Neoniie

Flux nodded nearly imperceptably, thinking still through the limited information that had been found by the unicorn and pegasus. She was also trying to keep herself distracted from thoughts of a possible persuer, which at this point would only hinder her deductions, via the small talk with Thunderflash. She found it interesting that her own span of time in Canterlot was comparable to hers. Finding another pegasus in the unicorn-dominated city was also an event of mild interest. It had always puzzled her that the pegasi did not seem to have a highly developed city, or any large settlement, aside from Cloudsdale. The earth ponies and unicorns had their respective upper-class cities, but the pegasi had only Cloudsdale. However, it was during this idle line of thought that Thunderflash asked a particularly difficult question. She was unsure how to respond, as conflicting outcomes became apparent to her. If they let Thunderflash in on their suspicions, he could possibly become a target of whoever had been the source of the odd events lately. However, she did not want to lie outright, as such things weighed heavily in her mind. Another possibility was that the stallion was in fact already knowledgeable about their predicament, which meant he could only be the presence following them earlier. She answered as best she could, not truly lying, merely ommiting some truth. "Colton is newly arrived in Canterlot and I offered to give him a tour of the major landmarks of the city. This one was next on our list. Also, there are a few reference books that I already needed to procure."

"Sketch makes a valid point," Flux mused, considering the oddity of a case such as Harmony's. "Perhaps she still has a specific area to discover within the field of the arts?" In truth, Flux was merely hypothesizing. She had very few facts to go on and was basically taking a shot in the dark. Many cutie marks were much more specific than the unicorn's own, however, and that did hinder her experience with extremely specialized cutie marks. Perhaps the appearance of cutie mark was something into which she should look at a later date. "Nonetheless, wonderful performance, Harmony." She could tell that the foal's eventual cutie mark would result from her love of performance, but the area and specific details were likely undeterminable by anypony. After all, nopony could predict the future with consistency, even with study and knowledge of past trends.

"I guess we will." She stared out at the brightly shining night for a few more moments before returning to her makeshift cloud bed. She hovered to the top of the room and lay down once again in the soft cloud matter. It was things like this that Mirage truly missed from Cloudsdale and made her yearn for the open skies and rainbow waterfalls of her old home. However, she declared that this was not a time to feel homesick and turned her thoughts to the day yet to come. "I'll be turning in, then. See you when it's light again." With that, she buried herself in a blanket of clouds and glided off to the realm of dreams.

The unicorn recovered quickly from the collision, faring much better than the mud covered pegasus. She was startled slightly by the swiftness of her recovery and was not quite in command of all her faculties. She blinked twice, clearing the tiny stars in her vision and observing the scene. Celestia must be smiling upon us today, she thought. Not one, but TWO pegasi to assist my research. Unfortunately, subterfuge is not my forte and I doubt any of these ponies would much enjoy being studied like common lab rats. However, the intervention of a young dragon shook the mare from her ponderings. She also finally noticed the pyromaniacal expression upon the green pegasus' face. She had seen that expression before, especially in unicorns who enjoyed fire-based spells. However, she was convinced that she could get some sort of useful data out of these ponies, especially if she was more flexible to their wishes. Flux was loathe to give up any opportunity to study a pegasus, but she supposed if one were to leave, she would still have access to the other. "Certainly Gizmo," she replied, putting on her less maniacal scientist and more Canterlotian attitude. "I believe the Mayor is organizing the Celebration itself, but several ponies have been assigned certain tasks. Take myself for example, I was asked to create the lighting effects for the entrance of the Princess and such." Her words brought the realization of an opportunity upon her: when this QuickLime came by to observe her work on the lighting effects.

Firefly sped through the air above Cloudsdale, a panic of lateness drawing ever closer. She was never late for any ocassion or even her self-imposed task, being the regimened scheduler that she was. How could I have overlooked the notice for the Shadowbolts meeting on today's page, she chastised herself. Late, and on my first proper meeting as well, we're off to a great start! Her thoughts dripped with sarcasm throughout her hurried flight, not helping the disadvantageous situation in which she found herself. Even her usual pride had abandoned her at the moment, making any sort of self-assurance nearly impossible. Luckily, the dark treetops of the Everfree Forest began to fly by beneath her outstretched hooves. With a downward acr, the pink pegasus descended into the treetops. She landed without her customary lightning effects and aweing stunt, knowing that such an entrance would only draw attention to her lateness. Curbing her dramatic tendancies, the mare trotted quietly into the clearing designated by the Shadowbolts. Attempting to belnd in with the Shadowbolts already present, she took a position near the very end of the line. She took in a deep breath, attempting to calm her still jittering nerves and hoping that nopony would notice that she had been absent previously.

