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

[Electrobolt 2,069]

Before Electrobolt had asked his question to Ambrosia and he was approaching the cook, Key Gear had run ahead of him before asking if she could help with the cooking. He had to stifle a chuckle at the filly's excitement to cook, and he had to smile when Ambrosia said that Key Gear could indeed help her out. It would seem that she had gotten over the previous shock from when Key had announced publicly that she was a thief this morning. To that, he would have breathed a sigh of relief... But he couldn't, not in front of Ambrosia herself.

 

After seeing the filly go into the kitchen with Asteria, Electrobolt finally approached Ambrosia and asked his question. To be fair, he was pretty hungry and he knew that what Ambrosia had planned would no doubt be very delicious. Upon hearing that the meal would be sandwiches, his stomach growled for the second time this hour. *Sandwiches... Simple, but knowing Ambrosia, it should be pretty surprising...* his mind thought, before registering that she also said that there may be cookies. Even though he already has cookies in his room, the thought of freshly-baked cookies - made from scratch - just about made his mouth water.

 

However, his hungry feeling went away when Ambrosia had spoken up again, asking him if she could have a talk with him outside of the dining car, and away from the other passengers for a moment. At this, the hungry feeling for food was replaced with a nervous feeling. Could she have remembered the events from this morning...? Could something have happened that she needed to talk with him about? Whatever it was, he had a pretty bad feeling about this. With a sigh, he wordlessly left the dining car to join Ambrosia. Once he closed the door behind him, he looked at Ambrosia, asking her, "So, um... What is it you wanted to talk about?"

[Bari 7,023]

Lapis narrowed his eyes as Arcanel continued to stress the issue. Wasn't this new plan good enough? Especially since it put himself in the place to question Dawn. Lapis felt he was best suited for this job. Nopony else seemed to have as great a desire for knowledge as himself. Springer was all about efficiency. Magicon seemed like a pony to waste time with subterfuge. And Arcanel? Well, he just looked too deeply at things, and was most likely unwilling to cut to the chase. And that was why Lapis, and only Lapis, could do what needed to be done. Lapis opened his mouth briefly to state something like his thoughts, which of course would have been smoothed other as not to sound insulting. But Springer voiced much of his own opinion for him.

Springer's logic was very sound. He didn't want to waste anymore time. Well, except it was wasting time to explain things. Lapis was eager to get on with it. It wasn't lunch time just yet, but every second they wasted, Dawn could have found them out for all he knew. He hated feeling paranoid, but the young mare didn't seem right. She actually seemed too innocent. Behind those eyes of hers must be something Lapis did not know yet, something he needed to know. And when the time came that he would face them with his own red orbs, he'd do his best to pierce their depth. But, he may never get to it if they just sat around here.

As Springer told Arcanel that this was a time for action, and not planning, the fire in Lapis' heart grew. He could just feel the call of knowledge. Time to act, time to go forth and get what they wanted. Springer could see that Lapis was the pony for the job. For every job, there was somepony best suited to do that job. As Lapis was about to agree, and perhaps charge right out the door to get into place, Springer added one small part.

Springer going with him when he questioned Dawn seemed off to him. It wasn't a bad idea, but the reasoning behind it unnerved Lapis. Why would Dawn wish to harm him? And even so, wouldn't the presence of other ponies in the dining car be enough? So much precaution. Why? He wondered what they would think if he told them about last night with Dusky. Perhaps the unicorn stallion wasn't dangerous, but Lapis felt the need to question it. So how could Dawn be any different? He accepted the course of action though. What purpose was there in fighting it? "Yes, this is all perfect, or as perfect as it can be with our limited resources. I for one wish to get this underway immediately. If you would all go with me, I shall be heading to the dining car." he said as he approached the door. He paused to sniff the air outside Springer's room. There was a strong scent of fruits, as though some were being squished. His stomach rumbled loudly, causing him to almost blush. "Either way, I am dreadfully famished." he concluded as he went out into the corridor and held open the door for his comrades.

---

Asteria turned around at the sound of her new friend's voice. Key Gear had finally caught up. Asteria's face lit up with a bright smile. The excitement in her heart almost killed her. "Hey there Key! Glad to see that you showed up!" she exclaimed. Her ears perked up with Ambrosia's suggestion of sandwiches. She loved those almost as much as cinnamon. Fruits and cheeses, all on fresh bread, that's what they would make! Without hesitation, Asteria pushed Key delicately before rushing to the kitchen. By the time Key arrived, the purple filly had already gotten out every fruit in the kitchen, and almost all the cheese.

"Uh, I hope we don't get carried away, but we should have fun with this. Okay, you grab whatever you can find and cram it into two slices of bread. Just try not to make anything you wouldn't eat. Even if the passengers can't we should at least still be able to." she ordered playfully. Asteria was a blur of purple as she grabbed blackberries and shoved them into a whole wheat sandwich with cheddar. "Well, what are you waiting for? These things won't make themselves!" she added when Key didn't get right to it in the second Asteria had announced what it was they were supposed to be doing. Edited April 19, 2013 by Bari

[King 5,625]

"Well, you wouldn't want to eat that stuff! Since you are what you'd eat, you'd turn into a pile of cinanmon with wings. Just drop it off on the counter in the kitchen. Don't put it on the shelves yet, I kinda have my own way of organizing things for cooking. And... Yeah, we're gonna have a party! A big one..."

 

Dawn chuckled at remembering exactly what he did have in his saddlebag and proceeded to make his way over to the Kitchen counter to drop it off for Ambrosia to put it away in a presumably organised manner. As Ambrosia spoke about having a "Big" party, Dawn started to dread blabbering about his Birthday, he didn't want Ambrosia to go to too much trouble for his birthday, and he began to curse himself for ever mentioning it to her, hoping next time he would be able to hold his tongue incase he mentioned something else she would find a need to fuss over.

 

The kitchen car began to fill up with ponies wanting to help with Lunch. It seemed as if Ambrosia paired Asteria up with a short scruffy mare she called Key Gear...Dawn felt out of his element, not knowing who any of these ponies were, it began to slightly worry him for some reason he couldn't quite put his hoof on.He trotted on into the Kitchen to see if he could lend a hoof.

 

He watched as they began to start making the Sandwiches and decided to make himself useful, trotting over and speaking up. "Uh..hey Asteria, did you need any help at all?" He asked Smiling towards the filly.

Edited April 20, 2013 by Dawn♥Rider

[Ice Storm 1,020]

Ice nodded in response as the mare repeated that this was her first vacation. She seemed very  surprised by the idea. Of course, most ponies had a loving family that took them on vacations when they were fillies. Something that Ice never got. That being said though, it wasn't always horrible. She had Luna for the time that she was in Canterlot, who had been the closest thing that she'd ever had to a mother since, her own decided that money and fame was more important. The yellow mare seemed to go even further in shock when she told her that she had missed her lunch today. Without another word, or any time for a response from Ice, she was already in the kitchen working on within a few minutes, she returned to her with a pear salad, that almost the sight of was enough to make her drool. "Oh, that looks..." Ice faded with a filly-like sparkle in her eye. "amazing..." she conclude as she walked towards the table that she set it on and sat down.

 

She levitated one of the forks and began to eat as the others engaged in conversation. Apparently it was the pegasi's birthday today, and Ambrosia and Asteria talked about possibly having a party, which the pegasi tried to talk down at first. Realizing, however, it would be a good way to interact with everypony and socialize, he gave in, which made Ice smile. She would have said something in turn as well, but this pear salad was too amazing to do anything other than devouring it at the moment. To do anything else would be a sin against all that was food. She then heard them start talking about the cake and how Asteria wanted to help both with the cake and the lunch and at the mention of a cinnamon cake, her eyes lit up again. Cinnamon cake was one of her favorite kinds! She could already tell that this was going to be the most memorable train ride ever.

 

Just then another mare came into the room and introduced herself as Maple. She was a tannish colored mare, with a darker brown mane and tail. She also noted that her cutie mark was that of a typewriter. Perhaps she was a journalist, or a writer.  Ice had just finished the last bite of her salad when she came in so she gave a gentle wave as Ambrosia introduced herself and added that she wasn't the only cook. "And I'm Ice Storm. I'm not one of the cooks... thankfully, I can't cook to save my life... I do, however, own Ponyville's Frozen Delights, frozen goods parlor. If it's frozen I can make it," she said with a smile as the green conductor from earlier and another filly entered the car. The filly was blue in color and had a large gear as her cutie mark. Perhaps she was a mechanic? she didn't know. There were many things that a gear could represent as a cutie mark. She heard the other filly refer to her as Key, so she presumed that was her name, and she asked if she could help too. Ambrosia gave them the nod, while she asked to speak with the conductor outside before walking into the next car.

 

Ice watched and waited patiently as everything was being prepared. What was once an empty car was now bustling with ponies, all of whom she didn't know. At the moment, she couldn't decide whether she should interact with anypony else or wait until they interacted with her, since it appeared most of the train knew each other already, or at least, most of the ponies in this car already. The fact that she couldn't make up her mind what she wanted to do answered her own question though as she remained silent in thought.

[Key Gear 6,663]

 

"Come on, Flow.  You wouldn't want to have the train leave without you."  Alex said to her cheerfully, moving aside from within the car to allow her room to enter through the door onto the train.

 

She then wore a big smile on her face and stepped inside the train.

 

(OOC: DM Powers activate. I'm moving you both into the dining car. I really need to get the train moving now.)

 

Both pegasus ponies boarded the train. In the empty baggage car, they were greeted by Dawn, an energetic blue unicorn. They introduced themselves to Dawn and then made their way towards the dining car. In passenger car three, they ran into the cook and Electrobolt. After exchanging greetings with them both, Ambrosia guided the two of them into the dining car for lunch. While there, they took a table for themselves, by one of the windows, across from where Summerfall was sitting alone.

 

---

 

Whatever it was, he had a pretty bad feeling about this. With a sigh, he wordlessly left the dining car to join Ambrosia. Once he closed the door behind him, he looked at Ambrosia, asking her, "So, um... What is it you wanted to talk about?"

 

She took a deep breath. It was only because of Asteria's request to work with Key Gear that Ambrosia had decided to speak with Electrobolt then and there. In truth, she would much rather have pushed back both the questions and the doubts, but Asteria had really left her with no choice. The problem was that, earlier in the day, Ambrosia had explained everything about Electrobolt and Key to Vim. Now, her uncertainty surrounding this explanation was bothering her.

 

When she made her report to Vim, she had been influenced by her own guilt for being so incendiary towards both Electro and his sister. Because of this, she had done her best to convince Vim that, in fact, Key's being a thief wasn't as bad as it sounded. She had also spoken, at length, about how she believed that, despite his sister's nature, Electro was still the best pony on board for the position of assistant conductor.

 

Throughout all of her speaking, Vim had just listened. The grizzled conductor had maintained a strangely impassive smile for the entire duration of her report. At the end of it, he had simply thanked her and begun speaking about the other preparations that would be needed for the train's departure. He didn't say anything about her report. She had managed, as far as she knew, to conceal her own reaction to this, but after she left the room and since that time, she had felt a rather ominous feeling regarding the entire situation.

 

She felt that, unintentionally, she had allowed her guilt to sway her report towards being deceptively favorable. Now, she needed to get the truth, the real and complete truth, from Electro in order to allay her concerns. If Key Gear was going to be working in her kitchen, then she needed to find out the real story or, at least, as much of it as her brother was willing to reveal. Because, she was certain that Vim would make mention of Key's activities in the kitchen, and Ambrosia didn't want to be caught off guard.

 

Ambrosia gently coughed before she began. She had already decided to be as direct as possible, in the hope of Electro's being direct in return. "Electrobolt, you probably don't know this, but earlier today, I spoke to Vim about you and your sister. His reaction was... Well, he didn't have any reaction, actually. I think that maybe he knew that I just didn't know enough about the entire situation to report on it. Now your sister is going to be helping me in the kitchen. That means that I need to know a bit more about her, because Vim will probably ask or say something..."

 

Compared to her normal pace, Ambrosia starting talking fast. "I don't mean to offend you, but she did say that she was a thief. Now, she'll be in the place where the train's food is kept. I'm sorry Bolt, but I'm sure you can see that somepony can't just trust her with no information? Right? I'm sure that she really is a good pony, but... The entire situation is honestly pretty confusing to me. When I made my report to Vim, I was positive, but right afterwards... I had felt terrible, like I'd told a lie... I really don't like that feeling at all."

 

"Because of all this, Bolt... I would really appreciate it if you told me the truth, about everything." After a deep breath, she continued. "Here's the thing... Yesterday, in the dining car and then in the parlor car, I saw the two of you, and, honestly, you didn't seem like you were brother and sister. In the dining car, I had figured that you were just normal passengers. I know that I wasn't watching too closely, but I'm sure that I really would have noticed if either of you had mentioned the other as a 'brother' or 'sister'."

 

Ambrosia steeled her expression. "Really, it was the parlor car though... That didn't make much sense to me at all. When I saw the two of you there, I had thought... Actually, I was quite certain that you were both... Well. I thought you two were a couple of young ponies in love. Again... There wasn't any sign that the two of you were siblings. Not even a hint of it, actually. The blushing, giggling, and whispering? That's not how siblings are supposed to behave..."

 

"I'm not a detective, and I know that I'm not. I'm just a cook, but I think that I am on the right track here... Electrobolt, when and exactly how did you find out that Key Gear was really your sister? Or..." She hesitated. "Or, is the whole thing really just a lie? Please, tell me the truth, and... Make it as quick as you can. This isn't really the best place for a private conversation, and I kinda need to get back to the kitchen to finish lunch." 

 

Highlighting her warning, at that very moment, Alex and Flow trotted into the passenger car. Ambrosia greeted them both cordially, and she ushered them into the dining car for lunch. After they had left, she returned to Electrobolt and locked eyes with the younger earth pony, watching him carefully, hoping that she would be able to discern whether or not his words were true.

 

---

 

Vim's conversation with the stationmaster had gone fairly well. Despite his sometimes intimidating appearance, Vim was a pony that was gifted in the art of portraying himself as a normal, everyday working pony. The portrayal was the complete opposite of the one that Dusky normally projected, and it was generally effective at smoothing over the offenses that his engineer caused. Still, he had noticed that the stationmaster seemed almost too eager to allow the train to leave. In fact, the other pony had seemed completely and totally ecstatic.

 

The entire conversation had only taken a few moments. After leaving the stationmaster, Vim hastily returned to the train. He only needed to take two more steps before the train was ready for departure. He needed to wait for the supplies that Ambrosia had requested to arrive, and he needed to alert Dusky that it was time for the train to get moving. He wasn't particularly looking forward to the second task, Dusky had been unusually distant, even by his own standards, just a few moments earlier.

 

Dawn greeted him when he was still a few yards away from the entrance to the train. "Hello Vim!" The unicorn wildly waved a hoof around. Vim resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He wasn't really in the mood for cheeriness at that moment in time, but he managed a smile and a friendly greeting in response. "Hello Dawn! What's the occasion? Did you finish cleaning up Dusky's area?"

 

She responded happily. "Hello again Vim! Ambrosia told me to let you know that lunch is being prepared! Maybe, you might want to get something to eat or something?! Oh... And, yeah, I cleaned up the mess that my cat caused..." Vim blinked... Dawn's manner of speech had suddenly lost all of its characteristic energy. "What's wrong?" Dawn frowned, another unusual gesture. "Ummm... Nothing. I'm just really hungry, that's all. I need to go... I think that I'll go get something to eat, now. Bye, Vim!" Dawn made her way into the next car.

 

Vim followed Dawn with his gaze until a polite voice required his attention. "Excuse me, are you the conductor? If you are, then... I think that I have something for you here." Looking over his shoulder, Vim saw a rather droll-looking pegasus pony, one of the train station's workers. The pegasus had a cart of supplies with him. Vim trusted that Ambrosia knew what she was doing when she ordered the supplies, so he only took a cursory glance at it before responding.

 

Vim commented, "Looks good, but why didn't they send that old earth pony to deliver all this?" The pegasus shrugged in response, "I have no idea. I was in the middle of delivering messages and I ended up doing this. The station master was busy talking to this unicorn, earlier today. I think he was rattled pretty badly. Errr... But I got the stuff here just fine? I mean, it shouldn't matter if I'm a pegasus or not." Vim shrugged. "There's an older earth pony that normally delivers the supplies for me, and I usually like to check in with him, just to see what's happening."

 

The pegasus nodded his head appreciatively. "Ohhhh, yeah that makes sense. Ummm... Anyway, where do you want me to put these?" Vim thought for a moment. "Well, you can just put it all here, actually. I need to get the train moving now, so there's no time for you to get it to the dining car." The pegasus could barely contain his grin. "Ok, thanks, I'll take care of that right now!" Vim raised an eyebrow, but left the pegasus to his job and went to speak with Dusky in the train engine.

 

When he opened the door to Dusky's area, Vim froze in the doorway. The unicorn had a look that, to his knowledge, Vim could never recall. Dusky looked both confused and somewhat frustrated. In his hooves was a book with nothing written on its pages. Vim stared for a moment before clearing his throat loudly. "Dusky, the train is just about ready for departure. All of the passengers are onboard, and the only thing left is waiting for the supplies. Can you get this train started?"

 

Dusky put down the book and immediately replied. "Certainly, it will only take a moment, but I suspect that it will take longer than this for the supplies to be transported to the kitchen?" Vim shook his head. "No, they'll be fine. In fact, they'll be dropped off right in front of your door, so feel free to grab something if you want a snack. Just make sure you tell Ambrosia about it. You know, she'd notice even if it was just a single apple missing." The voice of the train station worker spoke up behind Vim. "Everything is loaded, and you're ready for departure."

