[Task 2] Empire Investigation Squad

[Deleted]

”Are you sure you don’t know anything else about Sombra?” Blueblood asked, his face soured into a scowl as the Crystal Pony in front of him nervously shifted away from him.

”Uh, nope, sorry, i-it’s all kind of fuzzy,” the crystal mare said, holding her hoof up to her head.

With an exasperated sigh, Blueblood waves his foreleg as he turned his head away.

”Fine, then you may leave then,” he said, the mare quickly taking his advice and walking away.

”You useless peasant,” he added, mumbling the response as soon as he felt the mare was out of earshot.

When he was sure that nopony else was around, he let out an exasperated sigh. He didn’t even want to come to the Empire in the first place. Him risk his life for some random country? Completely out of character. But his family had made an offer he couldn’t refuse. If he helped with the efforts, and actually contributed something with said help, they would let him return home. Such help, he was informed, would be “evidence that he had in fact learned something in his exile.” As far as he was concerned, he had learned something; he still wanted to get the heck out of Ponyville.

Oh sure, there had been a few things he had found enjoyable. That Fluttershy girl was still on his mind after his ‘date’ with her. But even her pleasantness didn’t outweigh living in that Peasntville…”Ponyville”. Dirt roads everywhere, farm animals lose, absolutely no culture outside of the elementary school’s plays. It was just so frustrating being away from everything he ever loved and knew. So was this whole plan kind of risky? Yes, but it was a risk he was ready to take just to get back to the way things used to be.

If only he could actually get information out of these dang ponies. But it wasn’t really their fault when he thought about it. They just didn’t have practice respecting royalty that wasn’t threatening their very lives. Even he wouldn’t argue that the so called “King Sombra” was worthy of the royal treatment. But him, nephew of the princesses and cousin of their new ruler? They could at least tell him something that was actually useful.

[Deleted]

Sweetheart was not having any better luck getting information, but she was still getting better results. A free-for-all apple pie (thanks to Quill's much-needed help!) stand kept a small circulating crowd of Crystal Ponies near her and while she she cut and served portions, she asked leading questions in what she hoped was a gentle, cheerful, manner. She also, though she tried not to be obvious about it, eavesdropped on the conversations the crystal ponies were having amongst themselves.

"Has the Crystal Empire always been as beautiful as it is now?" the earth mare asked, smiling as charmingly as she could on a sad-looking crystal stallion.

"I... I guess so... Well, I don't remember. No, I don't think it was."

"You mean, when King Sombra ruled, it wasn't as beautiful?" Sweetheart prompted, as gently as she could.

"Yes. I mean, no! I mean, I don't know. I don't remember."

The stallion was a bit agitated now, so Sweetheart shifted into a safer topic, mentioning how nice the weather was today and hoping he would like the pie which was her own secret recipie, and finishing with that she hoped he would have a good day. It was small talk, but most of the crystal ponies that stopped by were leaving with slightly less sorrowful countenances, for it's impossible to be truly miserable when you have some pie.

Sweetheart, however, was getting no wiser from these conversations. She hoped other ponies were having more luck...

[Deleted]

Octavia drew the bow along the cello's string, sounding out the last note of the song she'd been playing. A small group of crystal ponies had gathered to watch, as she'd intended. This was music from several hundred years after their last glimpse at existence, so she had hoped that unheard of styles would capture their attention. They appeared to be enjoying it.....sort of. They weren't leaving, and were applauding...a little. But their faces still seemed so dull and confused, as if they had already forgotten what they were clapping for. She let out a soft sigh and set the cello down in its case, leaving it open so as not to dismiss everypony.

She smiled and approached the crowd, some of whom seemed to be talking about something or another. "Hello!" She greeted a mare who seemed to be staring off into space.

"Ah! U-um...H-hello." She replied, her eyes flicking as if looking for a way out. As she realized who she was talking to, she seemed to relax. "O-oh. I'm sorry. Your music was...beautiful. I've never heard anything quite like it." She smiled, though it looked like it physically hurt to do so, as her face sort of scrunched up with the effort.

"Thank you." Octavia smiled in return, calmly slipping into her post-performance demeanor. Keep it civilized and straightforward, very gentle, only asking questions that would allow the other to talk about something they wanted to talk about. "Do you like music?"

"Oh, yes, very much."

"I'm not really from around here, what kind of music is your favorite?" She asked, urging ever so gently.

"I like...um..." The mare paused for a short time, then her eyes sort of glazed over.

Glancing about uneasily, Octavia softly cleared her throat, causing her conversationally lacking partner to jump in surprise again.

"Ah! I-I'm sorry! I like...Oh, I can't remember what it's called..."

"What sort of instruments does it utilize?" She was stretching, but Octavia needed to get something. Even the littlest thing could be of use.

