Hoof and Crystal in Inn After Bombs 1/27/15

[13:37] * GreenHoof trots up to the Inn door, this time with more purpose in his step than usual. He pushes the door open and trots inside, his brown cloak fluttering behind him. A modified crossbow sits holstered on his right side, and Phoenix Down's sheathed sword clanks against his left. Spotting CrystalShine and Inkwell, he trots up to the two mares, looking specifically to Crystal. Though the stallion appears to be behind on sleep, his brow is wrinkled with concern. "Is Curious back yet?"

[13:40] * Enoka chuckles and says "I brought you and Eureka" she points to the sleeping Eureka "Back to the inn, and you both kinda drifted off after talking shortly."

[13:41] * CrystalShine turns at GreenHoof, stallion she probably woke up too this morning on their emergency visit in Greenfarm "Hi Hoof" shakes her head "Still only Harold…"

[13:44] <14LouffyKaver> "Oh, thanks.."

[13:44] * GreenHoof nods in understanding but grunts in disappointment. He turns to face the bar, his long tail idly swishing back and forth in agitation. "Was gonna see if she knew anything about missing explosives powder..." He mutters, then turning his head to look to Crystal again. "Are there any updates you know of?"

[13:46] <14CrystalShine> "Missing powder?" looks at him, surprised "So… It was someone from inside?" sighs, shaking her head "I don't know much more… Kind of hoped someone here will. We spent whole day cleaning the rubble and beginning repairs of workshop…"

[13:50] * GreenHoof shakes his head. "No, I don't know if the powder was from our stocks. That's what I'm trying to find out. If we can find that any powder is missing, that's our first step." Hoof looks down to the bartop, thinking aloud. "If it's *not* someone from inside, I might have an idea of where it came from." He sighs through his nose and gestures towards the bartop with his hooves. "Though it's doubtful... They haven't been active since early last year..."

[13:54] * CrystalShine sips her coffee, sighing with pleasure again. This is truly the cure after hard day of work. "I thought it could be Vanguards… Or someone from them… But you probably don't mean them?" looks at him from her cup with questioning look.

[13:59] * GreenHoof shakes his head again, frowning. "Vanguards? No... I wouldn't put it off the table, but that seems unlikely given their supposed newfound interest in improving relations with us." Hoof furrows his brow, "Unless it's a rogue sect..." He mutters. Shaking the thought off for now, he looks to Crystal with a calculating expression. "There was a group active quite some time ago, codenamed H.O.R.S. A terroristic group that sought to do... something, concerning the town. But they've been quiet since the-" Hoof cuts off, an ear flicking as he says the next part quietly, "assassination attempt..."

[14:03] * CrystalShine looks at him curiously, not knowing if he's kidding or serious "Pony terrorists… Called HORS. Really? I know they love horse puns and stuff like that… But how can they hope to be taken seriously?" frowns and looks at the window in the way of railroad "I guess they are… What happened with them in past?"

[14:10] * GreenHoof 's business-like expression indicates that he's indeed serious, and under better circumstances might smirk in agreement at the name. Instead, he follows her gaze to look out the window, letting his voice go quieter. "Two events, that we dealt with, anyway: First was the hiring of Griffon pirates to rob our precious metal reserves, destroy what they couldn't steal, and burn lumber in the warehouses. Supposedly the idea was to cut off our ability to trade with the Equestrians. HORS was also purchasing large amounts of powder from these pirates. Second was an... assassination attempt on a council pony in retribution for killing the Griffon captain, Farbeak."

[14:15] * CrystalShine raises her eyebrow, responding quietly "From your tone, it almost looks like said council pony sits right in front of me… What were their motives? This attack was strange. If they tried to disable colony once, now they did really bad work in that aspect."

[14:21] * Inkwell looks at CrystalShine and GreenHoof, shaking her head and quietly mumbling, "Ridiculous, pony terrorists..."

[14:22] * GreenHoof gives a single, slow nod. "You are correct," he says just above a whisper, before raising his voice to the quiet tone before, "From what little we know - and it's very little - they had some sort of direction they wanted to take the town's future. Not destroy it. But..." he shrugs, sighing, "Last we heard from them was in spring of last year. We all just kind of assumed they... dissapated. I'm still not convinced this HORS we're dealing with, but it's certainly a possibility, especially considering the fact that they are confirmed to have obtained a large amount of explosives. That's why we need to find out if the explosives came from our town or... somewhere else," Hoof says, taking a deep breath. He wasn't used to talking so much at once...

[14:23] * LouffyKaver hears whispering of a a Green pony and a blue pony...
[14:23] * LouffyKaver gets up after taking his small amount of hard cider.
[14:23] <14LouffyKaver> "So how you chums doing?"
[14:24] * LouffyKaver stumbles a tiny tad towards them

[14:25] * Enoka watches Louffy walk up to them "..."

