Raymond huffed in irritation as the smoke from the boiler finally started to die down. It wasn't that he was paranoid or anything, really he wasn't. It's not paranoia if fate is actually trying to screw with you.

"Yes sir, I'm certain it will actually take three to four days before the part arrives. Yes, we'll warn you before we leave. Yes, I promise," Recon muttered in a perfect facsimile of the engineers voice. It was bullshit and he knew it. He'd been left behind before after such promises when fate didn't want him to go somewhere, when it wanted him to stay in a certain location or didn't want him going somewhere else.

He made it a few paces down the road before he ran into the first of...them. It was a pink mare with a darker pink mane. Unlike her reaction in all of the stories though, she looked less than happy to see him.

"You shouldn't be here," Pinkie Pie said with a scowl.

"I know," Recon responded, walking right by the mare. "If I had a say in it, I'd be anywhere but here. As it stands, my train died right at the station and now I'm stuck here until they get it fixed."

There was a horrific bang from behind him and the disguised changeling stopped, falling onto his flank and hanging his head in defeat.

"You mean the train that's currently speeding down the tracks while on fire as the conductor tries desperately to catch up to it?" Pinkie asked, watching the debacle in confusion.

Max sighed before turning around, catching the last glimpse of the train as it tore down the tracks. While on fire.

"Yea, that train. I knew something like this would happen. This is just great, my stuff was on that train. I left it on there so they couldn't leave without me."

"You mean that stuff that's sitting on the train tracks right there?" the mare added, now more in curiosity then hostility.

Recon's eyes widened and he rushed over to his gear, checking them for any tears or breaks. Finding none, he opened a single bag and made sure his only jar of emotion was undamaged. It wasn't much, but it could tide him over for a week if he stretched it. That would be in a place devoid of happiness and other generally positive emotions, though. It was doubtful he'd even need it in a friendly rural town.

'Better to have and not need, though.'

"Are you an evil alchemist? Is that what that muscle twitch has been telling me? I get it every now and again and it's usually ponies who act weird and don't ever want to be my friend and I'm sorry that your train left you but at least you still have your stuff and-"

"It's fine," Recon said quietly. "I've been avoiding whatever's going on here for the last few weeks. I might as well see what's wrong. Oh, and I'm not an evil Alchemist. Just an alchemist. I do a bit of mixing to pass the time. It's actually kind of fun finding out what you can make with just the things you find in your back yard or growing in the basement."

Technically true. He often passed the emotion off to the casual observer as something he mixed up and with the other things in his bag as well as the book on basic alchemy he'd been browsing it had even passed the inspection of royal guards.

Pinkie hummed to herself in thought as she helped move the stuff off of the tracks.

"I suppose, but only if you Pinkie Promise not to be a baddy. I mean, you're already acting different from the others that set off my Pinkie Sense. Most were like, 'Mwahahaha!' and I was like, 'You shouldn't be here!' and they'd be like 'Oh noes! We've been found out!' and they jump back on the train and leave. Of course, you want to leave, but the train left without you and you haven't been acting all fidgety-widgety around me."

"I would, but I kinda' lack pinkies. Maybe a hoof promise?" Recon offered instead, proffering said hoof.

"Pinkies? Oh, you mean like the tiny finger minotaurs have? No, I mean a Pinkie promise, one that I enforce! I'll know if you break it, mister... oh gosh I didn't even ask and now I need to say it but I don't have it and-"

"Recon. I'm Recon. Pleasure to meet you," he interrupted, still holding out his hoof.

"Okay, well I'm Pinkie Pie, though my friends call me Pinkie. Right then. A Pinkie Promise goes like this. Cross my heart, hope to fly," she explained, going through a series of strange motions. It was even stranger that she was asking a pegasus to say 'hope to fly'. "Stick a cupcake in my eye."

Her recitation of the oath complete, she tapped her eye with her hoof, expertly remembering to keep the eye closed in the process.

Raymond pondered traumatizing the mare with his own variation of that oath but ended up deciding against it.

"I, Recon, do solemnly swear that I mean no harm - physically, mentally, or magically- to any resident of Ponyville. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," he repeated, managing not to stab himself in the eye with his hoof. He'd done that plenty of times in the past while trying to wipe sleep gunk out of them or just rubbing them while tired. That seemed to ease most of the pink mare's fear, though she still was radiating a bit of doubt in his presence.

'Something that I'll either be able to ignore until I can get out of here or that I'll have to work on later. Either way...'