"Oh, of course, it uses..." She paused again, then zoned right out. After a moment and another clearing of the throat, she squeaked and apologized, scampering off down the street.

Well....that went well.

[Deleted]

Even after the things she had been called upon to do as an Element of Harmony, Fluttershy was still often unsure of her own ability to be helpful on important matters. The others she had spoken to didn’t seem daunted by Sombra’s presence just outside of the bubble, but she found herself thinking about it constantly. The cost of failure was right there, waiting for Princess Cadence and Shining Armor to give it a moment of weakness to exploit. The pressure was thick, but sitting around doing nothing wasn’t an option. There were too many ponies counting on everyone.

The biggest outstanding problem was that she had attached herself to a team that didn’t exactly play to her strengths. Try as she might, she could not create a substantive conversation with the Crystal ponies. They were all so sad looking and she couldn’t bring herself to say anything that might sound like an interrogation. As of this moment, she had almost gotten past pleasantries with a total of three ponies and hadn’t even gotten to those with four more than that. Her technique was to scout out which ponies seemed the friendliest, but stratifying them based on something like that was no easy task.

”H-hello, my name is Fluttershy and I-“ she stared at the face in front of her. The mare seemed very uncomfortable and her eyes kept darting away, which was a little difficult to see as Fluttershy's own eyes were doing the same at around the same tempo. ”And I um… Nope. Not this one. This mare clearly had her hooves full with something and it would be rude of her to interrupt. ”Nevermind, so sorry I bothered you,” she backtracked with a smile, ”Have a great day!” she said nervously as she pranced off, her pace a bit faster than what would commonly be considered casual.

[Whammy]

Several minutes after the Crystal Pony ran off, another one quietly began to approach Octavia.

”Uhm, excuse me miss, but I think I might have remembered something,” the mare said, though a slight break in her voice was enough to hint she wasn’t completely sure about her own thoughts.

”I-it may not be anything big, but I remembered a story my mother used to tell me when I was a foal.,”[/b] she continued, staring down at the ground with a look of disappointment on her face.

”All I remember was it had something to do with a pony who had lost her love. And I remember something about her leaving beacons of pure love wherever she went. But that’s all I got, but hopefully it’ll help just a little,” she finished, looking up with a slight but uncertain smile.

[Deleted]

Rumble was in spy mode. Not secret agent super spy mode, he didn't have the jacket for it. No, this was undercover investigator mode! The colt walked around with a cape over him to hide his wings. He and some of the other foals had scavenged up a square of fabric, and with two corners tied together it made a nice cape. He was no Cutie Mark Crusader (yet), but the cape served the purpose of hiding his wings. With Rumble's light colors it was thought he could possibly pass as a crystal pony with their muted shades.

The young flier wandered the street in disguise with the plan of finding ponies from Equestria and finding out what they were doing. All the Crystal Ponies seemed to be not quite all there and easily confused when they had to remember something. the gray colt walked with his head down and a disinterested look on his face to try and blend in as best as he could. His biggest concern was running into somepony from Ponyville that could recognize him, unless something interesting was happening he wasn't going to risk staying around them for too long.

As luck would have it he saw a pony that had a similar coloration to him, and they had drawn a crowd. Maybe the mare with the large standing bass could have a lead. How were him and his friends supposed to help save the Crystal Empire if they didn't know anything? Rumble wandered his way into the group gathered around Octavia and used his small size to get up front so he could listen in on everything.

[Deleted]

As the odd pony walked up and told her about the story, she tilted her head. Normally she would take bedtime stories like that as what they were: Bedtime stories. However...considering the Crystal Empire itself was hardly more than a bedtime story to her a week ago, she decided to memorize it. It sounded important, anyway. She'd bring it up later, when she had a little more time and a few less ponies around.

Now...Who was this? She looked down. A small foal had walked up and joined the group. He seemed to be a crystal foal, but he was wearing a cape. Most of the other ponies weren't wearing anything, like they just hadn't bothered. But then again foals were foals. He also seemed a bit different. A little....brighter, than the others. Right, Octavia. Brighter gray. She sighed. Her imagination was acting up on her. Perhaps foals hadn't been affected as much, or perhaps this particular foal had been affected less himself for some reason or another. Either way, he was a foal who seemed interested in classical music, which made him OK in her book. She looked around for a moment before approaching the foal.

"Well, hello, little one." She smiled softly. "Did you like the music?" Actually, had he been there while she was playing? She hadn't noticed. She chided herself once more for speaking before she thought of these important points. She'd work on it later...

[Deleted]

Lazuli didn't know what to do with herself these days. Though she was certainly glad things weren't like... those days anymore, sometimes she felt positively lost. There was no where to go, and nothing to do when she got there. Sometimes a great sweeping heaviness would seem to fall on her out of nowhere, and she would just stop whatever she was doing, which was pretty much always just wandering aimlessly, and she'd sit, and just stare into space for... she didn't know how long. It never seemed to be night here, it was like there was no time. Eventually, the heaviness would dissipate for a while, like a fog clearing, and she would get up and wander around some more. Sometimes, just for variety, she would lay down and sleep, though she never really knew if she was tired or not.

