The city of New Grandle, home to the rich and powerful. If there was something in the world you wanted to purchase, the city would be the place for you. Anything could be purchased here whether it be illegal goods, weaponry, even slaves could be purchased. For the right price of course.
The city resided on a small island with buildings covering the entire mountain in the very center like a blanket. A pattern could be seen with the placement of the buildings as the smaller and more ruined buildings resided the furthest from the mountain whereas the larger and finer type buildings were built on the mountain itself. The very island itself was the picture of the lower class and the upper-class.
New Grandle has a saying, 'everyone who comes to New Grandle is rich and wealthy. But when they leave...why would anyone want to leave our hospital home?' The saying was true, everyone that came to New Grandle had a large amount of currency. But that amount is short lived as it is wasted on drinks from nightclubs, the best food from high-class restaurants, five-star hotels which offer the finest form of luxury the world has to offer, and souvenirs bought by local tourists. But the main source of currency flow was New Grandle's famous casinos. Here you could spend a bit and get a million in return, just so long as you feel very lucky. It was that promise that drove the wealthiest of creatures to bankruptcy in a mere matter of hours.
But the creatures who bet their money have no right to complain. New Grandle casinos are owned by the New Grandle government, and their reputation is known as the most honest and fair of all. There were daily checks to every casino to ensure that no customer was purposefully robbed of his or her money. It was this insurance of a fair chance that kept every resident to come and test their luck. And whenever someone made money, someone in another casino would lose money. On and on this went, and it will continue to happen as this was New Grandle; 'The city of chance'.
There was only one way to reach New Grandle, and that way was by boat. Today, a large metal cruise ship sailed its way into New Grandle waters. Passengers would peek their heads out over the railings on deck to get a glimpse of the city. The lower and upper class was also separated on this ship like in the city; the lower you were on the ship, the lower the class you belong in. It was on one of the outside upper decks that two ponies, one a stallion and the other a mare, sat in the shadow of the umbrella that was attached to their table.
The mare was a unicorn who had white fur on her body, long silky smooth blonde mane and tail, and sharp sapphire eyes that hid behind a pair of sunglasses. She wore a straw sun hat with a pink ribbon wrapped around its base. On her flank was her cutie mark, a symbol that was custom to all ponies, the mare's cutie mark was a golden sextant with a spyglass beside it. The mare's name was Nav and the stallion across from her was a pegasus with an orange coat, deep blue spiky hair that looked like it could poke someone's eye out if he wasn't careful, and light blue eyes that gave some a sense of calm and security. The pegasus wore two backpacks and a pair of rectangular glasses. Just like every other pony, the stallion also had a cutie mark, his was a deep blue shield with a bolt of yellow lighting in front of it. The stallion's name was Flash Sentry, and In front of him was an opened book with half of a page written in and half the other page blank, he held a quill in his mouth which he would occasionally dab the tip into the ink jar beside the book before he resumed writing.
In the corner of the mare's eye, she spotted the door to the inside of the ship swing open and a unicorn stallion who was dressed as a butler walked out on deck levitating a drink that had small bubbles rising from the bottom to the top. The butler approached the mare now known as Nav and sat the drink in front of her, the butler bowed before taking his leave. Nav grabbed the drink with her magic and brought its rim to her lips, she let the liquid dance in her mouth for a moment before letting it fall down her throat. She looked to Flash who was still immersed in writing, Nav was bored of the silence between the two and decided to fix it by hovering what was left of her drink over Flash's head.
Then she tipped the glass and dumped the remainder of her drink on Flash's head. Flash was startled as the cold liquid splashed against his head, causing him to drop his quill and shake his head. At first, he was confused as to why his head was wet but he received his answer when he saw Nav set the empty glass back on the table. Flash frowned at Nav as droplets of the drink made their way down Flash's face.
"What the hay was that for?" Flash demanded, wiping away some of the droplets which slid down his face.
"Your attention," Nav answered.
"Well you've got it, now what do you want?" Flash asked, still angry at Nav for what she did.
Nav used her magic to grab hold of the book in which Flash had been writing in, levitating it over to her she opened it up to the first page. The only page in which Flash had written in.
"The entire boat ride you've spent having your nose in this book and you've only written one page?" Nav asked, reading what Flash had written. "What are you even writing in here?"
"It's nothing, just a couple of notes I'm documenting for a piece of work," Flash answered. "Why are so interested in it now?"
Nav levitated the book back in front of Flash before answering. "It just recently caught my attention."
