangerous, making sure she didn't get back on the train was very important indeed. And any new passenger could be working for her as well. But Lapis tried not to let himself get caught up in any paranoid delusions. Luckily, Springer had suggested something that could be done at the moment. It was annoying to just give up, so any little thing could hold value. Even if it was such a silly thing. What would be in a toy train? Taking a deep breath, the blue earth pony made his way to the shelf Springer gestured at. Lapis wasn't exactly afraid of heights, but he did sometimes feel wobbly high up. Taking the train down carefully, he lowered it to the ground.

Next came himself, and he was mindful not to step on the model. He gave it a once over, not seeing anything of interest. He rolled it over to its side, then on its roof. Still nothing. But then Lapis did his best to look into one of the train cars without damaging anything. Inside, he found what seemed like a rolled up piece of paper. Gently, he removed it with his mouth, not getting it wet, thankfully. With one swift but calculated motion, the scroll was open to the world to see the secrets hidden inside. Lapis sat there staring at it for a full minute before he realized it was blank. "What in the name of knowledge....." he muttered under his breath.

Lapis walked back to Springer's bed and placed the mysterious blank page before the stallion. "Springer, my dear fellow, this is what I found, which leads me to believe somepony put this piece of paper within your model train with some purpose in mind. But it is rather useless, at least to the naked eye. What I'm saying is.... Well, the paper is blank as you can clearly see. Not a smudge, not a pen mark. Curious to say the least." Lapis explained. "I could be wrong here, but perhaps whatever words to read are in invisible ink? Or maybe hidden with magic. Or it might be just a silly piece of trash. Who knows? I certainly don't." he concluded with a look of great curiosity upon his features. Edited March 30, 2013 by Bari

Magicon · March 30, 2013

Page 425 flipped with ease as he continued reading onward on his bed. The room was quiet as the maroon colored unicorn silently read through his spell book, digesting knowledge about the magical arts and noting unusual aspects of the book and its contents. His black mane occasionally obscured his eyesight, which he pushed away with ease, while his dark blue cape law on the floor alongside the bed. Though he never usually took off his cape, Magicon felt it was not needed since he was lying on the bed in his room, number 16, and reading a book, with no expectation to be disturbed. It was his way of quieting down from the day’s events.

It had all started with a bad morning with Dusky, and then quickly changed into a bizarre series of events, from a somewhat strange, yet understanding conversation between himself and a detective, to a cat attack, to a full investigation of the train. No results were found form the investigation and Magicon was suspicious at that. Trixie was not the most careful of ponies; there would be some evidence of her left behind. Yet she had somehow vanished from the train with any potential evidence and Magicon had no idea what she was planning. He could only assume revenge. Trixie was a vengeful pony and since he had been the one to knock her down, he expected her to strike back with even more power and danger.

He suspected it would either be on the train or at the festival, but he didn’t overly worry about it. It was no use worrying about such things and future problems. He had to concentrate on the present and it was this: the investigation was unsuccessful, his friend and ally Daylight had been forced back to Manehattan (though Magicon did give him his address so they could still maintain a good relationship), and he had heard that Vim was now agreeing to add additional passengers onto the train. The reasoning was probably financial. The train needed to make money so Vim agreed to allow more passengers on to help achieve that end.

To Magicon, more passengers was an intriguing prospect. He expected that passengers would arrive and disembark as the train passed through stations along its route. Yet with the weird occurrences happening on the train and its somewhat bizarre crew, Magicon felt that more passengers might make matters worse. They were unfamiliar with everything that had occurred during the journey and he was wary of what might happen to them and what affect they would have on the remaining passengers and crew. He had to keep his guard up.

But as he sat on his bed, he realized that he had stopped reading his spell book. Figuring that the new passengers were boarding, Magicon felt it was only appropriate that he see just who these new passengers might be and if they gave a bad impression. Some ponies just couldn’t be trusted and Magicon wanted to see if there were any new ponies that would fall into that category. There was already one; he didn’t want any more.

Closing his book, he rose off the bed, telekinetically lifted his cape which glowed with his dark lavender aurora and fastened it around his neck. He telekinetically grabbed his spell book and left his room, locking the door behind him. As he exited his train car and entered the parlor car, the chill from the previous night still flew down his back and Magicon shivered every-so-slightly as the memories from last night trickled into his mind.

As he examined the car, he caught a baby blue-colored unicorn with a darker blue mane and tail with a small cat right by her side. She was enjoying a small salad and seemed content with being in the parlor car. Magicon had not seen her before, so he could only assume that she was a new passenger. He didn’t feel any negative presence emitting from her and he decided that it would be foolish and completely rude to just stand and examine her, worse still to just ignore her and walk past her into the dining car. He noticed that she was looking exactly where the stage had been the night before and he wondered what she was thinking.

Speaking calmly so as not to scare her, Magicon began. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything. My room is in last car, well almost last. The caboose is after mine, but that’s beside the point. I was just passing through towards the front of the train and I saw you sitting here. If I may ask, what are you doing here in the parlor car all by yourself? If I were you I would stay in the dining car to eat. It’s a much friendlier atmosphere and the train’s chef is fantastic. This place…this car…it’s just…not the best place to be.”

Magicon had tried to avoid giving suspicion to the last part but he felt that he had failed. This young mare was probably now wondering why Magicon would say something weird about the parlor car. He felt like he just opened Pinkie Pie’s can of confetti where he was the occasional victim. Now he would have to be discreet in explaining everything about the car, and its terrible events, to this young mare. It was certainly an awful way of trying to be nice to a pony and Magicon prepared himself for the curiosity of the young mare.

Electrobolt · March 30, 2013

As Electrobolt was lying down on his bed, napping on top of the bed covers, all of the events that had happened so far were still fresh in his mind. Even in his slumbers, the events would surface in his mind, as they ran through one by one. There was first the matters of Springer being found in one of Trixie's boxes. He was basically out of his mind at that time due to the lack of oxygen. This whole thing had startled him, because of how Springer had called Electrobolt his "mom". This was cleared up later, however, when Springer explained that it was because he shared the same colors as the pegasus' mom.

After having freed Springer from his "prison", though, he collapsed a minute later from the fatigue, leaving the train without an assistant conductor at that moment. However, a few minutes from that moment, Vim, the train's conductor, had hatched the idea of making Electrobolt an interim assistant conductor. After having accepting the offer, he was tasked with the first job of running through the train and checking the rooms out for any empty rooms. It was only then that he discovered that Trixie had been missing. After checking the rooms that weren't occupied by the train's crew, he reported his findings to Vim.

After that, he needed to deliver a message to Dusky. Electrobolt should have delivered the message to him in a lighter tone, because while putting on a facade about how he was unaffected, earlier he had a surprised look on his face. And on his way out, he spoke to the young interim assistant conductor in a threatening whisper. This had spooked him in multiple ways. First, he had been threatened. Secondly, the tone in his voice was just like that creature's voice from the night before, when they were in Trixie's room. After a bit of time, though, he returned to the world as the ponies there were beginning to be a bit concerned for him. It was then that Lapis had asked to gather the ponies together for a meeting of sorts.

Once they had been gathered, Lapis let some facts be known about what he learned from Dusky, including that he stated there was a thief on the train. At this, he pointed out his sister, Key Gear, in which he went to defend his sister. However, his defense had been nullified by the fact that Key herself had stated that she was, in fact, a thief but only stole what she needed to survive on the Manehattan streets. She then said that the book Lapis mentioned most likely belonged to her. All the ponies in the room didn't seem surprised at Key's reveal except for Ambrosia, who didn't exactly take the news so well. She then took the notes, only to faint after reading them.

At this time, Springer, whom had regained consciousness but was still not quite all there, had entered the dining car with Arcanel. After having spoken with Springer, he then helped the pegasus get to a table and sit down to ensure that he wouldn't fall from under his hooves. After serving Springer some food, he chose to serve the rest of the ponies in the room their food as well before rejoining the pegasus and the ponies sitting at the table. As they ate and spoke, Springer gave some interesting information before the news that perhaps there was a doppleganger on the train, and that said doppelganger might be in his room caused him to quickly get on his hooves and move as quickly as he could back to his room to investigate.

************************************

It was just then, that Electrobolt felt something nudging him gently, as if trying to wake him up. At the poking, he mumbled in his sleep and turned over. A few seconds later, he felt another nudge. Mumbling a bit more in his sleep, he then said, "Mmm... Five more minutes, mom..." before trying to go back to sleep. However, about a minute later, he felt yet another nudging, this time harder than normal. At this, he sighed, before the sigh turned into a long yawn. "Alright, alright... I'm..." He then let out another yawn at that moment. "I'm up..."

After rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he sat up before his eyes shot wide open. *Wait a second... My door was locked!!! Who is this pony who's in my room then???!!* Quickly, he turned around to get a look at the intruder before noticing it was his sister. Recalling that his sister had a lockpick set, he then realized that she probably grabbed the set and invited herself to his room. Sighing and shaking his head, he said, "Oh... Hey sis, you gave me a bit of a scare there..."

King · March 30, 2013

Dawn Rider had only recently arrived in Ponyville after a long trip all the way from his home town of Coltsville.

He was looking to escape from the daily annoyances of his job for a few weeks and wasn't too sure where to go, but he knew he wanted to keep moving on.

He pulled down tightly on the strap of his saddlebag, tightening its grip on his Cyan blue coat, nestling above his body with just enough room to allow him to extend his wings. He lifted his red goggles from his eyes and let them settle on his head as he looked towards the Ponyville market; he needed some supplies for the next step of his journey.

He trotted into the market and looked around eagerly for certain shops selling what he needed, and quickly spotted a shop to the far end of the market what appeared to sell fruits, just what he needed for the upcoming leg of his journey.

He tried to quickly make his way to the shop but this was made difficult by the many residents of Ponyville who he kept bumping into.

"Sorry" Dawn seemed to repeat every few seconds as he bumped into what seemed like every pony within the market.

The shop he was heading too appeared up ahead. The many tables set up around the store owner were full of baskets displaying the many fruits harvested from local area's including Apples,oranges and Dawns favourite...cherries.

A smile spread on Dawn's face as he approached the store owner, a green coated Earth pony with a white mane that seemed rather short, even for a stallion.

"Hello there sir; how can I help you?" The Earth pony asked, smiling at Dawn with what was obviously a rehearsed grin he put on for every customer.

"Hi there, Id like to purchase a small bag of cherries, lets say eight bits worth?" Dawn said, unclipping his saddlebag and taking out his money pouch and removing eight bits, placing them on the table before him.

"Certainly" replied the store owner, who quickly placed several cherries into a small pouch and placed them on the table for Dawn, then retrieved the eight bits placed before him. "Would that be all?" He asked, placing the bits into his own money pouch.

"Yeah thats all for now" Smiled Dawn, before placing the pouch of Cherries into his saddlebag with his money pouch.Dawn pulled the straps down tight again before turning around and scanning the market for his next stop. He spotted the next shop he was looking for somewhere towards the center of the bustling market, a small shop that appeared to sell a certain spice that made everything Dawn cooked taste extra special, and so he began trotting towards his goal.

Up ahead he spotted a Lemon furred Earth pony with a Plum mane talking to a purple coated Filly next to her about something he couldn't quite hear, all he could make out were the words "cookies" and "cake" , which peaked Dawn's interest. He planned on having a nice meal that night before he left the next day but hadn't been able to locate somepony willing to provide him with their service yet.

Dawn came to a stop near the Lemon Coated Mare and spoke up with confidence and hope in his voice "Excuse me miss, I overheard you talking about cookies and cake, and was wondering if you were a cook perhaps? You see Im heading on a journey soon and I sure could use a nice meal tonight, Id be happy to pay, It's just that nopony else seems to be willing to on such short notice" Dawn smiled softly after speaking, looking eagerly towards the Mare.

Edited March 30, 2013 by ~Dawn♥Rider~

Starshine · March 30, 2013

It was a slow day at the Ponyville's branch of Harvest Union. It had been almost 3 hours since the last costumer entered the building and bought something from the shelves. The multitude of fruits, vegetables, and the wide array of everyday needs were largely left untouched from their respective places for a good part of the day. A stallion and a mare inside the building busied themselves with something else, namely who would be left behind while the other would go to other places.

"Are you sure we can't just close this place for a day or two? It's not like there would be anypony who needs this place while we are gone! The Ponyville market is more than capable to feed the entire town. Not to mention this place is a bit too far away from the center of the town, there is no chance for this place to compete with them."

The mare groaned. Reminding her brother of his responsibilities was almost a chore by now. "Don't think of it that way, Sunny. You of all ponies should know that our grandfather started his success in this very building. Even if this place isn't exactly the most profitable, there is a lot of history in this place. Just think of it as a sentimental namesake. Besides..." She pointed to a magical apparatus dangled on the roof, its soft yellow aura pulsating in each passing second. "As long as we have that, nothing in this store would go bad or spoil. Our supplies can outlast theirs infinitely."

"Huh," the stallion mumbled. "But Summer, can I go with you, pretty please?" He looked at his sister with the best pleading look he could muster, but the only thing he got in return was her chuckle.

"Don't be such a silly colt!" Summerfall rubbed her brother's forehead. "It will only take me one and a half day to get to the Los Pegasus. At worst it would take me about a week before I can pick you up. By then I'm sure Mrs. Apple Seed would already come out from the hospital. After that we can go to Baltimare, and then we can go to wherever you like."

"Fineeeee." The stallion pawed the floor. He could only watch as his sister packed the last of her belongings to her saddlebag, which quickly slung over her flank, covering her cutie mark. "But can I at least get Golden Patch to accompany me while you're gone?"

"No."

"But-"

"You know what happened the last time a pegasus got herself involved. You can ask other mares to chat with you, but anyone with feathers are out of question." Summerfall, pleased that everything had been accounted for and her supplies for the trip ready, trotted out through the glass door. She looked back for the last time. Sunny was still sitting on the same spot few moments ago, looking absolutely dejected. She sighed. "Fine, you can call her if you like. But she can't stay in the building after sunse-" Before she could finish, her brother already tackled her to the floor, showering her with cuddles. She quickly struggled to hold back a rising bile in her stomach "Okay, okay! Stop it!" A kick, and her brother quickly released the now scowling mare. "Just... don't let her get into the any of the refrigerators."

Sunny stood straight and puffed his chest before giving her sister the straightest of salute that would make even the Royal Guard's captain proud. "Will do, Ma'am!"

Summerfall rolled her eyes before cantered outside, closing the door slowly behind her. Her saddlebag was a bit ruffled from Sunny's sudden tackle, but it should be fine. She absentmindedly reviewed her list. Los Pegasus, branch store, cloud candy supplies, check the competitor, return, Baltimare, then finally wherever Sunny would like to go. It was not her brightest idea to ask her brother to join her in the business trip, but in some places she needed a stallion's presence. This trip to Los Pegasus would be the first time she traveled alone in years. She would be lying if she said that she didn't worried about it, but she shook it off. It's just a two nights trip on a train, what could go wrong?

***

After a few while, Summerfall finally reached the Ponyville's station. There were quite a lot of trains of various sizes and colors standing ready on their respective places, all prepared to take new passengers, but Summerfall already had a train in mind. The only costumer of the day had helpfully informed her of a supposedly legendary conductor with one of the fanciest of trains had arrived at the station, ready to take new passengers. By sheer coincidence alone, the train's last destination was the Los Pegasus.