 

Vim turned and looked at the pegasus with a bemused expression. "That was pretty... Fast?" The pegasus shrugged. "I try to be efficient." Vim stared as the pegasus smiled and continued. "Sorry, I need to go now, but safe travels to you, Vim!" The conductor couldn't quite manage a response before the pegasus had departed. "Well... Alright..." The entire exchange had seemed rather odd to him, and a solemn observation from Dusky only added to Vim's suspicion. "Hmmm... Vim... That pegasus resembled Springer?"

 

Without a further word, both ponies went to take a closer look at the supplies for the train, but there was nothing to be seen. In fact, everything seemed totally and completely in order. After a few moments, Vim had seen enough. "Forget it, Dusky. Let's get this train going. If we spend any more time on this, then we're going to be late for departure. In fact... We may already be a few seconds late. So, are we ready to go?" Dusky nodded and, despite one more glance towards the foods now outside of his door, replied without protest. "Yes, sir."

 

In just a few more minutes, the train was in motion, heading out of Ponyville and towards its destination - Los Pegasus. The passengers onboard the train, varied in their pasts and experiences, would all be united, during the time of the train's journey. United both in the spirit of adventure as well as the spirit of the journey. Content in this knowledge, Vim made his way to the dining car to greet the passengers and speak to the new arrivals. Dusky, contented himself with monitoring the train's progress and speed. 

 

The supplies contented themselves with waiting outside of Dusky's closed door. Every box, every item was exactly as had been ordered by Ambrosia, Asteria, and Dawn Rider. Vim was right, actually, Ambrosia's abilities in restocking the train were beyond compare. She had figured on a full train of passengers and ordered accordingly, preserving about one day's margin in the event that they were delayed by weather or some other unforeseen even.

 

The perfection of the supplies was, however, not destined to last. One of the containers, a box of apples, stirred. From within the container, a slight rustling could be heard. The noise was accompanied by a soft sound, rather like the giggling of a small foal. Silence followed, interrupted after some moments by the sound of chewing as one of the apples was consumed. It was followed by another. And another. Something was, plainly, quite hungry.

 

---

 

 

She couldn't help but smile, broadly, and she decided to send the two fillies to get started on making sandwiches. "Certainly, Key Gear! Why don't you and Asteria head to the kitchen and get started with the sandwiches. Hmmm... Don't make boring sandwiches though. I mean, lettuce, tomatoes, and carrots? What's the fun in that. Why don't you two try something different? Try fruit sandwiches! Just get some cheese, some peach or strawberry, and some plums and use that as the base! It'll be fun! Think of some and I'll be right there in a few moments. Check the storage room for anything that you need."  

 

 

 

The excitement in her heart almost killed her. "Hey there Key! Glad to see that you showed up!" she exclaimed. Her ears perked up with Ambrosia's suggestion of sandwiches.

 

 

Key listened, wide-eyed, as Ambrosia conveyed her instructions to the two fillies. Making sandwiches sounded like a piece of cake. In fact, it sounded quite boring. She made sandwiches all of the time. Key didn't even really consider that to be cooking. It seemed so ordinary that she was more than a little disappointed. She did her best to disguise the feeling; however, a keen observer would have noticed the slight loss of the sparkle in her eye. She shot a glance over to Asteria to see how the other filly was dealing with the thought of making sandwiches, Asteria seemed to be delighted. Key belatedly offered a greeting, gathering as much enthusiasm as she could muster. "Hello Asteria!"

 

 

Without hesitation, Asteria pushed Key delicately before rushing to the kitchen. By the time Key arrived, the purple filly had already gotten out every fruit in the kitchen, and almost all the cheese.

 

 

The nudge had been unexpected. Key wasn't used to feeling of being nudged, however delicately. Her forehooves crossed for just a second as she overreacted to the feeling and tried to steady herself. She watched Asteria shoot into the kitchen with a look of confusion. It was just sandwiches, there was really nothing too exciting about it. With a sigh, she started to follow Asteria to the kitchen, but she froze just before entering. 

 

 

With a pleasant smile, she replied to the assistant conductor. "Hello Electrobolt! We're having sandwiches and, maybe, cookies. Probably a few other things too, but it just depends... In the meantime, could I talk to you for just a moment in the hall outside? Away from the other passengers for a moment?"

 

 

The cook's request to speak to her brother, and the unusual way that she had answered Bolt's question about lunch caught Key's attention. She turned just in time to see the cook making her way out of the dining car and into the adjourning passenger car. As she saw her brother follow, Key was torn. Her paranoia informed her that the cook had, for whatever reason, wanted to separate the two of them. Key's own request to assist Asteria in the kitchen had provided the perfect opportunity for Ambrosia to speak to Bolt alone, and she had taken it. A sense of irritation grew within the filly. Ambrosia had somehow managed to outmaneuver her without even trying. Now, most likely, she was going to ask her brother questions that he probably shouldn't be answering.

 

For a moment, she seethed silently, weighing the possibility of loudly interrupting whatever conversation was taking place outside. With a glance around the room, at all of the passengers, she changed her mind. Whatever action was taken, it would color the perceptions of the other passengers, probably against her. She sighed again, louder this time, turned her back to the door, and went to the kitchen. It wasn't worth it. She would, instead, trust her brother's wisdom and try to enjoy herself with the preparations for lunch. Her heart was no longer into it, though. Just as quickly as it had appeared, the spectre of a carefree moment of fun had seemingly vanished.

 

 

By the time Key arrived, the purple filly had already gotten out every fruit in the kitchen, and almost all the cheese. "Uh, I hope we don't get carried away, but we should have fun with this. Okay, you grab whatever you can find and cram it into two slices of bread. Just try not to make anything you wouldn't eat. Even if the passengers can't we should at least still be able to." she ordered playfully.

 

 

She entered the kitchen while still glancing reluctantly over her shoulder. When she actually looked at the kitchen, she wasn't quite prepared for what she saw. An incredible variety of fruits and cheeses had already been pulled out. Staring at the assortment that greeted her, it was almost as if Key went into shock. Her mouth dropped and her ears shot upright. She was completely overwhelmed by the number of items present. Her eyes started on a visual journey through the foods, and she realized that she had no idea what many of them were, especially the cheeses. They did, however, smell delicious.

 

 

Asteria was a blur of purple as she grabbed blackberries and shoved them into a whole wheat sandwich with cheddar. "Well, what are you waiting for? These things won't make themselves!" she added when Key didn't get right to it in the second Asteria had announced what it was they were supposed to be doing.

 

 

Key stared for just a moment longer. She was still lost. There were too many items, and just randomly grabbing things didn't seem like the best way of going about it. There seemed to be a step missing, but as Asteria made her first sandwich, it seemed to Key that the other filly had done exactly that. "Right, well... I guess I'll just grab stuff and put it into bread, then." Key gave up on trying to make sense of it, choosing instead to lose herself in the task at hoof, but she fumbled at her first sandwich. Pears didn't fit into bread without things looking quite odd.

 

After an examination of her own failed attempt at making a fruit sandwich, Key realized that there was probably some prep work to be done. "Ummm... Asteria, some of these fruits could probably use some slicing. You know, we don't want ponies choking on a whole pear or something weird like that." After fumbling around the kitchen, Key found where the cutlery was. Then, she grinned, Ambrosia's assortment of cutlery was actually arranged rather similarly to how, on a good day, Key would arrange her own tools back at the workshop.

 

In just a moment, she had picked out a knife that seemed perfect for the task at hand. Smiling confidently, Key balanced it on the tip of her hoof before bouncing it gently into the air and catching it with her other hoof. There was nothing quite like the feel of a well balanced tool. Peering around, she decided to start on the pears. Carrying her tool of choice in her mouth, she cleared an area on the counter and then starting cutting each pear into thin slices. They weren't uniform, but she figured that it was a good enough job.

 

As she finished a pear, she pushed it off to the side in a not so neat stack. Completely absorbed in the task, Key talked while she sliced. "Hey, Asteria, I've got an idea... I don't know anything about foods and cheeses... I guess maybe that's why I kinda don't wanna just grab anything and put it in a sandwich. See, I bet that you'd have a much better grip on that kinda stuff than me. But, I could get stuff ready to be put in sandwiches, cutting it up, pealing stuff, you know that kinda thing. That way, the sandwiches aren't all lumpy and stuff. And I bet it'd help the taste too. Whaddya think?"

 

While speaking, she'd moved on from pears to strawberries. Adroitly handling the knife she diced up a handful of strawberries and piled them off to the side as well. She then began to quickly work her way through the other fruits, cutting up enough, she figured, for a few sandwiches, leaving the sandwich making to Asteria for that moment. Before too long, Key was in her own world, grabbing various items and cutting them into either slices, smaller pieces, or chunks as she saw fit. Her work wasn't neat but it was good enough for sandwiches, and what it lacked in neatness it made up for in speed. Key's work was remarkably fast, not as fast as a highly skilled cook, but her speed was consistent.

 

 

He watched as they began to start making the Sandwiches and decided to make himself useful, trotting over and speaking up. "Uh..hey Asteria, did you need any help at all?" He asked Smiling towards the filly.

 

 

Key glanced over at Dawn, catching him from the corner of her eye. She had no idea who he was, but she offered instructions despite not having been the one that was addressed. Echoing Asteria's earlier instructions, Key spoke with a friendly smile, while still focusing on her task. "Just grab whatever you can and shove it between two slices of bread! I'll be joining in with the sandwich making as soon as I'm done chopping stuff up." As Key continued to work, the scent of the chopped and sliced fruits began to make its way throughout the dining car and into the adjoining areas.

 

---

 

 

"Yes, this is all perfect, or as perfect as it can be with our limited resources. I for one wish to get this underway immediately. If you would all go with me, I shall be heading to the dining car." he said as he approached the door. He paused to sniff the air outside Springer's room. There was a strong scent of fruits, as though some were being squished. His stomach rumbled loudly, causing him to almost blush. "Either way, I am dreadfully famished." he concluded as he went out into the corridor and held open the door for his comrades.

 

 

Lapis didn't need to say another word. During just the small amount of time that had elapsed since he had finished talking, the pegasus had been glancing around impatiently. When, finally, Lapis took hold of the door, Springer sprang into motion. Using his wings to aid in his speed, he hovered quickly through the open door, straight into the parlor car and to the door leading into the dining car. He stopped there, though, because as much as he was eager to progress, he was not eager to deal with Dawn without at least Lapis there to ask his questions.

 

If Dawn was already there, then his sudden entrance might prompt her to approach him. This wasn't really the ideal situation. Springer reasoned that if he was the first to be approached, then there would be some danger of the entire plan falling apart. Sudden questions from Lapis, entering after himself, might come off as being both weirdly confrontational and out of place. If Vim was there, he would be lectured, regardless of his tiredness. Springer groaned, inwardly, perhaps Arcanel's troubles with Fast Post did, in some ways at least, approximate some of his problem with Vim.

 

 

After she finished inspecting her room, she made her way to the Parlor Car to see what other ponies had boarded, or were already on the train.

 

 

Looking around distractedly while waiting for the others to catch up, Springer noticed an unfamiliar pony. She was a passenger, sitting by herself, in the parlor car, a pegasus with a soft blue coat and what Springer judged to be awkwardly long legs. Seeking for a way to make the seconds fly by sooner, Springer decided to greet her. "Ummm... Hello there, my name is Springer. I'm one of the assistant conductors on this train, even though I'm currently on leave due to illness..." The smell of fresh fruits was finally noticed by Springer. "Out of curiousity, is there any particular reason that you're in the parlor car rather than dining with the other passengers?"

[Magicon 468]

Magicon knew his plan wasn’t perfect and he was open to criticism, but he hoped he could roll with the punches and work forward from there. Dawn was a dangerous unicorn; Magicon wasn’t taking anything for granted or any chances with her. His gut and mind were united in their suspicions of Dawn and he knew they were right. Only she had the answers, yet he knew she might get away or dodge the questions entirely. While he pondered, Arcanel spoke up.

 

 

 

"Ummm... if I may... Mr. Magicon... I don't know about your plan, to be completely honest... I have my own worries about why the plan might not be the best idea that we could follow... however, I do believe that it's a good idea to get to the dining room anyway. We ALL need to eat something, I believe... for the record though, it's not that I think your plan is bad. It's that I want to make sure that you have thought of everything that could happen and be prepared for it. I believe I'd rather follow Springer's previous plan, but... I'm not sure either. Do you think we can finish discussing this while eating something?" he explained, now his stomach slightly corrupting his mindset as the pegasus hadn't much at all either. "Also... Mr. Magicon... if you don't mind me asking... you seem... awfully suspicious of Dawn... did something happen between you two?" he asked, hoping that he hadn't touched a sensitive subject.

 

Magicon was about to open his mouth to answer Arcanel and correct him about his name. It only occurred to Magicon now that Arcanel was putting a “Mr.” in front of his name and Magicon felt uncomfortable with it. It sounded too proper, too out-of-touch, too unrelatable for him. But before he could speak, Springer loudly interjected himself into the conversation.

 

 

 

Just as Arcanel finished speaking, Springer put his hooves to his head and fell backwards into a slumped, sitting position. "No! No no no no! This is not efficient! None of this is!" He sat for a few moments, attempting to regather his thoughts.  Eventually, he took his hooves from his head and returned, unsteadily, to a standing position. As he spoke, his voice picked up speed. "I'm sorry, everyone, and... I hope that you are not offended by my outburst. However, I stand by my thoughts. All of this is inefficient. Magicon, using magic to lure Dawn to the Dining Car would not be needed. It is lunchtime, she will be there. Ummm... Besides. It would be better for you to be seen. The visible presence of another unicorn may deter her from even attempting anything unwise. Then, another thing. If she is spooked by your invisibility, she may react even if she's innocent of all wrong. That would give us bad evidence."

 

Magicon nodded as Springer continued on, suggesting that Magicon sit with Arcanel while Lapis and Springer confronted Dawn. It was simpler than Magicon’s plan and had a better chance of working. Magicon preferred directness, though he wasn’t sure if directness was the correct call for dealing with Dawn. But it didn’t matter. All of them were itching to get to the Dining Car, either for food or excitement about talking to Dawn. Lapis took the lead with his own statement.

 

 

 

"Yes, this is all perfect, or as perfect as it can be with our limited resources. I for one wish to get this underway immediately. If you would all go with me, I shall be heading to the dining car." he said as he approached the door. He paused to sniff the air outside Springer's room. There was a strong scent of fruits, as though some were being squished. His stomach rumbled loudly, causing him to almost blush. "Either way, I am dreadfully famished." he concluded as he went out into the corridor and held open the door for his comrades.

 

Magicon smelt the aroma as well. It was a wonderful scent of fruits and spices. Ambrosia was cooking something delicious and Magicon wouldn’t mind helping himself to a meal, especially if Ambrosia was cooking. As Lapis held the door for everypony, Springer quickly spread his wings and flew out of the door while Magicon followed his lead and began walking through the door.

 

“I just hope this all works,” he stated as he walked out of the caboose through the passenger car and into the parlor car. Magicon shivered ever-so-slightly as they passed through the car. But as they were about the exit, Springer landed and looked to his right at a pony Magicon had never seen before. She was obviously a new passenger but Magicon felt that she seemed a little insecure about her situation and her surroundings. Rather than surround her with four ponies, Magicon felt it would be better if just Springer talked to her. Besides, Dawn awaited them in the dining car.

 

Glancing at Lapis and Arcanel Magicon said, “Come guys, let’s keep moving. Springer can handle this new passenger.” He opened the door out of the parlor car and walked into the dining car. The aroma of fruits, spices, and cheese filled the air and the kitchen sounded like a busy engine at work. Obviously Ambrosia was hard at work preparing lunch.

 

As he walked further into the car Magicon felt a jolt in the floor as the brakes were released and the train began moving. He glanced out the window to see Ponyville Station slowly pass by as the train made a slow departure of the town towards Los Pegasus. “Well, here’s to the last leg of the journey,” Magicon mumbled. Looking back in the dining car there was no sign of Dawn, but a bunch of new passengers were scattered about the tables. Magicon knew he would immediately get attention so he grabbed a table directly to his right, about halfway into the car, hoping that Lapis and Arcanel would join him. He hoped Springer would return soon as well.

 

 

[Dave (RayFriedh) 246]

Maple was about to respond to Ambrosia, when she began talking to other ponies and busying herself with whatever chef-ly duties she was doing. She stopped giving it thought after she beckoned the colt from before, Electrobolt, to discuss something or another. Looking around, she noticed that the majority of the ponies from earlier had suddenly occupied themselves without her noticing. Not wishing to interrupt any of them, she scanned the room for a table, as Ambrosia had suggested her to. 

 

She found a suitable table, occupied by a particularily bored-looking earth pony. Her lime hoof rested upon the wooden surface of the table, providing support for her upper body, which was leaning forward a bit, while the olive hues of her eyes scanned the room in very much the same way she had been.The tip of the pony's  tail was visible from where Maple was standing, coming out of the cover that the shadows of the table had given the rest of it. Like her mane, the tail had a cocoa-coloured streak across it, accentuating the milky-chocolate mane.

 

Taking a step, she noticed the ground below her gently vibrate. Looking back at an open window, she noticed that the train had began to move. 

 

Turning her attention back to the table, she trotted over to it, and introduced herself.

 

"Hello!" She greets the pony. "I'm Maple! Would you mind if I sat with you?"

 

 

OOC: I'm talking about @Starshine's character, Summerfall

 

Edited April 22, 2013 by Dave (RayFriedh)

[Alex Night 870]

Alex and Flow had proceeded through the train as it got moving again.  He had meet another blue unicorn that went by the name of Dawn.  Alex had thought of how nice of a name that is.  

 

"To begin anew...  That's something that would be nice to do..."  Alex thought to himself as his mind traced back to how he lived his life without his parents.  Sure, he had been able to get out of Fillydelphia and got a nice job on the Ponyville Weather Patrol under the tutelage of Rainbow Dash.  He still couldn't quite get over the fact that he had been alone all his life without any idea of what his parents were like or even their names.

