Hoofington [Buckingshore Beach] A Looming Tower of Light [Full]

[Pony_Sage]

On the point of Bucking shore beach, just on the outside of the Seasaddle Bay's protective cove, and outside of Hoofington's city limits there stood a lighthouse. The lighthouse was just over 100 feet tall and the house attached to it was just about half of that lengthwise. There were numerous outbuildings, none of which had a discernible purpose from the outside. A chest high split rail fence surrounded the abandoned looking complex which never seemed to have a soul around it. Despite the lighthouse's appearance, every night the light could be seen for miles as it searched the darkness for lost sailor ponies. When the fog would roll in the fog horn would awaken. Like a slumbering beast that was awakened in the night it would roar out into the dense fog, tearing it asunder like a blade in the night, beaconing for the seas to come and swallow it up. The gear on the side of the tower never stopped turning, slow as molasses seeping through an igloo. Inch my pain staking inch it turned, through the blistering heat, through the shattering cold. Like the creeping progression of time the gear moved forward. Somepony . . . or something had to be keeping that lighthouse alive.

There were rumors of a phantom that haunted the light house. The ghost of a keeper past, that was tied to Equestria, bound to the lighthouse, forever walking its floors and keeping the light in running order. Colts and fillies would dare each other as to who could get the closest to the house. They never had gotten halfway into the yard before somepony would see a flutter of movement in a window or the pale frame of the 'Specter Keeper' wash past the lower level windows, causing the intruding ponies to head for the hills.

As vivid at these tales of the haunted lighthouse were, there was but only an ounce of truth behind them. There was a pony there that was bound to the house, not by ethereal means, but by contract. She was the paid keeper of the lighthouse. Her name was Rivet and although she had occupied the lighthouse for just over a year, she rarely went into town and when she did, most of the town ponies thought she was just a traveler who refused to talk. She had all of her supplies and mail drop shipped to her house mostly by air-ship. She was not an antisocial pony, she was just not good at making friends. She was also almost always covered in a thick layer of grease, grime, and all sorts of other various dirt.

She would watch the ponies adventure onto her lawn, she would never go out and greet them just watch them interact with one another. She would work on her projects and make improvements to the lighthouse. She had brought back this dilapidated monstrosity back from the verge of collapse and she was not going to stop there. She had grand visions of a new age of mechanization sweeping across Equestria with her helping it along. Even though most of her inventions were just improvements on already established designs, a pony can dream can't she.

At this juncture in time Rivet was working on the internal superstructure of the light tower. She was reinforcing it making sure that an air-ship wold be able to dock on the observation deck without tearing the top of the light tower off.

On this rare occasion she was standing on the observation deck and letting the wind rip past her face and through her braided mane. Her greasy pale form was highlighted by the sun against the cloudless sky. The sun was warming her pelt and she was happy. It had been a long day of working and this rest felt wonderful. She could easily be seen from the ground despite her height off of it. A strong wind gusted past her, causing her to stumble. She hurried back inside, not wanting to fall off the top.

She wandered through her house, there must be something she could do to spruce the place up a little. It may have been a mech-engineer's wonderland but it was a little sparse. She walks outside of her house and looked at it.

'Maybe the flower boxes, I could plant some flowers there.' she pondered to herself rubbing a hoof to her chin.

[Chonico]

Ah, the sound of the ocean and its beaches, nothing quite like it in the world with its busy tourist ponies going from shop to shop buying all sorts of souvenirs and making memories of their vacation in a beach that is better looked at than enjoyed up close thanks to its rocky geography. Those who are not here on vacation are here on business, taking advantage of the ports and docks that make up the Seasaddle Bay area, trying to get the best deals possible before the goods make it to market. Because of the tourist business, many a street performer can be seen on the docks entertaining the tourists, for a couple of bits, as they make their way through the shops. All in all, it is a profitable business hub for anypony with the right skills and knowhow.

A hub which unfortunately Spades left about an hour ago or so. Upon arriving at the docks after a tedious trip from Canterlot, some of the regular street performers suggested he try the lighthouse saying that it was a hot tourist attraction because it was supposed to be haunted. Figuring it would be worth a shot he immediately set off and now found himself walking along the path that lead to the lighthouse as it overlooked the ocean next to it. He had already figured it had been a trick, but now that the light house was clearly visible in the distance, his determination had gotten the best of him and he decided he was going to put on a show… Even if his only audiences were ghosts.

'*sigh* I doubt I'll make any bits off this venture.' The gray eyed pony commented to himself as he continued down the path that now led away from ocean and around some trees towards the light house. 'But, maybe I'm wrong and there will be somepony there to enjoy a good show… *sigh* Even if it is a ghost, they should still have a few bits to spare for entertainment.' He stopped for a minute as he pondered what he just said, but immediately dismissed his curiosity with a quick shrug of his shoulders and looked up at the light house that now grew bigger and bigger as he got closer to it.

Suddenly, he stopped walking as he caught something out of the corner of his eye. A figure at the top of something that looked like a balcony without railings, one second there and gone the next. His horn began to glow suddenly and the flap on his satchel lifted as an apple floated out of it and towards him mouth. '*crunch munch munch* Hmm, I may want to rethink my plan about the whole ghost thing, although…' He took another bit of his apple as it hovered in front of him and his eyes suddenly began to change to a yellow hue. 'This near the ocean, it might be a pirate pony ghost with some treasure!'

His gait increased as he began to trot faster and faster, still floating the apple in front of him taking a bite every now and then. Upon reaching a clearing in the path, the light house and its adjacent buildings suddenly came into view, and so did something he did not expect. He stopped inches from the chest tall fence, finishing off his apple as his eyes slowly returned to their regular grey hue and sat on his haunches. 'Hmm, she doesn't look like a ghost. Although, I imagine ghost ponies look just like regular ponies…'

'Excuse me Miss! Are you a ghost?' He called out to the unknown pony.

[Pony_Sage]

As Rivet was standing, hoof on chin and lost in thought, her ears swiveled to pick up the soft strains of some pony calling over the roar of the ocean. She looked over her shoulder and spied a white stallion standing on the other side of her fence. She blushed a little out of nervousness, meeting new ponies was not her strong suit. She heard the stallion ask her if she was a ghost. She turned her head to the side and scrunched up her nose.

'I don't think I am a ghost. If I was a ghost would I know that I was? Or what does he mean by ghost? Is he making fun of me?' her mind rambled as she stared at the stallion.

She shook her head, 'BAD RIVET! Don't stare! Have you forgotten your manners? Introduce yourself!' she mentally scolded herself.

She walked up to the gate in her fence and smiled at the white stallion. She peered through her small glasses to get a better look at him now that she was closer. He was a unicorn like her and was munching on an apple. She reached out with her magic for her typewriter but found it not to be hanging around her neck. She became very nervous at her inability to communicate and fidgeted with her hoof in the dirt. She looked at the stallion again and meekly smiled. She held her hoof up in a 'Wait here' motion and quickly trotted back into her house. She remained inside for a few moments.

When she returned she had her typewriter slung around her neck and wore a slightly more confident look upon her countenance. She approached the stallion again and meekly smiled.

"Sorry, forgot typewriter. Not sure what mean by ghost. Can not say if I am or not, I do not know. Are you a ghost?" the machine tapped out on a small slip of paper that she then levitated over to the stallion.

Rivet would often sacrifice grammar and occasionally spelling to increase the speed with which she would respond to a question. Something then dawned on her, 'MANNERS! You were brought up better than this! You know that you have to introduce yourself before starting a conversation!', she mentally scolded herself yet again. Being that she spent such a small amount of time around other ponies, the niceties sometimes slipped her mind.

"Sorry again. I am Rivet." the typewriter added on another small slip that was levitated over to the stallion as she smiled meekly.

[Chonico]

Spades could do no more than stare at the mare quizzically as she approached the fence and squinted at him through her glasses. Expecting her to introduce herself, he was a little surprised when she raise her hoof and walked back into the house. 'Hmm, okay… I guess I'm supposed to wait here then.' He commented to himself as he looked at the ground he stood on as if expecting to see some kind of 'wait here' sign drawn on the ground. However, as the mare returned with an odd contraption around her neck, his quizzical expression returned as he raised an eyebrow and observed her smile.

