Canterlot [Spellbound] The Fixer-Upper (Bellosh101 & Tacobob)

[Bellosh]

 

Ordinarily, cleaning was the furthest thing from Moondancer’s mind. Being so occupied with being a good college student and being a good friend, the young mare simply neglected to make any effort to clean up anything unless nagged to death about it. Pretty much any residence Moony inhabited for an extended period of time resembled a pigsty more than an actual place to live.

 

Yet here Moondancer was inside a Canterlot warehouse, actually intending to do uncharacteristic spring cleaning for a change. Not too long ago, the moon-flanked mare found herself joining a sort of magic club; a club going by the name of Spellbound. However, the warehouse selected for use as the club’s headquarters proved itself a fixer-upper. That first night Miss Dancer joined, the large room had been nothing more than an old table and some chairs surrounded by a sea of sparseness. Thus, the guild members all agreed to each contribute towards furnishing the warehouse to make it a more... suitable HQ.

 

Moondancer agreed to supply the guild with some decade-old but still useful books about magic that were awfully cheap to buy, a couple of spare brewing stands which Princess Celestia’s School of Gifted Unicorns had long since replaced, and a rusty cauldron to boot! All of the mentioned items, among other things, she lugged on over to Spellbound’s meeting place in a borrowed wagon. Gosh, it sure did strain Moony pulling that wagon though; she had been tempted to take a crash course on come-to-life spells, but learning of how easily they go wrong dissuaded her from committing that sort of mistake.

 

While the white unicorn waited for her neck to cease throbbing from that harness earlier, she waited in the mostly bare warehouse by blissfully laying on her belly and sweetly humming to herself. As today was a weekend, Moondancer also hoped that somepony else from Spellbound could join her today. It would sure beat fixing up the place alone for sure; she’d guess that if nopony showed up within the hour, she’d be driven mad from lack of social contact. And so Miss Dancer kept on humming, leaving the front door wide open in case anyone dropped by.....

[tacobob]

A low rumbling sound could be heard from outside which continued to grow louder until the mare was able to see a small covered cart which quickly found itself a spot near the entrance. "Hey Moondancer!", a Light amberish gray coated unicorn poked his head out from behind the cart. The spell-caster knew this pony to be Pocket Change, who seemed rather pleased with himself as he quickly scooted the cart into a suitable location in the large room. "Hold onto your hooves, I found some really cool things while digging around the old family attic the other day!", he sprinted over to the side of the wagon and quickly pushed away a large cloth that was covering the objects the cart contained.

There was a rather impressive looking wooden bookshelf which laid on its side, along with a few small chests. There was also a small pile of books, all leather bound which were placed in a small cardboard box. There were also a few other unmarked and closed boxes, and a chalkboard on wheels. "This stuff is extra awesome, but wait, there's more!", the pony sounded like a carnival barker, "My sister Docket found my old gaming table! It's long, it's wood and it's very old timey! There's also a set of matching chairs to go along. I've arranged a small gang of movers to ship it over here tomorrow, and you're going to love it!", his eyes darted around the room to see what had been done so far. "I thought my parents trashed it years ago, but they actually put it in the warehouse! So awesome!"

He did not give the mare a chance to response, "But wait, there's even more! I spoke to a friend of mine, who knows a guy, who also knows a guy, who knows a gal, who knows a guy that helped another guy tear down an old schoolhouse over in Manehatten. The school itself wasn't that important, but they had these really cool wood panels that would look super-great on the walls here. With a bit of tender loving care, we can cover these boring old walls with some proper woody goodness. Make it less warehousey and more hall..er..hally. The only thing else I've been working on is getting a really cool chandelier in here. We could hang it over the table. I've been looking at a couple, but those are going to cost some bits. So...er..how are you?", he smiled at the mare, "Oh-Also brought a cooler and some Canterlot Colas. You should have one.", a small bottle of cola drifted towards the mare.

"Anypony else show up?"

[Bellosh]

 

After ten minutes of waiting, Moondancer unexpectedly heard the sound of a cart plowing straight into the warehouse. Immediately standing up to attention, the young mare’s face brightened when she saw her fellow guild member Pocket Change driving it. Before Spellbound, the unicorn stallion had been nothing more than just one out of many random faces that Moondancer saw in her university classes. To be frank, she still didn’t know Pocket all that well, but he seemed pretty nice and upbeat so far..... exactly the sort of pony the moon-flanked unicorn could grow to like.

 

“Heeeeeey, Pocket!” Moondancer cried out; “How’s it shaking?” Obliging, Pocket Change plunged into a laundry list of pretty much everything he brought with him today. Wow, he really was dedicated to this magic club too! And he brought Canterlot Cola with him too! Awesome!!! “You’re the most awesomest guy in the world Pocket, you know that?” Moony cheerily thanked the stallion as he levitated the can her way.

 

After taking a moment to take one drink from the Canterlot Cola can, Moondancer magically set it down as she told Pocket Change how she was doing; “I’m doing great; all my stuff is in the other wagon by your cart. Nopony else has showed up yet though... and I haven’t seen Miss Mousey around either.” Pointing at her cart, the white unicorn offered; “Feel free to dig through that and see what I brought today! It’s not much; a few old books, a cauldron, brewing stands, and some other things, but I think everyone will like it.....”

[tacobob]

The unicorn smiled as Moondancer thanked him, “Well, it’s still sort of early. If anypony shows up, it probably won’t be till later.” At the mention of her name, a small mouse wearing a very tiny yellow safety helmet and vest poked her head out from the stallion’s pocket and quickly scrambled down his front left leg. The small creature scrambled over to the mare, sniffed her and made her way towards a small hole in the wall. “That’s right Miss Mouse, we’re going to give you a proper mouse hole. One with an arch-shaped hole, and door to match, and even a mailbox, because I guess mice have a system of mail delivery. You just need to clean up the inside.", the rodent gave both ponies the best 'thumbs up' she could manage before disappearing into the wall.

"And for the record.", the stallion started to blush, "My sister actually came up with that little costume. She found one of my old 'Handy Horse' action figures and fashioned a mouse-sized little uniform from it.", hoping the mare would not see how red he was, the stallion retreated to the pile of items that the mare had brought in. "These are some rather interesting books you have here! Let's see.", with the help of his ever useful telekinesis, the unicorn lifted up his bookshelf and found a temporary spot nearby, so he could easily place books on it. "You've got 'Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed', as he read the titles, he lifted the book magically and shuffled them into the shelves. "Intermediate Transfiguration. Very nice.", he let out a chuckle as two books raced by his snout, "Sweet Celestia, 'Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts' and 'Madcap Magic for Wacky Warlocks'? The first one got me two weeks detention back in primary school. Beastly Old Miss Manners confiscated it and I never got it back.", he transported several other rather basic magic books onto the shelves, "Can't believe I'm actually here with you. One of the prettiest and smartest mares from school. My old friend Whiz Kid would be green with envy, that is, if he wasn't already that colour."

