[Open] The greatest treasures?

[Switchback]

He nods, noticing the difference in sound as well. "You're right... You wait here, we can still just hear one another, so you can hear the things around us. I'll go in and get the item. Whatever you do, don't go any closer. I don't want you getting turned around in here." he decides as he looks ahead "This is definitely the place. I just know it."

[Kahoot]

Sioux couldn't agree more with him, she had no intention of going any closer to something that silenced the area around it, she stayed still and nodded, "Alright... I'll be here..." With that said, the mare goes over and sits down on a boulder as she waits, she had no idea why someone would go want to use something that silences for evil, nothing came to mind that could be so bad about having the vicinity be dead quiet, although... It would be boring.

[Switchback]

Coltson takes a step into the area, all sound stopping, he keeps focusing on brass, walking forwards, taking each step slowly and carefully, following where his eyes darted, slowly coming across the fallen tree. As he approached this close nothing would be able to make a sound, the experience was unsettling to say the least. Terrifying to say the most. He carefully moves towards a crack in the tree, a small bell nestled inside it. He opens the cannister at his side, levitating the bell and dropping it into the canister, slamming the lid on top of it as sound returned to the area with the sound like air rushing. He makes his way back towards Sioux "Okay, I got it. Things should be good now." he shouts with a smile.

[Kahoot]

Sioux impatiently waited, the suspense, the curiosity... Before Coltson gets back she might just die from all of these emotions flooding her mind. She taps her hoof and realizes how she could just barely hear the sound, whatever this stallion was looking for is definitely here. She takes a deep breath, calming her nerves by talking to herself, this is often a trick she uses when she gets anxious or nervous.

 

The familiar voice snapped her out of her trance, making her yell due to the fact she hasn't heard much for the past few minutes and his sudden yell spooked her, "I'm okay, you just startled me!" She called back, blushing a bit. Sioux was growing nervous by the fact she felt so comfortable speaking with another pony, usually, she'd dismiss them and call them peasants because they weren't nearly as interesting as her. She stood up and caught sight of Coltson, flashing a faint smile and realizing she thought of the stallion as a friend, something she never had.

[Switchback]

He wanders up to her "Ah, sorry about startling you. Forgot about the whole noise thing. Never get used to items like this. Anyway, its safe now, the effect has been contained and we can head back to town." he smiles happily "Your eyes still not sore, right?" he asks, knowing how bad they got last time they were out, he hoped the eye covering helped her with that issue. He started trotting back the way they came.

[Kahoot]

Sioux smiles and shakes her head, "Don't worry about it, it wasn't your fault after all... My eyes are fine, the blindfold is really helpful~!" She says cheerfully, returning to her usual self. The mare trots ahead of the stallion, skipping about happily and hopping over rocks for the sole purpose of getting what little bit of energy she had left out so she would be tired enough to go straight to bed after guiding the stallion out of the forest.

 

While it made Sioux a bit sad that now that her favor to him was done and they probably wouldn't see much of each other for a long time, considering Sioux hated the sun let alone going into town often, she knew eventually she would stop by for something at his bookstore. The mare hummed a tune to get her mind off things, her hooves moving on their own but in the right direction.

[Switchback]

"Excellent. Glad it all worked out for both of us." he said as they walked through the darkness of the forest, treading back the way they went, Coltson thinking carefully about something.

 

After a while they would be at the exit of the forest. Coltson finally having made a decision "Oh, one last thing. Would you mind accompanying me back to my store? Feel like you should be there when the bell is locked away for good."

[Kahoot]

As they stood at the border of the forest, Sioux being further within it while Coltson just outside it, his question made her beam. She gives a quick nod and trots over to him, looking back at the forest and then at the sun which was slowly setting, "Do you always... Go on bizarre adventures to lock things away from evil?" The mare took a deep breath, the setting sun not nearly as powerful as the sun during the day, so her umbrella wouldn't be needed for the rest of the day.

[Switchback]

"Not always. Sometimes I do the admin while others bring the items to me." he says as they walk along the quiet street "And on rare occasions I take a holiday." he claims with a grin "Oh and every so often I sell a book." They would arrive at the store in good time, Coltson letting them in as he leads the way to the backstore room. "Stand here and don't move until the rumbling stops, okay?"

[Kahoot]

Sioux laughs, "Today you sold a book, found a rare item, and met the one... The only... Sioux~!" The mare cheers happily and trots along ahead, today being probably most tiring compared to the rest, she has never spoken more walked so much before... Even traveling to surrounding towns wasn't nearly as exhausting as this.

 

Once they make it inside, Sioux gives a nod that she understood, "Okie dokie~!"

[Switchback]

He laughs "Yeah, think I can clock it in as overtime actually." he walks over to the floor safe, pressing his hoof against it, it activates the mechanism that lowered the floor, descending into the base. When it stopped he called to Sioux "Okay, now just follow me again." he moves into the base, through the main office and into the item containment, placing the bell onto a shelf and activating it, keeping the bell from working. "And one final thing." he moves along the rows, taking out a battered pair of glasses from a shelf, then another pair the same "This may be a bit weird, but I think you deserve to know, okay?" 

[Kahoot]

Sioux can hear everything going on and it sounds quite peculiar as if the entire wall was moving and shift... Or something like that. The mare can't see what is happening but that doesn't mean she isn't any less curious or anxious about whatever just happened, in fact, she is more nervous than anything since her eyesight prevents her from seeing any danger coming her way. None the less, she trusts the stallion and follows him silently, she hears shuffling and such. 