Suddenly, as the typewriter churned out the piece of paper which then levitated towards him, his expression changed to one of amusement as he squinted his gray eyes to try and read the small writing.

'Sorry, forgot typewriter. Not sure what mean by ghost. Can not say if I am or not, I do not know. Are you a ghost?'

He raised his head from the paper to look at the mare as he cocked his head to the side as if studying her. As he did though, a second piece of paper levitated towards him.

'Sorry again. I am Rivet.'

As he read this second piece of paper, his quizzical expression remained on his face as he looked up from it and set his eyes on the mare. After a few seconds, he gingerly approached Rivet, his eyes still glued on her, until he was exactly on the opposite side of the fence directly in front of her. Without any hint or warning, he raised one hoof and held it in front of himself, a serious expression overtaking his face.

Spades then extended his hoof and gently poked Rivet on the chest right above where the typewriter hung.

'Hmm, well Rivet, you are solid. I don't think ghosts are solid. If not, they wouldn't be able to walk through walls and such. Yes, I am happy to say you are not a ghost.'

His horn suddenly began to glow as the flap on his satchel lifted and a small white piece of paper with a black spade in the middle floated out and towards Rivet, hovering only inches from her.

'I am White Spade, magician extraordinaire! And, I am not a ghost. Feel free to have a poke.'

Spades smiled brightly at Rivet as he said this and slightly puffed out his chest.

'Is this your home? Do you get a lot of tourist here?'

[Pony_Sage]

Rivet felt a little uneasy as Spades stared at her and backed up as he approached her. She had no idea what he was going to do, after all he was asking her if she was a ghost. Then he did something that absolutely shocked her, he poked her chest. She let out a startled puff as he did so and silently giggled, which looked rather strange. She sheepishly smiled at Spades as he levitated his card over to her , introduced himself and then asked about tourists. 'Tourists? Why would tourists visit here, it is just a light-house? He is either very confused or very lost. I haven't had a visitor in . . . well pretty much ever.' she thought to herself.

"You touched me, same principles apply, guess not a ghost. Not many ponies at all come here. My house, light-house, work and live here. Why White Spade. Spade is black." The typewriter sprang to life as a small sheet of paper levitated over to Spades.

Rivet pointed at the black spade on the sheet of paper that he was levitating. She looked over at Spades.

'Magician? Like unicorn magic? Isn't that common? Or is he a stage magician? - Where are your manners AGAIN! Invite him in and offer him some tea and snacks, he must be tired. Being a shut in is no excuse for being rude.' Rivet's mind jumped about.

"Magician, stage magician? Sounds fun. Come inside, tea, snacks."ÂÂThe typewriter spat out and Rivet levitated the small sheet over to Spades.

She smiled her best welcoming smile which most likely looked a little creepy due to disuse. She opened the gate in the fence and lead Spades to the front door of the house proper. The door swung inwards and creaked a little, 'Have to oil that.' Rivet thought to herself as she offered a chair to spades.

Her house was a mech-engineer's dreamland on the inside, shelves everywhere with tine pieces of clockwork littering them. There were steam pipes running the length of the ceiling and some jutting out of the floor. It was as thought the outside of the light-house was actually not joined to the inside, they seemed to be from two completely separate houses. This was not the case, Rivet just did not see the need to make the outside of her house pretty. If it was serving its propose then it was fine in her book. The inside of the house was quite a bit warmer than the outside air and rather humid from all the steam contraptions. There was a low hum that permeated the house, the source of which could not be found.

[Chonico]

Spades had to admit to himself that the now rightfully identified non-ghost mare had an odd air about her. It was not only that she couldn't talk, as he surmised from the notes she kept typing out, but it was also that she seemed somewhat… 'Distant? No, that's not right. Strange maybe? Perhaps a bit.' Spades thought to himself as he raised a thoughtful hoof to his chin while still eyeing the grease covered mare in front of him. '… Messy?'

'You touched me, same principles apply, guess not a ghost. Not many ponies at all come here. My house, light-house, work and live here. Why White Spade. Spade is black.'

Spades was snapped out of his thoughts as the new piece of paper floated up to him. 'Ah, okay, 'confused,' that's the word I was looking for. Confused as to why I am here… And my name it would seem.'

'Magician, stage magician? Sounds fun. Come inside, tea, snacks.'

Spades read the next piece of paper, surprised at the speed they were being churned out by the typewriter. 'Well, she is quite chatty. Err, umm, well I know what I mean. Plus, she's friendly by the looks of it.' His mind continued to churn out its inaudible dialog as he followed Rivet into her home. Needless to say however, once inside all thoughts seized as he looked around the inside of the house which betrayed the exterior like a politician betrayed his supporters.

While still surveying his surroundings and noticing the humidity and warmth that seemed to emanate from every inch of the lighthouse keeper's home, he once again slowly approached Rivet, this time intent on answering one of her questions, as he closed his eyes and cleared his throat. Once he was inches from her, he began.

'My humble host…' He said as he suddenly bowed, eyes still closed, stopping just short of hitting his horn against the floor. Still keeping his head low, he opened his eyes as he felt an all too similar joyous sensation fill him in anticipation of what was about to happen. Finally lifting his head, his now sudden bright purple eyes set upon Rivet as he began to smile brightly.

'Allow me to demonstrate!' He immediately stood next to the mare as he draped his left foreleg around her shoulder and held his head low so that it was in front of her and visible. 'Now, if you'll notice my horn, not a shimmer or hum to it! And yet, watch my empty hoof.' He held his right foreleg in front of himself and Rivet as he twirled it around. 'Nothing! And yet, when I do… this!' A bit seemed to appear out of nowhere as he quickly twirled his hoof again and his horn remained quiet and bright-less. 'Ta-DA! Instant money! But, sadly, money doesn't just appear out of thin air.' He twirled his hoof again and the bit was gone.

After a short second pause for effect, he immediately moved in front of Rivet and sat on his haunches as he put his hooves gently on Rivet's cheeks and began to look at her intently with his bright purple eyes. Slowly and gently he began to move her head to the sides, up and down, and tilting a bit. 'BUT! Oddly enough…' He reached towards her hair with his right hoof. 'Flowers do appear in your mane!' He pulled away his hoof to reveal a slightly greasy blue tulip in his hoof which, unbeknown to Rivet, he had picked while on his walk thinking it might make a nice snack later. He took her hoof and placed the blue tulip on it. 'You might want to clean that first.'

He took a step back and looked at rivet as his purple eyes began to return to their gray hue. 'I do not use hocus-pocus in my act, my non-ghost host Rivet.' He spoke as a small content smile formed across his face and his once again gray eyes set on the mare in front of him. 'As for my name…' His horn began to glow as the flap on his satchel lifted and a deck of cards with green backing and purple symbols floated out and landed on his outstretched hoof. Horn now silent and dim, he cut the deck in half and lifted that half up to show the first card being an ace of spades.

'I have a diamond, a clover, and a heart coming out of my hat.' He began as he moved his flank into view. 'The spade just so happened to get stuck in the deck when I did a tricky… umm, trick. So it's still there, it just not there.' He placed the deck back into his satchel and did a quick bow again, stopping once more short of planting his horn into the floor. 'Like I said, White Spade, Magician extraordinaire.' He remained like that, perhaps expecting applause.

[Ancre]

Little whirlwind and her parents were on vacations near Seasaddle Bay. After the accident at the weather station, which nearly took the pegasus' life, crushed her leg and disabled her arm, they all thought it was a very good idea - Whirlwind barely survived after all, and it made her realize how much she would have missed them, how much she loved them ; and they too wanted to spend more time with the little girl they almost lost. So they waited until her injuries healed, and off they went.

It was quite a lot of fun for everypony. Still resting from her injuries, the pink filly enjoyed the calmer rythm of her family, and even managed to gather enough energy for a few adventures on her own. She was having one today : growing bored of the local tourist traps, and yearning for something more exciting than just another day at the beach, Whirlwind promised her mom and dad not to do anything dangerous on her own (it's not like she could pull off aerial stunts in her state anyways) and slowly flew to the lonely lighthouse just off the city limits - Ponies here said it was haunted ! Ghosts, now that was cool.