Flash opened his mouth to protest but was cut off as he caught a light pulsing glow coming from his saddle-bag. "This conversation isn't over," Flash stated, reaching into his saddle-bag he pulled out the source of the pulsing glow which was a crystal sticking upright from a flat rock. He placed it in the center of the table and the crystal began to speak.
"Nav, Sentry, are you there?" The crystal spoke.
"We're both here sir," Nav answered. "What did you need to tell us?"
"I saw that you two are nearing the port of New Grandle and I wanted to refresh your memory on your mission." The crystal explained.
"I believe what you meant to say was that you wanted to refresh Sentry's memory on the mission at hoof here." Nav assumed, receiving a glare from Flash.
"Now now Nav, Sentry is our new recruit. Show him some of our hospitality." The voice from the crystal chuckled before resuming with what he was saying. "This refresher is for both of you, you're mission is to attend the auction happening at the Refold Casino, posing as two wealthy business ponies you will purchase the artifact and return it back to the Library in mint condition."
"Sir, may I ask a question?" Flash asked, leaning in towards the crystal and placing his forelegs on the table to support himself.
"Now is the time for questions Sentry, speak your mind." The voice answered.
"I don't believe that you ever provided us a picture of what it is we're looking for." Flash stated, causing Nav's face to cringe as she face-hoofed.
"I'm afraid that there is no image available of the artifact, Sentry. The Explorer was only able to provide us with a description. Would you like me to rephrase the description Sentry?" The crystal asked.
Flash dismissed the voice's offer, "No need, I wrote down the description in my notes in case I forgot." Flash answered, leaning back in his chair. "I have no further questions, sir." After Flash said that he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to where he had been tapped to see a butler standing next to him looking in his very posh stature.
"Excuse me Monsieur, but you appear to be quite drenched." The butler pointed out, eying Flash's wet mane and face. "If you would please follow me, we have a drying area that is provided complimentary."
Flash nodded his head to the butler's offer, sliding his chair back, Flash left the table and followed the butler back inside. Leaving both the crystal and Nav alone. The voice from the crystal spoke once Flash was no longer in earshot.
"Something on your mind Nav? As I said before, this is the last time for you to ask any questions." The crystal restated.
"As a matter of fact, there is one question I wanted to ask." Nav began, using her magic she pulled out a paper folder with the name 'Flash Sentry' written on its tag. She laid the folder open on the table and reviewed the documents it contained.
Inside of it was a picture of Flash Sentry's head and neck at the top left of the paper and several paragraphs which described information about Flash Sentry. Information that including such things as who he was and where he came from, his work experience as a guard, he strengths and weaknesses, and other stats about him.
"I have reviewed Sentry's documents and I must say that they are...underwhelming." She said, 'underwhelming' being the only word she could use to describe Flash. "I know that my stats themselves are above average, probably the best there is, but when I view Sentry's stats and I compare them to the average stats of all Seekers...I can only describe them as below average." Nav said in the only nice way she could. "In my opinion sir, he should not be here. He does not have what it takes to be a Seeker."
"I didn't offer Sentry to become a Seeker for his stats. I offered Sentry the position of Seeker because of who he is and what he has accomplished." The crystal answered before explaining. "Besides, Sentry isn't a Seeker yet. That's what this mission is for, to test his grit against a Seeker's daily job. Now stop beating him down and give him a chance." The crystal said. "And yes Nav, that is an order." The voice from the crystal stated before the glow of the crystal vanished.
"Yes, sir," Nav grumbled, crossing her forelegs and slouching in her chair. She turned her head to the right and directed her gaze to the city of New Grandle. She must've been staring at the city for a long time because she didn't notice Flash walk back onto the deck and sit back in his chair. But when she did see Flash, her eyes widened and she burst out laughing.
"Shut up." Flash grumbled, crossing his forelegs and making the most unhappy face he could muster.
What Nav was laughing at and what Flash was unhappy with was his appearance. For you see, the ship was equipped with the latest and greatest inventions created. One such invention was an automatic bathroom that was accustomed to whoever was in it. Flash had been washed, cleaned, and dried by the very room itself, and the room was fueled by magic. And as everyone knows, magic runs on emotion, and Flash felt ever so grateful for everything the room had done to him. And the room's magic picked up on Flash's gratefulness and that caused it to keep going. It brushed and flossed Flash's teeth and even washed Flash's mouth with mouthwash, then it sprayed some nice colon on Flash that made him smell nice and fresh, and finally, the room brushed his coat and tail. But there was one thing that the room could not clean, and that was Flash's mane. No matter what the room did it could not change Flash's spiky mane, it refused to be combed and washed. The room felt the need to change Flash's mane and poured all of its magic into changing Flash's mane.
