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Peril in the Crystal Mines (PM to Join)


Bellosh

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On a normal day in Canterlot, Clover Park teemed with foals and other ponies needing a place to relax or have fun someplace other than the busy streets. Not one of these ponies ever gave any thought to what lurks beneath the glistening spires of Celestia’s city. Even after Princess Cadence and Twilight Sparkle made their heroic attempt to escape imprisonment and foil the Changeling Queen, no one made any effort to dig deeper into the mysteries of the crystalline underworld. That was, until now.....

Two weeks ago in the park, a group of little colts pretending to jump over bottomless pits for fun got scared silly when the statue of ole’ Clover the Clever herself suddenly found itself swallowed up by a real abyss. Nopony got hurt from the collapsing ground thank Celestia, but Clover Park was now left with an unsightly sinkhole... a sinkhole connected to the long-abandoned tunnels of the crystal mines. The reason as to why the mines were abandoned in the first place had never been discovered, but one slick stallion was prepared to unravel the mystery.

Within two days of the collapse, a renowned gentlecolt by the name of Dr. Merlot volunteered to not only organize a survey of the so-called Crystal Mines, but to do so without asking for any money from the Canterlot Treasury whatsoever. It appeared as if he would fund the entire effort out of his own charitable pocket. With the help of an ever-eager press, Merlot found himself with a small army of able, unpaid volunteers from Canterlot University to work for academic credits; his usual circle of shovel bum contractors would ensure that those kids didn’t do anything foolish. Plus with additional highly-trained royal guards (the only resources Merlot requested from the city) keeping watch over the site, the khaki unicorn could rest in peace knowing that no cosplaying rat would come around and be a nuisance.

However, the excavation required two weeks to set up a sturdy wooden elevator before a safe survey of the Crystal Mines could proceed. While he waited for his contractors to give the green light, Merlot passed the time not only by getting involved in press interviews, but by offering schools across Equestria a fabulous opportunity to tour an actual archaeological and geological excavation. Not only would foals get a chance to get interested in archaeology, but Merlot would get even more publicity for his work!

Sitting down in his temporary office within a moderately lavish tent, the good doctor blew bubbles from his pipe as he waited for the first field trip group to arrive; a party from the Crystal Empire if Merlot’s secretary was correct. Merlot grinned; being crystal ponies, they’d unquestionably be astonished by the glittering sights lying beneath Canterlot. Leaning back in his chair, the smug stallion grinned as he imagined how the day would proceed. Those little crystal foals would get to watch the first advance team as it mapped out the tunnels for the excavators and witness archaeological history in the making. This day was set to be perfect... and nothing at all would go wrong.....

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Goodness gracious, Equestria certainly had changed! The city of Canterlot was a bright and shining compilation of spires and turrets that rose up from the side of a mountain, not the small stone city it had been last time BC had ventured south of the arctic empire.

[colour=#64BE9B]"Stay with your partners please, my little ponies, and please don't venture away from the group. Garnetta, we aren't here to play on the playground - stay with your buddy, sweetheart!"[/colour] she fussed about her pupils more out of habit than anything. The small group of Crystal fillies and colts had excitedly boarded one of the empire's high speed trains and were now in Equestria's shining capital city buzzing with excitement over the prospect of exploring the long-forgotten Crystal Caves beneath the city.

And what a perfect opportunity it was to get to show her students just how archeological digs were set up and planned! Not to mention she herself was rather curious about these Crystal Caves. Were they somehow connected to the crystal ponies, or another entity entirely? She supposed that was why the good doctor Merlot would be excavating in there - to uncover the ancient truths! Oh how exciting for them to be granted the opportunity to visit it!

The park was quite the flurry of activity - Bright Calcite noticed a rather lavish tent set up at one end, and a smattering of Royal Guards seemed to be keeping watch over the place. The schoolteacher couldn't help but wonder what need there was for them - surely there was nopony here who would cause trouble.

[colour=#64BE9B]"Alright children, have a seat on the ground here and wait patiently for our host. Bright Stone, could you please go knock on the door of that tent to see if our host is inside, love? Just to let him know we're here."[/colour]

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"[colour=#008000]Moooom![/colour]" Bright Stone groaned as her mother picked HER ofcourse to do the bidding! Ofcourse she would oppress her like this! It was simply because she was her DAUGHTER! And her mother felt some form of obligation to [colour=#ff0000]PUBLICLY HUMILIATE HER LIKE THIS![/colour]

But Bright Stone sighed and nodded as she looked around...everything was so pretty! She wanted to see it all! All of it! But alas for now she had to bend to her mothers dictatorship and moved to..knock on the tent.. "[colour=#006400]HEY MR ADVENTURE PANTS WE'RE HERE[/colour]!" She called out in her best big girl voice, before glancing at her mother and grinned.

"[colour=#008000]Like that!?[/colour]"

She was never going to be asked to announce their presence again!

