[Baltimare]A Beachfront Getaway(Gerrard, PM to join)

[IceStorm]

"Phew, that took a lot more out of me than I thought it would moving back to Canterlot. I must say that I have definitely earned this vacation," Ice Storm said to herself as she just finished checking into her hotel and arranging everything to where she had the best access to it for later tonight. For now though, her mind was set on one place. The Beach. She had seen the beach or anything like it ever since she was a filly, and she was looking forward to everything that she could do with it. Perhaps she could make a small block of Ice and just float around until it melted and she sank into the ocean. As long as she kept sight of her hotel she would be fine.

That being said, it wasn't too far of a trot from the hotel to the beach. In fact, it only took her a few minutes to get to the beach front, and the scent of the seawater hit her strong. she paused and took in the smell that she hadn't experienced since she had been at her mothers aquarium so many years ago. Everything was being brought back to her about all the fun that they had before, and all the fun that she hoped that they would be able to have again now. Of course, her mother wasn't here in Baltimare, or at least she hadn't seen her so as far as she knew she wasn't, but still, With her mother in Hoofington, she would be able to have the same experience there. She would have gone there this weekend, but she remembered her mother saying something about being busy and thought it was this week, but once again she wasn't sure. She didn't want to go all the way to Hoofington to spend time with her mom and not be able to do so because she wasn't there.

She calmly looked around with her saddlebag containing an umbrella and a towel that matched her coat color for a place to stake as her own for the day. The beach wasn't too terribly crowded and she was hoping for something a bit closer to the water. A moment later, she found the perfect spot for her and began to unfurl her towel and make sure it was as straight as it could be on the sand before she started working with the umbrella only to have it jam as she was trying to open it. "Really...." she said to herself as she started struggling with the uncooperative umbrella.

[Gerrard]

While some ponies thought of the beach as a vacation location, other creatures thought of it as a workplace or even their backyard. Aquaria had a day of freedom from her day to day job as a lifeguard, the griffoness often having to fish for helpless ponies and drag them back to shore. The unluckily had to experience her frenzied resuscitation that involved powerful chest compressions and mouth to sharp beak. Lucky for everyone on the beach, gentler ponies were on duty, allowing the striped hybrid to pursue her many hobies. The dark feathered flyer found herself at the ocean floor, her rose colored eyes peering through some goggles that could only be described as garish.

Her keen gaze was focused on a strangely shiny rock, the bubbly griffoness wiggling excitedly as she pulled on the object and pried it free from its watery prison. Her eyes went wide as she realized it was some sort of box, the container clearly not proud enough to declare itself as a chest. The diver had learned, painfully over many years, that it probably wasn't a good idea to open sealed containers underwater, and quickly found herself surfacing on the beach in front of a unicorn who was struggling with an umbrella.

The goggled griffon gasped as she recognized the situation. This unicorn needed help with a rogue umbrella, a creature known for trying to swallow small children and battling against Celestia ' s sun. She removed her goggles and let the gaudy lenses dangle from her neck as she darted over to the potential umbrella victim. "Watch out, it's trying to eat you," she declared excitedly, her voice carrying a trace of concern and a larger portion of mischief as she grabbed the jammed umbrella. With a quick flick of her talons, the jam ended and the beast was subdued, weakly opening as it submitted to her will! "Yay the monster has been beaten," she excitedly declared before turning to see her new potential friend.

"Hi, my name is Aquaria and I found a special box," she declared excitedly while looking over the cool colored unicorn!

[IceStorm]

"Ugg... you know... considering I'm using magic on this thing, you'd think it would be easy to figure out where this stupid thing is jammed..." the icy colored unicorn said aloud to herself. She started to get frustrated as she continued to struggle with the dreaded umbrella. This battle lasted for several agonizing minutes before a griffon appeared apparently out of no where and hit some sort of lever or something with it's talon and the umbrella popped open. This temporarily made Ice's face deadpan as she had been struggling with the device for some time and the griffon seemed to know exactly what was wrong. When the griffoness spoke, she sounded excited, and proudly proclaimed that the monster had been beaten. The overly happy tone, and the overall silliness of the comment couldn't have any other effect on the mare other than making her smile. When the griffon said that her name was Aquaria and that she found a special box, Ice was intrigued. There were many things that could be in a box in the ocean. As to what they could be, it was anypony's guess.

