[IC] Equestrian Radio Show's Adventure Variety Hour: Explorers of STOMP

CoffeeHorse · Feb 2, 2022

[THERE APPEARS TO BE A MISSING ZAMUEL POST HERE]

Static stands up and gives a glance to Night Cap. Guess we can iron out specifics later. Don't want to keep her waiting.

"Oh, yes, ma'am," Amber said, trying to seem very much as if she hadn't been humming to herself as Ms. Flint entered. She had been uncovering another tile to experiment with the interlocking mechanisms at the edges. She quickly whisked the tiles away into their specimen trays and returned them to their cabinet. "I'm embarrassed to say that I'd nearly forgotten."

Snowy Skies stows his supplies on the janitorial cart and nods. "I'll just put this away and be right in." As he starts pushing the cart he turns to Rhapsody saying, "Talking to you was really fun! We should do this again, finish our chat about musicals some time." before hastily exiting the planetarium.

He'd meant that statement. Talking to Rhapsody had been an...interesting experience. Between the teasing, the jabbing, the grappling for control, the eventual armistice...he'd stopped checking himself. He'd just spoken, gone along with the flow. A Scary idea, but very freeing. It was also...like a smaller scale version of watching Light Fantastic dance. The music hadn't left (it was already back in force), but it had quieted down. He had really just lost himself in the conversation, in the flow of information. And he had enjoyed it. Curious.

Today had already turned into quite the interesting day, and this was liable to make it even more interesting. Finding himself before Brisk Iron's office (sans janitorial supplies), he knocks on the door.

"With me?" said Light Fantastic, "Whatever for?"

Rhapsody Blinks as Steel Flint entered. "I will be there as soon as I finish up a couple minor things." She replies with a smile and then looks over to Snowy. "Indeed, we really should continue this sometime. It isn't often that I get to speak of my musical interests with someone that has a similar level of understanding of them." She replies, the unicorn might have greater skill and knowledge of certain musics then she does, but outside of her sisters their were few other music lovers in her life.

She quickly files away some of the paperwork and finishes some of the easy tasks that she'd been drawn out as she had talked, and then quickly makes her way to Brisk's office. She didn't have the best feelings about this, seeing the state the boss was in this morning. She casually had to wonder what kind of bombshell was gonna be dropped on them now.

Static had completely forgotten about the meeting. So when they were called to the office, he thought he and Night Cap were there to discuss the short film they found.

When he saw the rest of the STOMP team gathering, however...Ooooooh...right!.

If she's calling the entire team...COIN invasion? Apocalyptic catastrophy? Date with Anchors? Craaaaaaaaaap!

The door opened to allow the currently present STOMP members to enter. There were several chairs for everypony to sit in and Anchors Away was already seated in one. There seemed to be more space than the previous visit. Behind the desk was Brisk Iron. She had a fresh pressed suit and showed no signs of her earlier state. In front of her was a mug of warm coffee with a straw sticking out of it. Next to the desk was a seated Steel Flint who nodded to everypony as they entered.

"With the actual Anugypt Strut in town, it might be something about that. Don't worry, we'll catch up with you later." Silky Double-Time gave Light Fantastic a hug, then the dancers ventured off.

Amber had followed shortly after Ms. Flint, and was now seated and watching as the rest of the team arrived. She held her notebook in the air at the ready. She nodded to Static and Night Cap as they stepped in and locked eyes with Rhapsody for a moment as she entered.

As Snowy enters, he considers waving to ponies, but discards the notion. It would look like he was waving to the entire room. Instead, he simply takes a chair in the corner behind the door, not even acknowledging Steel Flint's nod, and silently blocks sound from passing through the doorway. Old habits died hard.

Maple was beside herself with worry... not even an 8th of the way through a standard tour and she was ordered to attend a meeting with somepony so high up in the chain of command that she had no idea there was a position that high. Maple followed slowly behind Light Fantastic. It seemed she knew the way.

"Maybe Saccharine Sweet will give me another week rent free if I offer to trim her hedges." Maple half mumbled to nopony in particular.

Rhapsody smiles over to Amber as her marefriend entered.

Static smiled and nodded to Anchors as he entered. Unsure if it would be innopropriate to sit right niext to her, he opted instead for a seat right across from her so he could at least keep her in line of sight.

He also returned Ambers nod and leaned over to Night Cap in a whisper. Looks like she knows who you are again.

Light Fantastic returned Silky's hug before trotting off.

"This had better be something important," she muttered to herself, "I'm still recovering from yesterday."

CoffeeHorse · Feb 7, 2022

Once the door was closed and all were seated, Brisk Iron addressed the team, "Thank you all for coming. There is a lot I have to talk about concerning recent events. Some good and some bad. I have a lot to say and request no interruptions. However, it will be split into three main discussion topics. This is considered an official meeting and you will all be paid for the time here. This affects all involved in STOMP, including new recruits like Maplejack or members who aren't Keep employees like Light Fantastic."

Light Fantastic sighed as she once again found herself in Brisk Iron's office.

"I hope I don't regret not bringing any Saddle Arabian coffee with me," she muttered, "and it started out as such a nice day, too."

"Some of you were involved with helping to defend the Keep against a break-in the other day and might have noticed my absence most of yesterday. Over the past few months, our Chief Accountant, Hazel Naught, uncovered that the Manehattan branch of the Keep has been involved in undercutting employee payment and shifting those funds to key individuals. All of the guards who were found to have helped with the Caballuston theft attempt were previously transferred from Manehattan. I spent yesterday speaking with police in both cities and filing paperwork.

For the next week, the Manehattan branch of the Equestrian Expedition Keep will be closed for investigation.

I hope this will only take a week but regardless the staff will still be compensated for normal working time. In many ways I feel I owe the Manehattan employees an apology that this has gone on so long and that it seemed a criminal element such as COIN managed to slip in. I used the teleportation system to get up there but to reduce the exertion of the unicorns involved, I requested being sent to a classified halfway point on the way back instead of a full jump. I wound up having to deal with a tornado...I mean, I won...but it was a painfully long flight without sleep for those who encountered my return this morning. In a few days, Hazel Naught will head up there to help the police with the evidence she's found. Hopefully, this will all be behind us soon. Any questions before we proceed with the next topic?"

Maple's mood dropped lower still, this meant Some of her friends weren't her friends. Was she here as a Suspect? They shorted her on pay? What was coin? and ...Maple sudden realized she'd raised a hoof and both wings while thinking of questions... with all the eyes of the room turned to her, she used her free hoof to pull the other appendages down. Before asking her most burning question.

"Why are there two hall (H)es?"

Brisk Iron and Steel Flint looked at each other in confusion, "While that hardly seems relevant to the topic at hand, we only have one hall H, near the planetarium. Why do you ask?"

Maple shrinks a little in her seat.
"oh, so there wasn't a fun story behind it." Maple mumbles, hiding her face with her wings. "I'm sorry ma'am, please continue."

In his limited experience with new recruits, Snowy Skies couldn't help but think that this one was a touch below par. Surely there was something useful she brought to the team?

Maplejack! I knew you looked familiar! Static can't help but blurt out. He then turns an embarrassed look to Brisk Iron. Sorry! He slides down into his seat, trying to make himself as small as possible.

It was all Light Fantastic could do to keep her frustration from showing.

"That's it?" she thought to herself, "That's why we were all called here? Surely, a telegram would have been easier."

She massaged her horn, feeling a massive headache coming on.

"And me without any coffee."

"So, the matter of STOMP...

The first part of what I'm about to say isn't exactly confidential but it's not common knowledge so I don't want it spread around. For all intents and purposes, the Equestrian Expedition Keep is inherited from my father and is a major portion of this city. While my own wealth isn't very liquid and I'm not even the highest paid employee, the museum legally owns almost half the land in Caballuston. Building it created a major travel point that helped the city grow overall and neither side has really pressed the matters of ownership. Over time, multiple museum branches were started and eventually it became international. We've received donations from many, ranging from various intellectual groups to the action movie director, Ocean Bay. Her Magizoic Mountain movies are inaccurate drivel but she and her sister do seem to genuinely like the museum, so they're big supporters.

While the museum was built for study of the arts and sciences, STOMP itself sprang up from the need to avert a possible catastrophe at a ruin. The initial formation was natural--scholars and adventurers who were the best of the best banding together to do good.

Where both I and my father went wrong was the continued insistence of tossing strangers together as opposed to structuring some sort of training program. The problem was that most of the time...it worked...so the times it didn't were treated as outliers and bad apples as opposed to warning signs. Recent events finally shook me out of that comfort zone. Perhaps what's worse is that it's been proposed before but I never heeded the suggestion despite it coming from ponies I trust." Brisk Iron nodded towards Steel Flint.

"Starting today, those involved with STOMP will be offered self defense classes if they choose to take them and we'll begin working on various teamwork activities so groups can better bond and prepare."

Steel Flint nodded, "Yes, that's one option. It will probably need to fluctuate per member. For example, Light Fantastic may not need this due to her current athletic regiment. Separately, I'll probably be training Amber Spark personally."

Amber was slightly surprised, but tried not to show any reaction. She knew very little of Ms. Flint's time in STOMP or her fighting ability, but there was no one whose competence or abilities Amber trusted more. "Thank you, ma'am," she said quietly, "it would be an honor."

Light Fantastic breathed a sigh of relief. She was happy that she wouldn't have to completely revamp her training regime to comply with the new self defense classes.

"Is it far from Saccharin Sweet's sugar shack?" Maple asked from practically under the floorboards. "I have only been here since mid day yesterday... and I only have the business names and house numbers memorized on the direct route between the Sugar Shack and Here." Maple added poking her head up a little bit over the edge of the table.

"Good..." Static thinks to himself. He was hoping for some more formal training, both as a way to get a better edge in battle, but also something to do outside work to distract him from his cider needs.

He wondered who he'd be training under.

CoffeeHorse · Feb 7, 2022

Today had been a rather nice day. An excellent day, even. Odd start aside, he had had good conversations with ponies that he didn't mind spending time with. The meeting had even started off with an offering of a great deal of information about Brisk Iron; That was always something to be cherished. But this...this soured things.

Setting aside the likelihood that he was part of the 'recent events' that led to The Keep feeling the need to draw ponies into line, it was more than a little insulting that after what they had survived last night, the need for more training had apparently become self-evident. And sure, this was all voluntary. If he hadn't been threatened with a return to jail 36 hours ago, he might believe that. This was not a voluntary exercise for him.

Admittedly, there were a few things he was interested in. Given that his methods of fighting were rather...attention-grabbing...It was only a matter of time in a fight before he was dog-piled. He had several ideas for how to avoid that (one of which he had made use of last night, the others of which he would have liked to develop on his own time!), and some knowledge of how to unseat a pony could be useful...And at the end of the day, he was a unicorn that couldn't teleport. On it's own, that was enough to put him at a disadvantage in fights. Not that that meant he would enjoy this at all. When was he going to make time for it?

As he processed the mention of teamwork activities, he suppressed a snort, once more not realizing that he also made a perfectly audible wet choking noise to accompany it. Those would either be extremely dull or extremely entertaining, depending on how much danger they were actually in. Given who he was working for, his money was on the former.

Was there anything worth saying? Anything that would change anything? (No.) Any concern that would be recognized? (No.) Any requests that would be heeded? (No.) And so Snowy Skies remained quiet and stoic.

"Its on the other side of town, I could probably show any that are interested in it later." She comments and then looks to Static. "If I put in a good word, Sky Lynx himself will probably train any of you; He's a bit of a surly old griffon that's a... tad full of himself at times, but he's good at what he does. I won't lie, he will probably enjoy watching you fail, even make fun of you when you do, just so he can show off 'how it's really done'; but he's rather fun and friendly to get along with if you can get past his minor temper and arrogance."

Static nodded his thanks to Rhapsody. I'll take any indignity that saves me from being at the "tender mercies" of an enemy.

Brisk Iron nodded as the back and forth conversation continued. Using a wing, she pulled a scroll with the royal seal out of a drawer and set it on her desk, "After the more negative news, I finally have some good news. This scroll describes a recently discovered cave system with an interior structure similar to a network of caves beneath Canterlot. Due to this, the Equestrian Expedition Keep has been requested to make a formal expedition and report our findings. This is already an honor in itself but this is the first one we've received since Princess Luna has returned to us and thus our first with both her and Princess Celestia's signatures on it." Despite her mostly even tone, a certain amount of enthusiasm betrayed Brisk Iron.

"The timing couldn't be better since the STOMP team can do a portion of the exploration and not have to worry about some artifact that will bring about the end of the world. The cave is located in a swamp and the nearest town to it is Nightmare Heights so that will be the staging ground. Since it's a mountaintop community, I'll need to get transportation arranged. If she would like, Light Fantastic could potentially arrange her own. I'd like it if you could leave out immediately but such a thing would be unfair considering what you've been through the past few days. You need some rest. Instead, I would like for the departure to be tomorrow afternoon."

Static breathed a sigh of relief at the announcement the expedition would start tomorrow. Date with Anchors has been saved! Where do we meet tomorrow for transportation?

"I still need to work out the details. Meet in my office at 4 PM tomorrow."

Well, that was certainly better news. Snowy only knew a little about the caves beneath the castle, but they sounded like a good place to explore. And cave echoes were always fun to interact with. "When you say these caves are similar to Canterlot's, what do you mean? Are they similarly complex or do they seem to be built by the same ponies?"

Maple's ears perked up at the mention of caves, there were usually stunted trees near caves.. and sometimes even stranger plant life deeper in. Plus going caving meant there would be little need to use her wings. Maple didn't say anything at the implication that this was important because TWO princesses put their names on it... that was just silly.

