Uncharted: Starswirl's Secret

The café wasn’t too crowded. The three of them sat around the low table, happily munching on the sandwich in front of them. Except for Drake, who was inspecting the dandelions in them closely. Just the thought of eating it was starting to ease his hunger so he wouldn’t have to.

“Hey kid,” Sully said, snapping Drake out of his thoughts. As he turned towards the old man, Sully continued. “Are you going to eat your dandelion sandwich?”

Drake looked over and gave him a look of surprise. “Can you eat it?”

Sully turned back to his plate and pointed at it, which was empty except for a small stem towards the bottom. “Kid, I’ve already eaten mine,” he said, chuckling slightly.

Drake turned back to his own plate and picked up the sandwich gently. Bringing it up to his mouth, he took a slow bite. It was revolting to him, due to the fact that it was nothing more than garden weeds.

“Hey Twilight,” a voice called from Drake’s right. Applejack was approaching them, followed by a stallion Drake did not know, who had been pulling a cart behind him happily. “I saw you hear and I wanted to let you know that Braeburn was in town for a few days. He’ll be staying at the farm if you want to visit.”

“Hello Braeburn!” Twilight told him cheerfully. “It’s good to see you here in Ponyville.”

Before he could respond, Sully interrupted them. “Um.. one of your wheels doesn’t match the others.” He pointed to a wheel that had obviously been replaced.

“We’re well aware of that,” Applejack replied rather harshly, glaring at Drake. “Aren’t we, Mr. Drake?”

Drake gave a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. “Uh... yeah. Sorry about that. How much do I owe you for the new wheel?”

“Six bits,” Applejack replied tartly before turning back to Twilight. “Well... we should be going. There’s a lot to do on the farm with cider season approaching, and you know how quickly we run out of it.”

Twilight said her good bye just as Sully stood up and patted Drake’s shoulder, starting to walk away. “You keep eating. I’m going to head over to Cat Supplies and Fine Smokables to pick me up some more cigars.” As he walked away, Drake could hear him mumbling something about the shop names.

Drake looked over at Twilight with a glance before taking another bite. After swallowing, he said slowly, “So you knew that hydra was going to attack us? Is that why you wanted to keep your pistol from Talbot?”

Twilight nodded slowly. “Yeah, that’s why. I had a feeling it would come to good use of that thing decided to show up again, which it did. And I didn’t want to give it up before I could inspect it more. I can’t wait to give that research paper to the Princess!”

Drake took another bite. “Who is the Princess?” he asked her curiously. “And why would you need to send her a research paper? Most royalty wouldn’t even know your name if you live in a small town like this.”

“I was actually born in Canterlot where Princess Celestia lives,” she explained eagerly, pointing a hoof at the city above. “I’m one of her students. She brought me to Ponyville so I could learn the ways of friendship.” She lowered her voice. “Before I came here, I mostly stayed to myself. The only person I would call my friend before was my brother. But that’s the past!”

“YOU!” A voice screamed from across the street. A furious Rarity was running towards them, eyes narrowed in rage. She came straight for Drake. “I make you clothes and this is how you repay me?” She yelled, pointing to the rip he now had in his sleeve from where he tore it. “Do you know how much time I spent working on those? I bet you that other human was more grateful for what I did and wouldn’t rip it to shreds like that.”

Drake glanced down at the sleeve in confusion just as Sully was walking back, a cigar in his mouth. “What’s all the yelling about?” He asked, taking it out. “She’s acting like you killed her sister or something.”

Drake held up his torn sleeve, to which Sully replied, “That’s it?”

“That’s it?” Rarity shouted, turning on Sully. “You sit down as well. I need to yell at you too.” Sully put his hands in the air to show defeat and sat next to Drake. “I put work into that clothing and you treat it like it’s nothing. That other human must have been grateful for what I gave him, while you treat it like dirt!”

