Tatters of Harmony

Blaze stepped out of the train, he had spend his last bits on a night train so he could sleep inside doing the night, clouds where nice but sometimes you just had to sleep inside and it had included breakfast so that was always a bonus. Starting to fly into the city he looked around to see if anypony might need a hoof, those things usually earned one a few bits or a sandwich and he would properly need something to eat if he had to wait until sunset to meet up at.. wait where was he suppose to meet up with this mysterious stranger who hadn't even signed the letter. Blaze pulls it out and reads it trough again.

Blaze's letter is simply, "Please come to the library in ponyville at sundown this Friday. Your talents are needed, and you will be rewarded for your talents."

In fact, all of the letters were like that.

I arived in Ponyville, going off the train and looking around to take in the new city. I looked to the old City, not that she was old, older than Ponyville, I mean... she's not older than... sigh... forget it. I looked to City and nodded my goodbye, we had diferent agendas at the moment, and I did not wish to slow her down, we would meet again at the library this evening after all. I left the train station and started walking about town.
Ponyville is quite a lot smaller than what i'm used to, and yet it feels like home, not like Manehatten or Canterlot, this place had a homely quality to it. walking past a mare who had just put an applepie out on the window sill and noticed a few fillys playing around with a ball, I couldn't help but smile, this place was definetly an improvement to the hazardious hurry of Manehatten.
walking about town I encountered a few things, including a rather energetic pink pony, a recent tragedy at the apple acress and an old friend who wasn't home. a little downhearted as I seemed to not be able to find any real inclusion anywhere right now (unless I went back to party with that pink pony *shudder*) I remembered that this town recently raised a new church. thinking that surely I could find some helpfull and nice ponies there, and possibly even lend a helping hoof, I decided to head there.
at the church I was met by a bit of a surprice. there in a fine priests rope stood a small dragonling. this was my first time encountering such a being and I could not help but stare with a moments curiosity at the being, before regaining my composure.
"Greetings is this the church?" I asked getting the atention of the small being
"Yes, however we are about to have a prayer session between some higher members. Please leave."
I was a little taken aback by the boldness of the dragon. this was not the kind of recieval I had expected from a church, especially one in a serene place like this. I couldn't help but feel that something was ahoof, though this may simply be the dragon being in a bad mood. the beings had been known for their bad tempers after all. well... he probably just needs a few kind words, I have a place here after all, i'm certain I can persuade him.
"sir if I may. I have traveled quite a way to witness the newly founded church here. I have been a priest in Manehatten as well as in Canterlot, and I was hoping that I may bear witness to a ceremony performed by this new establishment? I promise I shan't be a bother" I gave the grumpy dragon my friendliest tone and atitute, making sure not to smile too much as to appear like a goof, but still appear friendly and trustworthy, something which I believe myself to be.
the drake simply stared at me then pointed towards the door "out"
taken aback by his rudeness I had to take a moment to compose myself back into a friendly albeit slightly forced smile "very well then. when may I return?"
"A week from next tuesday, if at all. We have quite a few processions until then."
this whole thing all seemed rather fishy, just the fact that one is not welcomed into the church gave me a rather sour taste in my mouth. I had to hope that this could be boiled down to simple tiredness or bad leadership, but those thoughts of suspicion that so often haunted me was starting to act up again. for now I decided to bid the dragon farewell and take my leave. I almost felt relieved to be out of the church, something which was truly saddening.
I needed to get to the bottom of this, and I knew just the pony to help me, thankfully she had come here as well, and she couldn't have gone that far in the short time we've been apart. I started looking around to find City Strider, hoping that her assistance may help me with this.... malpractise for lack of a better word

Strangeknot was snoring gently on his bench seat as the train lurched to a stop in the Ponyville station. Tiny hands found their way into his mouth and nose, and began tugging at them in an unpleasant fashion as someone began blowing raspberries into his face. Strangeknot groaned and waved hoof over his head to dislodge the interloper.

"Knock it if, Zeru," he muttered.

Zerubbabel hopped off of his master's head and began playing a wicked drum solo on the pony's hindquarters. Strangeknot shifted position to deny the monkey more mischief and glanced out the window, admiring the scenery, still only half a awake. As he stared out the window, it suddenly hit him.

"Ah! This is my stop!"

