There and back again, a Pony's tour: Canterlot [Open]

[ProfessorCogsworth]

Professor Cogsworth had been in something of a rut recently, his mind clouded and unable to conjure into existence the required imagination for invention. He had pondered on this problem long and hard and decided to take an old piece of advice, travel broadens the mind and so he too would travel to broaden his horizons and hopefully lift this momentary fog that had decended upon him.

He threw what little he needed into a travel trunk, warmed up the steam powered wheeled transportation device, bid his single servant Nanny farewell and begun his journey. His first stop would be one he knew well, though it had been many years since he left it for his ancestral home. Canterlot, the sparkling city of spires, home of magic and possibly the most important place in all of known (and possibly unknown) Equestria.

Though his approach would be noted from a greater distance than one would expect, the first would be the plume of soot and smoke pouring out of his steam powered vehicle, rising like a dark cloud on the horizon as he drew closer. Then the noise, the coughing, spluttering, clanking, hissing contraption could be heard for some distance as it moved slowly towards the gleaming white city.

Cogsworth had his driving goggles down (mostly to keep the smoke and soot out of his eyes rather than any actual protection) and donned a flat peaked cap, for a pony with their own manor, he was looking decidely common if not for the contraption he was driving. His face already stained a darker shade of grey and his beard had gained black spots from the flecks of soot that had accumulated as he had been driving all morning.

The vehicle chugged closer to the city gates, Cogsworth had thought that the guards may have something to say but it should be fine, I mean, the wonder of his invention was sure to stun them into silence and let him enter the city without arguement...

[Lux]

It was a task that Staff Sergeant Night Watcher dreaded more than performance reviews or the required physical fitness tests: assessing the various guard posts in and around the city. She knew that it was necessary to make sure the guards were alert and active to protect the city, but it often felt like she was foalsitting guards who should be doing their jobs. And so, clad in her silvery Lunar Guard armor, the pegasus mare made her way to the first of many stops.

It was then that she saw it: a plume of smoke in the distance. At first she thought it was from a fire, but then noticed that it was coming closer to the city. Her mind then shifted to something more serious, a dragon. Granted there had not been any dragon attacks during her lifetime, but she couldn't be too careful when protecting the capital city, its inhabitants, or the Princesses. She began to hear the clanking and hissing sound as if whatever it was coming closer was some machine.

The guards stood slack jawed at the machine coming closer, mesmerized at its complexities. Night couldn't believe that the guards were not even remotely concerned that this device could be a problem. Oh, the higher ups would be hearing about this security error in her review!

[colour=#800080]"Guess I'm going to have to take matters into my own hooves," [/colour]she said as she flew and landed in the road entering the city.

[colour=#800080]"Halt," [/colour]the pony shouted over the loud machine approching, [colour=#800080]"by order of the Lunar Guard and the Royal Equestrian Army, I order you to bring your... thing... to a complete stop." [/colour]

[ProfessorCogsworth]

Cogsworth smiled, having to shout to be heard over the noise of the machine, "oh...give me a moment..it takes a while to wind down."

The vehicle juddering closer and closer but slowing down before finally stopping. The machine cluttered and clanked, hissed and whistled as the pressure in the boiler was slowly eased off, bringing the vehicle to a shuddering halt. Cogsworth lifted his driving goggles, taking a rag and wiping his face semi-clean of soot and dust. Letting the boiler wind down before he stepped outside with a clop and a clank.

He gave his best smile as he walked up to Night Watcher, "what seems to be the problem Officer, I assure you the Steam Powered Vehicular Transportation Device is completely safe," he took a pause and muttered, "mostly."

[Lux]

It was a good sign that the older pony was so quick to comply with Night Watcher's request in turning off the machine. She waited as the contraption slowed to a stop as the pony got off. From the look of his smoke covered face, it clearly wasn't the cleanest machine to ride. Some ponies might take offense to their clothes and coats getting covered when this thing passed, but that wasn't something of her concern.

The armor clad pegasus listened about the machine. It had a long winded name which did explain much of its purpose. It was clrealy steam driven and looked like it was made for moving a pony. Why the operator didn't just walk to Canterlot was any guess.

[colour=#800080]"I am Staff Sergeant Night Watcher," [/colour]the pony said to introduce herself and state that she was higher ranked than a mere guard. Those days were in the past.

[colour=#800080]"What is your name sir, and why do you say you machine is mostly safe?" [/colour]

[ProfessorCogsworth]

Cogsworth chuckled, "well I say mostly because in untrained hooves, those not familiar with steam powered inventions, one could let the boiler build to a dangerous level and when start said boiler could explode, it is quite spectacular actually, metal and fire lighting up the entire area like some big firework, anyway that only happens if you don't know what you're doing...or you forget..."

He gave a brief look down to his metal prosthesis as if in thought before looking back up, "However I assure you I am not going to forget that kind of thing any time soon, so the SPVTD is completely safe in my hands."

He seemed lost in thought for a moment, "oh that reminds me, I'll be needing a guide for a tour of the city, now you're clearly too important to do such a task and you guards have better things to do than guide an old Pony around a city he once knew but since you are here, perhaps directions to the nearest tour guide would be very much appreciated."

Cogsworth hoped the explanation was enough for her to let the machine into the city, though he probably shouldn't have mentioned the explosive properties and go along with the lines of 'stunned ponies were likely to drop things onto their hooves when they saw his wonderous contraption' but that sounded far to boastful and he was nothing if not an honest Pony, eccentric but honest.

[Lux]

Night Watcher listened with interest at what the older pony said. He seemed ery interested in machines and maybe as much with explosions. Well, as long as he kept his explosions away from others and out of the city limits, she could find no fault with the machine.

[colour=#800080]"I understand that left in untrained hooves any machine could be dangerous. As you may know, Canterlot is the capital city and having recently been under attack by Changelings security has been heightened, including monitoring anything suspicious. But as long as you macking was built for transport, I find no problem in it. As for a guide to the city, I believe I can help you find a place you are looking for since it's one of my duties to know the layout o the city. Have you been to Canterlot before?"[/colour]

[ProfessorCogsworth]

((sorry about that real life intervened for a while there))

Cogsworth grinned, "oh yes, I grew up here but I left some years ago, you just can't test inventions around Canterlot, I think the Princesses would disapprove of blast craters around the city walls, decided to leave for my ancestral home in the lovely Whitetail Forest, out of harms way you could say. Well I wasn't really looking for anything inparticular, merely wanting to visit some of the more touristy parts and perhaps a few off the map places you may know yourself."

He returned to his machine, flipping a few levers and switches, turning a valve and causing it to shudder back into life once more, "why don't you hop in and show me around...or if you prefer move infront and lead the way."

It began coughing and spluttering smoke and soot once more, Cogsworth clambered into the machine, settling into the driver's seat with a smile on his face.

Pausing for a moment, he chuckled, shouting over the noise, "oh how rude of me, I never gave you my name, call me Professor Cogsworth, Prof, Cogs and Cogsy are all suitable replacements."

[Lux]

[colour=#800080]"Ah, well forgive me for asking you these questions Professor Cogsworth. Standard questions do need to be asked by guards. At least they should." [/colour]

With that the jet black pegasus gave a glare to the guards as if to further puncuate the point that they made an error.

[colour=#800080]"Anyway, as a guard my job is not only to protect Canterlot but to help others with finding their way. I wouldn't want to see a pony get lost."[/colour]

She considered riding in the steam powered contraption for a oment as the professor started it up and then decided to put her faith in his hooves.

[colour=#800080]"I will ride with you in this machine. Tell me where you want to go first." [/colour]