Besides, she didn't want to offend the only other pony in the room she had any prior interaction with, and the one thing Everyone remembered about Mr. Signal was his infatuation with the night princess -ok the second thing. The first being the cyder.

The other topic had been the defense training. Maple would have to speak to the dark pegasus later. the type of fighting Maple knew about... well she'd embarrassed herself enough already.

Light Fantastic thought for a moment.

"I could call in a favor or three for transportation," she mused.

Between the mentions of Canterlot and Princess Luna, Rhapsody had her hopes brightened and then dashed when they are informed that they're going to be in a swamp in some backwards part of Equestria instead, but otherwise remains quiet.

"From what I remember, Tangerine Sands wanted to do some special training with you Static Signal. I'm also of the understanding Snowy Skies won't be needing any of the self defense training. With the expedition and other issues addressed, I believe those were the major points for the moment. Did anypony have any questions?"

Static didn't have any questions. So he remained quiet.

He was actually glad to hear he'd be training with Tangerine. While he meant what he said about taking any indignity that saved him from being at the tender mercies of his enemy, he certainly wouldn't mind acheiving the same end with someone a bit nicer.

That knowledge was almost as insulting, for some reason, but the outcome was certainly better than the alternative. "Where can I find information about the caves beneath Canterlot?"

"The theater has at least one recent documentary on the Canterlot Caverns and the document department has a paper on them. However, I must warn you that the paper is fairly...verbose. Static Signal should be able to assist with retrieving either after your shifts."

"As for you Night Cap, I'll be speaking with you after the meeting is over." Steel Flint cleared her throat, "Separately, I'll need to speak with Rhapsody afterwards."

As they're dismissed, Static walks up to Snowy, speaking in a hushed voice.

Hey, can you do me the mother of all favors? he asks casting a glance at Anchors Could you give me like 30...35 minutes after our shift before coming to the theatre?

Static has a moment of panic at the suggestion of having Snowy at the theatre after their shifts are over. He tries to give Anchors as reassuring of a look as he can.

Maple watches the look pass from Mr. Signal to the pony Across from him. Smiling again, in hopes that whatever this was all about, that at some point somepony would remember she was just a tour guide on her first day of the job in a new city and realize she obviously was in the wrong meeting.

oh kay Maple, just keep smiling and side step your way out of the room as soon as they give the go ahead.

Static grinned with a plan already brewing. He gave Anchors another reassuring look, a more confident one.

He did a double take as he saw Maplejack's expression. You okay there, MJ? You look perplexed.

Rhapsody blinks and looks over to Steel Flint and nods. "Alright." Unsure exactly why she would want to see her.

"I'm just happy for you."

"Maplejack, I'll need to speak with you after I finish with Night Cap and...hmm. Well, in the name of trying to structure things better, it's probably best that you all introduce or reintroduce yourselves since you'll be working together. Since you have expedition seniority, I'd like you to go first Anchors Away." Standing up and then facing the group, she smiled and said, "My name is Anchors Away. I'm usually assigned to oceanic expeditions, though I have some experience with swamp and rainforest work. I travel where assigned and just got reassigned to this expedition.""She'll be the lead for the expedition due to experience. Next."

Static gave a curious look at Maplejack. Was he being that obvious?

Static jerked his head up in surprise. A whole expedition with Anchors? This day just keeps getting better and better! His smile couldn't be any wider.

Yeah...he probably was being that obvious.

CoffeeHorse · Feb 7, 2022

"Hmm, yes. My name is Amber Spark. I'm an antiquarian and researcher here, with a particular affinity for restoration work. I trained at the Barb School for Cursorial Studies." Amber couldn't help smiling a bit as she spoke.

Well, that explained why 'MJ' was here. Could be dangerous, could be fun.

To Snowy's memory, he had never done an official introduction before. At least, not one where he was supposed to be honest. He leans forward a bit in his chair and says "I am Snowy Skies, resident janitor and musician." To demonstrate why he was actually on the team, he reengages his horn's illusion, letting the cracks slowly push their way up his horn. His plan of turning it off around members of last night's battle was already failing miserably, in any case. There were too many ponies involved in his life that hadn't been present at the theater,

"I am Rhapsody, I am one of the top astronomers here at the Keep; I am somewhat a student of the night in that I enjoy learning everything about it... as well as being sort of a Lunaphile from growing up on my family's many stories about her." The black pegasus states as everyone introduces themselves.

Static winced at the crakling sound of Snowies horn. He was beginning to put it together that it was all an illusion. He chided himself for not having recognised it earlier. Still, it sounded painful and he couldn't help but turn away as the shiver ran up his spine.

He took note of Rhapsody's love of Luna. That's one point of shared intrest anyway. Maybe he could talk to her for help in researching for his and Night Caps documentary.

Light Fantastic gave Anchors a smile.

"My name's Light Fantastic," she said, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Maple looked around the room as the rest of the group said who they were and what they did. She could do that, that wouldn't be so bad. It wasn't like she could get that wrong.

After not so much standing or sitting up... more of a slightly higher, less bent slouch. Maple spoke up

"My name is Maplejack, but please Maple is fine. Until this morning I was a tour guide at the sister site in Manehatten. Today is my first day doing the same job here, and until a few moments ago I thought this meeting was to let me know it was also my last day... so I apologize for my behavior up to this point. I hope working together here at the Keep with you all will be fun and that we all quickly become fast friends."

"Oh."There was a mixture of embarrassment and defeat in Anchors Away's voice as she watched Snowy Skies produce the illusion on his horn. She hung her head a bit and slumped in her chair.

Noting Anchor's change in posture, Snowy Skies felt an odd bolt of frustration. How dare someone feel belittled without him intending it! Without budging an inch, he casts a spell and makes a message emit from the tip of Anchors' ear, fading away quickly as it goes farther away from her.

"Sweet Celestia, filly, I didn't even lie to you. It is broken, and it will never heal. The cracks just allay questions and tamp down expectations."

Amber slowly realized, on this second helping of the experience, how the game was played. Less than a month and half a world ago, Light Fantastic had introduced herself as a dancer, first; sharp little Windrose had explained herself as someone who looked at things.

Now, as Amber looked to each pony as they spoke, the concert violinist who could compose and perform illusions finer than the projections of Static's camera claimed to be a janitor and performed some very unsettling little trick with the crack in his horn, like an old nag popping out her false teeth to scare foals, and Static himself.... Amber couldn't help wondering at the real story behind the pegasus with the permanent smile and the all-consuming mane, or the bubbly bluegreen thing who was to be their expedition lead.

"Oh, hmm, I also make puzzle cubes sometimes. Little ones," Amber mumbled to no one.

"oooh. Puzzles are a lot of fun!" Maple glanced at the Unicorn with the beautiful glasses after she spoke, hopefully she hadn't spread her -quickly passing worry to her future friend...Miss...no that's not right.

Maple paused. her eyes darting between the unicorn and the black pegasus. "um, ... do I call you both Mrs. Spark?"

Snowy Skies accidentally allowed another wet choking noise to escape his control. This was definitely going to be more fun than dangerous.

Amber turned and smiled at Ms. Jack's first comment, then recoiled slightly at her question, but smiled. "Just Amber will do, ma'am," she said, still smiling.

Static notices Anchor's reaction to Snowy. With a brief glance between then, he gives a heavy sigh.

Well, it looks like we each still have our secrets. I guess everypony does. But considering I've put my life in each of your hooves, a couple of you twice in as many days, it just doesn't seem right. So...I guess let me answer the chief's question more thoroughly...

He gives another big sigh.

My name is Static Signal. I was born in Manehatten. I wasn't exactly popular in school, got into a lot of fights. I was just glad to get to college so that I could begin to get out of there...and I paid my own way, thank you very much. Never asked for anything from anypony.

So then I started work at the Keep branch in Manehatten. I never see my mother except on holidays when she tells me I need to quit drinking the cider (its been 68 hours 23 minutes), and find myself a nice young filly...which for the first time since highschool I'm actually trying to oblige her. He spares another look to Anchors.

I spend most of my time running documentaries in the museum theatre. Just today I tried my hoof at actually making my first documentary about the Anugypt Strut. I find it very exciting because for the first time I'm actually creating something that other ponies will be able to see, instead of merely running other ponies movies. So hopefully that turns out well.

Favorite color, yellow. Favorite food, chimicherrychangas. Favorite drink, I already covered that but I'm hoping to change.

Favorite princess, Luna but not because of the night thing that most ponies seem to think about. And this is a recent thing. Used to be I'd swear and curse by each princess equally. But since what happened during the COIN attack the other night...I guess I need Luna more than the others. After all, if she can come back from being Nightmare Moon...maybe I have a chance dealing with my issues as well.

He takes another big sigh.

Anything I missed, any other questions...feel free to ask. Like I said, if I can trust you all with my life, surely that also means I can trust you with my deepest darkest.

By the time Snowy realized he should be muting this like Static's louder outbursts, it was already too late. Besides, what was he going to do, make it look like static was mouthing words?

I'm Smooth Scales, and if ever do what Static just did, none of you will ever talk to me again.

That was perhaps not completely true. Rhapsody would probably try to murder him outright, which would probably involve some shouting. But the point remained. Fortunately, most of the rest of the room looked about as nonplussed as he did. He kind of wanted to thank Static for saying that (it was clearly the sort of thing that took a lot of effort to get out in the open), but he really didn't want to become too deeply involved in this part of the conversation. So he just sat there, trying to look no more awkward than anyone else in the room.

"I um...my favorite food is kelp quiche and I like all of the princesses?"Anchors Away squirmed a little in her chair. The silence in the room was deafening.

"That was very brave of you Mr. Signal."

CoffeeHorse · Feb 7, 2022

"Ah, yes, quite brave," said Amber, finding safe purchase in the echolalia and nodding desperately, smiling supportively at Static with glass eyes.

Rhapsody likely wouldn't kill Snowy, not in front of everyone at least. She didn't even want to murder Night Cap for as much as she passionately disliked him... throw him off a cliff maybe, but he's an earth pony. They're theoretically strong; so he'd likely survive that... maybe not in the best of shape, but still alive. It would have to be rather extremely bad for her to get to the point of wanting to out right kill. Instead, she's probably have Black Night visit him at some point though if she were to find out. Regardless of all this, Rhapsody just chuckled in a nervously polite tone and stomped a bit in ovation for Static, but otherwise remained quiet.

Static looked around that the (painfully) quiet room. He was grateful for the shows of support, but was just finding the moment way to awkward. Buck! I meant what I said, he said sitting down again. If I can't tell you all, who can I tell? he said shrinking down under the table. I refuse to regret it. I'm glad you know now, shrinking down further under the table.

Sweet Luna I need a cider!

Night Cap stands up.

"I am Night Cap."

A pause.

"I don't know what I do now."

He sits.

I'm intrigued by some of your own perceptions of yourselves and some of what has and hasn't been said but that's probably a discussion for another day. Looks like it's around lunch time so you're dismissed. "Wait. If Static volunteered what he did and I'm team leader I guess I have something else to volunteer. So...I'm a sea pony. I have a spell that helps me be on land but legs are still weird. Um, that's all."As she quickly and awkwardly shuffled out of the room, Steel Flint nodded towards Amber Spark, "If you'd like, Amber, I can show you some of the basics during your lunch break."

Static stood stunned for a moment. Wait...what? He chased after Anchors Away. Anchors wait!

Anchors Away stopped and turned to look at Static Signal, "Sorry, just used to revealing during a mission or working with ponies who already know. Whole room got awkward."

Yeah, I'm...I'm sorry about that. You okay? I didn't mean for you to reveal something you weren't ready to reveal.

Anchors Away nodded, "I'll be fine just...I don't know about this STOMP team. There's something I'm feeling but sorta don't want to say."

Well, after what you revealed in there, I hope you realize you really can tell me anything.

Anchors Away paused. She held her head for a moment then looked directly in Static Signal's eyes, "Where have all the heroes gone? I'm used to STOMP being composed of the best of the best. Even the bad apples would be excited to go on these big exciting missions for the fate of the world and would be experts in their fields, even if they're jerks. These ponies? They seem so unsure of themselves. It's like they don't even want to be here. While I agree that better training is needed, I just don't know with this group."

Amber turned to Ms. Flint. "Oh, yes, ma'am, I'd be delighted," she said, nodding. She wasn't quite certain how much else to say. Only yesterday had anyone mentioned training of this kind, and only yesterday had Amber learned that Ms. Flint had been a part of STOMP in the past. Now it seemed perfectly natural that her director was to begin her defense training over lunch.

Static gave a stiff nod. I'm actually kinda new to this. I've only known these ponies for like...two days...barely. So I guess I can't really speak for them. Heck, even the ones I know best, I'm still trying to get a solid read on. Snowy I don't think wants to be figured out. Night Cap seems to want ponies to know who he is, but the more I find out about him, the less I can "figure him out." Amber, I thought I was beginning to get to know her...then she throws me a curve that...I don't know...

So the others, I can't really say.

Personally, I wasn't expecting to be a part of STOMP. I thought I'd totally bombed the interview, so I moved on to another day at my normal job. And when it happened...it was like being dropped neck-deep into a situation I just wasn't ready for.

You're talking to somepony who has lived his life alone, stuck in one dark room after another. The most dangerous prospect my life ever had was a few school yard fights...dangerous, but rarely life-threatening.

Then in one night it's one life threatening situation after another. And I wasn't just fighting for my life, but it seemed like I was fighting for all of Equestria. It's...an honor...but it's also incredibly high stakes, an unimaginable amount of responsibility.

Personally, I may not show it very well...I may not show a lot of things very well...but this STOMP thing, it terrifies the Tartarus out of me...but as much as I may not show it, it's also the second best thing to happen to ever happen to me.