In the end, Flash's mane did change but not in the way Flash wanted. Flash's mane was now slick and smooth, and could only be described as 'hat head hair' as it was the flattest it had ever been. Flash looked like a dork is the point I'm trying to make, but what else is new?
"You look like a dork!" Nav said in between her laughs. Laughs that Flash refused to take part in.
*BAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!*
The loud blare of the ship's horn echoed across the ship like a violent roar. There was a mic pitch from the intercom speakers on the outside deck before a mare's voice spoke. "Attention passengers." The ship captain began. "Please make your way to the exits as we will soon be docking. If you have luggage onboard, please make your way in a calm and orderly fashion towards the lower decks. If you are missing carry-ons of any sort, do not hesitate to ask one of our staff for assistance as we will return your missing luggage right away." The captain paused for a moment, a defeated sigh could be heard from the captain and her voice was lower than before because she had turned away from the mic and some of the passengers could've heard the captain ask, "Do I really have to do this?...*sigh*...alright, I'll do it." The tone of the captain changed from defeat to cheerful quickly as she resumed speaking.
"On behalf of our cruise ship, we would like to mention one of spon-...our proud sponsor, Hardline Troopers. If you have a bully or are in need of protection, or you just hate somebody and want to never see their ugly face ever again. Well, then what you need is a Hardline Trooper. Give us a call or drop us a letter for more information. Hardline Troopers, we beat up losers." The disappointment could practically be felt as the captain said that.
After the ship had docked, Flash and Nav exited without any hassle or problems as the only luggage they had brought with them was the saddle-bags that Flash carried. Waiting for them was a carriage that was being pulled by four pegasi. As Flash and Nav entered the carriage, Nav told the pegasi where it was she wanted to be taken. Now with a destination, the pegasi took flight with the carriage in tow.
The inside of the carriage matched the outside of it, luxurious and fit for the rich and wealthy. Sticking out from the wall was a table with glasses and bottles that contained liquor. Nav helped herself to the drinks, using her magic to pour herself a bottle of liquor.
While Nav was drinking her liquor, Flash reached into his saddle-bag and pulled out another book which he had used to take notes on the mission. Flash didn't have enough time to write down everything needed so he wrote using bullet-points that contained the important information.
- The name of the artifact is The Roars of the Wind
- It has the power to direct the flow of the air around it
- It isn't powerful at first but when used for a long time it's power increases gradually
- It was created by a Pegasus who made it so that he could create a tornado to ward off the flying rats that plagued his village.
- Was created in the Beta Century, cannot be made out of metal, jewels, or any magical potent material.
- The village was known for its skill in fishing, pottery, and medicine.
That was all that Flash had written down and that was all Flash needed to know. But it would've been helpful if he knew exactly what it was he was looking for. But Flash had some pretty good guesses as to what the artifact looked like. Assuming that the artifact was created by a pegasus then it wouldn't look too advance like an object created by a unicorn's magic. And since it was used to direct the flow of air then it would have to be something with a large surface area to push the air, like a fan of some kind.
As Flash continued to ponder what it was he was searching for, the carriage touched down and came to a halt. When Flash looked out the window he saw the tall, perfectly square and smooth, building of the Refold Casino. When Flash stood up and took a step towards the door he was stopped by Nav stepping ahead of him.
"Ladies first." She claimed before exiting the carriage and walking over to the pegasi in order to pay them.
As Flash walked out of the carriage, his hooves touched the silk red carpet that caressed his hooves when he stood. He looked up to the large casino with the brilliant flashing name 'Refold Casino' on the top of its building. The entrance was filled with creatures of all kind pouring in and out of the entrance, all of them were watched by the security guards standing watch at the entrance. But say what you will about the security guards tough and scary appearance, they were quite gentleman like. Helping out anyone that needed assistance or was 'under the influence', and needed to be exited from the casino.
"Alright," Nav walked past Flash as the carriage behind her flew away. "I've paid them extra to make sure they don't remember we were ever here. Hopefully, you know the rest of the plan?" Nav asked, skeptical of Flash.
Flash let out a sigh of frustration before responding. "Why do you keep asking that?" Flash asked. "You assume that I'm going to fail when you don't even bother to give me a chance."
As Nav and Flash walked down the red carpet, Nav replied by saying, "I don't understand Nightfall's judgment, he claims that you can become a Seeker because of who you are." Nav stated. "But I have revised your documents, I know who you are Sentry."
Flash rolled his eyes. "You must have a lot of friends." He said sarcastically.
Nav whipped around and blocked Flash's path, glaring at him straight in the eyes, she asked, "Excuse me?!" She asked in an offended tone.
