[IC] The Fillydelphia Post (Ramzam & ladyonyx04)

[Ramzam]

Fillydelphia born and raised. Useful, I guess, but she didn’t hint at anything else. No use pressing without leads, Snapshot thought. “By, ‘all of Equestria,’ you mean, even a place like Cloudsdale or Upper Los Pegasus?” he asked as he observed, likely for the umpteenth time, that Spring had no wing. Neither did anypony else he’d seen so far, almost as though the pegasi in Fillydelphia made an effort to segregate themselves. Shortly after Snapshot had finished speaking, the waiter from before arrived with a platter balanced on his head.

“Here you are, Miss, Mister. Your drinks and sandwiches, just as ordered, I would hope,” he said as he cleanly slid the platter onto the table.

“It looks right to me,” Snapshot mumbled as he poked at the reddish bread and checked the plant fillings. Not that I would notice without the sense of taste. He cared much more for his plain glass of sparkling water, which, with hardly a sip, lit up every system inside him. He immediately perked up, perhaps in a bit too conspicuous a fashion as the love-laced drink gave him far more energy than he had held in months.

[ladyonyx04]

Spring thought about it. "Well in order to go there I'd need to have wings. And I'm certain that I'm not going to get them." I would hope? What's he mean by that? Spring thought curiously and took a sip of her water and then took a bite of the sandwich curious as to what the waiter had meant. There weren't many pegesi that visited or lived in Fillydelphia. Not to say they weren't welcome. But that's how its been for as long as she was alive, so she didn't question it. Much. She saw how Snapshot had brightened after taking a sip of his water. The sandwich was fine. But it still made her curious as to why the waiter had said that.

[Ramzam]

“I’ve seen a unicorn or two in the clouds,” Snapshot said. “I’m not really sure how they did it, since I never asked. I thought it was something unicorns could just do, like the levitating thing.” The rate at which his sandwich shrank into the void was alarming, unhindered by any desire to taste the food Snapshot may have had. He could only feel it as a paste, sliding down into the empty cavity of a stomach that he would have to manually clear out later. “I guess it makes sense they couldn’t, though. Maybe it was a spell? If not that, I don’t know how they did it.” He let his head rest on his hoof. I sure hope there really is a way…I should know better than to tell a big lie like that. The hivemind would, undoubtedly, know if he had the intense, immediate desire for such knowledge. “I…huh.” Is it polite to talk business during meals? Would most ponies even care? “So, after we’re done here, what’s next? I, uh, haven’t thought too far ahead.”

[ladyonyx04]

"It was a spell more than likely, and most unicorns can perform such magic, but we need either the talent for such or a really great teacher." Spring said putting a hoof near her muzzle as she thought. "Usually we go around and see what news there is to report and catch it if we can. However if that doesn't work we just report things as normal and I add a little something to the paper to make it special.

[Ramzam]

“Huh.” Snapshot leaned back in his seat. “That’s…” his face scrunched up as he searched for the words, “A lot…more…mundane than I thought it would be.” The casual normalcy with which Spring described her work reminded him of his early days at the hive, before all the training. Plenty of roles sounded interesting, but in practice, were astonishingly dull. “Then again, I’ve never heard of a job that’s all fun all the time. Was there anything lined up, before I came along?”

[ladyonyx04]

Spring shook her head. "No not really." She admits knowing that it didn't sound all too fun. But really, especially with this job, you had to take the slower than a mule's pace work that nothing interesting happened and the heart pounding breath wheezing excitement within moments notice. You had very little to really relax, as something just might happen in the blink of an eye.

[Ramzam]

Snapshot breathed out a slow, “Huh,” before he shoved the rest of his sandwich down his mouth. “Guess I should go meet up with th’ good ol’ boys later today,” he mumbled as he sloshed the water in his half empty glass around in a circle. With how many of the others there are in a city like this, I could probably find us some interesting work… He held the glass between his hooves and took a long swig of the rather sweet water. “Maybe I could convince ‘em to cut a couple friends a break every now and then,” he chuckled, “Y’know? If there isn’t anything too pressing, I think I know where they hang out…fair warning, they’re kinda…” Snapshot’s eyes darted back and forth as he attempted to describe his brethren. I should’ve put more thought into this. “Well, they’re a buncha ne’er-do-wells, let’s leave it at that.”