So there she was, crouching under a bush, bravely hiding herself from the ghost, trying to stand completely still, doing her best not to make a noise, all eyes on the strange lighthouse not far from her. All day she watched that rust-like red and grey mare work silently, wondering if she was the ghost everypony was talking about, and hoping that if she was, she wouldn't do to her whatever terrible things ghosts did to ponies - what did they do anyways ? If they were all ethereal and stuff and couldn't touch anything but just pass through it, then ghosts didn't sound very dangerous. Well, it did sounded scary. And that mare, who never said a word, and never did anything than work, sure looked like a ghost haunting that lighthouse, as far as she could see.

Then she saw, surprised, another pony coming to the giant tower. He was entirely white, save for his cutie mark, which Whirlwind couldn't quite decipher at this distance. "Well," she thought "I'm not the only one hunting ghosts it seems ..." Staying safely under her bush, the little pony watched him walk toward the lighthouse, with none of the apprehension nor the excitement she had - maybe he didn't care much about finding ghosts ? Or maybe ...

Maybe he was one ! That's it ! he was completely white after all, and he looked strange too ! Was he the ghost of the lighthouse ? But then what about the other pony ? Maybe there were two ghosts in here ! Oooh, this started to get really interesting.

The other pony saw the white stallion coming, and came to meet him. They started to talk, or to be more exact the white one started to talk by himself, but Whirlwind couldn't hear a word. So she tried to come closer, as stealthily as she could. The grey and red mare hurried back to her home and came back with a strange device around her neck. Whirlwind squinted her eyes to see what it was. The white stallion poked the mare and monologued again. Then they came inside the house ; the door opened with an eerie creak, like any proper door from a ghost's house would do, and then slammed shut.

Whirlwind took the opportunity to fly toward a window, and peeked inside the house. Her spot was perfect. She could hear them a little now ! And she could see very well too ! The white ghost started a little magic show. With a properly grandiloquent introduction, he made a coin appear from nowhere, and then disappear again, and then he pulled a flower out of the other mare's mane - wow ! The little filly had her snout pressed against the window now, her eyes wide, her mouth opened in awe. She couldn't help but let out a little squee of amazement at the magician's show. More ! More ! This looked like just a start, she wanted to see more ! Oh, he was pulling a set of cards out of his satchel now ...

[Pony_Sage]

Rivet was a bit nervous about her chance encounter, this was the first time that she had invited a stranger into her home. 'Well what is it? There are no strangers, just friends that you have not met yet.' She thought, trying to assure herself that Spades being in her home was alright. She turned about to ask him what kind of tea he wanted but he was too fast. Spade's head was almost on the floor as he mumbled "My humble host." Rivet shifted a little, turning her head to the side.

Suddenly the white stallion was mere inches from her face. 'A-are his eyes purple. . .' Rivet began to think but her thought was almost immediately derailed as he gently put a leg over her withers. She was not used to physical contact at all. It slightly unnerved her. Her body went stiff as an automatic response and she blushed out of sheer nerves. She began to brux her teeth, an old foal-hood habit that always resurfaced when she was extremely nervous. She tried to shift her body away from his but she was so startled that her muscles refused to move, she was trapped there by her own body, forced to enjoy the magic show.

First a coin appeared and then disappeared. This intrigued Rivet, from her angle she could not see how he managed to do it. She knew that the law of conservation of matter prevented him from making it out of thin air. 'But where did he hide it?' she pondered as he waved his hoof about. She felt his hoof leave her withers and was relieved that he was moving off. Little did she know what he had planned.

His hooves gently pushed against her cheeks. Again her body went stiff with fright and she nervously blushed a light pink across the bridge of her nose. Hopefully her grime cover and glasses would hide it from Spades. He moved Rvet's head about, as his eyes met hers. She had no idea what to do. Should she run away? Should she call for help? 'How would you do that huh?' She jabbed at her own thought of yelling. 'Just let him finish and then ask him to leave politely, maybe he won't do anything more to you. . . Well he isn't being mean, he is just hoofsy. Just ask him to back off? Ugh I have no idea what to do!' Her mind rambled as he tilted her noggin about. Suddenly he pulled a greasy blue tulip out of her mane. She scrunched her nose up and looked at the flower. 'I didn't feel him put that in my braid.' She pondered.

Spade's eyes shifted colour yet again as his gaze fell upon Rivet's countenance. 'How does he do THAT!' She raged in her head. For the life of her she could not figure the eye changing colour trick out. The others were slight of hoof and distraction. But the eyes, they were something different, he could not pull that off with slight of hoof or distraction. She pondered possibilities of how he would achieve some such effect. He then proceeded to take out a deck of cards and explain his name. She could not help but let out a silent giggle, which must have looked rather strange. Spades did not seem to understand her unique brand of humor. When she was commenting on his name she had been referring to his poster, on which a black spade stood on a white background. She had been being silly and playing on his words at the time of her comment. She wanted to explain this to him but she erred on the side of just letting it go as to not confuse the stallion further.

Rivet weakly smiled as Spades bowed yet again. 'What does he want now? Oh I hope he doesn't grab me again. Applause maybe? I haven't the foggiest.' She thought to herself. She decided to applause. She lightly stamped her fore hooves on the antique pitch pine floorboards. She looked around the room for a distraction, anything that would change the topic of conversation and maybe prevent him from grabbing at her again.

'I could show him some of my inventions, take him on a tour of the house, there is a pink filly with her muzzle pressed up against the window, maybe make him some food, or a pot of tea like I was going to, show him the observation deck, the steam tunnels, wait what a pink filly?' Rivet's mind was working a mile a minute, so fast that she almost overlooked the pink filly looking in through her window. 'How, irregular, two ponies that want to visit me.' She thought as a slight apprehension tightened in her chest. She was not fond of crowds and with any more than this it would soon turn into a crowd in her kitchen.

Rivet smiled gently at the filly and trotted over to a lever jutting out of the floor. She pushed on it with her hooves and the outside door flung itself open. She had mechanized most of the structure of the light house during her time there. She poked her head out of the door, thankful for the filly's intrusion and not at all perturbed. She motioned at the Pegasus with her hoof to come inside, 'Maybe she will be enough to keep Spades from being so hoofsy.' She hoped. Rivet trotted back into her home hoping that the pink Pegasus would follow.

She trotted over to her kitchen counter and pulled another lever. A tea kettle came zipping out of the rafters above. Rivet took it with her magic, a slight green hue crackled around the kettle. She filled it with boiling water, some run off from her steam powered contraptions. One of the advantages of living in a steam workshop was the ever abundance of boiling water for tea. She put a large tea ball that was stuffed with tea leaves into the kettle to let it steep. She then took three moderate sized tin cups from the cupboard. She eyed them and blew the dust from their surfaces. She placed these cups on her small kitchen table. There were four chairs surrounding the table, in the center of which stood the Grand Type-writer that the Griffon engineer had given to her. Rivet hung up her portable type-writer and took a seat at the table, making a gesture to her other guests to take a seat as well.

"What brings you here?" The large type-writer clattered out as Rivet smiled meekly, she was asking anypony that wanted to answer the question really.

[Chonico]

Applause, that's what he had been waiting for the whole time he had made his way to the lighthouse. Small and short as it was, it was applause none the less and enough for him to feel content for the time being. He did have to admit though the mare seemed too rigid when he did his small short act, but he was content writing that off as sheer shock from his magic tricks.

'Maybe I'll do more for her later.' He thought to himself as he observed Rivet walking up to a stick of sorts sticking out of the ground. However, when she pushed it and the door swung open, he simply looked on with amazement, even if his face didn't really show it. The little voice in his head however was really surprised and awestruck.