"Lovely cauldron you got there, I guess Miss Licorice and Mister Abbot could use it for their potions.."

[Bellosh]

 

“Awww, there you are!” Moondancer cooed, extending her foreleg toward Miss Mouse so that the hardhat wearing creature could smell her; “Looks like Pocket adopted you after all. I like your helmet, cutie!” Overjoyed that Pocket Change and his pocket sized companion were bonding quite beautifully, the moon-flanked mare found herself grinning radiantly at the stallion.

 

Moondancer easily caught Pocket’s rather lame attempt to hide his blush, which was a nearly impossible task for anypony with a white coat... including her. Nonetheless, she was glad that her partner enjoyed her selection of books, especially her beloved copy of Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts; “You had that book too!? Wow... you wouldn’t believe how many pranks I lifted from Saucy Tricks back in magic school. Too bad you lost your copy Pocket, but it looks like you’ll finally be able to connect with your inner child again, tehehe!”

 

That round of amusement was short-lived, for Pocket Change let loose that he thought of Moondancer as especially smart and pretty. The young mare was no stranger to compliments from stallions, and so she got used to casually ignoring them. It was hard to brush off this particular instance of flattery however; Pocket differed from most other stallions the unicorn mare knew in that he exemplified a rare instance of a guy who clearly loved having fun, had lots of interesting stories to tell, and constantly fell prey to adorable behaviors. To tell the honest truth, the only other pony period Moondancer knew of that resembled Pocket's personality was well... herself.

 

“Oh, don’t be silly,” Moondancer lamely denied, embarrassingly waving her hoof in dismissal while fighting off a blush to no avail; “If I really was one of the prettiest and smartest mares at the university, I’d probably have gotten an award for it already.” Lowering her gaze to avoid eye contact, the flustered girl absentmindedly twirled her forehoof on the warehouse floor before modestly offering; “Seriously though, you’re a fun guy to be around Pocket Change.” Unlike that previous thanksgiving for the cola, that compliment was not uttered in jest; with that uttered now, Miss Dancer joined the stallion in admiring the cauldron.....

[tacobob]

Pocket Change let out a chuckle, "I believe the looks of envy from the other mares and the rapid heartbeats heard from the stallions could have been enough of a reward."

The stallion glanced down at the cauldron, “One of the things I do hope to learn here will be herbal alchemy, or at least improve myself at it. Oh, this is one of those 'self-stirring' copper cauldrons!", he added as he noted the markings on its side. "Wonderful modern world we all live in, eh?", he winked at the mare, "When I was studying potion-making, I never seemed to get the proper stir-motion down properly. As you probably know, the difference between a perfect potion and a melted cauldron and soot in the face was the stir. You couldn't go too fast or too slow.", as he glanced away from the cauldron, he got a good look at the mare. He remembered the first time he managed to gather enough courage to talk to the unicorn, it was several years ago. Class had just ended and as he left the schoolhouse, he spied the lovely pony from the distance. Feeling braver and far more confident than usual, (thanks to a thrashing he had just given one of this rivals in debate class) the colt scurried over to have a few words with Moondancer. The second he made his way towards the young mare, he quickly tried his best to come up with a clever greeting, but as he opened his mouth, the mare bent over to check on some sort of small creature that wandered into view, which gave the colt a very good view of her flank. The now very red and flustered stallion did whatever any pony would have done and quickly backtracked away. Now here he was, far more confident than he had ever been and he was standing directly next to the prettiest mare from school. If only some-pony could have come up with an anti-blush spell or potion, or at least his parents could had darker coats.

"So, beyond magic and school, what else do you like doing?", the stallion asked, "Things have been rather slow lately. I spent a few days in Ponyville last week to help a colleague of mine. Unfortunately 'interesting' things happened. My friend was unable to join me, and I got lost in some rather spooky woods and was nearly eaten alive by a swarm of insects. I did get to meet a few of Celestia's champions though. Miss Pinkie Pie was an er, interesting character and Lady Applejack was everything they said she was. Also paid a visit to the library where Miss Twilight apparently lives and works. Thankfully she did not end up like we all thought she would have."

"I also received a letter of employment from a Doctor Merlot. I believe I might have heard of him, have you? Pay seems to be good, but I'm not too crazy about the assignment."

[Bellosh]

 

Oh my; Pocket Change was really turning up the flattery dial to eleven! “Stoooop it,” Moondancer giggled, playfully shoving the stallion away; “You’re... tehehe, embarrassing me.” Cursing her own inability to hid blushes, the white unicorn lamely offered; “True, I can’t actually be embarrassed because there’s only just you and me here, but stilllll...” Even though the young mare couldn’t maintain eye contact with Pocket for very long, Moony supposed she was feeling the good type of awkward right now; the type that left silence a pleasurable experience rather than a tense moment. She could definitely get used to this.

 

When the conversation topic changed to cauldron-craft, Moondancer chimed in after Pocket had his say. “I know all too well Pocket,” she explained while stepping closer to the self-stirring cauldron; “Potion-making got annoying back at Magic School; especially since our potions teacher was a perpetual grouch. However, I knew a couple of classmates who really didn’t like the self-stirring things at all. They claimed that a personal touch was needed for the more complicated brews, and that the self-stirrers only bungled those potions up. Anywho, what was I saying? Oh rightttt..... one spell is all it takes to adjust this baby here back to manual, in case Licorice and Abbot like that setting better.”

 

And with another topic switch, the two ponies were now yapping about other fun matters. “Oooooh, you met Twilight!?” Moondancer animatedly asked, her eager face shooting right in front of Pocket’s; “She’s a really swell unicorn; I remember her from Magic School! Well... ehh..... kinda. She was always too busy studying and all. Twi’s Ponyville friends must be really awesome though, ‘cause she never really opened up to anypony here back in Canterlot...” Moony sighed; she’d really need to catch up with Equestria’s newest princess one of these days.

 

“Oh yeah, you wanted to know what I like doing,” Moondancer awkwardly giggled, not wishing to disappoint Pocket; “I’m not sure if this counts as an adventure, but I attended that Mare Con thingy in Ponyville a week ago. I met up with a friend, and we both had a super-duper time together! And let’s see... if you couldn’t tell by my name yet, I like going dancing a lot; I mean like, really a lot. I dance like a boss these days, you’ll... you’ll have to see it for yourself one night, Pocket. You’re honestly missing out on a whole bunch if you’re still in bed at 1AM...”