 

Alex exchanged a few greetings to Electrobolt before continuing with Flow into the Dining Car.  The car was just as spacious and tasteful as the last time that he had been here except with the ivory unicorn named Clarity.  He hoped that she would be able to find whatever it is that she was looking for.

 

Alex took a seat in an empty booth and motioned for Flow to join him.  "Okay, let's see what they got to serve for lunch."  Alex said aloud to her.  He had a feeling that he was gone from the train for quite a while and wondered how Key Gear was doing among all the craziness.  He had a feeling that she knew how to take care of herself, which seemed admirable to him given how young she is.

[Bari 7,023]

Asteria turned back to the task at hoof the instant Key Gear got to work. Of course, Asteria had to stop when Key pointed out the obvious. Taking the time to actually cut up the fruit was a very good idea. Choking the passengers was a quick way to get into lots of trouble. Asteria stopped what she was doing to watch as Key went to get a knife. Asteria mouth made an O when the other filly skillfully caught the tool with her hoof. Asteria smiled and resumed what she was doing.

But before she could make another sandwich, Key spoke up again. "Actually, I have no idea what I'm doing, to be honest. I had hoped Ambrosia would have supervised us. So basically, I'm just grabbing whatever looks best. That's a sound practice right? Eh, either way, we're making food. Fun stuff." Asteria almost chirped in response. Out of the corner of her eye, Asteria continued to watch Key, trying to understand how she could be such an expert with a knife. After only a few minutes, the two of them were working in sync, Key cutting, Asteria squishing. The thrill of something as simple as two ponies working together to do a task filled Asteria's heart with glee.

Sadly, the pure pleasure was short-lived. Key addressed their visitor, who happened to be the pegasus stallion Dawn Rider. "Oh, hey there DR. You don't mind if I call you that, right? Just like Key said. She'll cut up stuff, and we'll put them into sandwiches. After, I don't know, a lot I guess, we can stop. Then it'll be lunchtime!" she exclaimed  Once things were explained, Asteria felt the flow of activity return to her. She grabbed the sliced strawberries and joined them with colby-jack and rye. She truly didn't care about how they turned out in the end. As long as it was fun, why worry?

---

Lapis resisted the shock as Springer shot out the door. The blue stallion had not thought the assistant conductor was so eager to get a move on it. A blank yet much perturbed expression crossed his face before he went to follow the older stallion. Magicon was faster though, so Lapis ended up after the red stallion instead. Magicon expressed his minor doubts in the plan, but Lapis merely grunted, "It'll be fine." The unicorn stopped in the parlor car, and Lapis looked to see Springer chatting with a blue mare. Magicon assured them that Springer could handle it, so they continued on to the dining car.

Once the door was opened, the aroma assaulted Lapis' senses. He winced a little before adjusting to it. It wasn't too bad. Just strong. With a slight tilt, it was clear the train was in motion again. Lapis silently breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought that they would have stayed at the station forever. "Yes, and may it be a safe one." Lapis responded to Magicon's comment. Lapis waited for Magicon to pick a table before he sat down. He sat opposite to the red stallion and addressed him with a measured voice after confirming that Dawn was not nearby. "So, everything is clear, yes? No regrets if I can't get any answers? Who's to say she won't lie? Oh well, I'm sure you can discern lies from the truth. I'm just a researcher. I get information and take notes." With a controlled sigh, he resigned himself to waiting. Dawn would come when she would come. And hopefully, Springer would join them before then.

[Electrobolt 2,069]

After he had asked Ambrosia what she wanted, he had then been greeted by a sigh and then silence. As soon as the silence had come up, Electrobolt began to feel nervous. Why was Ambrosia silent, and what did she want to talk about that required them to be in private? After the momentary silence had ended, though, Ambrosia coughed before she started talking. The first thing to go out of her lips was that she had told Vim about Key and him being brother and sister. At this, his eyes went wide. *So THAT explains how Vim knew...* he thought, listening to Ambrosia as she continued.

 

The next thing she said had him worried. She recalled the moment when Key proclaimed that she was a thief, and that the mare herself couldn't exactly trust Key without knowing everything. After that, she brought up yesterday in the dining car and the parlor car how they didn't seem like brother and sister. To this, he nodded slowly. *Well, it is true...* he thought. *It wasn't until last night that we did realize that we were brother and sister...* However, when Ambrosia brought up the events of the parlor car, he suddenly looked away and blushed, feeling completely embarrassed and ashamed.

 

*I... I was hoping she would have forgotten that moment...* he thought, his face heated up from pure embarrassment. Thankfully for him, she stopped talking about it shortly after, before asking when and how he had realized that they were brother and sister. Just then, she added a bit more to the end, asking if it was all just a lie. Shaking his head, wiping off the embarrassed blush on his face, he was about to speak. Just then, however, he saw Alex and Flow walking by. After seeing them leave the hallway and enter the dining car, he sighed before facing Ambrosia.

 

Taking in a deep breath, Electrobolt began to speak to her. "No, Ambrosia, none of it is a lie... I suppose I'd have to explain it sooner or later, but it might sound unbelievable..." Clearing his mind out to recall the events of the previous day, he started. "You're right... In the dining and parlor cars, we didn't seem like brother and sister because, well... At that time, we weren't aware of the fact. Speaking of which, Key had told me before that Trixie had something of hers. We weren't sure what it was at the time, though, so..." Clearing his throat, he shook his head.

 

"Um, sorry about that, didn't mean to trail off. Anyways, hmm... After that whole event at Trixie's show, where I got zapped and left the car, I had run into Key Gear. She had planned to go to Trixie's room to try and find what had been stolen from her. Since I had offered to help try and find her item earlier on and not being one to back out from offering assistance, I went with her." Stopping for a moment, he shivered slightly as the moments in that room had arisen once more in his mind.

 

Shaking his head, he continued. "Um, after entering Trixie's room, after some time looking around... Well, we had found where the box containing the stolen item was. But as soon as it was opened... The whole room had been engulfed by this mysterious darkness... The atmosphere grew heavier as I found myself unable to stand anymore. And after a while of nothing besides being stuck on the floor, this voice spoke up..." He then shivered once more, as Dusky's threat rang in his ears once again. "Um... This voice... When Dusky had whispered his threat to me, well... It sounded like the voice I heard in that darkness..."

 

Stopping for a second to catch his breath, he returned to the explanation. "Anyways, this voice... It started to speak to me, as if it had known me from before... That's not all though, as it mentioned something about a sister..." He stopped for a moment to shake his head. "After a while, this thing, it... It tried to eat me... Before it could, though, this bright ray of light shot in and saved me. It was at that moment that the darkness faded, and I could see Key Gear collapsed next to me. As I started to take her back to her room, that was when I saw you and Daylight..." Sighing, he thought to himself, *I don't recall if I thanked him properly...*

 

Realizing he wasn't done yet, he coughed. "Um, right... Anyways, later that night, well... I had this strange dream..." After taking in a deep breath, Electrobolt then proceeded to tell Ambrosia about the dream he had: how it involved him being in a dark room with invisible walls, his current parents who are residing in Ponyville who disappeared into this fog that poured into the room, and then two more ponies entering, with Key Gear alongside them. After finishing his explanation about the dream, he took a second to catch his breath.

 

After that, he then sighed. "Anyways... As for key being a thief, well... She only stole what she needed to survive. She had told me this before we realized we were brother and sister, too. It was late last night when we found that out - most likely when everypony else was fast asleep. And, um... As for the parlor car incident..." He looked away, clearly ashamed. "I wish that whole matter never happened... I don't know why it happened, but... It did... I just want to forget about it..."

Edited April 23, 2013 by Electrobolt

[Starshine 16,333]

The dining car shook gently. It was faint, but Summerfall could feel that the train had started taking up the pace. The scenery behind the window slowly shifted as the train started to leave the Ponyville to Los Pegasus. The mare silently thanked Celestia on her seat. Finally the train would'nt be so boring. The two fillies in the kitchen had started a mad dash to pile up some sandwiches. Key Gear was surprisingly adept at moving her knife around. Maybe the lunch wouldn't be so late after all, Summerfall mused to herself. Alex and Flow had joined the dining car a few moments before the train started moving, seemed like the ride would be a crowded one.

 

Summerfall was busy scanning the room when an earth pony mare approached her table.

 

 

 

"Hello!" She greets the pony. "I'm Maple! Would you mind if I sat with you?"

 

"Sure," Summerfall replied. She moved a bit to give Maple more space. "I wouldn't mind at all. The seats are free. Anyway, hello to you too. My name is Summerfall, or you can just call me Summer. Pleased to meet you."

 

A typewriter cutie mark, how curious, Summerfall thought to herself when she took a glance to Maple's flank. Maybe she was a reporter, or maybe a writer? She pondered whether to start a conversation or not. But since it seemed that the lunch wouldn't be on her table any time soon, might as well do a small talk. When the mare sat down, Summerfall spoke to Maple, "So, forgive me if I'm too curious, but on what occasion you're travelling to Los Pegasus?"

Edited April 24, 2013 by Starshine

[Ice Storm 1,020]

As Wind Dancer sat in the parlor car waiting for others to enter, she began to start thinking to herself about why she even bothered coming. She still didn't even know what she would do once she got to Los Pegasus. It's not like any of the show clubs would pick her up off the street, especially with a scarred wing. It wouldn't do well for the image of any organization to have a visibly weakened pony in their act. She sighed. For all she knew this was a lost cause. The only thing she could foresee coming from this was disappointment. She should have left before the opportunity for her to go even presented itself. As much as the I appreciate what she did... I... just don't know... she thought to herself looking out of the window of the car.

 

The fact that she watched as the train began to move and there was still nopony else in the car began to make her even more wary. Where was everypony at? Surely herself and Ice Storm weren't the only two passengers on the train. As she thought that though, the sweet smell of fruits began to fill the parlor car, and it smelled like they were coming from within the dining car. This puzzled her because she was in the dining car not even ten minutes ago and there had been nopony in there. Just then the door from behind her opened up and a vibrant green pegasi walked out from th car behind her. He approached her and introduced himself as one of the conductors of the train, but due to an illness he was on leave. She also caught that his name was Springer. When he asked why she was in here and not in the other car with everypony else she sighed.

 

"I'm Wind Dancer, and I'm not really all that hungry," she replied semi-honestly. She could eat, but she wasn't desperate. "And even if I were... I couldn't afford anything anyways... I've never been able to..." she told him in a soft, disheartened voice. As much as she wanted to enjoy herself, the fact that she was a mere street performer and had less than ten bits to her name at any given point always seemed to get in the way of anything that seemed fun. The only thing that cheered her up was her dancing, and even then, if she wasn't careful, she would leave something in shambles. "I guess though if everypony else is there, I should still go there to not be completely alone," she said softly, standing up with a slumped over posture, exposing the scar on her wing more than she would have liked.

[King 5,625]

Echoing Asteria's earlier instructions, Key spoke with a friendly smile, while still focusing on her task. "Just grab whatever you can and shove it between two slices of bread! I'll be joining in with the sandwich making as soon as I'm done chopping stuff up." As Key continued to work, the scent of the chopped and sliced fruits began to make its way throughout the dining car and into the adjoining areas.

 

Dawn nodded at the young looking mare..or was she technically a filly?..Dawn didn't ponder on it much and proceeded to follow her instructions. "Sure thing, I'll try making some salad sandwiches...hopefully that's what they turn out as too" Dawn repeated what he thought in his mind.

 

 

Key addressed their visitor, who happened to be the pegasus stallion Dawn Rider. "Oh, hey there DR. You don't mind if I call you that, right? Just like Key said. She'll cut up stuff, and we'll put them into sandwiches. After, I don't know, a lot I guess, we can stop. Then it'll be lunchtime!" she exclaimed

Dawn turned his attention to the young filly before attending to his task. "Sure you can call me that, it's no problem at all. I just hope we dont make too many" Dawn Laughed

 

He trotted over to the closest bench and took out some sliced bread, placing it before him on a chopping board and looked around for some ingredients. Luckily nearby were some lettuce,tomato and pickles, so Dawn began to shovel these ingredients into sandwich after sandwich So far things seemed to be going well with the food, no mistakes were made on his part.

 

This whole kitchen working made Dawn remember the many times he stood beside his mother, helping her cook her delicious meals that for some reason could not be matched by anypony...yet. Dawn wasn't quite sure how well Ambrosia cooked and was looking forward to his birthday cake, even though he had asked her not to go all out, he had some tiny part of his head that told him she planned to do otherwise.

 

Before long, Dawn had snapped out of his daydreaming and looked down at the several sandwiches that he had made..so far, so good. Dawn turned to Key and asked her questioningly "Do you think this will be enough?" showing her the dozen or so sandwiches he had stuffed full of salad.

Edited April 23, 2013 by Dawn♥Rider

[Arcanel 3,041]

 

 

"Ummmm..."

 

As Arcanel had finished speaking, he realized that Magicon was about to talk, and he also saw a slight twitch when he called the unicorn "Mr.", but before he spoke, Springer had reacted first.

 

 

 

"No! No no no no! This is not efficient! None of this is!" He sat for a few moments, attempting to regather his thoughts. 

 

"Mr. Springer!" he yelled as he watched the green pegasus suddenly burst but quickly recovering. The mailpony was now becoming very worried about Springer's health, yet again.

 

 

 

"I'm sorry, everyone, and... I hope that you are not offended by my outburst. However, I stand by my thoughts. All of this is inefficient. Magicon, using magic to lure Dawn to the Dining Car would not be needed. It is lunchtime, she will be there. Ummm... Besides. It would be better for you to be seen. The visible presence of another unicorn may deter her from even attempting anything unwise. Then, another thing. If she is spooked by your invisibility, she may react even if she's innocent of all wrong. That would give us bad evidence."

 

The moment Springer started talking about the plan to inquire Dawn about the previous events, Arcanel was starting to think that the green pegasus looked now very, very distressed. *Springer... I don't think you should be sorry... but... you need to rest soon...* he thought, now wishing Lapis had waited until Springer rested before. Suddenly, the assistant conductor turned to him.

 

 

 

"Arcanel. I don't think that you should be tasked with reading Dawn's emotions. You exaggerate far too much. If you read her intentions incorrectly, then again we would have bad evidence. Finally. The time for planning is over. We need to take action now. If we continue to plan, then we may be here until nightfall. I don't even think that I can stand that long. I am tired. I think that we should act. And, I know what we should do. After this, I do not think that we should do anymore planning. It is becoming dangerous - our plans are about plans. We need action."

 

*Ouch...* was all he could think after hearing Springer point his flaws. Arcanel didn't feel sad that Springer had pointed his flaws, as one of his most common characteristics WAS that he tended to exaggerate things. Being very self-conscious, he knew his own flaws from top to bottom if somepony had asked. However, what Springer didn't know was that Arcanel had a great concentration power. Something that his workmates had pointed out many times in the past due to how sometimes the white pony needed to be shouted in the ear to regain his concentration again. He was able to purely concentrate just as easily as he could distract himself. *I know I exaggerate, but I don't think I'm bad at reading feelings... besides, I could at least point out the details instead of directly analyzing them myself.... though Springer is right that we need to start doing something instead of planning...* he agreed in the end. However, he started realizing that, the more Springer was stressed, the more devoted to efficiency he became.

 

 

 

"I think that we should all go to the dining car. Here, Magicon and Arcanel are correct. I think that Lapis should ask Dawn questions. And... I think that Magicon should accompany him for safety. Arcanel and I will sit at a different table, nearby. Lapis will, I think, ask direct questions. That would be perfect. We need information quickly... Ummm..." 

 

At the mention of the dining car, Arcanel slightly relaxed. *Well, at least that's something we all agree...* he thought with relief, glad that the green pegasus did not seem as anxious or nervous as he did right after his outburst.

 

 

 

"Ummm... Wait... Actually, I will accompany Lapis. Dawn is here to safeguard me. If I am there, she would not harm Lapis. I am in a weakened state, so it would put me in danger. I think that this is something that she would not do. I would be a more effective guard for Lapis than Magicon. Then... There is another thing... If she is here to protect me and she suspects nothing of Lapis, then she would likely join us of her own accord. It would be a less confrontational setting. Magicon... You and Arcanel would sit nearby. If... If this course of action is acceptable, then, we should go immediately to the dining car and take our positions."

 

"Wha...?" Arcanel said out loud, not loud enough to be heard. As soon as Springer considered that he should go along Lapis, the white pegasus had got instantly worried again. *Oh no... Springer is already stressed out a lot... would this even be good for him...? And even if he could handle it... isn't it too risky in case Dawn was actually dangerous?* he pondered. While he didn't think that Dawn could hurt if fly if she wanted to, he still had to consider every option, especially with the recent events. However, before he could protest, Lapis spoke up.

 

 

 

"Yes, this is all perfect, or as perfect as it can be with our limited resources. I for one wish to get this underway immediately. If you would all go with me, I shall be heading to the dining car."

 

"But...!" Arcanel was interrupted by the smell of food and fruits that had suddenly come out of the door. *Wow... that smells really... really nice... (Sigh)... I'm probably just hungry. I think we all are. We might as well think better when we do eat something. Hopefully make me think clearer...* he decided, hoping that a full stomach and less tension would make every head clearer.

 

 

 

"Either way, I am dreadfully famished."

 

"Yeah... so am I." He said, now truly realizing how hungry he was. He then muttered a small "thank you" to Lapis for having hold the door and entered into the dining car. After Lapis and Magicon commented, he hoped as well that the plan would go well and with no misunderstandings or just bad situations in general.

 

As soon as Springer rushed out the door, he stopped to speak with a new passenger he hadn't seen before, a watery colored mare with different tones of blue. As he was thinking of going to talk to her as well, Magicon had decided first.