[14:26] <14LouffyKaver> "Aye, me bottle o' scrumpy!"
[14:26] * LouffyKaver eyes towards the shelf
[14:26] * LouffyKaver noticing the bottle of hard cider

[14:27] * GreenHoof sits up straight, turning to see the pony that addressed them. Noticing his stumble, he flickers an ear and gives a quick nod, turning back to Crystal.

[14:27] <14LouffyKaver> "Yer like a little bunny... scurryin' around, eatin' up yer lettuce and berries!"

[14:28] * Enoka goes over to Louffy and whispers to him

[14:29] * LouffyKaver listens, Even when hes drunk, he has common sense

[14:29] * CrystalShine nods at Greenhoof and opens her mouth to answer just to be interrupted by new pony… Who gets distracted by bottle. Good. "I just still don't understand why they did it this way" responds quietly. "I mean, blowing up roof?" shakes her head "If they put the bomb on wall next to waterwheel, they could disable ursa for really long time… Now we just have to fix roof and work without breakroom"

[14:32] * GreenHoof purses his lips and looks back down at the bartop, shaking his head. "I don't know either... Maybe it was a mistake on their part. Or maybe they intentionally made the damage superficial. Y'know, to scare us. They could be just incompetent, but we'd better not assume that."

[14:35] * CrystalShine nods "That's what I don't want to do… I thought it was distraction so they can blow up rails. But they didn't exactly need it and making bigger damage would be bonus… But if they want to scare us, why didn't they leave any message?" sighs "That doesn't make sense… For now"

[14:38] <03GreenHoof> "It really doesn't... Perhaps both explosions were meant as a distraction? I mean, if we get so focused on these two incidents, maybe that's what they want so they can do something else..."

[14:42] * CrystalShine nods "I know, but what? The first one distracts guards. Second one causes change of orders and patrols over whole time… It's contraproductive as distraction in this aspect…" sighs "If they want to scare us, they haven't succeeded with me. But I'm really worried."

[14:49] * GreenHoof reaches into his saddlebag and pulls out a waterskin, opening it and taking a few gulps while thinking. Putting it away, he places his hooves on the bartop, looking to Crystal. "Same here. But I'm sure we'll find out more information soon."

[14:50] * LouffyKaver eyes towards the green ponies waterskin
[14:51] * LouffyKaver shouts "aye Lad!~ Whats that you got there! gimme sum!"
[14:51] * LouffyKaver he waves his hoof to the green pony, hoping he would throw it towards him,
[14:53] * LouffyKaver shouts "Come on lad

[14:54] * CrystalShine nods "But better to get to know it soo-" sighs and turns her tired face to pony "I'm sorry, but we have a private conversation here" doesn't look mad, her expression looks more like apology.

[14:55] * GreenHoof 's ears fold back as he's shouted at, swiveling his head to see the drunken stallion. "It's just water," He says quietly, shaking his head. Not only would Hoof have to shuffle under his holstered crossbow to get to his saddlebag, but he didn't find the idea of a stranger sucking on his waterskin appealing, and the drunken one already had water. He turns his attention back to Crystal, urging her to go on.

[15:09] * CrystalShine nods and drinks rest of her coffee "Are there some official procedures? And any suggestions what should we look for?"

[15:19] * GreenHoof shrugs, arching his back in a stretch. "I'm sure there are official procedures, but you'd better ask Hardboil or Mary about those. I've already secured much of my family's safety, but I'd like to see this resolved before they-" Hoof cuts off, electing not to continue that sentence. "And if this is HORS or something like it, then both of our worries are quite validated. As far as what we should look for: finding the source of the missing powder, or lack of it, may lead us to a clue. I'm sure there are other methods of inquery that might lead to something as well..."

[15:27] * CrystalShine sighs "Yes… I know they are doing their best… I hope I will be able to help too, somehow." playing with her empty cup, she shrugs "For now, we have to fix the damage on both workshop and the railroad. I will try to look for some clues, even if I doubt the explosion left any"

[15:31] * GreenHoof suddenly hops off the stool, the short stallion landing to the ground with a huff. Looking up at Crystal, he gives a quick nod and heads for the door. "Right. I have some things to take care of myself. Let's keep each other informed." With that, the green one trots out the door with energy in his step, not bothering to say goodbye to anyone else.
[15:33] * CrystalShine raises her hoof to wave at him, his department too fast and surprising to do anything more "Take care, Hoof" tells to the closed door and turns back, looking even more tired than before "Can I get a refill, please?" nudges her cup.