"Hey! Thanks for getting my umbrella unstuck. I probably would have spent most of the day struggling with it if you hadn't come along," she said to the tiger striped griffon. She looked at the box and say that it was still sealed. "Hey, it looks like a chest of some sort. Perhaps there's something important in it!" she smiled before remembers sometimes things that were cursed were sent out to sea in an attempt to make sure they aren't seen again. What if this was one of those cursed items? Ice shook her head. There was next to no probability of that being the case. "Do you need any help opening it? It's the least I can do since you helped me get this thing undone," she smiled.

[Gerrard]

When Icy thanked Aquaria for help with the dastardly umbrella, she blushed bashfully and shyly shook her hips as she took the compliment. Her years of beach experience had taught her how to wrangle every variety of umbrella from sharp sun protectors to wide water blockers. After only a second of shyness, the goofy griffoness got over it and giggled proudly. "I have years of experience wrestling the elusive umbrella. After examining it in its natural habitat, you will find the weak spot that frees the ever so dangerous hook. I'll give you a biology lesson in the future, free of charge," Aquaria commented with a smile as she spoke. She loved making everything sound fun, and if she could make someone smile over the mundane, the hybrid considered herself successful.

When Icy mentioned that there might be special thing inside of the chest, the experienced diver finding something wrong with her statement. "No, no, chests are larger and reinforced! This is the smaller cousin species. It is a treasure box, totally different genus! But yes, I could use your help with the chest," she explained excitedly, the odd griffon knowing a lot about chests, but clearly having no idea how biology worked. It wasn't immediately clear what sort of help she needed, but the strange tiger clearly had something in mind as she slipped off her goggles and pressed them against the keyhole of the chest.

"Okay, if I get shot with a poison dart or hit by knockout gas, be sure to carry me over to the doctor pony! Maybe I'll give you a share of the booty if you do a good job, arrgh," Aquaria explained with her rampant imagination as she did her best pirate impersonation. Hopefully it was all in her head, such traps unheard of in Equestria. The mere fact that she was covering her eye with a talon as she acted like the was an eye patch over her face that hinted to it all being a game to her.

Aquaria quickly steeled her resolve and went momentarily serious as she pressed her goggles against the keyhole, blocking any potential darts or gas leaks as she prepared to open the box. "Wish me luck miss... uh ice unicorn. Her eyes narrowed as she placed her talons on the lid and prepared to open the chest. The lid moved what seemed like a millimeter before Aquaria gasped dramatically and glanced back to Icy. Her eyes were filled with resolve that quickly melted away as she giggled. "It's locked," she remarked with a laugh, her prior antics all seemingly for naught.

[IceStorm]

The icy blue unicorn gave the griffon kind of an odd look as she started talking about the biology of an umbrella and how she had many years of dealing with umbrella's in their natural habitat. The smile that was on the griffons face made her wonder if the griffon was just playing around or if she was actually being serious. She did know exactly where to look for the snag in her umbrella and fixed it almost instantly so perhaps there was a bit of truth to her words. She went on to correct her in stating that the chest that she said was a chest was not so. She explained that a chest was a lot more re-enforced and were larger. This was the smaller cousin of the species, called the treasure box. She also confirmed that she would like help opening it. The griffon then made a few pirate jokes and commented about a possible trap, stating to take her to the doctor pony if something happened. Ice couldn't help but let out a few giggles. This griffon was definitely something else, and not in a bad way. She could tell that she was usually a fun individual to be around.

The griffon then started messing with the chest and tried to open it. She managed to get the lid all of shift up before the latch stopped her. She let out a few laughs saying that it was locked. "Hm... perhaps there is an ulterior way to get to the treasure inside. the fact that it's locked could be a hindered. For most, anyways. That lock was at the bottom of the ocean and try as it may, it hasn't been out of the ocean long enough for the water to have seeped out of the lock. Which means all of the gears and everything inside are still water logged. With a little bit of coercion," Ice Storm mentioned activating her magic and causing the water around the lock, and in the lock to freeze and expand, ultimately making the pin in the lock shoot completely out of the front of it. With a bit of levitation she pulled the lid up to give the griffon the first look inside. She was after all, the one that found the box.