 

 

 

 

“Come guys, let’s keep moving. Springer can handle this new passenger.”

 

Arcanel sighed as the crimson unicorn spoke. Ever since he got in the train, he had basically had no chance to be in a normal conversation with either of the ponies in the train, which slightly saddened him. But now he knew that he was technically "working" so he had to focus. *Well... it's a long journey anyway... I'm sure we'll have time to relax later.* He determined as he followed Lapis and Magicon.

 

As they kept on walking the train suddenly started moving, which indicated they were finally leaving Ponyville. *Well... at least Vim will be happy to finally go!* he thought in amusement, as he imagined the conductor releasing his frustration as he imagined that the detour they had taken was NOT a happy moment for Vim. After a bit more of walking Magicon settled in a table around the middle of the car, which Arcanel and Lapis quickly followed suit.

 

 

 

So, everything is clear, yes? No regrets if I can't get any answers? Who's to say she won't lie? Oh well, I'm sure you can discern lies from the truth. I'm just a researcher. I get information and take notes."

 

 

While Lapis' last statement made Arcanel raise his eyebrows a bit, he thought of nothing of it as he imagined the earth pony saying something like that. "Well... we get what we can get. I am trusting Dawn to tell the truth, but even if she does lie, we'll at least have something to go for, either her behavior or what she says, which is a clue at least other than having nothing." He declared, knowing that even if the did came up with nothing, Dawn herself might provide some clue with something else other than words.

[Key Gear 6,663]

"I'm Wind Dancer, and I'm not really all that hungry," she replied semi-honestly.

He wasn't very good at picking up the nuances in the speech of others, especially those from a total stranger. Because of this, Springer completely missed the emotional subtlety in Wind Dancer's response. Instead, he replied matter-of-factly, "That's unfortunate, because lunch will be pleasant."

 

She could eat, but she wasn't desperate. "And even if I were... I couldn't afford anything anyways... I've never been able to..." she told him in a soft, disheartened voice.

Again, the emotional subtlety was not Springer's forté. He did think that, perhaps, there was something unusual in her demeanor, but he filed the observation away until a later time. Instead, he focused on the words that she had uttered. It only took a moment's thought to discover the inefficiency in them, but he allowed the pegasus pony to continue to speak, uninterrupted.

 

"I guess though if everypony else is there, I should still go there to not be completely alone," she said softly, standing up with a slumped over posture, exposing the scar on her wing more than she would have liked.

Something irked Springer, and for a few seconds, he was not able to form a response as he tried to figure what it was that had affected him. He gave up and decided to disregard the thought entirely. Instead, his eyes wandered to the scar on Wind Dancer's wing. He winced. The thought of such a lingering injury was painful for him to even contemplate. Still, he had to disregard his immediate reaction.

 

Despite being on leave, he considered himself to still be a somewhat-active assistant conductor. He felt that, in this moment and with this passenger, he was obligated to do his job. One of the primary functions of his job was to make passengers aware of the rules of the train. In this case, Springer realized, she expected to pay but... The food was free. The pegasus puzzled over how to explain this efficiently. He'd never encountered a passenger with this exact problem before.

 

After a few moments of thought, he believed that he had the right approach. "Ummm... Wind Dancer... I know that you aren't very hungry right now, but there is something that you should be aware of. The meals are included with the cost of your ticket." He paused for a moment and then decided to further explain. "You don't need to purchase food. It is available for all passengers, without further cost. And... Being alone is not a terribly efficient way to enjoy a train's journey. You should make the most of your time. Come and join the ponies in the dining car. You'll enjoy it, I think." Springer smiled.

 

Magicon knew he would immediately get attention so he grabbed a table directly to his right, about halfway into the car, hoping that Lapis and Arcanel would join him. He hoped Springer would return soon as well.

With a controlled sigh, he resigned himself to waiting. Dawn would come when she would come. And hopefully, Springer would join them before then.

Suddenly, Springer looked around. He had been so distracted by Wind Dancer's problem that he had completely lost track of the time. He flapped his wings in agitation, and he dearly hoped that Dawn had not yet made her way into the dining car. Speaking calmly despite his sudden realization, Springer addressed Wind Dancer. "You'll have to excuse me, Wind Dancer, I'm late for something." Without a further word, Springer darted to the door dividing the parlor and dining cars and made his way to the the table where he saw Magicon seated.

 

Before taking a seat, Springer took a glance around the room. Dawn wasn't there. A sense of relief flooded over him, and it was palpable in his voice as he spoke, lowering it to avoid being overheard. "Hello, everyone... Ummm... My apologies for the momentary delay, I think that we are all just about ready to proceed? I think that... I think that I have an appropriate method for approaching Dawn when she arrives. It is rather crowded here, actually, so I rather doubt that my strategy of waiting for her to come to us will work. We will need to go to her, most likely, to prevent her from becoming distracted..."

 

---

 

However, when Ambrosia brought up the events of the parlor car, he suddenly looked away and blushed, feeling completely embarrassed and ashamed.

When he looked away, blushing with embarrassment, the silent reaction spoke volumes to Ambrosia. Her suspicion had been that Key Gear and Electrobolt were two young troublemakers, hiding their intentions behind the guise of a make-believe familial relationship. His reaction, almost immediate, challenged and overcame her suspicion. If he had said nothing else, she was at least certain that Key and Electrobolt were brother and sister, but Electrobolt spoke.

 

Taking in a deep breath, Electrobolt began to speak to her. "No, Ambrosia, none of it is a lie... I suppose I'd have to explain it sooner or later, but it might sound unbelievable..." Clearing his mind out to recall the events of the previous day, he started. "You're right... In the dining and parlor cars, we didn't seem like brother and sister because, well... At that time, we weren't aware of the fact. Speaking of which, Key had told me before that Trixie had something of hers. We weren't sure what it was at the time, though, so..." Clearing his throat, he shook his head.

She raised an eyebrow when Electrobolt mentioned that it would seem unbelievable. After all of the unusual occurrences that had already taken place on the train, she was quite certain that she was ready to believe just about anything, particularly with Trixie involved. What she mostly wanted to do was to observe. If Electrobolt was cagey or ambiguous, then that was what she would use to discern both his and Key's trustworthiness.

 

Ambrosia was unsurprised that Bolt hadn't known that Key was his sister at the time. It fit with her own perceptions, and as Bolt spoke about the item that Key suspected Trixie of stealing. Ambrosia nodded. She had already gathered that information from a conversation with Detective Daylight on the previous day. In that conversation, she had offered to help keep an eye on both Electrobolt and Key. Now, she reflected, it seemed as though she was fulfilling her promise to the detective, for better or for worse.

 

"Um, sorry about that, didn't mean to trail off. Anyways, hmm... After that whole event at Trixie's show, where I got zapped and left the car, I had run into Key Gear. She had planned to go to Trixie's room to try and find what had been stolen from her. Since I had offered to help try and find her item earlier on and not being one to back out from offering assistance, I went with her." Stopping for a moment, he shivered slightly as the moments in that room had arisen once more in his mind.

When she had happened upon both Key and Electrobolt in Trixie's room on the previous day, Ambrosia had already been fairly certain of what happened, but the reasoning for their actions had been completely unknown to her. Now, thanks to Electrobolt, she knew. Key hadn't gone to the room to steal things or to get a thrill. Instead, the filly had gone into Trixie's room to simply retrieve what was hers. Still, it was wrong to have done so without talking to a train crew member, first, but Ambrosia could see Key's perspective now.

 

Being a pony of her word, Ambrosia could also sympathize with Electrobolt's plight. Regardless of his own thoughts on Key's plan, his earlier offer had prohibited him from doing anything else. Even if it hadn't been a promise, outright, an offer was an offer. If he had alerted the train crew instead, then that could have reasonably been considered by Key to be a betrayal, ruining their friendship.

 

The fact that he was honest enough to follow through on his offer of assistance was, to Ambrosia, a good thing. It was what his word had gotten him into that she was still not entirely certain of. She thought about it for a few moments. If she had given her own word to help somepony and then it turned out that this help required her to do something questionable, then what would she have done. With an internal sigh, she resigned herself to a single thought - at some point, a line always had to be drawn.

 

Her thoughts were interrupted when Electroboblt shivered. She thought she knew why. On the previous day, she had seen a certain darkness in Trixie's room. It had been clearing out by the time she reached the room, but what little of it she had seen was more than enough to convince her of the danger that the younger ponies had been in. Perhaps fueled by having heard Lapis's stories earlier in the day, she had imagined at that time, that the darkness was some kind of trap.

 

Shaking his head, he continued. "Um, after entering Trixie's room, after some time looking around... Well, we had found where the box containing the stolen item was. But as soon as it was opened... The whole room had been engulfed by this mysterious darkness... The atmosphere grew heavier as I found myself unable to stand anymore. And after a while of nothing besides being stuck on the floor, this voice spoke up..." He then shivered once more, as Dusky's threat rang in his ears once again. "Um... This voice... When Dusky had whispered his threat to me, well... It sounded like the voice I heard in that darkness..."

Her thought, that the darkness had been the result of a trap, was confirmed. Trixie was a clever and fairly malevolent unicorn, so Ambrosia wasn't surprised by this at all. It was the mention of a voice that surprised her. What kind of trap could speak? When she noticed that Electrobolt shivered again, she felt sorry for him. Whatever the voice had been and whatever it had said, it had deeply affected Electrobolt. Ambrosia felt guilty.

 

Her own suspicions were completely addressed at this point. There was really no need to force Electrobolt to go and dredge up painful experiences. She started to tell him this, to let him know that it was ok, but he had already continued. His words were electrifying. The voice... It had sounded the same as Dusky's whispered threat. It was Ambrosia's turn to shiver, because this simple revelation frightened her.

 

It frightened her because it implied something, something horrific. The train had been searched for Dusky on the previous day, but the unicorn had remained missing. She had possessed an eerie feeling during the entire duration of that search, a feeling that something wasn't right, and Trixie's room had been one of the few rooms that had gone unsearched. Lapis had stopped her from opening the door when he observed a strange light emanating from beneath it. Now, the thought occurred to her. Perhaps, Dusky had been there the entire time, waiting for somepony to enter. What if he had been laying a trap?

 

Stopping for a second to catch his breath, he returned to the explanation. "Anyways, this voice... It started to speak to me, as if it had known me from before... That's not all though, as it mentioned something about a sister..." He stopped for a moment to shake his head. "After a while, this thing, it... It tried to eat me... Before it could, though, this bright ray of light shot in and saved me. It was at that moment that the darkness faded, and I could see Key Gear collapsed next to me. As I started to take her back to her room, that was when I saw you and Daylight..." Sighing, he thought to himself, *I don't recall if I thanked him properly...*

As Electrobolt continued, Ambrosia felt a sinking feeling. Her head spun. How could this voice, so strange and anonymous have known anything about the pasts of the two younger ponies? How could it have known that Key Gear was Electrobolt's sister? If it had been a trap, then it seemed that Electrobolt and Key had been the intended victims. Her eyes went wildly wide when Electrobolt mentioned that something had tried to eat him. Her thoughts were frozen, and she felt queasy. If Daylight had been just a moment too late in saving them, then what would have happened to Electrobolt?

 

She shuddered, and a question emerged on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't find a way to give voice to it. Her own surprise was too great. When Electro had warned her that what he said would seem unbelievable, his words had been an understatement. She struggled to come to terms with what she was hearing. She wanted to know what exactly was it that had tried to eat Electro, but at the same time, she was afraid of the answer.

 

Realizing he wasn't done yet, he coughed. "Um, right... Anyways, later that night, well... I had this strange dream..." After taking in a deep breath, Electrobolt then proceeded to tell Ambrosia about the dream he had: how it involved him being in a dark room with invisible walls, his current parents who are residing in Ponyville who disappeared into this fog that poured into the room, and then two more ponies entering, with Key Gear alongside them. After finishing his explanation about the dream, he took a second to catch his breath.

More dreams... The fur on Ambrosia's neck started to stand. It reminded her of something, something that she had hoped should never be reminded of. Realizing that she was almost certainly beginning to look extremely worried, Ambrosia looked away for a moment and took a few deep breaths. When she looked back, she maintained a completely composed expression, only her eyes betraying the emotion that lied beneath them.

 

After that, he then sighed. "Anyways... As for key being a thief, well... She only stole what she needed to survive. She had told me this before we realized we were brother and sister, too. It was late last night when we found that out - most likely when everypony else was fast asleep. And, um... As for the parlor car incident..." He looked away, clearly ashamed. "I wish that whole matter never happened... I don't know why it happened, but... It did... I just want to forget about it..."

At this point, neither the fact that Key was a thief or the earlier incident in the parlor concerned her, and Ambrosia spoke hesitantly, she was still shaken by all of the revelations. "Electrobolt... I... I'm sorry for doubting you. I just didn't have... I had no idea... And, everything that you've said... It is unbelievable, just like you said... But. I believe you..."

 

She took a deep breath before continuing. She needed to get control of her thoughts, and she also wanted to be careful. As unlikely as it seemed, there was always the possibility that the dreams were only dreams and nothing more. If it was Dusky, then he had been prudent. There was absolutely no way that she could do much about Electrobolt's information without first gathering some more evidence that Dusky was somehow responsible, and she didn't know exactly how to go about it. She would need to speak to somepony first, probably Lapis. Vim would certainly hear nothing of it. She spoke again. She didn't allow the silence to go on for very long.

 

"I completely believe you, and... What you've told me clears all of my doubts. Electrobolt, I can see now that you're a good pony, honest and hardworking. Key... She may be a thief, but I believe you when you say that she only stole what she needed. I don't think that I need to worry about the kitchen." Despite her worries, Ambrosia laughed a bit. The thought of Key making a mess of Ambrosia's kitchen by raiding the stores was silly, in retrospect. The filly was certainly not gluttonous.

 

When she continued speaking, she spoke with practiced calm. She spoke to Electrobolt much as she would have spoken to a foal, reassuring him despite her own tumultuous thoughts. Now that she had brought his memories back to the surface with her actions, Ambrosia wanted to undo any of the damage that she had potentially caused. It wasn't right that Electrobolt should be fearful because of something that she had caused him to remember by doubting his truthfulness. She also hoped that her soothing words would filter from Electrobolt to Key. She didn't want either of them to take action until she had managed to make sense of some of the things that Electrobolt had told her.

 

She cleared her throat and smiled. "And, Bolt, forget about the parlor car, you didn't know any better and... I don't think that it's something you should beat up on yourself for, since you figured things out pretty quickly... Hmmm... Thanks to the voice... About that voice, you know, dreams... They don't always work in ways that make sense. There is a possibility that maybe the voice was just something in a dream? Maybe it didn't have anything to do with Dusky and the resemblance was just coincidental? It could be that you heard Dusky earlier in the day and his voice just stuck in your memory?"

 

"I have strange dreams all of the time. I try not to think too much about them, because they're all just dreams, they can't hurt you, and you know what? That thing in Trixie's room really was probably just a dream. There wasn't much space in that train car for something that was big enough to eat a pony. It was probably just an illusion caused by the trap that was set off by opening that container. It makes a lot of sense, if you think about it. Maybe the illusion somehow caused you to hear things that you may have already known without knowing that you knew? If you lost touch with Key when you were both much younger, than you'd have memories of each other, they just wouldn't be easy to recall."

 

"Yesterday, Lapis told me a story about a container, a type of vase or something. When he tried to inspect it... Something happened to him that was actually quite similar to what happened to you. He was frozen in place, and he saw visions. This doesn’t mean that there was no real danger. Lapis said that the thing he found might have killed him... But what I'm trying to say is that magic is unpredictable. We're just earth ponies, so there's a lot about magic that we don't understand. It could have all been one of Trixie's traps, and it would have been hard to find out otherwise."

 

She hoped that it didn't seem like she was trying too hard to allay his worries. In truth, she doubted her very words, but without proof to the contrary, everything she said was just as plausible as any other possible explanation. Sincerely and comforting, she smiled at Electrobolt. "Don't worry, Electrobolt! I think that we should probably get on to lunch, but... Well, I know a lot about dreams, so if anything else comes up, I'm a good pony to talk to about them. I also want to let you know that I really do apologize for doubting you, and... If you ever need a friend, you can consider me to be one."

 

Her words had ended the conversation, and she was ready to return to the kitchen, but she hesitated. Before he had spoken to her, Ambrosia wasn't sure what she thought about the new assistant conductor. He had seemed to be sincere, but that had done nothing to ease her concerns. His sister's boldness, in exclaiming what she was and what her intentions were, had rubbed Ambrosia the wrong way. Because of this, Ambrosia hadn't known quite what to expect when she confronted him.

 

Now that she had heard what he had to say, she found herself feeling protective towards both him and his sister. They weren't bad ponies after all. Indeed, there was every appearance that they themselves had been victims. Ambrosia had apologized twice and she had offered her friendship, but she still didn't quite think that her words were enough. Acting on instinct, she stopped her retreat into the dining car, turned to Electrobolt and, after an apologetic smile for the randomness of the moment, embraced him, a hug given by a friend.

 

---

 

Vim left the baggage car and made his way into the second passenger car. Once there, he stopped for a few moments, savoring the feeling of a train in motion. While these passenger cars were quite silent, compared to those on his old train, just the feeling of the train moving beneath his hooves was more than enough to recall the beloved click-clack of a train in progress. He could also recall the sense of adventure that would so often accompany his journeys to faraway places.

 

While he was there, his mind went back to something that had been preoccupying him for the duration of the afternoon. Only rarely did Vim join the passengers for a meal, but with so many new passengers on board, he was strongly inclined to do so. He had fully intended to join the other passengers for dinner on the previous night, but the engineer's disappearance had precluded that possibility entirely. It was now a new day, and everything seemed to be going well. There was really nothing else for him to do, so Vim decided to make his way to the dining car.