Steel Flint smiled and then nodded at Amber Spark, then made a motion with her horn for Rhapsody to follow. After walking down the hall a bit, she sighed, "This is about the incident between you and Hazel Naught yesterday. Considering your strength, please be careful in the halls. This is a bit of a verbal warning. While this is being done in an official capacity, I hope it blows over and this is the lightest thing possible. We've all been under a lot of stress with recent events. Hazel's had to deal with some of the...bad apples...before. Your insult cut deep but I managed to convince her you're not one of them. She volunteered to pay for the cost of replacing the door due to her part of the public argument.

Due to your extracurricular activities, you are uniquely positioned to inspire others. Please, inspire. Also, I hope Sky Lynx can help the rest of the team as much as he's helped you."

"Way to go Maple." Maple mumbled under her breath as Ponies either ran from the room upset or sat in awkward silence.

CoffeeHorse · Feb 7, 2022

This was possibly the first time that he wasn't on Brisk's or Steel Flint's post-meeting list. Huzzah. Unfortunately, Static wasn't going to be making it to the projector booth until he'd had a long heart-to-heart. Night Cap was on the post-meeting list, as was the new pony. Rhapsody was already busy. Amber was...Amber, and probably waiting for Rhapsody in any case. It was Brisk Iron's office, she certainly wouldn't be leaving any time soon. That just left...the pony he had been trying so hard not to look at, Light Fantastic.

Ignoring her had been surprisingly easy, really. She had been quite quiet throughout the meeting. But he supposed it wouldn't do to avoid this any longer, hm? If you can talk to Rhapsody, you can talk to her.

"Light, do you want to walk with me?" He asks, not hindering or obscuring the words at all.

Light glanced up at Snowy.

"Sure," she said, slowly standing up, "Where to?"

Maple just sits there twiddling her wingtips

Light glanced over at Maple, and then at Static.

"Is it okay if she accompanies us?" she asked.

"Certainly, but I imagine she has to be back here in a few minutes to talk to Ms. Flint."

"thank you for the offer, but I've done nothing right since I came into this room. I should just sit here and wait. Please apologize to the rest of the group when you see them that I'm sorry the tour got cut so short." Maple smiled.

"Well, alright then," said Light Fantastic, "Suit yourself."

She turned back to Snowy.

"So where are we going?"

Still twiddling her wing tips Maple reaches a hoof back to her saddle bag and retrieves another toffee. "At least with one of these in my mouth I wont have room for a hoof."

Spoiler

Snowy resists the urge to lightly knock Maplejack on the back of the head and order her to chin up. As delightful of a 'bap' noise as it would make, now was not the time.

"I am, eventually, expected at the theater to pick up that film, but there's no point in me arriving until Static gets there, and given his current occupation," Snowy indicates the huddled forms of the projectionist and the seapony as they exit the room, raising his voice, "I plan to just take the most circuitous route possible, take my time, and hopefully arrive after he's settled in." Returning to a more normal, polite, volume, he asks, "So what do you think of our newest recruit? I was surprised Static knew her name."

Static jerks his head startled at Snowy's less than subtle hint. Umm, why don't we walk a bit? If I'm going to get Snowy's information pack together and still set things up so we can still have our date, I better get to Ready Quills office. We're...still on for our date...aren't we?

Anchors Away nodded, "Was about to ask. Yes, we're still on for the date. Hopefully things will get easier with STOMP. 'Just point the fear toward a goal.' Read that on a poster once. It...had a really poorly drawn Princess Luna on it that was angry looking so maybe it's not the best thing to listen to."

"Maplejack, could you please wait in the hall?" After the she and the rest of the STOMP team left, Brisk Iron addressed Night Cap, "Here is your new employment folder. The things you need to sign are marked. It is for an entry level position within the Documents Department. You will be alternating work as an assistant to either Static Signal or Ready Quill. Here's your badge. Ready Quill will be able to get your photo applied to it."

Rhapsody smiles and waved to Amber as the beige unicorn left for lunch, she had wanted to join her, but figures she could meet up with her later. "Hazel is way too uptight, even for a bucking accountant. She insulted my abilities, so I gave her a bit of the same. Don't give if you can't take. If she's so thinned skinned, she needs to learn to be nicer and less caustic to others; then maybe she won't have so many 'bad apples' to deal with." the Black pegasus replies with a huff.

She looks to Steel after a moment, slightly narrowing her eyes. "I do not do what I do to inspire others, I do it to protect the innocent. The last thing I need is people trying to copycat me and getting hurt or worse because they are too stupid or untrained and try to do what I do." She says, that nervous twitch of her flicking across her face at the though of a pony trying to become a sidekick or Partner only to be crippled or worse by some lunatic out there. "You said previously, I am one that best works from the shadows and inspire fear in criminals; inspiration should come from those that can operate in the light and in the open; maybe you need to look for a Radiance or Filli-second if you want inspiration." She says, not being harsh to Steel Flint as she rebuffs the comment about inspiration. What she does is dangerous, and she doesn't feel like she should inspire anyone to be like her.

She shakes her head softly. "I am sure Sky Lynx will be able to do something for them, I just hope they don't quit; as I said in there, He's not going to go easy on any one he trains."

Steel Flint chuckled. There was something of a twinkle in her eye though her voice was even toned, "That's a rather fascinating perception of yourself. As far as Hazel, yes, she's stiff. She's also my friend. I met the bad apples in question so it's not just her own actions that fuel her reactions. She actually had something of a heart to heart with Amber yesterday so we'll see how things progress from here. As far as Sky Lynx, most will probably benefit from his training but I'm sure I can better assist Amber. It'll help me get back in shape as well.

Well, we're both professionals so it's best we not hold up each other's time. Good day."

"Use the standard employee entrance when you enter. You're to report to Ready Quill and then he'll reassign you to work with Static Signal pending on the day's workload."

"That's fine with me," said Light Fantastic, "I could use a good bit of fresh air. Especially after that mess. If it weren't for all the fun I was having with the girls earlier, I'd be wondering whether or not I should have woken up this morning."

"I will admit some that I am disappointed by that." Rhapsody replies as Steel comments on training Amber herself. "But then, Amber's not really the physical type and could probably benefit the most from other kinds of training. Well then, have a pleasant day. I guess I should go get lunch and then back to the Planetarium afterwards." She says before heading off to the Cafeteria; maybe with luck she'll still catch Amber.

Brisk Iron nodded as she verified the signatures, "Good. I'm impressed by the discovery the two of you made and I hope it pans out. I believe we're done at the moment so send Maplejack in."

CoffeeHorse · Feb 7, 2022

Snowy Skies raises an eyebrow. "Surely that wasn't so bad as far as meetings go. Nothing went unsaid, at least."

When the earth pony came out of the office there was an excited energy around him. So at least something had gone right for Somepony. And that made Maple smile.

"Thank you Mr. Night Cap." Maple said as she got up and went in to hopefully hear what this is all about.

There's a whole section of movies all about princess Luna. Well, not so much princess Luna as much as Night Mare Moon and/or the Mare in the Moon. Static lets out a slight scoff. It amazes me just how wrong we were. Now that Luna's back, most of the old movies have stopped running. If Ready Quill gives the okay, I'm hoping Night Cap and I can make a more...factual...movie about her.

I guess a few...not so flattering things...came out about me in that meeting. I honestly don't know what made me say all that. I'm just glad you still want to go on our date.

If this pans out, it may be strangly better off that Snowy would be taking up the main auditorium. Here we are! Static nocks on Ready Quill's door.

Light Fantastic sighed.

"I guess I'm still upset about last night," she said, "That's all."

Maple tried to enter the next room with all the confidence she could muster... but instead she just stood to the side of the door and gingerly poked her head in around the corner.

Snowy looks a bit confused, then nods sharply. "The rest of us were just fighting faceless goons, while you were getting attacked by a friend. How unpleasant." Casting about for a new topic, he settles on, "So what do you think of our newest recruit, Maplejack?"

"She seems nice," said Light Fantastic, "Very knowledgeable as well. I think she'll be a good addition to the team."

"I think you're right, If she can find a whit more confidence. All that insight isn't worth much if she doesn't speak up." Snowy stretches his neck a little, looking uncomfortable. "I was very...out of it...last night, so I don't remember much from the post-battle outing, and as such I don't know how much you've heard this, but...your dancing last night was incredible. It truly took my breath away."

Brisk Iron waved a wing, "Please come in Maplejack. You seemed out of sorts during the meeting and it's presumably due to being introduced to this situation differently. The Specialized Team for Obtaining Museum Pieces is a division of of the Keep focused on the more intense parts of exploration. You are now a part of it."

After a while, Amber Spark heard a knock on her office door. Steel Flint entered with a box being held by her magic. Sitting it on the ground, she began unpacking a few things, "Probably a little more cramped than my office for this but that might be better. Your training starts now. As a unicorn, magical control and knowing how to operate without your magic are the most important things to learn. We're starting with the first of those concepts since it's easy to do with wholly mundane items. We're going to play ping pong. Here's your paddle..." Steel Flint used her snout to roll a soccer ball towards Amber.

Maple's eyes were as wide as they could get. Hearing Brisk Iron's initial statement as she came into the room.

"Oh thank goodness.... Maple paused letting the sentence register in her mind beyond recognition that it wasn't "you're fired go back to Manehatten"...

*gulp* Maple hadn't made much of a dint in her piece of toffee, but it was of little consequence now as the revelation of meaning behind the mysterious S.T.O.M.P acronym that kept coming up in the meeting -sent the awkwardly large chunk of candy rocketing to her stomach.

... am I really, bad at being a tour guide?" Maple wondered aloud as she caught her breath, she'd been apparently under payed, then transferred, worked for part of a shift, had a horrible meeting with other staff ponies and was now getting some sort of extremely lateral 'promotion' ?

Brisk Iron arched an eyebrow, "Why would you think that? Somepony who is highly perceptive and has a natural knack for getting along with others is good for an expedition. Your old job isn't going away, you'll just occasionally have new responsibilities."

"I'm sorry, but do you mind if I sit down?" Maple was beginning to feel like she'd spend too many bits on carnival rides and cotton candy. The day was all kinds of up and down and spin around.

Light Fantastic's gave Static a fond smile.

"Thank you," she said, "Of course, I'd be nothing without my fellow dancers. No 'I' in 'company', and all that jazz."

Snowy Skies shakes his head. "I don't know about that. Even before I knew anything was supposed to go wrong, I was attending your show, but primarily for the orchestra. The dancers didn't register until you started taking center stage. I believe the term in theater is that sometimes a smaller part can 'steal the spotlight,' but no one came close to you."

Light Fantastic couldn't help blushing.

"I really appreciate that, Snowy," she said.

Snowy shrugs. "It's the truth." he says simply.

Ready Quill opened his office door, "Surprised-to-see-you-during-lunch-Static. What's-up?"

Brisk Iron motioned towards Maplejack, "I was wondering why you hadn't sat down yet."

"Bundle of nerves, and a lot of sugar." Maple sits down and pulls a Camera from her hair and sets it down in front of Brisk Iron. "Also, there's a lot of bad mojo in the air right now... all those ponies, very stressed."

Well...several things...actually. Kind of a laundry list here.

1. I need what ever documents we have on the Canterlot Caverns. Ms. Iron says it should be rather recent. There's also a film, but I can find that one myself. In fact, I think I remember seeing it recently. So I just need a copy of the paper documents.

2. I'll need the equipment tomorrow. It looks like I'll be documenting said Caverns.

3. With your permission, after this Caverns documentary was finished, Night Cap and I were hoping to do a more factual documentary about the past of Princess Luna...her heroism in the Sisters Era, her fall to Night Mare Moon and her redemption. Totally respectful and as truthful as we can get it.

4. This one's kind of personal, but Night Cap said he had an interesting write up on the quest for the Wand of the North Wind. If I may, I was kind of curious to read up on STOMP's past exploits.

Static gave a nervous glance to Anchor's Away.

And 5...well...5...Would I be able to use the equipment tonight after work for...maybe an hour? This is totally personal...it's just...I had a date with someone special...and it seems to be in danger of being...somewhat ruined because...well...if I could use the equipment for about an hour...it would be...I would really...if that's okay?

CoffeeHorse · Feb 9, 2022

"Well, I hope the upcoming expedition will help them unwind since it shouldn't be as dangerous as other things they've had to deal with recently. It will also be disappointing if they let the Princesses down. By the way, what is this for?" Brisk Iron pointed at the camera.

Ready Quill searched until he pulled out a large box that was stacked full of papers, "Here's-the-documentation-for-the-Canterlot-Caverns. Equipment-should-be-ready-to-go-for-tomorrow-for-the-expedition. For-the-documents-on-the-Wand-of-the-North-Wind-I'll-need-to-get-those-out-of-the-vault-later-on. As-far-as-using-company-property-for-personal-use..." Ready Quill's eyes and mouth went wide in exaggerated shock for a moment before going back to a neutral state, "I-won't-tell-the-accountants-if-you-won't..."

As-far-as-using-company-property-for-personal-use..."

Static's heart sinks. He's so screwed. What was he going to do now?

"I-won't-tell-the-accountants-if-you-won't..."

Static takes a huge gasp of relief. Thank you so much, Mr. Quill. I owe you big time for this. He looks back at Anchors with a huge smile of his face, nodding his enthusiasm that everything was a go. He looks back to Ready Quill. Thank you so much. He takes the box full of papers. Snowy's going to love this!

Static looks at the clock and back at Anchors. Still just enough time for a quick snack if you want? I got a few oat bars still stashed away. Not very tasty, but it'll get you through the rest of the day.