[Gerrard]

The rose colored eyes of the griffoness went wide as she spotted the treasure of the box. "A golden bounty without compare," she gasped loudly, the hybrid lowering the box to a safe location on the ground as she looked at her treasure. The box contained a fancy unicorn doll, the fabric creature having a white coat and a cute blonde mane. The doll was of exquisite craftsmanship, something she wasn't aware of. It was probably made in Canterlot, or at the very least a professional crafts store in one of the many towns in Equestria. To the happy hybrid though, that was secondary, what mattered most to her was showing the doll that everything was going to be okay. She held back her squeal of excitement as she plucked the doll out and hugged it with all of her strength. By some miracle, the doll survived the hug onslaught, the excited griffoness looking the toy in the eyes as she prepared to speak. "It's okay Miss, Aquaria and her buddy will take you home as soon as possible," she said in a caring voice before looking over to Icy for assistance.

"I wonder who owns this? What if they are crying over their lost little buddy," she reasoned aloud while presenting the doll to the unicorn. The happy hybrid sniffled back a tear as she seemed distraught over the separation of a pony and her toy. Aquaria glanced down at the box, the container showing it was a bit aged, but clearly not an antique by any means. She looked over to box and sniffed it out and visually searched the container for a clue as to who owned it. She wasn't an investigator by any means, but that of course didn't stop her. Aquaria was the type of girl who was only limited by her imagination!

"Any ideas to work with," she asked in a concerned tone, seeing an E.S. inscribed in the fancy box. The cute griffon seemed more worried with returning the toy than claiming her treasure, Aquaria still feeling positive as shown by her wildly wagging tail. To her, this was a secret quest given to her by Celestia herself. It was her duty to return the unicorn to her proper owner, and by her honor as a citizen of Equestria, she would deliver the object from the bottom of the ocean to the glimmering eyes an eager foal.

[IceStorm]

The look that Ice Storm saw on the griffons face told the mare everything that she needed to know about the contents. Whatever they were, it was something that made the Griffon very happy to find. when she pulled out the nearly pristine doll from the box, Ice Storm began to wonder how long the box had actually been down there. The doll itself looked untouched for ware or anything. The griffon was the first to ask about the doll, asking who owned it, and what if they were crying over their lost friend. The thought of a poor filly crying because her favorite toy, and most possibly friend went missing gave Ice quite the sour feeling in her stomach as she heard her say that her and Ice would figure out who her owner was and return them to her before asking if she had any ideas herself. Seeing the griffon in a positive manner though, Ice felt compelled to assist her in the manner.

"Well, as far as ideas go, are there any ponies here that have those initials? Secondly, have there been any boating accidents recently? Perhaps it would be a good place to start by checking some records," she smiled to the griffon before it dawned on her that she had never given the griffon her own name. "Oh, and before I forget, my name is Ice Storm, but most of my friends call me Icy," she said before looking at the doll once again. "Also, this doll is of expensive make. It would have to belong to somepony that is fairly well off. Somepony with nobility either currently or has relatives that have nobility. If the record search doesn't turn up anything perhaps we could go door to door to see if the doll belongs to them. We should probably take the chest with us as well in case there was anything else important in there to them," she added.

[Gerrard]

Upon hearing the name of her new friend, Aquaria gasped in surprise. For reasons unknown, she was even more excited than before, the hybrid struggling to maintain control of her huge wingspan. "Nice to meet you Ice! I think you know me, but I'm Aquaria in case you forgot," she explained while giving Ice a powerful hug with her grabby talons. If she managed to like her friend any more, the unicorn might have been injured by the nice gesture.

Upon releasing the pony, her rose-colored eyes glanced back critically at the box. Everything the unicorn said about the doll made sense, from the owner to even the box. "I would never abandon the box silly. I can't make the doll homeless after all. She needs to find her special somepony," Aquaria explained excitedly while finishing off the examination of the box.

"There are at least a million billion ponies in this town, even like four griffons maybe. Too many to check out without help. Hmm, where can we get it checked out. There are tons of fancy stores here. There is a treasure chest store, but no treasure box store," she commented with a sigh, completely missing the obvious answer that a chest company would probably know everything about boxes too.

The tiger striped birdlion sat on her haunches and crossed her talons while she looked at the toy for guidance. "Miss fancy mane, do you know who E.S. is? Auntie Aquaria wants to get you home! Maybe it stands for Extra Special, the most special pony around" she completely guessed, clearly having no idea what she was talking about.

The eager griffoness clearly wanted to help, but needed a good nudge in the right direction. She probably was thinking things over too much for her own good. She turned and glanced over to her friend, as wide eyed as ever, waiting for the obvious solution to their problem.