Before Nav could attack Flash, Flash explained his reasons, "You think that just by reading some words on a piece of paper you know everything about someone. Like you were there to witness their own events." Flash took a step forward to gain dominance. "Tell me, Nav, what is it about me that you've learned from my portfolio that you don't like about me?"
Nav stood her ground. "You are reckless, you put others before yourself, you have several cases where you have failed missions, and you have little combat experience," Nav answered. "What more do I need to know about you?"
"Why bother telling you?" Flash asked retorically. "You'll just use it against me."
And so the two continued down the red carpet and into the casino without speaking a word. The two ponies stationed in front of the building as security sized both Flash and Nav up before they allowed both the pegasus and unicorn to enter the building.
The inside of the casino was more than glamorous. It was filled with roulette tables where creatures of all races were gathered around. Some would erupt into cheers and screams of victory while others would groan in loss as fate had not given them fortune. Waiters would serve the patrons drinks and complementary foods while they continued to test their luck at the gambling tables.
But it was not gambling that the two ponies were interested in. Both Nav and Flash walked down the red carpet towards the end of the hall were two minotaurs who were dressed in black suits and wore black sunglasses. Behind them was a large golden frame with a red curtain covering any visibility to the room on the other side. In between the two minotaurs was an old griffon with grey feathers, a grey mustache on his beak, and circular glasses resting on the bridge of his beak. The elder griffon stood behind a podium, where he was looking over some paper on the podium.
Both Flash and Nav approached the podium and stopped right in front of the griffon. Without even looking up, the old griffon asked, "Names?"
"Mercy and Sentinel." Nav answered.
The old griffon's eyes trailed down the paper on the podium until they landed on the designated names. "Ah, Mercy and Sentinel. Yes, here are your names." The old griffon looked up from the podium and to both Flash and Nav. "Your table has been set and the dinner is ready. Please follow me.” The griffin said as he walked to the corner of the large frame and pulled a golden rope.
The curtain was pulled back and Flash and Nav stepped through. When the curtain closed behind them, the old griffin moved forward, Flash and Nav followed close behind.
The scenery had changed in this new room, gold pillars up against the walls with decorative designs carved into them, on the walls there were several paintings; some were portraits of creatures while others were of scenery. Cutting through the middle of the room was a long red carpet which stretched from the entrance to the black stage at the back of room. On the far sides of the left and right of the carpet were tables where esteem guests of all kind sat and discussed.
Flash scanned the room and noticed there was all sorts of personalities to be seen. Some were loud and joyful while others were brooding and alone. But while they all had their differences, there was one thing for certain that they all had in common. They were all rich, momentarily. There were creatures that would cheer at winning their new fortune and those that would cry in despair as they lost what ever money they bet. But what Flash noticed was that whether they won or lost, they kept on playing. The creatures didn't care about the money, they're about the thrill of the game.
He directed his attention back to the far end of the room where a draped red curtain blocked the entrance to another room. Two minotaur bodyguards dressed in tuxedos and black sunglasses stood by the draped curtain, to the side of the curtain was a Griffon dressed in a tuxedo, with his black feathers combed nicely to the left, and a long thin mustache that curled inwards at the ends. As both Flash and Nav approached the Griffon, he asked in a thick French accent,
"Names?"
"Mercy and Sentinel." Nav answered.
The Griffon lifted his right wing and reached for the clipboard which he held under it, his eyes trailed down the paper held by the clip board and when he flipped the pages his eyes landed on the names that Nav had said.
"You may be seated at table 25." The Griffon said, putting his clipboard back under his wing and drawing back a bit of the curtain so that both Nav and Flash Sentry may enter.
As they walked into the room they were met with the sound of music that was classified as 'swing' being played. Circular tables scattered across the room where creatures of all kind were chatting amongst each other. Flash and Nav took their seat at the table with the counter 25 on it. They sat in silence for a good five minutes before Flash saw the need to break the silence.
"The artifact has to be something that would be associated with the village, something that would be related to pottery, fishing, or medicine." Flash said.
"Yes I am aware, Nightfall gave us 4,000 bits to use to acquire the artifact." Nav replied.
"But how can we buy something when we don't even know what it looks like?" Flash asked.
"We'll know," Nav said, holding up a crystal that she held with her magic. "This crystal detects magic coming off of certain objects. Once it's in the presence of the artifact, it will start glowing."
"How close do we have to be to the artifact for it so start glowing?" Flash asked.