A couple of minutes asking around the train later, Summerfall found herself looking at a dark colored unicorn stallion who was checking the train's engine. At least a part of the rumor was true, Summerfall thought to herself. It was indeed a nice train. According to a janitor, he was supposed to be the train's engineer. She couldn't seem to find the conductor anywhere, the engineer would do for now. She approached the unicorn. "Excuse me, sir. I'm sorry if I'm mistaken, but is this Los Pegasus Express? If so, I would like to buy a ticket to the Los Pegasus. Can you help me?"

Edited March 30, 2013 by Starshine

Ice Storm · March 30, 2013

~~Ice Storm~~

This is it, Ice Storm thought to herself as she looked up towards the Ponyville clock tower, My first real vacation since I've moved to Ponyville. Shoot, my first real vacation at all, she said to herself reaching into her saddle bag and pulled out two pictures. One was of her fiancé Daylight and the other was of her her family, Iron Wing, Dazzi, and her new parents. She gave both pictures a quick kiss before placing them back in her bad and making her way into the train station. No sooner she get the latch on her back closed, the bell tower chimed signaling that it had now reached one. It sure felt like it. It might have been a beautiful summer's day for most ponies, and if Ice hadn't been in line at one of the market stands for the last hour trying to get a few last minute personal items for the trip, she would have been okay. However, this wasn't the case, and as much as the summer time brought her business, she herself would be lying if she said that she liked summer in of it self. She was a mare of ice after all. With a sigh, she made her way towards the train. She very much hope that the air conditioning worked, and that she could set it how she liked.

Reaching into her saddle-bag as she approached the stationmaster, she made sure that she wasn't forgetting anything important, and then handed reached for her bit purse. "I'd like the next train to Las Pegasus please, it's my first real vacation, so I wanted to go someplace that everypony always says is fun," she stated with a bright smile on her face. "How much will that be?" she asked. She had more than enough bits. She knew that she was going to a gambling city so she had been saving for a while and had about twenty-five hundred bits put back for this trip. She shouldn't have any issues. His response,however, was to just point her over to the red stallion standing next to the boarding area of the train. She nodded to the stationmaster and the trotted over to the red stallion. "Excuse me, but how much are the tickets to this train, and is this one going to Las Pegasus?" She asked.

While she waited, she also started to set up her itinerary as well. She figured that she'd have plenty of time to socialize with the other passengers on the train after she got everything settled into her room, so she made locating her room and unpacking the first priority. When a low grumble from her stomach sounded, she gave a sheepish smile and a small blush. and then getting something to eat will be the next thing I do... she thought to herself awaiting the stallion's response.

~~Wing Dancer~~

The winds today were silent. It was something that made Wind Dancer a bit upset, but that was to be expected. The weather team hadn't planned on there being any wind gusts, or breezes to help with their temperatures today, and it made it rather difficult to perform in. She couldn't really complain though. The day itself was gorgeous, if a tad bit on the warm side. It was perfect for performing and dancing, and she knew that her dancing at least had some power over how the winds moved. This could at least help some ponies that are struggling to find ways to cool off for the day.

Today she decided to do her performance at the train station. She knew that there would either be a lot of new ponies, or a lot of ponies coming home from long business trips and would love nothing more than a show as they got off the train, as well as a gentle breeze. Well, most of the time anyway. There have been rare occasions where her dancing have put others in foul moods, but that was generally when she got too caught up in it and her winds spiraled out of control. Then of course, everypony had good reason to be angry.

As she approached the train station thought, she noticed something. An extra train. She had a general idea of the normal amount of trains that came through here around this time from performing here on many occasions, and this puzzled her. Maybe it was broken down? If that was the case then she was sure that the crew would need a pick-me-up. However, the more that she thought about it, the more that she realized that her winds might actually get in the way of them fixing whatever was wrong. Not long after she noticed the extra train, she noticed Ice Storm at the Stationmaster's office. While she didn't know the mare personally, she had heard of her, from living in Ponyville for a bit. She knew that she ran a shop filled with tasty frozen treats, with major emphasis on the yummy! She tended to keep to herself a bit though and Wind never really got a chance to talk with her.

Once she got up she heard her asking for the next ticket to Las Pegasus, and that she was going on her first vacation. After she asked about the ticket price, Wind Dancer felt the need to ask about the extra train. "Excuse me, but... I'm sorry for interrupting, but... I do dance performances all the time here... and... I noticed... that there is one more train than normal here... Did it break down? I would love to put on one of my free dancer performances that I always do, but I don't want my wind gusts to get in the way if they are trying to fix a train..." Wind Dancer asked shyly before noticing him point Ice over to the very train that she was asking about. "Nevermind," she stated apparently answering her own question. she did however wait to here what the response was for how much the ticket was. If they weren't outrageously expensive. She might buy one. After all, Las Pegasus was the performance capital of Equestria.

Edited March 30, 2013 by Ice Storm

Key Gear · March 30, 2013

According to a janitor, he was supposed to be the train's engineer. She couldn't seem to find the conductor anywhere, the engineer would do for now. She approached the unicorn. "Excuse me, sir. I'm sorry if I'm mistaken, but is this Los Pegasus Express? If so, I would like to buy a ticket to the Los Pegasus. Can you help me?"

Dusky interrupted his final inspection of the train engine to turn and regard the pony that had just spoken to him. She was an earth pony with gently green fur and a mane and tail of grey striped with brown. Dusky smiled. He'd been hoping that he would be able to observe the new passengers as they boarded the train, so that he would know, somewhat, what to expect after the train continued on its journey. He hadn't quite imagined that he would be able to interact with one of the new passengers before they even boarded the train. It was an opportunity to learn.

Speaking in even tones and maintaining his smile, he addressed the mare. "No, you are not mistaken. This is, in fact, the Los Pegasus Express, and in fact, I am its engineer, Dusky Coal. I could help you, of course... Hmmmm... But, if you don't mind my curiosity, what draws you to Los Pegasus? If it's the magic show, then you should know that I doubt that it will take place. Originally, Trixie was to travel to Los Pegasus on board this train, but she disappeared."

Dusky shook his head solemnly. "Nopony is quite sure where she's gone, I'm afraid. I doubt that they'd be able to find another pony to fill in for Trixie on such short notice. More than likely, given that this is the case, the show will be canceled or significantly decreased from what it was expected to be. Perhaps, you may want to consider saving your hard-earned currency in this case? Hmmm... Or, do you have some other purpose in making your journey?"

The silence in the parlor car was wholly and completely serene. Dawn nibbled her salad, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. Still, something about that certain area of the room continued to draw her gaze. There was seemingly nothing special there now, just more chairs and a few tables. Perhaps, Dawn thought, there had been something there on the previous day, and... It had cast a shadow? She glanced over at her cat, but Flo was entirely undisturbed.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything. My room is in last car, well almost last. The caboose is after mine, but that’s beside the point. I was just passing through towards the front of the train and I saw you sitting here. If I may ask, what are you doing here in the parlor car all by yourself? If I were you I would stay in the dining car to eat. It’s a much friendlier atmosphere and the train’s chef is fantastic. This place…this car…it’s just…not the best place to be.”

Dawn jumped slightly and snapped her head in the direction of the stranger; she had been completely unaware of anypony entering the room. Her purple eyes were wide and wild for just a split second. The unicorn stallion, with his cape, red fur, and black mane and tail, was an intimidating sight. However, his calm, almost soothing, voice belied his appearance. Quickly glancing at her cat, Dawn saw that Flo had no reaction to the unicorn's presence. To her, that meant that he was a friend.

With a deep breath, she calmed down and listened to his words. They were odd, and she looked at the red unicorn curiously as he continued to speak. When he concluded, urging her to reconsider the atmosphere in the parlor car, Dawn was thoroughly confused. Even though she had surmised that he was a friendly pony, his introduction still seemed unusual. He looked like an intelligent and well-balanced pony, so he probably wasn't delirious; instead, she guess that he must have known something about the current room that she did not, perhaps something about the area that she felt drawn to inspect.

She looked down at her food, the meal was half-finished. "Well, I guess you weren't really interrupting. I am pretty hungry though, so I guess maybe you won't mind if I eat while talking?" Dawn took another bite of her salad, and then continued. "What's wrong with this parlor car? I mean... Everything here seems fine to me, now. Actually, it's the dining car that was strange. I had to leave... Something didn't feel right in that room. It wasn't magic though, because I'm really sensitive to magic, so I would have noticed."

After another bite of salad, she continued, inclining her head slightly to the side. "So, what is wrong about this room? Is it haunted or something?" Dawn giggled and then contained herself. "I'm sorry! It just seemed so random, you just wandered up to me like that... I had been wondering, though..." Dawn's expression became serious and she used a hoof to indicate the portion of the parlor car that had been distracting her. "Well, since you have warned me about this place, maybe you could tell me what is it about that area over there that's been bothering me? And... While you're at it... Maybe you could tell me your name... Or, is it Magicon?"

It was just then, that Electrobolt felt something nudging him gently, as if trying to wake him up. At the poking, he mumbled in his sleep and turned over. A few seconds later, he felt another nudge. Mumbling a bit more in his sleep, he then said, "Mmm... Five more minutes, mom..." before trying to go back to sleep. However, about a minute later, he felt yet another nudging, this time harder than normal. At this, he sighed, before the sigh turned into a long yawn. "Alright, alright... I'm..." He then let out another yawn at that moment. "I'm up..."

Key stopped and blinked. Plainly, Bolt was sleeping heavily. There was absolutely no way that any pony could ever, reasonably, mistake her for their mother. Key was certain that whatever the opposite of a motherly look was, this was what she had. She had already failed at being motherly earlier in the day, so she was content in the realization that she just wasn't cut out for that role. It was still a funny thought, but she didn't laugh. Instead, she nudged Bolt even harder. He needed to hurry up, wakeup, and stop saying ridiculous things. After the second nudge, she finally got him to move, even if his first order of business was a yawn. Unable to help herself, Key yawned as well. Waking Bolt up was exhausting.

After rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he sat up before his eyes shot wide open. *Wait a second... My door was locked!!! Who is this pony who's in my room then???!!* Quickly, he turned around to get a look at the intruder before noticing it was his sister. Recalling that his sister had a lockpick set, he then realized that she probably grabbed the set and invited herself to his room. Sighing and shaking his head, he said, "Oh... Hey sis, you gave me a bit of a scare there..."

While Bolt rubbed his eyes with his hooves, Key yawned again, though this time it was somewhat purposefully. She made a note to herself that if Bolt ever accompanied her to Manehattan, she would have to build him an alarm clock. Something that would... Just then, Bolt was completely awake. Key immediately noticed his shock, even before he span around to see who had intruded into his room. She grinned as he spoke, and she replied mischievously. "Yeah, and you gave me a scare. Your mother? Really? Bolt, I don't think that'd work."

With a smile, she took one of Bolt's saddlebag's and placed it right next to him. "Hey, bro, remember these? It's those cookies that you got for me and you, earlier today! I... Well, I kinda didn't eat them, even though I wanted to, because I was wondering if maybe we could eat them together? It'd be a good thing, anyways, because well, I kinda like cookies a lot. So, once I start eating them, I'm not sure that I can stop. I would probably have eaten yours as well, and that wouldn't have been a good way to thank you for getting me some, so anyway..."

The whole time that she had been talking, her eyes had been sparkling wildly and she had been staring at the contents of the other saddlebag. Absentmindedly, Key began to grab random cookies and eat them with a frightening amount of speed, stopping only to speak sporadically in between bites. "So... Anyway... What now?" She took a few seconds to savor a sugar cookie before jamming the rest of it into her mouth. "I mean... How do we investigate? ..." She munched a series of cookies in rapid succession, crumbs spilled everywhere. "I guess... I think we could go see the new passengers at the front of the train? ... If there are any?"

Vim noticed the blueish unicorn almost as soon as she entered his field of view. From a distance, she strongly resembled Dawn in appearance. Both ponies were unicorns with light-blue coats and shades of blue in their mane and tail. Vim raised an eyebrow. Had the strange unicorn mare teleported off the train just to come back and rejoin? It didn't seem to make much sense.

When he saw her speak with the stationmaster, Vim was confused. Dawn already had entrance to the train, she didn't have a reason to buy another ticket, so this unicorn mare wasn't her. When the stationmaster pointed in his direction, though, Vim felt less certain. What were the odds that two unicorns so similar in appearance would board the same train?

"Excuse me, but how much are the tickets to this train, and is this one going to Las Pegasus?" She asked.

Despite his internal doubts, Vim was smiling, confident, and welcoming to the newcomer. His gruff, jovial voice boomed unnecessarily as he proclaimed. "Going to Los Pegasus? That's not really the best way of looking at it, ma'am. On the Los Pegasus Express, you don't just 'go' places. It's an adventure!" Vim grinned broadly at his own cheesiness, while internally grimacing at how his horrible catchphrase held more truth to it than it appeared to.

His grin dimmed to just a friendly smile before he continued, sounding more reasonable. "Tickets are a hundred bits a piece, worth that amount in the meals alone. You know, our cook is one of the best in Equestria. You look like a hungry pony? So, what do you say..." Reaching into a nearby saddlebag, Vim materialized a ticket and a room key. "A hundred bits and they're yours right now." Vim derived a strange enjoyment in selling his own tickets. It was something that often got on the nerves of stationmasters across Equestria, but it was a habit that he was happy to maintain. Behind the unicorn, he could see a pegasus that was also seemingly interested in boarding.

She looked up to see a pegasus stallion with an odd look on his face quickly fading. In a moment the words returned to her. Something about dessert. "Um, would carrot cake be okay? I love carrot cake, especially if it has cinnamon in it! Oh, and maybe cinnamon in the frosting too." she replied very cheerfully.

Ambrosia loved cinnamon, and she was really delighted to hear that Asteria shared her enjoyment of the seasoning. With a vigorous nod, she replied with enthusiasm. "Yes! Carrot cake! Which definitely means cinnamon, vanilla extract, salt, of course... Hmmm... Maybe carrot cookies to go along with the carrot cake? And cinnamon frosting on everything?" Ambrosia's mouth watered at the thought of it, and she stopped to mention a few other seasonings. The stallion behind that counter assembled the assortment as quickly as he could.

After a few moments, Ambrosia stopped and took a look at what had been gathered so far. It was a lot of seasoning, but there was still something missing. "I think we'll need more cinnamon. After all, we need to have more than enough for the other ponies on the train. With carrot cake, carrot cookies, and cinnamon frosting." Addressing the merchant, again, Ambrosia added. "Ummm, sir, could you add a bit more cinnamon to these items." As he did so, Ambrosia nodded with approval.

She quickly counted out the payment for the items and put her bits on the counter, but at that moment, the shopkeeper asked an important question. "Well, miss, I'm wondering how do you intend to carry all of this? Between yourself and your filly, I don't think that the two of you could manage." Ambrosia blushed slightly as she found herself at a loss for words. "Ummm..." She hadn't realized that she had added more stuff than she could carry. Besides this, she hadn't realized that it might be interpreted that she was Asteria's mother. She wasn't quite certain about what to say about either thing. Suddenly, a voice spoke up.

Dawn came to a stop near the Lemon Coated Mare and spoke up with confidence and hope in his voice "Excuse me miss, I overheard you talking about cookies and cake, and was wondering if you were a cook perhaps? You see Im heading on a journey soon and I sure could use a nice meal tonight, Id be happy to pay, It's just that nopony else seems to be willing to on such short notice" Dawn smiled softly after speaking, looking eagerly towards the Mare.

