User blog comment:Guildmaster Grovyle/JLE Role Play, Fall 2017/@comment-7345250-20170918155615

Princess Celestia: "Now then..."


 * She touches her hooves together.

Princess Celestia: "We called you here because we would like to know about your dealings with the late professor Culture Shock. Can you tell us about what you saw and did in his company?"

Agent Neighland: "Ah, woe! Would that I had been in Maretropolis sooner, and I might have saved him a second time!"

Goldfin: "We're asking about the first time."

Agent Neighland: "Of course, of course. The past is ever the architect of the present, and I have witnessed a long history of tragedy after tragedy at the hooves of the same horned devil whom I have no doubt is behind this great loss."


 * Celestia keeps a peaceful countenance. This Neighland character seems knowledgeable on the matter at hand, even if he seems to be getting miles ahead of himself.

Princess Celestia: "And by horned devil, you refer to Temoojin? Or perhaps-"

Agent Neighland: "The most wicked and beautifully ingenious among that obscure stock from the ends of the earth, the insidious devil-doctor Moo Min-Yon!"


 * Celestia blinks and patiently holds her breath while Neighland interrupts her. One catches more flies with honey than with vinegar.

Princess Celestia: "...Thank you, Mr. Neighland. It is reassuring to hear that Moo Min-Yon has been on our radar all this time. However, we would still like to hear about your mission to Cowthay where you met Culture Shock."


 * Neighland starts to tug at his ear again.

Agent Neighland: "Yes, yes, Culture Shock in Cowthay. What a strange time that was—wondrous to the younger pony who signed aboard to police the Royal Archaeological Survey, wondrous yet to the stallion who marvels at the peril posed by that ancient stock..."


 * Celestia gives Luna a sidelong glance. A subtle and inquisitive look that asks "Is this fellow being serious with us?" She has a feeling this exchange is going to feel longer than it really is.

Agent Neighland: "The horror, so-called the Curse of Temoojin, began when the team secured a sarcophagus from the local authorities. Two ponies were in the room when it was first cracked open. During the analysis, a native witness reported a vile green gas creeping out from under the door and snaking away into the night—an evil spirit in everything but name—for in its wake it left an empty casket and two ponies turned to stone."

Goldfin: "Temoojin is the name. Right? Didn't we cover that?"

Agent Neighland: "But no! At face value, it did appear that a malevolent ghost had emerged from the coffin and petrified those two innocent researchers, but I soon learned better. I'd been assisting with some fishy reports around the town hall at the time, and I deduced the coffin given to the researchers was only an elaborate replica, whereas the original had been stolen!"