The unicorn was a bit surprised by the question posed to Thunder and to the answer he returned. It was not that she didn't trust the grey-coated pegasus, merely that she was hesitant at discussing their destination so easily. With the possibility, or perhaps probability, of somepony dogging their hoofsteps, it was not percieved wise by Flux to give their destinations. However, the caution which Colton exhibited was enough to assuage any worries of eavesdropping that surfaced in a situation such as theirs. "Well then, I suppose we shall be off." She led the way, trotting slightly ahead of her two pegasi companions. As she followed the well-known route to the library, she considered what exactly she would be looking for among its shelves. It will likely pertain to history of some sort, ancient history, she concluded. Specifically that involving unicorns in some fashion, if the engraving of that journal is any indication. She sifted through thoughts and ideas, attempting not to seem as though she was not paying heed to the others. "Thunderflash," she began abruptly, "I assume you live in the area of Canterlot. What is your profession?"

Mirage laughed, "Well, I guess you DO have some experience with cloud walking then." She dipped down briefly into the cloud and ended up arriving on the earthward side of the cloud. However, with a bit of skilled manoeuvering and well-timed flaps of the wings, the pegasus managed to land with the absence of a crash. Mirage trotted over to the window, watching the continued descent of the sun and rising of the moon. "It's strange to think that the raising and setting of the sun and moon were once left to unicorns. If they were that powerful then, maybe earth ponies used to have earthquake abilities or something."

The pegasus was glad to discover that her steering went off without a hitch and they had arrived at the weather team's base of operations. She wasn't yet used to wooden buildings as much as her preferred fluffy and cloud-like dwelling of Cloudsdale, so seeing such a earthy building was a bit odd. Mirage merely let out a quiet laugh at Hyphen's attempted ammendment of her comment. The pegasus had assumed her meaning correctly the first time and thus found the embarassed correction unncessary, but still appreaciated the gesture. "That would be great," Mirage said, not weighing the question at all. "After all, I wouldn't want to lose you after just meeting." She began trotting toward the base, excited at the prospect of resuming her weather duties.

This is probably rather late, but just to introduce her:

Flux was glad that Colton's own testimony had more or less confirmed her diagnosis spell's results. The uncovering of Sparks was quite an odd event and the unicorn had to admire the hardiness of the tiny bird. Thuderflash still gave off an air of awkwardness, not that Flux could blame him. She would likely have similar feelings if she were to crash into the already in-progress events of two strangers. She considered Thunder's offer, wondering whether she should ask the question that weighed on her mind. Remembering that he was asleep until just recently, the mare decided that it would be pointless to question him about the patrons of 'Creative Confectioneries'. "I cannot speak for Colton, but you are forgiven in my opinion. Think nothing of it."

Mirage watched the unicorn's spellweaving, finding their ability to create something from nothing pretty amazing. Even the fact that a tiny flame could lift the balloon and basket seemed like a miracle. She supposed that those were the perks of a world of magic. As the balloon picked up, the basket rocked back and forth in the air slightly. As it managed to steady itself into a stationary position beneath the inflated balloon, Mirage remembered Hyphen's request. "Not a problem. Just tell me which direction we need to go." She took a literal flying leap out of the basket, doing a quick circle around the hot air balloon as a quick warmup for her wings. She hovered just outside the basket, flapping her wings quickly. She didn't usually need any sort of pre-exertion exercise, but after that crash she'd had, Mirage didn't want to sprain her wings by not being prepared for using them extensively.