The speaker was a cyan colored pegasus with a short-cropped black and gold mane. Apparently, he'd been drawn over by her and Asteria's plans for dessert. Despite still being a bit disoriented, Ambrosia didn't hesitate, and she laughed cheerfully before replying. "Well, really, if you could help me out with carrying some of this stuff around, then I would be ok with cooking a nice meal for you. There's just one thing that you should know... I'm the cook on board the Los Pegasus Express, so you'd have to get a train ticket if you wanted to have a meal?"

Ambrosia thought for a moment before continuing. "Or, if you don't want to go all the way to Los Pegasus, then you could just help me carry some of these items while I finish up our restocking. It won't take too long, the rest of the items are going to be delivered, but I always pick up the little stuff myself. I just got a bit carried away with the cinnamon just now."

Ambrosia stopped as she realized that she would have normally dragged Springer along with her, but he was ill right now. With his efficiency, he would have never forgotten about how much they could carry back with them and what would've needed to be delivered. He was also good for carrying things. She smiled at the cyan pegasus. "Actually, if you could join us, I would really appreciate it? My name is Ambrosia and my friend, here, is Asteria. What's your name? And, if you don't mind my asking, where are you journeying to?"

Alex Night · March 30, 2013

Alex blinked as he looked around the nearby juice bar, drinking his Apple Family Apple Cider. He thought of the events that had happened so far with Trixie's magic and how she disappeared on the train. Then, there was this young blue filly that was being accused of stealing without any real evidence. "The train..." Alex uttered out in his contemplation. His eyes widened at this. "Oh Celestia, I can't miss the train!" Alex said out loud as he pulled out five bits to pay for the drink.

He got up from his chair quickly to zoom out of the door. He looked around the area that he was in and saw the train station just a few hundred yards from his right. To his luck, he saw that the train was still docked. Alex took flight to speed his way to the platform. He looked around the area for the conductor. As he looked around, he saw a familiar looking blue unicorn mare that was speaking to a pony that was wearing the tell-tale uniform of a train conductor. At first, he thought he was seeing Trixie again; however a closer look told him otherwise. It was a different mare that looked similar to Trixie, but it was the mane style that was different.

Alex trotted up to her and the conductor that was speaking to her. "Excuse me, conductor? My name's Alex Night. I'm sorry if you don't know me, but I was a passenger here on this train back at the start in Canterlot. When we stopped here, I was over by the juice bar having a drink and then I lost track of time. It's been a mess, really..." Alex tried to explain as best as he could honestly to the conductor.

"Oh man... I need to pay more attention to what's going on..." Alex thought to himself as he awaited a reply from the conductor.

Electrobolt · March 30, 2013

As soon as he heard Key Gear speaking, Electrobolt blushed slightly and turned his head away, embarrassed. "You... You heard that, then...?" he uttered, the tone of embarrassment in his voice. "Heheh... Uh..." He couldn't think of what to say, before hearing a bag get set on the bed. As he looked over, he saw the bag of cookies as Key spoke again, talking about the cookies. *Wait... She waited to eat the cookies... Until she could eat them with me...?* he thought, genuinely surprised at this, before she started cramming her own cookies into her mouth.

At this, Electrobolt shook his head and sighed, before letting out a chuckle. *Yep... That's Key Gear alright...* he thought, a smile on his face as he took his own cookies and began eating them. As they were eating their cookies, Key began to speak between bites. She then started to ask what they should do now, before suggesting that perhaps it'd be a good idea to meet the new passengers at the front of the train if there are any. At this suggestion, Electrobolt stopped before thinking about it. "Hmm, that sounds like a good idea, Key," he responded. "And while we're there... Maybe Vim has something for me to do... Who knows?"

After that, he took one more cookie and ate it, before sealing the bag up and setting it aside. Afterwards, he stretched out again before wiping the crumbs off his mouth and then getting off the bed, onto his hooves. Wide awake now, and having satisfied himself with a cookie snack, he was ready to get going. Approaching the door to his bedroom, he opened it up as he looked back to Key. "Well, Key, let's greet the new passengers," he said with a smile on his face. With that, he then stepped out of his room and started to head on down to the front of the train.

Considering how his room was right next to the train's second passenger car, and the fact that the baggage car was next to the first passenger car, he didn't really have that far to go. As he passed through the second passenger car, he looked over to Trixie's room. *Just where DID she disappear to...?* he thought, before shaking his head. *Worry about that later... For now, let's get to where Vim is...* With that, he resumed his pacing as he began to move from passenger car two to passenger car one, and then to the baggage car.

As soon as he arrived in the baggage car, Electrobolt looked around the room. *Wow... This car looks different now, without Trixie's items here...* he thought, before returning to the task at hoof. As he walked a little further up, he looked out the door and saw Vim standing there, with Alex and an icy-blue mare. *So this mare is a potential passenger, it seems...* he thought, before looking back to Alex. *But what about Alex? Why's he out here?* Shaking his head, he then cleared his throat to make his presence known to Vim. "Pardon me if I'm interrupting anything," he started, speaking to Vim. "But I was wondering if there was anything that needed to be done right now."

King · March 30, 2013

Ambrosia stopped as she realized that she would have normally dragged Springer along with her, but he was ill right now. With his efficiency, he would have never forgotten about how much they could carry back with them and what would've needed to be delivered. He was also good for carrying things. She smiled at the cyan pegasus. "Actually, if you could join us, I would really appreciate it? My name is Ambrosia and my friend, here, is Asteria. What's your name? And, if you don't mind my asking, where are you journeying to?"

Dawn thought it over for a few moments while he stood there in front of Ambrosia. "Actually, I don't really have a plan on where I'm going, but now that you mention it Los Pegasus doesn't sound too bad...Oh an the name's Dawn rider" smiled Dawn as he pondered his future journey.

"Oh and Id be happy to help you carry some supplies" Smiled Dawn remembering he forgot to add that part in. He looked around at what Ambrosia already had in her possession and it didn't look like too much. His saddlebag was mostly empty since Dawn traveled light and he could easily spare room inside it, it wasn't as If Dawn couldn't handle a few supplies, considering he would end up receiving a nice meal.

"So this train...you said I had to buy a ticket right?" Dawn asked The Lemon Coated Mare, considering how much money he had left in his money pouch nestled amongst the meager possessions in his saddlebag, including one old journal he always kept inside for obvious reasons. Happy with how much money he had left after counting in his head, he awaited Ambrosia's response...

Arcanel · March 30, 2013

Inside the room of the Los Pegasus Express, there were three ponies currently in a downhill-headed mood. Arcanel, the white furred, brown maned pegasus who was a mailpony on duty, was one of them.

*Gah... I can't believe we couldn't find anyone, or anything...* the troubled pony thought, his face in a deep disappointment and sadness for Springer at the same time.

Hours ago, Arcanel had finally managed to catch up with the ponies who had gone with Springer to his room to see what had he found. After some talking and catching up with some small events, they agreed to do a search and investigation to locate Trixie and the book, or at least one of them if possible. However, the search had been fruitless and the book and Trixie had apparently vanished without a trace. Afterwards, Lapis, the greyish blue earth pony the white pegasus had met before, and Arcanel himself, decided to accompany Springer back to his room so he could get some of the rest he needed.

During this visit, Dawn, the light blue unicorn nurse he met at the hospital while trying to look for help for Springer when he had been unconscious, and was now the medical pony that would keep the assistant conductor in check, had made a small visit to keep tabs on Springer. Arcanel was rather relieved when nothing else other than the tiredness that had been assaulting the green pegasus since his fainting hours ago had been his prognosis, but he still couldn't help but feel worry about Springer. And after a few quick talks and introductions, since Lapis hadn't met Dawn before, she left the room, leaving the three stallions on their own.

*Well... at least Springer is just only tired... well... plus his memory thing... but... it's better than something worse being attached to him. He has been through enough by now...* the mailpony pondered, still remembering how distraught Springer had looked when trying to explain the thoughts of his mind and the current happenings and possibilities back in the dining car. At that moment, Springer broke the silence.

"I have an odd feeling." Springer began, addressing his statement to both Lapis and Arcanel. "I know that it is odd, because it definitely isn't an efficient thought. I have no evidence, no data. But, something concerns me. I just find it strange that we found nearly nothing out of the ordinary when we searched the entirety of this train. In fact, even that strange blue cat is gone. It can't be this simple. It just can't be."

As Arcanel looked at the green pony, he felt an agreement with the mindset. *As much as it's better that nothing else is wrong, he's right. It was just TOO unusual for there to be nothing out of the ordinary for everything that has happened inside the train. But... what else COULD it be...?* he wondered, unsure of what else could be that is happening somehow inside the train without no one realizing. Right then, Springer continued.

"Even my memories are improving. Trixie is gone without a trace. Vim is adding additional passengers to the train... I have no reason to be concerned. This truly is inefficient, but... Still... I just don't feel as though everything is over. I would advise the both of you to remain observant, and keep a close eye on the newer passengers. Trixie may attempt to reboard the train... Ummm..."

When Springer mentioned effiency again, Arcanel barely managed to not roll his eyes. *There he goes again with efficiency. Honestly, that thing is gonna be the death of him one of these days.* the white pegasus thought in half-amusement, half-worry. However, he knew it was a trait that the pegasus assistant conductor considered probably vital to his life.

"Actually... I... Umm... I just realized something. We didn't search the entirety of the train..." Springer gestured with a hoof at the immobile train on the opposite site of the room. "If one of you stood on one of these shelves, you could take my train down... Ummmm... Be careful with it though... Just look and see if you find anything... Ummm... That shouldn't be on a train."

When Springer pointed to the toy train, the white mailpony felt curiosity and and slight oddity at the situation. *Erm... what exactly could be in a train toy anyway. A bomb?... Um... I should probably not think of anything unless I want to become mister paranoid. That would be bad in this moment...* he decided, knowing that he could think of a thousand possibilities if his mind allowed it to, which in this case, was not quite as helpful as other times.

As he went to retrieve the toy train however, he saw that Lapis had gained the upper hoof and was already checking it to see if anything strange was on it. At that moment, he couldn't help but feel slightly nervous and anxious, thinking Lapis to be careful just in case something happened. However, Lapis' words were not the ones expected.

"What in the name of knowledge....."

The thing the earth pony had found was just a simple blank page, with nothing written on it. *Ooooookay... why would anyone leave a blank page in a toy train? That's... weird. Beyond weird.* Was all the white pegasus could think in that time.

Springer, my dear fellow, this is what I found, which leads me to believe somepony put this piece of paper within your model train with some purpose in mind. But it is rather useless, at least to the naked eye. What I'm saying is.... Well, the paper is blank as you can clearly see. Not a smudge, not a pen mark. Curious to say the least." Lapis explained. "I could be wrong here, but perhaps whatever words to read are in invisible ink? Or maybe hidden with magic. Or it might be just a silly piece of trash. Who knows? I certainly don't."

As Lapis finished speaking, Arcanel agreed with him. There was no way to determine if there was anything in the paper, unless maybe some sort of magic could prove it, or unless they proved every single way there was invisible ink or some other mechanism to make the whatever is written in the paper appear. "Well... if there's a special type of ink, I remember heat helps to uncover it. Just small heat however, nothing too big obviously. And I think invisible ink could only be revealed by magic? I'm not sure either however..." he spoke, telling some options to uncover the supposed ink, that he remembered hearing and seeing back at the orphanage in Vanhoover. *I'm still surprised there was invisible ink back there. I mean... invisible ink at an orphanage in Vanhoover seems rather.. odd... but then aga-* his thoughts were bluntly interrupted by a word that made him realize something. "Vanhoover..." Arcanel said out loud, unable to keep it inside his mind due to the so sudden realization. Right then, he slowly looked into his saddlebag, and found the letter he had been carrying there. The moment he saw it, the mailpony went wide eyed.

"OH DEAR FAST POST! THE LETTER DELIVERY TO LOS PEGASUS!" the white pony yelled, horror suddenly filling his face everywhere. "This letter is supposed to be delivered today! If the train doesn't leave now I'm not going to make it in time!" he yelled once more, suddenly realizing that he had forgotten the deadline he was under, and, the task he had been commended to do. *No... this is my first long travel distance delivery... Fast Post himself wanted me to do this... I can't disappoint him now!* he screamed in his mind, completely distraught by the whole situation and starting to walk in circles in anxiety and contemplation. *But... I can't just go and ask Vim to accelerate the repairings. Not only it doesn't work like that, but why would he risk something or change the schedule for a simple mailpony he met TODAY?* he pondered, now getting even more anxious and more worry filling his mind. *And I can't leave the train either. Springer definitely needs as much help as he could and I told Vim that I'd be the one to be looking after Springer, other than Dawn now.* He remembered himself, his duty sense to help Springer still intact. *And if that was't enough, there's also the whole train situation that's going on right now. I promised Vim that I would help out in any matter I could in exchange for the trip. I can't just leave like this when I could at least lend a hoof!* the white mailpony thought again, reminiscing the talk he had when he asked Vim about getting inside the train. "What do I do...?" he asked himself out loud, unable to contain his mind any longer, and stlill going on around in circles.

Dave (RayFriedh) · March 31, 2013

Anticipation and excitement. Maple was full of both of these. She had been debating on whether she should be making this trip for weeks, but finally decided that it would be a fun experience, and that her book could use a fresh look at the place where it was set- a book she had notably started when she was debating on whether or not to go. Ah, yes, Las Pegasus! A city of gambling, no doubt full of interesting stories and places and all sorts of ponies! She had no need for more bits, but what she did feel that she needed was a little change in scenery, a little more excitement- not the fun, friendly excitement that Pinkie Pie supplied on a whim- but the kind that-

Maple was so lost in her (what even she knew were childish) thoughts, that she did not notice herself approaching the ticket stand, or the pegasus standing near it.

Bump.

“Sorry, my bad!”

She was quickly pulled back into reality, a place where she acted a little differently than her mind, observing, thinking, and writing. Maple decided to begin her return to reality with the first action-observing. She observed that the pegasus wore a soft-blue coat on herself, and her mane was full of darker and lighter shades of blue. She was also slightly taller than Maple.

She thought on why the pony would just be standing there, before taking a quick glance on where the pony seemed to be looking just a moment before, where there was what seemed to be a conductor of a train, and a potential passenger. One with very similar colours to the pegasus before her. Related, maybe? Probably not. The ponies in Ponyville were all sorts of colours and sizes and shapes.

She also thought that executing the third step might not be the best idea right now. Wait. Had she packed her notebook?

Starshine · March 31, 2013

Speaking in even tones and maintaining his smile, he addressed the mare. "No, you are not mistaken. This is, in fact, the Los Pegasus Express, and in fact, I am its engineer, Dusky Coal. I could help you, of course... Hmmmm... But, if you don't mind my curiosity, what draws you to Los Pegasus? If it's the magic show, then you should know that I doubt that it will take place. Originally, Trixie was to travel to Los Pegasus on board this train, but she disappeared."

Dusky shook his head solemnly. "Nopony is quite sure where she's gone, I'm afraid. I doubt that they'd be able to find another pony to fill in for Trixie on such short notice. More than likely, given that this is the case, the show will be canceled or significantly decreased from what it was expected to be. Perhaps, you may want to consider saving your hard-earned currency in this case? Hmmm... Or, do you have some other purpose in making your journey?"

Oh my, what a curious stallion, Summerfall thought to herself. It was not exactly something she would expect from a train engineer, but at least he seemed to be a quite friendly pony. He even warned her about the missing performer that might cause the magic show, which presumably would take place in Los Pegasus, cancelled, or at least watered down considerably. The mare momentarily pondered whether to answer his question truthfully or not, for all she knew the engineer might had a connection to one of the competitors, but she decided that honesty might be the best idea. She smiled slightly to the stallion before replying.

