The interior of the tavern was dim, but in a homely way. Prior to the arrival of Pinkie and the rest, there wasn't all that much going on inside - there was the aging bartender who had an eternally bored expression plastered on his face, the eternal drunkard passed out with her own leg as a pillow, and some stallion who just wanted to eat a meal in peace.

Unfortunately, he was not going to get what he wanted, for in a few seconds almost the entire town was packed into the space, ready for a party!

And if there was one thing Pinkie knew how to do, it was party. She avoided pulling food and party supplies out of her mane since she didn't feel like startling everypony just yet, but that didn't stop her. She was more than able to re-arrange the tables, sing a little ditty to get everypony pumped, and get the crowd to forget their burdens if only for a day.

"So there I was!" she said, walking atop the bartop with an exaggerated sneaking motion. "Not yet detected by the Grimelch, for I had been smart enough to smear myself in mud so they wouldn't be able to smell me. I could see the exit - a simple door. There wasn't even a lock on it - all I had to do was push through it and I was free. My friends would be waiting. Or so I thought! Because, suddenly, out of nowhere, BASHAM!" She clapped her front hooves together and stood on her hind legs. "Nova comes barreling down the hallway, shooting lasers left and right at the Grimelch she had alerted! So I go. 'What in Celestia's name are you doing!?' and she goes 'Saving you!' and then I do this." She let out a dramatic sigh and facehooved with both of her hooves.

There were some chuckles from the crowd.

"Naturally, we were able to take the few Grimelch that she had alerted with a combination of magic lasers and my patented ponkadonk technique. It goes something like this - hi-ya! Hooooo-yaaaa!" In truth, she had just used her hammer, but talking about that detail would just take away from the telling of the story. "We got out, met up with the others, and ran away laughing while everything exploded around us!" She giggled, plopping down in a chair. "Good times..."

A young colt looked at her with wide eyes. "Wow... You and your friends are amazing..."

"Yep! It's basically our job to explore and adventure! Been doing it for... eh, I've lost count." She shrugged, glancing to Crypt - no doubt this story was confirming much of what he already suspected about her. She wondered how much he noticed about what she was leaving out, or what he thought about her friends.

"Where are your friends now?" Brook asked.

Pinkie smiled sadly. "I don't know. I'm trying to find them. I don't suppose any of the names I mentioned were familiar?"

Brook shook her head. "I am afraid not."

"Then my quest continues!" Pinkie declared, lifting a mug of some unidentified beverage high into the air. She chugged it in one gulp - tasted like pumpkin. "Speaking of quests, Myrrh, do you happen to have a story?"

"I, uh..." Myrrh tapped her claws together. "Actually, yes, I do! If you go far enough north, you eventually reach the end of the great desert. That is the land of Krillisk, a country founded by lobster-like creatures twice the size of me - can you believe that?! They're slow, lumbering, but also really really scalin' smart. They speak in a strange language of klicks that took me FOREVER to learn, I mean really, have you tried to click with this many teeth in your mouth?"

Antimony shook his head. "...Hold up. You mean to tell me you had to learn how they talked? Then why don't you have to learn how we talk? We're the furthest jamboree north in the land!"

"There's a very simple explanation for that," Myrrh said. A second later she realized what she'd just said. "Uh... I have no idea."

Pinkie did her absolute best not to draw any attention to herself. Let them be confused.

"R-REGARDLESS!" Myrrh said, suddenly. "There was this one time I was invited to dine at one of the local ruler's tables. It was difficult since I hate water and needed to have air delivered to me in his 'under-river' palace, but they did it. Somehow. Still have no idea how, but hey, It was sweet. At least until he revealed that I was supposed to stay there forever and be part of his stupid zoo. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely looooved the attention he was giving me, but I'm not a girl who stays in one place for very long, y'know? Gotta keep going south." She stood up tall, tapping her chest with a claw. "So I busted out of there. Turns out fire breath doesn't work underwater, like, at all, bu-"

"Fire breath!?" several of the townsponies said in awe.

Myrrh let out a puff of smoke with a sly smirk. "Best not to do it inside, kids. But I can show any one of you later, if you'd like." She leaned toward one of the taller mares in the room, raising an eyebrow.

She slipped on a wet spot and fell flat on her face. With a sputter and a wave of her limbs, she stood back to her feet. "W-where was I? Oh, yes, breaking out. Ahem, well, uh..." She had to give herself a moment to recover her mojo. "Anyway, no fire breath. But you know what works really well under water?" She spread her wings with pride. "These bad babies flapped so fast steam was bubbling all around me, confusing my pursuers to no end. I shot up out of the water, rushed to my prowler, and ran off as fast as I could. You'd be surprised how fast that hunk of metal can go."