'Heh, I'd like to see me do that… Actually, that would make for a good magic trick or part of one at least.' Spades kept pondering to himself how to implement such a trick as he observed Rivet make her way out the door and signaled somepony to come in. A Pegasus filly by the looks of it, one that had left a rather remarkable imprint of her muzzle on the window, had enjoyed his small show as well. Had he known he had more of an audience; Spades would have done some tricks for her too.

Finally making his way to the table where Rivet had begun to brew tea, he took the chair next to the typewriter and observed her as she typed. Before answering however, he looked up at the rafters as if expecting more contraptions to come out.

'You seem to have some tricks of your own. Very impressive for somepony who is so quiet…' Spades commented as he finally took his gaze off the rafters and set it now on Rivet. 'But, your innovations seem to do the talking for you with much flare. You wouldn't happen to be an Earth pony in disguise, would you?' He let out a small chuckle as he joked with Rivet.

'Oh, sorry for the sidetrack though. I think your home is amazing. Don't suppose you'd be willing to work for a theater company, would you?' A slight yellow hue began to quickly fill his eyes but disappeared just a quickly to be replaced by their regular gray hue. 'Well, figured I'd ask, but I didn't come here for that. I actually came here looking to put on a show for a lot of tourist. I was told this was a hot tourist spot.' He stopped for a second as he put on a silly smile that was quickly replaced by his hoof rising up to his muzzle as he went into deep thought.

'Guess mom was right, never trust a mime pony… Speaking of which, where is your other guest? The small pink Pegasus filly.' He turned his head towards the open door completely unaware that what he just said probably made little to no sense.

[Ancre]

Whirlwind enjoyed the magic show with great attention ... until the grey and red pony waved a hoof at her, inviting her to come in. The little pegasus fell on the ground in surprise and shock. She had been seen ! The ghost, if she was a ghost, had seen her ! Fear crept in for a moment but was soon replaced by embarassment - Whirlwind's attitude had been very rude up until now, you don't go on and spy other people like this, even if they're ghosts ; yet she wasn't mad at her, and she even invited her in.

Regaining her senses, the pink pony flew to the door and went inside the unicorn's house. The door wasn't large enough to let her in if she had her wings fully open, so she had to dive in - it still wasn't that easy but she was getting good at it. However, flying inside the house was a different matter entirely. It wasn't that tidy, and it wasn't that wide, houses weren't really built for ponies to fly in freely. She was scared of bumping into things, of breaking furniture, of the dozen of things that could go wrong if she wasn't careful.

Whirlwind flew slowly around the room, staying close to the ceiling, flapping her wings as little and as gently as she could, letting herself glide to the seat her host had offered. The rust-like unicorn had made some tea and was chatting with the other guest - or more precisely the mare was writing stuff on a typewriter while the stallion was doing all the talking. The mare was probably mute, she guessed. This time Whirlwind had the opportunity to read the paper. It was probably directed to her and the other guest, and it asked them what brought them here.

The white stallion was very outgoing : he chatted about how impressive he thought the house was, he joked gently with his host, he wondered if she would like to do theater work. The color of his eyes even changed during the conversation ! He finally told the unicorn mare that he came here to put on a show, expecting this place to be full of tourists (and obviously disappointed). Unlike his host, he looked quite at ease in social gatherings, which was to be expected of someone who puts on shows for a living, Whirlwind guessed.

Then he turned his attention on Whirlwind, wondering openly where she was. « I'm up here ! » She answered simply. She was slowly descending toward her seat, her wings slightly arched, acting like a parachute, turning her landing in a slow fall. She couldn't land normally, it involved too much wing-flapping for her tastes, and she could topple stuff like the tea kettle with the wind she'd make ; and she couldn't just let herself fall on the seat either (that would hurt !), so she had to resort to strange, unorthodox landing techniques. Not that she complained, it was fun, in a way. Flying inside a house asked for a lot of creativity !

The pink pony finally landed on her seat. She closed her wings, then opened them wide again as she almost fell off her chair, eyes open in surprise - panicking, she flapped them a little, trying to stabilize herself while shifting her position, until she was sure she wouldn't fall again. « Uh, sorry about that, » she commented with an embarassed smile, closing her wings, « I'm still not used to, um, to not being to walk anymore. » Whirlwind took her cup of tea in her able hoof, still feeling a bit shy.

Changing the subject, she answered the grey mare's question. « I came here to see ghosts, because I'm on vacations, you see, I'm staying with my parents in the city next to this lighthouse, and well, I wanted some adventure ! So I came here, ponies says it's haunted, because there's always light at night, but nopony live here they say, they've never seen anypo ... » the little filly suddenly stopped, realising what she was saying. « B-but of course, you live here, you're surely not a ghost ! » She blurted with a nervous chuckle, « I didn't mean to say nopony knows you, I mean, I'm sure you have friends, I mean, uh, um, your house is very cool. »

What an idiot ! Whirlwind silenced herself, her eyes contemplating the hot tea in her little cup. She was a bit ashamed of her attitude, first she spied on her host, now she was saying such hurtful things ... Frowning on herself, she gulped her tea. « I, uh, sorry. » she said to the two other ponies, rising her eyes again. « I'm Whirlwind, I'm from Cloudsdale. What are your names ? » The little filly could still be a good guest ! She sure hoped she could.

[Pony_Sage]

Rivet gently blew the steam from the top of her cup of tea. There was a chip in the side of the rim so she situated the cup as to drink from the non chipped side. Rivet did not have fancy tea cups or a tea service like her parents did back in Canterlot. She had to make due with old cups and a beaten up tea kettle. They suited her needs well though, she was not a fancy pony. She levitated her cup with a green glowing tendril of magic and sipped the tea. It tasted of roses and a hint of mint, just a blend that she picked up on one of her few trips into town, nothing too fancy.

She turned her head to the side and crinkled up the bridge of her nose at Spade's question about working for a theater company. 'Why would I work for a theater company? I can't act. I can't even speak. That would be an odd play.' She mused to herself. She watched the little pink filly flutter about the room near the ceiling.

'Oh I hope she doesn't knock anything over, I have everything in such order.' Rivet worried. Order to Rivet was not the same as order to any other pony. What looked like chaos on the shelves in her home was perfect and orderly to Rivet. She could remember where every bolt and nut was on those shelves. If another pony moved them how ever she would be completely lost.

Spades said something incomprehensible about mime ponies. 'Is he making fun of me?' Rivet questioned herself. She was only half listening, far too worried about the pink filly flapping about her home. 'He isn't making fun of you, you're paranoid.' She quickly scolded herself.

The Pink pegasus slowly sunk into the chair that was awaiting her. As she landed she stumbled a little and Rivet stifled a silent giggle with a hoof over her mouth. 'Wait, she can't walk?' Rivet thought as she inspected the pink filly a little closer. The pegasus was definitely missing part of her rear leg and her fore-leg had a nasty scar on it. 'Oh my she must have been in an accident! I hope she is alright!' Rivet worried silently.

The little filly spoke a mile a minute about ghosts and adventures. Rivet listened intently with a small smile. She sipped her tea and nodded when appropriate. The filly's demeanor suddenly shifted from one of happy exuberance to solemn contemplation. She apologized for something, for what Rivet hadn't the foggiest. The dirty unicorn was absent minded when it came to manners of etiquette herself so the pink filly's actions had not even registered as incorrect to Rivet. Rivet smiled softly at the filly and nodded.

"I am Rivet. From Canterlot, live here now though. Pleased to meet you. Thank you, house is mostly my design. Made it better than what it was. Used to be ramshackle, now better. Lots of steam devices." The typewriter clicked and clacked out. Small green tendrils actuated the keys as Rivet smiled at her company.

She turned her attention to Spades. "Theater company? Why? I tend light-house. Can't talk, mute. How could work for theater?" The typewriter asked as Rivet put on her genuinely confused face.

She then turned back to Whirlwind. "Missing leg, can't walk. Sorry, are you O.K.? How? Accident?" Rivet told the typewriter to ask the pink filly. She was rather tactless about that unfortunately. After she typed it up she realized this and winced. She didn't mean to upset the little pony, she was just curious. After all this was the most visitors that she had in her house, well ever.