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Ah, Canterlot! How long had it been since she had walked its beautiful, yet coursing with OBVIOUS signs of corruption and dark secrets, streets? Was it last year? She was pretty sure it was last year. Naturally, such close proximity to the subtle mind-controlling powers of the princesses (of course) meant taking extra safety precautions. Tinfoil hats were not Honeydew's go-to option, for she had stockpiled plenty of evidence that suggested something quite sinister about hats, in general. No, she went with the old stand-bys. She was wearing at least fifteen different kinds of "magical protection amulets." Sure, a couple of unicorn unbelievers had scoffed at the necklaces and told her that there was nothing magical about them, but she knew the truth. Anything you found at some old mare's garage sale was chock-full of magic potential, whether the old mare denied it or not.

Now, the reason why she was here was simple. As a journalist for Manehattan's finest tabloid, The Daily Turnip, she had a duty to report to her loyal readership all of the important going-ons in the world. And a sinkhole opening up in the middle of Clover Park and being connected to the recently discovered Crystal Mines (she hadn't even known there was such a thing; and she made it a point to track down every little rumor and urban legend, no matter how outrageous other ponies thought it was) was the perfect scoop for her next article! It didn't hurt, either, that one of Equestria's leading archaeologists, Dr. Merlot, was going to be heading the investigation himself. She had plenty of theories surrounding the so-called doctor, and it would be a great opportunity to get at the truth.

As she got nearer to the excavation site, she noticed a number of royal guards around. She tried to remain calm and hoped none of the pegasi guards recognized her from the Saddle Arabian diplomat and noodle incident. A guard greeted her near the entrance.

"State your business," he said.

"My business is MY business. I'm with the press!" Honeydew said, narrowing her eyes at the guard.

"Press pass, please."

Honeydew rolled her eyes and shifted through the necklaces that were on her neck. The guard watched on, looking increasingly unamused as the minutes rolled by, and the honey-coloured mare failed to present a pass.

She found it, finally, but it was obstructed and tangled up in all of her other necklaces. She grumbled under her breath as she worked to untangle everything.

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((ooc: not really sure how or if to bring any Spellbound characters in at this point, so just Tourmaline for now))

[colour=#ffffff]As Bright Calcite's class of crystal foals made their way through Canterlot, one particular young filly trudged somewhat off to the side of the group. Tourmaline Glass wasn't sure how to feel in regards to this excursion. Canterlot was a city that held such allure. It was the heart of the great empire of the dull-coated outsiders. It was the focal point of the world of arcane, the city of the unicorn... perhaps the very place from which the dark king had first left on his campaign of conquest. On every level it was a fascinating city, and Tourmaline had wanted desperately to visit. She couldn't, however, say she was very pleased with the terms.[/colour]

[colour=#64BE9B]"Stay with your partners please, my little ponies, and please don't venture away from the group. Garnetta, we aren't here to play on the playground - stay with your buddy, sweetheart!"[/colour]

[colour=#ffffff]Tourmaline resented school. The obnoxious children who were her classmates, their overly cheery teacher, all of it just felt so immaterial to the child. She got enough overbearing cheeriness from that staggeringly irreverent sister of her as it was. She didn't need it! She was confident she was more knowledgeable than any of them, the teacher included, as it was. All of them with their ever so transient memories, so quick to resume their boring, smiling lives like nothing had happened... Tourmaline could hardly understand it. They had all been through the same things, hadn't they? All of her classmates had, like her, had an evil imprint across their formative years before they were hurdled across the ages. Why was it only her that wasn't smiling along like nothing had ever happened? Her only conclusion was that her class was full of simpletons and ne'er do wells. She had nothing to learn there, and that her first trip to Canterlot would be on a school field trip with this lot was a point was truly a shame.[/colour]

[colour=#64BE9B]"Alright children, have a seat on the ground here and wait patiently for our host. Bright Stone, could you please go knock on the door of that tent to see if our host is inside, love? Just to let him know we're here."[/colour]

"[colour=#008000]Moooom![/colour] [colour=#006400]HEY MR ADVENTURE PANTS WE'RE HERE[/colour]! [colour=#008000]Like that!?[/colour]"

[colour=#ffffff]Tourmaline was the first of the class to sit upon the ground. From there she watched with judging eyes as Bright Stone, the teacher's daughter and one of the more tiresomely foalish of her classmates went ahead and made a fool of herself. She rolled her amber eyes and gave a small sigh. What were they even doing here? The entire city of Canterlot was there to explore. Why was this site so worth their attention? There had to be at least twenty points of interest within the city of Canterlot that were far more compelling than some shiny cave. The more she thought on that question, the more baffling it was to her. While she was seldom one to call attention to her, she couldn't help but want to know how her teacher might respond to an inquiry on the subject.[/colour]

[colour=#ff9900]"Miss Calcite, I happened to wonder why this mine was chosen for the subject of our field trip. Don't we see enough crystals back home...?"[/colour][colour=#b22222] [/colour][colour=#ffffff]she started in her ever gloomy voice.[/colour]

[colour=#ff9900]"Wouldn't it be more enriching to tour a location of more cultural importance, like the royal palace or the library district?"[/colour] [colour=#ffffff]she added, narrowing her eyes.[/colour]

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While one crystal filly chose to be an obnoxious killjoy, her light-blue partner made the most of the field trip by taking in all the sights and sounds in front of her. After months of conning tourists from Equestria during her free time, Flakey Shards finally got to see where all these ponies lived. She’d never let anypony in her class know, but the filly thought from her first impressions of Canterlot that it was a pretty cool place. And apparently, seeing the grown ups as the explored the Crystal Mines would be awesome too.

