Redder escorted Sparkler, Temporis, Brazzle, Nickle, and Solitaire on a tour of the city. Their first stop was Platinum Suites, where Urgor Fish-Mauler was already resting. They were informed that the second-to-last floor (37th floor) would be where their rooms were, as that floor was reserved for fieldworkers in the Ministry of Information. Temporis took this opportunity to get some rest after his stressful encounter with chaos magic earlier in the day. Redder lead the rest around Canterlot, giving them a general overview of where the shops, services, and entertainment centers are located. At the end of the tour, everyone headed back to the hotel save for Sparkler, who spent a night enjoying the city’s local clubs.

In the morning, the party headed to Administer Sterling Pierce’s office, as they were instructed. He entered and gave the party a briefing on their first assignment,instructing them that they would be taking a skybus to Ironpelt Outpost in the Borean Tundra to investigate a local ruin. After being briefed, they were escorted to the roof landing pad by Redder. On the roof was the skybus Firefly, piloted by Butterscotch “Gadget” Medley. The party boarded the ship and began their journey to the Boarean Tundra.

Upon arriving in Ironpelt Outpost, the party was directed towards Vivid Wake, the unicorn in charge of the excavation. Vivid informed the group of their mission, which was to explore past a sealed door in the Broken Tusk ruins. She handed them a small pendant and instructed them to use it on the door.

The party entered the ruins and began to explore. They came upon an already-discovered area with beds and other quarters (kitchens, storeroom, etc.). Nothing of interest was found. They continued exploring and came upon a mural they had been informed of. The mural showed several boar looking up towards a large Elk figure.

The party approached the door Vivid Wake had mentioned and opened it up. They encountered three different rooms. The first contained rows of seats on each side of it with a throne in the middle. The throne had been enchanted to disperse force and magic from both inside and outside of it, allowing anyone inside it to remain untouched.

The second room was a large, empty one with a stature of an Elk pointing West. The party pushed the statue to the West and revealed a stairwell with a Vargouille guarding it. They quickly resealed the entrance and proceeded to the third room, which housed a pillar in the center of a pit. On the pillar lay a +1 Horseshoe of Frost. Brazzle attempted to grab it and set off a trap, causing spikes to appear and trap him. After some effort, the party managed to free him. They decided to go back to the excavation site to heal up.

After healing, the party delved back in and headed towards the room with the statue. They pushed it open again, with Urgor providing an intimidation roll to ward the beast off. The Vargouille retreated further down, and the party followed. This led them down a dark stairway and into a long, wide hall.

The Vargouille was visible again, and the group dispatched it quickly. With the threat gone, they began to explore the hall. As they did, the sound of stone sliding followed by a thud alerted them to a change. They found that the hall’s exits were sealed with ornate stone doors that said “Alliance” in Old Elken. Along with this, the walls were covered with art and Old Elken scripture detailing a part of unknown history.

After several hours of puzzling out the Hall, the group settled all grievances between themselves. This caused the doors to open once more. However, before risking any further exploration, they decided to return to camp one final time.

The group delved into Broken Tusk Ruins for the last time, now with Nickle Dare in tow. They once again got to the Hall of Stories, where the doors closed. Over the course of several hours, the room began to get misty and very cold, with soft figures moving in the distant fog of the hall.

The party begins to slowly pass out, one-by-one, before Temporis casts dimension door to send everyone to the other side of one of the doors. They end up in a new room, and Temporis passes out. The party takes a while to rest and get everyone back on their feet.

Temporis Reluctor and Nickle Dare traveled to the Hall of Eternity, where they found a pony Temporis had seen in a vision. Nickle quickly harassed her about his books, while Temporis attempted to calm her down and gather information. She began to leave out of frustration, but was cut off by a group of Unicorns and Earth Ponies carrying books, which Nickle had been trying to find for quite some time. They were in a rush however, so they quickly explained that the only way to access the books now would be to join the Ministry of Information, which happened to be where the group was heading. They accompanied the group into a small pack of Skytrams and flew off to Canterlot.

Sparkler was picking up her paycheck in Los Pegasus after being told she had received another pay cut. Frustrated, she proceeded to her local bank where, while waiting in line, she found a flier advertising the Ministry of Information, offering great pay and great adventure for anyone with the guts to take the job. After cashing her check, Sparkler rushed to her local Ministry detachment and asked for an application. She filled it out and purchased a train ticket to Canterlot, taking the next available train.

Solitaire was in Dodge Junction, and it wasn’t the first time he had gambled his last bit away. In a risky move, he put his hat on the line, and a string of successes got him enough money a few drinks and a ticket to Appleoosa. Along the way, he found a few separate instances of the same Ministry of Information flier, asking for able-bodied individuals with wills or iron and hooves of steel to join the Ministry as a fieldworker. The fliers caught his interest, but he returned to his old gambling habit in Appleoosa’s saloon until he caught a bed for the night. The next morning, a pony in a suit was taking down the Ministry of Information fliers. Solitaire stopped the man and, after a discussion, agreed to accompany the man to Canterlot to visit the Ministry of Information.

On the train, Solitaire met Sparkler. They exchanged very few words before both went for drinks and salt. Solitaire downed far too much salt and began an inebriated romp from cabin to cabin, performing lewd acts and, at one point, firing a few shots into the train’s walls. He eventually blacked out and woke up with a terrible headache and stomach pains, and noticed that his gun was missing. He found it in the engine room, where he intimidated the people whom stole it to get it back. Afterwards, him and Sparkler left for the Ministry of Information.

Duke Moosem awoke from another berserker rage, standing over the mush that remained of a pony. As rain began to pour, Duke followed tracks into a small hamlet, where the streets were empty. He entered the local inn and attempted to get a room, through persuasion, then intimidation. Failing both, he charged the innkeeper and ended him quickly. After acquiring a key, he took a room upstairs and rested for a few short hours. As he prepared to leave, another pony ambushed him. Duke also ended this pony’s life. Among her belongings, he found a map and instructions on the Ministry of Information. Deciding to join, he made a few days hard travel to Canterlot.

Solitaire, Sparkler, Brazzle, Temporis, and Nickle all arrived at the Ministry, turned in their applications.

In the ancient Griffin city of Talos, Brazzle saw a sky chariot off coming in, carrying an Earth Pony. It landed and the pony riding it traveled to the nearest bar. Brazzle, interested, followed him. In the bar, the Earth Pony announced an opportunity to explore, experience an adventure, and uncover lost history. Brazzle jumped at the opportunity, and they promptly began a ride back to Canterlot.

Meanwhile, in Concordia, the Unicorn named Temporis Reluctor was busy using his powers over time to play gypsy for an Elken couple. A nagging in his mind gave him a headache, however, and Tempris couldn’t concentrate. He gave a bland answer which one of the two Elk didn’t buy. They stormed out after getting a full refund and muttering a few slurs. Temporis focused on the nagging thought, and had a vision of a light brown Earth Pony bathed in white light at the Hall of Eternity, there in Concordia.

On the other side of town, Nickle Dare was checking yet another library in yet another town, as yet another part of his quest to discover his lost heritage as a Reindeer. After frightening a young Deer clerk, she led him to the part of the library where he could find the appropriate books. Unfortunately, the books were gone by the time they arrived. After some discussion, the clerk ran away from Nickle, but not before hastily writing down the information regarding where he can find the Ministry of Information party that may have snatched the books, which was set to leave soon from the Hall of Eternity.

Temporis and Nickle met up, with Temporis leading the conversation since he already knew where it was going. In short time they became associates and traveled to the Hall of Eternity together.