The tan unicorn disembarked, monkey in tow, and looked around the townscape in front of him. It was so nice to back in a small town again. The hustle and bustle of Manehattan just wasn't for him, though he did envy the availability of toys scientific resources the metropolis afforded which was unlikely to be found in this sleepy village. His rumbling tummy brought his attention back into focus. He needed some breakfast, preferably with coffee and sugar. Strangeknot set out in search of a suitable place to eat.

Tumbling Emotions rolled over and blinked awake as the sun hit his eyes in a thin, focused beam. He looked around and saw that everyone else in the loft was still sleeping. The beam of light came into the attic through one little hole in the roof at about 10 each day, and as Tumble slept underneath it, the task of waking up first and making breakfast for everyone usually fell to him. He got up and moved to the stairs with a modicum of noise (Stealth: 8+9=17).
He entered the kitchen and evaluated the pantry. In terms of acceptable breakfast items, they had pancake mix, apples, some bread that was going to go stale in the next few days, and 1 egg. Quietly pondering how they managed to leave themselves with one egg, Tumble spied something in the back of the larder. Moving a large bag of flour out of the way, Tumble smiled as he found several bottles of Sriracha phoenix sauce. He knew what breakfast would be today.
----
With two different pans on the stove, one cooking the egg (sunny-side up) and one toasting pancakes, Tumble turned to see who was coming down the stairs.
"Well look who finally decided to wake up." He greeted Barber Shears with a grin.
"As if I could stay asleep with all the ruckus you make getting out those pans. What's for breakfast?" Barber Shears retorted.
Tumble slid a plate with four pancakes over to Barber Shears, who was already rummaging through the silverware drawer. As she cut up the pancakes and speared a piece with her fork, she came to a halt, eying the pancake suspiciously.
"Tumble, what are these red streaks in the the pancakes?" She asked, slowly enunciating every syllable. Tumble grinned widely without saying a word, and with a groan, Barber Shears put the pancake into her mouth and began chewing. She quickly let out a shriek as her mouth was filled with a peppery, impossibly fiery taste. She muttered a string of curses, which quickly devolved into a stream of giggles. "That was...gah! That was just mean!" She gasped, looking for some water.
Tumble grinned again and passed her the egg, now fully cooked. "It tasted good, though, didn't it? Here, this should get the aftertaste off your tongue. I cooked it just the way you like it."
As Barber Shears bit into the egg and dragged her tongue over it, Tumble scooped the last of the pancakes out of the pan and onto two rather large stacks that were sitting on a pair of plates to the side. Deftly maneuvering on two legs, he put down the spatula and picked up both plates, set them down on the table and turned the stove off, then sat down to bite into the rest of the phoenix pancake with relish.
"How can you eat those?" Barber Shears asked, carefully choosing pancakes that lacked red streaks in them.
Tumble stopped for a moment to savor the burning sensation in his mouth. "Because I tried the first one I made, and I think they're delicious."
Barber Shears rolled her eyes. "Why do we let the mad culinary scientist make breakfast every morning?"
"You know why; because I can't cook anything that's not dinner, and he's the only one of you lot that can cook without burning the food or the house." Said Hawk Dive, coming down the stairs looking for all the world as though she'd been awake since dawn. She was quickly followed by her husband, Loud Roar, who looked more as though he'd been awake since the end of the show last night. "Eagle Splendor will be down in a minute, and then we can get to discussing tonight's business," she continued "ooh, pancakes!" She sat down and pulled several onto her plate indiscriminately.
---
"So in conclusion, Eagle and I can finish the costumes for the show today, and we can have a dress rehearsal tonight." Barber Shear finished her description of the preparations for their newest show, Cyrano De Bridlerac. They were unveiling it in two days in a grand premiere. Well, as grandiose as something could get in a small town like Ponyville, but most of the townsfolk were talking about it. Eventually the theater would become just another regular facet of the town, but for the moment they were still new and interesting, despite having been there for over a month.
"If you two don't need my help, then I'll be off to wander the town until lunch." Tumble said through a mouthful of his sixth phoenix pancake.
"I'm sure I can handle anything they need dear, you just enjoy yourself for a little while. You've been driving yourself mad memorizing Cyrano's lines." Hawk Dive offered, her hair still slightly frizzed from the sheer surprise of her first phoenix pancake.