[NIGHT CAP GIVES AN ESPRESSO MACHINE ITS BIGGEST CHALLENGE YET]

I thought we had thrown out the misprints but I guess not. He'll be wandering around a storage area so I figure they'll point him to the exit. I'll make sure the camera is taken care of.

Anchors Away shook her head, "Gotta run and get some other stuff taken care of and I don't exactly run fast. But I'll be here tonight, don't worry."

"Hey heeey, thanks for making a fresh pot of coffee!" Night Cap felt the coffee pot be swiftly pulled away by unicorn magic. A light blue unicorn stallion with a garish necktie grinned until, "What happened to the espresso machine?"

The unicorn sniffed the coffee, looked at the machine, then looked at Night Cap, "You didn't try to put all that in here, did you?"

I'll see you then! Static turns back to Ready Quill with a big smile on his face. Definetly.

Eh hem! So...where do you want me after lunch?

"Oooh. See, I get it. But you gotta be careful. Overdo it and you'll get desensitized. Can't crave what you already have, you know? Small doses. What's your name? My name is Plaid Paisley and I'm here to make a little deal with you." Plaid Paisley poured a tiny paper cup full of coffee and set it down on the table near Night Cap, "I'll let you have this coffee right now. But...I'm going to step out and come back. If you can go the rest of your lunch break without drinking the coffee, I'll buy your whole department coffee and donuts next week. Sounds like a deal?"

"Thing is, that machine with all the knobs and levers that doesn't have a coin slot isn't working any more, is it?"

"I hate to say you're doing it wrong...but a recommended serving size is just a cup. The machine can't handle making a whole pot in fast succession. If you're making a whole pot, you gotta use the regular coffee maker. Unfortunately, we're out of the freely provided coffee and anypony who leaves for a store run won't be back until after lunch break is over. But you've got this one cup right now. Or perhaps your whole department could get coffee and donuts next week."

"Whoa, hey now. I didn't say for an entire week. Also, this coffee is a group resource. Drinking the whole pot is a little on the greedy side. You'll have to buy your own if you're gonna do that. I mean, you already broke the machine."

"Well, do you need all this coffee right now? I mean, it's sort of a problem if you do. You should really go to bed earlier if you need this much coffee. Though I wonder...how much do you want for the coffee?"

Light Fantastic looked over at Snowy.

"I could really go for some coffee right now," she said, "I know of a good café not too far from here."

Snowy Skies grins. "That sounds great. It was just about tea time anyways." The statement was true. Not that he had observed tea time in the last decade, but the statement was true. "The employee exit is right over here, let's use that." He says as he leads her to the back staircase.

Rhapsody entered to break room, waving a hoof in front of her face at how foggy it was, when she spied two other figures chatting. Her eyes narrowed a bit seeing Plaid Paisley and Night Cap, she wasn't exactly sure which one she disliked more, and for the time being tried to stay out of focus as a shadow in the fog, while hearing snips of their conversation over coffee...

Plaid Paisley nodded his head towards Rhapsody as she walked into the break room, "And how are you doing today miss..?"

Night Cap turns to see a dark shape in the fog. A dark shape on top of a rainbow.

"Socks! How've ya been?"

He smiles and waves.

"Sounds good to me," said Light Fantastic, "It's the only café in the city that sells Saddle Arabian coffee, so naturally it's the only one I frequent. The sooner I get some in my system, the better I'll feel."

I will note that solution for later.
"Lead on." Snowy says cheerfully, as they exit the building.

CoffeeHorse · Feb 9, 2022

Maple sat. Smiling and waiting for some sort of indication of what exactly was going on. Her wingtip absently twisting in her mane.

Brisk Iron waved a wing, Yes, we're done. If you could go by the marketing department after your lunch break and pick up a replacement map for the main hallway, that would be much appreciated. They said they had some ideas on how to better highlight some of the exhibits so they were working on an updated map.

"After-you-get-back-from-lunch-it's-theater-duty. Upcoming-weeks-will-probably-alternate-between-time-working-on-these-new-documentaries-and-your-normal-work-in-the-projection-booth."

Okay. Will do! Thanks again.

Static goes back to the projection booth to get an oat bar. He notices the same reel out of its place. Taking an oat bar from his stash, he replaces the reel in its spot and writes a letter.

[Dear Mystery Guest:

I guess there's no point in my trying to stop you from watching this documentary between regularly scheduled movies. I really don't mind. But could you please put it back in its place when your done? This one gets filed under Entomology.]

He then makes his way to the employee lounge. He normally would just have his oat bar in the booth. But he'd been feeling more and more sociable these past couple days. The fog hits him like a wall as he enters.

Sweet Luna! Is the the employee lounge or a sauna? He sees Night Cap and sighs. What did you do?

Maple quickly stood and moved to the door.

"I'll go there now Ma'am... I don't normally take a lunch break." Maple indicated her saddle bag with a hoof. Though it was likely inappropriate based on the Keep employment structure Maple was familiar with, she decided to ask anyway.

"Would you like to try one of Saccharine Sweet's special extra strength toffees?"

Amber looked puzzled. "Yes, ma'am," she said simply, and she lifted the ball with her magic, looking it over. She'd never had much interest in sport, but she didn't think this was normally called a paddle. Still, she trusted it would serve as one. "What would you like me to do, ma'am?" she asked.

Not in the mood for toffee but thank you for the offer.

Steel Flint chuckled, "It seems you haven't played ping pong. Basically, the sport is generally played by using a paddle to bounce a ball across a table and out of the reach of the opposing player who seeks to do the same. We're going to do that but instead of using paddles, we're going to use these balls. These balls are absolutely terrible paddles so this will help in building your control. You'll need to adjust the ball constantly to properly do this. In addition, we will eat our lunches and carry on conversation. Also, I may randomly toss things at you. The field is not a controlled environment so you need to know how to maintain your own control. Ready to start?"

Maple left, wondering if that pony had ever had a 'toffee' mood.

Off to get a new map.

Rhapsody huffs as both of them notice her immediately. She was going to have to put more points into her sneak skill... "Not nearly as well as I was 5 minutes ago..." She mutters under her breath, and looks over to Night Cap. "Unless that is a request, then it would be wise not call me that again." She states bluntly.

Plaid Paisley tilted his head, "Then, what is your name? Hate to get something like that wrong."

Static yelps, leaps up in the air and spins around. Rhapsody! Luna bless don't do that!

Light Fantastic was hurriedly making a beeline for the café in question, before catching herself.

"I'm not going too fast for you, am I?" she asked.

Snowy Skies shakes his head. "Heavens, no. I like to take my time, but I can certainly match your pace." Speeding up a little, he follows the neon mare.

"Rhapsody? That's unique." Plaid Paisley poured her a small paper cup full of coffee, "Well, I gotta get going so I'll see you ponies around."

See ya around, Plaid. Static looks to the espresso machine then to Night Cap. Seriously?

CoffeeHorse · Feb 9, 2022

Maple discovers the break room on her way down stairs. Coming in, having heard the discussing of coffee... and wondering if there was a pot of tea as well; she notes the atmosphere of the room and it seems like it might be best to turn around and keep heading down stairs. But she has to get to know these Ponies quickly, so 'forward with a smile' it will have to be.

"Hello everypony, is there any tea steeped or steeping?"

MJ! We're going to have to start a Manehatten club.

I don't see any tea. He shuffles through a couple doors. Ah! Here's some tea bags. Rather generic black tea. There's hot water spouts on the coffee makers.

"Apparently we'll both be having unexpected bonus pay coming... a club would be fun." Maple moved toward the discovered tea bags.

You know, Night...if I were you, I'd start making up a story to tell Hazel Naught. This...this is bad.

MJ, how're you liking Cabullistan so far?

"What I've seen of it beyond Saccharine's shop and this building, Look happy enough." Maple Says as she makes some tea.

"oh, Mr. Night Cap... what you said in the meeting...What is it that you do? " Maple wasn't purposefully Ignoring the tall beautiful pegasus, but even with her back to the room she could tell whatever conversation was going on before she got there... still was bothering her. And Maple was still a little unsure if her question from earlier in the day had been out of line.

Spoiler

"Miss. Rhapsody, ... I'm sorry about earlier." Maple smiled over her shoulder at the other mare. Unsure if the lingering haze in the room, or something else was distorting her ability. She was so much easier to read before with Amber Spark in proximity... they had been almost giving off identical...

"..ooh, did anypony else want some tea?"

Ever since I stopped drinking cider, I've pretty much been doubling up on coffee, Static explains. I better go easy. I'm going to be in the projection booth with no chance for a restroom break for a fairly long stretch.

Speaking of...he says with a sudden nervous dance...I better...umm...yeah...I'll see you all later.

He rushes out, having left behind his unopened oat bar.

He heads back to his projection booth...with a brief side stop. He opens walks into the booth and checks the reel shelf. Sure enough, the same reel is out of place. He sighs and moves it to the correct shelf.

"Ehm nuute un eenseckt!"

Static gasps, nearly jumping twice his height as he turns. He saw a small, not quite pony, not quite insect being in front of him, front hooves crossed and scowling at him.

Well you're not an aquatic animal either!

"luuuk mer cluusly!"

Static looked at the shelf. Just under the aquatic section was a small label, sloppily hoof drawn in the tiniest letters he'd ever seen "Breezies."

You think you deserve you're very own section? he scoffed.

Eeeef yuo went yuor deet tuu gu oof weethouut uny eenteruuptions...

Static scowled at the little thing standing in front of him. He could so crush it like a bug!

FINE! But if your getting your own section, there might as well be a decently readable label.

Static makes a label and puts all the documentaries about breezies (all two of them) on their new shelf.

He turns and reads the schedule for the next documentary to run.

Oh you have got to be bucking kidding! He goes back and grabs one of the breezie films. The one made by that yellow pegasus from backwater Ponyville of all places?

Eets my feevoriiite. Muust heesturicelly eccuurite!

I guess you'd know

Static threads the film and starts it running. He sets the silent timer for the reel change.

Wha...oh I forgot my bucking oat bar!

CoffeeHorse · Feb 9, 2022

Light Fantastic sighed in relief when the café came into view.

"Ah, Saddle Arabian coffee will soon be mine!" she said.

She turned to Snowy as the two approached the café.

"Have you ever tried it?"

"The smell itself is an odd sort of ward. Tantalizing and horrifying at the same time. I tend to stick to tea." Snowy Skies looks up at the sign above the store. "This is a daily ritual for you, I take it?"

Takes the cup of coffee and downs it almost immediately after Paisley leaves, she needed the caffeine if she was going to have to deal with this foal; though the moment someone else walked up, Rhapsody decided to completely focused on her instead. It was too early to Deal with Night Cap and... whatever reasons he had for being here... She blinks at the apology. "Sorry for what?" She asks, seeming honestly lost to what Maple was talking about. "I am more of a Coffee mare myself. Might have to take a quick trip off premises for more if the stupid machine is broken." She says giving a glare to Night Cap.

Light Fantastic grinned as the two ponies entered the café.

"Pretty much," she said, "You might say I have a slight addiction problem."

As soon as Light and Snowy walked in, they were hit by the scent of numerous coffee and tea blends. Mixed in were the scent of freshly baked pastries. The café had a quaint appearance, resembling one of the well-known street cafés in Prance. There were a dozen or so tables scattered around the café, with a long bar set up on the far side of the building. Above each table was a small, a small, four candle chandelier was hung. A vase of freshly cut lilies graced each table.

Light moved to one of the tables next to the window and took a seat in one of the antique wicker chairs.

"So, what do you think of the place?" she asked.

"I just wasn't sure if I'd offended you and Amber earlier, sometimes when I -notice things, my mouth lets them out before the rest of my head is done thinking about it." Maple takes a large drink of her tea.

"I understand," said Amber, slowly. "Every fight is an uncontrolled environment. I've had to depend on my friends to keep me from being interrupted while I prepare my magic - and last night, when Mr. Skies was in danger and I couldn't do anything to help him...." Amber trailed off, looking at the floor, then lifted the "paddle." "Let's get started," she said.

Rhapsody still looks like she has no clue what Maple is talking about. "Huh? I still don't know what you are talking about." Not the nervous hiding like some might expect, she's genuinely lost on this. She then glares at Night Cap, though it might be obscured with all the steam. "Oh course you buck up the machine with your incompetence." She huffs under her breathe.

Maple stopped in her tracks, was she really over worrying about this...

"I just... when I asked before if I should call you and Amber both Mrs. Spark..." Maple asked walking back to recycle her paper cup... silly wings always forgetting what they were holding.

Steel Flint bounced the ping pong ball across the table towards Amber Spark, "Speaking of danger, what's your opinion of Black Night?"

Spoiler

Roll(1d20)+9: 10,+9 Total:19

Roll(1d20)+9: 16,+9 Total:25

Amber lofted her "paddle" quickly to attempt to intercept the ping-pong ball. "She seemed competent, ma'am, and almost trustworthy. Of course I don't know her reasons for wearing a mask, and they can hardly be good reasons, can they? But her assistance was critical in defending the Sword - if it was the Sword, I mean."

I think I tried to rob this place once. Don't say that. Yes, it had been a very similar building, and the chandeliers were worth plenty then, but just, just...don't bring that up.

Snowy Skies looked around in mild wonder, repressing the glimmer his eyes got when he was appraising something. There was a lot to take in, some of it strange, some of it familiar (and some of that unpleasantly so). "I think...I can't believe I didn't know this place was here." He awkwardly sat down in the chair across from Light Fantastic. He hadn't been anywhere this fancy since moving to Caballuston. "It reminds me of home, a little bit."