Before Nav could answer, a wooden gavel struck the wooden podium that stood on stage. The one responsible for striking the gavel was a unicorn stallion with dark green fur, silver mane that shimmered in the spotlight, and teal eyes. He wore a slight smile and a tuxedo that covered his body, legs, and flank. The striking of the gavel could only mean one thing, and the stallion announced to the whole room,
"Creatures and Creaturettes, it is time for the auction to commence." The stallion spoke, as two earth pony's carried in the first item and put it on display, which the auctioneer began to describe. "This here is a one of a kind clay pot that was molded by a pony of very poor pottery skills." The auctioneer admitted and no one bothered to argue as the body of the pot looked lumpy and slightly deformed. "But, it is not the pot itself that makes this item valuable, no, no, this item's true value lies in the text and pictograms that were carved into it." The auctioneer pointed out as the two earth ponies rotated the pot around so that everyone could see the text and pictograms engraved on it. "Now then...shall we start the bidding at 200 bits?"
Not a flag raised. While it was true that the text and pictograms engraved on it were interesting, that was all that the pot had going. Flash easily pointed out the flaws of the pot by just looking at it. "To start, the engraving that was done on the pot was horrendous, there were characters that were bigger or smaller or lines that would be longer than it should've been which made the character appear asymmetrical. Next was the materials, the majority of the pot was made out of red clay but there were parts of it that had small little holes and it was those parts that would branch out like branches. They kinda looked a lot like...coral."
"Wait a minute." Flash thought, leaning forward in his seat so that he could see the pot better.
"Ummm...heh, 100 bits?" The auctioneer offered, slightly embarrassed that he had to lower the price for an item that he picked out for the auction. But despite the discount on the item, not a hoof stirred.
Meanwhile, Flash continued to examine the pot. "Next was the way the pot had been molded, it couldn't have been by an earth pony due to the mixing of materials nor could it have been made by a unicorn due to the lumpy structure, therefore it had to have been made by someone that rarely used their hooves in their daily lives. A pegasus! Yes, a pegasus had to have been the one to have made the pot. The lumpy structure was due to the pegasus using his/her hooves instead of using the limbs that they were more accustom to using. The text had to have been carved after the clay had dried, that meant you needed something strong enough to carve into the clay without cracking it, that meant you would've had to apply just enough pressure to scratch the surface but you couldn't have done that with your mouth, you wouldn't be able to control the amount of pressure you applied. A unicorn could've easily noticed with the use of magic but how would a pegasus do it?"
"Um...75 bits?" The auctioneer offered.
Of course! The pegasus would've used his/her wings to write the text. Pegasi wings have sensitive nerves that detect even the smallest amount of pressure on them, which is how the sculptor was able to write the text but the reason the hoof-writting is to bad is because the pegasus had never written anything with his/her wings before, which could only mean..."
Flash Sentry quickly grabbed his marker and raised it high into the air for everyone to see.
"Sold!" The auctioneer proclaimed as he slammed his gavel against the podium. "To the lady sitting at table 3."
Flash's pupils turned to pinpricks and his face became horrified as the pot was carried to the mare sitting at table 3. Where the mare pushed her newly acquired object to the side without so much as a care.
"What are you doing Sentry?" Nav hissed, glaring at Flash as he was still raising his hoof high in the air for everyone to see.
But Flash just ignored Nav and bolted over to table 3.
"Excuse me ma'am." Flash said, startling the mare as he stopped right in front of her. "Would you be willing to sell that pot to me for 400 bits?" Flash offered, causing the mare to become perplexed by Flash's offer. Unbeknownst to Flash, the mare had just paid 50 bits for the pot and Flash, naturally, offered double the price of what the auctioneer had originally offered. Which was 200 bits.
The mare happily accepted the offer and Flash paid her what he promised. He took the pot in his wings and began to examine it. He rolled it around in his hooves and read the full inscription of the text just to be sure his hunch was right. Meanwhile, everyone's eyes were on Flash as he had caused quite a ruckus bolting from table 25 and table 3. Nav had a very pissed look as she stomped over towards Flash so that she could give him a swift kick in the flank.
"Dergo Wingo Sufo Rofo" Flash chanted and the room dropped by two degrees. The text and engravings on the pot began to glow a gentle blue and soft humming could be heard from within the pot. Flash's left eye retracted as something bright shined next to it. He made out that the cause of the light was from a crystal which he assumed belonged to Nav.
But as he stood up, and his eyes adjusted, he was met not with the face of Nav but with the tip of a sword approximately just a couple inches away from him being levitated by a unicorn mare with beige fur, yellow mane, and blue eyes.
"Hand over the pot, emo." The mare demanded
Author's Note
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it