 

And now came the time for a very intriguing subject; “Oh ohhhh, is this for that Clover Park thingy!? I remember that sinkhole forming last weekend... tsk tsk, poor statue... but apparently, it opened up some crystal mine network too! Isn’t that cool? To think that- wait a sec, you said Doctor Merlot wants to hire you? Ooooooh, I know who he is! He’s like a cool archaeologist and everything... does this mean you’re interested in archaeology, Pocket?” Moondancer’s excitement levels could hardly be contained now.....

[tacobob]

"Well, the auto-stirring can be disengaged if necessary.", Pocket Change could not help but be impressed by the mare, not only did she know her stuff, she somehow managed to get prettier and prettier just by smiling. Once Moondancer was away from the Cauldron, he lifted the large pot with his telekinesis and found a safe spot to put it. He glanced up and noticed an old leaky sunroof, "We could make this into a vent of sorts, so when working on potions, the harmful fumes that may be produced can be sent through the vent and maybe even filtered into something safe for the environment. I heard they can make filters that would turn even the most harmful of fumes into simple puffs of harmless water-vapor..I..er..", he realized he was starting to ramble on a bit and quickly apologized, "Sorry Miss Moondancer. There's just so much to do here and it's all very beautiful..er", he shook his head as he got lost in the unicorn's eyes, "Wonderful!"

Thankfully a safer topic had popped up which allowed him to regain his composure, "Er, No, I didn't meet her back then. Like many of us, I did see her cantering about with her nearly endless stack of books generally followed by her dragon, Spike. I can only assume the good Princess gave her the dragon so that Miss Twilight would actually have someone to care for beyond herself and that she would never be lonely.", he nodded as she mentioned the convention and couldn't help but secretly wish he could have been a fly on the wall during that event! "My poor Sister Docket really wanted to attend, but she has been so busy lately, not only did she have her old work to do, her company was recently contracted to translate several ancient books lent to them from the Crystal Empire! Only problem is that the books are of an unknown language, even the Crystal Pony scholars are unfamiliar with. So she's been busy. Two of her friends did attend the con. As for dancing, I sure would like to see that.", he bit his tongue realizing he was probably being a little too familiar, but Princess Platinum and Clover the Clever did not find Equestria just by sitting on their rumps! He had to be daring if he wanted to continue and improve his friendship with the lovely Miss Moondancer.

"There's a lovely jazz club near the university you may have heard of, it's called the 'Ponyland'. They usually have these wonderful little house bands that cover such acts like Dizzy Gallopie, Barny Goodpony and Red-Tail Rodney and the bartenders there are masters of their trade. I ended up staying there for most of the night and part of the morning after one of my digs was ruined by a horrible storm.", he made his way over to a small pike of broken tiles on the ground, which he magically moved into a small dumpster that had been provided for the pair. As he shuffled the old flooring away he continued, "Oh yes! I'm a very merry member of the old 'shovel rat' society as we like to call ourselves. I'm a proper archaeologist in a sense. Need to finish a few more courses and I'll be like Mister Merlot. Just not famous. Or super rich. I do like to dig though. Amazing what you'll find if you...er..oh.." as the last tile made its way into the dump, the stallion noticed a small hatch that had been covered up by the tiles, "Miss Moondancer, come and have a look! There's some sort of door here. I can only assume it leads to a basement. I know this place used to be a storage facility of sorts, but do you have any idea what they used to keep here?" The unicorn glanced back at the hatch and was obviously very curious to see what was beyond the small wooden planks.

[Bellosh]

 

Not one to disappoint, Pocket Change impressed Moondancer with his suggestion to turn the old sunroof into something that could vent harmful brewing fumes away. Temporarily drained of any awkward emotions, the young mare remained riveted at her friend when he began fumbling his words. Why, if Moony didn’t know better, she’d guess that Pocket got entranced by her- wait a second... that pleasant awkwardness just came back again. Yeah... Pocket Change totally had a crush on her; the guy did a horrible job of hiding it, which to be fair was true for most young stallions. Unlike the rest however, Pocket had an awesome personality to back him up, and he looked a little handsome too-

 

~Oh ponyfeathers, did I just think that Pocket’s cute just now?~

 

After having to swiftly turn her head away to disguise her blush, Moondancer got the embarrassment out of her system as she and Pocket Change talked about what they’ve been up to. As it turns out, Pocket’s sister had a cool job as a translator; a tough, but cool job anyway. And then the stallion mentioned the ‘Ponyland’; Moony knew about the place well enough, but now suddenly felt foolish for never patronizing the establishment. “Doh!” she lightly slapped her forehead; “A couple of my friends really like ‘Ponyland’ too, but I’ve never been it in. I always tend to hang out at techno and electronica joints, but I can definitely dig jazz!” Now in a smiling mood, the young mare winked at Pocket; “Thanks for the tip, Pocket!”

 

Pocket Change proceeded to launch into a description of what he did for a living, but cut things short when he discovered what appeared to be a trap door. Intrigued, Moondancer peeked closer to take a look, yet she could only shrug as the stallion asked her what could be down there. She was curious to see what was down there herself, but it suddenly dawned on the moon-flanked unicorn that she needed to do a couple things first; “Uhh... lemme’ finish unpacking first before we see what’s down there, okie dokie?”

 

Cantering back to her wagon, Moondancer levitated everything else out of it as she placed it all in her pile of junk on the ground. Among such objects included an obsidian stand perfect for resting open books on, a pack of tarot cards, a low-grade spherical seeing stone, a mask of a cute yellow fox, and... an antique phonograph still covered in cobwebs. “Now this baby comes from my parents’ home,” Moony pointed at the phonograph; “But it got forgotten when they bought a newer turntable, so I thought to adopt it for Spellbound use. And here’re some records too...” Upon setting a box of vinyl records onto the floor, the wagon could finally be declared empty!

 

Telekinetically summoning her soda can, Moondancer wiped some sweat off her brow while taking a drink. Once she quenched her thirst, the beaming girl mischievously waltzed over to Pocket Change to make one thing clear once and for all. Moony found it cute how Pocket always addressed ponies using honorifics, but the young mare couldn’t bear having to put him through that forever. “Oh Pocket, just to let you know,” she delightedly ruffled her companion’s mane first before resting her forehoof on Pocket’s cheek; “My name doesn’t begin with 'Miss'. We’re friends, so ‘Moondancer’, ‘Moony’, or even 'Loony' will do just fine, Mister Change.” So for a brief moment, Moondancer simply stood there and smiled, her sparkling purple eyes piecing right into those of her amazing new friend.....