[Chonico]

Spades smiled at the Pegasus filly and listened as she explained her reasons for being there and could not help but chuckle softly at the mention of ghosts. However, as he kept on listening to Whirlwind fumble about with her explanation, he could also not help but plan that once he got back to town he would hunt down the mime pony and his fellow street performers and “thank†them the only way he thought fitting. A simple, yet rigged, card game would do nicely and while he cleaned them out, he would let slip the truth behind the lighthouse. One way or another he was going to get paid for this endeavor and it was only fair that his kind host at least be recognized as “existing†at the lighthouse. Plus, he had already planned to get back at the mime pony, so this was a welcomed bonus, and the thought of it only made his excitement evident as his eyes changed to a bright yellow hue as he brought his gaze down to his cup of tea.

Spades silently observed steam raising from the cup in front him and, although tea wasn’t his drink of choice, even growing up in a circus a pony learned to be a nice house guest. Horn glowing, he floated the cup up to his muzzle and sipped from it as he allowed himself to lightly loose himself in his thoughts. “Maybe if I let slip the wonders this lighthouse holds, more ponies will come here to sight see and she could set up a side business giving tours… Well, that would be entirely up to her though and judging from the state of these cups she probably doesn’t get many guests. Hmm… OH.†His train of thought was suddenly interrupted as the piece of paper appeared before him. Giving it a quick read, he raised an eyebrow in a bit of slight confusion.

“OH!†He finally spoke. “Sorry, I simply meant that with your incredible skills, any theater would be lucky to have you fix up their stage. Imagine, entire scenes changing at the drop of a hat as props and backgrounds dropped from the ceiling or sprung up from the floor just like your tea kettle. It would give anypony with the love for the spot light a wondrous place that would seem almost magical and they could strut their stuff!†Spades’ gaze seems to be set on something far away as his still bright yellow eyes looked up at the ceiling. “Oh! But I only asked as a passing remark. You probably really love it here surrounded by all these incredible…†He looked around the house and settled back on Rivet. “Pipes and umm… I’m sorry, I have no idea what any of these things do.â€Â

After a few awkward silent seconds passed by, Spades took a quick sip of his tea again and settled his now graying eyes on Whirlwind.

“I am White Spade, Magician extraordinaire...†He did a sudden bow which, seeing he was at a table, was a rather odd feat as he stopped millimeters from digging his horn into the table. Suddenly raising his head back up again, he set his now bright purple eyes on Whirlwind and gave her a rather content smile. He loved doing magic for children; they always had the best reactions.

“Young Whirlwind, adventurer extraordinaire and ghost hunter! You look like you could use some chocolate…†He raised one hoof into the air and with a sudden flick of his shod hoof, he pulled out a small wrapped chocolate bar from what seemed to be thin air. His horn sparking to life, he took hold of the chocolate bar with his magic and floated it towards Whirlwind and set it in front of her.

“It’s a Maresheys bar, best candy bar ever! Sorry though, it’s a little melted and almondy… It has almonds. It’s the air in here, can’t make awesome chocolate from it.†He smiled at the young Pegasus filly and quickly looked at Rivet as he shot her a wink and turned back to Whirlwind. “Want to see more magic?â€Â

[Ancre]

The little pink filly held a wide smile, hoping really, really hard that she hadn't offended her host. The grey and red mare smiled gently and nodded and then started writing. Whirlwind waited apprehensively. What would she answer ? Would she be mad ? Finally she could read the message. Rivet presented herself in return ; she wasn't angry at her. Phew ! That was a relief.

The young pegasus stood silent and listened to the other guest's remarks. He was enthusiatically explaining why he thought Rivet could do wonders in a theater - with her skills with machines she could put on quite a show, if so she wanted. But then he caught himself rambling, and quickly added that it was just a passing observation and fell silent too. He must have felt a bit awkward too.

Turning her eyes toward Rivet again, Whirlwind noticed that the rust-like mare asked her a question as well. About her leg. "Er, yeah, accident, it was an accident, yes. " she blurted with a nervous smile and a shifting gaze. Rivet wanted to know how it happened, she could understand that, it made sense, with the visible scars she had, but it still wasn't a happy subject for her to talk about.

She considered not saying anything, but no, it wouldn't satisfy Rivet, and even if she remained polite she would still wonder about it. She considered lying but that wasn't very smart to do either, what if other questions came ? And anyways she'd had to make up a story and she've never been good with that. So she settled on teling the truth. Very briefly. With only the important parts.

But before she could start to talk again, the other guest introduced himself - as White Spade, magician extraordinaire - and bowed toward her, nearly hitting the table. The little pink pony just stood still, staring at him, confused. He raised again with a bright smile, and solemnly announced that she looked like she could use some chocolate. Now Whirlwind was even more confused.

But then her confusion turned into amazement as he conjured a chocolate bar out of nothing, with just a move of his hoof ! That was incredible ! The magician levitated the bar toward the little filly, and she quickly grabbed it, staring at it in wonder for a while, and then took a careful bite. It was real ! It really was chocolate ! Awesome !

"That was fantastic mister Spade ! " she giggled, not listening a word of his excuses (lower-quality chocolate ? nonsense ! it was chocolate, so it was good !). Whirlwind happily munched the Maresheys bar, a smile as big as the magician's on her face. " You could do more ? Oh yes ! Yes ! I mean, I'd really like to see more, sir ! I really do ! " She turned toward Rivet and broke the chocolate bar in two, offering some to the unicorn mare. "Oh, miss Rivet, do you want to see more too ? It'll be fun ! "

[Pony_Sage]

Rivet watched the magician skeptically. It was not in her nature to just accept something as magical, even if she was a unicorn. She knew what magic was and how it could be applied, but she didn't understand the appeal. She also knew that without the aid of a unicorn's horn they could not preform magic. Since Spade's horn was not glowing he was not using magic, it was mere sleight of hoof and distraction.

Rivet was far more concerned about the little pink filly, Whirlwind. She could not help but empathize with the little pegasus, after all Rivet was also handicapped. But what she was more concerned about was how the little filly was handling her new handicap. Rivet had been born mute, she had not lost something that she at one point had. Whirlwind, however, had been able to walk at one point and then lost that precious ability during a tragic accident. Something inside of Rivet just identified with the little filly. Also there was a small part of Rivet that was very concerned about the filly flying around her house and knocking things over. There were so many things precariously perched on shelves and lying about. If the filly were to go tearing through the house as fillies do, she could have either gotten injured or caused a great deal of damage to the house. Rivet began to look a little worried.

Her magician guest said something about more magic and the little filly seemed to be rather enthused about the proposition. Needless to say Rivet was a little concerned about the upcoming display. 'Should I say yes to the next show? Oh I hope he doesn't get hoofsie again.' Rivet pondered. She put on her best inviting smile and nodded her head in agreement to the next magic show. She was doing it for the little filly. Whirlwind sure looked like she could use a laugh and some entertainment. 'Oh what can it hurt, just so long as he doesn't grab at me again.' She thought as she took a sip of her tea.

She closed her eyes for a moment and listened to the steam rushing through her house. Her ears twitched in circles. She was listening for anything abnormal, a hiss, a whistle, anything that could denote something was amiss. 'Nope, sounds all good.' She sighed in relief. A leak or damage to the system could spell disaster. Rivet's house was running at more than three times the normal operating pressure of a Victory class airship. A small pin prick in a pressure bearing line could chop a leg off, a little more than a pin prick, the entire system would explode catastrophically. Rivet took another sip of tea with her eyes still closed. She started to run some calculations, those always calmed her down. She waited for the next show to begin. Her thoughts raced from steam theory to all sorts of different things, including braces that could help little Whirlwind walk again.

[Chonico]

Spades knew that there was no profit to be gained from putting on a magic show for his kind host and fellow guest. But that did not mean that he would put any less effort into it. If anything, for Spades it meant it was time to pull out all the stops and take advantage of this occasion to practice his tricks and throw in some of his newer tricks he had been working on. There was nothing to gain, so there was nothing to lose. It was plain and simply for the sole purpose of entertaining the young filly and his host.