 

Feeling rather chipper, Vim trotted to the door leading to the second passenger car and opened it fairly swiftly. Unexpectedly, he both heard and felt the soft dull thud of the door making contact with something. Because his hoof was securely on the handle, Vim didn't need to worry about the door bouncing back at him, but the feeling and sound had both been unexpected.

 

When he took a look around the door to see what it had hit, there was nothing there; instead, he was sure that he heard a faint crackling sound. Vim was, at that moment, both confused and curious. He looked around carefully, hoping to see if there was some stray animal or pony lying around. After a few more minutes, a potential source for the disturbance revealed itself; a loud hiss was heard behind him. Turning around, Vim saw a rather large steel grey cat.

 

The conductor frowned impressively, and in irritation, he remarked to the cat. "Alright, that's three of you that she's got. There'd better not be too many more. You know, this is a train that I'm running, not a zoo, and make no mistake, I'm running it. Look. If you have a problem with me, there's plenty of room in Dawn's luggage to fit you in." Sensing the spirit if not the meaning of the words, the cat quieted down and went on about its business. Vim shook his head and then continued on his way.

 

The next passenger car held its own surprises. Mindful of cats onboard, Vim opened the door to passenger car three with both more caution and less sound. He stopped halfway when he caught sight of his cook and assistant conductor exchanging a hug. With one eyebrow raised, he appraised the situation for a second before making himself known. Speaking completely nonchalantly, Vim broke the silence while he was still standing in the open doorway. "You know, there's a few things that I like to see on a train crew. Crew should get along, get to know each other, and get stuff done. Two out of three isn't bad, right?"

 

The moment Vim had started talking, Ambrosia's eyes had shot wide open and taken in the sight of both Vim and his expressionless face. By the time that he had finished speaking, she had scrambled out of the hug. She had already been under pressure to mask her reaction to the information that Electrobolt had just shared with her. The conductor's sudden appearance shattered her efforts. Now her concern about the present situation mixed freely with her other worries. Too shaken to stand to her hooves, Ambrosia found a sitting position by Electrobolt. She tried to hastily rattle off an explanation. "Well Vim, we were just talking about dreams and family and..."

 

Vim cut in brusquely. "I like family, that's fine. Dreaming about family is fine too. I don't really care what you were doing." Ambrosia blushed. "I just want to know one thing, that's all." The cook braced herself as Vim paused for a moment to look over his shoulder, into the second passenger car. After shutting the door, he turned back towards her and Electrobolt. "So. If you two are here. No passengers are in the hall... Then, the passengers are in the dining car? Who's serving lunch and looking after the passengers?"

 

Ambrosia blinked. Caught up in her conversation with Electrobolt, she had managed to completely forget about lunch. She stuttered out a reply. "W-well I told..." Vim interrupted, more gently this time. "No kidding? Well, I'm fine with that. Just as long as someone's taking care of it. Passengers fixing meals for passengers isn't a crime. Really, I think it should happen more often. Next time let me know if we're gonna have a guest cook, alright? Anyway, I look forward to seeing what they've cooked up."

 

He started for the door to the dining car, seemingly no longer interested in either the cook or the assistant conductor. He stopped right before opening the door though and turned to Electrobolt. With a completely serious face, Vim spoke fairly cryptically. "Electrobolt, Ambrosia's a good pony, great cook, and an earth pony. That's not too bad to have around, you know? Still, you're a pretty young colt, you haven't seen to much yet, right? I think you should keep yourself focused more on the long term. See you two at lunch."

 

Before either pony could respond, Vim opened the door to the dining car, slipped in, and shut it behind him. No longer able to contain himself, he grinned widely. The truth was that he had immediately figured that there was nothing amiss with the two ponies. Ambrosia was a level headed mare, and Electrobolt was a level headed colt. He trusted that they were both reasonable ponies, but actually, that was what had made the opportunity for some small mischief too hard to resist. It had been too long since he'd given Ambrosia a hard time.

 

The cook was, despite her claims and appearances to the contrary, just as bad as Springer was sometimes. Worse, Vim thought, when it was a question of supplies. She took inventory several times per day, and she was frighteningly fast at it. Her efficiency had made it nearly impossible for him to sneak an apple out of the kitchen at odd hours. Her seriousness when on duty was only marred by her habit of being lightheaded at unpredictable times.

 

He often wondered what trespass he had committed to be stuck with such a serious train crew. That was generally when he remembered that he himself had hoof picked them all. Right after that was generally when he remembered that he was a serious pony himself, except for when he wasn't.

 

When the mare sat down, Summerfall spoke to Maple, "So, forgive me I'm too curious, but on what occasion you're travelling to Los Pegasus?"

Turning her attention back to the table, she trotted over to it, and introduced herself.

Vim's fiery auburn eyes surveyed the dining car. He was a larger stallion than most, with a still vibrant but tired red coat and fading mane of rusty red that had once been a rich dark-red hue. Despite being in his late 60s, he gave off the energy of a pony that was significantly younger. Surveying the room, seeing all of the passengers, Vim was excited by the prospect of joining them for lunch. It had been years since he had been able to join passengers for lunch instead of grabbing a meal to go or just joining in for dinner.

 

Reassuringly, the room smelled strongly of various fruits. Vim figured that Ambrosia had probably left lunch in safe hooves. He took account of the room. There were 6 tables, 3 along each side of the aisle, and each one could fit 4 ponies, fairly comfortably. At a table in the middle of the room, on Vim's left, Magicon, Springer, Lapis, and Arcanel had all gathered. At one of the tables closest to the kitchen, on his right, Ice Storm was seated by herself. At one of the tables furthest away from the kitchen, on his left, Flow and Alex were seated.

 

Two tables were empty, the table across the way from Ice Storm and the table that was between Ice Storm's table and the table immediately on Vim's right. He had almost overlooked it. Seated at this table were two of the newer passengers, Maple and Summerfall, both earth pony mares. Without hesitation, Vim went to meet the two of them again, in a different setting. Taking a seat at their table, "Sorry to drop in on you both, but I'm actually going to be joining in for lunch. By the way, my name's Vim. Don't call me "Mr Conductor" or "sir" or "Mr Vim" or anything like that, just call me Vim." He laughed. "So, how are you two doing so far?"

 

---

 

Sadly, the pure pleasure was short-lived. Key addressed their visitor, who happened to be the pegasus stallion Dawn Rider. "Oh, hey there DR. You don't mind if I call you that, right? Just like Key said. She'll cut up stuff, and we'll put them into sandwiches. After, I don't know, a lot I guess, we can stop. Then it'll be lunchtime!" she exclaimed Once things were explained, Asteria felt the flow of activity return to her.

Key smiled and continued with the preparation work. Asteria's sandwich making wasn't very different from her own work, it wasn't the neatest handiwork but it was pretty fast. Before too much longer, Key was done cutting things up. She put her tool off to the side and turned around to survey the kitchen, it was a mess. Neither Asteria nor Key had cared much about neatness in their hurry to prepare food. As a direct result of this, everything but the sandwiches were messy. The sandwiches themselves, on the other hoof, looked remarkably well put together.

 

Before long, Dawn had snapped out of his daydreaming and looked down at the several sandwiches that he had made..so far, so good. Dawn turned to Key and asked her questioningly "Do you think this will be enough?" showing her the dozen or so sandwiches he had stuffed full of salad.

Key's smile became a grin. Everything had turned out much better than she had expected. Now, there were vegetable sandwiches to go along with the fruit sandwiches. "I think that it's more than enough, great work Dawn Rider!" Stepping back to survey Dawn Rider and Asteria's work, Key nodded. "And, great work Asteria! Ambrosia may not be here, but I think that we're ready to serve lunch. There's no point in waiting around, really. All she's gonna do when she gets here is do the same thing that we could do right now."

 

Without another word, Key left the kitchen to take a peek in the dining car. Surveying the tables, she did a quick count of the ponies present. She then popped back into the kitchen and started assembling platters with two sandwiches per pony while barking out orders. "Asteria, could you get some cups and fill them with water and cider. We could pass those out along with the sandwiches. I don't think we should let ponies choose the sandwiches, it'd be too hard to figure out who gets what. Easier to just give them these plates with two sandwiches each. Dawn Rider, could you just start carrying these platters out there. And, Asteria after you get the drinks poured, could you carry them out."

 

She was really in her element. She hoped that the other two ponies didn't mind the fact that she was taking the lead. Key didn't actually like either giving orders or taking them, but she was eager to prove to Ambrosia that she wasn't just a thief. She would make sure that lunch went well, and... Key stopped and looked around... With a sigh, she realized that she would need to take the lead on cleaning up as well, probably just her and Dawn Rider. Asteria had the energy, but Key doubted that she would very much like to clean and she didn't want to irritate her new friend.

 

Key sighed again. The cleaning would have to be fast, because she was certain that Ambrosia would want to cook something in addition to the sandwiches. "Uhh, Dawn Rider, could you help me to get this place pulled back into shape? I really don't want Ambrosia to come back and see a huge mess in here, especially because I bet she has more cooking to do. Asteria, you could probably keep an eye on the dining car, I think." Key quickly finished the last platter and started clearing the counter and arranging them along with their drinks. Then, she started the task of cleaning.

 

---

 

Dawn had positioned herself outside of the door to the third passenger car. It was too tempting to listen in on Ambrosia and Electrobolt, so that's what she did. As far as she figured, it was a great way to learn more about the other ponies without needing to ask pesky questions or bother with unpredictable social situations. She used her invisibility spell to assure that she went undetected.

 

At first, she thought that their conversation would be boring, but the mention of voices in dreams, strange threats, and revelations of new family members was far more interesting than she had counted on. Of particular interest to her was that Dusky's voice had been the one that Electrobolt had heard. To Dawn, it seemed indicative of something that she had been suspicious of, but her grasp of what that suspicion meant was still fuzzy.

 

When Ambrosia started to speak, explaining away all of Bolt's fear, Dawn grew bored. It was time to move on. Armed with her newfound information, she decided to pay the engineer another visit and heckle him again. Dusky was such a serious pony, it was hard for her to resist bothering him. Still hidden, she trotted to passenger car two.

 

She saw the door opening and she caught a glimpse of Vim's red fur, but the door was opened far too vast for her to do anything about it. Dawn's reflexes weren't very good. Even as she charged a spell to teleport, the door hit her soundly on the nose and sent her tumbling towards the wall behind the door. Her spell triggered just in time to avoid impact again the wall of the passenger car.

 

The teleport transferred her into the caboose. Unfortunately, she had been airborne at the time she teleported and the train itself was moving at a fairly solid rate of speed. When she appeared in her destination, her scrambling hooves weren't enough to save her from a horizontal fall into the rear wall of the caboose. She hit the wall with a slam and then slid down slowly. After a few moments spent lying in an uncomfortable jumble, she recovered from the shock, detangled herself and staggered towards the door to the rear passenger car.

 

She stopped just a second before entering and shook herself, trying to clear the haze from her mind and to cope with the residual feeling of injury from both the door and her fall. Feeling miserable, Dawn had the unfortunate realization that she had never quite figured out how to use her powerful healing magic on herself. She groaned piteously and muttered. "Medical pony, heal yourself..." Her horn started glowing and she focused her powerful magic on herself, but it was of no avail, Dawn gave up.

 

Instead, she entered the last passenger car, went to her room and did her best to salvage her disheveled appearance. Mercifully, despite her miserable feeling, she didn't need any bandages or anything else. She was just slightly bruised, but none of that was visible above her blue fur. Dusky would wait. She decided to go to lunch instead. She left her room and, without stopping in the parlor car, went straight towards the dining car.

 

On reaching her destination, she immediately noticed that there was an empty table on her left, between two other tables. With a smile and a sigh of relief, she entered and took a seat at the table, the seat closest to the window and furthest away from the earth ponies at the table furthest away from the parlor car and kitchen. It was right across from Springer's group, but distracted by her own thoughts, she didn't notice the pegasus.

 

For his own part, Springer wasted no time in approaching her. He motioned for Lapis to join him, and he then signaled for Magicon and Arcanel to remain. He was certain that surrounding Dawn would be a poor and inefficient plan for extracting information. Instead, he decided to take a seat right next to her, preventing an easy exit if she became ill at ease. Then, as friendly as he could manage, Springer greeted her.

 

"Hello Dawn, I'm really quite pleased to see that you're joining us. Would it be alright if my friend, Lapis, joined us? He might have a few questions though, because he's a researcher, of course." Dawn looked strangely at Springer, before recovering herself. "Sure! Why would I mind? That'd be great! Sitting here and eating by myself wouldn't be any fun anyway." She smiled at Springer.

 

---

 

 

(OOC: For the sake of consistency, I'd imagine that Magicon would know Dawn's movements again. I wonder what her reaction would be to knowing that Magicon knows so much. Hmmm... Well, maybe we'll find out together? Also, Bari, I softened Dawn up for you. Don't thank me, thank Vim. He's on a roll. )

 

[Bari 7,023]

Lapis nodded absently as Arcanel reasoned that anything Dawn told them, or even did, was of some use. A good argument, he supposed. Nopony could say something without it holding a speck of information. Even if she proclaimed to be a dragon in disguise, and saying it as a lie, they'd see she was imaginative. So Lapis put his doubts away. Something would come of this. That he was sure of. "You are right Arcanel. Whatever the outcome, we may end up closer to some answers. When do you think Springer will get back to us?" he asked, but before an answer could be issued, the door to the parlor car swung open, admitting the green pegasus.

Springer took a quick moment to apologize, but Lapis found it unnecessary. He had been gone for but a moment. And Dawn was yet to be seen. All was well. "Hello again Springer. A change of plans, again? That seems like a waste of time, honestly. Give it a moment. I'm sure she can't resist the smell of food." he mused with a slight grin. And in the span of only a minute, Lapis' patience was rewarded.

Springer went straight for the young mare, motioning Lapis to follow. Lapis complied with a quick schooling of his features to that of passivity. The green pegasus immediately explained what it was they were going to do. And Dawn agreed to it with some hesitation. Lapis felt that being a researcher was a silly reason to allow somepony to be questioned. Dawn must have felt that she was in command of the situation. Perhaps that was in his favor? He took a seat opposite her, and expected Springer to sit by him. With the other two listening from the table directly across from them, Lapis felt much confidence.

A thought struck the blue stallion. This was much the exact opposite of his talk with Dusky the night before. In this situation, Dawn had basically come to them. It was the middle of the day, Lapis wasn't alone, and the pony herself was much the reverse of the grey unicorn. And judging from Magicon's report, Dawn liked to use magic a lot. If he recalled correctly, Dusky was never seen doing magic. All so very odd, the near perfect parallels. But enough distraction, he told himself mentally.

"Hello miss Dawn. I do believe we haven't formally met. I am Lapis Lazuli, traveling researcher. I know we had exchanged names while you were attending to Springer, but I really feel I should reintroduce myself." he began, slowly building up momentum. "Now, you may not know this exactly, but terribly odd things have gone on around here. I don't really feel the need to explain the details, but I'm sure you've heard something about it."

"And very recently, a new event occurred. In Springer's room, we found a note of some sort. It seems mysterious. Do you know anything about it?" he asked, but then spoke up once more before the mare could respond. "For the sake of getting much done at one time, I will ask a few questions before you can get a chance to speak. I do hope you do not mind." Lapis just hoped the barrage of questions would not cause some to be forgotten. "Now, I'd like to get to know you better, I suppose. For the sake of knowledge, and giving me a better idea about you. I mean, a young medical pony like yourself must have an interesting backstory."

"How long have you lived in Ponyville? If not all your life, where did you come from? Why did you accept the job of caring for Springer during his down time?" He felt that was enough with personal things like those, so he changed subjects. "Also, about the spell you've cast on the assistant conductor. Are there any side effects? No weird things are expected to happen because of your procedure, correct? Because, as you may not know, Springer has been having nightmares. I'm not one to blame ponies without evidence of some kind, but things point to the nurse treating him." he continued. He was on a roll. He quickly recalled that Magicon had sensed some things. He hoped he wasn't tipping his hand by referring to the red stallion's proficiency. "Another thing. Magicon, my associate, has the ability to sense when large amounts of magic are in the air, or something like that. I'm not a unicorn. I wouldn't know. But the point is, it points to you once more. There isn't a unicorn besides yourself that would fit the description of a frequent magic user. So, what say you to all that, hm?" he concluded.

Nothing else came to him at the moment. He'd need responses to work with, and the presence of the other ponies would certainly sway her one way or the other. If things got out of hoof though, Magicon was sure to do his part. Lapis had confidence the stallion would be ready to contain the situation. Everypony did their part in this. He just hoped his own would give the results he desired.

---

Asteria smiled when Dawn Rider agreed to the nickname. DR sounded much cooler than his real name. She giggled at the idea there could be too many sandwiches. Whatever they didn't finish could be put somewhere safe, right? Either way, it looked like they were about done. Without even asking them, Key and DR agreed with her. Fortunate events were some of the best kind. Key then ordered Asteria to get the drinks. She happily obliged, filling up several. She had no idea how many passengers there were, so she filled up a bunch of cups. With her telekinesis, she could easily transport almost everything at once!

Key told her that she and Dawn Rider could handle the kitchen clean up. It was obvious Key realized Asteria didn't like cleaning as much as just getting things done. It wasn't too fun to clean up. And since DR would be taking care of the sandwiches, Asteria could be done quicker, which meant she could get to have fun while the others took care of things. It wasn't too nice to let them do all the work, but Key should have asked her if she wanted to clean. No taking it back now. Taking a step out of the kitchen, Asteria spotted Lapis at a table with Springer and a blue unicorn. Asteria didn't like the look on the unicorn's face. It spoke of secrets that wouldn't be uncovered easily. Not wanting to waste a second, Asteria passed out all the drinks, careful not to spill a drop.