The bad news though: Flakey Shards had been partnered with two of the most annoying kids in class. Bright Stone, Mrs. Calcite’s daughter, Flakey detested with a passion; for some stupid reason, Bright had to be an excitable, goody four-shoes who kept ruining Flakey’s fun all the time. The other girl, Tourmaline Glass, was the complete opposite of Bright Stone; an eternal spoilsport who always saw the worst in everything and had no idea what the word “fun” meant at all. So of course the eye-rolling Miss Shards would berate her classmate over her whiny attitude; [colour=#99ccff]“Oh knock it off Liney! Even if we visited the castle instead, you'd just complaaaain.....”[/colour]

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Before an argument arose between the fillies, a khaki unicorn stallion wearing a white suit and fedora emerged from the tent. He of course was Merlot, who just happened to be in a bemused mood having been called a “Mr. Adventure Pants”. “Welcome, welcome everypony,” he warmly greeted in-between chuckles; [colour=#0000ff]“I’m Doctor Merlot, the archaeologist overseeing the excavation of the mines below us. As your teacher would have told you earlier, the mines centuries ago used to be Equestria’s most productive source of crystals. Why the Crystal Mines were closed, nopony knows... until now.”[/colour]

[colour=#0000ff]“Today, all you youngsters will witness a great endeavor a thousand years in the making! You... yes you, will see how a subterranean archaeological survey is carried out. And everypony here will glimpse the joys... of discovery.”[/colour] Merlot’s exuberant tone then shifted towards a sterner attitude as he needed to take care of a necessary formality; [colour=#0000ff]“Before you all descend below, can I have your teacher hoof over the permission slips that your parents had to sign?”[/colour] It naturally wouldn’t do to have children tour an excavation site without forcing them to know what NOT to do; the last thing Merlot wanted was clumsy foals injuring themselves and staining his reputation in the process.....

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"AHA!" Honeydew had finally untangled her press pass from the myriad of necklaces on her neck. She practically shoved it in the guard's face. The guard continued looking unimpressed and seemed to be suppressing his irritation.

"Proceed," he said, standing aside.

Honeydew turned up her head and walked on through. "Thank you so very much." She continued trotting forward until she reached a group of crystal ponies (well, one crystal mare and a bunch of crystal fillies and colts) and Dr. Merlot. She stopped just before reaching the group and dug into her satchel. She pulled out her notepad, holding it in one hoof, and a pen, which she held in her mouth. She started writing some observations.

Crystal ponies at the Crystal Mines. Coincidence? Probably not!

Dr. Merlot claims not to know why the Crystal Mines were closed... A likely story?

She tucked everything back and watched as fillies handed over their permission slips. She attempted to get through the crowd of crystalline fillies and colts without stepping on any of them and nearly tripped over one. She gave a frustrated grumble before deciding to just address Dr. Merlot where she was.

"So, am I to assume, Dr. Merlot, that it's entirely appropriate to take these sweet, innocent foals into a mine that hasn't been thoroughly explored in 1000 years not long after a gigantic sinkhole mysteriously appears? Is it mere coincidence that guards are swarming all over the area?" The accusatory tone in her voice came so naturally to her; one might think she used it all the time. She did. Apparently, getting off on the wrong hoof wasn't a huge concern of hers.

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  • 4 weeks later...

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As if Fate decided that Dr. Merlot couldn’t manage a dig site without at least one crazy character showing up, a rabble rousing reporter dropped by and started asking the archaeologist loaded questions... right in front of the children. This pony was especially rude barging in like this without so much as properly introducing themselves, but to try and frighten the young crystal ponies too? Even a normal plebeian would have showed more respect than whoever this yellow earth-pony mare was.

“If you will give me a minute,” Merlot butted in with a condescending sneer; “I can find time to... entertain your questions.” Prioritizing his immediate concern of damage control, the khaki unicorn quickly found the closest worker to him, some muscular no-name unicorn mare clearly hired as a strongback, and trotted over with instructions; “Ah miss, I need you to drop what you’re doing and take this group of crystal fillies over to their tour guide for today. His name’s errr... Docket Change, or something like that.” As a pony with low respect for anypony below his social stature, Merlot never bothered remembering any of his underlings that he didn’t deem could fulfill an irreplaceable position.

"Heh," Merlot suddenly overheard a disrespectful Flakey Shards; "That guy gets scared by a single reporter. What a wuss." Now the gentlecolt had to endure the insulting mockery of children too! Uggh, no wonder why he never opened up his dig sites to field trips before.....

*OOC: the “strongback” is an OC played by Ginger.*

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Honeydew watched him go, narrowing her eyes. She would give him his "minute," but then it was answer time. Nopony could avoid Honeydew, ace reporter for The Daily Turnip for long! She heard Flakey Shards pipe up and suddenly became aware that she was surrounded by Crystal fillies and colts. Well, that was slightly unnerving. She stood her ground, however, and even nodded in agreement with Flakey Shards. "Ponies often become fearful when they're confronted by THE TRUTH." One could almost imagine the emphasis on "THE TRUTH" echoing.