"What exactly do you do on these walks of yours?" Eagle Splendor asked. "Sometimes you're gone for hours."
Tumble mentally winced. Eagle Splendor didn't leave the theater to socialize much, so she was unaware of his reputation around town. "Walking helps clear my head." he said softly as he walked towards the staircase.
As Tumble walked out the side door of the theater he called his home, a note fluttered, unnoticed, against it.
----
Tumble wandered the streets, letting his mind fill with chatter as his eyes sorted through various images. To his right, a couple was nuzzling in the noonday sun. A rainbow streak that he had finally adjusted to seeing in the sky was hurtling around, bouncing off of clouds like a pinball. Another pony watered their flowers, and somewhere off the right he heard a muffled boom that probably came from the Smith residence. It was generally best to let Ditzy sort out her own explosive messes, so he continued down the perfectly content street.
((Streetwise: 18+9=27))
And that was just the problem the street was content. not a hair out of place. Or a hare, for that matter: a pale yellow Pegasus was leading a troupe of bunnies down the road in single file. Looking closer, Tumble noticed that one of the bunnies actually seemed to be pushing the young Pegasus forward with a determined look on his face, but decided not to dwell on it. His mind was already turning to other things.
As his thoughts always did these days when he wasn't with his adoptive family or working on a job, his mind turned towards his family, back in San Franciscolt, living on the streets. He had to go back for them soon. After the premiere of Cyrano, the troupe would have enough money to do without him for a few weeks, and he could travel back to the city and...what? Search for two street rats in a city where he only knew the posh districts well? Spend several days on the run from the local police? There was nothing he could do, no plan that would fix things.
He shook his head. His mind had been hitting the same wall for several days, to no avail. He looked around to see himself in front of Truths Behind Lies, the book store that the Players had purchased the Bridlerac script from. "Maybe a good book can take my mind off things," Tumble muttered to himself, "and if not, I can always hit myself over the head with it until my ears ring, then focus on that. It might just be preferable to this mental loop."
----
As he browsed the bookstore and came to it's fantasy section, Tumble noticed a thick book with a singularly opulent dust jacket. Pulling it off the shelf, he examined it with interest. It was titled "Elemental Artifacts," but the cover was an impressively drawn nexus of different strands of color, Orange, Red, Pink, Blue, Purple, and Violet, intertwining in abstract patterns. As he flipped it open, Tumble saw that it had clearly been misshelved. For one thing, it was written in Germane, and while that was a language Tumble was only loosely familiar with, it seemed to be describing the Elements of Harmony, those fabled artifacts that were lost ages ago. Apart from basic statements and the classical depiction of the six elements depicted as a pentagon with the sixth element in the center, the only passage Tumble's slim Germane could make out was "A locket for those who's honesty shines brighter than the sun, a wreath for those kinder than a butterfly, a necklace for those who give what's needed without expecting reciprocation, a microphone for those who laugh loudest, and an armlet for those who's loyalties stand strong."
((History: 18+6=24, apparently 1 off from the DC XD))
"A...for...blast." Tumble muttered, closing the book as he realized he wouldn't be able to piece together a translation any further on that page. Before he could open the book to another section and try again, he noticed a baby dragon standing to his side. "Ah. Can I help you?" Tumble asked the dragon politely.
"Well, I was told to come here since the store has some rare books... " The dragon said in a quiet voice. Suddenly, he lit up, and yanked the book from Tumble's hoof. "That's where it was!" The dragon exclaimed gleefully, dashing out of sight at top speed.
Tumble stood where he was for a moment, blinking, and contemplating the fact that a baby dragon had just stolen a rare book literally from his hooves. He finally shook himself and moved out of the store, carefully checking to see if he could see the dragon as he leaves and almost colliding with a very bouncy, very fast-moving pink pony in the process.
((Perception: 19+14=33. I don't know how much of that let me avoid Pinkie...))
As he makes his way down the street towards the Golden Oaks Library, his ears picked up a conversation between two ponies whose voices and faces he didn't recognize. Glancing over, they appeared to be a grey-brown earth pony and a grey unicorn, embroiled in a heated discussion at a coffee shop.
((Yes, this is City and Sun. I was told I came across you two talking, and I figured I'd hear something interesting.))
((Logan said something about not wanting walls of text, didn't he...oh, well.))