"Thank you for the notice, sir, but unfortunately this magic show is not what I have in mind. In fact, I never heard about it until you told me just a moment ago, but I appreciate it that you told me about it beforehand. You see, I'm a part of the Harvest Union. I am planning to go to the Los Pegasus because something has gone terribly awry in the Los Pegasus' branch, and I was sent to set things right. It would be very appreciated if I can have a ticket. Of course, bits would never be a problem."

Trixie. That name surely was familiar. She must be one of the hundreds of street performer that wandered across Equestria, too bad Summerfall couldn't even guess which Trixie Dusky was referring to. If her memory served her right, there were at least four Trixies from Baltimare alone, each with different surnames and fancy titles. She would have to ask about it to other passengers, they might be able to shed a light on this performer's identity, if she could secure a seat on the train, that is.

"Ah, where is my manners. My name is Summerfall, pleased to meet you," She added while momentarily lowering her head slightly to the stallion.

Magicon · March 31, 2013

Magicon noticed the young mare’s slight jump. He did have that effect on ponies; a trait that he was never able to shake. Yet despite her reaction Magicon observed that she remained calm, most likely observing him and digesting whatever traits she could form his appearance and manner. She would probably make preliminary conclusions based on that, but that wasn’t Magicon’s concern as she spoke.

His inside groaned as the can of worms was opened by his own big mouth. ‘I should’ve crafted my words better. I should’ve been keener and better able to get her out of this dang parlor car. Instead I just rushed into it and now she’s curious. Great, how do I explain this?’ Magicon thought as the unicorn began trying to get to the meaning of his words, that he so wished to have never said.

"So, what is wrong about this room? Is it haunted or something?" Dawn giggled and then contained herself. "I'm sorry! It just seemed so random, you just wandered up to me like that... I had been wondering, though..." Dawn's expression became serious and she used a hoof to indicate the portion of the parlor car that had been distracting her. "Well, since you have warned me about this place, maybe you could tell me what is it about that area over there that's been bothering me? And... While you're at it... Maybe you could tell me your name... Or, is it Magicon?"

Magicon’s stomach dropped and his heart froze. His face was unable to hide the shock that came out of nowhere. How in Equestria did this pony know his name? He had never met her before, at least as far as his conscious memory could recollect. But how did she know his name and if she knew his name, what else did she know? Even if she did know something, she could always hide it from Magicon. His suspicions were aroused to their heights and his defenses instantly built themselves after the initial shock.

With those internal traits, his external gaze lowered and his eyebrows lowered in suspicion. His voice was darker and more menacing as he spoke. “Listen mare, I don’t know who you are or why you’re here, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. My name is indeed Magicon and not many ponies know it. I suppose then I should ask you how do you know it, but then that wouldn’t be fair as I don’t know your name. I feel, at the very least, that I should know your name.”

“As for this room…well…let’s just say something bad happened here that shouldn’t have happened in the first place. But it’s no longer of any concern or importance so don’t worry about it. I just have…bad feelings about this room.”

Edited March 31, 2013 by Magicon

Ice Storm · March 31, 2013

~~Ice Storm~~

Ice Storm finished finalizing everything in her mind about what she was going to do when she got on the train while she waited for the conductor's response to her. When it came, it was much louder than she had anticipated it being. It wasn't quite yelling, but it was definitely not normal, or at least so she thought. She didn't really know. Perhaps this pony just talked like that. When he told her that on the Los Pegasus Express, one doesn't simply just go. That the entire trip was an adventure. She couldn't help but giggle a bit, but managed to catch the important part of the conversation. The price. "A hundred bits is perfectly reasonable," she told him pulling out a smaller bag of bits and handing them to him to take the key. "And as long as the adventure isn't another, it's time to save Equestria adventure, I look forward to it," she told him.

Then from behind her she heard another mare ask about a train and if it was making repairs. She looked at the mare first and then looked around the station. She didn't see any train with an issue, but then again, she wasn't a train pony. She couldn't tell an axle for a piston. She looked back to her, and saw the look of what appeared to be hope at first but then sadness. She wasn't sure why, but figured it out when she noticed the Mare looking through her coin purse. She then turned to the Conductor, "You know what, I'll take two of them," she told him handing him another hundred bits. "One for my friend here too," she told him happily heard a stifled meep from behind her.

~~Wind Dancer~~

The thought of even having the possibility to go to Los Pegasus was making Wind excited. From what she heard it was Equestria's larges stage, and every dancer dreamed of going there. The brief amount of delay that was in between Ice Storm's question and the answer from the conductor was nearly an eternity for her, and when the answer came, it busted her heart clean open. 100 bits! Even if I danced all day for a month I'd never be able to afford that... she whimpered to herself. She didn't even notice the other mare walking towards her or that the icy mare in front of her was doing her a favor.

She let out a small yelp in surprise when she felt another pony bump into her though. She caught herself and kept herself from falling, but she could feel a small ping of pain from her knee from her previous injure that never healed correctly. Once that subsided she looked back up to the other mare. She was just a bit short Wind was, and her coat was that of a dusty sand color. Her mane rippled with varying shades of brown, and her eyes, which looked very preoccupied in thought, were also a shade of brown. She did look up though after the impact and apologized for bumping into her. "Oh no, it's okay... I'm sorry for being in the way... I shouldn't have just been standing around anyway," she responded. "I suppose that I should fine a place to set up for my routine... though my space is a bit more limited with the extra train," she finished.

Flow · March 31, 2013

The sun seemed to shine brighter than ever before, and slowly the light caught the best of a sleeping Flow., prompting her to wake up after sleeping for three hours, "Uggh...What a bright day, and I think I didn't have enough sleep again, I guess I can't sleep with the light getting into my eyes, well I can't help it...." She then gazed at the window, realizing that they were still in Ponyville, "Sigh, I guess the problem regarding the train leaking water is a really serious one, who knows? Maybe we might be stuck here tomorrow too. I just hope that doesn't happen, I'm eager to attend the Applewood Magic Festival, I guess I'll get up now."

When she did so, her limbs still felt sleepy that she fell for a bit "Ouch! Uhh...I need to stretch myself right now, it's probably this cramped place that's taken it's toll on me..hmmmph.....ahhh! That's better, okay I guess I'll get myself a sandwich from the dining car, then I'll catch some fresh Ponyville air outside." She then trotted down to the dining car, where she took a daisy sandwich and made her way outside.

As she ate while standing there, Flow spotted some ponies at the ticketing stand, with the conductor talking to a cyan unicorn "New passenger huh, I don't mind, ehehe...like they say, the more the merrier! I hope these new faces will be all right." She thought.

Edited March 31, 2013 by Flow (Naru)

Key Gear · April 1, 2013

"Thank you for the notice, sir, but unfortunately this magic show is not what I have in mind. In fact, I never heard about it until you told me just a moment ago, but I appreciate it that you told me about it beforehand. You see, I'm a part of the Harvest Union. I am planning to go to the Los Pegasus because something has gone terribly awry in the Los Pegasus' branch, and I was sent to set things right. It would be very appreciated if I can have a ticket. Of course, bits would never be a problem."

Dusky raised an eyebrow appreciatively. The mention of Trixie's name had garnered no reaction from the mare whatsoever, and rather than a trip being made for enjoyment, it seemed that her journey was for the purpose of business. It was a good answer, and it had been delivered without even a trace of deception. It had also been delivered without a hint of suspicion. Indeed, it actually seemed as though the mare appreciated his words in some way. Dusky was pleased to have encountered a pony that took his words at their value, without drawing conclusions from his appearance or his demeanor. He interpreted this to mean that this pony was not easily intimidated, and he returned her smile as she continued.

"Ah, where is my manners. My name is Summerfall, pleased to meet you," She added while momentarily lowering her head slightly to the stallion.

He nodded his own head slightly, in an acknowledgement of Summerfall's introduction. Then, he spoke. "I'm pleased to meet you as well, Summerfall. I'm also glad to hear that it is business that takes you to Los Pegasus. There are, I think, far too many ponies that travel these days for unproductive purposes, and I can think of few less productive things than a performance by Trixie. I think that you are, perhaps, unfamiliar with her. She's a show pony, a stage magician, that specializes in using some degree of hostility and some visual tricks to draw crowds. You are all the better off by not knowing much more about her than this."

"Hmmmm... There is, however, something that I find myself thinking about, and if you forgive my curiosity, yet again... I'm not quite familiar with this Harvest Union that you speak of. Perhaps you could tell me something about this organization and your place within it? Since you are being sent to undo the damage caused by some failure at the Los Pegasus branch, I take it that you are, on some level, accomplished in your career? I would imagine that a low level employee would not be sent to fix the misdoings of another? Hmmmm..." Dusky stopped and closed his eyes, as if weighing something carefully.

When he continued, he spoke with a voice that was strangely calm. "I only ask this of you for two reasons. The first is that I, myself, am quite skilled in my own chosen profession. While I am still quite young of age, I have had many significant accomplishments during this time. This makes me somewhat unusual, because, you see, it is a rare sacrifice among ponies to forego some of the amusements of life for the sake of dedication to some purpose that is more significant. I am... Pleased to meet another that, perhaps, has chosen to walk a road similar to myself. Ah... Hmmm... And, the second reason that I wish to know is that there are discounted train tickets available for the purposes of emergency business."

At this suggestion, Electrobolt stopped before thinking about it. "Hmm, that sounds like a good idea, Key," he responded. "And while we're there... Maybe Vim has something for me to do... Who knows?"

At the mention of Vim's name, Key stopped munching her cookies and looked up. So far, in the train's journey, she had managed to almost completely avoid the train's conductor. When she first boarded the train, she had done so without allowing him to take a look at her ticket. Not only this but she had somehow managed to never run into him while the train was traveling on the first half of its journey. Since the train had been stopped in Ponyville, her pattern of avoidance had continued uninterrupted.

Key went blank faced as she realized that she hadn't even encountered Vim after he had hired her own brother as a temporary assistant conductor. She also reflected that, most likely, the conductor was aware of her announcement that she had some skills as a thief. She wondered how deeply Vim, as a conductor, had thought about this. She also wondered on if it would be wise to draw any attention to herself after successfully having avoided it for so long. Key didn't mind authority figures, but she liked them much more at a distance.

"Well, Key, let's greet the new passengers," he said with a smile on his face. With that, he then stepped out of his room and started to head on down to the front of the train.

Bolt's words snapped her out of her thoughts, and she returned his smile while he was looking in her direction. When he turned away, she frowned and begrudgingly put away the few cookies that she had left. She took a moment to shake the cookie crumbs off and recollect her set of lock picks before cautiously following Bolt out of the room. She locked and shut the door as she left the room. By this time, Electrobolt was already entering the first passenger car. Key trotted quickly to catch up with him.

Shaking his head, he then cleared his throat to make his presence known to Vim. "Pardon me if I'm interrupting anything," he started, speaking to Vim. "But I was wondering if there was anything that needed to be done right now."

As Electrobolt spoke, Key took position just behind him, off to one side. She watched Vim carefully, studying the older pony's demeanor, watching for any trace of his thoughts on her. She also watched the other passengers as they boarded the train. At the current moment, she could see a rather icy looking unicorn mare, a somewhat awkwardly tall pegasus mare, another earth pony, and ... Alex? Key blinked. What was he doing, anyway? He already had a ticket...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bAFkRY20oY

Magicon’s stomach dropped and his heart froze. His face was unable to hide the shock that came out of nowhere. ... With those internal traits, his external gaze lowered and his eyebrows lowered in suspicion. His voice was darker and more menacing as he spoke.

As Dawn watched Magicon's face, she couldn't help but have the feeling that she had done something terribly wrong, but she didn't quite know what that was. Plainly, he was no longer the same, cordial, unicorn that he had been earlier. She frowned, tensed, and resisted the urge to take a glimpse in her cat's direction. She didn't want to disturb the creature, and she still hoped that there would be some rational explanation for this sudden change in atmosphere.

His voice was darker and more menacing as he spoke. “Listen mare, I don’t know who you are or why you’re here, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. My name is indeed Magicon and not many ponies know it. I suppose then I should ask you how do you know it, but then that wouldn’t be fair as I don’t know your name. I feel, at the very least, that I should know your name.”

Magicon's darker, more menacing voice shook Dawn considerably. When he began to speak, she caught her breath and nearly dropped her salad. She just barely resisted the urge to put up a defensive field. She was startled by Magicon's visceral reaction; she couldn't figure that she'd done him any wrong. She had just come aboard the train to take care of Springer. She didn't want conflict with any passenger, certainly for what seemed like no apparent reason. When Magicon mentioned that he would give her the benefit of the doubt, Dawn only calmed somewhat, the gesture was unconvincing.

She listened carefully as he continued speaking, and it soon became quite clear to her what had offended him. It was the fact that she had known his name in advance of an actual introduction. Given that he seemed to be a secretive pony, it made perfect sense for him to be disturbed by her knowing his name without having met him before. In fact, it was downright mundane. Dawn felt relieved by how simple it all was. She hated to think that she had mistakenly entered a conflict with a crazy red unicorn stallion in her first few moments on the train as a passenger.

“As for this room…well…let’s just say something bad happened here that shouldn’t have happened in the first place. But it’s no longer of any concern or importance so don’t worry about it. I just have…bad feelings about this room.”

Dawn took a look around the room. Finally, her eyes rested on the spot that she had noticed earlier. It was plain that, for whatever reason, this unicorn was not going to tell her any more about what had happened in this room, but this didn't bother her. Just a few moments earlier, she had been prepared for some type of attack. Now, she would be happy enough for him to leave her to eat her remaining food in peace. If he said that what happened was of no importance, than she would take this as fact. Besides, there was plainly no threat in the room at that moment... Besides Magicon.

She met Magicon's gaze with her own. When she spoke, she carefully said each word so that there would be no misunderstandings. Her careful speech held the added benefit of giving her some measure of control over her own reactions, which could sometimes be strangely random. "I apologize for offending you, that wasn't my intent in the slightest. My name is Dawn. I suppose that I should have introduced myself earlier. I apologize for that as well. As for how I know your name, well, I don't know. Whether you believe it or not, I know a lot of things without knowing how I came by the knowledge."

Taking a deep breath, she continued. "I'll tell you the plain truth. This morning, early, I woke up in the middle of nowhere. I didn't really remember much of anything about my past at all. I walked until I came to a place, Ponyville. I did some things." She smiled, slightly, returning to a serious expression before she spoke. "I found some cats, perhaps a few. I gave them names based on memories that I had. I went to the hospital. I healed the sick and shared knowledge. I... I didn't really tell them the truth when they asked where I had come from. How could I? I wanted to do something, something with some purpose. If I was too strange, they would have sent me away. Then what would I have done?"

She shook her head. "Now, I'm here. My task is to watch Springer and to confront Trixie should she reappear. I don't really know what else to tell you, other than what I've said, and maybe even this was too much. But you have a right to know this, I think, because of what I did earlier. That wasn't right, I agree, but... Would you have rather I concealed my knowledge? At least, now you know. I only wish I knew..." She stopped for a moment and thought, before continuing. "I'm not afraid of you. I'm not afraid of anypony, but I fear what they can do. That's why I'm here... Because of what somepony did... Something that wasn't right. I'm sorry."