...

Clearly a strongback was right, given that the unicorn mare was hooked up to a cart piled high with rubble. But that wasn't all Shiny Pebbles was doing. Her very long, dark gray horn glowed a golden colour, signifying the use of her magic. She was currently floating down a platform which had lumber stacked on top of it. The lumber was securely attached to the platform since she couldn't use her magic on both the platform and the stacks of lumber. She bore a look of intense concentration as the platform continued to lower into a part of the mine. To her credit, she didn't flinch or lose her concentration when Dr. Merlot tried to get her to drop everything. She didn't even so much as glance in his direction.

"Gimme a moment," she said, her voice sounding a little strained, but otherwise she showed no sign of struggling with the heavy weight. Her stance was rock solid, firm, and steady. It took a moment for the platform to finally settle somewhere on the ground in the mine where visibility wasn't all that great. Her horn stopped glowing, and she wiped some sweat from her brow, flipping her dark-coloured rainbow bangs in the process. "Everypony okay down there?" she shouted. When she received several shouts confirming that everypony was okay, she turned to address Dr. Merlot.

"Be happy to help you, Dr. Mer-..." She stopped and stared at him, flabbergasted. She resisted the urge to facehoof herself and closed her gaping mouth before opening it to speak again. Her horn glowed again, picking up a nearby hard hat and floating it to silver-eyed unicorn in front of her. She left it at his hooves. "Rules apply to everypony, even you, Dr. Merlot. When you're not in the safe zones, you got to wear a hard hat. That hat you're wearing isn't standard, and I don't think it's going to help you much. We've all agreed that there's no room in our schedules for cleaning up somepony else's scrambled brains. It's for your protection, sir." She trotted away from him and unhooked herself from the cart. She shouted over to a pony sitting at a table eating a half-finished donut.

"Hey, buddy! Break time's over. Finish your donut and get this over to the pile." She gestured to the cart. "Then, I need you and a couple of the guys to go pick up those supplies incoming. The old guy says we're ahead of schedule, so don't go breaking your back wonderbolting the haul here."

She floated a clipboard over and looked over it. She had written down a list of everypony present at the dig site to make sure everypony could be accounted for. Naturally, she didn't have the actual names of the school group, but she had counted them in the attendance list and put down descriptions of them. She felt fairly confident the teacher would watch over the fillies and colts, but she still liked to have EVERYPONY on the list, just in case. "Docket Change? Did we get any other tour guides because I'm not seeing him in section D." She flipped through the pages, then stopped and gave him a look. "Ah, wait. Pocket Change." She looked up from the clipboard and spotted the stallion she needed to take the group to. "All righty. I'm on it." She started trotting over to to the group.

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A white coated unicorn decked out in a jacket and proper hard-hat quickly made his way into the group. “Pocket Change, reporting for duty!”. The stallion was also wearing well stocked saddlebags, most likely containing the proper safety gear and equipment. A small blue Pegasus filly also sporting filled bags and hard hat followed after him, “This little one had to use the restrooms. Thank goodness I spotted her lingering around the entrance or she would have had the chance to visit this historical site.”, he glanced around the dig site. The filly was not amused, “Geez Pocket, you don’t have to pretend that you don’t know me!”, she growled. The unicorn ignored the girl as he cantered over to the group.

“And I must say it is a honor to be working with you Doctor Merlot! I've heard so many stories about you and while it appears I won't be working on the site as proper, I can at least show these children how a proper team of archaeologists do their job.". He turned his attention to the small group of young ponies. "I'm Mister Pocket Change. I'll be showing you around the site. You will stick close to the group and not wander off at anytime! We will also team you up with a 'buddy'. Your job will be to watch out for each other. You can not leave your buddy at anytime! I will also need to collect the proper wavers that your parents have signed. Please pull them out, and I'll gather them up."

"If you think my daddy is scary Mister Pocket, you better make sure nothing happens to me.", the pony known was Wind Walker added as she pulled out her paper. With the aid of his telekinesis, the unicorn scooped up the legal sheet along with any others that were brought out. The stallion was familiar with the filly's family. All those of proper age were either in the Royal Equestrian Army, were training, or were about to. Her father, Major Brass Hat was one pony you would not want to meet in a dark alley. "Just follow the rules little Wind, and you'll be fine."

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  • 3 weeks later...

The Crystal caverns, huh?

For all his life, Curio had lived in Canterlot, and it wasn't until that nasty business with the changelings a few months ago that it came to be known that there were caves underneath the beautiful capital of Equestria, filled with crystals of (if the stories were to be believed) unimaginable beauty (and quality, and colour, and price...). When the opportunity presented itself for the earth pony to take a look-see himself, he immediately jumped on the opportunity. So, he got his gear together, closed down Curio's Relics for a few days (complete with a rather cheesy sign about him going to find the "Mysteries of the Trotient", though what that was nopony could guess), and struck out for the park. He wore his usual "public" appearance: his braids were down, showing a long mane with some spiked tips, and he wore a brown REA surplus greatcoat, as well as some saddlebags. Mandatory for the excursion, he had a yellow hardhat on, with a magical, everburning candle in a mirrored holder on the band, to provide him with some light while down there. For the time being, the shutter was closed.