"Well, during one of those lecture back at Cloudsdale College that I never really listened to, I think there was something about earth ponies..." She scrunched up her face in concentration, trying to remember. "I'm not really sure, but it was just a theory, some unicorn was working on it, apparently." The pegasus shrugged, not really interested in the affairs of academics. Cosidering his comment about flying, a memory was brought to Mirage's mind. "That reminds me, a while ago in Cloudsdale there was the Young Flier's competition. Apparently, there were four non-pegasi walking around. I've no idea how they did it, but that's pretty impressive."

Mirage poked her head up from her 'cloud bath', looking down at the earth pony. "For being a pegasus, you mean?" She lay back, staring up at the ceiling. "I suppose it is pretty awesome, but you earth ponies aren't too shabby yourselves. I mean, just the fact that you have those hot air balloons makes you at least the most inventive of us." She formed small smile, "Besides, I still thnik there are some hidden talents of the earth ponies that nopony has found yet. It only makes sense."

Mirage had actually been halfway out the window when Vulpus had given his input. She turned back to him with a little laugh, confusedly amused by his embarassment. "I'll be right back," she said, unfurling her wings and jumping out into the air. She picked up speed quickly, remembering that tonight was scheduled to be nearly cloudless. The pegasus needed to snag a cloud before the nightly weather team came out to round them up. She flapping her wings repeatedly, keeping herself stationary in the air as she looked around for a cloud. To the east, she noticed a tiny cloud. It was just big enough for her to use, but not big enough to produce any rain. "Bingo." She jumped on the cloud a few times, to make sure that any stored water wouldn't decide to rain all over the hotel room. Then, she began pushing it back toward the hotel. Getting it through the window proved to be a slight challenge, but the cloud was not a solid and was very malleable, making it possible with some carefull cloud sculpting. Moving it into the air above a vacant part of the room, Mirage dived into the fluffy whiteness, loving who much it reminded her of home.

Mirage felt slightly sheepish, completely forgetting why the two were in the hotel room in the first place. "Sounds good to me," she said, stretching out her wings as she got out of the chair. Then, a realization came to her. "Um...there's only one bed in here..." She didn't quite understand the exact implications of the akward situation they now found themselves in, merely thinking it to be inconvenient. "I could go get another room from that counter pony," she suggested, a sense of foolishness coming over her for not noticing it earlier. "Or," she thought, eyes sparkling, "I could grab a cloud from outside and sleep there. I'll move it just outside the window, so that I don't miss you for breakfast."

"Oh, okay then Hyphen," Mirage ammended her earlier statement. It did feel much more natural to refer to the unicorn by her name rather than title, so she didn't mind the preference Hyphen had expressed. As the unicorn trotted off, Mirage took a moment to consider her day. She leaned against the basket of the hot air balloon and a pensive look came over her face. As far as moving to an undesirable location had gone, it was better than she thought. Though the environment was harsh and not particularly enjoyable, its residents and visitos seemed to be the exact opposite. If everypony in Appleloosa ended up as nice as Hyphen, she could see herself enjoying her time in the desert. When she returned, Mirage quickly straightened up in an attentive stance. "Ready to go? You probably want to head to the weather team's base first, since you just got here."Mirage nodded, remembering the suitcase that she had been bringing with her. She found the place to which it had been flung by her collision with Hyphen and picked it up between her teeth again. Returning to the balloon, she followed the unicorn's method of entry. "Sounds good to me. I don't want to be running off through the desert with my luggage." Her words were muffled slightly by the handle in her mouth and she proceeded to place it upon the bottom of the basket. She looked up at the balloon, interested in how exactly the unicorn planned to get them into the air.

The pegasus resisted the urge to facehoof upon their realization. It called to mind something her mother used to say when she was stuck on something, 'Look at it in a different light'. She had always been rather signleminded about things and set upon her course, implusivity can lead to such things at times. She followed his hoof motions, nodding as he pointed between them. "I think there are some caves around here. The Spidersilk Caverns, or something along those lines. It's largely unexplored because there's a legend about some creature living deep inside the caverns. Even the skeptics tend to keep away from them." Lifting her chin up, Mirage continued. "I'm certainly not scared at all. Actually, we could get there in about an hour with the help of some local ponies." She was slightly exaggerating her fearlessness, but those who lived on a whim had little time for patient consideration.