Well. That had slipped out. Now that he thought about it his guard had been down all day. Something like this was inevitable, really. At least Rhapsody wasn't around. Snowy keeps his expression neutral (and a little awed), and waits to see just how many problems that small statement will cause.

While Amber Spark intercepted the ball, the return missed the table. Steel Flint set it near Amber and motioned for her to make the opening serve, "No, it was not the real Sword of Shining Dark. Quite an impressive replica, though. Brisk and I had a bit of a discussion about that. I understand reasons for not having the real thing on display but there's issues of trust. Trust is important in any relationship, whether it be friendship, mentorship, or otherwise."

"Yes, quite impressive - only the Crystal Empire gem in the internal apparatus gave it away." Amber lifted the soccer ball and ping-ping ball and squinted slightly as she collided them, returning the ping-pong ball in Ms. Flint's direction. "I do value trust, ma'am. I still consider it an honor to be trusted with involvement with the STOMP program. But ma'am ... I don't feel trusted. Ever since my selection, I've had nothing but cryptic answers, riddles, and illusions. And I really rather like riddles, ma'am. But I feel as if everypony is telling me just enough to do my job, and sometimes less."

Steel Flint sighed, "It's a bad habit that's grown over time. Due to some negative events, including the recent robbery attempt, our own ability to trust has been damaged. Today's meeting was an attempt to begin repairing that but the tension was so thick and so few questions were asked.

I do find myself curious. Your...friend?...Rhapsody--do you think she trusts you?"

Amber hesitated. "I trust Rhapsody, ma'am. I know that there are things she isn't comfortable sharing with others -" Amber thought of how Rhapsody had responded the night before when Amber would ask certain questions about Rhapsody's sisters, as if something had happened that Rhapsody wasn't in the habit of remembering - "I do believe she trusts me, ma'am."

Steel Flint nodded, "Wonderful.

In other discussion, it seems your discussion with Hazel had merit. During our dream conference with Zig Zag, it was decided that we take up bowling. The ball is obnoxiously unwieldy enough to make calculation difficult, so it should be fun. It's also something others here could join in. I mean, unless you know somepony else who enjoys calculating pi's decimal places. Granted, it's not a fair competition since Hazel has more memorized than I do."

CoffeeHorse · Feb 9, 2022

Rhapsody blinks. "When did you ask that?" She asks, clearly she hadn't even realized you said anything of the sort. She shook her head. "Regardless, no. It's not quite that serious yet."

"Really?" said Light Fantastic, "What was it like?"

A young white mare approached the pair.

"Welcome to Le Cheval Blanc," she said.

After a cursory glance, the mare recognized Light.

"Oh, Ms. Fantastic," she said, "It's a pleasure to have you back. I'm assuming you'll have your usual Saddle Arabian coffee?"

"Yes, please," replied Light Fantastic, "and could you throw in a piece of that fabulous tiramisu as well?"

"Certainly."

The mare quickly jotted down the order, then turned to Snowy.

"And what can I get you today?"

"Do you have any mint tea?" Snowy's hair suddenly felt awfully greasy.

Spoiler
Rhapsody

"Actually now that you mention it, you might have already left for your privet meeting with Brisk Iron." Maple scratched her head with a wing tip... "this has been the strangest day."

Suddenly, Dusty Winds popped out of the air vent in the projector room, "Hey Static! Oh hey, looks like you've met Trade Wind."

Static raised an eyebrow. You know him? I was wondering if he worked here or if he just snuck in. How you doing, Dusty?

Static winced a bit. I...never did get a chance to apologize. The first time we met I think I might have been a little...rude.

Beeg suupreeze theere!

"That's good. It really is important to take time for your friends," said Amber.

"We have that, yes," replied the white mare, "Would you like anything else?"

Spoiler

In the midst of conversation, Steel Flint tossed a tennis ball towards Amber Spark, "Since you mentioned you didn't feel informed, did you have any questions for me? I may not be able to answer everything but I'll do my best."

Dusty Winds chuckled, "Nah, you're good. And I'm fine despite all the stuff that's happened. Trade Wind here helps the janitorial department with white glove treatment for the parts of the museum that need it. I know he has staggered lunch breaks but I hope he doesn't think having pretty wings means he can be lax." "I'll have yuuu know that myy wengs are not 'prettee'. Dey aarr 'majesteek'."

"No thank you, just the tea." Snowy says, looking intently at the waitress until she turns to leave.

Once she's gone, he turns back to Light Fantastic. "So now that the Anugypt Strut is all wrapped up, what do you have planned for your next performance?"

Thanks! Glad to know we're cool. It's just...well...I'm sure you noticed I wasn't exactly the most sociable of ponies before. Things have changed in the past couple days...a...lot. So, yeah, any time you want to drop by...that's not right after todays shift that is.

He's gut a deet. He's een luuuuuuv! Trade wind chuckles.

I've never worked with a breezie before. I hope I don't accidently step on you or anything. I can be sooooo clutsy sometimes.

Trade Wind blows a rasberry.

Yeeer alurms guueeng uuf!

Static perks up and sets the next reel rolling.

"There's been talk of our company performing 'A Midsummer's Night Dream' in honor of Princess Luna," said Light Fantastic, "It's all speculation at the moment, though. Nothing's been set in stone yet."

Well, miraculously his little slip-up hadn't led to any awful questions.

"Hm. And...what exactly do you do when you don't have a show to practice for?" Snowy asks, squinting a little. He hastily adds, "The company, I mean. What do dancers do at work when they aren't dancing?"

"Possibly." Rhapsody replies with a shrug, either way it doesn't seem like a big deal to her. Rhapsody shakes her head, and looks around before replying further, as right now the room seems empty with all the fog. "If you're in STOMP, they're gonna get weirder. We've already had to deal with a semi-sentient wand and undead Queen. Can't wait to see what the caves have in store for us." She says keeping her voice hushed.

Maple's eyes got bigger and bigger as Rhapsody spoke. She had been worried she'd said something unfriendly... but it turns out no, not at all. Not the best icebreaker ever, but it was broke.

"Thank you for being so nice and understanding about it Miss Rhapsody, hopefully when this cave adventure is over - I can do some of this defense training with your friend." Maple's smile was soon a match for her eyes and then she spread her wings ... as big as she she could get and still she was not even close to taking up enough space to intimidate a parasprite.

"Does the training involve any in-air maneuvers?" She asked. Somewhat deflating at the thought.

"We don't leave till tommorrow... or was it the day after?" She muses softly. "So plenty of time to go by there and get some basic stuff down. And probably, he IS a Griffon after all." She says to Maple, and then smiles... almost creepily to Night Cap. "Oh, I am sure I could put in an EXTRA special word in for you to get the best training possible."

Oh, Maple's eyes shift focus as her head looks from one Stomper to the other... stomper? hmm, some thought will have to go into that... "Perhaps, Mr. Night Cap and I should just start with the basics." Rhapsody shifted so much between talking to her and then Mr. Night Cap, that is was almost heartwarming to see he hadn't noticed at all. There was no love lost between the pegasus and the earth pony.

"Um, also... what exactly is the length of one of these breaks?" Maple asked, having only just now started taking her first one ever.

Maple remembered the watch she wore on her leg... this is why I don't drink coffee. She thought. Mrs. Iron had wanted her down stairs and, she'd need that new map... she might not have much time...

"Well I'm sure I've got to be cutting it close to the end of this break ...thing, so I'll see you both soon, if not whenever we go on this Mission, Quest... Thing." A big smile on her face Maple happily nods thanks to Rhapsody, and then quickly sets in to giving Night Cap the squeeze-iest two arm two wing hug she can muster. Mrs. Spark or no, you don't hug some pony else's special somepony without making sure it's alright. She thought to herself, Mr. Night Cap - that was for having to abandon him here with Rhapsody and not knowing exactly what that meant for the Stalin.

Backing away, Maple rushed out the door toward the stairway to the first level.

CoffeeHorse · Feb 9, 2022

"What any other ponies do when not on the clock," replied Light Fantastic, "Whatever we want, within reason. Matter of fact, me and some of the dancers were touring the museum before I got summoned."

"That is a very good deal." Snowy Skies says, sounding a touch conflicted. It was a perfectly informative response, but as a janitor the concept of days off was not one he commonly encountered; He was a mite jealous.

Light Fantastic pondered for a moment.

"Not for too long," she said, "Maybe a month or so. I'm not an adventurer by trade, after all."

[broken spoiler tag]I have no clue how long it's been since the first campaign.[/broken spoiler tag]

Snowy nods. "I don't think any of us are, really. Has there been much...employee turnover while you've been here?"

"Not that I'm aware of," said Light Fantastic, "I can't think of anyone I know that's been let go yet."

"Static and I can race to be first, then." Snowy says drily. "What's it like being the...purest pony in the group?"

After finally making it to the Marketing Department, all heads turned to look at Maplejack as she walked in. There was a pause as if they were sizing her up, then a pearlescent yellow crystal pony mare with golden hair asked, "What's your name and your favorite breakfast?

Maple was all smiles as she entered the room. Whether it was do to being back on task, finally being out of that steamy break room ...or 'residual hug good vibes' -She wasn't sure.

"My name is Maple, miss. And um, is it okay if I say flapjacks?" Maple wasn't sure if Caballuston was a 'pancake town'... before landing her job in Manehattan, her travels had taken her about this far south... but in that time she'd also learned that geography wasn't always the only reason for things having different names. Regardless, she smiled back to the pearly pony.

"Is that so?" Suddenly, the crystal pony sprung to her feet with a bright smile and an even brighter sheen, "Well, it's perfectly fine if you call pancakes 'flapjacks'. Whatever makes you happy! Your breakfast seems to fit your name so wonderfully. What you brings you here?"

Now this was a nice lady. Maple reached into her bag with a wingtip and produced her copy of the exhibit map.

"I'm here because I some how ended up with a misprinted version of the Map... and I ended up sending some pony looking for a second hall H that didn't exist." Maple sort of wing-shrugged, while walking towards the crystal pony.

"But who are you, and what about lunch?" Maple asked, pausing to again check her watch...

"Oh, I'm very new to the area actually, I don't know if I have any friends yet to bring in any receipts ... and I myself have never been. I actually Live at the Sugar Shack." Maple smiled. despite how sad that statement might sound, she smiled because -the day was young and she had a lot of good prospects. Maple decided she could easily move miss Sweet to the friends list, but she should ask her first.

Bold Standard's coat went dull for the briefest moment before perking back up, "No problem. Even though museum entry is free for regular museum employees, if you buy a ticket and take it to the Pancake Pilfer, they'll give you a discount on their Princess Sized stack of flapjacks."

"That sounds like a wonderful arrangement, do you know of any other affiliations the Keep has with the ponies of Caballuston?" Maple asked, forgetting for the moment the reason she was here.. until her wing moved her map back into view. Silly things have a mind of their own sometimes. "I know a Mare who'd likely love to do a similar thing with the Crystal pony Exhibit... Oh do you know Saccharine?"

"No, I don't know that name."Bold Standard's coat went dull briefly, then perked back up, "But that's no problem. I'm sure that if you give us the location and other such pertinent information, we can use it to figure out a way to draw more business to the museum."

Maple hands BS the old map as well as a pamphlet to the Sugar Shop... once she retrieved it from her bag as well.

"Chief Director Brisk Iron wanted me to have a corrected version of the map before I got back to work doing the tours." Maple said while handing the papers over.

Spoiler

Rhapsody nods. "Yeah. You're welcome. Anyways, I need to get back to my department so Destiny Spiral doesn't have to do everything on her own." The black pegasus says as she excuses herself.

Spoiler

CoffeeHorse · Feb 14, 2022

Spoiler
Amber winced as the tennis ball bounced off her forehead, but tried to turn her attention as quickly as possible back to the ping-pong ball and the levitating soccer ball. "Hmm. Ah. So, STOMP was formed by the Keep in response to the threats that we might, ah, dig up - were you involved at the time, ma'am? And how long has this COIN business been ahoof?"

Bold Standard rolled up the map and smiled, "Well, here you go! Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Steel Flint shook her head, "STOMP started long before I was part of the Keep. Before Brisk was directly employed, in fact. COIN is new territory for us all. We've had run ins with the occasional treasure hunter but not a large organization. The size is worrying since it implies they've had time to build up and this just happened to be the most bold thing they've done."

Dusty Winds flew out of the vent and looked at Trade Wind, "Your 'majestic' wings are supposed to be checking the Crystal Empire exhibit since it has food samples that sometimes spill." "Hmph! Sooo yuu aarr goeeng tuuu ruun und telll yuur onntee onn mee?" "No. I'll tell Hazel." He grumbled under his breath in a stream of seemingly unpleasant dialog as he squeezed under the door. "Now that he's gone, how's the whole STOMP thing working out for you so far?"

Spoiler

Static grinned as Dusty put Trade Wind in his place. Making sure Dusty's head was turned, he stuck his tongue out at the breezie as he made his exit, then stood at attention when Dusty turned her attention towards him.

Static fidgeted a bit as Dusty asked about STOMP. "Why, how much did your aunt tell you?" was what first crossed his mind, but he thought it might be better to couch it in another way.

Well, that first night was...difficult. I think it's getting better now after having learned some of the...parameters...we're expected to work within.

I'd also be lying if I didn't say that each mission seemed to be preceded with dread.

It's like I was telling Night Cap earlier...I'm used to being in here where everything is...safe. Suddenly going up against COIN members...one of which knows me by name and ancient princesses that possess my co-workers...it can be terrifying.

But on the other hoof, knowing that I'm actually doing some good out there, knowing that I'm facing the scary stuff so that others won't have to...it's an honor...its a better purpose than I've ever filled before.