Also, since he was at a table and unbeknownst to him, much to the relief of Rivet, he would not have to use his customary distraction tactics such as being “hoofsie†with his audience in order to do things behind their heads and backs. The underside of the table would do just find and even his tea cup and plate would play a part. He was a professional entertainer and wasted no opportunity given to him.

“Now, my kind public, my generous audience!†He stretched out his hooves as if he were addressing a crowd of hundreds, a beaming smile on his face as his bright purple eyes looked from face to face, even if there were only two. It was force of habit really, seeing as this was how he always opened his show when he was doing it for large crowds. His voice always filling with joy and wonder which he always hoped to infect the crowd with.

“Watch closely, if you will, my horn. Unicorns are the only magical ponies, but neigh say I! At no point will my horn hum or glow for that is not the kind of magic I will show you today! What you are about to see is magic that anypony, ANYPONY can do! So, my beautiful audience, please sit back and enjoy the show…â€Â

Having seemingly made his deck of cards appear on the table while he gave his intro, Spades began his show off slow, with simple tricks like making more stuff appear and disappear, seemingly out of thin air. Flowers, cards, small red balls, bits, and even his tea spoon, nothing was immune to his disappearing act. Slowly, he moved onto more elaborate magic tricks such as making objects float between his hooves and pulling seemingly mile long strands of tied handkerchiefs from his ears. As he got into his card tricks, he began to ask his two observers to pick out cards in turn, each time using a different trick to reveal which card it was they had picked out. Cards jumping out of decks seemingly at his command, cards that appeared and reappeared within the deck and under plates or tea cups.

At one point, he asked the small filly to pick a card and put it back into the deck only to ask her, after a series of flare with the deck, if she had honestly put it back in the deck and revealed shortly after that the card was under her seat, which it was. At another, he had Rivet select a card and put it back into the deck only to have her later seem to “magically†select the card he had picked out from a dozen of face-down cards. It was a bonanza of varied card tricks

As he got closer to the end of his show, and his magic tricks became more elaborate, he brought out a flat disk from his satchel and tapped it on the side of the table only to have it pop-up into a top hat. From within the seemingly empty hat, Spades began to pull out all sorts of things. Flowers, more cards that had been selected by his audience, balls, chocolate, and such. Often time his hoof seemed to disappear entirely into it up to his chest, giving the impression that if he was not careful, the hat might swallow him whole.

For his final trick however, Spades simply asked small little Whirlwind to pick out a card from the deck and place it back into the deck, which he then shuffled and placed into the top hat. He set the top hat on the table and for all intended purpose appeared to be doing nothing as he looked at the hat with a smile on his face. After a few seconds, a “cooing†noise began to emanate from that hat as cards began to seemingly jump out of the hat. After a few more seconds of dejected cards and a lot more cooing noises, a rather plump and almost entirely white pigeon emerged from the hat. Its gray head and beady eyes were dead set on Whirlwind as it jerked forward and back and cocked to the side. The pigeon was holding the card Whirlwind had picked out a little while ago.

“Crackers, are you sure that’s the right card?â€Â

“Cooâ€Â

“Good, give it to little Whirlwind.â€Â

Crackers the pigeon flapped its wings once and landed in front of Whirlwind. Looking at Whirlwind, Crackers coo-ed once and then proceeded to drop the card in the tea cup and grabbed the tea spoon as he took off into the air, making it a point to drop it on top of Spade’s head with a resounding *dink* and then landing on the brim of the hat.

“Hmm, I guess we still need more work on that one… Ain’t that right, Crackers?†He asked the non-interested pigeon as he rubbed the top of his head. His horn glowing for the first time, the somewhat tea soaked card levitated out of the cup and flew towards his side of the table, where he proceeded to dry it off as he addressed his audience.

“That, my beloved audience, has been the show. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.â€Â

He bowed his head again, stopping once again short of stabbing his horn into the table. Crackers the pigeon did the same, which was somewhat odd since it was a pigeon. They were both waiting for applause.

[Ancre]

The magician proposed to put on a show, to which the little pegasus happily accepted and the unicorn mare nodded in agreement with a gentle smile. They are about to see a magic show ! Little Whirlwind, still younger than she liked to admit, was quite thrilled.

He begun with some fantastic tricks. Card, flowers, bits, Rivet's spoons and cups, everything disappeared and re-appeared between his hooves ; he then started to make them levitate, to make them multiply, all while the pink filly watched with amazement.

Spades continued his show with a pack of cards. It was getting even more interesting now, he made Whirlwind and Rivet participate. They tried to make him guess cards ; sometimes he guessed right, sometimes he guessed wrong and when they looked at the card again it was as he said, sometimes he made the card disappear and reappear somewhere else, and sometimes the cards even moved by themselves, as if they had a life of their own.

With a swift hoof the cards disappeared again, and in their place he brought a strange circle, which he popped against the table, to turn it into a top hat. He carried on with his many tricks in a cheerful and almost frantic manner, bringing out flowers, chocolates, cards, clouds of confetti and ribbons, anything, as if the hat was a bottomless treasure chest from which he could draw as many gifts as he wanted to. The little filly was enraptured by the spectacle.

At the very peak of the show, a white pigeon emerged from the hat, holding a card in its beak, which probably was the very card Whirlwind chose and put back in the deck earlier. Under the careful instructions of his master, he went on to deliver it to the filly, but instead dropped it in her teacup, and took her spoon to drop it on the magician's head … It broke the atmosphere of the show and drew a gentle giggle from the little filly.

Well, that was enough for today. With his usual grandiose manners, fitting for a magician, Spades packed his accessories and bowed to his audience (imited, strangely enough, by his pigeon), announcing the end of his show.

"That was absolutely fantastic, mister Spades ! " Whirlwind joyfully exclaimed.

She looked at her hooves, seemingly trying to figure out something. She looked confused for a moment, lifted her able hoof, looked at her disabled one for a moment, then settled on gently tapping the table. It was awkward not to be able to applause properly, and she hoped her solution would be enough for him. She hoped he would understand her intention. She had no real way of thanking the magician, after all.

[Pony_Sage]

*Dink* The spoon bounced off of the magician's head.

*Clink* It struck the side of the table small wooden.

*Thud* It twirled before hitting the floor uneven boards.

*Skitter* It slid across the floor towards a vent.

*Ting* It struck the brass surrounding of the vent.

*Teeter* It hung there, precariously perched on the edge of a, vast, black abyss.

Rivet softly smiled at the magician, after all that was a grand show. The little pink filly clopped her hoof on the table in agreement. 'Poor thing can't clap.' Rivet pondered as she took a sip of her tea. Idle chatter filled the air on the behalf of Spades and Whirlwind. Rivet sat and listened adding her two bits in where it was needed.

“Bread anypony? Crackers, apples?” The typewriter offered the pair as Rivet excused herself to go prepare the repast.

The chair legs moaned against the rough-hewn pitch pine floor boards. The vibration migrated towards a vent on the floor, out of which a mild amount of steam was seeping. The bowl of the silver spoon had small condensed droplets of steam clinging to it. The bowl slowly grew heaver, the cool metal making an easy place for the steam to condense. The vibrations finally hit the vent.

*Tinglinglelingle* The spoon jittered on the edge of the brass vent, threatening to fall into the vast abyss. The air rippled as Rivet walked towards her cupboards, faint and minute eddies sent spooling at the teetering spoon. Just enough to make the bowl of the spoon spin back towards the edge of the vent. The handle's tenuous grip on the slick brass finally slipped, the spoon flashed it's final signal in the light of the parlor before tumbling into the abyss.

There should have been a safety grate there and it looks like at one point there was. Alas it had been long since removed for some purpose that only Rivet knew of. The ponies above went on with their tedium, unbeknownst to them, terror was brewing in the belly of the beast.

The spoon tumbled for what seemed like an eternity. *Trink* it struck a cross support and spun wildly. In the inky, humid, and oppressive darkness there was no hope of telling what way was up, down, or even time for that matter. *Tink-Tink TWANG* The spoon struck a very hard surface that was at was at what seemed to be a 45 degree angle. Scuffs and small dents covered the filigree of the mildly ornate spoon. *Schew* it glided across smooth brass sheeting at a slightly downward angle. Deeper and deeper this path was leading the spoon. The deeper it went the hotter it became not to mention the humidity.