With that done, Asteria approached her friend. "Hey there Lapis! What are ya up to?" she asked with an innocent grin. Lapis turned away from his quarry to discuss his assistant. "Hello there Asteria, I'm just asking miss Dawn some questions." he replied. Asteria's face took on the appearance of perplexity. Two Dawns? What were the chances? It was lucky, it seemed, that she had nicknamed Dawn Rider. "Need any help?" she asked with a note of affection. That always convinced him. He chuckled a bit before nodding. "Certainly. Just find yourself something to write on, and a pen, too."

Asteria bobbed her head happily and went to the kitchen to find one. During that time, Lapis took the opportunity to explain. "That was my young assistant, Asteria. Don't let her innocent behavior fool you. She's quite capable." He said it with an air of certainty. Asteria was rather creative with her magic sometimes. Still young though, so she needed focus. But beyond that, an able unicorn. To an outsider, it may have seemed he was referring to her abilities as a researcher's assistant. Lapis like to merely hint at things sometimes. And his trust for the mare before him was restrained. She was an unknown, and anypony could turn out to be dangerous.

Asteria had rushed into the kitchen, grabbed one of Ambrosia's notepads and a pen, and zoomed back to Lapis and his company. She stood by, ready and waiting to do her job. She eyed Dawn with curiosity. Her aura was not a pleasant one. As though she seemed fake. Asteria smiled broadly at the mare. She almost gave off the same stench of mystery as Dusky, but not in a good way. Dusky seemed mild, Dawn seemed waiting. Or it could have all been in her imagination. But she watched quietly nonetheless. Taking notes was what she excelled at.

[Electrobolt 2,069]

As Electrobolt was spilling his side of the story out, about what all had happened, he could notice a look of worry appear on Ambrosia's face. As much as he wished he could stop right there, he was too deep into it, and Ambrosia had wanted to know the truth about everything about himself and Key, so he continued. Once he had finished speaking, he took in a quick breath when Ambrosia began to talk, apologizing for doubting him before saying that his tale was unbelievable. And yet, she said that she believed him. Although he would have liked to smile and say it was alright, the resurfaced memories of Trixie's room and Dusky's threat had unnerved him.

 

It was around that time that silence had filled the room, as Ambrosia had stopped for a bit to gather herself. Recalling that she had seemed worried was a cause for concern, as that was not his intention. *I hope I didn't worry her too much...* Electrobolt thought, a concerned look on his face as he closed his eyes. Fortunately for him, the silence did not last for long, as Ambrosia spoke again. What she had said, though, had surprised him. She believed him completely, and thought of him as a good, honest, and hardworking pony. These comments alone would have caused him to blush, had the circumstances been different.

 

She then said that although Key was a thief, she believed him in that she only stole to survive. It was then that Ambrosia said that she wouldn't need to worry about the kitchen before laughing. At the sound of her laughter, he felt a small smile starting to crack on his face. *I'm happy that she's not too worried now,* he thought to himself. It was then that Ambrosia spoke to him in a calm manner, telling him to not worry about the parlor car incident anymore, saying he didn't know any better at the time. She then said that dreams didn't always work in ways that made sense.

 

At that, she then said that perhaps it was coincidental that the voice matched Dusky's, or he heard his voice sometime before and that it carried over to his dream. At this, he thought for a moment. *But I didn't hear Dusky speak yesterday... In fact... I only really met him today, let alone hear him...* Even with that bit of info in his head, he decided to keep it there for now. There was no reason for him to worry Ambrosia any more than he had done already. After that, Ambrosia said that she had strange dreams all the time, and that the thing he encountered in Trixie's room was probably a dream.

 

Even though it felt too real to be a dream, he shrugged it off for now as he listened to Ambrosia continue, hearing her talk about a vase that Lapis told her about. Apparently, the vase had some kind of trap on it that froze him in place while showing all kinds of visions to him, before adding that didn't mean there wasn't any real danger. She then added on, saying that her point was that magic is unpredictable, and that because they were Earth Ponies, there is a lot about magic that they didn't know. As those words echoed in his head, he began to think on the trap in Trixie's room.

 

*What if it's like she said...?* Electrobolt thought. *What if it was just a dream brought on by the trap in Trixie's room, and that there was some kind of magical effect that made the dreams feel real?* He sighed and closed his eyes. No matter how he tried to wrap his brain around it, he still had slight doubts. It was just then that Ambrosia told Electrobolt to not worry, and that they should go to the dining car for lunch before adding that if anything else came up in his dreams, that he could talk with her. She then apologized again, before saying that if he wanted a friend, he could consider her to be one.

 

Deciding that it was about time to move on and go to the dining car, he began to turn around, only to see Ambrosia frozen in place. Curious, he was wondering why she wasn't moving as he started to ask what was wrong. Before he could, though, Ambrosia turned around and began to hug him.after giving an apologetic smile. At this moment, he was wondering what brought this on, but he didn't question it as he began to return Ambrosia's hug. However, around that time...

 

Speaking completely nonchalantly, Vim broke the silence while he was still standing in the open doorway. "You know, there's a few things that I like to see on a train crew. Crew should get along, get to know each other, and get stuff done. Two out of three isn't bad, right?"

 

As soon as he heard these words coming from a familiar voice, Electrobolt's eyes shot wide open as he, along with Ambrosia, saw the conductor standing in the doorway. At that moment, he felt Ambrosia quickly pull herself out of the hug, and he couldn't really blame the cook for that. It was around then that Ambrosia began to try and explain herself, before getting cut off by Vim, who then agreed, saying that family is good. But then he asked who was fixing lunch, to which Ambrosia tried to answer before getting interrupted by Vim yet again. After having finished talking, he started to approach the door to the dining car, stopping only to look over to Electrobolt as he spoke.

 

With a completely serious face, Vim spoke fairly cryptically. "Electrobolt, Ambrosia's a good pony, great cook, and an earth pony. That's not too bad to have around, you know? Still, you're a pretty young colt, you haven't seen to much yet, right? I think you should keep yourself focused more on the long term. See you two at lunch."

 

As soon as he heard the words come out of Vim's mouth, Electrobolt's eyes grew wide. *Wh... What??? Just... What is Vim implying here???* he thought, completely flustered. Before he could say anything though, Vim had left the hallway to enter the dining car. Shaking his head, he took in a deep breath before letting out a long sigh. He needed to clear his mind out somehow. Looking at Ambrosia, he remembered how she had offered to be his friend before hugging him. Remembering that it was a friendly hug, he approached the mare before hugging her again.

 

The hug lasted for a minute before he let go, a friendly smile on his face, as he spoke to Ambrosia. "You know, you're probably right. The whole incident in Trixie's room was probably just a dream, and perhaps I did hear the voice before... Also, I'll be sure to talk to you if I have a dream that I want to talk about." Remembering the exact words that Ambrosia said to offer her friendship, his smile grew a little more. "And, Ambrosia? I'd be more than happy to have you as a friend." At that moment, after he had finished talking, his stomach growled rather noisily. Blushing as he looked down at his stomach, he chuckled sheepishly. Looking back to Ambrosia, he asked, "Um... Perhaps we should go ahead and get some lunch now...?"

[King 5,625]

 

 

"I think that it's more than enough, great work Dawn Rider!" Stepping back to survey Dawn Rider and Asteria's work, Key nodded.

Dawn grinned back at Key, he loved to receive praise for his work, no matter what that work actually entailed.

"Thanks Key, I was hoping I wouldnt have to make too many more" Dawn smiled.

 

 

"And, great work Asteria! Ambrosia may not be here, but I think that we're ready to serve lunch. There's no point in waiting around, really. All she's gonna do when she gets here is do the same thing that we could do right now."

Dawn admired Key's leadership, she looked quite young but seemed very capable at handling things, and even though he was technically the eldest, he did as was instructed just so he could see how this would play out.

 

 

Dawn Rider, could you just start carrying these platters out there. And, Asteria after you get the drinks poured, could you carry them out."

"Sure think Key" Dawn acknowledged Key's order and began to take the platters out, two at a time, partly for efficiency and partly to show off some skill, as was Dawns way. He started placing the platters on the tables for the ponies, making sure not to tip the platters over onto the floor as he did so and returned to the kitchen to retrieve more of the platters to take out, starting a simple routine until he could finish taking them out, which didn't take very long.

 

 

"Uhh, Dawn Rider, could you help me to get this place pulled back into shape? I really don't want Ambrosia to come back and see a huge mess in here, especially because I bet she has more cooking to do. Asteria, you could probably keep an eye on the dining car, I think."

"Yeah Id be glad to help. Nice leadership by the way, not many ponies have a knack for effective leadership" Dawn chuckled as he began to sort out the benches wiping them down with a cloth and placing left over ingredients back in their appropriate places. This sort of work was familiar to him so it wasn't very hard to get into a nice flow of things and Dawn managed to finish many cleaning tasks faster then he expected it would take. Wiping the bench,cleaning the floor,dumping scraps and placing left overs in appropriate locations was simple enough and he completed them in a fast manner.His stomach was rumbling by the end and he could barely wait to tuck into a nice sandwich.

[Magicon 468]

Both Lapis and Arcanel followed Magicon into the car and sat beside him around the table. They stated a few aspirations and worries about what might happen when they talked to Dawn, but something else began nagging at Magicon that made him drown out the other two ponies. His horn was beginning to tingle again, similar to what he had felt earlier in the caboose outside Springer’s room.

 

It was subtle at first as Magicon felt that the magic was the remnants of Dawn’s previous spells. It wasn’t overbearing; it was actually quite under-bearing. Magicon had to keep a clear focus even to feel it. At this point Springer entered and suggested that since Dawn wasn’t here, they should go and find her. Magicon raised an eyebrow. Dawn seemed like too social of a pony to avoid social gatherings with other ponies, especially when such a strong aroma of fruits and sandwiches filled the air of the entire train.

 

While Arcanel, Lapis, and Springer engaged in conversation Magicon turned his head towards the window to concentrate on Dawn’s magic. The scenery became blurry to his vision as he just stared into empty space, focusing his energy on this unusual unicorn. The subtle magic remained but suddenly Magicon felt a spike in the magic, as if somepony was using a good amount of magic right now. It was close too, meaning that he could track it immediately and be right on the tail end of the spell.

He immediately set to work, taking a deep breath, closing his eyes, and ignoring the conversation around him. He instantly felt where the spell originated from and what type of spell it was: an invisibility spell cast one to two cars ahead of him. As he focused on the aurora he had no doubts that Dawn was casting the spell, but for what purpose? Why did she need to be invisible? What was she trying to accomplish?

 

By his own magic, Magicon saw hat Dawn was unmoving. She was invisible but remaining in one place with major movements. Was she listening to something? Magicon opened his eyes and looked toward the front on the train. Nopony had come through the door leading to the forward passenger cars. Turning back towards the window Magicon felt a change in Dawn’s magic: movement.  With his own aurora he followed her as she moved forward of the train. Obviously the conversation had ended, though Magicon did wonder what Dawn was eavesdropping on.

 

But suddenly Magicon felt the disappearance of an invisibility spell and replaced by a much more powerful, though clumsy teleportation spell. The speed caught Magicon by surprise and he broke his connection to prevent himself from straining his magic. He leaned back from the table and took a few more breaths. Checking his magic, he didn’t feel anything was wrong. But the teleportation spell was so clumsy, so badly-timed, and awkward that Magicon felt it might be dangerous to track.

 

Yet his horn had other plans. Despite not actively engaging in it, Magicon could still feel the remnants of the spell settle in the train as Dawn had teleported through the cars, including the one Magicon was in to reach the caboose. Again, Magicon felt that wasn’t the intended destination or even the intended spell, but he felt no more active magic until a healing spell caught his attention. It was short, but powerful and Magicon guessed that Dawn had seemingly injured herself from the hasty teleporting. He silently chuckled to himself.

 

As his horn settled down Magicon resumed attention to the group as they awaited Dawn’s arrival, a sly smile on his face. He had been able to track her throughout the train and was able to match her aurora with the one he felt earlier, confirming his suspicions about Dawn. She was up to something, though what that was was unknown to Magicon. The group didn’t wait long as Dawn entered the dining car and sat at a table across from there’s.

 

Springer signaled Lapis to follow him and they introduced themselves to Dawn. Magicon’s smile faded as looked at Arcanel and gave a nod to him, hoping that the pegasus would understand his meaning. As he listened to the questions Magicon subtlety nodded as Lapis asked direct and necessary questions at Dawn. The questions were excellent and straight-to-the-point. Magicon only hoped Dawn would respond directly as well.

 

He felt it was going well until he heard his own name enter the conversation.

 

 

"Another thing. Magicon, my associate, has the ability to sense when large amounts of magic are in the air, or something like that. I'm not a unicorn. I wouldn't know. But the point is, it points to you once more. There isn't a unicorn besides yourself that would fit the description of a frequentmagic user. So, what say you to all that, hm?" he concluded.

 

His ears sprang to attention, his breath froze, and he practically fell out of his chair because of his leaning backwards. He desperately tried to control himself and only haphazardly appeared to look like he was calm and relaxed. The sudden mention of his name to Dawn had caught him completely by surprise and Magicon now worried that Dawn would be suspicious of him, if she wasn’t already, and might now answer the questions directly.  Worse still was that Lapis foolishly revealed Magicon’s secret to Dawn. He suddenly felt the urge to blast the earth pony into oblivion for exposing his secrets. But he realized he couldn’t in this setting: way to public for Magicon’s taste.

 

He always liked to keep his secrets secret, but Lapis decided that wasn’t to happen. He lowered his brow and turned his head away from the conversation, fuming at his secret being revealed. Now Dawn knew of his secret and would be much more cautious with her magic, making it that much harder for Magicon to detect. She was clearly up to no good.

 

 

[Dave (RayFriedh) 246]

"Sure," Summerfall replied. She moved a bit to give Maple more space. "I wouldn't mind at all. The seats are free. Anyway, hello to you too. My name is Summerfall, or you can just call me Summer. Pleased to meet you."

 

A typewriter cutie mark, how curious, Summerfall thought to herself when she took a glance to Maple's flank. Maybe she was a reporter, or maybe a writer? She pondered whether to start a conversation or not. But since it seemed that the lunch wouldn't be on her table any time soon, might as well do a small talk. When the mare sat down, Summerfall spoke to Maple, "So, forgive me if I'm too curious, but on what occasion you're travelling to Los Pegasus?"

 

"Thank you!" ,

 

With a slight bow of her head, she pulled out a chair that was adjacent to Summerfall, and took her seat.

 

"Oh, and, it's nice to meet you too, Summer! I'm Maple Sands, but you can call me Maple!"

 

Maple didn't get to see the pony's cutie mark yet, as it was hidden under the shadows of the table, along with the roots of her tail. She tried to infer what her talent might be with what little she already knew of her ("Like Sherclop Pones!", she'd thought), but her guessing were cut short when the lime earth pony decided to strike up a conversation.

 

Breaking out of her concentration, she was able to hear the last part of her neighbor's question.

 

"Well, I was hoping to find reference material and inspiration for a book..." she began, "But honestly, it's just the spirit of adventure! I've never gone to a place like Los Pegasus, and I've never gone on a vacation like this- I mean, not that I've ever really needed one, you see..." she paused, from fear of overwhelming Summerfall with an onslaught of words,as she had done so before to others. "It's just some foalish impulse I had, and I guess I just decided to feed it, for once."

 

Stopping to consider about what to say next, she returned the question. "What about you, Summer?"

Two tables were empty, the table across the way from Ice Storm and the table that was between Ice Storm's table and the table immediately on Vim's right. He had almost overlooked it. Seated at this table were two of the newer passengers, Maple and Summerfall, both earth pony mares. Without hesitation, Vim went to meet the two of them again, in a different setting. Taking a seat at their table, "Sorry to drop in on you both, but I'm actually going to be joining in for lunch. By the way, my name's Vim. Don't call me "Mr Conductor" or "sir" or "Mr Vim" or anything like that, just call me Vim." He laughed. "So, how are you two doing so far?"

 

At the sound of a stallion's voice, she turned her head to see the gruff-looking conductor from before. “Oh, hello there, si- Vim!” she stumbled a little with her words.. “I-We were just doing some small-talk. You can join us, if you want!” She glanced over at Summerfall to see if she agreed with the idea, and then turned back to Vim with a friendly smile.

Edited April 26, 2013 by Dave (RayFriedh)

[Starshine 16,333]

"Oh, and, it's nice to meet you too, Summer! I'm Maple Sands, but you can call me Maple!"

 

Summerfall gave the mare a curtly smile as she reintroduced herself. Maple Sands, such a cute name. It was a great match with her auburn mane and eyes. Summerfall briefly noted that the previously empty table next to the Flow and Alex's was already fully occupied with stallions. They were a curious collection of ponies, what with the unicorn was wearing a cape, but the mare decided that it was not important. She raised her ears when Maple Sands answered to her question.

 

"Well, I was hoping to find reference material and inspiration for a book..." she began, "But honestly, it's just the spirit of adventure! I've never gone to a place like Los Pegasus, and I've never gone on a vacation like this- I mean, not that I've ever really needed one, you see..." she paused, from fear of overwhelming Summerfall with an onslaught of words,as she had done so before to others. "It's just some foalish impulse I had, and I guess I just decided to feed it, for once."

 

Stopping to consider about what to say next, she returned the question. "What about you, Summer?"

 

Ah. A writer! If Summerfall was only mildly curious earlier, she was definitely interested now. She chuckled silently when Maple abruptly paused midsentence, as if she changed her mind while the words left her mouth. If she guessed right, the mare was a bit embarrassed to open up about herself. It was understandable, Summerfall thought to herself. I'm as good as any stranger out there. When Maple commented that it was just some foalish impulse, she waved a hoof to indicate that it was all right. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. Travelling over a long distance is a great way to find some inspiration for your books. There is nothing foalish about wanting to see more of this Celestia's green earth."