"Well then. To The Library!" Blaze loudly proclaims as he takes off, a few ponies looks his way but quickly ignore him again.
'Weird usually that gets more attention.' He thinks to himself as he continue flying into town looking for the library.
After a short look around town he finds the library, the door creaks open and Blaze can see that the library seems to be barely used.
He peeks inside but since all he is able to see is a couple of hoofsteps in the dust and a lot of books he decides to come back at sundown and start flying around town looking around to see where everything is instead.
He spots a few odd ponies, one of them apparently carrying a bowrig on her back, a church that looks like it was just put up and a small shop that's opening up.
After Blaze gets an good idea of where everything in the town is, he start flying around looking for something to do or ponies to help and spots a small light blue pegasus straining to pull a small cart filled with a large amount of watermelons in the direction of the market.
"Need a hoof?" Blaze ask as he lands next to her.
"Y-yeah." The mare pulls a bit. "M-more a wing though. It's heavy."

Spoiler:

Blaze gets behind the cart that seems to have been stuck in some mud and starts pushing it but only manage to push it a little out of the mud, Blaze strains himself once more but this time the cart does not move an ince.
'Damn, stupid wooden cart' He thinks to himself as he looks back and forth between the cart and the mud 'Will properly burn before the mud becomes dry, stupid mud.' He eyes the mountain of watermelons 'And no way i could juggle enough of them to make a difference, stupid heavy watermelons!' With a last strain the cart is yanked out of the mud and starts moving again.
"Thank you." The mare smiles back.
"Heh it was nothing" Blaze says breathing heavily "But next time I'm getting another cart for you" He says with a smile.
"Oh, you don't have to do that." The light blue mare chuckles.
"So where are you going?" Blaze asks as he starts pushing the cart again "Its still way to heavy to let you pull it all alone"
"I'm heading to the market to sell these. My brother needs the money for a project."
"Cool, what kind of project?"
"Oh... Nothing too important."
"Well I'm not going anywhere right now, so we might as well make small talk, names Blaze by the way"
"Wave. Diving Wave. Pleasure to meet you. And really, my brother's project isn't anything for you to worry about."
"So you normally sell melons or is it just a one time thing?"
"I sell a lot of things. Melons are just my current product."

After talking a few minutes they arrive at at the market and Wave sets up her stand and thanks Blaze for the help by giving him a piece of melon.
Thanking her for the melon Blaze takes off and flies around the town some more.

Strangeknot can find Sugarcube Corner just as a pink party pony runs out, who pops back and grins. "Hello! You're strangeknot, aren't you? I've heard about you!" She grabs your hooves and shakes you. "I'm Pinkamina Diane Pie, but call me Pinkie Pie! You hungry?" She tilts her head, still shaking your hoof and hands Strange a cupcake with Strange's cutie mark on it and she smiles

SunFlare wrote:to the Manehatten Monestary
06 - 08 - 998


As you know I have been called to Ponyville. when I arrived I decided to inspect the newly established church to Celestia in this town.
I was horrified to discover that something was wrong in this the house to our Princess. I do not have much data yet, all I can say for certain is that a powerful dark magic was present, a case 4 ritual was instated there and I shall investigate the conjurer of the spell immediately.
I find myself in the company of a great detective, and as much as I hate to endanger others I am instating her help in this matter. therefore I expect her compensated in regard to §48 of the Fourth chronicle of our leader.

as with all matters such as this one there is a chance of my demise, therefore I am going to send a letter every day until the matter has been resolved. If you do not receive a letter you may assume me dead. If I die on this mission it goes without saying that the matter here in Ponyville would need investigated further. please keep that in mind and make the necessary preparations to have them standing by.

yours faithfully
Sun B. Flare

((Posted from OOC thread))

Fraternity walks off the train in Ponyville during midday, with quite a few ponies wandering around waving at him and welcoming him to town. He warmly return the waves, and pulls one of the closer ponies in for a friendly hug. A grey pegasus mare giggles and returns the hug, handing Frat a banana nut muffin.

"Welcome! What's your name?"

He grabs the muffin with his pony-kinesis, saying, "My name's Fraternity, and thank you kindly for the muffin." He takes a bite out of it, remarking how tasty the warm muffin is, and continues, "Never actually been to Ponyville; is there any place I should visit for my first time here?"