So...I don't know...as terrifying a prospect as it can be to go up against some of the forces we have to go up against...I can't think of anything more worthwhile I could be doing with my life.

Tucking the new map into her saddle bag, maple shrugged with her wings. "I don't suppose there is, other than to say it was very nice to meet you." Maple said, turning back to beam a big bright smile at her new friend in the marketing department. "ohhh! Unless there is anything you want me to say during the next tour that might help you ponies, any new exhibits on the way? Maybe something that will take up that spot where the wax princesses are?"
Maple hoped there would be something she could to to help Miss Standard.

As Night Cap arrived in the cafeteria, he found that it was a mixed food court and various concession stands. A few employees were flashing their badges as they ordered and some prices seemed to be an adventure in themselves. Something else that stood out was that coffee seemed to only be listed on the breakfast menus and the vendors had already stopped selling breakfast. All except one. There was a stout grey mare with a purple mane in two poofy pigtails that seemed to be setting up. Not all of her signage was up but there was a 'Breakfast served all day' sign. Catching glance of Night Cap she smiled and said, "The name's Semolina Sway and are you ready for a taste sensation? Welcome to Pasta in a Pail!"

Spoiler

"I see," said Amber, seeming to try to keep one eye on each ball as she raised the soccer ball to deflect that ping pong ball again. "I can't help but be a bit impressed with how well the secret has been kept all this time." She raised a hoof to her glasses., which had become slightly unsettled by the business with the tennis ball. "If you don't mind me asking, ma'am, why is it a secret?"

Light Fantastic gave Snowy an odd look.

"Whatever is that supposed to mean?" she asked.

Snowy snorts in surprise. "You mean you haven't noticed?" He says, sounding like can't believe he has to explain this. "Rhapsody breaks bones without batting an eyelash. Night Cap is constantly dealing with inner demons. Amber has a good heart, but tends to ignore it in favor of cold calculation. Static almost got suspended for improper conduct during the COIN defense." pausing as he discovers something, he adds, "So was I, now that I think about it. I wonder just how similarly our conversations went." before continuing. "and then there's you. You call your friends family. You fight for noble reasons, like protecting them. In a fight, you bruise and you unseat, but you don't...it's textbook for you. A matter of course. You lack ferocity." He pauses for a moment, distractedly trying to dissect the final stretch of awkward garble, then chooses to move on. "You're like the protagonist of a fairy tale, the shining knight. And you're surrounded by...well, us. Have you really not realized the sort of ponies you're working with? We are a radically different sort from Silky Double Time."

It can really shake a pony that's not prepared. You did good. I must admit I was a bit preoccupied to tell during the battle, but before and after, if you were afraid at all, you certainly didn't show it.

Static sighs a bit...unsure whether to ask his next question.

Umm...bit of a personal question...so...you know...feel free not to answer...but...the adrenaline rush you felt last night...is it something you'd want to find again or is it something you never want to have again?

Light Fantastic was silent.

"I... I honestly never thought of it that way," she admitted, "To be perfectly honest, I'm not even sure why I was even recruited to the team in the first place.

Sure, I majored in medicinal magic at Princess Celestia's school, but after graduation, I began to pursue dancing full-time. True, it comes in handy whenever I or one of my friends pull a muscle or something during practice, but honestly my magic isn't any more special than anypony else's."

She closed her eyes.

"I suppose that would explain why I've never really bonded to any other pony in this group like I have with my fellow dancers," she said, "Now that you mention it, I really don't have a lot in common with the rest of the group."

Much to Light Fantastic's relief, the white mare returned with hers and Snowy's order.

"Bon appé***," she said, before leaving the two ponies to their meal.

"Thank Celestia and Luna!" she said, "I can really use all this caffeine now."

She promptly began to munch happily on the tiramisu.

Snowy smiles wryly. "I can almost hear Brisk Iron in my head, answering your question. You were hired because you have what it takes, in terms of both skills and morals. Don't read too much into it," He finishes in Brisk Iron's voice, striving to match her flat tone.

When the food arrives, Snowy picks up his tea in both hooves, breathing in the scent appreciatively, then promptly downs half the cup in two gulps, letting each swallow of tea rest in his mouth for about 10 seconds before swallowing it. Setting the cup down again, he sighs contentedly. "That is very good tea. I may have to come back here some time." Watching closely as Light Fantastic munched on her food, he adds, "I don't find that I have much in common with the group either. I don't think any of us do, really. We just sort of...make it work. Same as I do for everything else."

Amber nodded at Ms. Flint's answers and the practice regimen Amber would be taking up. Something clicked with the image of the two ping-pong tables . Fights had always seemed like a chaos that she could, at best, react to as they developed. She'd never even thought to look for the orbits, see the system. Angles of incidence and reflection.

As Ms. Flint explained the velvet, Amber lofted her soccer ball back to her and nodded. "Yes, ma'am, I'm ready."

Now with her new Maple maple made it back to her sign and 2 posts.

Light Fantastic giggled at Snowy's impression.

"Yeah, probably," she said.

She took a sip of her coffee and sighed happily.

"Bless those Saddle Arabians for cultivating such great coffee," she said, "I suppose that's all you can do. Making it work, even if you don't particularly feel a connection with your teammates."

Snowy blows on his tea lightly, regarding Light over the rim of the cup with a teasing smile. "Here an interesting question: Why am I the only one asking questions here?"

"I guess I'm still in a bit of shock from last night," said Light Fantastic, "And that earlier meeting didn't help matters."

Snowy's smile drops away quickly. There he went letting his guard down again.

You promised you wouldn't lie to her.

How he was starting to regret that decision. He sighs. "It's a sort of court-ordered community service program. The Keep got me out of jail time in return for my employment."

Light Fantastic quirked an eyebrow.

"Jail time?" she asked, "Do I want to know?"

Snowy makes a face and says, "Attempted murder," hastily adding. "Which I didn't do, to be clear. In typical judiciary fashion, they convicted me of something I didn't do and ignored the 20 or so counts of robbery that they could have accused me of."

"Wow," said Light Fantastic, "Really?"

Snowy shrugs. "The twenty counts is a rough estimate. When you're a professional thief, you don't really count your successful heists. And we never had an unsuccessful one until I tanked the last one on purpose."

Light Fantastic took another sip of her coffee.

"Why'd you botch the last one?"

CoffeeHorse · Feb 14, 2022

She was taking this surprising well.
"There's no simple answer to that, really." He sighs again, and places his hooves together in the center of the table. When he separates them, a tiny house, with two floors and a simple white paint coating, remains behind. "It was a contracted murder, courtesy of new leadership. The first one for the guild since I'd been there. We were killing him for political reasons. We were actually hired by someone we had robbed maybe 3 months before; That's just the sort of city Neighlem was." The house splits in half like a dollhouse and unfolds, revealing tiny, well-kept rooms and the sole ornate feature of the house: two delicately crafted wooden staircases. 3 tiny ponies could be seen sneaking up one of the staircases, and moving along the second floor hallway. "The stallion we were here to kill certainly didn't expect us. He was a bright-eyed young pony who'd gotten too deep into local politics. Breaking into his house was the easiest thing we'd ever done." In the house, two ponies continued down the hallway, but one of them stopped outside of an open doorway. "On the way to the master bedroom, we passed by the nursery. The pony had two foals, a colt and a filly. They weren't there that night, out with their mother most likely, but someone had left the nursery door open." The pony in the doorway lay down and closed his eyes, completely still. "And right there I decided I wasn't okay with what we were here to do, so I did something phenomenally stupid to put an end to it." The house snapped shut, and outside the far corner of the second floor a tableau nearly the size of the house appeared. It depicted, in great detail, the two compatriot murderers brutally killing a young golden stallion, over and over again. Sounds akin to firework whistles and klaxon shrieks rang out from the image (their volume scaled well down to match the size of the picture as well). "I knew my coworkers well. Dull Dagger and Quick Kit were always self-serving bastards." The house reopened, the image remaining at one corner, and Light Fantastic could see that while the gray pony in the doorway to the nursery remained still, the other two ponies in the hallway shot into one of the rooms, and could be seen cramming their heads out a window and gawking at the image outside. "They knew the safest course of action was to leave town as fast as possible, so that was what they did." The two ponies darted back into the hallway and careened down the stairs, though a blue-gray stallion apparently stopped to pat the unmoving gray pony on the back. "Of course, Dull Dagger was bitter, and he never liked me to begin with. So he left his namesake in my back. I suppose I may have deserved it." As the two ponies leapt out the front door and disappeared, the house snapped shut again, and snowy crushed it back into nothingness with his hooves. "So the police showed up, in response to my alarm. I was the only one left, so they arrested me. And before I could be put on trial, Zigzag found me and cut me a deal."
He looks down at his hooves, pressed together in the middle of the table, before leaning back and standing normally again. "So that's the story of how I botched the last one. The details of why escape me to this day."

Light Fantastic just stared at Snowy in shock.

"That's... something," she said, rather lamely.

Oh, she was in shock. That explained why she was taking it so well.

"Isn't it?" Snowy replies drily, bringing one hoof over his tea. During his story it had gone cold, so he took another hearty swig, holding the liquid in mouth and savoring it again. Like all good mint teas, the flavor was radically different from when it was hot, but unlike every other tea in known history, cold mint tea still had an enjoyable taste. He knew that when he swallowed, he would have to continue the conversation, and he didn't really feel ready for that just yet, so he kept the tea in his mouth and pondered what he had just done.

"So THIS is who graduates of Celestia's school choose to associate themselves with. What a shame." Snowy Skies recognized that voice from earlier. Major Delight may have directed his comment to Light Fantastic but he was eyeing Snowy Skies. However, the guard was blocking her ability to exit by standing directly behind her chair.

"Here it comes..." Steel Flint tossed the weighted velvet over Amber Spark.

Spoiler

Light Fantastic narrowed her eyes at Major Delight.

"Oh, you," she said, contempt in her voice, "Equestria is a free country, so I can associate with anypony I care to."

Major Delight snorted with equal contempt. "And you don't think Celestia would be...displeased...with your choices?"

Snowy barely withholds a snort at that last remark, but allows an extremely bemused expression to play across his face. In an effort to hold back a variety of retorts, he silently ponders the fact that the military allows highly specific types of ponies to thrive. Some of them were beneficial to the nation, and some of them were not. What an organization.

Spoiler

Roll(1d20)+5: 6,+5 Total:11

Roll(1d20)+5: 16,+5 Total:21

Amber let out a quiet but sharp squeak as the velvet fell around her. She thought she felt an opening, but it vanished, and she couldn't help thrashing her head around as if she was going to see something other than the ghosts of lamp lights left on her retinas before the velvet came down. Bucking at the fabric was no good; it ballooned and fell without moving aside. She couldn't help imagining what Ms. Flint must be seeing, something between an ill-conceived Nightmare Night costume and a wobbling plate of agar-agar.

CoffeeHorse · Feb 14, 2022

Semolina Sway took the payment and set about preparing Night Cap's meal. Filling the bright pink bucket with the savory offering, she placed the padded handle of the bucket around his neck, clipped on an additional cup holder attachment, and then placed the coffee in the holder. "Pleasure doing business with you!" Walking down the hall, Night Cap passed Plaid Paisley who grinned. "Heh. That's clever. I see you're one to take the unconventional route. Well, see ya around."

With a rush of cool air, Amber Spark felt Steel Flint lift the weighted velvet off and watched her neatly fold it up. "Thrashing would make things far worse with a real net. For the next time, concentrate on getting a solid hoofhold of the floor so that you can lift it off. With practice, it will get easier. For now, let me let you get back to working on that discovery."

Spoiler

"No, I don't think she would," said Light Fantastic, matter of factly, "And frankly, I don't care what she would think. I am a grown mare, you know."

'Major Delight indeed,' she thought, 'If there were any pony who had the wrong name, it was him.'

Maple smiled and waved as ponies came and went ... perhaps there wasn't another group scheduled for today... which may make sense given that she could very well still be showing Light Fantastic and her dancers around at this hour... if none of the interruptions had occurred. Well there wasn't any point in worrying about that now, Her job was to stand here until close, and if being an informal information station was all that was left for her to do today... she would be the smile-lly-est I.I.S. ever.

Sadly she could still see the Wax Princesses...

"Princess Maple...." She mumbled as she harrumphed at the statues. Images of a Long flowing red mane, shining body armor and longer then long legs.... Maple shook her head, reaching up with a hoof she pushes the locket on her neck up into view. Opening the silver bobble in the center... maple looks at the faces on either side. She didn't have time to have silly dreams...Her friends in Manhattan had urged her to take this transfer... whatever else some of them may have been up to, they wanted her to continue her mission. Here now she had a new city to search ..and Stomp promised to take her to even more places that she could look.

Maple Smiled. And then shot a sideways look to the princesses... "who need's them"... letting the locket close and then fall back down Maple was left looking at her hoof for a moment.

"Longer legs would be nice though."

"Hmph. This will be remembered." Giving one last glare, Major Delight then flew off. Shortly after, a small filly with big glasses walked up to the table. "Light Fantastic, ma'am? I was wondering if I could take your picture. Thought it would be rude if I didn't ask first and I didn't want to interrupt that guard. Oh, and I couldn't see that well from far away but is your friend here some sort of toymaker? Or is he some sort of puppetmaster?"

After sitting and wait with nopony requesting a tour, a beige pegasus flew up to Mapeljack. "My name is Hazel Naught, Chief Accountant. I do believe that this is the slower part of the day for tours so I have a more efficient use of your time, if you're willing to assist."

Dusty Winds sighed again, "I don't know. Cleaning...makes sense. Individual messes may be headaches but the act of setting things right is mentally cleansing. I've got the option to join STOMP but I don't think I'm right for it. I do good work where I already am."