Suddenly avoiding Magicon's gaze, Dawn looked down at her food and continued eating. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her cat Flo, still strangely undisturbed but watching Magicon intently. From under a table, just in front of her, another cat emerged, a large, steel blue manx. It watched the red unicorn intently. Under another table, a third pair of eyes calmly focused on Magicon, it was a third cat, hidden in the shadows. After a moment, she spoke again, simply. "I'm tired of talking. I don't want to say anymore. I just want to eat. Is that okay, or do you have another question?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDuFmqA4JUo

As Lapis took the train down and inspected it, Springer watched with intent. If nothing was there, then it would not necessarily confirm or deny his suspicion that there was still something hidden on the train, something that needed to be uncovered. If something was there, however, then this would mean that his suspicions had been completely correct. He, himself, couldn't remember placing anything there, so something out of the ordinary would have had to have been placed there by another pony.

Inside, he found what seemed like a rolled up piece of paper. Gently, he removed it with his mouth, not getting it wet, thankfully. With one swift but calculated motion, the scroll was open to the world to see the secrets hidden inside. Lapis sat there staring at it for a full minute before he realized it was blank. "What in the name of knowledge....." he muttered under his breath.

Springer blinked. There was something in the model, after all. All of a sudden, their fruitless search of the train had some meaning to it after all. A smile appeared on his face, but it quickly dissipated when Springer heard Lapis's exclamation. What could have been on the paper? Springer was loathe to attempt to guess. With so many possibilities, it would have been terribly inefficient to allow his imagination to get the best of him. Instead, he waited to hear from Lapis.

Lapis walked back to Springer's bed and placed the mysterious blank page before the stallion. "Springer, my dear fellow, this is what I found, which leads me to believe somepony put this piece of paper within your model train with some purpose in mind. But it is rather useless, at least to the naked eye. What I'm saying is.... Well, the paper is blank as you can clearly see. Not a smudge, not a pen mark. Curious to say the least." Lapis explained. "I could be wrong here, but perhaps whatever words to read are in invisible ink? Or maybe hidden with magic. Or it might be just a silly piece of trash. Who knows? I certainly don't." he concluded with a look of great curiosity upon his features.

"Well... if there's a special type of ink, I remember heat helps to uncover it. Just small heat however, nothing too big obviously. And I think invisible ink could only be revealed by magic? I'm not sure either however..."

He peered at the blank paper for a few moments, not quite confused and not quite shocked - some combination of the two. "Invisible ink?" Springer spoke out loud. It seemed inefficient to him, and he gave voice to his concerns. "Perhaps, it could be invisible ink. That is the efficient conclusion. Certainly, if it's trash, then I didn't put it there? But, wait... Surely if it is invisible ink, whoever placed it there would have known that we would discern this rapidly? A seemingly blank sheet of paper, placed somewhere out of sight. Why bother with such a fragile ploy? That's the inefficient part. Ummm... If the purpose is to conceal, then the purpose is voided by the obviousness of it all. It's the kind of thing that a colt or filly would think of doing..." Springer was interrupted.

"Vanhoover..." Arcanel said out loud, unable to keep it inside his mind due to the so sudden realization. Right then, he slowly looked into his saddlebag, and found the letter he had been carrying there. The moment he saw it, the mailpony went wide eyed.

"Vanhoover?" Springer, repeated, bemused. "I'm sorry, Arcanel, I don't follow you? Could you explain your rea..." The mailpony had been reaching into his saddlebag, so Springer decided to stop speaking and wait to see if, perhaps, there was some additional information that Arcanel could provide. When the mailpony's eyes went wide, Springer became concerned. "What is it?"

"OH DEAR FAST POST! THE LETTER DELIVERY TO LOS PEGASUS!" the white pony yelled, horror suddenly filling his face everywhere. "This letter is supposed to be delivered today! If the train doesn't leave now I'm not going to make it in time!" he yelled once more, suddenly realizing that he had forgotten the deadline he was under, and, the task he had been commended to do.

"Oh." It was all that he could think to say as he realized that Arcanel's letter had nothing to do with the present situation, and it had everything to do with the mailpony's career. Arcanel was pitiably shaken. Even though he was unaware of the facts, Springer saddened at his friend's unfortunate situation. Thinking quickly, he forced himself to focus on the problem. Plainly, Arcanel was late for delivering his letter. It was also plain that Arcanel had not fully considered the complexity of his present situation. Within just seconds of focusing on the problem, Springer had a solution.

"What do I do...?" he asked himself out loud, unable to contain his mind any longer, and stlill going on around in circles.

With a reassuring smile and a slight twinkle in his eye, Springer spoke in answer to Arcanel's inquiry, oblivious to the fact that the mailpony was probably speaking to himself. "Be efficient. That is my advice to you, my friend. In this case, it's exactly as you say, if you left in just an hour, even in perfect conditions, you would be late to deliver your letter to Los Pegasus. What is the probability of perfect conditions on this journey? It is probably not one-hundred percent, so there would be a risk of being late regardless of how you approached the difficulty."

"Not only this... Ummm... If you leave now, you would leave us without your contribution to solving this puzzle. If harm were to befall a passenger or even a crew member, then you would regret leaving for the remainder of your existence. The thought, the question, would always be on your mind. 'Could I have prevented a tragedy?' The answer would, of course, elude you. Take it from me. Gnawing thoughts are highly inefficient, it is because they gnaw. It would better if they just bit, outright, but I digress. It is much better to follow your thought processes through, fully, the first time, preventing their occurrence."

Despite his lying in bed and despite his exhaustion, Springer's rose-colored eyes seemed to glow with increasing energy and enthusiasm. "I have a recommendation. Leverage all of your resources in solving your problem. Optimize. Stay on the train. As a mailpony, you have a duty to not just deliver messages. You see, Arcanel, you are a civil servant. Like myself, your duties exceed your natural obligations and responsibilities. You answer to a higher calling than simply mail delivery. You must act, when given the opportunity, to safeguard others. This is something that all decent ponies should do, but as a pony tasked directly and explicitly with the service of others, it is an unspoken requirement of your position."

Springer interrupted himself and spent some moments in silent contemplation. "This Fast Post... I doubt that, were you to explain these extraordinary circumstances... I doubt that he would hold them against you. If he did, then I would report him and confront him, because he would have forgotten obligations to the common pony. To merely deliver mail... That is not the task of a mailpony. I ask you this... If the ponies of Equestria were in dire danger, then what purpose would mail delivery serve? None at all. You wouldn't be delivering mail. You would be helping! It's about ponies, Arcanel, not about your letters. If there were no customers, then how efficient would it be to deliver mail to them?"

"I don't mean to exaggerate the present circumstance, but just as I would go out of my way to help a passenger in need, you, too, are obligated to assist the ponies along your mail route. I know this for a fact, because... It is written in the codes. The mailpony codes are substantial, but I made certain to learn them at the same time as I learned the railway codes and those of other service areas. Let me assure you, my friend, you are well within your proper rights by assisting the passengers on this train. You are on this train. It is a part of your route. The definitions are simple. The situation applies. C'est simple." Despite himself, Springer grinned.

"This is how I rose through the ranks so quickly, Arcanel. I used the codes. I learned them early, because I was certain that this knowledge would prove more valuable than anything else that I could do. Earlier, I mentioned that you needed to use all of your resources, well... A full understanding of your task is an essential resource, is it not? Arcanel. You are needed here. I can't deny that I would be greatly concerned were you to depart, but ignore this bias, because my reasoning is solid on its own merits."

With a nod of his head, Springer continued resolutely. "If Fast Post troubles you, contact either myself or Vim, preferably me. I'd very much like to have a confrontation with a pony that doesn't understand his own business. I do that all of the time. I don't mean to sound arrogant, but... I know what I do, and I make it my task to know what others should do as well... I can deal with this pony, whoever he is; in fact, I would relish the task. Let him debate me, he'll be crushed. How do you think I became an assistant conductor so quickly and with such a reputation? It wasn't by being a foolish colt, despite what some think. My knowledge... It is the reason why, one day, I will be a conductor. Not just any conductor, but the greatest conductor that has ever lived."

His hooves were shaking with energy as he finished speaking, and his eyes seemed to be slightly moistened. But, just as suddenly as the flames had appeared, they were gone. Springer wiped his eyes with a hoof, looked away for a moment, and then turned back. "I believe that we have a task before us? Lapis, Arcanel... I think that... Despite what I promised the nurse, I can remain awake for a while longer... So long as I don't move around too much. In the meantime, perhaps one of you could try some method of uncovering what's written in the invisible ink. You could try a method to heat the paper... Or, it might be safer to just seek the talents of a skilled unicorn."

OOC: It's up to y'all. You can heat the paper first, please don't burn it. That's the real problem with heat, paper burns. Besides, nothing will show if you choose the method. It's hidden by a peculiar form of magic, not any form of conventional invisible ink. You would need to take the paper to a unicorn, a generalist and not a specialist. Either Magicon or Asteria would work for this. Dawn is a specialist, her ability to assist would be limited at best. Ice Storm isn't even on the train yet and is another specialist, so, again, her usefulness would be limited in solving this. The paper, when its contents are revealed, will be written in Springer's precision hoofwriting and it will contain a strange story about a pony wandering in a frozen wasteland. What happens from there is up to you...

The price. "A hundred bits is perfectly reasonable," she told him pulling out a smaller bag of bits and handing them to him to take the key. "And as long as the adventure isn't another, it's time to save Equestria adventure, I look forward to it," she told him.

Vim gladly exchanged the unicorn's bits with a room key and ticket. He laughed heartily at the pony's remarks. "Trust me, miss, there's not no need to be concerned about that on this journey. You know, if anything needs saving, it'll probably be dessert, and frankly, I'm not concerned with that at all. Should be more than plenty to go around. Well, you'll probably want to board the train and get settled. Your room is room 4, and..." Vim was about to continue, but he stopped when he noticed that the unicorn was glancing at a pegasus pony behind her. The pegasus was searching her coins.

She then turned to the Conductor, "You know what, I'll take two of them," she told him handing him another hundred bits. "One for my friend here too," she told him happily heard a stifled meep from behind her.

The conductor peered at the unicorn for just a moment before smiling warmly. The act of generosity seemed quite random, to him, random but pleasant. Still not quite able to shake his own biases, Vim was even more surprised that it was a unicorn being generous. He had seen examples to the contrary, of course, but Vim still thought of the average unicorn as having their head in the clouds, even moreso than pegasus ponies. Thinking about Ponyville, he figured that it probably had something to do with the location. Certainly, this type of thing was a rare occurrence in either Canterlot or Manehattan.

None of his thoughts intruded on his flawlessly friendly demeanor. "That's quite the act of generosity..." He began as he reached over and materialized another ticket and room key from the saddlebag, dematerializing the bits that he had just received. "Well, here's the key and ticket to room 2, for your friend. It's right next door to your own room, so you know, that's pretty convenient..." Vim was about to say more, when another pony spoke up.

"Excuse me, conductor? My name's Alex Night. I'm sorry if you don't know me, but I was a passenger here on this train back at the start in Canterlot. When we stopped here, I was over by the juice bar having a drink and then I lost track of time. It's been a mess, really..."

For a second, Vim looked confused. He could hardly remember the pegasus pony. He masked his confusion with a smile as he spoke. "Alex Night? You know, the name's familiar to me, but I think more in terms of numbers sometimes, comes with the trade. Mind telling me, which room did you have? Hey, and how's the juice bars in this place anyway? ... Errr, but gimme a second."

Before Alex could respond, Vim turned back to the icy unicorn. "Sorry about the interruption, and..."

"Pardon me if I'm interrupting anything," he started, speaking to Vim. "But I was wondering if there was anything that needed to be done right now."

Vim continued to address the unicorn without missing a beat. "And, my assistant conductor here would be happy to show you and your friend to your rooms." Looking over his shoulder, he spoke to Electrobolt with a grin in his eyes but not on his face. "Good morning, Bolt. It's about time that you woke up. I see you brought your sister with you, she's charming, you need to really introduce us! For now, this lovely mare and her friend need to be shown to rooms 4 and 2. Up to it? Fantastic!" Vim spoke without waiting for Bolt to reply. Behind Bolt, the blue filly with the unkept mane stifled a chuckle. Vim wasn't quite what Key had expected him to be.

She also thought that executing the third step might not be the best idea right now. Wait. Had she packed her notebook?

His eyes caught Flow eating a daisy sandwich while watching the passengers boarding. Vim waved a hoof at cream-colored pegasus, hoping that she would catch the gesture and come over. In the meantime, he spoke to a sandy colored earth pony. "Excuse me, miss, are you looking to board the train? Tickets are a hundred bits. If that's alright by you, then I can get you a room and ticket with a room number really quickly." Vim looked over his shoulder and spoke to Alex, again. "Don't worry, Alex, I haven't forgotten you. Just let me take care of the new passengers, and I'll be right with you. Or, just talk to my assistant conductor when he gets back."

Dawn thought it over for a few moments while he stood there in front of Ambrosia. "Actually, I don't really have a plan on where I'm going, but now that you mention it Los Pegasus doesn't sound too bad...Oh an the name's Dawn rider" smiled Dawn as he pondered his future journey.

Ambrosia's curiosity spilled into her facial expression. Her curiosity was piqued by the strange pegasus pony's willingness to join a train ride for the sole purpose of a decent meal. His completely nonchalant demeanor only added to her curiousity. She wondered what Asteria thought of Dawn's answer. As for herself, she had to contain her desire to pester Dawn with a flood of questions. He seemed like the type of pony that her parents had called a 'drifter', she'd always wandered what it would be like to meet one.

"Oh and Id be happy to help you carry some supplies" Smiled Dawn remembering he forgot to add that part in. He looked around at what Ambrosia already had in her possession and it didn't look like too much. His saddlebag was mostly empty since Dawn traveled light and he could easily spare room inside it, it wasn't as If Dawn couldn't handle a few supplies, considering he would end up receiving a nice meal.

Her answer came fast. "Oh, thank you so much!" Ambrosia beamed. With a nod of thanks to the shopkeeper and a small wink at Asteria, Ambrosia handed Dawn some items for him to put in his saddlebags and she spread the rest among herself and Asteria. When she was finished, she waited a moment and then started to, slowly, make her way through the crowd to the next location.

"So this train...you said I had to buy a ticket right?" Dawn asked The Lemon Coated Mare, considering how much money he had left in his money pouch nestled amongst the meager possessions in his saddlebag, including one old journal he always kept inside for obvious reasons. Happy with how much money he had left after counting in his head, he awaited Ambrosia's response...

"Well, yeah, you'd have to buy a ticket, but it's only a hundred bits." Ambrosia spoke, not certain of what Dawn's response would be. "If you do come on board, you'll love it though. Los Pegasus is a fun place to visit. The train ride should be great, especially now with Trixie gone. Hey, you know... I've got an idea... " Ambrosia stopped for a moment. "Well... Hmmm... Maybe we could split the remaining items... There's three merchants left, three of us... Ummm... I think that this could work." Ambrosia made her way back to the merchant that she had just left. "Excuse me, sir, but..."

The older pegasus pony had been watching them while they departed. Having heard her exclamation, he'd already set a quill out with some paper. He spoke, warily. "Don't worry, no charge, just don't give me orders for supply trains." After a confused but thankful glance, Ambrosia quickly wrote out two lists in her own neat hoofwriting. Thinking to herself of how Springer would approve of this efficiency, she returned to Asteria and Dawn. "Hey... Since there's three of us... Why don't we each just take some bits and head to a different merchant. All you two would need to do is give them the list and tell them to deliver to the Los Pegasus Express. Then, we can all meet up here, make one more stop and then head back to the train?"

OOC: Oh... Oh man... Oh geeezee.... I'm tired... D: Hans Zimmer sustained me. Well, that and movie trailer music. Hey, it's a living. I think... If there are questions, hit me up on Skype or in the OOC. I'm gonna collapse now, bye bye...