"So do you know where the Town Hall is? I'd like to see if there's a hotel around, maybe a job-board until the next train comes through," he asked, throwing his saddlebags over his back.

"Well, I think the mayor may have something she needs done, but you may not even get to see her. She'd kinda busy right now. As for hotels...there's one, but I think it's booked for the Summer Sun Celebration."

The stallion blinked before face-hoofing in irritation. This was exactly the time he wanted to avoid Ponyville; when shit started hitting the fan. Never the less he continued moving towards the center of town.

"Okay, Pinkie. Is there anything that you can think of off the top of your head that may be...off? I mean, something's gotta be up for such a strange line of occurrences to occur to drag me here."

Taking off in the direction he assumed was towards the center of town turned out to be the wrong answer, as he ended up nearly wandering right back out of the town. In fact, if not for his self-appointed keeper he'd likely never had found the Town Hall. There were no distinguishing features and it was far from the biggest building in town. That title belonged to the large tree down the road that was most likely Golden Oak library.

Grabbing a town map from just inside as well as a few help-wanted fliers, Recon became increasingly irritated as he read through them. Most were expired or asking for ridiculous things. Who needs someone with a master's level license  in plumbing to fix a leaky sink? Who asks for a licensed apothecary to make a balm for irritated hooves when there's a medical facility right down the road, one that's cheap if not outright free because most of their funding comes from the crown? What the heck, ponies?

Hovering down the hallway while holding onto a few of the less ridiculous adds in his hooves he stopped in front of an open door, having been slapped by two dueling auras of irritation and anger.

Inside the office was an older mare with toffee colored fur and grey mane. The golden spectacles sitting on her muzzle certainly added an air of importance to her presence, as did the confident tone with which she spoke.

The second person, a Pegasus in a business suit, was exactly the kind of pony he went out of his way to avoid. It was an office goon, one much like the unicorn who'd snubbed him in Trottingham.

'Likely has the same opinion of unicorns as that unicorn had of Pegasi, too,' he thought to himself with a suppressed chuckle.

"I was sent here for a report, how am I supposed to get a report if you can't direct me to the proper pony?" The stallion ranted, his primaries splaying slightly in agitation.

"Get out. When the weather factory finds a pony capable of using logic, they can come back and talk to me. I'm not going to spend my day talking circles with a stallion who can't be bothered with reality," the mayor responded, pushing a small stack of papers back to the Pegasus.

The stallion huffed and took the papers under a wing, grumbling as he left and knocking Recon out of his way as he stomped out of the office.

"Nice guy," the disguised stallion offered dryly.

"Indeed. I don't think I've seen you before, is there something you need?" Mayor mare asked, readjusting her spectacles.

Recon shook his head.

"Just blew into town today. Train kinda died on the tracks, then exploded and tore off down the tracks minute I was clear of it."

The mayor laughed, opening a drawer and drawing a folder.

"You're one of those. Fate wants you to go somewhere, but you can't stand the idea of not being in control. When did you first get an opportunity to come to Ponyville? It may not have been a very good one so think hard."

Recon scowled, his muzzle twisting in thought. He remembered a few of the chances and opportunities, but the first one? That had to be...

"An add for Mr Rich's convenience store, I think there was an employment opportunity circled on the paper I was reading, but I've never been a fan of that kind of work."

"Truly? Strange, usually the job is an almost perfect fit for a pony," the mayor muttered, looking through the folder. "Ah, here we go- oh wow, two years ago? Ha, you avoided it longer than most ponies I know. Most fold the first time things go wrong. Even the stubborn ones tend to figure it out fairly quickly. Is there a reason you've avoided Ponyville?"

"I've heard things are going to get crazy after the Summer Sun festival," Recon replied. Not completely true but as they say, the best lies...

"I'd rather not get involved when the mare who predicts that kind of craziness finds a city being attacked by monsters to be an everyday occurrence. If monster attacks are normal, what would she list as crazy?"

"My, it must be a horrible place," the earth pony replied in confusion and a bit of worry.

The changeling shook his head.

"Not too bad, the town had their own personal superheroes. Funny thing was they were little girls; sugar, spice, everything nice, the whole nine yards. I don't think this crazy will be kaiju of the week crazy, but I was trying to avoid it altogether."

The mayor nodded sympathetically.

"Not always possible though. Still, I appreciate the honesty. I think our disaster-response policy is a bit outdated so I'll get Cherry to take a look at it for me."

Tapping her table in thought, Mayor Mare smiled.

"Perhaps you can help me with something until you find something more suited to your talents?" Next Chapter: Survey Estimated time remaining: 51 Minutes