 

"Anyway, for myself I'm here on a business trip. I work on the Harvest Union, and I need to check up on something that's called Cloud Candy in the Los Pegasus. Nothing big, just your everyday salesponies stuff." Summerfall refrained herself from telling everything and decided to tell Maple only a half of the truth. Maple didn't need to know everything. She was about to ask further about Maple when the conductor suddenly sat on their table.

 

Without hesitation, Vim went to meet the two of them again, in a different setting. Taking a seat at their table, "Sorry to drop in on you both, but I'm actually going to be joining in for lunch. By the way, my name's Vim. Don't call me "Mr Conductor" or "sir" or "Mr Vim" or anything like that, just call me Vim." He laughed. "So, how are you two doing so far?"

 

The Vim's appearance was rather unexpected. Summerfall never really paid any attention to the train's etiquette, but wasn't the conductor of a train supposed to stand on-guard somewhere around the engine? Either way, Summerfall kept her question to herself and gave the red stallion a nod and a smile. When Maple Sands looked over her, Summerfall only gave a shrug. There was nothing wrong with a conductor that decided to join his passengers for a lunch. It was kind of unfortunate that with him sitting here, Dusky would have to stay in the engine room, Summerfall mused to herself.

 

"So far everything has been good, Vim," She replied to the conductor. "The bed is frankly the nicest bed I've ever put my hooves on. I'm positively looking forward for the night, I'm sure the sleep would be fantastic. I have to thank you for that."

 

On reaching her destination, she immediately noticed that there was an empty table on her left, between two other tables. With a smile and a sigh of relief, she entered and took a seat at the table, the seat closest to the window and furthest away from the earth ponies at the table furthest away from the parlor car and kitchen. It was right across from Springer's group, but distracted by her own thoughts, she didn't notice the pegasus.

"Hello Dawn, I'm really quite pleased to see that you're joining us. Would it be alright if my friend, Lapis, joined us? He might have a few questions though, because he's a researcher, of course."

 

Summerfall watched in veiled curiosity as Dawn entered the dining car from the what seemed to be the parlor car. As soon as the baby blue unicorn settled down on an empty table at the middle of the car, a green pegasus and a dark blue earth pony stallion from the table across from hers approached her, the green pegasus even quickly took the seat next to her. Summerfall raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Seriously? The pegasus introduced his friend, Lapis, who was supposed to be a researcher. It was a somewhat peculiar for a researcher to question random mares on a train. Summerfall's ears stood straight to eavesdrop their conversation, but her interest abruptly vanished as soon as Lapis mentioned something of a strange happening on the train that may or may not be related to the poor unicorn mare. The more questions she overheard from Lapis, the more she was certain that it was one of those crazy conspiracy talks. Nope, not my business, she mused to herself. Summerfall looked straight at Vim's eyes and nodded to Dawn's table, hoping that maybe Vim would handle the situation over there when things took the southern route.

 

Asteria trotted out of the kitchen and then passed over a glass of water to every table on the train. Closely after her, Dawn Rider placed a platter of fruit sandwiches on the tables. Summerfall thanked the pegasus as he went back to the kitchen to retrieve more sandwiches. She sniffed the fruity aroma in the air. "By Celestia, finally!" She grabbed the closest glass and sipped the content a little bit before directing her attention back to Maple Sands. "Anyway, Maple, how many books you have written? I believe I'm quite an avid reader, I would love to read some of your books if you have their titles."

Edited April 26, 2013 by Starshine

[Flow 1,628]

As Flow and Alex stepped into the dining room, the aroma of the food reached her snout in an instant, it always tempted her into eating, "Boy am I starving, wonder what today's choices would be. whatever it is it must be something very tasty!" She thought.

 

 

 

Alex took a seat in an empty booth and motioned for Flow to join him.

 

 

@, 

 

When Alex motioned off to her to join him, Flow said to him, "Thank you Alex, um..that's very kind of you." She happily joined him, sweating a bit "Gee, I just don't know why I feel really excited right now, could it be...because I'm with Alex? That pony that works closely with Rainbow Dash? Probably."

 

 

 

"Okay, let's see what they got to serve for lunch."  Alex said aloud to her.

 

 

"Okay...but please, not too loud" She paused for a while "Thank you." she said, giggling afterwards while looking straight into his eyes. "His eyes...they look.......amazing,"

 

 

OOC: I apolagize for the short post, I usually am not like this, but I just don't have so much ideas right now.

 

Edited April 26, 2013 by Flow (Naru)

[Key Gear 6,663]

Key watched both Dawn Rider and Asteria out of the corner of her eye as she continued to work. She was ecstatic, and she was really looking forward to shocking the cook with how well lunch had gone. Key turned her head to stare when Dawn Rider carried plates out two at a time. After that, because of her request for help, he dived into cleaning with an enthusiasm that Key couldn't quite begin to match. It seemed as though the task was familiar to him.

 

In both cleaning and in serving the food, the pegasus had been both quick and efficient. She didn't know much about him, but she was certain that he had to be some kind of athletic pony. She shook her head as she thought about her observation. Join the crowd... There's already a couple of athletes on this train. On further consideration, Key's thoughts continued. We'll have a race when we get to Los Pegasus. I'll take bets or something... I wonder who's fastest.

 

His stomach was rumbling by the end and he could barely wait to tuck into a nice sandwich.

Key's sensitive ears picked up the sound of Dawn's rumbling stomach. She took the opportunity to poke fun at him. "Yeah, Dawn, you should really tell your stomach to keep the noise down, I'm trying to think." While she was talking, she grabbed a fruit sandwich, put it on a plate, and gave it to Dawn Rider, along with a glass of cider. "Maybe this'll help? I'll get something for myself in a few. I think you needed a break more than me."

 

She took a look at the kitchen. There were just a few, small things that were still out of place. She started on them while she continued speaking to Dawn Rider. "I kinda think that you did most of the work in here actually. You worked in a kitchen before? You didn't seem to sure about those sandwiches, so I'm guessing that you weren't a cook?" The kitchen door opened, and Dusky entered, grabbed a plate with a vegetable sandwich on it, added a glass of water, and then left, carefully balancing his plate. Key gawked.

 

"Wow... He's... He's pretty quiet for such a big, awkward pony." She took a moment to think about something, and then she seemingly dismissed the thought. "Dawn, are you any good at athletic stuff?"

 

---

 

Each time Vim interrupted her, Ambrosia grew more frustrated and embarrassed. She never even considered that the conductor was just toying with her. His appearance and his remarks had been timed perfectly to distress her. She was particularly upset because she had finally begun to understand and appreciate Electrobolt's situation, and now Vim was unintentionally destroying the moment. Ambrosia was relieved when it seemed that Vim was departing. In her mind, she was already preparing an apology for Electrobolt. It was her impulsive hug that had really been the start of the situation.

 

"Electrobolt, Ambrosia's a good pony, great cook, and an earth pony. That's not too bad to have around, you know? Still, you're a pretty young colt, you haven't seen to much yet, right? I think you should keep yourself focused more on the long term. See you two at lunch."

Ambrosia blinked. Vim's remarks were certainly odd, but she caught on quickly. At that point, she'd had quite enough of the entire situation. Too emotionally exhausted to be any more embarrassed than she already was, she sat, completely miserable, while the conductor finished his statement. This was not what she had intended to happen at all, and this really wasn't the note that she had intended to end her conversation with Electrobolt on. Vim had made her look like a rather silly filly. After Vim left, Ambrosia looked at Electrobolt with a plainly sad expression. She was sorry that he had joined her on the receiving end of Vim's odd personality.

 

Shaking his head, he took in a deep breath before letting out a long sigh. He needed to clear his mind out somehow. Looking at Ambrosia, he remembered how she had offered to be his friend before hugging him. Remembering that it was a friendly hug, he approached the mare before hugging her again.

 

The hug lasted for a minute before he let go, a friendly smile on his face, as he spoke to Ambrosia.

The hug took Ambrosia by surprise, and she let her sadness fade away, smiling instead. She had expected Electrobolt to be too embarrassed to be bothered with her after Vim's remarks. Instead, the colt had allowed Vim's statements to enter into one ear and out the other one. She hugged him back, savoring the moment for what it was, a continuation of her earlier gesture and a statement that Electrobolt held nothing against her. She also took his hug to mean that, in fact, he had accepted her offer of friendship. After all, he could have hastily followed Vim to the dining car rather than staying behind to reassure her.

 

"You know, you're probably right. The whole incident in Trixie's room was probably just a dream, and perhaps I did hear the voice before... Also, I'll be sure to talk to you if I have a dream that I want to talk about." Remembering the exact words that Ambrosia said to offer her friendship, his smile grew a little more. "And, Ambrosia? I'd be more than happy to have you as a friend." At that moment, after he had finished talking, his stomach growled rather noisily. Blushing as he looked down at his stomach, he chuckled sheepishly. Looking back to Ambrosia, he asked, "Um... Perhaps we should go ahead and get some lunch now...?"

"Actually..." She was interrupted when the door to the next passenger car opened, for the second time. This time, Dusky stood in the doorway for a moment, glancing cooly from one to the other. Ambrosia squinted back at the engineer. It was highly unusual for Dusky to be anywhere but the train engine while the train was in motion. Mercifully, he decided to ignore the two of them completely and he entered the dining car. The cook's eyes followed him suspiciously.

 

After Dusky had departed, Ambrosia took a deep breath. "Electrobolt, I think you're right. We really should go ahead and get something to eat. We should also keep an eye on Dusky while we're at it..." She started to enter the dining car but paused again. "Oh... And... Thank you for that hug. I guess this sounds silly, but I really needed it." She grinned, determined to shed her earlier mood. "Now, I think we'll be best friends forever, right? Vim can say all the crazy things he wants." With those words, Ambrosia entered the dining car and made her way to the kitchen.

 

Immediately on entering the dining car, Ambrosia saw that somepony had already taken the time to put out the plates containing the sandwiches. Not only that, but drinks had been placed as well. She was impressed. The sandwiches all looked rather neatly put together, and the variety on display was wonderful to see. Asteria, Key, and Dawn Rider had done an excellent job. She paused to glare disapprovingly at Vim before she took in the sight of the rest of the passengers. To her surprise, Dusky had taken up a seat across from one of the newer passengers, Ice Storm.

 

Lapis and Asteria were seated with Springer and Dawn at another table. From what Ambrosia could tell, whatever the conversation was, it was not an altogether pleasant one. She would have to wait until later to thank Asteria for the wonderful job that she had done. She didn't see Key Gear or Dawn Rider, so she assumed that they were still busy in the kitchen. For the moment, Ambrosia decided that she needed to keep an eye on Dusky. She motioned to Electrobolt to join her at the table across from the engineer.

 

After she took a seat, she spoke to Electrobolt, just loudly enough so that only he would hear. "Hey, Electrobolt... I've never actually seen Dusky join the passengers for lunch right after starting the train. I think that he might be doing something odd. Just like he did yesterday, with Magicon? We should probably keep an eye on this. Ummm, but if you went to grab sandwiches and drinks from the kitchen that would make us sorta blend in. Just tell them that I'll be back there in a few moments... I'll keep my ears on Dusky for now. I really don't think Vim's paying attention. He never really does when Dusky's concerned."

 

---

 

The train was in motion. From his area in the train engine, Dusky watched the terrain fly by as the train smoothly picked up speed. Normally, it was at such a time as this that he would allow himself a wide smile. Even after all of the years that he had spent working aboard trains, Dusky loved the feel of the mechanisms in motion. Trains were, in the scheme of things, simple machines, but there was something in their function that he felt oddly endearing.

 

However, he wasn't smiling. In fact, his face had returned to the same humorless frustration that it had first expressed when Vim entered the train engine. The source of his agitation was Dawn. More specifically, it was the book that he was certain she had left. It was, in every way, identical to the book that he himself had stored in that location, but he was certain that it wasn't the same. It couldn't be. The room had been set perfectly. Surely, somepony had taken the first book. Then, Dawn had planted the second one. It was the only logical possibility for why the annoying unicorn had appeared when she did.

 

Dusky grimaced. If he had the use of his magic, then it would be a simple matter to determine the truth. He knew the appropriate spell to use, he knew exactly how it could be cast. He would have instantly been able to determine the right way to approach the problem. He left his position and went to retrieve the small black tome from the floor where he had left it. Blank pages. His own trick was now being used to make a mockery of him.

 

Despite his desire to remain in the train engine, Dusky knew that he needed to discern the truth of the current situation. But, lacking magic, he would require the services of a unicorn. He quickly reflected on the passengers that he was familiar with. Magicon? Dusky sniffed. He was certain that the red unicorn would relish the chance to deny assistance. Asteria? Dusky knew, immediately, that enlisting her help would create the possibility of information leaking to Lapis. Lapis was a curious pony, it was better to leave him in the shadows for the moment.

 

Asking Dawn was completely out of the question. If the book was fake, and she was the one that had planted it, then she should have every reason to deceive him. He hated the entire situation, but there was only one thing that he could reasonably do. He would need to check among the newer passengers for a unicorn of some level of skill. With a sigh, he accepted that this meant that he would need to join the passengers for lunch, it was the best chance that he would have of seeing all of the new passengers in a single place.

 

He stored the book in a safe location, out of reach and out of sight of normal ponies. Then, he left the train engine. With his head held high, Dusky kept his eyes open for stray passengers as he made his way to the dining car. He stopped, only briefly, to peer at Ambrosia and Electrobolt in the hall outside of the dining car. He continued after a slight delay, they were both unimportant ponies. Right now, he had an objective that required neither of them.

 

On entering the dining car, he quickly took stock of the room. With disappointment, he realized that there was only one unicorn that he was not already familiar with, a rather unassuming looking icy mare seated by herself at a table not far from the kitchen. Dusky raised an eyebrow. Based on what he had heard of Ambrosia's lunches, it was unusual for a passenger to find themselves seated at a table alone. With a small smile, Dusky reflected that the probable reason for this was that somepony else was running the lunchtime meal.

 

At the moment, she couldn't decide whether she should interact with anypony else or wait until they interacted with her, since it appeared most of the train knew each other already, or at least, most of the ponies in this car already.

Mostly out of curiosity, Dusky decided to poke into the kitchen and see who it was. While, ostensibly, entering the kitchen for a snack, he observed that it was Key Gear and a pegasus that he was unfamiliar with. He left the kitchen with his plate in his mouth and his glass balanced carefully on top. He placed both at Ice Storm's table, with care. Then, before sitting down, he introduced himself. "Hello, my name is Dusky Coal. I'm actually the train's engineer. I hope you don't mind, but I would like to join you for lunch."

 

He made the assumption that the unicorn would be eager for company, and he sat immediately across from her. He took a bite from his vegetable sandwich. Dusky's tall, dark form towered over the unicorn mare, but he smiled charmingly as he continued talking, his soft sleepy voice carrying the strong hint of friendliness. "Might I be so bold as to inquire what your name is? And... Again, if you excuse my curiousity, I can't help but notice your frigid appearance? Are you from the northern areas of Equestria by chance?"

 

---

 

Dawn's thoughts circulated in the brief moments before Springer's researcher friend took a seat across from her. Springer's behavior and Lapis's sudden interest in her all seemed relatively odd. Dawn's thoughts immediately went back to the earlier incident, where she had healed Springer from his illness. She wondered if, perhaps, Lapis was interested in knowing more about the spell. Her smile grew friendlier. She would be happy to talk about this.

 

"Hello miss Dawn. I do believe we haven't formally met. I am Lapis Lazuli, traveling researcher. I know we had exchanged names while you were attending to Springer, but I really feel I should reintroduce myself." he began, slowly building up momentum. "Now, you may not know this exactly, but terribly odd things have gone on around here. I don't really feel the need to explain the details, but I'm sure you've heard something about it."

Dawn's smile grew strained, and her enthusiasm completely dissipated. This wasn't how she had expected the conversation to begin. This wasn't the way that a conversation was supposed to begin if it would be about her healing spell. She nodded in acknowledgement of Lapis's introduction, but she no longer felt welcoming towards Lapis's questions. She glanced to her side to see Springer, but the pegasus was maintaining an almost expressionless face.

 

"And very recently, a new event occurred. In Springer's room, we found a note of some sort. It seems mysterious. Do you know anything about it?" he asked, but then spoke up once more before the mare could respond. "For the sake of getting much done at one time, I will ask a few questions before you can get a chance to speak. I do hope you do not mind." Lapis just hoped the barrage of questions would not cause some to be forgotten. "Now, I'd like to get to know you better, I suppose. For the sake of knowledge, and giving me a better idea about you. I mean, a young medical pony like yourself must have an interesting backstory."

Dawn leaned back in her seat at the mention of a note, and her smile completely faded. Why was this being brought up to her? What could Lapis have possibly known that caused him to think that she was involved in the note? It didn't make any sense. Lapis's mention of her backstory was greeted by a frown. If Lapis was really a researcher, just asking questions for his research, then such a personal question seemed out of place. For a second time, she glanced at Springer, and, again, she noted that he was completely expressionless. She began to feel trapped...

 

"How long have you lived in Ponyville? If not all your life, where did you come from? Why did you accept the job of caring for Springer during his down time?" He felt that was enough with personal things like those, so he changed subjects. "Also, about the spell you've cast on the assistant conductor. Are there any side effects? No weird things are expected to happen because of your procedure, correct? Because, as you may not know, Springer has been having nightmares. I'm not one to blame ponies without evidence of some kind, but things point to the nurse treating him." he continued.

Dawn's mouth dropped open in the face of the barrage of questions. In particular, her eyes shot wildly wide when the question of her care of Springer arose. Just absorbing those questions was so distracting that she barely even registered the fact that Lapis asked her the only question that she had originally anticipated, the question about the spell. She was stunned. She didn't understand what she had done to warrant this kind of attention being focused on her. Absentmindedly, she considered urging Springer to move so that she could leave her seat and the dining car, but Lapis's next words refocused her attention.