Between Major Delight's preposterous posturing and the young filly's questions, Snowy finally laughs aloud. "I wish I had the title of puppetmaster. I'm just a performer." He holds up a hoof and blows on it, and a butterfly springs forward, alighting on the filly's nose and shaking out wings that matched her coat color. "If Light is alright with it, I could take a picture of the two of you together."

Well, you handled yourself well last night. You've got spunk. I think you could do anything you wanted to. Heck, I'm a movie projectionist. I think the only thing that qualified me for a position where I'd be going up against ponies like COIN is that I live...or at least used to live in a pretty rough neighborhood.

But...that's not really why I was asking.

I mean, I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, because I'm really not. If I have the reputation for not liking my job, just remember I'm coming from a place where we were all getting underpaid, a city where it's truly every pony for themselves and a background that...wasn't too pleasant.

I've really grown to like it here in Caballuston. The ponies are nice here. I kinda wish I'd grown up here instead of...but that's beside the point too.

Static took a deep breath, changing the reel, setting the next one running and putting the old reel on the auto rewinder. I just wanted it to be clear that I'm not complaining when I say this. He turns to Dusty.

I come in here and I run the projection booth. It's a good job...but not one that particularly gives a pony an adrenaline rush. What I do here, I've been doing it a while. I'm really good at what I do, not because I'm particularly amazing or anything, I've just been doing it for a while.

I'd imagine you feel the same way about your job. You've done it. You're good at it. It's satisfying...but it doesn't necessarily get your blood pumping.

But when I'm out there as a member of STOMP...I may go into a fight terrified about what may happen. It's really a life or death situation, so...yeah...I'm terrified.

But once you're in that fight, attacks given, dodged...a parry here, a riposte here. It's a dance, you know? Every bit as beautiful, as ugly, as terrifying and as calming as Light's ballet...it's a dance. It felt...natural. I felt...alive.

So, I guess I do kinda crave that rush. Not just the adrenaline rush...but being in that moment.

He blows out a self-deprecating scoff as he threads the next film and sets the silent alarm.

What kind of pony does that make me, though...that I would crave something like that...something where ponies get hurt?

Maple watched the other Pegasus fly towards her, most pony's wouldn't have noticed the way she moved ... it was beautiful. Maple had a moment to imagine what it would look like over a longer distance. Hazel Naught had introduced herself, name then title... and it made sense to Maple.

"I'm sorry Miss. Naught, you'll have to say that again, I didn't exactly catch your question. You fly so beautifully. Such economy of motion." Maple smiled ear to ear, her own wings fidgeting slightly. "I was just picturing what you must look like in a wide open sky."

"How that stallion ever convinced the Princesses to make him a member of their Royal Guard, I will never understand," huffed Light Fantastic.

She then turned a beaming smile to the little filly.

"I don't mind at all," she said, "Would you like a picture of us together?"

CoffeeHorse · Feb 14, 2022

The filly struggled to focus on the butterfly on her nose until Light Fantastic asked her a question. "Yes ma'am." She struggled to get the camera off her neck, then set it on the table.

Hazel Naught repeated in an even tone. "This is a slower part of your shift. Would you like to assist me by running an errand?"

"Maybe it is the adrenaline rush. You're good at your job...but it doesn't excite you. Find a hobby that excites you. Or maybe a personal challenge. Take some time to think about that, okay? I gotta get back to work but I'll talk to you more in the future." Dusty Winds swiftly climbed back into the air vent.

"Certainly ma'am."

"One of the members of the Caballuston weather team is an employee of the Keep. It's a pegasus named Misty Monsoon who is shades of blue with part of her mane covering her eyes. The Chief Director would like to speak with her so if you could please deliver this envelope. She should be either skyward in preparation for an upcoming rain or by the docks."

Later! Static looked around at the now empty room. He reflexively went to change the reel when he looked at the timer. Yeah, he still time.

He went to one of the shelves and took out the reel of the caves so show Snowy after the shift and set it down out of the way. He also took out the film about the coral he planned on showing Anchors later.

He looked around at the room again. Still had a while before the next real change. Reels were pulled for after work. Nothing needed cleaning up. Still plenty of time to sit and do nothing.

He sat down and brought out a pad of paper.

[Ideas for Luna documentary]

Bearer of three of the Elements of Harmony - do we know which ones were hers?

Hero who fought Discord - recent resurrection may be something to check out for reference

Hero who fought Sombra - history here is kinda sketchy. See what we know about Chrystal Empire.

Fall to darkness: cultural differences that made ponies not appreciate her, ~~what could have Celestia done,~~ war or battle, Followers of Luna, ~~what happened in the 1000 years during her banishment~~

Return to the throne

Difficulty fitting in after 1000 years

reported odd speech patterns (thee thou)

Nightmare Night

Static sighed, unsure of what more to put on that list. He set it aside and put it aside and took out another piece of paper.

[Collective Opportunists of Intellectual Necessity]

First contact was during mission to recover the Wand of the North Wind - creates cold - must check out Night Caps report

Also had intrest in a sword that absorbs light and a strut that would summon an ancient queen.

How do these three things fit together?

There's no profit to be made from the end of the world

What do they want then? Money? Power? ~~Save the world?~~ Rule the world

Weaknesses
Little to no camaraderie. Would leave somepony behind in a heart beat.
Recruits who know nothing about what they signed up for...how many of their number actually believe in their cause?

He sighed again. This was one of the longer reels. He took out another piece of paper.

chimicherrychangas
oat bars
~~cider~~
some kind of fruit juice?
coffee
tea
~~cider~~

Pony feathers, he could use a cider!

Maple took the envelope with her wingtip and placed it in her saddlebag. Maple took off at a gallop toward the docks

Swiftly as her short legs would take her, Maplejack made her way to the docks. A vast cornucopia of motion, many creatures diligently worked as the sky darkened from the pegasi preparing for the rain. At the canal, Anchors Away smoothly leaped out of the water. Her tailfin split in midair and formed two hind legs as water dripped off her body. Spotting Maplejack, Anchors Away waved her over in surprise and confusion, "What are you doing here, Maplejack? Something happen at the Keep?"

"Oh not as far as I know ..." Maple said as she came to a stop. "I'm just here trying to find a pony named Misty Monsoon, My new friend Hazel asked me to because I wasn't very busy." Maple smiled, she'd never met a Seapony before and well there first meeting hadn't been the best part of Maple's day. "Miss Naught said she was either here or ... Maple paused, looking up into the sky with a look that clearly told the other pony why she'd picked this destination first. ... I hope you might have seen her here somewhere, she's a blue Pegasus -and I need to give her a letter."

Maple smiled, suddenly remembering what else she knew about this pony. "Mr. Signal likes you..." Maple's smile faded a little when she remembered how she last saw the two of them together... but Mr. Signal seemed okay when we were in the coffee fog with Mr. Night cap and Miss. Rhapsody.

"... He seems a lot happier now then when we were in Manehatten together." Maple realized she was rambling, and shut her mouth. Miss Away was either going to point to the Pegasus or say she hadn't seen her... she may not even have noticed ..being a seapony and all ... Maple was full of questions about that, maybe she'd have to watch one of Mr. Signal's films.

CoffeeHorse · Feb 14, 2022

Anchors Away smiled excitedly, "Oh! I saw Misty a few minutes ago. A few clouds went astray out over the ocean and... There she is!"

Spoiler

High up in the air, a blue bolt darted back and forth between two smaller rain clouds. She seemed to be trying to guide the clouds back towards the main formation, but as the two ponies could see, she was finding much success in her effort. As she pushed one cloud along, the other returned to drifting back towards the ocean. The net effect was that both the clouds and the pegasus were not getting anywhere.

Faintly they could hear her voice, carried on the breeze. "Wait... no... that's the wrong way. Go this way... hey! wait! ... Stay here while I... Come back here! You're supposed to go like this... Ah! Hey! I told you to stay put!"

Maple didn't know what to do... falling from sky to earth hurt... falling from sky to water ... oh what could she do?

Spoiler
Patchi & Zam

Snowy picks up the camera in his hooves and turns to face the pair. "Smile!" *click*

Light Fantastic gently place her hoof around the filly, and gave a big grin to the camera.

The filly smiled, "Thank you!" Retrieving her camera, she happily scampered off. Meanwhile, Snowy Skies could see it might be time to break things off if he were to get back to work on time...

Anchors Away looked to the sky and whistled seven echoing notes to get Misty Monsoon's attention.

Snowy turns to Light Fantastic and smiles. It was, more or less, now or never. "Would you like to get dinner with me? Not tonight, some time after this expedition."

Misty is preparing to redirect another cloud when she hears Anchors Away's whistle. She looks down and sees Anchors, along with an unfamiliar face. She stops, smiling and waving to the both of them. "Heeeeeey!"

WHUMPF! The cloud plows right into the distracted pegasus. For a moment, she seems to have been swallowed into the mass of fluff. Then her head pokes out from the cloud's underside. "I'll be down in a flash!" she calls.

She emerges from the cloud and flutters down towards the ground. Coming closer, she hovers just in front of the other two ponies.

"Hiya Anchors, what's up?"

Maple stood there stunned... she was upside down inside a cloud... and didn't fall into the water.

O_O

Light Fantastic beamed.

"I'd be delighted to!" she said, cheerfully.

Snowy blinks, for a moment completely lost. He really hadn't expected this to happen. Then he grins as widely as he can. "Great! How about this Sunday? We can go to weekly market!"

Anchors Away smiled at Misty Monsoon and pointed at Maplejack, "This is Maplejack and she's from the Keep. Apparently, she has a message for you."

Oh sure Maple knew what a Pegasus was supposed to be able to do, so while seeing it first hand was always inspiring - she did have a job to do.

"Miss Monsoon, My name is Maple. Chief Account Hazel Naught of the Equestrian Expedition Keep wants you to have this letter." Maple reached into her saddle bag and pulled out the envelope she had been given as well as two of her candies.

"I'd also like to give each of you one of these." Maple added, as she moved one of the toffees to her other wing for Miss Away.

Static hides his lists and opens the door.

"Sounds good," said Light Fantastic, "I've got to head to the air ferry to get a ride to those caves."

She waved over to the mare, who promptly came over to the table.

"May we have the bill, please?" she asked.

"Certainly," said the mare, "It'll only be a moment."

Static Signal opened the door to see a peppy Bold Standard balancing a clipboard, "Hello! My name is Bold Standard of the marketing department. Simply doing brief surveys with employees to see if there's potential for cross promotional marketing. One simple question, what is your favorite breakfast."

When Misty Monsoon opened the letter, she saw it was a formal request to speak with the museum's Chief Director, Brisk Iron.

Ready Quill opened the door. "Hope-you're-ready-to-get-your-picture-taken. You-have-any-questions-about-the-job-so-far?"

Static winced at the question. You want to know my favorite breakfast? I'd honestly hate to skew a survey that would affect other pony's meals by saying what I would have for breakfast. I've been a real bottom shelf breakfast burritoes and 3-day old coffee kinda pony just because I didn't know any better.

I'm just now finding out there's other choices out there. So...I don't know. Give me a week of new experiences, I might be able to better answer that question. Right now...I'm probably the absolute worst pony to ask.

Misty turned towards Maplejack. "Oh, nice to meet you, Maplejack! You have a message? For me?"

She gratefully accepted the letter and the toffee and thanked Maple for both. Touching down on the ground, she popped the candy in her mouth and used her wings to hold the letter as she opened and read it.

She read over the letter for a few moments until she suddenly jumped up in surprise. "Thuh Chieh Diwehtoh wath to thee me?! Whooth, I meah..." she swallowed the chewy candy before continuing, "The Chief Director wants to see me?!"

"oh she's a nice lady... anyway thank you for your help Miss Away, very nice to meet you Miss Monsoon... BYE!"

Turning on a bit, Maple dashed of back to the museum.... she'd seen Miss Away again and it seemed like she was okay. she met another new, new friend AND.. this trip to this part of town had let her learn a few new streets in town earlier than she'd planned. OH! and nopony knew about her nearly useless wings yet...

Maple was grinning from ear to ear.

CoffeeHorse · Feb 14, 2022

Snowy stands by the table awkwardly, still grinning widely. He really did need to get back to work now. "So how do you know Minor Delight?"

Bold Standard quickly scribbled a note. Before leaving she said, "Thank you for your time."

"While-you'll-be-assisting-with-various-things-in-the-Documents-Department-your-official-title-is-secretary."

As Maplejack began to run back towards the Keep, Misty Monsoon quite easily caught up with her speed.

The server returned with the bill for Light Fantastic and Snowy Skies.

"oh I'm sorry Miss Monsoon, did you need help finding the Chief Director when you get to the keep?"

Maple smiled, seeing the newest of her new friends again so soon.

Misty galloped along next to Maplejack. "Ah! I just wanted to ask, if you're heading back to the museum, I was wondering if you'd like to walk together? Or... run together, that would be fun too?"

The tips of Maple's smile were as close to touching as physically possible.

"okay!"

"Great!" Misty smiles back at Maple. "And now that you mention it, I probably could use a little help finding the Chief Director's office. I've only been to the Keep a couple times. I was there for an interview a while ago, and afterwards, I forgot the way back to the elevator," she says, looking sheepish. "I wandered around for an hour before someone finally found me and helped me back to the exit."

Good bye! Sorry I wasn't much help.

Static wasn't sure what Bold Standard could've been scribbling. He never did answer the question really.

Static turned back around and closed the door. The reel he was on still had a while to go. He threaded the next one to get it ready and started to make another list.

~~astronomy~~
photography
~~knitting~~
Rugby
~~cooking~~

Heh! Fat chance!