"Well, there's a lot of places." The mare's eyes look to the left and right. "Sugar Cube Corner if you want something sweet, there's a little library in the middle of town if you're looking for some books, and my favorite place would have to be visiting this little music shop that just opened up with a pony named G Clef."

He takes out a notepad and quill, writing down the information for later, adding, "Is there anything else? I want to see as many places and ponies as I can before I retire for the night."

The pony giggles and says, "You'll probably get along with Ms. Pie. Both of you seem like you love to making friends."

He puts the notepad and quill back into his bags, saying, "That I do; I love meeting new faces. Thank you very much, Ms...oh, dear! I didn't ask for your name!" He blushes a bit out of embarrassment. "My apologies, Ms..."

"The name's Derpy Hooves!" She smiles. "Well, it's Ditzy Doo, but everypony calls me Derpy."

He smiles a bit, saying, "Aww, they're both rather cute names...Well, anyway, thank you so much for your help, Ms. Hooves. I'm off to see the rest of Ponyville; I think I'll start with Sugarcube Corner...the muffin has me craving sweets now!" He scarfs the rest of the muffin, and gives Derpy a big farewell hug. "Hope to see you again soon," Fraternity says as he trots off.

"Bye Mister!" Ms. Hooves shouting as Fraternity leaves.

Fraternity finds his way to Sugar Cube Corner rather easily. Popping in, He doesn't see any ponies that might be named "Pinkie" though, since there aren't any pink ponies in there.

Spoiler:

Out of the corner of his eye, Frat sees a bouncing pink pony with balloons tied to her tail, and she stops right beside him. "Hi! My name's Pinkie Pie! What's your name?"

He smiles and extends a hoof, "Hello, my name's Fraternity; it's nice to meet you, Pinkie! I'm here for bite to eat and..." He stops for a moment, and looks at the balloons with curiosity. "Getting ready for a party, I take it?"

"Yeperooti Tooty! I'm a Party Pony extraordinaire!" She shakes his hoof and grins. "Nice to meet you Fraternity!"

"Likewise! Who's the party for, if you don't mind me asking?" Fraterity asks, his curiosity growing.

"It's called a 'party party'." She smiles. "A party Party is for a party of ponies who just met! When you meet five other ponies, bring them to the building right there." She points to a small white building.

Fraternity pulls out his notepad and quill, taking note of the "party party" and the small white building. "What is that building, anyway?"

"The Cakes own it for big parties that they can't fit in Sugar Cube Corner. They're letting me use it for this party." She hugs Fraternity for a second and says, "I've got to get going to set it up. See you Fratty!" She bounces away humming a song.

Fratty waves goodbye to the bouncing pink pony before making his way to the library, the next on his list of destinations.

He opens the door to find a white cloaked pony, who turns and groans. "Didn't I tell you to come here toNIGHT, and not toDAY?"

Caught off-guard just a little bit, Fraternity keeps his composure. "Actually, I came here of my own agenda; I was planning on returning in the evening. In the meantime, I'm trying to get acclimated to this town. Last thing I was to do is get lost in an unfamiliar place."

The pony sighs, shaking his head. "Well, you're better than City..." A white glow surrounds his horn and he floats a folded parchment to Fraternity. "Here's a map of Ponyville."

Spoiler:

Fraternity sees that there's a few silver shoots in the glow, and the horn seems... cracked as he floats the map over.

Fraternity takes the map, scribbling some notes in his notepad while he takes a look at it, and says to the cloaked pony without turning around to face him, "Got it, I'll come back later." He walks out and heads to the music store Derpy mentioned.

At the music store, a soft song plays ambient music, as a colt with a g-clef cutie mark pops out from behind a counter. "Hi! I'm G Clef!"

Frat puts the map, notepad and quill away, and greets G Clef warmly. "Hiya, G Clef, I'm Fraternity. One of my new friends recommended that I visit this store. Mind if I have a look around?"

"Sure." G looks under the counter and rustles, changing the music to something more like hip-hop as Fraternity takes a look around.

Spoiler:

Frat finds quite a few instruments, including a tuba, flugelhorn, and drum set, but along with that he finds a small shining blue crystal.

Fraternity takes a closer look at the Crystal.