Mirage looked up from her contemplation, surprised by the slight differences that had occurred by just the application of some soap and water. The pegasus didn't hold much with baths, preferring to just pour some rainwater on herself if necessary, but of course, non-pegasi didn't really have that option. Another surprise came to her as she noticed that the eggshell coloured leg had disappeared. She held back her surprised reaction, not wanting to draw attention to it. The mare had noticed it before, but the sight of a pony with only three legs was quite jarring for her. Privately, she wondered what had happened to Vulpus to require his prosthetic limb, but she figured that it was a question better asked later. "Um...not really. The only things I know that can look like mountains are spires or valleys, if you look at them right. Though, at the time, I don't think they'd have many spires around Equestria..." She stamped her hoof down in slight frustration. "That's probably not much help, to be honest."

Mirage blinked twice before fully digesting the mare's statement. She hadn't actually made it to the weather team's headquarters to get som sort of assignment, but she assumed that this dust clearing at this dig site would be her task anyways. "Yep, I'm actually a pretty new addition to the team. I just flew in from Clousdale today, actually." "Oh, I-I'm sorry. I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Professor Hyphen, out of the university of Canterlot. I'm currently leading an archeological dig in the desert north of here."The pegasus found this unicorn's mannerisms quite endearing, in a manner of speaking, and couldn't help but smile along with the mare. "Nice to meet you, Professor Hyphen. I've never met a bona-fied professor before, it must be a pretty cool job." Despite not having the qualifications in the slightest, Mirage had always loved adventure and archaeology was a prime source of adventure. Adventure always brought new ponies and experiences her way and that was why the pegasus had eventually left her weather studies for the practical team. Mirage wasn't a fan of the dry, arid town of Appleloosa, but she loved her job and had to admit that the desert brought much more adventure than Cloudsdale. "You must be tired from all that flying. If you want, I could give you a lift in my balloon?" She noticed the balloon of which the professor spoke, looking it up and down. It had been something that fascinated the pegasus, the ability of the non-winged species to fly among the clouds. "That would be great, Professor. Thanks."

Mirage pondered Vulpus' idea. She wasn't very certain about Mareado, as it was generally taught to be an old legend that was believed back in olden times when such rumours flourished. Perhaps a more bookish pony would know more of the lost city, but a pegasus such as herself wasn't going to waste time studying when there were mysteries and opportunities out in the open skies. She did conceed that a map maker would likely be a pegasus, griffon, or the like, so perhaps it was something other than a mountain. Unfortunately, the pegasus was just grasping at straws and had no brilliant breakthroughs. Hearing Vulpus' question, she nodded absentmindedly. "Yeah, no problem." She stared out the small window of the rented room, wondering what could make a mountain-like shape from the skies.

Mirage watched the unicorn's search for the creature she called Plato in confusion. As the unicorn scurried back and forth, she wondered whether Plato was another pony and if she had managed to send another pony flying through the air. She felt a bit embarassed at the thought, putting a hoof behind her head akwardly. She was about to offer her assistance to the yellow pony when she scooped up a nearby lizard. The pegasus found herself suddenly interested in the mare before her. Not many ponies out this far had any sort of pets and what an unusual pet at that. "Oh, I-I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going. That was really rude of me." Noticing the blush on the unicorn's face, Mirage felt slightly more akward then before, but at least she didn't seem angry at the pegasus' clumsyness. "Um, i-if you don't mind me asking, could I get your name?" "Oh, yeah. My name's Mirage. And no worries about that whole smashing into you thing, it was my fault."

Mirage picked up her saddlebag again, rummaging through it with one hoof. Placing several items including two sandwiches, one picture, thirteen bits, the medical pack, and a book on the floor surrounding her chair, the pegasus finally pulled out a pair of fairly new maps of Equestria. One was a flight map, which showed a pegasus' eye view of the land itself and the other was an oddly made map that had a panoramic view of the landscape, showing only the landmark visable on the horizons of the Badlands. The second map she didn't use much and really just kept around because she had neglected to find another owner for the map. She lay out the two maps atop the bed, looking from the coin to the maps repeatedly. Then, something caught her attention. If this coin really was so old, why were they using new maps to find these mountains? The tall peaks would have started to erode over the years. Sharing this idea with Vulpus, Mirage began to look for smaller mountains than something like the peaks of the mountain into which Canterlot was set. However, she did say that Vulpus should look for actualy mountians as well, in the event that teh pegasus' thought was incorrect.