[ladyonyx04]

Spring laughs amused. "Well if they weren't ne'er-do-wells they wouldn't be quite as interesting would they? But it would be interesting to meet your friends." She said once more pushing the glasses up her muzzle finishing her water and sandwich herself now pleasantly full and hydrated. Her magic took out the bag in her vest. She had enough bits to cover for their food. She did get paid a good sum after all, and often carried a bit of her income with her at all times.

[Ramzam]

“I suppose so,” Snapshot said as he searched through one of his saddlebags. “Don’t worry about the bill; this place was my suggestion, after all.” After a another moment of feeling around in the slim bag, he produced what he assumed to be the price of their lunch. Whether or not his guess was correct, the smiling pony that had been their waiter didn’t seem to care, as Snapshot paid on their way out.

“Alright, so…” Snapshot looked left and right as he flapped his folded wings. “Last I heard from him, he said he worked somewhere by the docks. Something to do with a warehouse.” He looked back to Spring. “You know where that is? I, sort of…forgot.”

[ladyonyx04]

"Oh yes! I did a piece about the sea food once by the docks. Come along, and thank you." Spring said with a small blush as she gets up grinning and leads the way to the docks. She saw a sweet shop, one she frequented and smiles as the sweet scents surround them for a moment. "Gosh I like it there. They have this apple tart that is just...delicious. The apples come straight from Applepalusa." She informs randomly but it was a topic and she figured she'd tell a bit more of herself.

[Ramzam]

Snapshot looked up and scanned the sign that hung from the awning over the front door. Sweetie Sweets Sweets. Cute. His eyes flicked over to Spring as he drew his lips in. Stupid name notwithstanding, she likes the apple tarts. The look of deep thought faded away as he archived the information in his mental files and took a few steps in the direction the two were headed before their stop. “Maybe we can get some on the way back… Have you ever been down south?”

[ladyonyx04]

Spring shook her head. "I would have but I don't feel comfortable going by myself somewhere I have no pony to rely on, its a silly fear but once you do dark and dirty stories that rarely occur, your mane just rises. So not as of yet I haven't." She admits feeling a bit silly for not having gone cause she was in her own way, shy. She didn't normally open up and reveal such things about herself to another pony, which is why she had been so panicky when she found out she was getting a partner. But sometimes she met someone like Snapshot who she felt she had met them and she instantly felt at ease.

[Ramzam]

“I get it, I get it,” Snapshot said, bobbing his head as he and Spring continued on, “Traveling alone as a ground pounder must not be very convenient, huh? There’s a lot less to worry about when you can just fly wherever in a day’s time.” In an intersection, Snapshot flew up high to look down at the city. The port of Fillydelphia was an impressive sight from above, although Snapshot had nothing for comparison. His eyes tracked down the signature—or rather lack of signature—of a dockworker as they flew from crate to crate with a clipboard clutched between their hooves. The mare glanced up at him and mouthed, “five minutes,” before she returned to her work. In the sea of emotional candles, Snapshot looked down at where Spring stood, gauging her for what might have been the first time that day. She at least seemed to like him, he determined from the hints of happiness he picked up. Either that or she’s just a cheery pony, he thought as he landed beside her.

“She’s working right now, but she’ll find us as soon as she’s off the hook,” Snapshot said to Spring as he looked around the intersection for a place to wait and be out of the way, “Shouldn’t be too long, though.”

[ladyonyx04]

Spring waited patiently for Snapshot to come back looking out at the pier her thoughts far away before he came back, snapping to reality as he told her that his friend was busy. She smiles kindly and nods. "That's understandable. After all we couldn't be sure if she was still busy or not and we kinda did come along unannounced." Spring said understanding where the other mare came from. Sometimes she had a friend of hers visit her during work hours. She had a few close friends she thought of like family. She didn't mind that she had so few. Sometimes other ponies could be stuck up and mean. She didn't deal with those kinds of ponies well if at all.