The stallion took a look around the park, and the camp, as he approached. It was an odd crew, to be sure. A Crystal Empire school trip, a reporter with far too many questions (and not all of them entirely... sane), a white unicorn explorer that he immediately recognized (and hoped the opposite wasn't true, because he was fairly sure he may have swindled that Pocket Change out of a few bits with one of his fake relics), and of course, the famed Dr. Merlot. "Greetings!" he called out as he approached, in his usual, slightly high-pitched voice. No fake accent, which he hoped meant nopony would recognize him. That was the plan, after all.

Well, the main overall plan was to get in with the mine tours, break away, grab a number of crystals, and smuggle them out to be cut into various "Crystal Empire relics" for his shop later. But for the moment, the plan was to not be recognized as Curio the Shopkeeper, as anypony who did would know he was up to something.

"This where the tour starts?"

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  • 2 weeks later...

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It quickly dawned on Dr. Merlot that the strongback he spoke to was actually supposed to be the foremare in charge of the personnel today... Shiny Dribbles was her name if the gentlecolt recalled correctly. That muscular unicorn definitely could use an attitude adjustment thought Merlot, but he couldn't argue with her concerns about safety. Clearly, Ms Dribbles had enough brain cells to rise above the other dimwitted plebeians and earn the rank of foremare, which meant she was a pony who could not be ignored without peril. With only minor grumbling, the archaeologist took his fedora off and exchanged it for the hard hat lying on the ground. Merlot and caves had never gotten along in the past, after all.

The khaki unicorn merely nodded as Dock- Pocket Change announced his readiness to lead the tour group, his eagerness highly typical for a standard unassuming stallion who probably wouldn't get anywhere in life. Merlot instead focused his attention on a miner who looked oddly out of place. Nopony else on the mining crew wore surplus REA uniforms for outfits, and the unknown stallion’s hard hat was equipped with what looked like an outdated magic candle; special underground helmets these days used more efficient luminescent crystals that mimicked the appearance of mirrors. Cementing Merlot’s poor opinion of the worker was the ridiculously dumb question he asked; one that Merlot harshly responded too. “Of course this is where the tour starts, you ignorant fool!” the glaring gentlecolt angrily chastised; “Now you go and do whatever Change tells you to do.” Maybe if the miner obeyed simple directions, he could last long in Merlot's employ.....

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Seeing her permission slip hoofed over to the tour guide, it didn't escape Flakey Shard’s attention that Mr. Change tried to hide his connection to a newcomer pegasus filly. If this girl was anything like that teacher’s pet Bright Stone, Flakey surmised that she’d be a worthy target for teasing. The light-blue crystal pony never wasted an opportunity to taunt suspected do-gooders, and maybe even get them in trouble! “Who is Mister Change?” Miss Shards condescendingly whispered to the pegasus once she sneaked up to the other’s side; “Your babysitter?”

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  • 3 weeks later...

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The white unicorn smiled as his small group started to form and patiently waited for the remanding ponies to join. He glanced over at the older stallion as he made himself known, causing Pocket Change to feel the need to study him further. There was something about the pony that seemed rather familiar to him. He wanted to ask the fellow a few questions, but was forcibly removed from his train of thought as he heard the head archaeologist say a few very unpleasant words in a downright rude tone. His colleagues had warned him from working with the 'insufferable Dr. Merlot', the unicorn choose to ignore them. While he had worked with a few miserable "lords of the sand' during his tour as a 'shovel-bum', the young stallion had been rather lucky over the last year or so, gaining employment from friendly sorts like Doctor Cleverboots. Still, he wasn't doing a proper dig with the infamous explorer, but would instead would be babysitting a bunch of kids. One of the many requirements listed for his classes was that he attended a 'youth oriented' event or workgroup, and this fit the bill. He just wish he hadn't mentioned it to his sister who had managed to draw the short string and end up having to look after his best friend's kid. After hearing Pocket would leading a team of sightseers through the recently opened and soon to be very famous Canterlot Crystal Miner, she was more than happy to dump the little Pegasus pony at his hooves.

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"Nah, he's not my babysitter, he's my...", the little blue mare noticed she wasn't talking to some other, ordinary kid, but a REAL CRYSTAL PONY! "Holy socks!", the mare yelped. "You're a honest to goodness crystal pony!", she scooted a little closer to the girl, "You're all blue and crystally and you have.", she glanced at her flank, "What I think is a little green clover for a cutie mark, which makes you lucky! And wow! My friend Sweet Cents said Crystal Ponies are made of real crystals and aren't borned like regular ponies but are real crystals who are chiseled by their 'parents', but I think Sweets if crazy, cause you can't be living crystal cause if you felled down you'd break into a million piece and that wouldn't be fun and I also heard
whenyoueatponiescanseethroughyouandwhenyoupoo...
", she was (thankfully) cut short by the elder stallion who pulled out a small paper-bag from his saddlebags and asked if she would breathe into it. Which she did.