Mirage's eyes widened as she held the large coin shaped artifact in her hooves. The intricate carvings upon its surface seemed to be in a language long since abandoned by the residents of Equestria, but their design piqued a memory of the pegasus'. She didn't often pay attention in Equestrian History, but the one lesson she had genuinely listened to involved the first several successful settlements in Equestria. Shortly after the three kingdoms arrived and settled their differences, there had been a rumour of a shining golden city. It was said to hold untold riches and power, as tales of treasure were likely to do. It was said that the directions were carved upon the keys to the city, of which there were five to obtain. However, nopony who venture out in search of them had ever returned. "This...this could be one of the map pieces/keys to the city of El Mareado. It's just an old pony's tale now, but back near the founding of Equestria, everypony wanted to find this place." She paused, wondering if the legend was true and they had somehow stumbled across something that years worth of explorers had not. "Listen to me, sounding like a history textbook," she said. "But if it's real, this is amazing! You've one lucky pony, Vulpus."

The unicorn checked both the approximate time of day and her mental list of their destinations, staring intently up at the sun. It was beginning to sink farther in the sky, but the darkness of night had not yet begun to tinge to blue sky. By her best estimations, they had about 5 or 6 hours left in the day. She didn't deliberate on the matter too long, still harboring a strong desire to visit the Great Library. In her opinion, it was luring two parasprites with one flute. She could look into whatever it was about the information they'd uncovered that was tingling in the back of her mind and it was a viable tour destination. "I believe-" Flux's words were cut off by the sudden flattening of her conversational partner. A dark grey pegasus had taken the place of the white-coated one with whom she had been talking. Assuming the worst - that this was the pony who had cleared out the secret passageway and had followed them all this way - the unicorn instinctively called some of her magic toward her. In truth, the scientist knew little of combat magic and couldn't likely hold of an attacker for any prolonged period of time, just the bubbling of her magic to the surface helped to calm her. However, by the way the new arrival acted, Flux became certain that this pegasus was an outside force, completely independant of their mysterious pony. Releasing her pent up arcane energies, Flux trotted closer to Colton and the pony who offered him a hoof up. She lowered herself slightly toward Colton and took in a deep breath. The spell she intended to use was a rather simple diagnostic spell that her father had insisted that she perfect. Closing her eyes, the unicorn felt out with her magic toward to pegasus. Quickly, she took an inventory of his injuries, sensing them through the scanner-like abilities of the spell. "It seems that nothing is broken, thank Celestia," she mumbled, the last part mostly to herself. "As far as I can tell, it is merely outer injuries that you may have sustained. Certainly no permanant damage. Luckily, Thunderflash here managed to slow his fall a bit before his collision." Assured by the diagnosis, though the spell could sometimes be severely inaccurate when she attempted it, the unicorn addressed Thunderflash. "There could have been better circumstances, but nonetheless, I am Quantum Flux. However, as you, most ponies prefer to use Flux."

"I agree." Flux didn't argue with the pegasus' suggestion. She could tell that he had good reason for this abrupt declaration, and due to their current situation, she didn't doubt that his reasons were quite well-founded. The unicorn got up from her seated position and levitated her saddlebags from underneath the table, placing them crookedly atop her back in haste. She looked quickly around the immediate area, noticing that waiter was hanging off to the side with a disproving expression still clear on his muzzle. She discretly left a few extra bits behind, more out of courtesy than any real wish to tip the blue pony. At a brisk trot, she made for the entrance. She had to weave between several oddly placed tables, eyes watching the scene before her for any sign of an out-of-place glance. Thankfully finding none, Flux merely brushed off her worry as paranoia. Though she knew it wasn't true, sometimes it was easier to believe something untrue. As she made it out into the chilly Canterlot air, Flux seemed to let out a breath that she had been holding in for the entire duration of their meal in the shop. Taking a moment to gather herself again, Flux tried to focus on their travel itinerary.