[tacobob]

"And we're not talking about the usual 'smooth jazz' bunk that sounds like the same 'Old-Mare-Musack' you normally would hear while riding in an elevator or while waiting in some er, waiting room. This is the kind that's loud and fast and it really gets the crowd shaking their flanks and moving their hooves.", he did a little dance move which involved a little shake and a quick spin which he went around the recently discovered hatch, "Real Bebop! It also didn't hurt that the bartender working there was a real pro. Didn't water down the drinks like many do. Stayed there the whole night until one of my sister's friends, an R.E.A guard had to drag me home.", just thinking about the club seemed to give the stallion a surge of energy and spirit. "We should gather some of the 'guldies' and pay the club or visit, or even just go as a pair, if you're comfortable with that."

As the went through some of the other items that she had brought along with her, the unicorn found a seat nearby her. He was impressed by the seeing stone, "If I may ask, where did you get the 'palantír' from? I'm sure you saw the really big one they have in the University. A friend of mine back in college got into MAJOR trouble when he tried sneaking one of the itty bitty versions into mare's showers over in the school's stadium. They really threw the book at him!", he glanced into the stone, curious to see what was on the other side. He turned his attention back to Moondancer and her 'goodies'. "Got yourself a good deal of interesting tidbits here.", just for the heck of it, he slid on the fox mask and watched the mare as she went through her records. "Good call on the record player! While I'm not a big fan of meditation music, it can be rather relaxing to listen to while working on a spell, potion or other.", he admired the art on a few of the records before he got up and scooted back over to the hatch. As he did, he overheard the unicorn as she asked to be addressed through an assortment of nicknames. "As you wish Miss...er..Moondancer. But how did you get the nickname 'Loo....'."

He did not finish his inquiry as he was now looking directly into the incredibly gorgeous mare's mulberry coloured eyes. He could get lost into those! He slowly glanced down and admired everything from her cute and short snout to her lips that just screamed to be kissed! The stallion was so lost in her beauty, that he was completely oblivious to the hatch underneath him which was apparently made of poor quality wood that had been rotting away during the last few years. He did however notice the feeling of a sudden drop as the hatch gave away, causing the young mage to plummet into the darkness. "Oh crabapples!", he yelped as he fell.

Thankfully a loud 'THUD' did not follow, but he did call out, "I'm alright Moondancer! I 'feather-fall'ed my way down! Can you please get a rope! I wanna check this place out!"

[Bellosh]

 

Giggling as Pocket Change performed an impromptu dance move, Moondancer almost had the inkling to go join him herself. The young mare didn’t think that the good drinks were that much of a selling point though; as a naturally sociable and excitable mare in all occasions, Moony never saw a need for them for the most part. At any rate, Pocket had a good idea up his sleeve; “Hmmm..... I suppose we could try getting the other guildies to come. Everypony needs to go out every once in a while and totally have fun, right?”

 

Moondancer blinked when Pocket mentioned the word ‘palantír’. “A... pa-lan-tier?” she confusedly announced, only for her to suddenly get the reference; “Ohhhhhhhh, it sounds like you’re a Trotkin fan! Tehehe, I loved reading The Earth-pony as a filly, but I found all his later work to drag on too much. Maybe I should give the others another try one day.” Remembering the other question, Moony added; “I remember getting that crystal ball as a present many years ago; my dad bought it in some pawn shop in Beakbreak City. Unfortunately, he didn’t realize that a griffon company made that seeing stone. You see, in Aquellia, they make seeing stones that are powered up by a special machine instead of unicorn magic. To get this bad boy to work, we’d need that type of machine and a special aether-absorbant crystal to power it all up. Otherwise, this ball’s pretty much useless...” Awkwardly laughing, Moondancer only now realized how pointless it was to bring that object here in the first place.

 

The girl shook her head as Pocket explained how a pervert sneaked a tiny seeing stone into the mares’ shower room; stallions could be weird sometimes, wanting to watch mares take showers. About that other crystal ball though; “Yeah, I’ve seen that big one in the Magic Artifacts Room. I think I showed Fire Heart and Spirit Flame the thing when I took them around CU. It’s apparently the best model ever made; it can even supposedly piece under the ground so you can look into caves. Of course, it’s also the hardest to use ever model too, but maybe somepony will completely master that stupid thing one day.”

 

Pocket Change wanted to ask about how Moondancer acquired the nickname ‘Loony’, but fell under the moon-flanked mare’s spell when he stared into her eyes. For her part, the girl didn’t move her hoof from the stallion’s cheek as she closely analyzed the other’s facial features, subconsciously inching her head closer to do so. Moony even started feeling shivers down her spine when the hatch below Pocket broke, sending him plunging away from her tender grasp.

 

“POCKET!!!” she cried out with immerse worry; “POCKET ARE YOU ALRIGHT?” To Moony’s great relief, the stallion was unhurt; “Okay, I’ll be right there; hold on!” Lucky for Pocket, he had the good sense to stash a rope in his cart... must have his adventuring instincts, the mare thought. In only the matter of a minute, Moondancer tied the rope securely to the study leg of one table before repelling down herself; “Here I- WOAAAH!!!” Sadly, the mare’s grip was not as strong as she assumed as she started falling legs-first into the basement herself.

 

"LOOK OUT BELLLLLLOW!!!!!!!!........"

[tacobob]

"I'm sure the princesses can use it.", Pocket reassured the mare, "Heard rumors that there are artifacts kept away from the public's eyes that only Princess Celestia and Princess Luna may use. Powerful artifacts and devices.", he could not help but sound melodramatic as he spoke. "From gateways to other worlds, strange boxes that can transport you through time and space, powerful gems that would turn its user into a powerful juggernaut and even mystic rings one could use to creative hard illusions of whatever they could think of. I'm sure most of the rumors I've heard over the years are bunk, but it is fun to imagine what is hidden below the castle in Canterlot!"

****After The Fall*****

After letting his hooves touch the ground, the young stallion glanced up,""I'm alright Moondancer! I 'feather-fall'ed my way down! Can you please get a rope! I wanna check this place out!", as he turned to start up a light spell, he stumbled over what appeared to be a broken pike of boxes and after trying his very best to keep upright, he fall rather unceremoniously onto his back, "For crying out loud.", even with this little mishap, his horn projected a suitable light that enveloped the room. However, before he could take a good look at this new location he noticed Moondancer was dangerously close to falling on top of the stallion. "I've got you!', he yelped as his telekinesis spell caught the mare in the nick of time. He would never dare say it to her face, but the gorgeous mare was probably the heaviest thing he had ever caught with his spells before. Still, there she was, just hovering over him, her lips were dangerous close to his own. This was more than enough to break the unicorn's concentration as both his telekinesis spell and light quickly went out. The mare was now resting somewhat comparably on top of Pocket, which wouldn't be so bad, but as she plopped on top of him, her lips pressed onto his his, making a kiss of sorts.