Edited September 15, 2013 by Luminescence

King · April 1, 2013

Well, yeah, you'd have to buy a ticket, but it's only a hundred bits." Ambrosia spoke, not certain of what Dawn's response would be. "If you do come on board, you'll love it though. Los Pegasus is a fun place to visit. The train ride should be great, especially now with Trixie gone.

Dawn's ears picked up at hearing Trixie's name. He had met her once before in his past and didn't hold any place in his heart for her, he wasn't one for boasting us much as she was, even though he would be the first to admit he could boast during some situations, mostly involving speed and agility. But this statement also arose questions, what did she mean by "now with Trixie gone?"

Normally this wouldn't worry him, but it didn't sound as if Trixie just...departed.

But Dawn's mind went back to the price of a ticket for the train. He could certainly afford it and the trip may not be so bad, he needed this time off to think, and for something else he wasn't quite proud of...

Hey, you know... I've got an idea... " Ambrosia stopped for a moment. "Well... Hmmm... Maybe we could split the remaining items... There's three merchants left, three of us... Ummm... I think that this could work." Ambrosia made her way back to the merchant that she had just left. "Excuse me, sir, but..."

Dawn watched the Lemon coated mare trot back to the Merchant and start to discuss something with him. Dawn was certainly happy to run an errand or two for Ambrosia, she seemed rather nice, and against his usual instinct, he started to like her a little bit, she reminded him of his mother, which was hard for most ponies to achieve with Dawn.

Ambrosia quickly wrote out two lists in her own neat hoofwriting. Thinking to herself of how Springer would approve of this efficiency, she returned to Asteria and Dawn. "Hey... Since there's three of us... Why don't we each just take some bits and head to a different merchant. All you two would need to do is give them the list and tell them to deliver to the Los Pegasus Express. Then, we can all meet up here, make one more stop and then head back to the train?"

Dawn didn't need to think much, he knew what his answer would be as soon as Ambrosia finished her sentence.

"Of course, Id be happy to help you" Smiled Dawn Warmly retrieving the list and a small bag of bits from Ambrosia.

He looked down and quickly spotted the vendor he needed to see...which just so happened to be the same fruit vendor he was at earlier, Dawn smiled lightly at the irony.

"I'll be right back" Smiled Dawn as he turned tail and trotted across the market to the fruit vendor, who had been stacking up a few baskets of Apples on the side of his stall. The vendor turned and spotted Dawn, and smiled at the approaching Pegasus.

"Well hello again, how can I help you?" He asked with his rehearsed greeting.

"Hello again good sir. I just needed to drop off this list of fruits needed for the Los Pegasus express" Dawn said as he placed the list in front of the vendor, who intently looked over the list, adding up the price.

"I can most certainly do this, and I'll have them delivered to the train for you. But in terms of the cost, It comes to..." Started the Vendor before Dawn cut in.

"I have the appropriate amount here good sir" smiled Dawn, placing the bag of bits he retrieved from Ambrosia before the Earth pony in front of him, who took a look in the bag before simply nodding.

"This will do nicely, unless there is anything else you want...I think I'll get this together for you" He smiled placing the list in his own saddlebag.

"No that will be all. Have a good day" Dawn said before turning tail once more and trotting back to where he was to meet with Ambrosia and her little companion. When he arrived he simply stood there and retrieved his journal to write about his experience so far, while waiting for the others to return...

Edited April 1, 2013 by ~Dawn♥Rider~

Starshine · April 1, 2013

He nodded his own head slightly, in an acknowledgement of Summerfall's introduction. Then, he spoke. "I'm pleased to meet you as well, Summerfall. I'm also glad to hear that it is business that takes you to Los Pegasus. There are, I think, far too many ponies that travel these days for unproductive purposes, and I can think of few less productive things than a performance by Trixie. I think that you are, perhaps, unfamiliar with her. She's a show pony, a stage magician, that specializes in using some degree of hostility and some visual tricks to draw crowds. You are all the better off by not knowing much more about her than this."

Summerfall couldn't help but to raise an eyebrow when Dusky Coal explained to her on how Trixie treated her spectator so disrespectfully. Using some degree of hostility? That's the surest way to lose one's job, and for a stage magician it should be enough to get her blacklisted by every theatre or carnival on Equestria that's worth their title. The way Dusky spoke about he thought that there was too many ponies travelling for entertainment purposes slightly threw her off course. Shouldn't it be a good thing that there were so many carefree tourists travelling around Equestria? More tourism of course means that there were more train passengers, which in turn would mean better job security for him and his friends as a train's crews. She would have to talk about it with him later.

"Hmmmm... There is, however, something that I find myself thinking about, and if you forgive my curiosity, yet again... I'm not quite familiar with this Harvest Union that you speak of. Perhaps you could tell me something about this organization and your place within it? Since you are being sent to undo the damage caused by some failure at the Los Pegasus branch, I take it that you are, on some level, accomplished in your career? I would imagine that a low level employee would not be sent to fix the misdoings of another? Hmmmm..." Dusky stopped and closed his eyes, as if weighing something carefully.

He was not familiar with the Harvest Union. That trivial fact somehow knocked Summerfall off a bit more than it should be. Of course, she could understand that as an engineer, Dusky would have little to no reason to manage the train's food supplies and groceries, let alone to visit one of the Union's branches. She silently hoped that whoever the cook was on the train, he or she would be familiar with the Union. She tried to hide her grimace with a small, uneasy chuckle. She was about to reply to the stallion's many questions when he added some more.

When he continued, he spoke with a voice that was strangely calm. "I only ask this of you for two reasons. The first is that I, myself, am quite skilled in my own chosen profession. While I am still quite young of age, I have had many significant accomplishments during this time. This makes me somewhat unusual, because, you see, it is a rare sacrifice among ponies to forego some of the amusements of life for the sake of dedication to some purpose that is more significant. I am... Pleased to meet another that, perhaps, has chosen to walk a road similar to myself. Ah... Hmmm... And, the second reason that I wish to know is that there are discounted train tickets available for the purposes of emergency business."

Summerfall tilted her head slightly. She was not the one who should speculate about how others spend their lives, but Dusky's words gave her a strong impression that the stallion sacrificed much of his youth and happiness in his career pursuits. Sure, it was not exactly the wrong thing to do to sacrifice a part of one's self to chase your dreams, but it was almost cartoonishly foolish to devote so much of everything to one's career. She didn't particularly agree with Dusky's views on the world, but she couldn't help but to admire his dedication. She agreed to his words, it was a rare sacrifice indeed.

"Thank you for the discount offer, sir, but while the affairs I have on my back are certainly very important, they are not exactly life-and-death emergencies. I'm fully capable to pay for the ticket, so I believe it would be the best that the discount is reserved for somepony else with a more pressing matter. For your earlier questions, yes, I believe I am quite renowned in my organization. I've been entrusted to keep the company's finance from crumbling under its own weight, and I'm afraid that is what exactly is currently happening at the Los Pegasus branch. Nopony can tell how could that even be possible, and so far Los Pegasus branch has yet to answer our call, and that's why I'm here. I hope you can understand that I can't tell you more than that." The mare paused for a moment to recollect her mind. Should I tell him about the Union? She asked her own inner consciousness. Of course there was no reply, but she continued anyway. "You see, Harvest Union is a chain of retail outlets that specializing in food products and everyday needs. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, soaps, flours, eggs, seeds, spices, window cleaner, and many more. We have it all. To this day we have at least one branch in every major city in Equestria. Anything you buy from Harvest Union, you will never be disappointed about it." She finished with a cheery hoof motion to the side.

Summerfall felt a tinge of pride in telling this new pony about the company that she helped to grow. Sure, things were not quite so well for the company right now, what with the Los Pegasus branch losing bits in an almost astronomical rate. She hoped that whatever it is that was happening in there, she would be able to take care of it, lest they would have to give up and purge the branch off the chart. She waited just in case that Dusky have another question, and after that she would inquire about the ticket.

OOC: I'm really sorry if this one feels a bit rushed. The computer broke down when I'm typing it, and I'm running out of time ;_;

I'll make the next one better.

Dave (RayFriedh) · April 1, 2013

She did look up though after the impact and apologized for bumping into her. "Oh no, it's okay... I'm sorry for being in the way... I shouldn't have just been standing around anyway," she responded. "I suppose that I should fine a place to set up for my routine... though my space is a bit more limited with the extra train," she finished.

"N-no, I shou-should've seen where I was going...", she stumbled. "I'm sorry, I was just thinking about something, and-" she hesitated.

She hated getting thrown into social situations. Sure, she could hold her own in a conversation, but whenever she was thrust into talking to somepony without prior thought, she was a little disconcerted. What she really hated, though, were bad first impressions. . Making friends is better than being surrounded by strangers, was part of her philosophy, but she also wanted everypony she met remember her for good reasons. Maybe she was making a mountain out of a molehill, but she always got way too much into small details... She knew she was being a hypocrite when she easily forgives other ponies, but...it was different because...

"Extra train?" She nodded towards where the mare was looking at just a while ago. "You mean that one ove-"

In the meantime, he spoke to a sandy colored earth pony. "Excuse me, miss, are you looking to board the train? Tickets are a hundred bits. If that's alright by you, then I can get you a room and ticket with a room number really quickly."

Ah! Something she was prepared to talk about!

"Sorry, I think they're talking about me." she said, hurriedly. "I've gotta go... hopefully we'll bump in- we'll meet again." She turn and did a brisk trot toward the stallion that called for her. Phew. That was a rather shaky interaction. Well, what did it matter, really? She probably wouldn't remember her, anyway. As she trotted to the stallion, she eyed a sign on the train. "The Las Pegasus Express," she mouthed. Exactly what she was looking for. She had been told, by word of mouth, that this train was one of the best out there, perhaps even worthy of being called legendary. Having never really pampered herself, she was rather skeptical of what would make a train ride be different from the others, but she let herself be persuaded by the rumours.

Nearing the stallion, she put on a friendly smile and said, "Hello! Yes, I was hoping to get a ticket..." she turned her head to open up her saddlebag and get two small, readily-made bags, each filled with fifty bits. Turning back to the conductor pony, she moved the bags from her mouth to her hooves, and offered him an outstretched hoof, holding two bags of fifty bits. "And here are the bits!"

Arcanel · April 1, 2013

To say that Arcanel was having a silent nervious breakdown, would have been an understatement. The stallion had now stopped walking in circles, but his mind was still going haywire. *Oh dear Celestia... what in the ever living world of Equestria do I do... I can't fail either of them... I don't want ot fail either of them...* was all the white pegasus could think of as he started to have the desire to grab his hair and just pull it off. However, he suddenly heard Springer's voice.

"Be efficient. That is my advice to you, my friend. In this case, it's exactly as you say, if you left in just an hour, even in perfect conditions, you would be late to deliver your letter to Los Pegasus. What is the probability of perfect conditions on this journey? It is probably not one-hundred percent, so there would be a risk of being late regardless of how you approached the difficulty."

The words from the green pony had snapped Arcanel out of his reverie, and made him look in his direction. And as he did so, he saw a pony with a smile, one he hadn't seen in Springer for as far as he has known him, even if it wasn't a lot. It was the smile of a reassuring pony. *Heh... of course he'd ask me to be efficient... but... he's right. I'm no way in top shape to make the trip. So even if I wanted to make the trip to Las Pegasus by myself, there's a good chance I might just faint half way there, or worse, something else could happen.* He realized, as he heard Springer's logic, and how well it fit into his whole dilemma, and also feeling slightly happy at the thought of Springer considering him his friend. Meanwhile, the assistant conductor continued.

"Not only this... Ummm... If you leave now, you would leave us without your contribution to solving this puzzle. If harm were to befall a passenger or even a crew member, then you would regret leaving for the remainder of your existence. The thought, the question, would always be on your mind. 'Could I have prevented a tragedy?' The answer would, of course, elude you. Take it from me. Gnawing thoughts are highly inefficient, it is because they gnaw. It would better if they just bit, outright, but I digress. It is much better to follow your thought processes through, fully, the first time, preventing their occurrence."

*Hit the nail on the coffin with the "The thought, the question, would always be in your mind" part. And given myself, it would completely torment me forever.* He pondered, agreeing with Springer's train of thought. However, at the words of "thought processes" he felt slightly confused, as he didn't quite follow exactly what Springer was trying to say that had to do with his whole situation right now.

"I have a recommendation. Leverage all of your resources in solving your problem. Optimize. Stay on the train. As a mailpony, you have a duty to not just deliver messages. You see, Arcanel, you are a civil servant. Like myself, your duties exceed your natural obligations and responsibilities. You answer to a higher calling than simply mail delivery. You must act, when given the opportunity, to safeguard others. This is something that all decent ponies should do, but as a pony tasked directly and explicitly with the service of others, it is an unspoken requirement of your position."

The more Springer talked, the more Arcanel started feeling less stressed by his own thoughts... and started feeling more awed at the thoughts Springer was pouring out. *He's... right... never really thought about it, although I have always tried giving my best and 100% to help out any ponies that I saw in my way so long as it didn't really deter me in my deliveries, or unless the emergency was really bad...* he reflected, starting to reminsce about some of the times he had gone out of his way to help out ponies in trouble. After a small pause, the green pegasus continued talking.

"This Fast Post... I doubt that, were you to explain these extraordinary circumstances... I doubt that he would hold them against you. If he did, then I would report him and confront him, because he would have forgotten obligations to the common pony. To merely deliver mail... That is not the task of a mailpony. I ask you this... If the ponies of Equestria were in dire danger, then what purpose would mail delivery serve? None at all. You wouldn't be delivering mail. You would be helping! It's about ponies, Arcanel, not about your letters. If there were no customers, then how efficient would it be to deliver mail to them?"

The moment his boss' name came up again, his mind went through a small moment of sadness again, even when Springer had explained why. *I'm not quite worried that Fast Post would not understand. I'm sure he would. But... this is that one thing that is very important to me... however... this is important as well, and I wouldn't be selfish if it wasn't for the fact it's not just myself I'd disappoint, but Fast Post as well, even if he understood. Especially because I brought this dilemma on myself.* The mailpony reminded himself once more, slowly falling in a spiral of self-criticizement. However, hearing Springer's logic about the duties one has to the common pony, he couldn't help but admire and agree with the mindset that the tired pony was mentioning.

"I don't mean to exaggerate the present circumstance, but just as I would go out of my way to help a passenger in need, you, too, are obligated to assist the ponies along your mail route. I know this for a fact, because... It is written in the codes. The mailpony codes are substantial, but I made certain to learn them at the same time as I learned the railway codes and those of other service areas. Let me assure you, my friend, you are well within your proper rights by assisting the passengers on this train. You are on this train. It is a part of your route. The definitions are simple. The situation applies. C'est simple."

If Springer's words hadn't shook him before, his grin certainly did. While it was true that Arcanel hadn't met the train crew in the best of all conditions, he was starting to get touched by the assurance that Springer was talking with, and a smile was slowly making its way in the white pony's face, along with his self-criticizement going down. *It's... not something I would have ever considered... never ever, now that I think about it... but... he's not wrong at all... it's the exact opposite...* were Arcanel's thoughts as he started to reconsider with less trouble what he should be needing to do. This, coupled with the fact Springer had called him his friend again, was drastically improving the trouble pony's mood and mind.

"This is how I rose through the ranks so quickly, Arcanel. I used the codes. I learned them early, because I was certain that this knowledge would prove more valuable than anything else that I could do. Earlier, I mentioned that you needed to use all of your resources, well... A full understanding of your task is an essential resource, is it not? Arcanel. You are needed here. I can't deny that I would be greatly concerned were you to depart, but ignore this bias, because my reasoning is solid on its own merits."