 

He was on a roll. He quickly recalled that Magicon had sensed some things. He hoped he wasn't tipping his hand by referring to the red stallion's proficiency. "Another thing. Magicon, my associate, has the ability to sense when large amounts of magic are in the air, or something like that. I'm not a unicorn. I wouldn't know. But the point is, it points to you once more. There isn't a unicorn besides yourself that would fit the description of a frequent magic user. So, what say you to all that, hm?" he concluded.

At the mention of Magicon's name and his ability, Dawn froze and her growing sense of panic froze as well. Her thoughts zeroed in on the name, Magicon. When she had met him, earlier that day, the encounter had gone poorly for her. To Dawn, it had seemed that a normal greeting had turned into a somewhat tense confrontation, and it had only been because she knew his name. Magicon didn't trust her. He wasn't a friend. Now, it was obvious to her. Magicon was the one behind this turn of events. He had detected her magic and jumped to conclusions, wrong ones.

 

For whatever reason, the red unicorn had some grudge against her. Now, he was trying to turn both Lapis and Springer against her. When Lapis and Springer had initially began their confrontation, she was certain that she had done something, unintentionally, to antagonize them. Now, she knew that this wasn't the case. Instead, it had to be Magicon, testing her and challenging her. Perhaps, Lapis was participating as well, but she felt that Springer was probably just as neutral as he seemed. Now, knowing this, she had a plan of action. She steeled herself. She would not allow Magicon to win and to humiliate her.

 

She decided to carefully answer all of Lapis's questions. She wanted the earth pony's trust, but she also wanted to demonstrate the flaw's in allowing Magicon's opinion of her to sway their thoughts and actions. Clearing her throat, she then spoke, conveying each word clearly and plainly just as she had when speaking to Magicon earlier in the day. It was a technique that allowed her to mask and control her agitation. Thinking fast, she decided to maintain her frowning expression. A smile, after her earlier reaction, would have seemed far too out of place.

 

"Well... To all of that, I intend to say what you want me to say - the truth. I am not certain about the note in Springer's room, but I do know that something happened in Springer's room. That's why I went there, just to check on him. I saw that everything was fine, so I left. That's all. I don't know anything about any mysterious notes. Why should I? I'm just a medical pony, that's all. I came from Canterlot. I arrived in Ponyville as a student transferred from Canterlot, which is where I was studying magic, healing magic. Other than that, there's not much to my story. I have been having some memory problems myself, lately, but I can take care of those, myself. I don't need any help. I think I've always been forgetful."

 

With that done, Asteria approached her friend. "Hey there Lapis! What are ya up to?" she asked with an innocent grin. Lapis turned away from his quarry to discuss his assistant. "Hello there Asteria, I'm just asking miss Dawn some questions." he replied. Asteria's face took on the appearance of perplexity. Two Dawns? What were the chances? It was lucky, it seemed, that she had nicknamed Dawn Rider. "Need any help?" she asked with a note of affection. That always convinced him. He chuckled a bit before nodding. "Certainly. Just find yourself something to write on, and a pen, too."

Dawn turned to look at the source of the interruption. Glancing from Asteria to Lapis and back again, her eyes twinkled for a moment before they returned to their normal appearance. It was immediately clear to her that both ponies cared a great deal for each other. The affection in Asteria's voice was clearly evident, as was the consideration that Lapis bestowed to the younger pony. In her mind, Dawn reasoned that Asteria was, to Lapis, much like her cats were to her. As if on cue, Lapis introduced the younger pony.

 

Asteria bobbed her head happily and went to the kitchen to find one. During that time, Lapis took the opportunity to explain. "That was my young assistant, Asteria. Don't let her innocent behavior fool you. She's quite capable." He said it with an air of certainty.

"I'm certain that she is quite capable." Dawn remarked considerately, returning a small smile to her face. "Now, as I was saying... I took the job of caring for Springer for two reasons. First, I felt certain and I feel certain that this is what I am meant to do. I have to care for Springer. For the second reason, I was asked by the train's conductor. What else should I have done?" She shrugged and grinned. "I'm sorry. If you are expecting some deeper motivation, I don't have it. I am just what I seem to be, nothing more and nothing less."

 

"I'm a medical pony. Now... The spell that I cast on Springer was basically a powerful spell to break a spell that had been cast on him previously. The spell that he had been under was one that I think I recognized from my studies in Canterlot. I only think that I recognized it, because I thought that the symptoms seemed familiar. He seemed like he was lost and drifting further away. Adrift like a boat in a storm, I think. With my own magic, I could sense this. The spell had tried to 'borrow' him or his thoughts, but whoever had cast it was interrupted or something before they could finish. Because of this, he was wasting away. It was like not putting the top on a bottle of water."

 

Clearly in her element, Dawn gathered confidence as she spoke, directing her full attention to Lapis. "He'll be fine. My spell should have no long-lasting effects, but his recovery won't be instant. It will take time for his strength to return, and even then..." Dawn trailed off as she considered something that Lapis had mentioned, earlier. "You say that he's been having problems with nightmares? Were they nightmares or were they memories? Because, if they were memories, then this might be a memory that was lost in the original spell? I need to know more about the symptoms before I can make a diagnoses. However... Really..." Dawn's face grew serious.

 

"All of this is pointless if you don't trust me. I don't know what Magicon has told you about me, but I promise you, I'm a good pony. I'm here to keep Springer safe, no matter what happens. That's what I was asked to do, and that's what I'm going to do. None of you can stop me. As for your associate's ability to sense magic. If he's so fantastic, then why didn't he sense the spell that was put on Springer? Also... Why isn't he here to ask me questions himself? Why did he send you and this filly, Lapis? I'm not afraid of Magicon. If he wants to confront me, then he shouldn't send others. He should come to me, himself. He shouldn't be afraid of me."

 

Dawn glanced at Asteria for a moment and then back to Lapis. "Just another thing... This is really something that is about magic. I think that this is why you mentioned Magicon's ability to me? Well. Magicon seems like he knows a lot about magic. Maybe you should ask him to join us? I know that Asteria is capable, but if you really are suspicious of my magic usage, then a seasoned unicorn would be better able to ask the right question, don't you think? Lapis, you are intelligent, I think, but... You probably aren't as familiar with magic as Magicon is. Why don't you ask him to join us? I would like to talk to him." Dawn smiled broadly.

 

 

(OOC: There's no holes in the story. What happened to Springer didn't actually involve magic, thus, it wasn't detected.)

 

 

---

 

At the sound of a stallion's voice, she turned her head to see the gruff-looking conductor from before. “Oh, hello there, si- Vim!” she stumbled a little with her words.. “I-We were just doing some small-talk. You can join us, if you want!” She glanced over at Summerfall to see if she agreed with the idea, and then turned back to Vim with a friendly smile.

Vim winced as the mare stumbled over his name and stuttered. One of the things that he disliked about being a conductor was the fact that it was harder to just walk in and casually blend in with the passengers. His appearance didn't help matters much. He was fully aware that he looked somewhat intimidating. It was something that he always tried to downplay, because it had never done him any favors in a social situation.

 

"So far everything has been good, Vim," She replied to the conductor. "The bed is frankly the nicest bed I've ever put my hooves on. I'm positively looking forward for the night, I'm sure the sleep would be fantastic. I have to thank you for that."

The mare's primary thought was sleep? Vim managed to limit his amusement to a slight twinkle in his eye, but he thought to himself that he now knew the reason that Dusky had offered her a free train ticket. This was plainly a mare after the gloomy and sleepy engineer's own heart. He nodded in appreciation of her thanks and wondered how familiar she was with Dusky.

 

"Hello Dawn, I'm really quite pleased to see that you're joining us. Would it be alright if my friend, Lapis, joined us? He might have a few questions though, because he's a researcher, of course." Dawn looked strangely at Springer, before recovering herself. "Sure! Why would I mind? That'd be great! Sitting here and eating by myself wouldn't be any fun anyway." She smiled at Springer.

The sound of familiar voices drew Vim's attention to the table in front of his own. With a studious expression, Vim watched the exchange between Dawn, Springer, and Lapis. His observation was only interrupted by the sight of Asteria placing drinks at every table and Dawn Rider carrying platters of sandwiches. At first, he was surprised, but the smell and the visual quality of the sandwiches eased his concerns.

 

It was around this time that Dusky entered the dining car. Vim watched the engineer with some curiosity. Then, he watched the entirety of the dining car. Even in his younger years, he had been an expert observer of ponies. In his older years, he had refined the habit into an artform. While he enjoyed the sandwich that had been placed in front of him, Vim's eyes scanned the dining car. He had a lot to observe. He only interrupted his vigil to smile and wave at Ambrosia when she glared at him.

 

 

 

(OOC: I'm assuming, reasonably, that Asteria and Dawn Rider didn't drop food and drinks off at empty spots on empty tables. Even if they did, I'm going to assume that they didn't... Makes it easier for me.

 

Also, Dusky's entrance... Yeah, that was tricky to write into a crowded dining car. With regards to timeline, assume that he entered after Asteria was seated with Lapis. Ambrosia and Bolt entered after that. If I screwed anything up, I blame the fact that it is 5 am and I am long overdue for sleeeeep.

 

Strangely, I don't have enough to write for Springer yet. Lapis, Magicon, and/or Arcanel are sure to give me plent to work with tomorrow... Errr... Today? I don't even know anymore...)

 

 

[King 5,625]

 

 

She took the opportunity to poke fun at him. "Yeah, Dawn, you should really tell your stomach to keep the noise down, I'm trying to think."

Dawn smirked at Key's remark "Very funny Key, If it wasn't for the fact that Im not laughing, Id think you were a comedian" Dawn said jokingly as he finished up a few smaller tasks around the kitchen.

 

 

While she was talking, she grabbed a fruit sandwich, put it on a plate, and gave it to Dawn Rider, along with a glass of cider. "Maybe this'll help? I'll get something for myself in a few. I think you needed a break more than me."

Dawn took the plate and cider, placing them on a clean part of the Kitchen bench so he could eat and talk to Key at the same time."Thanks Key, but Im fine...just hungry is all" Dawn said as he took a bite out of the sandwich, chewing it thoroughly before swallowing...it was a simply divine sandwich, or so Dawn thought to himself as he munched along, thinking to himself about the upcoming trip once again, many thought raced across his mind, mainly having to do with where he would go after Las Pegasus...maybe he'd come back on the train aswell, he wasn't sure at this point, he just wanted to eat his sandwich in peace.

 

 

"I kinda think that you did most of the work in here actually. You worked in a kitchen before? You didn't seem to sure about those sandwiches, so I'm guessing that you weren't a cook?"

"Uhh...not quite. I helped my mother alot before I left, and when I was younger the local Diner would give me some chores to do for a few bits, general work really, nothing too complicated. My main job was leading the weather team, It was a fun job really..."Dawn trailed off before he got stuck in a situation where he wouldn't be able to reply.Luckily he was interrupted by a Pony apparently named Dusky.

 

 

The kitchen door opened, and Dusky entered, grabbed a plate with a vegetable sandwich on it, added a glass of water, and then left, carefully balancing his plate. Key gawked."Wow... He's... He's pretty quiet for such a big, awkward pony."

Dawn followed Key in the gawking, before shaking his head to reply to Key. "Yeah he seemed rather...glum, I dunno..."Dawn trailed off again taking a bite of his sandwich and swallowing it quickly this time, almost choking on it but managing to cover that fact up from Key...he knew she would say something if she knew.

 

 

 

"Dawn, are you any good at athletic stuff?"

"Huh...Uhh yeah Id say I am. I was top of my flight class and I taught my..."Dawn trailed off for the third time trying not to mention his sister. "I taught others how to fly and such. That was another one of my hobbies, teaching young colts and filly's some flying tricks" Dawn smiled as he remembered how much fun he had doing that."How about you, you seem to be fairly athletic" Dawn asked.

[Ice Storm 1,020]

~~Ice Storm~~

 

The fact that almost everypony else in the room seemed to want to talk to everypony other than her was somewhat discouraging to Ice Storm, and at this point, she herself would feel rude for barging in on a conversation where she may or may not be particularly wanted in. Without having many other in the way of options, she simply sat back and observed everypony. For the most part, it seemed like the normal ponies you'd see on a train. That was, until another blue unicorn came into the room that reminded her a lot of herself. She found it amusing, though could see the potential for confusion at a later point. As soon as she came into the room, the group of ponies that came in from the back of the car approached her. Well, a couple of them did.

 

From what she caught, the one that was asking all the questions was Lapis, and the other one was named Springer. Apparently Springer had some sort of illness or condition, and it sounded as if Lapis was starting off asking about the care. However the questioning turned a bit... well, uncouth, in her opinion as the tone of the questions had started to get more and more negative, almost like the unicorn was being interrogated. She heard something about an unusual event occurring in his room, and a not being found. All of this over a silly piece of paper? Ice thought to herself. Also, what happened? How did this pony get sick, and is it contagious? she remained in thought. If it was, was would he have been allowed on the train to begin with? That would be dangerous to the other passengers. No, it can't be that. Surely no train conductor is stupid enough to let a contagious pony in an enclosed environment with others. That's just asking for an epidemic... she thought again. Just then though the interrogating pony mentioned that his assistant could detect whenever a large amount of magic was in the air, and that it again pointed at her, as she was being the only frequent magic user in the room. Big bucking deal, we live in a world the very sun and moon are raised and lowered by magic for ponysake... she scowled silently.

 

It was now the unicorns turn to speak, and the way she explained everything, made Ice question the motives of the other pony in the room. The unicorn explained that she was indeed a medical pony, Hmm.. I'll need to make a mental note to talk to her later about my overnight issue... she thought as the unicorn also mentioned that she knew that an event had taken place in the room.  As to what it was, or how the note got there she didn't know, but the reason that she went there was to do her job and check up on her patient. She further went into detail stating that the spell that she had cast on him was a remedy to a spell that had already been placed upon him. That she had recognized it, and to put simply the effects of the spell she was trying to rectify was like leaving a cap off of a bottle of water. Eventually it will evaporate.

 

She also made a note that the recovery wouldn't be immediately. Something such as this would take time, however she did mention that the nightmares were knew, but she couldn't know for sure if they were nightmares or lost memories. that being said, she couldn't make any sort of diagnosis without further examination, and that if they didn't trust her, all of this was pointless. That she didn't know what this Magicon had told him but she was a good pony, and that she was here to keep him safe. If Magicon feared her that much, the he should have been the one asking the questions, especially if the questions were magic related since magic was apparently his specialty. Ice couldn't agree more, though she personally felt that this entire questioning was pointless, and she was now infuriated. She was about to say something herself until another unicorn entered the car.

 

This pony seemed to be shadowy in color, and held mostly an emotionless expression about it. He grabbed a plate for his lunch and came and sat down across from her. Of all the times a pony could pick, this was possibly the best time. Otherwise she was bound to open her mouth and cause even more issues. She personally hated extreme rudeness and disrespect, and this was pretty well up there in both accounts for her. I guess I'll just have to bite my tongue for now... she thought as her sandwiches were placed in front of her. She happily grabbed at one with her magic. Or my sandwich.... biting that seems to be a lot better option right now, she though as her mouth exploded and her expression immediately turned around into a much happier mood.

 

It was then that the unicorn in front of her decided to speak up to her. He introduced himself, and stated that he hoped she didn't mind him joining her for lunch. She simply nodded to him before her eyes shot open a bit realizing the question then shook her head before swallowing. "No, of course I don't mind!" she replied happily to him. He then asked about her coloration, and asked if she was from the frigid north, as well as inquiring her name. She smiled again taking another quick bit of her sandwich, and swallowing before starting.

 

"Well, for starters my name is Ice Storm, and depending on how you look at things I'm from a couple different places. If where I'm from is implying where I was born, then I came from Fillydelphia... though... after being abandoned there... I try to think of that place as little as possible. If it implies where I'm currently residing, then I'm actually from Ponyville. I own a nice little parlor in town called Frozen Delights. It's nothing super fancy, but, using my magic, I can create any frozen treat that anypony could dream of," she told him with a smile.

 

~~Wind Dancer~~

 

The response that Wind Dancer received wasn't the one that she had been expecting. "Free?" she repeated with a bit of disbelief. Free things never happened to her. In fact, most ponies tried to take advantage of the fact that she was just a street performer and hold things over her. That was one of the reasons that she liked Ponyville. For the most part the ponies there were nice, and fair with their priced. They didn't raise them just because it was her at the market to take every last bit that she had. At first she didn't know what to say to the act of kindness. Until she heard that the meals were actually included with the ticket. So that's why the tickets were so expensive... None of the other trains are like that... she thought to herself.

 

She also perked up at the mentioning that being completely alone wasn't an efficient way to spend the train's journey. That she should at least make the most of her time and that he thought that she would enjoy coming to the dining car just to interact with the others. He then excused himself though as he mentioned that he was running late for something. She sighed and look into the dining car as he entered it. there were an awful lot of ponies that were in there. Perhaps he was right. At least, she hoped that he was.

 

With a few more quick thoughts, she stepped down out of her chair and made her way to the car door. She took a deep breath, and when she got inside. She looked around for an empty place to sit. She saw Ice sitting there, but she looked to be deep in thought, and she didn't really want to bother her. Not to mention, the fact that Ice had already done so much for her today, that she didn't want to seem like she was following her now like a lost little foal. Instead, she made her way over to the table closest to the kitchen. There were two earth ponies there. One was bright green in color, and the other a vibrant yellow. Well... here it goes... she thought to herself before speaking. "Um... Excuse me... But... do you mind if I sit here with you?" Wind asked in a very soft, polite, yet shy tone of voice.