“Wait,” Drake replied, looking over at Rarity. “Talbot went by your store?”

“I don’t know who he was. I found him wandering into Ponyville with a tattered suit on. And he was missing the jacket on it. I don’t know what he had gotten into, but it was terrible. I fixed him a new suit. It was just pure black and plain, which was disappointing.”

“Well I’m sure you’ll be glad to know that he didn’t care about it either. The left forearm of it was torn and covered in blood, as well as the water and mud he had gotten on it too.” If Drake was going down, he was taking Talbot with him.

“What?” Rarity shouted. “Oh, when I find him I’ll...” She walked off, mumbling under her breath about him.

After they had finished their lunch, Twilight decided she wanted to take Sully on a tour of Ponyville, much like she had with Drake. He was fascinated by everything they had established, although Drake knew he mostly cared about the interesting items they paired together in stores. However, he was still enjoying the rest of it, and they were meeting some friendly locals as well.

Drake lightly waved hello to Big Macintosh as they passed him. Big Macintosh nodded a little and gave a small greeting before continuing his conversation with a small magenta mare that he had been stalking to before. Drake leaned over towards Sully a bit. “That’s Big Macintosh,” he explained. “He runs a farm with his family. I can’t tell you who the other one is though.”

“That’s Cheerilee,” Twilight said casually, turning to face the two. “She’s a teacher over at the Ponyville schoolhouse. Her and Big Mac are real close friends after that... oh wait, you don’t know about that. Never mind. It’s not important.” At that, she turned around again and began the tour one more.

“And finally, the library.” Twilight glanced over her shoulder to look at Sully. “This is where my assistant, Spike, and I live. Drake has been staying her as well, considering Ponyville doesn’t have a hotel for you to stay in. You are welcome to stay here as well, Mr. Sully.”

Sully said his thanks, and the group entered the library. Spike was nowhere to be seen.

“Probably off sleeping at another one of his hideouts,” Twilight muttered.

Drake didn’t say anything in response, instead walking over to the painting they had tilted earlier as to close the entrance. As soon as it was moved back into place, the middle table moved once more to reveal the path.

Twilight went down first, her horn shining to light the way down. Sully followed her down slowly, gazing at her horn in surprise. Drake gazed around at the walls, watching for anything to pop out at them they might have missed.

Nothing stood out on the way down, and when they reached the coffin once more, Drake was utterly confused. “What the hell could we have missed down here?” He said aloud, moving around the chamber walls, feeling for any mechanisms.

“I’m assuming you already got this?” Sully questioned from the backside of the coffin, gazing at something on the side. Drake tilted his head slightly, clearly having remembered the script being written inside. Upon moving next to the older man, Drake noticed a faint etching of Enochian writing.

“How did we miss that?” He asked, making a small amount of room next to him for Twilight as she came to investigate. Pulling out the cypher disk, he placed the ring in its slot, watching it reset itself.

He glanced up at the script every now and then, decoding the message slowly. “Las...” He started, turning the ring once more. “Pegasus. Las Pegasus. I’m assuming this is another place here?”

Twilight nodded slowly. “Yeah. It started as a famous town for movie stars, but as it grew, they added casinos to it. Now its half old buildings and famous ponies, half casinos and hotels. Ponies like to go there for vacation.”

Sully pulled the cigar he had been smoking from his mouth. “Sounds like my kind of city. I wouldn’t mind hitting a few poker tables while we are there. Might earn us some money.”

“Sully,” Drake began, “You can’t gamble for two reasons. One, we are there on business, and that is what we must focus on. Secondly, you remember what happened in Hong Kong. We can’t have that happening again.”

“What happened in Hong Kong?” Twilight asked skeptically.

“Long story,” Drake muttered vaguely. “It involves the Triads. I don’t think you want to hear it.”

“Nor do I want to tell it,” Sully told, a rather annoyed look on his face from the memory.