The outsiders that had shown up recently didn't bother her, or particularly interest her. Sometimes she would see a unicorn, and she would feel a momentary feeling of... something.  She'd want to get up and maybe even talk to them. But all the outsiders seemed so busy. They wouldn't be interested in her. What she didn't like was when they asked questions about King Sombra. Even though they weren't talking to her, she would get a lump of ice in her tummy and a panicky feeling. She didn't want to think about him. She didn't want to think about anything.

One outsider was giving away something to eat called pie. The foal had never had pie before. She took a slice. Another outsider was playing music. Lazuli had never heard music before, ever. It was... strange. She didn't know if she liked it or not. She sat under a small flowering tree, all by herself, and listened and tasted.

[Deleted]

After a rather long and extensive break from dealing with these Crystal Ponies, Blueblood was finally ready to make yet another attempt to extract information from these citizens. By now, however, he had noticed that he was not the only one attempting to do so. There were several mares around making their own attempts. One was trying to bribe them with apple-pie (a clever little plan really; no pony could resist those), and another was playing music. He recognized her as Octavia; finally, someone of some real class present.

The third mare running around, however, had really caught his eye. It had been a while since he had seen Fluttershy. From the looks of things, she was as timid as ever. While he meant no offense, he did question exactly why she of all ponies was sent out to interview others.

Maybe she would be appreciative of some company he thought to himself, a slight grin forming as he made sure to slick back and style his hair up just a little bit.

It seemed like a wonderful plan for him to join up with her. She would have the benefit of being in his company and moral support, and he got to keep his eye on her during this little adventure. There were absolutely no downsides. As he began to make his way towards her, however, he noticed a Crystal Pony foal off to the side eating some pie under a tree. Several times he glanced between the pony and Fluttershy before he made up a new plan.

He turned in the direction of the foal, coughing just a bit to get its attention before speaking.

”Young one, do you mind providing me some assistance? he said, bending down just a little bit to get eye to eye with what he could now safely say was a her.

”I am attempting to gather information about the empire, but I would consider it a personal favor if you would help me make sure that pegasi over there,” Blueblood pointed towards Fluttershy,”Notices me doing it. Considering that I am Prince Blueblood, nephew of the ruler of Equestria, I can ensure you rewards for doing me favors are quite big.”

He finished with a smile, hoping that even if not fully familiar with what he said, the foal could still catch onto his drift and realize helping him would be a great help to herself.

[Deleted]

Apple pie was... was something! Something good! Lazuli Rose had never tasted a single thing like it before. At least, she thought not. It was fuzzy. She remembered meals beyond number of thin, tasteless gruel and sometimes bread, usually stale. But this was sweet and rich and delicious. She was just finishing licking the last of the taste off her plate when a shadow fell over her and a stern-sounding voice cleared its throat precisely as if it were asking, 'excuse-me-WHAT-doyou-think-you-are-doing?'

A shadow. Oh no. A shadow like King Sombra... Lazuli shut her eyes tight and shuddered, her coat shedding the brightness it had regained whilst she was eating the dessert. Heart pounding, she slowly and cautiously opened her eyes and turned her head to gaze at... A white unicorn. Not Sombra. He was...pretty, she decided, and her heart skipped a beat in a new and not entirely unpleasant way. A unicorn. A unicorn was talking to her. A beautiful, magical unicorn. Lazuli looked down again quickly, her face burning with a bright blush, though she didn't quite know why. She wanted Blueblood to go away, because she felt so strange, and yet, she was sure she would cry if he did.

”Young one, do you mind providing me some assistance? I am attempting to gather information about the empire, but I would consider it a personal favor if you would help me make sure that pegasi over there notices me doing it. Considering that I am Prince Blueblood, nephew of the ruler of Equestria, I can ensure you rewards for doing me favors are quite big.”

Not only a unicorn but a prince, too! The crystal filly felt her throat squeeze shut and she couldn't say a word at first. She only nodded. Looking where he directed, she thought she saw the mare that he wanted the attention of. Yellow mare. Pink mane. Wings. Finally, she managed to squeak out a soft whisper,

"I... I will help. What do you want me to do? To make sure she notices, I mean."

[Deleted]

Rumble froze as he was addressed by the classy mare. He had hoped to just listen to what was going on unnoticed, but he had been clearly noticed. The good thing was he didn't know her from Ponyville. If she bought into his act maybe he could still get something useful from her to tell his friends. Once The Empire was saved he could apologize to her later for the deception. Spike the Dragon could send letters DIRECTLY to Princess Celestia, and she'd be able to help him apologize if he didn't see the mare later.