"I don't 'know him' know him," said Light Fantastic, "He was in several of my classes back at Celestia's school. He was just as much a blowhard then as he is now."

The mare then returned with the bill.

"Thank you," said Light Fantastic.

She glanced over the bill.

"How do you want to pay?" asked the mare.

"Can you put mine on my tab?" asked Light Fantastic.

"Certainly," replied the mare.

She turned to Snowy.

"What about you, sir?"

"Well then, they sent the right filly to find you then." Maple was so happy being useful that she actually put her wings out and 'wooshed' in the breeze a little... before tucking them back in along her body.

Snowy takes the bill and scans it. His tea was expensive, but not as ludicrously expensive as he might have feared. He would probably not be coming back here on his own any time soon; The real worth was a conversation with Light Fantastic. He levitates the right number of bits out of his saddlebag and passes them over to the waitress. "I really have to get back to work now." He says to Light, smiling some more. "I'll see you tomorrow!" without waiting for a response, he strides out the door and heads for The Keep.

With everything paid, Light Fantastic had but a brisk trot to the Heart Bright & Star Flight Air Ferry Service. She could see a cheerful pink pegasus behind the counter but just then a beige pegasus landed next to Light Fantastic. "I do believe you're Light Fantastic, correct? Such wonderful timing. I'm here to order the ferry service for the Keep's upcoming expedition. I presume you're chartering your own ride?"

Spoiler

Today was, quite possibly, the best day in Snowy Skies life thus far. He wasn't really certain what to do with that information, but he liked the certainty with which he felt it. Calming down his bounce just enough, he recollects his cleaning supplies and returns to the planetarium, waving shortly to Rhapsody before setting up his ladder. He couldn't really see what stone was cleaned and what wasn't, but he remembered his previous path.

Light Fantastic gave the pegasus a smile.

"That I am," she said.

Ready Quill pointed at two boxes. "I'll-let-you-have-your-choice-today. You-can-either-sort-this-100-page-document-that-got-shuffled-out-of-order-in-transit-or-alphabetize-these-100-pamphlets-based-on-topic-name."

Hazel Naught nodded. "My name is Hazel Naught, Chief Accountant. While I intend to be swift, I do believe you were here first. Unless you would allow me to go ahead of you."

Night Cap beholds the boxes,and his heart sinks.

I am so taking the night off. These foals are on their own.

Spoiler

Amber nodded, looking generally disappointed with herself but trying not to show it. "Yes, ma'am," she said. "Thank you again, ma'am. I clearly have quite a lot to learn," she said as she stepped toward the door.

"Go ahead," said Light Fantastic, "I'm not in any big hurry."

It was one of the slower days for Rhapsody, Destiny Spiral hadn't really needed much help, and she had mostly been stuck with filing some of their studies for future reference. Though when Snowy returned she notices that he seems to be in a much better mood. "I take it you had a good lunch?" She asks with a slight smile, not that she had much better to do then try to get in some conversation at least.

Misty walked through the doors at the museum's entrance. "Ah, that was a good run! We got here pretty fast!"

"Oh, yes." Snowy says cheerfully. "Some oats and an apple from one of the carts in the courtyard, some grass, some sun, and a bit of pony-watching. I got so caught up in it I almost lost track of time."

Rhapsody hehs softly. "Seems like its more then that." She replies with a soft smirk, but like before she doesn't push any further. "I noticed you're pretty good with the viola. I'm rather fond of the Violin myself. Don't actually have the talent to play, but least I can sing." She laughs gently with a shrug. "Changing from our earlier topic of musicals, how about artists? You ever heard of Sterling Strings? She's a bit of a local star, not sure how wide spread her fame is but she's got quite a following around the bay area. She's rather amazing with her shows for such small performances and gets away from a lot of the 'classical' style stuff that many of the bigger names seem to stick to like Octavia Melody".

Spoiler

"She's alright." Snowy says, still washing away. "My feeling about her oscillate wildly. I like how she experiments so much, but I feel like too many of her forays and tests rely on her magic more than her instrument."

"I feel that her magics are mostly for visual flair. So many seem to have a negative conception of violinists and others such artists... which again isn't helped by some of the bigger names out there, that there performances are static and boring, with the person just standing there playing. I feel like she is trying to change that, by having some visual flairs to her performances. Sometimes they are simplistic stuff, that the one where she used her magic to light all the candles as she played, so some of the larger scale productions like that one with the fountain and sea ponies." She replies as she continues with her filing, a near mindless task for her with her perception. "I feel that You of all ponies should know how sometimes visual flair and a boost of magic can really make a piece of music of any quality into... a showstopper." She says with a slight smile, referencing what you did last night.

"Sometimes, traditional methods just won't work. Ponies will just go about their business as if nothing happened, forgetting all about it by the next day. Some times to really effect a change, to capture the hearts and minds of the populace; You need something flashy and dramatic to emphasize what you are doing. Make it bigger then you, bigger then them; Make it something that ponies will remember for ages to come back and continue to talk about. Sometimes its all about the presence you want to make and what you want to be remembered for."

"Well if you follow me a little more I can take you to the office, or I can just give you my map." Maple said with a grin

CoffeeHorse · Feb 14, 2022

"I understand the importance of performance, yes." Snowy says with a chuckle. "But I was thinking of something different. Maybe I'm in a unique position to see it as another unicorn violinist." His cloth was shaking; He had reached the edge of his range. He carefully drew the cleaning cloth back to himself and climbed down the ladder, taking the momentary break in levitation to pull three songs to mind. "These are all different versions of one of her songs from a few years ago, 'stars align.' We're going to ignore all the political controversy over this song being released so shortly after Princess Luna's return and focus on the music." He conjures three little dots in the air, red, green, and orange, each pulsing along in sync to the bass line of one version of the song. "Right now this all sounds like a mess. Different performances have different idiosyncrasies, different small steps away from the beat. And yet..." As Snowy shifted the ladder, all three of the dots pulsed in unison, a quick flurry of violin notes rang out from all of them, perfectly in sync. Back atop his ladder, Snowy dismissed the songs and resumed scrubbing. "That right there was a magically produced sound, and it's just rude to the violin to do that. No matter how much you alter this song, or how differently she plays it, that octet of notes stays the same, because it's not music, it's magic trying to pass as music."

"Oh wow! That's impressive. You would make an excellent museum tour guide, Maplejack."

Misty takes the offered map, holding it in her wings while examining it. Maple notices that she's holding it upside down.

Back in the lab, Amber drew out one of the trays of tiles and began the slow process of picking away the encrusting material. She silently chastised herself for forgetting to ask Ms. Flint about a mineralogist who might be able to offer some more insight into the materials.

A part of Amber wished she could simply coax the encrustment off the tiles with her magic - but the process would be risky and could damage the tiles if she made a mistake. Instead, she chipped back the material as patiently as possible. As soon as she had two of the squares free, she wouldn't be able to resist trying to fit them together along two of those apparently interlocking edges and seeing if there was any interaction.

The tiles clearly had inner mechanics, but no obvious triggers for them. Amber had an almost uncanny tendency to find the switch, the control, the pressure plate that activated a given mechanism, seemingly by accident. As she finished uncovering the first of the tiles, she could think of little else than what she might find as more of the puzzle came together.

"Actually yes, that's what I do here..." Maple smiled, and motioned a little off to the side of the doors.

"Those are my sign and posts right over there." Pointing off with a wing toward her happy little station.

"But there isn't another tour happening just yet ..that's why Miss Naught asked me to go find you, so maybe I could show you the way there. and you could keep the map for next time." Maple's wing tucked back in as she started off down the hall.

"Ah, I knew it! I'll bet you have a lot of fun being a tour guide," Misty bubbled as she followed along.

Ready Quill came back after Night Cap was done and seemed quite pleased. "Looks-like-you'll-be-a-great-fit-for-the-department. Let's-get-your-photo-ID-setup-and-then-I'll-have-you-assist-Static-for-the-rest-of-the-day."

"Thank you. Should be but a moment." Hazel Naught walked up to the desk. "This will be on the travel expenditures tab for the Equestrian Expedition Keep. Basic covered air ferry. Ten seats with additional cargo space, from here to Nightmare Heights. Drop off tomorrow with a pickup in two days." Hazel Naught nodded to Light Fantastic on her way out. "I do believe she's ready for you now."

Freeing a second tile from its metallic prison, Amber Spark could more clearly see that despite similarities, the two pieces didn't have the exact same markings. In the mysteries and secrets within, it betrayed itself with some of the patterns lining up...

It was such a gentle tone as the two pieces clicked together. Was it a fairly distinct mechanical clang that seemed to mirror a single echoing note or was it Amber's love of discovery projecting sweet music upon her work? After being placed together, they sat there silently, and patiently, waiting.

"Ah, I see. There's you're problem." She says sticking her tongue out playfully. "You are looking at from too much of a technical mindset." She replies. "It's a valid interpretation, but I don't think it is the right one in this case. As you say, it probably due to you're being in a similar position; but I am not grading her on her technical achievements. Music is about expression, and and you make it sound too much like science." She says and trots over, leaving the filing for now. "While being able to preform perfectly is admirable and respectful, one can play TOO perfectly."

"I am not sure if you've ever come across it, but I've seen a fair share of musicians that focus way too much on the notes and replicating them." Rhapsody states. "My sister, Symphony went to a music school, I'd occasionally go to her recitals where multiple others were all preforming their pieces. All of them were good on a technical level, but more then a few still feel flat regardless of their ability. They forget that the whole point of music, the the passion, the emotion. IF you don't put a part of yourself into what you are doing, its going to end up feeling hollow no matter how well done it is. That might mean that not every note or performance is perfectly in sync, but if its something you are doing and you're putting you're all into then it will be worth it when people remember it as that is what will move them; becuase the average pony isn't going to notice the finer details like you or I would." Rhapsody states and then after a moment adds. "That isn't to say, that one shouldn't try to always preform their best; just that a pony shouldn't be cuaght up in all the little details of making it grade that the miss the big picture becuase of it."

"We look at music from completely different angles." Snowy says, sounding fascinated at the very concept. "My gripe isn't about the nuance of her performance, it's about how she approaches the music. If you're going to perform with a violin, experiment with the violin. If you're experimenting with what magic can do for music, then why do you have a violin in the first place?" Violin notes (set to the tune of 'beyond the veil') echo through the planetarium for a moment as he continues scrubbing, seamlessly morphing into piano notes and back. "You can create all kinds of sound with magic. As Starswirl the Bearded once said, magic is the mind made real. There's no challenge to translating the music in your soul into something other people can listen to, the challenge comes in what ingenious combinations you can piece together. So why in Celestia's name are you playing a violin while doing it? It's not fair to the violin itself. There's loads of potential left to explore in the violin. It's not doing the instrument justice to use it as a set piece...especially not with a beautiful violin like the one she uses. It's just...rude."

Spoiler

Rhapsody hmphs and listens and shakes her head softly. "Yes, we are indeed looking at music completely differently, but I think her as well." She replies after a moment. As you question her use of a violin, she grins softly. "Probably the same reason you don't drag a piano around with you everywhere you go." She says, following the use of his piano notes. "A violin is small and compact, its easy to move around with. Pianos, Cellos, and the like require you to be completely static while you are playing because they aren't mobile. But THAT'S not the issue." She replies with a shake of her head. "I doubt you've ever heard her actually play, rehearse for a gig. I have." She says with a sly grin. "She can play, she just augments the music with her magic... and not always her magic."

Rhapsody didn't have the abilities to show as much as Snowy did, and she was somewhat envious in that as she explains further. "When she preformed 'Shadows' in Canterlot, she went to my mother for help. My mother's name is Shadewing and her special talent is... shadow puppets." Rhapsody pauses a moment to give a look daring him to laugh at that before continuing on. "With a mix of her own talents and magical knowledge, she can create masterful shadows that bow and dance to her whims, despite being a pegasus. While she usually uses this ability to for storytelling purposes, Sterling Strings heard of it while she was there and asked if she could help create a 'living shadow' for her next song. I was lucky to be in town visiting mom at this time; So I actually got to see them work together to produce this. She can play, and she does. But she's not creating music through her magic, she combines them to create a better effect. Her magic is more akin to a speaker like a DJ would use. Yes, she'll vary up what is there, but its still her own music on her violin being played through it. Its not simply a prop as you make it out to be."

Snowy shakes his head. This was going to be nigh on impossible to explain without an instrument handy. "It's not enough for...for it to not be a prop." He says in a stilted, awkward tone. With a frustrated grunt, he sets down his cleaning cloth and closes his eyes, focusing and bearing to mind everything about his viola. The curves and the grain of the wood, the imperfections on the strings that you couldn't see unless you stared at it for a quarter-hour...he brought every inch of it to bear and tried to produce it in front of him. But when he opened his eyes, the object in front of him lacked...life. It looked like his viola, certainly. But it lacked it's pulse, it's quiet but vibrant sense of life.

Another reminder of the futility of his craft. With a much louder and more irritated grunt he dismisses the illusion and picks up his cloth again, giving up on trying to think out what he was saying. "The instruments are alive. Good music feels like they emanate cries of joy. But only rarely do you get to feel their true ecstasy. It takes...a tremendous amount of effort and focus. Some refer to it as making the instruments sing. It's about drawing out every last iota of potential the instrument has within it." He really wanted her to be able to see his face right now, so he conjures a doppleganger of himself and steps up next to her desk, staring at her. His eyes are wistful and nostalgic, recalling the scant few times in the past he's achieved it himself. "If you're not striving for that, then what are you doing?" The doppleganger says, sounding almost like it's afraid to know the answer.

[IC] Equestrian Radio Show's Adventure Variety Hour: Explorers of STOMP

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