As soon as Springer's words left his mouth, Arcanel opened his eyes widely. *He... would be concerned... if I left...? I am needed...?* Was all the white pony could think, as the shock he was feeling at that moment was quite big. It had been far too little time for him to even consider he could be more useful than any of the other ponies that he had met so far. Lapis was probably smarter than him, Springer had a definite level of determination and is the one they needed to help. Magicon seemed more than just a fairly capable unicorn, and Electrobolt probably was more level-headed than he was, even if he looked farily younger. And this was not counting Vim, who he knew would be a great help in figuring all these out, and also leaving out all the ponies he hadn't even met yet. The sole fact he hadn't expected to have caused enough impact to Springer that he would say those words was rather shocking and unbelievable to the 27-year old pegasus. He had been able to get help and probably save Springer's life, that was the truth, but he hadn't given it much more thought afterwards, even though, all the events that were happening at the train was making his head a little confused in how to feel at several times. Before he could add any other thought however, Springer continued.

"If Fast Post troubles you, contact either myself or Vim, preferably me. I'd very much like to have a confrontation with a pony that doesn't understand his own business. I do that all of the time. I don't mean to sound arrogant, but... I know what I do, and I make it my task to know what others should do as well... I can deal with this pony, whoever he is; in fact, I would relish the task. Let him debate me, he'll be crushed. How do you think I became an assistant conductor so quickly and with such a reputation? It wasn't by being a foolish colt, despite what some think. My knowledge... It is the reason why, one day, I will be a conductor. Not just any conductor, but the greatest conductor that has ever lived."

By now, Arcanel had a very visible smile on his face, and tears almost threatening to come out of his eyes. He felt happiness, because he could have been more glad at Springer's willingness to offer his assistance if something with Fast Post happened about this. He felt awe, at the sheer amount of determination and resolution that the green pony talked with, and the fire that could be seen in his eyes, tears slowly and lightly coming out of them. And he felt fear, because the sole thought of imagining Fast Post and Springer in a heated discussion, was something that made his body shiver. "Mr. Springer..." Had been the small, soft-spoken words that left Arcanel'smouth at that moment, unaware that they were out loud and not in his mind. *I... I don't even know how to appreciate THAT. I mean... wow... just... woah... and the way he talked... no wonder Vim was worried about losing Springer, other than being his friend. Springer has the amount of determination and resolution that he'd definitely appreciate on his crew. And I'm sure he will go somewhere high. But... Springer arguing with Fast Post... oh dear.. abandon building and evacuate it. I would NOT like to be in that place when that happened.* He finished gathering his thoughts. While he hadn't seen Vim nor Springer in an angry or mad mood, he did NOT wanted to see those exact feelings, nor be around them when they happened, let alone if it was against his boss, who he knew how badly he could get angry.

"I believe that we have a task before us? Lapis, Arcanel... I think that... Despite what I promised the nurse, I can remain awake for a while longer... So long as I don't move around too much. In the meantime, perhaps one of you could try some method of uncovering what's written in the invisible ink. You could try a method to heat the paper... Or, it might be safer to just seek the talents of a skilled unicorn."

While he had paid attention at Springer's words, Arcanel hadn't truly listened. His mind was completely shocked, and instead did the first thing that came to it, and went to hug the pony in the bed.

"Thank you... thank you so much for your words Mr. Springer. You have not a single idea, of how much they have helped. And I appreciate them, and you, more than I can probably show. There's also something you need to know." He started saying, considering that Springer might want a better explanation at his sudden physical act as he let go. "See... this is not just another trip for me. This is my very first trip outside Vanhoover... meaning... this is the first time I've ever went out of the city. And... this is the first time Fast Post has ever personally asked me on a letter delivery, and back at our office, being called by Post and get a personal request, especially it being a letter delivery outside Vanhoover, is considered a great honor among the mailponies there. And given how I'm not even the most experienced mailpony... this meant a lot for me." He explained, before taking a small breath, and continuing.

"And given the fact how I technically caused myself all of this trouble by not being better prepared when I left, I was disappointed at myself, and was worried about how disappointed Fast Post would be. As much as I appreciate you giving me assistance, I don't think I'd need it. I know Fast Post would understand, considering how extraordinary these cicumstances are. But, I know that deep down, I would still let him down, because while not my fault in a small part, it was mostly my fault in the case." Arcanel continued talking, letting all of his thoughts and feelings out as he spoke more words.

"But then... I don't want to fail you... or Vim... or anyone that wants this trip to be as smooth as possible, and to be able to help as much as possible. You consider me your friend.... which, to me... is something that could not make me feel more happier. And then I think it more... and I realize this would not be happening if I hadn't miscalculated when I left Vanhoover. I was able to get help for you, which probably saved your life. And now, I told Vim that I would look after you. So... I was torn , about what to do." He admitted, even though he knew that Springer figured out he was about to crash down on his thoughts. After a small pause, he continued speaking.

"So... despite myself... I'll stop thinking about my whole situation for now. Your words have more than enough broken my reverie of self-criticizement. And as you'd probably call it, it would be inefficient of myself if I kept on it." The mailpony said, letting a smaile and a small chuckle make way in his body. "I'll try to focus on what I can do now, and help as much as I can. If worst comes to worst... well... I'll see what I'll do then." He finished, his smile getting bigger and now his mood completely improved.

"Um... I'm sorry. I know you probably weren't expecting that, but... I needed to get that off my chest. So... I guess thank you for listening and thanks again for helping me." Arcanel told the green pony, considering hugging him again, but deciding against it. He then took a long, deep breath, and talked a different, more determinated voice. "Anyway, you're right. We need to decide what exactly should we do. To be honest, heat could be far too dangerious because we definitely won't get a second shot if we accidentally burn it, so I agree with what you say Mr. Springer. Mr. Lapis... do you agree?" he asked, directing his look to the earth pony, now waiting for his answer. Before, he felt his mind was going to explode out of worry. After the words Springer said and the words he himself said, Arcanel now wore with a resoluted filled face, and felt more self-confident to be able to help better.

Bari · April 2, 2013

Asteria watched with delight as the stallion behind the counter gathered up the things Ambrosia named. If she got lucky, Ambrosia might even let her help cook, so then she could actually see the spices up close and smell them! Her eyes sparkled as she thought of all the wonderful things Ambrosia would be making when they got back. But her thoughts ended up interrupted again, this time by an unknown voice. She turned to see a cyan stallion with a face that spoke volumes of eagerness. If one were to guess what he wanted, it might have been a safe bet to say that he was about to offer his help.

But Asteria had been wrong. The blue pegasus wanted food, which was understandable. It was lunchtime after all. Luckily though, Ambrosia had the smarts to ask him to help them out. Asteria gazed towards the mare and took in all the supplies they had stocked up on. It was a wonder how she could carry so much. And she didn't even ask Asteria to take some of the stuff. Surely she could have used magic to make it easier, right? Either way though, Dawn Rider, which was the stallion's name apparently, was happy to help.

Once Ambrosia had come up with the plan to split up and complete the remaining orders, Asteria grabbed the proffered bits and list with her magic. The mission would soon be over and then they'd be on their way! Surely Ambrosia would let her help make food, but she might have to ask. It didn't matter though, because she knew the lemon mare couldn't refuse. The list said something about grains and vegetable or something. She spotted the stall across from the fruit stand, and made her way there in a quick trot. The shopkeeper was curt and quick, so all she had to do was give her the list and bag and be off.

And so, her little side quest was complete. All that remained was getting back to Dawn Rider and Ambrosia. She could actually see the cyan pegasus waiting for them. But in the corner of her left eye, something yellow flitted by. Suddenly filled with a growing curiosity, she turned to face the errant color, only to find herself face to face with a little butterfly. The way it weaved through the air, as if trying to get her attention, captivated her. "Why hello there. Do you want something?" she asked it innocently. Its only response was a little sway this way and that. Taking that as a yes, Asteria drew closer to it, only for it to float away. Giggling softly, she began to follow it.

Passersby paid the filly and the butterfly little to no mind. It seemed unusual for Ponyville, but Asteria really wasn't paying them any attention either. To her, it was just her and the yellow butterfly. Nothing else mattered. Without meaning to, she had bumped into an elderly mare. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry ma'am. I was just..." she said blushing a little in embarrassment. It was rather odd for a 15-year-old filly to chase a butterfly, especially since her instructions were to meeting up with Ambrosia and Dawn Rider. The mare had just stared at her, curiosity lighting up her features. "It's alright deary. Just run along now, you didn't hurt nopony." she said warmly while smiling. Asteria nodded her head and took off.

In only a matter of seconds, she spotted the yellow butterfly again. It seemed as though it were motioning to her somehow, beckoning her to continue following. It would have been rude to refuse anyway. So without wasting another second, she was tailing the little fluttering critter once more. She had been in Ponyville a few times before, so she didn't feel lost, but she did feel lost in the hypnotic motions of the butterfly. Before she knew it, she was back at the train. "Well, how do you like that, it's the train." she mumbled to herself. She'd probably have to go back the way she came and apologize to Ambrosia for getting sidetracked. But before the thought had left her head, she spotted Dusky talking with a green earth pony mare. Asteria wondered where the little yellow bug went.

As if on cue, the butterfly slowly drifted towards the pair, as if drawn to them. Asteria watched with perplexity. Was that what the butterfly wanted? It seemed like such a silly idea. Dusky was probably busy, especially if he was talking with somepony. For all she knew, that could have been his girlfriend. But she quickly put that thought away. Dusky was way too serious for a girlfriend. Afraid Dusky might hit the poor little thing by accident, Asteria approached the dark stallion. "Say, Dusky, um... if I'm not interrupting anything... Well, It's just, I don't want you to hurt that butterfly by accident." she said as politely as she could. In retrospect, this was all so silly. She'd chased after a butterfly clear across town, all the way back to the train station. And now she was trying to make sure the engineer didn't swat the tiny thing by mistake. All in all, this had been a rather fruitless experience. Trying to regain some face, she added, "So, what is it you're up to? Is this a potential passenger?"

Lapis stood there, patiently awaiting Springer's judgement of the blank page before him. Whether or not it was important, it was something out of the ordinary. Why would someone place a piece of paper inside a train? I had to serve some purpose. It just had to. Arcanel made some comment, but it merely mirrored what he had already said himself. What Springer suggested wasn't too different from his thoughts. It seems as though they weren't getting anywhere. At the very least, they could get a unicorn to try to see what they could do.

But his thoughts were rudely interrupted by a sudden noise. The blue stallion glanced away from Springer to see the origin as Arcanel. He was stressing over a letter it appeared. It took a Lapis a minute to remember the pegasus's profession. Arcanel really hadn't talked about why he was on the train during the search, so it came as a surprise that he was here to deliver a letter. Lapis was at a loss for words. Lapis almost always completed his assignments before the deadline, so he really had no idea what to do in such a case. Luckily, Springer spoke up.

His words were wise, but since they did not concern him, Lapis went over the note in his mind. Nothing new would come, so he merely watched as the scene played out before him. Arcanel watched as well, emotion playing all over his face. It was a bit disheartening. As soon as the tears formed in the white stallion's eyes, Lapis began to feel uncomfortable. By the time Arcanel hugged Springer, he was wide-eyed with concern. He wasn't used to such an emotional response. This delivery really meant alot to Arcanel. Lapis could almost relate. Sometimes, he felt he might slip up in the field and it would be all over. Perhaps it was similar? Either way, there was the matter at hoof.

Before Arcanel had chosen to hug the green pegasus, Springer had said something. The words drifted back into his mind.

"I believe that we have a task before us? Lapis, Arcanel... I think that... Despite what I promised the nurse, I can remain awake for a while longer... So long as I don't move around too much. In the meantime, perhaps one of you could try some method of uncovering what's written in the invisible ink. You could try a method to heat the paper... Or, it might be safer to just seek the talents of a skilled unicorn."

Lapis only knew of two unicorns who could do the job. Asteria and Magicon. But his delightful assistant was out and about in the town with Ambrosia. So their only option might be Magicon. He might be anywhere, but finding him was unlikely to prove difficult. So the course of action was clear. Then somepony said something, something that caught Lapis's attention.

"Anyway, you're right. We need to decide what exactly should we do. To be honest, heat could be far too dangerous because we definitely won't get a second shot if we accidentally burn it, so I agree with what you say Mr. Springer. Mr. Lapis... do you agree?"

It was Arcanel. He wanted Lapis's opinion on what to do with the paper. It was clear to him that magic was the only thing to work. "Yes, Arcanel, I do believe you are correct. See here, I know of a unicorn aboard the train, one of whom you know as well. We shall ask Magicon for his help." Lapis stated matter-of-factly. "Farewell for now Springer. I do hope you have a good rest." Taking the paper gently into his mouth, he trotted out the door to the green pegasus's room. He didn't wait for Arcanel. He just hoped he would follow.

Out in the corridor, Lapis began walking. He didn't know where Magicon's room was, so asking Vim would be a good idea. But, as luck would have it, the red pony was in the parlour car, clearly speaking with the blue mare who was tending to Springer moments ago. Dawn, that was it. Not wanting to waste anymore time, Lapis went directly towards the pair. Laying out the paper before Magicon, he began speaking without preamble. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you please look at this piece of paper with your magic? I mean, you do seem rather skilled, so it should come as no trouble for you." he said almost formally. "We found this in Springer's room, inside a model train actually. Surely you can see why it is odd. It's also blank, so I think it holds something hidden from view. Whatever you find may help uncover some part of this mystery of events."

Edited April 5, 2013 by Bari

Magicon · April 3, 2013

Magicon’s stern and aggressive gaze was met by Dawn’s calm and apologetic one as the unicorn took her time to choose all the correct words to respond to Magicon. He knew he was threatening her in a way, it was his whole point. Few ponies should know his name. Knowing his name meant knowing something about him and then prodding for more information about him and his life, something Magicon avoided as best he could.

"I apologize for offending you, that wasn't my intent in the slightest. My name is Dawn. I suppose that I should have introduced myself earlier. I apologize for that as well. As for how I know your name, well, I don't know. Whether you believe it or not, I know a lot of things without knowing how I came by the knowledge."

His gaze remained firm as she apologized and introduced herself. As she continued explaining herself to the unicorn, Magicon raised his eyebrow in suspicion. Just knowing things without remembering how she learned them was an obvious cover to Magicon. He knew she was lying and hiding something from him. In addition, according to Dawn she had just appeared in Ponyville out of the blue and began taking care of cats. To Magicon, it was obvious she was hiding something, something very troubling to the young mare and possibly troubling for him. He didn’t know what it was, but he felt that the thing that bothered her concerned him in some form.

Though Magicon would’ve loved to speculate on her secrets he know that now was neither the time nor place as her last statements brought out a stern gaze on his face.

"I'm not afraid of you. I'm not afraid of anypony, but I fear what they can do. That's why I'm here... Because of what somepony did... Something that wasn't right. I'm sorry."

For some reason Magicon felt very conflicted with those last words. On one hoof he wanted her to fear him. He didn’t trust her by any measure. She was lying to his face and attempting to hide something from him, and failing at it miserably. If she could fear him, all the more chance that she would accidentally spill the beans and allow him to know the secrets she was hiding. Yet at the same time, he felt like she was here, on this train, in this room, for the right reasons. Magicon felt that perhaps the thing she was hiding was a quest to right the wrongs of her past and bring justice to her injustices. He could only assume that somepony had wronged Dawn and the time had come to make it right. He knew from his own experience that to interfere with a pony when they’re on a quest, especially an important one, and one that they might be close to solving, to not interrupt them. He had had that problem with Archie when they first started working together. He didn’t want to be the Archie for Dawn.