"Sorry.", the mare's cheeks turned a little red, "I'm Wind Walker! Guess you got dragged into this like me.", she glanced down at the floor before adding, "This could be interesting. They might find pony bones, or even treasure. Which would be cool!"
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  • 3 weeks later...

Curio grinned at the stallion's outburst. Poor guy seemed completely on end, and that amused Curio quite a bit. It'd be somewhat easier to get through with his plans if the leader of this expedition was too stressed out to pay close attention to anything. When one was angry or in general annoyed, they tended to miss the simplest of things.

Like a few valuable crystals.

"Cool beans, boss," he said, trotting over toward Pocket Change. He really, really hoped this stallion didn't recognize him right away. Or if he did, didn't give him up too early. Perhaps he could get Pocket in on his little scheme. If the mines were as expansive and as beautiful as Merlot had indicated, they could both walk out of here rolling in bits with very little effort! It was great!

"Heya. You're Mister Change?" he asked Pocket Change. He made little effort to cover up his voice... when he was out of the shop, he sounded like any old pony, with a somewhat high pitched voice, but average in any case. It was only when he was in full on "Mysteries of the Orient" mode (whatever the Orient was) did he have an accent. "I was told to report here for duty. Sir."

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"Nah, he's not my babysitter, he's my... Holy socks! You're a honest to goodness crystal pony! You're all blue and crystally and you have... What I think is a little green clover for a cutie mark, which makes you lucky! And wow! My friend Sweet Cents said Crystal Ponies are made of real crystals and aren't borned like regular ponies but are real crystals who are chiseled by their 'parents', but I think Sweets if crazy, cause you can't be living crystal cause if you felled down you'd break into a million piece and that wouldn't be fun and I also heardwhenyoueatponiescanseethroughyouandwhenyoupoo..."

Flakey Shards looked like a filly who feared she would be eaten by a timberwolf as she experienced the entirety of the pegasus’s hyperactivity. Was seeing a crystal pony really so novel as to shout at the top of one’s lungs? And… how dare that filly get Flakey’s cutie mark wrong! Anypony with brain cells would know that it’s a snowflake-shaped gem instead of a clover. Pffft, what a dummy!

"Sorry. I'm Wind Walker! Guess you got dragged into this like me. This could be interesting. They might find pony bones, or even treasure. Which would be cool!"

By the time the annoyed Miss Shards backed away a minor distance from the pegasus filly, the other girl managed to calm down enough to finally start talking sense. “Whatever they find, it better be totally worth it,” snorted the crystal filly; “My teacher better not have dragged us all the way here only for nothing to get found.” Impatience settling in Flakey, she next brashly demanded of Mr. Change; “Hey Mister Tour Guy, are we gonna’ get going or not? We’re getting bored!!”

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"Huh?", the little filly was confused, "Whatever we do find, it sure beats the heck out of having to go to class! If I wasn't out here in this cool dig site, I would have been stuck behind a desk listening to boring old Miss Hum Drum as she rattled off the history of some very dead pony who did something boring a hundred zillion years ago! I mean, seriously? Who gives as horse's derrière about the 'Golden Age Of Gravy'? Oh, and...", she glanced over at the stallion, "What she said. Are we moving or are we just gonna stand out here until we all get sun tans?"

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The stallion glanced down at the jabbering little creatures with a sigh, "Right. Just waiting for Dr. Merlot's go ahead and we need to make sure you all have your safety helmets on! Don't want you to get hit by a falling rock or whatever's in there that can give you kids and er, adult.", he was a little surprised to see that the stallion was coming along. "Brain Damage.". Once everypony was suited up and the second the good Doctor gave the approval to move on, Pocket Change lead his small group into the mines.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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Dr. Merlot grew impatient; that field trip should have been down in the caves almost fifteen minutes ago. To his dismay, the doctor's staff was not particularly skilled in the task of processing permission slips, so many good minutes went by before they accounted for everypony's paperwork. Additionally, one of the supervising excavators insisted on triple-checking the stability of the horsepowered elevator before letting a massive group of kids on it... and Merlot wasn't prepared to give himself a bad name by trading children's safety for expediency.

After a few more minutes of waiting however, the head archaeologist received the go-ahead to let the group trot onto the elevator. "The children can head down now," Merlot sternly instructed Pocket Change; "But remember that you are responsible for everypony's safety. If anything goes wrong, you'll be held entirely responsible, Change. Now get the group going; they better not be late for the publicity photoshoot at 3PM..."

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Flakey Shards managed to overhear Merlot, and she grinned in glee as the khaki unicorn trotted back into his tent. They were finally going to get moving, plus this pegasus gal didn't actually seem all that bad. Granted, the blue filly reminded Flakey of the over-perky Bright Stone a little bit too much, but at least she claimed to be nothing like a boring teacher's pet. Maybe it was worth it to hang with the kid for a little while; any company was better than moody ole' Tourmaline. "My name's Flakey Shards," she tentatively whispered to the pegasus; "What's your's, kid.....?"