 

"I deserve to know? Oooh~ Is there where we like, tell each other our life stories and reveal that um... We are part of some sort of weird organization! Oh, maybe you'll tell me this bookstore is secretly a gateway to the underworld-" The mare blushes before laughing, "Sorry about that, I get really excited and carried away some time."

[Switchback]

He laughs at that, shaking his head "Something a bit simpler, but equally hard to explain. Let's just say these glasses were made to help ponies see life through the other's point of view. Literally in their case." he puts on one pair, then holds the other out for Sioux to take "No real side effects with these except the ones which arise from being able to see whatever the other pony wearing them does."

[Kahoot]

The mare blinks a few times, giving a confused expression, "Huh? So... Whoever is wearing those can see what the other pony is seeing? That makes no sense~" The mare scrunches up her snout and giggles, Sioux carefully takes the other pair. She can't exactly examine them since she is blind, so, she simply puts them on to see what exactly the stallion is saying. 

[Switchback]

She would be able to see, well herself. As Coltson is currently looking at her, stood in the dimly lit corridors of the containment center for the items, shelves lined with weird things. "I can already tell they are working because I can't see a thing." he notes, she would still be in control of her body, just be seeing what he was seeing "Clever things these. The metal uses a coating of a potion that allows this. Nopony knows how to make it anymore though. Anyway, like the view?"

[Kahoot]

Sioux's eyes open as she was afraid to see whatever the stallion was, although, she immediately saw herself and just how strange she looked. The mare's eyes widened and she gasped, reaching up to poke her face to see if this was actually her, while Sioux took note of the fact she didn't look as horrible as she thought... In fact, she looked like any other pony except with stripes, white hair, and abnormal eyes that she couldn't see due to the glasses.

 

Sioux was quiet for a few minutes, simply taking in her appearance, noting every bit of herself that she has never seen, it felt weird to be able to see, in fact, it frightened her. "I... Well..." The mare removed the glasses quickly and blushed, "It was... Okay..."

[Switchback]

He nods "I thought you deserved to see yourself, even if just once so you knew you weren't some monster." he says as he takes the glasses back, stowing them on the shelf again. "Probably get hell from my superiors for that. But I got their bell, so I'm sure they will look past it in time." he laughs "They can't get rid of me; I'm too useful. And the only permanent staff at this base."

[Kahoot]

Sioux thought over his words, then his motivation for getting the bell and she became suspicious of him, "Coltson, you sound like you do more than just sell books and collect rare items... You know, if you're putting on some sort of act, then I wouldn't trust you the same..." The mare sings with a slightly threatening tone, "I don't like people who pretend to be nice to get some sort of benefit... You've been too nice for comfort..." It seemed the mare was having a mini anxiety attack, she stared the stallion with narrowed eyes, even if she couldn't see him.

 

"No... I'm serious, what stranger would be nice to me, go to the Everfree Forest with them, let alone go into my own home with me~!" The mare frowns and shakes her head, "I want you to tell me, have you been pretending to be nice? I can't tell, it's too confusing, I can't see your expressions or what you're doing... I have no choice but to be suspicious-"

 

The mare seems to snap out of her rant, shaking her head and frowning, "Sorry..." She apologizes with a sigh, "Anyways, thank you for... Letting me see myself, I need to go home, it's getting dark and the sound of the crickets make it hard for me to focus."

[Switchback]

He nods "I have quite a few jobs, but the main one I am known for is my book selling. The other one, unfortunately, I am not allowed to tell you. At least not yet; there's a lot of admin that has to be done before I am allowed to tell you. But trust me, I would if I could, but if I did, then it is highly likely you won't remember any of our meeting, which is something that I won't allow to happen." he responds, his tone evident that he's not happy about the options currently. "But I'd like to think I've been as nice as I am with everypony. Or at least everypony worth being nice to."

"I would think most strangers would. Just takes the ponies of this town a while to adjust to new ponies. Zecora had the same experience with the townsponies apparently." he says with a smile, before she asks the next question. "I can promise you, Sioux, my behaviour has been entirely my own. When it comes to my personality, there is no pretending; I cannot afford the time to be cruel in this work." He says softly, trying to reassure her of that.

"Of course, come on then, we'll head up again." He leads her back over to lift, making it ascend again. 

[Kahoot]

Sioux noticeably calmed down as he explained himself, her body becoming less tense and she lets out a sigh of relief before smiling brightly at him, "Alright, I'll trust you like you trusted me... Although I am still curious about you, I will respect that you have your own personal life. I'm sorry for suspecting you so suddenly, I simply just have moments where things just piece together and a whole bunch of assumptions just pop up in my head..." The mare blushes, feeling a bit ashamed she grew so threatening and furious at the only pony aside from her mother to ever really speak to her.

 

As they both head back up, Sioux beams happily, "Thank you, Coltson~!" She sings, returning back to her normal self, "These ponies should learn to be nicer to others, hmph!" The mare trots off of the lift when they make it back up, she hums and lets out a sigh as she feels the atmosphere change.

 

Sioux turns back to Coltson, giving him a more natural smile compared to her usual toothy grins and overexcited ones, "It was nice meeting you today, I must head home before dark to pack up, tomorrow I will be heading over to Sveltahorse... After the Changelings attacked there, I heard their supplies have grown a bit scarce and so... What better place for business than a place with scarce supplies? Things should be fun~!" The mare cheered happily even though she was a bit nervous of the reactions of said ponies of Sveltahorse.