"Oh gosh! Oh cripes! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to kiss you.", even in the darkness, Moondancer could see that he was on full blush-mode, and was probably telling at least half a lie.

[Bellosh]

 

Thanks to a nifty light spell from Pocket Change, Moondancer at the very least had a good idea that she was only a couple seconds away from impacting the bottom. Pocket fortunately also had quick-enough reflexes to cast a telekinetic to slow the young mare’s decent; he even remembered not to make her come to a sudden stop at once, which needless to say wouldn’t have been much better than colliding into a solid object. It was a close call though, but Moony smoothly came to a stop mere inches above the stallion.

 

As she magically dangled in the air, the adrenaline filled Moondancer no longer had fear of injury to react to, so inevitably her excited thoughts dwelled on the unicorn stallion filling her line of sight. Once again given the opportunity to take in Pocket’s features, the moon-flanked mare inhaled and exhaled with anticipation as she gazed into the stallion’s emerald eyes. Then without even thinking about it, Moony closed her eyes and murmured; “Pocket.....”

 

Before Moondancer knew it, she felt her muzzle and soft belly plop onto warm and firm objects. Swiftly opening her eyes, all that the unicorn saw were Pocket’s eyeballs from before, expect now they appeared as frightened as those of hunted prey. Mirroring the exact same look as her companion, Miss Dancer immediately disengaged from her position and rolled away into the darkness; apparently, Pocket’s light spell had given out. It was only when she had rammed into a wooden crate during her evasive maneuver that the girl finally realized what had just transpired... that her and Pocket Change somehow kissed!

 

Moondancer had never been a stranger to awkwardness however, and thus she took the situation in a rather dignified manner compared to her panicking friend. Casting a light spell of her own and coating the basement with a magenta glow, the young mare quickly galloped over to Pocket Change and offered a hoof to help him up. “Relax Pocket,” Moondancer warmly tried to calm down the stallion; “This... this isn’t exactly the most embarrassing kiss I’ve ever had, to be honest. Make sure I tell you all about that story, someday!” Despite another blush of her's coming forth, the winking Moony felt confident that her words would be enough for Pocket to pull himself together.....

[tacobob]

"Oh.", the redness quickly vanished from under the stallion's coat as he got back up on his hooves, with a little help from a friend, "I did not want you to assume I had this all set up just so I could steal a kiss from a very pretty mare.", he gave the girl a wink, "But really? If I were an snarky sort of a fellow.", a sly smile formed on his muzzle, "I might believe you fell on purpose so I would catch you. Not that I didn't mind.", the pony shivered for a moment knowing he would never forget the unicorn's sweet kiss or her gentle touch, something anypony could have gotten themselves lost in. Pocket Change whistled to himself as he studied the large room they both were now standing in.

"Have you spoken to Miss Nivial since our first and only guild meeting? I remember somepony mentioning this was a warehouse before she purchased it, but I wonder what wares they housed here? I only see crates. Mostly broken, but it appears while they moved all the boxes and the 'whatevers' they had above, this room hasn't appeared to be touched in ages. I wonder if the previous owners were even aware of this floor.", after a brief moment to concentrate, the stallion's horn surrounded itself in a faint, green glow which extended even more light into the room. "Amazing!", he gasped, "This room just seems to go off forever!", he slowly scooted next to the mare as he marveled in the room's scope, "Well Moondancer, should we explore? Or would you prefer to go topside?"

[Bellosh]

 

While Moondancer found it heartwarming that Pocket Change found his confidence back, her flustered self asked why he had to use it to tease her like this? “Eh... heh heh... you wish,” the young mare countered with a feeble attempt at a jesting tone, her blush the brightest it has even been in her entire life as she completely turned away from the stallion; “Don’t push your luck too far buddy; it’d be a shame if you fell down a hole one day and I wasn’t around to catch you at the bottom.” Yes, yes..... Mr. Change will pay for this BARBARISM... eventually... maybe. At least the mare's bantering ability managed to recover.

 

On to more pressing matters, Moony’s light spell wasn’t quite enough to illuminate the entire room, giving the chamber the appearance of it being vaster than it actually was. “I’m not sure what’s down here actually,” the moon-flanked unicorn answered; “Judging by the shoddy nature of the walls though plus that trap door above, I'm sure this place was supposed to be a secret to everypony. My guess; someone kept bootleg salt licks down here a long time ago when some ponies thought banning them was a good idea. Heh, that prohibition didn’t last long at all.” Pfft, to think salt licks were briefly forbidden more than half a century ago because a few concerned wives were concerned about their husbands suffering from dehydration… something easily cured with water.

 

When Pocket Change asked whether to keep exploring, only one answer made sense to the smirking mare; “How about I explore down here while my favorite archaeologist-in-training bores himself to death up above?” One pause later; “Nah, just teasin’ ya’, Pocket!” Becoming more and more comfortable around her new companion, Moony reassuringly rubbed her cheek on Pocket’s very own; “Let’s explore onwards, shall we? This belongs to Spellbound HQ now, anyway.....”

[tacobob]

“That’s fine with me.”, Pocket cheerfully replied, “I would at least fall to my death with a smile on my face, knowing I at least managed to get a quick kiss from the very lovely Moondancer.”, he continued to check out the room as he spoke. “Still, it's not like that would ever happen, considering I know at least two spells that prevent me from falling to my doom. These tend to be rather useful considering a dig-site could quickly turn into a grave-site for those unprepared. Often one could stumble into an hidden trap or cleverly covered pit. Thankfully ‘feather-fall’ keeps a unicorn from becoming a pony-pancake, but if you just happen to fall where it’s windy, an ‘Fuzzy Drifting Spell’ does the trick, but the fall is quicker and for some reason the spell makes you feel like you had just drank a gallon of seltzer water, so you let out belches as you drift down. If you don’t know any of these spells, I’ll have to teach them to you. They’re life-savers.”