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Curio looked around at the small group and shrugged. This seemed like it'd be a lot easier said than done... only the leader, Merlot, seemed to have realized he was there, and only for a moment. Perhaps a refuge in anonymity would be best, all things considered! He opened the shutter on his ancient miner's lamp and followed the group into the elevator. It was time to get down to business, and see what these crystal caves had in store. He kept the light out of everypony's eyes, or at least tried to. On one occasion he had to bite at his left foreleg to scratch an itch, and it caused his lamplight to hit Flakey Shards and refract across the elevator. He finished scratching his leg and straightened up, as if nothing had happened. Remember, he had to be somewhat invisible. Casual. No need to draw undue attention to himself.

Curio sneezed. In the crowded elevator, it ended up being somewhat loud. " 'scuse me."

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"Yes sir.", the unicorn replied in a proper, Canterlot tone. While Dr. Merlot was an utter hoof-head, the stallion did not fear him, but was very worried about Wind Walker. If anything were to happen to her, the filly's mountain of a father would probably squish his head like a bug. Thankfully, Pocket knew things were going to go well. They probably hired the best to check out everything before sending the tour-group in. As the elder pony pointed out the time for the photo-shoot, the unicorn glanced at his watch and nodded. "Well then, come on kids...And..er adult..And follow me.", he continued to talk as they made their way towards the elevator.

"I do hope you all have found a buddy and have all used the restrooms if you needed to. Please note there will be no running, yelling or touching anything! We will keep our hooves to ourselves at all times.", he droned on, "I do hope you also made sure to have left your cameras at home. Photography by non-staff and press who have not been given permission is absolutely forbidden. We will confiscate all cameras. You will also make sure to avoid eye and physical contact with any living creatures down here, if there is anything down here that is.", he muttered the last bit.

Once they found themselves in front of the elevator door, the pony turned to the group, "So, before we enter, do you have any questions?"

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"Hurm?", the little filly glanced away from Pocket Change and to her 'line-buddy', "It's Wind Walker. And geez, forget about Miss Hum Drum, we've got to deal with Mister Dumb Dumb.", she glared at the unicorn and made a snort sound, "Thinks he's so hot with his silly hat and his goofy face. I really hope there's something cool down there. Like monster bones, or even a Grue. But I have a feeling we're just gonna see stones and rocks. So.", her tone relaxed, "How's it like in the Crystal Empire? My sister said a horrible shadow monster used to rule it until Miss Pinkie Pie, who I've met before and her friends blasted it to smithereens."

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"How's it like in the Crystal Empire? My sister said a horrible shadow monster used to rule it until Miss Pinkie Pie, who I've met before and her friends blasted it to smithereens."

Not paying any attention to Pocket Change's jabbering, Flakey instead snickered at Wind Walker's mockery of their guide. Because the pegasus started to grow on the crystal filly somewhat, Flakey corrected the other without being too snobbish about; "Actually, Princess Cadance did most of the work I'd say... but she IS pink too... I can kinda see how it can be confusing... kinda. As for home..... it's pretty neat I guess. Everything's all planned out and symmetrical and junk, unlike here. Not sure what else to say about where I live."

"So, before we enter, do you have any questions?"

"Huh, what?" As the group made its way onto the elevator, Flakey Shards finally paid just enough attention to Pocket in time to catch his question. The smirking filly decided to be a jerk and ask something rude; "Hey Mister Change, why do you wear such a silly hat? Does anypony actually like that lame thing of yours?"

*ACHOO!* "'Ecuse me."

Uggh, that other grownup had to sneeze right next to Flakey! Gross!!! "Watch it chump!" barked the spoiled brat; "Is it REALLY that hard for you to not sneeze all over my face?" And ugggggh, this elevator was taking too looooong. When will they get to the bottom of the stupid cave.....?

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"A friend of mine told me that she heard from her brother's best friend, that Captain Shining Armor actually picked up Princess Cadance and threw her at the nasty king.", she paused to give off a frown as she noticed the entrance to the mine's elevator shaft. The rickety looking thing did cause her some alarm. Would it hold all the ponies? Or would they all fall to their doom? The filly wanted to say something, but decided against it in fear that she might be branded a 'scaredy cat'. And she knew very well that the Wonderbolts would never take her in while baring such a horrid status. "King Sombra didn't like girls, and when a pretty pink one actually touched him, he got so scared of getting cooties he blew up real good!" Wind Walker followed the group into the elevator and nearly jumped out of her horse-shoes the moment it started.

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"I mean, any 'proper' questions.", the stallion glanced down at the little crystal filly, "And we're all wearing the same hats.", he patted his hardhat, "We need to keep these on for all of our safety.", a mental image of Flakey being 'accidently' thrown from the elevator shaft did enter his mind, but only briefly. He quickly decided that probably wouldn't be a good idea at the moment, knowing he probably wouldn't' be able to finish his assignment if he did such a thing. Other images of him hoofing the little brat over to an hungry bear or being spirited away by an anicent Canterlot ghost did cause him to chuckle a little bit. Thankfully, a few others had questions, which he answered right away. Hopefully, Wind Walker would distract the little pain long enough for him to give the tour.