Antimony smirked. "...I think I would like to meet these lobster creatures."

Myrrh shrugged. "Be my guest - try to cross the desert. I barely survived, and I had my Prowler."

"What is that thing, anyway?" one of the stallions asked. "Where'd it come from?"

"S-story for another time!" Myrrh stuttered.

"That means it's CRYPT'S time for a story!" Pinkie said, sliding up next to him. "Come on, you know you want to!"

Crypt wordlessly took a bite out of his sunflower seed sandwich.

"Party pooper..."

"NO WORRY!" Antimony said, slamming his hoof on the bar. "I shall tell you a story instead! It is the story of our fair town's founding! I was but a colt when it happened, but I still remember it like it was yesterday. My father - rest his soul - had been given a deed from the prince of Ser'ome to establish a new colony wherever he saw fit. This came as no surprise at all, for my family has a long tradition of exploring and forging new paths into the wilderness. But what did come as a surprise is where he decided to plant the settlement that would become Ser'ta'ta. He went as far north as he could without entering the domain of the Sky King or the Devil Trees, creating a true frontier. Everypony said he was mad, so he couldn't form the standard sixty-four pony team, only mustering half that."

With a grin, Antimony raised his hoof into the air. "Everyone said he was doomed, that Ser'ta'ta's name would end up the name of another colony after ours was destroyed. But he was shrewd, he knew exactly where the Sky King's influence ran, and where the beasts of the Devil Trees would not come. For he had found a landmark - the great obelisk to the north!"

"Hey, we were just there!" Pinkie said. "There was a strange symbol at the top that pointed us here!"

Antimony looked at her with a quizzical expression - but decided to finish his story first. "No one knows where that obelisk came from, or what its purpose is, but good ol' Pa figured out that it divided the land in four. He created Ser'ta'ta as far north as it possibly could be, exactly. He was a genius, the old man. We haven't had any trouble from beasts or the Sky King since the foundation."

"He sounds like he was a great guy," Pinkie said.

"He was the best," Antimony admitted, fixing Pinkie with a more stern expression. "You said there was a symbol atop the obelisk?"

"Yeah! Pointed right to you."

"Someone has vandalized our landmark. There was no symbol up there last I knew," Antimony narrowed his eyes. "What did it look like?"

"Uh, a smirking face with two swirling eyes, pointed right at Ser'ta'ta."

"The Technician?" Antimony's jaw dropped. "That... thing vandalized our heritage!?"

"The Technician was here?" Crypt asked, suddenly paying rapt attention.

"Yes," Antimony admitted. "The Technician passed through a few weeks ago. I thought it was just a figure of legend until that day. It stayed in the tavern one night, and left. Never said a word."

"Where did it go?"

"Down the only road out of town." Antimony looked curiously at Crypt. "What do you know of the Technician, Lone Crypt?"

Crypt looked back down at his sunflower seed sandwich.

"He does that," Pinkie said with a sigh. "Can you tell me what you know about the Technician? He knows what it is, you know what it is, but I have no idea. Neither does Myrrh."

"I might know!" Myrrh countered.

"You don't."

"Y-yeah..."

Antimony shrugged. "The Technician... A name that has no meaning, so far as we can tell. Legends say it chose that name itself, or it was how it introduced itself. Everything about it is contradictory... Ma, you know more about recent legends than I do."

Brook nodded. "Six years ago, shortly after the day of Allignment, it supposedly wandered into our lands. I know little about the Technician, but I do know it showed immense knowledge beyond that of any pony. Then, one day, it just vanished, leaving many conflicting stories about its purpose or even its existence. I myself was unsure it was real until it appeared those four weeks ago. It was so... silent." She looked into the distnace. "What I wouldn't give to know what it was thinking..."

"Wow..." Pinkie said, blinking. "...Crypt, Myrrh, unless you have any other ideas, I think we should try to find this Technician."

"Sounds like a quest!" Myrrh said, indicating her agreement.

Crypt gave no indication one way or the other.

"Then it's settled! Our quest: find the Technician and learn what we can!"

"...Won't you at least stay the night?" Brook asked. "I can pay for your room, and I'm sure Antimony and the others would love to hear more stories."

"Oh, duh, of course we'll stay the night!" Pinkie giggled. "What kind of ponies do you take us for?"