Spoiler:

The stone, located behind the counter, seems to amplify and record sounds, and a quick magical check shows that the spell cast on the crystal makes it invulnerable too.

After some consideration, Fraternity decides to purchase the blue crystal, along with a flugelhorn.

G-Clef pops up, smiling. "40 bits. Would you like the Amplifier Amethyst wrapped?"

Fraternity smiles back, "No, that's fine. Just a box for safe keeping, if you have one."

"Sure." He grabs a box and puts the stone in, pushing it to Frat with his muzzle. "Have a good day!"

"You too, G Clef," he says as he takes his new purchases and hands G Clef the forty bits before leaving the store and checking the map for any other places of interest around Ponyville. Fraternity meets and greet with the citizens of Ponyville until the dusk starts to set in, at which point he heads to the library and the unicorn with the cracked horn.

LoganAura wrote:Strangeknot can find Sugarcube Corner just as a pink party pony runs out, who pops back and grins. "Hello! You're strangeknot, aren't you? I've heard about you!" She grabs your hooves and shakes you. "I'm Pinkamina Diane Pie, but call me Pinkie Pie! You hungry?" She tilts her head, still shaking your hoof and hands Strange a cupcake with Strange's cutie mark on it and she smiles

Strangeknot grabs the cupcake in his telekinesis and jerks it away right as Zerubbabel sails through the air, hands grasping at nothing.

"Nope," the unicorn says to the monkey. "Denied."

Sullenly, Zerubbabel climbs back up on Strangeknot's head.

"Sorry, he's a hoofful sometimes. Nice to meet you, Pinkie! Thanks for the cupcake! I'm starving!"

Strangeknot floated the cupcake into his mouth to take a bite, but the confection seemed to miss his mouth, and, in fact, had disappeared entirely. He looked around quickly, confused, just in time to see a long, sinuous tail deposit the empty cupcake wrapper directly on his nose. He tried unsuccessfully to glare at the creature sitting between his ears.

Zerubabbel snickers but Pinkie randomly appears again, putting a cupcake straight into Strangeknot's mouth this time. "I should've expected your monkey to do that. See ya!" She dashes away.

Strangeknot stares blankly at the location the pink filly recently vacated, then shrugs, orders some coffee and another pastry, and takes a seat at one of the tables outside the confectionery.

Strange seems to have nothing entirely troublesome go on, although he sees a unicorn dashing by with a fake mustache. He also sees a couple of extremely young foals wandering around. A pegasi and a Unicorn.

((Sun and City's Posts will be added in flashbacks later. I want the game to start))

That Evening, after a remarkably awkward silence, a unicorn- stark white including his mane and eyes and a cracked horn- walks, avoiding everypony's eyes. "I... I'm sorry for pulling you all into this, but I need your help. All of yours." He points at each pony in turn. "Your magic, your social abilities, your observation, your knowledge of the Church of Celestia, your..." The pony coughs as he glances over Tumble and points at Rose, "And your fire."

The pony trots to a small dusty shelf, floating- with visible effort- a small book and flipping it open. "There is a group who are in danger of causing great distruction to the world, though... The full extent I can't say." He trots, flipping the book open and showing the small map to everypony, six points labeled with symbols (History and Arcana checks to identify, high DC) "It's imperative you go to these areas and find the gemstones left in these few temples. I'm sure there will be items left there for you all to help you, and if you need any help, I can try to aid you as best as I can."

Tumble squints at the map, but gives up on it quickly, as none of the symbols make a wit of sense to him (History, 14+6=20). He turns his attention back to the walking snowpony.
"Would you care to tell us anything about this group, besides their apocalyptic intentions? Actually, that's a bit broad. Allow me to pepper you with specific questions.
What is this group? What is their name, their size, their willingness to murder small foals for their goal?
You seem quite certain that they intend to destroy the world. How do they want to do it and how do these gemstones help?
How do you know what you know? It seems to me that most apocalyptic societies take great lengths to remove nonmembers who are aware of their presence."
During this breathless interrogatory flood, Tumble begins to pace. At the end, he throws his arms up in the air. "Furthermore, how can we trust you? How can we take anything you say to be true? Why should we accept your counsel as gospel?"
Tumble rambles to a halt, and just blinks for a moment, then recomposes himself. "I'm so sorry, I haven't even asked your name yet. Real first question: who are you and why are we meeting in the Golden Oaks Library of all places? Any number of coffee shops around town can afford the same level of anonymity, and they have food there."
(Perception check to observe Snowpony's reaction to being bombarded with question: 7+14=21)

Blazes eyes lights up as the white unicorn talks.
"So you want us to go on an adventure"
He says half forgetting the apple green pony is talking, as he walks over to look at the map.