[Ramzam]

“I don’t think she even knew I was in town,” Snapshot mumbled as he gravitated to the corner of a nearby building. “We hadn’t actually talked much beyond a couple letters since she left Los Pegasus, y’know?” As though on cue, Snapshot’s, ‘friend,’ glided down to the two news ponies, a broad smile on her face.

“Well, if it isn’t Tinker Time and company!” the sky blue and orange mare shouted as she skidded to a halt in front of Snapshot.

“Hey, Griddle,” he sighed. Griddle simply grinned and looked between Snapshot and Spring Tales and her eyes grew more and more pointed as she repeated the motion. Snapshot waited until she opened her mouth to push his hoof into it. “Spring, meet Griddle. We go back.” In the midst of Snapshot’s introductions, Griddle found the strength to remove his hoof from her mouth.

“Blegh! Yeah,” she deadpanned, “A thousand bits back. Are you ever gonna—“

“Yes! I’ll pay you.” Snapshot sighed. “As soon as I get the money. That’s why I found you, it’s a slow day and we gotta impress the boss.” Griddle’s face lit up with realization.

“Oh! So you’re her sidekick?” she asked as she pointed to Spring. “Rich. Anyway, Spring—what’re you lookin’ for?”

[ladyonyx04]

The friendship between Snapshot and Griddle was amusing to see. Spring giggles at the silliness that such closeness brought on by the friendship. "Well I'm a reporter. Any kind of news will do fine. Slow nothing out of the ordinary or something that every pony needs to know. Whichever will do fine thank you very much." She answered the question of what the both of them needed.

[Ramzam]

Griddle’s jaw contorted and her cheek puffed out as she looked once, twice over her shoulders and scanned the sky above her. “I didn’t say anything, but uh…” She leaned in close and spoke in a low voice, “Things have been going missing. Like, big things. Things that really shouldn’t just up and disappear, y’know? Like the other night, an industrial cement mixer, headed for Prance?” she stomped a hoof on the cobblestone, “Gone!”

“Sounds like filler,” Snapshot mumbled as he checked his watch, “There’s more to it, right?”

“I was getting to that!” Griddle hissed at him. “It’s not just here. A lot of heavy duty construction equipment’s been getting lifted from all over the coast: Filly, Manehattan, Trotston, Trampa Bay, New Horsey... This is the fifth major port t’ get hit and nobody has a clue what’s going on. And the big companies have been keeping this on the inside, somehow, so like I said: I didn’t say anything, got it?”

[ladyonyx04]

Spring nodded in understanding one time to let Griddle know that she wouldn't say a word. So how to get both evidence and the proof of what was happening? It was a real mystery! How exciting. She couldn't wait to see who the culprit was and knowing the reason why they had done what they had done. Power? Bits? What could it be? A cement roller couldn't amount to much could it?

[Ramzam]

Snapshot tapped his chin as a thought formed in his head. “So... hypothetically, if all these thefts were related and the last major port on the east coast that hadn’t been hit was, say, Miameigh… What day would I have to be there to witness such an act?”

“Hm… Beats me, but, these hypothetical thefts have all been about a week apart, on Tuesdays, and always on shipments bound for out of country. So, hypothetically, the theft could occur as early as tomorrow night,” Griddle said, without missing a beat. An awkward silence fell between the two pegasi.

“Oh, I see.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah. Okay.”
“Alright. Uh. I have to get back to work, now.” With that, Griddle was off, back to the yard, a few loose feathers trailing in her wake.

“Alright,” Snapshot sighed, followed by a short chuckle, “We got a big, fat lead to go on, but I guess I’ve gotta pack my bags and fly south. I’d invite you along but,” he spread his wide wings to either side, “I’m not sure you could make it. Maybe there’re some ponies in town you could ask about all this?”

[ladyonyx04]

"Well I could ask to go inside the warehouse to see if there was something that Phillydelphia can do to make the working conditions fair for the ponies working there." Spring theorized. She would have to ask her boss for the okay to do so, but didn't think that he would mind if that reason came up.