He shifted through the broken crates, hoping to find something that would explain the history of the hidden room, but couldn't help but chuckle dryly on the mare's comment about salt, "Thank goodness they never tried that prohibition-nonsense on spirits, or we would have had a full scale riot on our hooves. Never a fan of salt alone, but I couldn't imagine enjoying an Margareta without a little bit of salt on my glass.", he pushed a few broken crates about with his telekinesis, "I've noticed these crates are not labeled beyond simple letterings. Each one has a different letter and a number. Wonder what they all mean.", he paused for a moment as the mare gave him a quick nuzzle, which he returned, "Let's do that.", he followed the unicorn along, "If we don't find anything interesting, I can arrange to send a team of movers and cleaners down here tomorrow and maybe then see about installing a set of those spiral stairs. There's all sorts of uses we could get out of this room."

As he continued to search the area, he spoke up once more, "So Moondancer. Beyond the fact that you're a college student, as clever as a fox who's just been appointed Professor of Clever at the Canterlot University. You're also gorgeous beyond description, and you have incredible tastes in stallions, what else should I know about you? What do you intend on doing once you graduate? Have you ever been beyond our beloved city of Canterlot? Are you allergic to anything? I break out into something fierce when I eat mangos.", he quickly added, "How about your folks? My mother writes paperback novels, and my father is a gifted songwriter. I also have a sister named Docket who restores and translates old novels, along with a brother named Sprocket who is a genius of an inventor, but never leaves our family's basement as he suffers from a rather crippling form of Agoraphobia, Xenophobia and a whole list of other phobias.", he trailed off as he continued to study his surroundings.

[Bellosh]

 

“Really?” Moondancer raised her eye at Pocket Change’s claim about what he’d think about if he fell down a pit, her voice infused with jest; “So even if we somehow don’t meet for a month or two, that’d be what you’d be thinking of, I see. Tehehehe, you really are a sweet stallion, Pocket.” Giving the stallion a wink, the young mare hoped her playful teasing wasn’t offending her companion too seriously. After all, there had been a few incidents in Moony’s past where supposed ‘gentlecolts’ turned out to be stuck-up grumps who couldn’t handle light-hearted jokes made about them. The moon-flanked unicorn never set out to offend anypony, but she knew better than to hang around with folks who were easily insulted about anything.

 

At any rate, Pocket then explained how he knew a couple of spells that would save him in the event of a plummet. So that’s what he meant by feather-falling earlier! Moondancer thought that she should have remembered the shovel bum’s miraculous landing down into the basement several minutes ago, rendering her falling jest completely pointless. Maybe next time then, she supposed. “Huh, being you make it sound like archaeology is a risky profession,” Moony commented; “I’ve read a few of Doctor Merlot’s archaeological articles here and there, and they all seem to suggest that ancient booby traps in still-functioning order are more the invention of sensationalist dime novels and pulp magazines than reality.” Looking back at the shaft leading back topside, Moony then turned back to Pocket with a warm grin and inviting eyes; “If we’re going to be doing this thing more often though, I better learn your exploration spells then. Obviously, I didn’t think I’d need to know adventuring skills back in magic school, heh heh.”

 

Moondancer had no theories to grant to Pocket Change as he examined the broken crates for clues. Once he mentioned that their magic club could probably find a use for this basement, the girl instantly chimed in; “We could turn the basement into a common room probably. We can dump a couple couches and bean-bag chairs here and there, my record player, and maybe even a foosball table. My parents own one that they haven’t used in years, so maybe they’d allow me to donate their table to you guys.”

 

While the couple continued their search, Pocket Change dumped a huge pile of flattery and questions on his partner. Based on the stallion’s consistently eager temperament concerning all things, Moondancer guessed that Pocket really was heads over heels infatuated with her. This wasn’t the first time the white unicorn had been crushed on, but in nearly all cases prior, her potential suitors were basically shy introverted souls that the mare could only see as ponies in need of friends than stallions with the attractive personality (and as a secondary concern, looks) required for well... for things to spark. She had to say now though, but just maybe she and Pocket ought to go to that jazz club by themselves instead. Pocket would all but certainly give her one good time.

 

That was though if the flustered Miss Dancer could fire back at Mr. Change’s question barrage! “Whoa WHOA! Hold your horses, buster!” she turned backwards and had to shout before forgetting the stallion’s first question; “One question at a time, eh Pocket?” Gently bonking Pocket’s cranium as an amusing reprimand, Moony started to figurative conquer the Mountain of Inquisitiveness; “I haven’t quite decided what I’ll do yet when I graduate, but I’ll have a lot of doors open, that’s for sure. Immie’s been suggesting that I press onward and get a doctorate so I can become a magic professor at Celestia’s School, but I’m not all that sure I wanna’ go into teaching. I’d rather go out there and... errrrr..... accomplish things. You know what I mean, right?”

[tacobob]

The unicorn waggled his eyebrows as the mare spoke of the famous Doctor Merlot, "I can say this out of experience, while it's very rare to actually get involved in a 'Daring Do' type adventure while on a dig, I did encounter a few crazy traps during my little job up in the north.", he continued to search the basement as he spoke. "Mind you, the labyrinth Ember Spark, Emerath and I explored had originally been created to test young griffon warriors, but I try to follow a strict, 'expect the unexpected code when I'm working on the field.". The unicorn took a moment to examine an small wooden box that rested in the shadows, "Generally the worst thing that could happen to an archaeologist would be heat stroke, losing funding or getting slapped silly by a team lead after accidently ruining an important find, or in my case, the R.E.A steps in after realizing they needed to fully check out a recently uncovered site after their mages found some nasty magic inside.", he couldn't help but sound a little annoyed while muttering the last sentence. Thankfully, he couldn't stay cranky after catching sight of the look the pretty mare had given him.

"Er..", he managed to push away another blush he had coming as the conversation steered towards magic-school. "T-that's the fun thing about magic. You think you've learned all the spells you'll ever need to learn, and then some smarty-pants comes along and shows you spells you never realized you really needed to learn. This was one of the reasons I joined our little Spellbound Guild.", after finding absolutely nothing beyond dust bunnies and stale air, Pocket Change closed the box and continued on with this exploring. He nodded politely as she spoke about her dreams and added, "Maybe once I get tired of all the dust, dander and poor weather, maybe I could get into teaching myself. Or maybe I could buy an old rundown bar and turn it into the next great Canterlot hot-spot? Maybe I could bring dancing back to a small town that until recently had banned it due to some strange circumstance. Or maybe I could get a job as a ninja? Those are a thing, right?"

The unicorn was about to spit out a few more dream jobs he had on mind, when he stopped dead in his tracks. "Moon......", he gulped, "Look at this! You won't believe it!". The previously over-chatty stallion was suddenly very short of breath.

[Bellosh]

 

Nasty magic, eh? Even though Pocket Change tried to downplay the more exciting elements of archaeology, it was clear to Moondancer that the young stallion had a curious tale that he’d have to tell someday. Or maybe two or three instead. “Once we get our HQ all set up and comfortable,” the moon-flanked mare suggested; “You’ll have to tell me all about your escapades.” All the while, she had been scouring the dark basement looking for anything of note; not much was accomplished aside from drifting closer towards a wall.

