Several ponies have gathered in a pizza parlor in an as-yet undisclosed location in Canterlot...
Metal Black turned to the changeling. "I have asked! Anyway, I'm looking for somepony named Lore Delver."
Suddenly, her eyes locked on the green adventurer.
"YOU!" she shouted, charging the table.
Lore, sensing impending danger, ducked under the table just as Metal leaped past where he'd just been sitting, sending her sprawling in the next aisle over.
Onyx takes her plate, completely nonplussed by the action, and finds a safer seat with a good view. "Mmmm. Pizza is good. Pizza with entertainment is better."
From outside, there's the rumble of a moderately heavy wagon. Ice smashes in the trough outside, then there's the splash of a bucket and a soft sigh of satisfaction as freezing water drenches a pony.
Cheerful hoofsteps trot into the parlour, seemingly unaffected by the freezing water dripping from the coat. "Hot pizza, cold beverage and good company," she laughs, "wonderful!"
During the commotion, Lore Delver sneaked out the back door.
Metal thanked the changeling for helping her to her hooves. "Oh, no need for a fight. I just had to ask him something... Where'd he go?"
With the appearance of the frosty pony and the other changeling, Metal seems a little confused.
"Why do taverns always gather weirdies like... well, us?"
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"I wouldn't exactly call this establishment a tavern, but I would say that it's because everyone has to eat, well I don't have to eat persay, but positive emotions run high in places such as this, as to where your 'heh' friend went, he bolted as soon as you impacted the table, likely thought that you were trying to attack him"
Metal shook her head. "I suppose I did come across a little... aggressive. Oh well. I'll just have to keep looking for him. Until then, as that other changeling said, !"
With that, the crystal pony shook a bag of bits onto the counter, hoping that it would pay for a feast fit for her companions.
Onyx looks a bit disappointed that the entertainment ran away, but she looks around noticing the unfriendly looks aimed at the other changlings as she continues to eat, not quite sure what to make of it all.
"You're buying?" Icy Spell asks the gemstone pony. "Then I'm eating!" She beams.
Noticing that nopony has yet to pull out the pitchforks,
"Is it changling day or something? I thought changlings were supposed to be rare and unwelcome in pony towns."
"You don't like your food spicy, Lore-Delver?" I mock gently.
Metal looks around. "Lore? He's back?" Not spotting the explorer, the crystal pony returns to her pizza. "I'm not too worried about you being changelings, to be honest. I've seen weirder on my journeys." She then began to suck loudly on a smoothy. *SLLLLLRRRRK*
*SLLLLLLLLLRRRRRRRRK*
"I'm trying to get his advice on a job that I'm undertaking. Going 'spelunking.' Not much else to it..."
*SLLLLLLLLRRRRRRRRK* The smoothy then ran dry.
"Fiddlesticks. !" Metal cries, dashing the plastic cup on the floor.
"..."
"That was far less awesome than I thought it would be..." she picked up the cup and apologized to the proprietor.
"So, what brings a couple of changelings to Canterlot?"
Before the shapeshifters could answer, she turned to the icy unicorn.
"I don't think Lore even eats food. I think he subsists on adventuring."
Metal sat, enthralled, by the changeling's tale. This was the kind of adventuring she liked!
"Say, that reminds me of my wanderings through the Marshes of Brightfire! There was this..."
Metal, her tale finished, took her seat and enjoyed the second milk shake brought by the shop owner.
SLLLLLLLLLRRRRRRRRK
"And that's how I ended up besting an Ursa Major with three crippled legs and still managed to out perform the entire Brightflame Choir."
Onyx looks very satisfied with the distinct lack of pizza on her plate. "That was an... interesting story." She sounds very skeptical, as she walks up to the counter and orders a milkshake. "Besides, I don't think any one pony could best an Ursa Major. Even Starswirl needed the help of a dozen ponies. But it was an entertaining tale none-the-less."
"Well, thank you kindly," Metal says, not quite getting the veiled compliment. "I do enjoy telling it."
The crystal pony got up from her bench.
"Well, I should get going and try to find Lore again. He's really hard to track down." With that, she dashed out the door.
"Hey!" the proprietor called after her. "... what about the remaining tab?"
"Not-it," Icy Spell says... and vanishes. There's an audible 'pop' as she reappears outside.
"I'm paying for me only." the mare exclaims quickly before another has the chance to call "not-it."
"Always a good thing when everything works out in the end." The unicorn grins widely, before gulping down the rest her shake.
"So it's pizza-for-stories is it?" Icy Spell asks, trotting back in. "I can spin a fine tale or five," she smiles hopefully.
There is a statue of a crystal pony in the room, leaning against the wall. it is situated such that it faces the entire room, unobtrusive but still clearly visible if you care to look at it. It is made of a dark, duller crystal than usual, and if you are familiar with crystals then you know a few possible reasons for it would be damage, naked exposure to the environment, or a build-up of chemicals on its surface. All of these suggest a lack of care, and yet you see no dust has accumulated on the statue's surface.
The pony it depicts is male and possibly some sort of mercenary or guard, wearing actual armor that is clearly not part of the statue itself. Clothes and decorates are usually carved in with the statue but it's not unheard of to put actual pieces on the statue itself, especially one life-sized such as this. It does give the statue a feeling that is more... real. That's the best word you can find that describes the effect.
There is nothing particularly exceptional about it, but an appraising eye can tell the sculpture is well-made. Every curve and facet is life-like, its proportions giving it a weight that makes any emotion it depicts heavy.
Its pose is unusual, especially for a guard. The statue is covering its face with both forehooves as it kneels forward on its hind, perhaps ready to spring forward, perhaps grieving. Without seeing its face, you can't be sure. If you move closer, much much closer, you can barely see its closed eyes almost peeking out from behind the hooves, unnoticeable if the statue is looked at in the usual angle.
No matter how long you stare at it, it doesn't move. Why would it move? It's a statue. It was here when you arrived. It will probably be here when you leave.
Onyx goes and sits on the statue, getting far more easily then might be expected from a small unicorn. There she sits digesting her meal and basking in... the lack of sunlight? Well she is clearly enjoying herself up there.
The statue is not a comfortable chair. Aside from lacking most qualities that makes a chair, the armor it wears makes for an awkward sitting angle and the metal the armor is made of only adds to the discomfort.
Still, the statue makes no visible sign of acknowledging Onyx's presence. This makes sense because it's a statue. You wouldn't be able to see any change of expression it makes anyway due to the its hooves and helmet covering its face, if it were capable of such a thing in the first place of course.
"I am making it my throne of course! And a comfortable throne it is." Onyx shifts slightly and visibly relaxes even more, making exaggerated gestures of comfort and joy.
Onyx mutters something, her glows, and then she looks like the statue.
The statue continues to be a statue. But something drips down on Onyx from above. Water, in steady drops, seems to be falling on her.
"You're getting wet," Icy Spell murmurs, wandering back in as it seems that there is the possibility of free food...
Onyx lazily looks up at the leak, pulls a stick of chewing gum, chews it a moment then sticks the wad in the leaking hole. A temporary solution, but it'll last till after she leaves.
There is no discernible hole the water is leaking through. Nevertheless, even when where it seems to be appearing to be coming from is blocked, it starts up again right to its side, continuing its dripping.
Shifting onto her back, she starts catching the drops into a waterball with her telekinesis, fully intending to douse whoever is making it drip if she discovers who it is (and she sure somepony is responsible, the gum trick nevers fails unless magic is at work!)