Spoiler:

I took a step forward in order to look closer at the map, but had to make way for a rather enthusiastic green pony. he looked across the map quickly before a small cavalcade of rather aggressive questions erupted from the accusing earth pony. I was a bit appaled by his bluntness. I did not intend for him to attack the white pony like this, not only was he my friend but he also seemed to be pretty weak, he did not need this right now. I stepped in, looking down at the much taller earth pony. I had disliked my size in my past, but I'd found that what I lacked in physical power and looks I could make up for in sheer pressense. starring into his eyes I let him know that this pony was not for him to accuse right now, that he was overstepping a line and if he wanted to cause trouble he would have a problem with me.

Spoiler:

Tumble feels a strong wave of resentment wash through him as he locked eyes with the smaller pony. The message he was receiving was loud and clear, "Stop! Don't badger Snowpony," but Tumble had no intention of stopping. Size and appearance were no indication of abilities and danger, and he wanted answers to these questions. Besides, sounding ridiculous while rattling suspects meant they were less likely to raise their guard. No, this show must go on.
Tumble shook his head, breaking eye contact, took a quick breath, and resumed his rambling questions, eventually ending on the silliest note he still considered to be within the bounds of his current character.

"He is someone I trust," I say, stepping forward with a scowl at the buck asking so many questions. "I understand you wanting questions answered, but there is no call to hound at him about it. If anything, flustering him is less likely to result in useful information." I might be small for an Earth Pony, but there was no need to be physically intimidating when good sense could prevail.

I turn to our resident pony in white. "But he does have something of a point. Sun and I might know we can take you at your word, but these others might have less cause to do so."

I turn back to the Earth Pony. "Would it help if I said I might try to answer any questions you have later? It is unwise to press him in his current state."

Tumble blinked to restrain a smile that was trying to break through on his face as an old celtic proverb jumped into his head.
One mare is an assassing. Two ponies are a conspiracy. Three is a number I trust.
What were the odds that the two bizarre detective ponies investigating the church, who apparently met quite recently, were also working together with snowpony on some devious mission? There were probably dozens of simpler, and thereby subtler, plans for this situation. Snowpony was probably not planning anything fishy.
"That would be fine." Tumble said to the mare with the sharp eyes and the long tail, before turning his attention back to Snowpony. "I'm sorry if I appear to be abrasive, but I've seen far too many good heroes hoodwinked in this manner to assume anything based on your appearance. You're tired, and I shouldn't be yammering on right now. However, I would very much appreciate your name and your story."
Maybe now I can stop calling him snowpony. He thought to himself.

"I apologize, but I can't really reveal my name, not yet..." The pony glances at City. "I... I need to keep myself a bit safe." The unicorn takes a quiet breath, and just as rapidly as Tumble,
"The group is a cult that follows a warped version of Princess Celestia's ideal of harmony and cooperation, the group is called the White Sun, they are a rather large group though in small subgroups, and would more force a foal to join their cult before killing them, I know because I escaped the cult." He taps his cracked horn, a slight cringe. "They don't believe I have fully escaped though. Trust me because-" With a flash of his horn and a slight stagger, a soft red-orange light surrounds everypony in the group. "I cannot lie now, and you can trust what I say and have said as true.
And lastly, the reason for the library is due to pre-existing wards in place on the library's tree."

The pony turns to Blaze with a soft frown. "Yes, I am asking you to adventure out of the area."

The White stallion turns to Tumble again and says, "My name? Unimportant. My story? I finally got tired of their machinations and half-threats to my family."

In the tense silence that follows, two snores, one the baritone of a stallion, the other the cheeping of a simian, erupt from the back of the library. The stallion's legs twitch sporadically. He groans slightly, and whispers, "No, sugar..." The simian licks his chops.

The snowpony lightly trots over, leaning his head down to the sleeping stallion's ear with a flash of his horn. The rest of the ponies heare a quiet 'Wake up', but Strangeknot hears a loud blaring siren.