A Freemason Hunt

Top Story was grateful to have some time off from his incredibly stressful job as a reporter. He had been running all over Trottingham collecting story after story to put in the paper that the job eventually got tedious. He was on a train heading for Canterlot to spend his week off. If he was going to find, who knows, Illuminati or Templars anywhere in Equestria, Canterlot would be the best place to start his search. He looked out the window as the city came into view. The sprawling gem of a city stood majestically as he planned out his search. He would make a b line straight for the main street, where all the eccentric rich ponies gathered to shop. In the midst of all the ponies, there was bound to be some shady dealings happening when they could not be followed, when the streets were at their busiest. He remembered reading somewhere about how these secret societies would usually mark themselves so that way their members could identify each other easily. He had no idea what those crests looked like, but he was hopeful that he would be able to identify it when he saw it.

The train came to a screeching halt at the Canterlot train station. As ponies came off and boarded the train, Top Story ran off to his destination, pushing other ponies out of the way as he ran. After arriving in the main street, Top Story was greeted with what he wanted to see, sort of. While he saw countless aristocrats in the street, he had no fortune in finding his freemason. Running out of luck, Top Story decided that it would be best to just go get some refreshments and wait. Before he left the street however, he noticed two ponies off to the side, one in a fedora and both of them in fancy suits. Top Story then noticed they seemed to be wearing strange badges on their suits with red crosses on a white background. Bingo. Top Story had his freemasons. Maybe they were Templars and they were discussing their plans to acquire more wealth. Maybe they were in the Illuminati and were conspiring to overthrow the princess. Wait, if the Illuminati controlled every aspect of society, then that would mean that Celestia was nothing more than a puppet in the conspiracy. Oh, poor Luna. Top Story then gasped when he realized that Luna must also be a puppet in the system as well. Maybe they did not even exist. That was it! Celestia and Luna never actually existed and these ponies were discussing how to keep the populace ignorant of this fact. However, Top Story could not just charge in at them yet. There was too many witnesses in the main street. He would have to tail them. He waited until they started to walk, and eventually followed them to a large building somewhere in the city. Top Story went to a nearby cafe and had a cup of coffee. He simply sat and waited for his targets to come back out so he could follow them again.

(OOC: I hope this is okay!)

Coincidentally, the resident reporter-journalist-newspaper editor in Ponyville also chose to take a vacation to Canterlot at the same time as this fine stallion. Carpe Diem hopped off the train and took a moment to adjust the bandana around her neck and her press hat before trotting off and out onto the street.

The orange mare let out a laugh and bounced in place a little as she looked around at the buildings, both in excitement and to stretch out her legs. It had been way too long since she had last had a vacation. She had been much too busy, naturally. Being the only writer and publisher of the Ponyville Times, she had a lot of responsibilities on her shoulders and rarely got a break. Friends had managed to convince her to take one, however, so here she was in Canterlot. She was planning on spending a day or two there, and had enough bits stashed under a bag in her hat to last her that long.

But first, coffee. Dear Celestia, was she tired. Carpe made her way to the nearest café, tipping her hat to all the pretty mares as she passed them. Chivalry wasn't dead yet. When she walked through the doors she spotted a stallion that was wearing a hat similar to hers. Her eyes lit up, and sure enough as soon as she bought her coffee she was sitting across from him, her sharp voice a little too loud.

"Wow! Please stop me if I'm intruding, but I just have to ask, are you a reporter?" She stared at him hopefully, beaming.

Without a moment's notice, Top Story grabbed the mare by the head and yanked her under the table. "What do you think you're doing?" Top told her, eyes turning to meet him underneath the table. "Are you trying to get me found out? I have worked too long and hard for you to just ruin everything, unless..." He shot up as he had a sudden realization and hit his head against the table. He rubbed his head and groaned. He was certainly going to feel that in the morning. He then turned his attention back to her and continued with "Unless you're a spy. That's it! You're one of them, aren't you? What are you, Templar, Illuminati, Freemason, what?" He was tapping her with every accusation and his eyes beating.