"Um, Hellos." he said with some hesitation, still a little wary of the situation. "I've never heard music like that before. How come you can play it and nopony else here does?" He knew the direct answer to the question. She was some Earth Pony from some place like Canterlot or Manehattan who had come to help. What he wanted to really know what why the crystal ponies all seemed so dark and dull?

[Deleted]

Even though she continued to look around, Fluttershy had decided to give herself a moment to summon up enough tenacity to get further than she had been getting so far. She had been through things that were more difficult than this, but it wasn’t just a matter of showing her tough side. These Crystal ponies hadn’t done anything to her or anypony else. It would be wrong to treat them like somepony who was slighting her.

During her mental regrouping, she saw Prince Blueblood talking to a young Crystal pony. Of course a suave stallion like him wouldn’t have any trouble with this sort of task. If she didn’t interrupt, she would likely be able to pick up some valuable tips just by observing him. To do that, she’d have to move a lot closer. If she did that, she had to be ready to talk to him again. The last time they had spoken, she had agreed to go on a second date with him. She had to be ready to revisit that.

Knowing she had to act toward the greater good and also knowing that avoiding Prince Blueblood was incredibly rude, she slowly walked over to where the two of them conversed. Once she made it, she realized she didn’t know what she should say. ”H-Hello…” she greeted, ”H-how are things going over here…?”

[Deleted]

Blueblood’s smile turned just a little more sincere when he spotted the Crystal Pony foal’s blushing. It was always a pleasure to have the mares swooning over him. Her being a foal just made the whole thing rather adorable. Ah, the pressures of being beautiful, but at least he was bringing some joy into her life. And considering the situation that they were in, any amount of joy was probably a godsend to these Crystal Ponies.

Once she agreed to help him, he realized he didn’t really have that much in mind of what she should do. Well, he would just wing it.

”Not much, just act like I’ve been incredibly polite and caring…oh, and if you happen to know anything about the empire tell me.” he replied, almost forgetting the latter part. Even if he was busy using the foal as a wingpony, he still had to try and make some progress with this whole Crystal Empire thing.

As Fluttershy noticed and began to approach them, Blueblood gently patted the foal on her head. He acted as if he didn’t see Fluttershy at first, only paying attention once she spoke up. Turning around with faux surprise, he gave Fluttershy a little smile.

”Oh, Fluttershy, what a pleasant surprise to see you here. I was just talking with this adorable little foal about the Empire, and she’s been such wonderful help” he said, moving from patting her head to giving the foal a one-legged hug.

[Deleted]

At first, it might have seemed that Blueblood had made a dreadful mistake. The hug, a casual, meaningless gesture planned to make him look better in the eyes of Fluttershy- had considerable weight with a little foal who wasn't used to any kindly affection. And when affection was given by someone she already admired so much, well! Without quite understanding why, burning hot tears flooded Lazuli's eyes and she trembled. But the odd thing was, though she was clearly upset, her crystalline coat had brightened considerably, right before their eyes.

Even through her confusion and distress, Lazuli did try to keep her end of the promise. But the fear of Sombra was stronger than ever, and fear alternated with desperation. And she didn't know what would be helpful anyway! But she had to say something! He- the prince unicorn, Blueblood, would get mad at her if she didn't! But Sombra would be even madder if He found out that she did! She clung to Blueblood's other foreleg, suddenly. "Don't let Sombra come back," she sobbed. "He wants to make all the world sad and dark. I think...He had a plan...there's a room in the palace... it has to do with the legend..."

Lazuli would be unable to say much more for a while, as she was now dreadfully afflicted with one of the side effects of hard crying- the hiccup-y gasps. She clung all the tighter to the unicorn as she struggled for control.

[Deleted]

Fluttershy watched as the filly began to regain the luster that legends spoke of. It seemed incredible that Blueblood would be able to so easily inspire that kind of change. Strangely, the brightened coat also seemed to have come with tears and shaky knees. Despite the visual cues to the contrary, it quickly became undeniable that Prince Blueblood had gotten through to one of the Crystal Ponies.

While impressive, Fluttershy’s attention had largely gravitated over to the filly herself. The poor thing had gotten so worked up that she had given herself the hiccups, a situation that Fluttershy had gotten herself into quite a lot as well. It cemented just how awful this Sombra was and how important their tasks were. This scared Fluttershy, but it wasn’t the first time that she forced her own fear to wait its turn.

”Thank you very much for that clue, it was very helpful,” she said, attempting to assure the young pony. A room that had to do with the legend didn’t give Fluttershy any new information, but somepony who was more familiar with the legend would likely be able to do something with it. Perhaps Prince Blueblood was one such pony, if not, one of them could deliver it to Twilight Sparkle or Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor. For now, she relied upon Blueblood to continue working his magic to help calm the poor filly.