As she finished speaking, asking to be left along. Magicon backed away a few paces and raised his eyes from the unicorn. As he raised them he noticed a few cats that seemingly had appeared out of nowhere around the parlor car. Realizing that they were the cats Dawn had mentioned earlier, Magicon knew they liked her and would probably help her in any way they could. He felt like he was being slowly ambushed and he would not be the victim of it.

He didn’t care for cats. They were never nice animals in his opinion and he kept his distance from them. But Dawn had affection for them and they had affection for her, in turn. She was also a unicorn and Magicon had no knowledge of her abilities with magic. He would not underestimate her by engaging in a conflict with her prematurely. With the odds stacked against him, he made his decision with a stern voice.

“No, I’m finished. I’ll leave you to your food and…feline friends.” He glared at the cats as he said that. “Just watch yourself, Dawn. Ponies on this train are a bit…odd. Don’t take that word lightly. I’ll see you around.”

He turned and headed towards the exit of the parlor car with his head held high, hoping that he could leave Dawn and see what else was happening on the train. Yet as fate would have it, the happenings came to him in the form of Lapis.

Laying out the paper before Magicon, he began speaking without preamble. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you please look at this piece of paper with your magic? I mean, you do seem rather skilled, so it should come as no trouble for you." he said almost formally. "We found this in Springer's room, inside a model train actually. Surely you can see why it is odd. It's also blank, so I think it holds something hidden from view. Whatever you find may help uncover some part of this mystery of events."

Suddenly Magicon’s spirit was elated by his chance to get back involved with the mystery. Smiling Magicon happily replied, “Sure thing Lapis. But let’s just do this in the dining car. I just…don’t want to be in this car right now,” glancing over his shoulder at Dawn and the cats. He telekinetically lifted the paper and walked out of the parlor car and into the dining car. As he walked into the car, hopefully with Lapis in tow, he examined the paper. He raised it and lowered it, turned it in multiple ways, examining it for any abnormalities.

“Hmm…"he observed. "Well, nothing appears out of the ordinary, but since you said it was found in Springer’s room, there’s got to be something written on it. Well, lucky for you Lapis, I have deciphered many papers with invisible ink. This shouldn’t be a problem.”

He began casting his spell on the paper, making sure to be careful and delicate so as not to harm the paper. As he concentrated he hoped that the ink would yield to the spell and, though, initially slow to reveal, it was soon present. He waited a few more seconds of casting the spell, just to make sure no other writing was on the paper.

When he finished he brought the paper to his hooves and began reading it. The hoofwriting was detailed and highly neat, yet not superfluous. It was…efficient. There was only pony Magicon knew that used efficiency: Springer. But why would Springer hide something in invisible ink in his own train set? More importantly, how would he do it? Who helped it? What was going on with that pony?

Yet he realized those questions were not the most important thing right now: it was the words in front of him. He read them slowly, not quite understanding what they were about. The writing outlined a story: a very basic one and strange one a pony wandering in a frozen wasteland, seemingly with some sort of task ahead of him. Magicon didn’t understand it at all, but he wasn’t the only pony here. Lapis might know and help him understand what this was about.

Glancing at the pony Magicon said, “Well…uhh…Lapis, I got it deciphered, but I really don’t know what this is about. Maybe you can shed some light on this,” hoofing the paper over to him for his own eyes to read and try to make sense of it.

Edited April 3, 2013 by Magicon

Key Gear · April 4, 2013

Thank you for the discount offer, sir, but while the affairs I have on my back are certainly very important, they are not exactly life-and-death emergencies. I'm fully capable to pay for the ticket, so I believe it would be the best that the discount is reserved for somepony else with a more pressing matter.

Dusky was intrigued by the mare's sense of self-reliance. The ability to make an examination of one's own standing and forego the possibility of assistance was something that he admired considerably. It spoke of a pony that was capable of self-examination, an essential trait of those that were destined to accrue great wisdom. As she continued to speak, he listened carefully.

For your earlier questions, yes, I believe I am quite renowned in my organization. I've been entrusted to keep the company's finance from crumbling under its own weight, and I'm afraid that is what exactly is currently happening at the Los Pegasus branch. Nopony can tell how could that even be possible, and so far Los Pegasus branch has yet to answer our call, and that's why I'm here. I hope you can understand that I can't tell you more than that.

As she confirmed his earlier observations on her importance within the organization, Dusky silently nodded. However, his nod stopped visibly short at the mention of Summerfall's task. He had observed her cutie mark, an open book, earlier, and it had reminded him of somepony that he knew. Because of the cutie mark, the revelation that Summerfall dealt with finances caught him off guard. His surprise was visibly evident, if only mildly expressed. When she continued to speak, Dusky listened even more carefully...

"You see, Harvest Union is a chain of retail outlets that specializing in food products and everyday needs. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, soaps, flours, eggs, seeds, spices, window cleaner, and many more. We have it all. To this day we have at least one branch in every major city in Equestria. Anything you buy from Harvest Union, you will never be disappointed about it." She finished with a cheery hoof motion to the side.

His thoughts were moving with frightening rapidity. The chances of encountering a pony like this, randomly, were so small. For once in his existence, Dusky was temporarily unable to come up with exactly the right words to say. He had been looking, unsuccessfully, for a pony with exactly this experience and demeanor for quite some time. Now, he had encountered her, but the timing, location, and manner of the encounter were all wrong. The situation was not to his advantage.

After a few seconds of silence, Dusky regained mastery over his thoughts, but even then, he hesitated before speaking. In order to ensure that this avenue of approach remained open, he would need to alter his normal methodology. He would temper his normally rigid perspective when dealing with this mare. When he spoke, he chose not to reference the reason for his earlier surprise. In fact, he carefully chose to steer the conversation in a manner that would allow him to avoid getting sidetracked by any continuance of the previous line of questions.

Dusky spoke pleasantly and sincerely. "Forgive my delayed response, Summerfall, I was distracted by a sudden thought. It happens to me sometimes, I believe, as a product of my profession. I must thank you for answering my questions. It is always a pleasure to meet a career-minded pony, similar to myself. Though, I daresay that you have find enjoyment in your task. Your summary of Harvest Union nearly entices me to visit one of these locations myself, and I rarely acquire my own food supplies. On the train, that's the cook's job, perhaps the assistant conductors. When I'm not on the train, I confess that I allow my parent to do most of the food-gathering, these days. Perhaps, I've been missing something of an experience?"

"Hmmm... I would like to make mention of something, though. Earlier, you noted that your situation, perhaps, didn't meet the criteria of being an emergency journey for business purposes. As you say, nopony's life is being jeopardized, and, really, based on what little I know, it's doubtful that, given the nature of the problem, even a delay of a day would make much difference in the problem that you are being sent to resolve. With that said... If you wouldn't mind, I would like to present you with the personal gift of a ticket to this train. Speak with the conductor, mention that you heard this from me, and he will assign you a ticket and room key. Hmmm... Consider it a favor from a friend."

Afraid Dusky might hit the poor little thing by accident, Asteria approached the dark stallion. "Say, Dusky, um... if I'm not interrupting anything... Well, It's just, I don't want you to hurt that butterfly by accident."

Asteria's chirpy voice caught Dusky in the middle of turning to continue the task of surveying the train engine for the last time prior to departure. Her words stopped him in place, and he turned back and immediately noticed the flitter of a small butterfly's wings. Seemingly captivated by their motion, he held out a hoof towards the small creature. Without hesitation, the butterfly settled on his hoof, silent and still. Dusky spoke softly. "Asteria, I do nothing by accident." He watched the small creature as it remained, unstirred by the sound of his voice.

All in all, this had been a rather fruitless experience. Trying to regain some face, she added, "So, what is it you're up to? Is this a potential passenger?"

After a few moments, deep in thought, Dusky answered her. "I believe that Summerfall will be joining us on the train to Los Pegasus. As to your first question... Hmmm... Tell me, Asteria, how familiar are you with the nature of the butterfly? They are elegant in flight, are they not? Their painted wings, while fragile, allow them to move with a grace that is generally beyond that of even the finest pegasus pony. Of all the airborne creatures... I think that only the most elder of dragons would compare to the grace of the butterfly in flight. Yet, of course, of what value is grace without purpose. None whatsoever."

"However, the butterfly has purpose. Like bees, they carry vital pollens from flower to flower. Through their work, they contribute to the existence of another, while bettering themselves. When the time comes, they are destroyed, either by time or by becoming the meal of a predator. They do not persist past the point at which they are useful. Really, I find it intriguing that so many value the butterfly solely for its appearance rather than its functionality and strength. And yes... In addition to purpose, the butterfly has strength."

"On these small wings, a single butterfly may migrate across hundreds and perhaps even thousands of miles. There are a considerable number of pegasus ponies that, despite their larger size, will never manage to match the distance covered by these small creatures during a comparable timespan. The butterfly is useful. To cripple the flight of a butterfly would be a pointlessly vile thing to do. Handicapping the strong, preventing them from achieving their objects, is the ultimate wrong."

With a gentle motion of his hoof, Dusky dispatched the butterfly to continue on its journey. Watching it, as it flew away, he continued to speak. "If a butterfly were a component in a machine, they would be a reliable basic component. One that could be used, with prudence, to build a system of complexity and power that is far greater than the sum of its individual parts. Tell me, Asteria, only because I am curious, why did you wish to protect this butterfly? Was it out of appreciation for its beauty, respect for its power, or perhaps something else? And... If I may ask, is there any... Hmmm... Any particular reason that you believed I would harm it?"

While he had paid attention at Springer's words, Arcanel hadn't truly listened. His mind was completely shocked, and instead did the first thing that came to it, and went to hug the pony in the bed.

Springer laughed cheerfully as the mailpony embraced him without a word. He was terrible at reading ponies, but he had hoped that his words would have some measure of impact on Arcanel. Thus, in some way, he had been expecting a reaction. In contrast to his normally awkward laughter, his laugh as Arcanel hugged him was both free-flowing and genuine. When he was finally released, he retained a pleasant grin. To Springer, hugs were one of the more efficient ways to communicate emotions, which would naturally sometimes reach the surface. Certainly, they were far better than monologues for that purpose.

Pleased that Arcanel had chosen the efficient method to express himself, Springer was not ready to continue with the task facing them, but unfortunately, the pegasus pony began to talk. After the 30 seconds, Springer's grin had already dulled into a slight smile. While Arcanel's words were well phrased and some of the information had been previously unknown, Springer failed to see the relevance of the information to the new task ahead of them.

As time continued to pass, he slumped in his bed and glanced around distractedly. He wanted, direly, to ask Arcanel to be more efficient, but he contained his words out of the fear of undoing the good that had already been done. Instead, he waited, and after what seemed like an eternity, he finally heard the phrase.

"So... despite myself... I'll stop thinking about my whole situation for now. Your words have more than enough broken my reverie of self-criticizement. And as you'd probably call it, it would be inefficient of myself if I kept on it."

He silently thanked Celestia, while nodding vigorously. Thinking to himself, Springer doubted that he'd ever managed to sit silently through so much off-topic conversation before. He hoped that Arcanel would be able to clearly focus on the task ahead of them, now, because he very much doubted that he would be able to be so patient again. He was a pony that preferred to move quickly between objectives. Springer understood that emotions existed, but he always believed that, after their initial expression, it was time to get back to solving problems.

"Anyway, you're right. We need to decide what exactly should we do. To be honest, heat could be far too dangerious because we definitely won't get a second shot if we accidentally burn it, so I agree with what you say Mr. Springer. Mr. Lapis... do you agree?"

"Yes, Arcanel, I do believe you are correct. See here, I know of a unicorn aboard the train, one of whom you know as well. We shall ask Magicon for his help." Lapis stated matter-of-factly. "Farewell for now Springer. I do hope you have a good rest.

Springer remembered Magicon from earlier. If anypony could get the job done, while avoiding the destruction of the document, he was certain to be the one. "I think that this is an optimum course of action. Farewell Lapis, Arcanel..." Feeling rather tired after the conversation with Arcanel, he added. "I actually think that the efficient thing to do now would be for me to get some rest... Perhaps with a considerable nap, I might be able to join you outside of this place..." As he trailed off, Springer waved a hoof at the departing ponies and settled in for his nap.

"Of course, Id be happy to help you" Smiled Dawn Warmly retrieving the list and a small bag of bits from Ambrosia. He looked down and quickly spotted the vendor he needed to see...

Once Ambrosia had come up with the plan to split up and complete the remaining orders, Asteria grabbed the proffered bits and list with her magic.

Ambrosia watched for a moment as both Dawn and Asteria headed on their way. Then, she set out on her own. She needed to ensure that the train had enough milk, fresh water, cider and other beverages for the passengers. Gracefully, she navigated the busy market area until she reached an actual store. After stepping inside, she made her way directly to the shopkeeper with her order. While she didn't have a list for herself, she knew what the train needed, and she named the items, paid the clerk, and requested delivery in short order.

When he arrived he simply stood there and retrieved his journal to write about his experience so far, while waiting for the others to return...

After leaving the store, she set out to return to the spot where she had arranged to meet back with Dawn and Asteria. When she could see the spot, though, she saw Dawn, alone, with a small book of some type; it looked like a journal. Approaching Dawn slowly, while eyeing his book, she resisted the urge to ask him about the booklet. Instead, she decided to make her presence known in a way that wouldn't betray her curiosity. "Hello Dawn, I'm back! Did you have any trouble with the list?"

She waited for his response before she continued. "You know, I think that Asteria might have made another stop or returned to the train. The shopkeeper would have taken the list and the payment, so she should have been back by now. She probably wandered off." With a wistful smile, Ambrosia remembered her own time as a filly. "Actually, I can understand that... I used to wander off all of the time when I was a filly, but I'd largely grown out of it by the time that I reached Asteria's age. My parents would always worry, but I was always fine at the end of the day."

Ambrosia turned and started trotting to return to the train. She sought to satisfy her curiosity about the pegasus pony in the meantime. "Dawn, I bet you've been to a lot of fun places, and have a few stories to tell. For me, I didn't really do too much until after I became a railway cook. Before that, I just spent all of my time in Baltimare area and in my hometown. What about you? Have you ever been to Los Pegasus before?"

Nearing the stallion, she put on a friendly smile and said, "Hello! Yes, I was hoping to get a ticket..." she turned her head to open up her saddlebag and get two small, readily-made bags, each filled with fifty bits. Turning back to the conductor pony, she moved the bags from her mouth to her hooves, and offered him an outstretched hoof, holding two bags of fifty bits. "And here are the bits!"

Vim was happy to take the bits offered by the earth pony, and he was back with her room ticket and key quickly, as promised. "Welcome aboard, then! You have room 12." Turning to where @Electrobolt was still standing, Vim spoke. "Actually Electrobolt, could you take this passenger to her room? You know, the other two have rooms that are right by the entrance, I could take care of that myself."

OOC: Yeah, Vim's portion was just so I could let Maple board the train and interact with the others. @@Ice Storm, whenever you can, please bolt out a post to get your characters on the train. I'm eager to leave the station. @, please respond directly to Vim from my earlier post. It doesn't have to be a book, just some conversational stuff. I need to get your character on the train as well, if you are interested in doing this RP.

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private Pony Mystery Theater: Act II, Exit Trixie, Stage Right.

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