Once he was finished with the questioning, he glanced over at Curio, "So, what do you expect to get out of this little adventure?", he asked as the elevator slowly rumbled on.

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Curio blinked, realizing he'd just loudly drawn attention to himself. Well, so much for that anyway. Oh well, maybe he could still get away with his little scheme inside the Crystal Mines! Maybe.

He looked over at the little crystal pony filly, rather confused. He'd never actually seen a crystal pony before, and it was pretty interesting. She was rather shiny, and a little translucent. Curio tilted his head a bit, then reached a hoof into a pocket of his REA greatcoat and passed a little lens-cleaning cloth over to Flakey. "It'll buff out, I'm sure," he offered casually. He stepped toward the elevator and shook his head. "No, no questions. I mean, unless you think there really is any living creepy critters down there. Then I think I might need to know that," he said to Pocket Change. "As for what I expect to get out of this, a huge chunk of crystal the size of a pony's head," he said, deadpan. After a moment he broke out into a wide grin and Curio gave Pocket Change a one-legged hug. "Naw, just kidding. I'm just curious, that's all. I live in Canterlot, not every day the ground opens up into a crystal mineshaft."

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On curio's shoulder he would feel a small hoof trying for his attention. If the stallion looked behind him he'd see a small dark brown unicorn filly, her horn lit up a hazel orange and levitating a tissue his way, on her other side she held a notepad aloft with her magic as well as a pencil that was jotting something down. The little unicorn glared at the Rude and brazen Crystal filly as she wrote the first part.

"Since somepony clearly is too big-headed to do it I guess I'll be the one saying it. Bless you mister!" With the last statement the filly smiled and relaxed against her little corner of the elevator. Bebop had been quiet most of this trip and not because her expected reason. Bebop was rather excited about this field trip but she was still one of those new ponies who was still having trouble fitting in during her first couple days. On the way hear she had been told her harmonica might be a bit disruptive and she was asked to put it away so there it lay amidst the lint of her saddlebags.

Some of the ponies in this lift seemed like decent folks, the unicorn with the sort of rugged look to him who came to this place with a rather snazzy hat and a little blue filly pegasus seemed to have that unique combination of interesting playfulness and a sort of two pony comedy act going for them. The crystal filly who's words seem to just grate on her mind like a shiny blue crystal cheese grater against room temperature cheddar was only getting more annoying with time.

The little filly's writing on the notepad sped up a bit as she looked toward Wind walker and smiled, so far her luck trying to get comfy around the ponies in her class had been a bit lackluster so perhaps she'd have more luck with the little blue pegasus.

"Hey there, I'm Bebop Slide. What's your name?"

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"A friend of mine told me that she heard from her brother's best friend, that Captain Shining Armor actually picked up Princess Cadance and threw her at the nasty king. King Sombra didn't like girls, and when a pretty pink one actually touched him, he got so scared of getting cooties he blew up real good!"

Yeaaaaaaaaaaah. That’s… not what really happened. Flakey Shards was too far away from the Crystal Palace at the time to get a clear view of King Sombra’s defeat, but she had it on good authority from an uncle of a friend of a classmate she knew that Princess Cadance at no point touched the Evil King. Why couldn’t anypony tell a story right these days? “Sure,” Flakey affirmed with sarcastic emotionlessness, rolling her eyes in the process; “That’s exactly what happened.”

Down and down the rickety elevator went until the field trip group reached the bottom, a full 200 feet below the surface. Their destination: a large circular chamber with walls of pure glittering crystal. Attached to all the cavern sides, lanterns of glowing stone covered the area with light. In one near near the center, a pile of dirty rubble was neatly piled up, including one statue of Clover the Clever. Three entrances led out of the chamber, each one leading downwards and shrouded in darkness. Standing at attention in front of the elevator were a group of five ponies, each one decked out in spelunking equipment, and behind them was a bunch of crates, a wooden fold-up table littered with junk, and several cots.

“Welcome to our advance base everypony,” one of the spelunkers greeted as the elevator sat down; “We got child-sized hardhats in the open box behind us for all of you kids.” Flakey didn’t look pleased with that development; now she was going to have to wear a dorky hat just like Pocket Change's.....

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  • 2 weeks later...

Curio looked over his shoulder at the little filly and smiled. "Thanks, kiddo." He hadn't noticed her come onto the elevator with the rest of them, but then again, she was a tiny filly. In fact, he didn't notice anypony else really, just the small group of them as the elevator rattled and creaked down the mineshaft. When they reached the basecamp, Curio looked around, obviously in awe and obviously impressed. He ran his hoof along the crystal walls, a mischievous little gleam in his eye. This stuff must be worth hundreds, no, thousands, no... hundreds of thousands of bits! He could retire on this stuff, in a nice mansion on the Nimbusgait Lakes or something. Heck, maybe he'd even visit Manechuria after all this time to see what kind of culture he'd appropriated for his own shop. He was rather excited, all said. He looked around at the rest of the group, then at one of the spelunkers, waiting for the go-ahead to be lead down one of the mineshafts. Onwards toward profit, he said to himself.

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