 

As Pocket seemed a little peeved about what he said several seconds ago, Moony cheered him up by asking to learn some of his handy spells. Pocket Change replied that a similar desire was what led him to join Spellbound in the first place. The young mare nodded in response, having already relayed her reasons to join the magic guild back during the introductory meeting. Now if they could only get past exploring dark basements and spicing up the place in order to commence the... magic?

 

When the conversation shifted towards the subject of personal dreams, Mr. Change saw fit to shoot off a few rather implausible ideas in jest. The teaching one he mentioned Moondancer could definitely see, but as for others the others...; “Yeaaaaah, good lucking finding somepony who needs a ninja around here.” The young mare deliberately made her vocal tone light-hearted since it was obviously a joke; additionally, she added; “I’ll say though that a teaching career sounds-”

 

Moondancer hushed as Pocket Change stopped dead in his tracks, evidently finding something of great important. His dumbfounded companion on the other hoof saw otherwise. “Uhhh Pocket,” Moony uttered with uncharacteristic dullness; “That’s a wall.” Indeed, the couple made it to one end of the eerie basement and was now staring at a dilapidated stone brick wall covered with moss and cobwebs. Maybe Pocket with his archaeology experience discerned something in the darkness that no other ponies would have noticed, but all that Moondancer could see with her magic light spell was a plain ordinary wall.....

[tacobob]

"Oh yes, once we all get settled here, I'll have to tell you of my adventures.", the unicorn mused as he studied the wall in front of him, "I may not have lived the most exciting life so far, but I've been in some interesting undertakings as of lately. I'll probably have to tell you of my little trip to Ponyville one of these days. Got stung and bitten by crazy bugs. Got kissed by Applejack.", he concentrated for a moment as his horn let loose another ball of light, "Got hugged nearly to death by Pinkie Pie, and a few things of note happened..Look!" Using his ever useful telekinesis spell, the pony removed a small section of bricks from the previously very ordinary and plain wall. "The bricks are all very old, with the exception of the ones I'm removing. Notice how they haven't faded or cracked like the others. I'm not sure how long ago they were placed here though."

The stallion pointed to the now very well lit wall that was covered with a small mural that depicted Princess Celestia with her wings unfurled and her eyes closed. Both the sun and moon hovered over her wings. A phrase in ancient Equestrian could be seen under the picture.

"Those loyal to Princess Celestia only need to touch her open eye.", Pocket Change read out loud, "Well, the image shows her with her eyes closed, so I assume I just press the sun symbol. Her eye, in a sense.", he let out a chuckle as he slowly bent down to tap the mural with his horn. "I have a feeling one of the guildies set this up for us. Wonder who? Maybe Gray Lexis, or even Razor Gears? He was kind of a snarky fellow." As he touched the 'sun', a click sound could be heard, followed by a very loud yelp, "Moon! Help! I'm stuck!"

The now very worried unicorn's horn was apparently stuck to the mural's sun symbol. He tried to push himself away from the wall, but whatever was holding his horn did not let go. "Ah nutbunnies. I don't like this. Not at all."

[Bellosh]

 
While Pocket Change busied himself with the wall in front of him, the young stallion prattled on about some off the crazy things that happened to him in Ponyville. As he hadn’t been looking at Moondancer, he couldn’t see how the moon-flanked unicorn raised an eye over the mention of getting kissed by a girl named Applejack. Moony didn’t know why, but she felt a twinge of... something, maybe jealously? But the young mare almost never experienced nasty feelings like that! For the life of her, Miss Dancer couldn’t understand the sudden onset of such possessive emotions. Was it really that big of a deal that Pocket got kissed by some random mare he probably never saw again?

But alas; there was exploration to be done! Pocket Change uncovered a mural of Princess Celestia controlling the sun and moon, and it looked peculiarly like a piece of art she saw in one of her old ancient Equestrian history books. A cryptic caption there was too; “Those loyal to Princess Celestia only need to touch her open eye.” Pocket took the riddle at face value, but Moondancer thought otherwise... especially since nothing they found so far contradicted her earlier hypothesis for the basement’s purpose. “I don’t know hotshot,” she cautioned while trotting to Pocket’s right side; “If this mural was meant to be hidden, whoever made it wouldn’t have been considerate enough to leave a helpful riddle behind. And I don’t think any of the other guildies have been here since-”

One clicking sound later, Pocket Change’s horn found itself mysteriously stuck to the sun on the mural. After recoiling from the adventurer’s initial bout of panic, Moondancer remained strangely calm and collected while her companion flailed about. Indeed, the gears of the girl’s head were rapidly turning as she rested a hoof on her chin and-; “I GOT IT!” she excitedly cheered; "I think this is one of them dual magic-lock thingies. It’s kinda like those locks where you insert your horn into and cast a spell to open something, except this thing uses an aether-magnetic grip to keep it secret. Assuming that piece of text was not giving us the full truth...” Moony trailed off as she eyed the crescent moon to the right of the sun; that had to be the second lock!

Without hesitation, Moondancer’s horn made contact with the image of her namesake heavenly orb, and her horn locked in place too... just as she expected. “Alright then,” she guessed; “To break free and unlock whatever this thing keeps locked, we’ll have to use our magic at the exact same time. On your mark, I’ll give this lovely moon here a blast of magic. You think you can do the same thing with your sun, Pocket?”

[tacobob]

“Oh for pony’s sake!”, the stallion groaned, “I was thinking in the present. This thing could have been created before Luna’s return, back when our beloved Princess Celestia was doing double duty with both the moon and sun.”, he went through a mental list of his known spells as he spoke, “Wonder how the poor old girl got any sleep back then. Oh. Right.”, a useful transmutation spell quickly found its way to the top of the young unicorn's list of spells to try out. It was a basic, but useful spell for both adventurers who needed to bypass an ancient temple lock and spell-casters who had a bad habit of locking themselves out of their houses. "Thank goodness I didn't go down here alone. I'd be stuck down here until somepony found me.", a horrible image quickly flooded his mind of a very clean unicorn skeleton attached to a silly door puzzle.

Once this left his mind, he cleared his throat, "Right, at the count of three, start your spell."

"1-2-3!"

at the end of the count, Pocket Change let the spell flow through his horn and into Celestia's sun. A satisfying CLICK sound could be heard as the two spell-casters successfully defeated the pesky lock. The stallion was able to back away from the wall and stood still as the panel slowly opened up into darkness.