*Krun KA-CHOOOooooo* A faint thrumming came into earshot as the spoon slipped off of another edge and into a thinner tube that fell into the abyss again. *Ting ting ting ting* The spoon protested the confined space by banging against the walls. Then suddenly, nothing... Nothing to protest against, nothing to arrest its fall, just empty, hot, swampy, vast, black, nothingness.

Where was the brave little spoon, has it fallen out of reality all together?

*wrrrrumwrrrrrum wrrrrumwrrrrrrum* There was a new sound added to the mix now, a constant hum of something in the black. Did it want to eat the spoon up whole? Out of nowhere the spoon was struck with something which sent it twirling in another direction. The handle of the spoon bent at the striking point, springing back just enough to leave only a small dent. That was a close one.

*Clang* The spoon struck a flat damp but cool surface that was most likely vertical because the spoon tumbled downwards after it struck the surface. Well what could be described as downwards, did the laws of physics still govern this place?

*KRUN KA-CHOOOOOOO* That noise was much louder now. *Tink* The spoon struck what seemed to be a cobbled surface and skittered to a halt. The trip was finally over, it would be missed eventually and then Rivet would go looking for it, and find our little spoon.

*Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick* What is that? A new sound. But from where, or what?

*Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick* Odd noise, almost sounds like a clock ticking away the hours. But what would a clock be doing down.. up.. well here?

*Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick*

*PANG* Something wiffled through the air towards the spoon, striking it with tremendous force. This time the handle of the spoon gave way to the force and bent a tad. The spoon went sailing across the space. The injured spoon ripped through the blackness with alarming speed.

*Ka-tink* The spoon became lodged in something. The whirring from before had grown louder and closer. The spoon jerked downwards towards the source of the whirring, and then again. Air currents ripped by the spoon, something was moving absurdly quickly near the spoon. Maybe it was the source of the whirring noise.

*PPPRRRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGGGGG* Something ground against the bowl of the spoon. The bowl was almost worn through, an edge caught, the spoon went ripping across the vast empty space again.

When would this trip ever end? Sailing through the blackness the spoon was slowly cooling from the friction of its previous scraping. The bottom of the bowl was still a slight orange colour, casting an eery glow. With a *pang* the bent and battered spoon landed in some form of holding device, slowly moving in what seemed to be an upwards direction.

*Swoosh* Cold brine swished into the holding device submerging the spoon. After a few moments in the salty bath the spoon was poured out with the brine into an even larger holding tank containing even more brine.

*Glurgle Glurble Glurble* There was a muffled pumping noise in the briny deep. The spoon was being drawn towards this pumping noise. What could happen next? The spoon was whooshed down into some form of spiraling pump. The spoon was still protesting the entire time, clanging on the walls of its even narrower enclosure. It came to the end of the trough and became ensnared yet again. The spiral pressed hard against the spoon's battered frame, but the spoon was determined not to give way this time.

*GRRRRRRRFFFFVVVVTTTTTTTT* Something happened outside the brine tank. The pressure that was previously pressing down on the spoon was alleviated. Finally the spoon's long journey had come to a close. Time for it to rest. The spoon was not concerned with anything other than just resting in its place. Hopefully the mistress of the house would come and find the spoon, repair it, and use it once again.

What seemed like an eternity to the spoon happened in just a matter of moments to the ponies standing above. None of them knew, or even cared about the plight of the tiny spoon. Why would they, it was just a spoon after all.

Rivet sat back down at the table with the snacks repaired. She let out a sigh and smiled gently again. 'Oh I hope they like these, they are the only thing that I have in the cupboard.' She thought to herself. As she sat she swiveled her ears about again. Something didn't seem quite right. There was either a noise missing or a new noise, but Rivet could not put a hoof on it. She had a slightly concerned look on her face as she sat and sipped her tea. She slowly levitated an apple over to her mouth and munched on it.

The water coils in the furnace slowly ran dry, the super heater kept pumping however. The coils became red hot from the heat of the furnace. The steam pressure slowly rose. Gauges crept past optimal pressure and into the danger zone. Check valves began to blow. Steam filled the boiler room. In the basement of the light tower the engine strained, clattered, sputtered, then finally gave up. That massive gear on the side of the tower came to a halt. The revolving light was stuck peering out towards the sea.

Despite the check valves the pressure still rose. Well into the critical zone now, steam viciously poured through a steam whistle. The cacophonous chord that it struck reverberated through the entirety of the complex, the pitch slowly rising as the pressure and heat built. The chord tore the silence of the surrounding area asunder. No more did the birds cheep or crickets chirp. The lovely noises were overpowered by the howl of the warning whistle.

Rivet's ears twitched as the whistle sounded. Her face grew cold and sober. Her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. Her tea cup shattered on the floor as her magic failed to levitate the cup any further. Billions of calculations ran through her head in a matter of seconds, calculations of what could have gone wrong, why the safety systems didn't function properly, why the warning bells hadn't gone off sooner. Her mouth moved despite he inability to talk, numbers flooded her brain.

The whistle tone went up an entire octave. Rivet clamped her ears against her head. The noise was no longer throaty and syrupy, it was now shrill and piercing. She gritted her teeth and launched herself across the room towards the shelves. She frantically sifted through pieces and parts necessary for live steam to work properly. She came up with a red hand crank and a monkey wrench. She galloped towards the door, her hooves tripped up by the chair that was in her way. She face planted into the floor boards. She landed in a pile of hooves. A trickle of blood dripped from the side of her face onto her dirty pearl coat. She shook he head as she got to her hooves again and headed for the door with her supplies in her mouth now. She was too busy to bother using magic.

The pressure built even more, seams were tested, rivets strained, welds were starting to crack. Steam flooded the dark boiler room. Screams came from the seams as the boiler began to rupture. The metal was not meant to hold this much pressure, even though Rivet had designed them for high pressure, and ran them through numerous tests, the boiler could no longer hold. The energy that it contained could no longer be held in place.

The side of the boiler ripped open and it shot across the room. The metal shrapnel flew in all directions, some shredded the brine tank. The cold water poured into the super heated coils. Even more energy was being released.

Rivet clamored to get to the boiler room before the reactor went critical.

A deafening roar came from one of the out buildings that surrounded the dilapidated light house. Then all went silent for a split second. Then a resounding explosion shook the trees for a few kilometers around. Birds flew from all over and animals ran for cover. This was not a common occurrence in Hoofinton.

The building was instantly turned into toothpicks. Shrapnel was thrown in all directions, some imbedding its self in the side of the other buildings. The concussive force threw Rivet back almost fifty feet. Windows were shattered in the light house proper. Some of the cedar shakes on the side of the house were pealed off. Slate shingles fell from the roof. A large piece of roofing from the boiler room landed mere inches from the unconscious Rivet. Fire was belched in all directions by the firebox of the boiler. Some of the shrapnel was aflame, making it even more dangerous.

The calamity would not have gone unnoticed by the towns ponies, nor the ponies in the light house. This would take Rivet months to properly repair, not to mention the shipping time required for the parts that were custom fabricated in the islands by that massive roan pony. These thoughts danced in her head as chaos raged all about her.

[Chonico]

Spades had enjoyed the conversation with the adventurous little Pegasus and their quiet hostess after his magic show. His eyes had long since returned to their neutral gray hue and he had been finding the tea and company rather relaxing. He could not have asked for more after putting on such a show. Well, bits would had been nice, but he had long since already redeem himself to it all being a practice run, so no payment would be needed or asked for.

“Bread anypony? Crackers, apples?”

Spades read the note out-loud and at the mention of crackers, Crackers the show pigeon perked up and cooed approvingly. Together, the magician and his pet, watched as Rivet stood and fetched the snacks. A solemn yet gentle expression adorned Spade’s face as Crackers the show pigeon walked circles around the plate where it expected the crackers to be placed.

The snacks were delivered and Spades gratefully took an apple to munch on while he observed Crackers dig greedily into the plate of crackers. He turned to give Rivet an apologetic gestured and was caught off guard by her expression.