Together, the three of them made their way back to the surface level of the library, Sully trailing back slightly. Drake glanced around at the paintings, waiting for Sully to come up so he could move it and close the entrance.

Drake heard the library door open, and in a panic, tilted back the painting. Sully shouted something at them as it closed on him, and when Drake turned around, he saw a small purple pegasus hovering midair, a stack of books hanging out of a bag that was draped across her back.

“Oh, hello!” Twilight said cheerfully as the filly landed on the ground gently. She pulled three books from the bag, gripping it tightly with her teeth, and placed them onto the table.

“Hello. I came to return the books I checked out. I won’t be in Ponyville much longer, and if I don’t give them back now, you’ll never get them back.”

“You’re from out of town?” Twilight asked gently. “Are you here for the Filly Flier Competition?”

“Yes!” The purple pegasus said excitedly, lifting off of the ground and doing a small loop in the air. “I’m the best flier around Equestria! Well... I will be. I’m not exactly perfect right now.”

“You are just a filly,” Twilight encouraged. “You’ll be better as you age. Wait a second... you’re missing a book.”

She tilted her head to the side, a look of confusion replacing the excitement on her face. “I am? But I only checked out three. I know that for sure. I haven’t misplaced any.”

“But Lightning Shot checked out four books. Your name is written four times. You are missing... never mind.” She looked rather angry now, eyes narrowed at the paper. “You’re right. Nothing’s wrong.”

Lightning Shot smiled again and made her way to the door, waving to them. “Alright! Goodbye!” As she opened the door, her eyes locked onto something, and a large grin appeared on her face as she flew off. “Hey...” The rest of her sentence was inaudible do to the distance she was at away from the library.

A large pounding caught Drake’s attention, and he turned to look over at the middle table that was now rattling slightly.

“Hey kid!” Sully shouted from where he had been trapped. “Can you let me out now? It’s starting to get kind of creepy down here.”

Drake moved the painting, watching the entrance slid open once more. Sully burst from the passage at a great speed for his age, looking slightly rattled at having been in there for so long.

Drake closed it for the last time and looked back at Twilight. “What was with the book? You looked angry.”

Twilight levitated the paper in front of his face, scowling slightly. “Looks like your friend Talbot thought he would be clever and sign the book out as someone else. I should have noticed that the signature looks different from the others.”

“At least Spike remembered who checked it out. Otherwise he might have gotten away with it. In fact, we probably wouldn’t even be doing all off this if he had gotten away with it.”

Twilight sighed and climbed the stairs, reappearing a moment later with her saddle bag. “alright. I think we should get going now. If we’re lucky, we can get a last minute train ticket to Las Pegasus.”

Drake nodded slightly , and the three of them exited the library. “Sounds like a-“

“Sully!” A voice shouted from above, slowly growing closer. A cockeyed gray pegasus mare landed in front of the group a moment later, Her one good eye fixed on Sully.

“Derpy!” He said rather happily, facing the strange mare. “How have you been?” He turned to Drake, a smile on his face. “This is Derpy. She’s the only person I’ve met that is more armed than you.”

“Is she the one who gave you the rocket launcher?” Drake questioned.

“Yeah. And the muffins.”

“How were the muffins?” Derpy asked excitedly, obviously wanting to get his opinion. “I got them from Sugarcube Corner that day. I thought you might like them.”

“They were great. What were they, blueberry?”

Derpy nodded once. “Half blueberry, half ponyberry.”

“Wait...” Sully looked confused now, and was staring at the mare with a surprised expression. “What’s ponyberry?”

“I’m sorry Derpy,” Twilight interrupted, gazing at the two humans to her left. “But we really need to be going. If we don’t we might not make the train. And then we’ll be wasting a day.”

“Oh. Alright,” Derpy soared into the sky rather clumsily, waving down at them. “It was nice to meet you. Bye Sully!”

Sully waved goodbye then turned to Twilight, “What the hell is ponyberry?”¬