Deciding it would be very unwise to charge into a dark room, the pony started another spell, this sent a small illusionary light into the room. This revealed.....

"An empty room?", Pocket gasped. This new room was large, but very empty. "There's got to be something inside. Why would they lock an empty room?"

[Bellosh]

 

Pocket Change thought of something important too; that surely nopony would have remembered Princess Luna at the time the basement was made. Even Moondancer could see that the room she and Pocket were in clearly couldn’t have been a thousand years old or older. Back to the present day, the two unicorns successfully synchronized their spells and opened a hidden door, conveniently freeing the ponies in the process.

 

But then… nothingness. Apparently, nothing at all was found in the revealed room. Moondancer for her part simply shrugged; “Meh, we shoulda figured though. If the old owners cleaned out the big room, they’d have emptied out this chamber too. If there was something here before, it’s probably long gone by now.” Sighing, Moony trotted into the illuminated room for a closer look. It would kinda suck if after all this exploring, she and Pocket didn’t find anything of note except boxes, dust, and cobwebs. “Maybe there’s another silly clue in here?” the young mare audibly mused to herself, now invested in the hunt.....

[tacobob]

“Don’t worry, I haven’t given up yet.”, the stallion was still full of spirit even after staring in the face of disappointment. “If some-pony took everything from here, why would they have bothered to lock it all up?”, he slowly made his way into the room as he spoke. “Unless the door just locked itself when they closed it.”, he managed to answer his own question. As he searched the room, the unicorn noticed a faded newspaper clipping laying on the floor. While the paper had long turned yellow and the image it featured was torn and fading, he was able to make out the image of a young bride in a flowing white dress. Apparently by the look of it, it was an old advertisement for a local dress shop. “Say Moony, did I tell you I attended Princess Cadance and Shining Armor's wedding? Mind you, I wasn't actually in the castle during the event, but outside at the courtyard with the rest of the commoners."

He glanced away from the dust bunnies and spider-webs and turned his attention to the mare, "It was a lovely afternoon, and there were an assortment of events planned before the actual wedding. The whole family was there, even my older brother Sprocket managed to overcome his Agoraphobia to attend the event, and our folks actually resembled a loving couple for once.", he let out a sigh as he returned to his search. "Things were going rather poorly for them. My father was having a rather a difficult time getting his music published, and my mother was suffering from a nearly six month state of writer's block, and I was still reeling from the recent breakup with Sun Catcher. We all hoped attending the wedding would boost our spirits, which it did, until the bugs arrived." Pocket Change frowned deeply as the events of the day flashed through his mind. "I was just about to get a group picture taken of us next to a cardboard standee of the soon to be 'Royal Couple' when the photographer shouted for every-pony to look up. We all did, and to say we were shocked would be a major understatement.". he kicked up the dust as he continued his search, "We couldn't believe our eyes. There were a horde of monsters straight out of your worst nightmares and they were destroying the force-field over Canterlot! Once the guard was alerted, they quickly set about ordering the masses to leave the area, but it was too late.", his head drooped a little. "Those monsters got through the shield and immediately scattered through the city. Some went towards the castle, many towards the very horrified crowds of ponies.", he tapped his right front hoof on the floor as if to look for any other hidden doors in the floor.

"We were in the worst spot to be at the time. The little photo-stand was at the end of a alley so there was very little room for us to go, so we stood our ground against the rampaging beasties. I was able to start the one good spell that could have done something useful, but the second one of those 'Changeling' monsters landed, it sent a few stones from the street my way. I was able to avoid nearly all of them, save for the last, which struck me in the forehead and sent me to Slumberland.", the story-telling pony acted this little bit of drama out, as he closed his eyes and dropped to the ground.

"I was later told that my family still stood their ground, even with all the madness.", he opened his eyes and stood back up, "My mother stood over me and kept me safe, and my father let loose an assortment of musical type spells which kept the monsters at bay, while my sister kept my brother from hurting himself. When I woke up in the hospital, I noticed a slice of cake was waiting for me. Wedding cake. No-pony knows who left it. My brother would later complain that he could not sleep the next few days due to all the racket my parents were making upstairs.", he blushed a little before quickly adding, "They spent the nights listening to old Filly Holiday records while drinking Muscadet and chattering like a couple of school-foals. Apparently my mother was so impressed by how brave my father was during the whole event that it just breathed new life into the both of them. Both creatively and er, socially.", he kept the blush for a few more seconds.

He continued to search the room until he stopped dead in his tracks. "Yow!", he yelped as he went face first into a wall of nothing. "eh! Ah ink I ound sumting.", he managed to say as he face scrunched against an invisible barrier.

[Bellosh]

 

Moondancer didn’t have much luck toiling around the other nearby corner away from Pocket Change; all the young mare found was a coin so rusted that she couldn’t make out the date it was minted. Tucking that away in her mane, Moony then turned around when her partner mentioned the Royal Wedding from about a year back. “So you were in town then?” replied the white unicorn; “I wasn’t; my family and I were too busy enjoying our vacation on the Baltimare Boardtrot to attend the wedding. I assume you’ve got an awesome story for us?”

 

That assumption proved correct, for Pocket Change offered up a harrowing tale of danger and romance! For some reason, many of Moondancer’s favorite stories seemed to combine those two elements, maybe because she always had a fascination for how ponies formed bonds with one another during times of anxiety. Either way, the moon-flanked mare sat there enthralled as the stallion gave his account. Moony gasped when Pocket recounted being knocked unconscious, giggled upon hearing about the cake slice, and gave an exaggerated "d'awwww" as she learned of how the parents reconciled.

 

In either event, Moondancer had a second-hoof story of her own about the Wedding; “Oh OH! You might be interested to know that my old school buddies were the original picks for Cadence’s bridesmaids! Yeah; somehow Lyra, Minutette, and Twinkleshine got the gig to stand with the princess during the wedding ceremony. I woulda’ joined them, but I had vacation plans of my own I didn’t want to back out of.” Moony chuckled as she recounted what happened next; “It was a very good thing I stayed in Baltimore; my three pals ended up brainwashed by that evil queen and replaced with Twilight’s pals. At least they didn’t miss out on the reception, so things weren't all bad in the end. I don’t know much more than that though, since my friends were quite embarrassed by what happened.”

 

But enough of this sitting around; “We probably should get back to exploring now, before it gets too late. I don’t wanna’ miss lunch, tehehe!” Pocket Change obliged… and very shortly after acted like he just collided into something, despite how Moondancer saw nothing at all. “Are you uhhh… okay?” she awkwardly asked, not sure what to make of the stallion’s new finding quite yet.....