“Miss Rivet, are you okay?” Spades asked but Rivet simply kept munching on her apple right before her ears suddenly perked up and her expression turned grim. He too instinctively perked his ear to see if he could pick up the sound too, but his ears were not as trained as hers.

He suddenly heard the sharp whistling as Rivet clamped her hoofs up to her ears.

“Miss Rivet? What is that-“ But she was off like a bullet across the room. He observed with concern while she dug through shelves and eventually found the tools she was looking for. With tools at the ready, she made for the door but tripped on a chair.

“Miss Ri-“ Spades got up from his own chair and called out to her with no avail as she got up and went out the door. He slowly followed but only made it half across the room when he heard the sound of something metallic rupture, the boiler.

The hue in his eyes immediately turned to yellow as the adrenaline released from the realization of what was happening took hold and time seemed to slow down. He was by no mean knowledgeable to the inner workings of engineering or steam, but every hair on his pony body was standing on edge and that was enough for him to know something bad was about to happen.

Spades was not the most powerful unicorn in Equestria, far from it in fact. His list of spells was limited and they were all basic. But, if there was one thing he excelled at, it was levitation magic.

His horn suddenly burst to life as it gave of a shimmering silver light and he turned to look at the table where the small Pegasus Whirlwind was. In a sudden flash of speed, Spades galloped across the room and jumped onto the table as it became coated in his shimmering silver light, right before tackling the small Pegasus filly to the floor. Time suddenly seemed to speed up again as Spades shielded the small filly underneath him and the table flipped onto its side to form a barrier.

The deafening roar of the explosion that filled the air was quickly followed by the sound of shrapnel forcefully embedding itself on the side of the house. The structure shook as windows shattered as shrapnel shot through them and the open door of the building. Heavy thumps struck all around the wall behind them and on the table itself as pieces of metal and wood embedded themselves on the surfaces. The table turned barrier had done its job.

Spades slowly stuck his head out from behind the table as he continued to lay on top of the Pegasus filly. Crackers the show pigeon was huddled against her. Seeing no other signs of danger, aside from the red glow of fires from the outside, he stood up and turned to check on Whirlwind.

“Hey Whirlwind?! You alright?!” The explosion had left him temporarily slightly deaf, he was speaking louder than he meant to. He didn’t wait for a reply and seeing no discernible injuries from the tackle or the explosion, Spades gently took the filly’s face in his hooves and looked straight into her eyes.

“Listen! You need to fly to town to get help and bring them here! Fly fast! It’s time to be heroic my adventurous little Pegasus!” He gave Whirlwind a confident smile but his bright yellow eyes betrayed the concern and seriousness of the situation.

Spades let go of her face with a pat on her head and nudged her with his head to move. He turned around and began to gallop towards the door as he called out to Crackers.

“Crackers! Go with her!”

The pigeon cooed once and flew up and landed on Whirlwind’s head as Spades made it out the door.

Once outside, he was immediately overtaken by the sight of the chaos. A whole building had been obliterated. Small fires were strewn across the open and pieces of wood still fell from the sky. In the middle of it all was Rivet.

Spade’s horn immediately burst to life once again as a shimmering silver light enveloped what had once been a section of a wall or perhaps a roof and it began to levitate. He forced it to levitate over Rivet to shield her from any more falling debris and quickly galloped to her. Once standing underneath the make-shift roof that levitated over Rivet, Spades gently prodded her with a hoof.

“Miss Rivet? Come on Rivet… No need to be in such a hurry to become an actual ghost!”

Horn still giving off its shimmering silver light, Spades knelt down and gave her gentle nudge with his muzzle.

“Come on Rivet! Don’t prove those rumors right! Plus, what kind of reputation will I get if ponies hear explosions follow my magic shows?”

Spades was trying to make light of the situation, but his still vibrant yellow eyes betrayed his concern. That mime pony that had tricked him into coming to the light house was really going to get it now.

(OOC - WOW, it suddenly became an action RP. Never expected an explosion to occur. Sorry it took me a bit to reply. had to get into the action mindset and make one up for Spades.)

[Ancre]

What just happened ?

Everything was going fine ! Spades was doing magic tricks, Whirlwind was watching them in awe, Rivets was coming back with crackers and munching on an apple. The magician's pigeon started to peck the crackers happily while his master watched him with a smile. He gave a bite in an apple and Whirlwind drank some more tea. They were all spending a nice afternoon.

Then Rivet's ears twitched and she became very stiff. Alert. Like something was wrong. Spades got worried too. He asked what was going on. The mute mare didn't answer, she bolted toward somewhere else in her house. She tripped on a chair, and the white stallion tried to follow her. And then, suddenly, a deafening roar rose from the insides of the shed, startling everypony.

The house blew apart.

Spades reacted quickly. He magicked the table away and jumped on Whirlwind. She screamed in fear, completely unable to move under the big stallion. Everything around them was being ripped to shreds. The windows shattered in a million of glass shards. The walls crumbled, unable to contain the tremendous pressure pushing against them. The roof's beams fell one by one in a bizarre arrangement. Fortunately the table acted like a shield, protecting the two ponies from a score of flying debris and other projectiles sent by the explosion, that tore through the hardwood but never went through.

The chaos all around her. The house falling apart on her like a trap. The machines feeding the destruction as they continued their work, ignorantly, indifferently, unaware of anything, just like before. Everything, everything all around her, was just too much to bear for the maimed pegasus. It brought back memories. What was going on ? She started to panic. She needed to go away. To fly. She was stuck again. She tried to pull, she tried to push, she squirmed and wiggled, she couldn't flee, she begged, she cried, she was terrified, she couldn't die just now, please, she had to do something, she —

Spades ignored the little filly, or perhaps he didn't heard her amidst the detonations. He stayed on her during the whole time, protecting her, until everything went silent. He got up and looked at her. Whirlwind had calmed down a little, but was still crying. He yelled, asking if she was alright. She could barely nod. He took her face in her hooves, trying to shake her out of her terror. She had to get help, she was the only one who could flay fast enough, and perhaps the magician wanted to get her away from this mess. This time she nodded more firmly, understanding what was at stake.

“O .. Ok. I'll do it. I'll fly fast. I can fly.”

She was still shocked. Spades' pigeon joined her. She grabbed him with her able hoof, put him against her chest, holding him with both her arms, and then kicked the floor to take off. It was a strange way to start a flight – but she had no time for the slower, more orthodox technique. She flew as fast as she could, bolting toward the city, swirling and rolling around the obstacles as if she barely controlled her wings. She'd be there in no time. For Spades, for Rivet.Whirlwind didn't even knew how they were. Where they injured ? Was Spades deaf now ? Was Rivet maimed ? And all she could do for them was fly …

She flew as fast as she could to Hoofington. It took her a few minutes, but it had felt like years. She crash-landed in a merchant's stall, hurriedly jumping on a guard pony, begging him for help. “Sir, Rivet's house, it explosed !” The little filly shouted in panic. “The magician, Spades, and Rivet, they were inside, and me too, and it just fell on our heads, with a gigantic boom, and we nearly died, and I don't know how they are, I don't know what happened, they need help, please, sir, please help them !”

It took a few seconds for the guard to process the situation, but he quickly got everything under control. He asked a lot of very precise question to the little filly, collecting every meaningful information he could need. He called other guards for help, and together they mounted a rescue expedition. It was amazing how fast they managed to do this. In just a few minutes half a dozen guard pegasus accompanied two doctors, the little group flying as fast as they could toward the light tower.

Whirlwind was carried to Hoofington's hospital to make sure she was all right, and the guards called her parents. The little filly was still traumatized by the events, and burst in tears once again in her mothers' arms, stuttering how sorry she was between two sobs, even if it wasn't her fault. She felt very guilty. She nearly died, once again. She didn't knew how were the other two ponies. She hoped they were all right. She couldn't do anything for them, she couldn't anything but cry, hugged and comforted by her mommy and her daddy, and in the end, exhausted and terrified, she fell asleep in their arms.

Edited October 8, 2011 by Ancre