d20 Pony

Borg

Suggestively ask Sassaflash whether she's really sure she doesn't want to know.

Then talk to our friend the professional diver about the reversing water wheel; it is curious.

Joining Sea Swirl in her mischievous ways, you suggestively ask Sassaflash if she's sure about not wanting to know. After all, it is a very special ring!

Sassaflash: "Oh, I'm sure. When Sea Swirl gives me that look, it can't mean anything good."

Sea Swirl: "No, no, you got it all wrong! It always means something good."

Sassaflash: "Uh huh. You know, the last time she did it was when she brought me a very expensive souvenir from her latest trip to the west coast. Can you guess what it was? Here's a hint: it's as big as I am, and it's got eight weird squishy legs."

Sea Swirl: "It was a beautiful token of my undying love—!"

Sassaflash: "It was a giant stuffed octopus. And it moved on its own!"

Sea Swirl: "Of course it moves; it's supposed to give traditional Kirinese deep tissue massages. You're welcome!"

Sassaflash facehoofs, and you all have a good chuckle. Then, when you sense a lull in the conversation, you decide to change the subject, and ask the unicorn if she knows anything about the river nearby.

Sea Swirl: "I can't say I've heard anything about it. Why do you ask?"

You tell the unicorn that you thought you saw the watermill's wheel change direction earlier, and were wondering whether or not to be concerned.

Sea Swirl: "Are you sure? Rivers don't usually change course like that. Why don't we check it out?"

With the group's curiosity piqued, you walk westward to the watermill. On your way there, the shadow of a passing cloud briefly softens the warm sunshine, and a gentle breeze heralds the chill of the coming night.

As you arrive, you find the water wheel turning in the direction of the lake, and decide to observe it for a while. You continue to chat about this and that for a few minutes, until the wheel suddenly begins to slow down again.

Apple Basket: "... and that's why crunchier apples make for better apple pie. Oh, look! It's happening again."

You watch as the large wooden wheel briefly comes to a stop, then starts to turn in the direction of the forest, while Sea Swirl dips a hoof in the stream to gauge the current.

Sea Swirl: "Hey, you were right! And it's not just the wheel, either. I wonder what's up with that."

Sassaflash: "Well, it looks like the water is coming from — or... is now going to — the Everfree Forest. If you ask me, whatever's going on in there is probably best left unknown."

Sea Swirl: "Good point! Still, I'm curious now, too. It seems to happen often enough to be noticeable, so somepony in town might have a clue. If you ever figure it out, let me know, huh?"

	Steady Gaze:
	No one seems to have realized the week this was posted, but this was following up a plot hook (Monsoon's offhoof comment) from 2015-10-04! Wow!
	#338811 Sep 2023

	4Borg:
	Let's make a note that if we run into somepony like Sapphire Kite or Hoofingold we should let them know the river's behaving weirdly, just in case it ends up being something they need to know, but otherwise let's get back to enjoying the festival. A little bit of reverse water flow seems like something that can wait until tomorrow to be investigated.
	#314520 Mar 2023

	3nopony:
	Let's go back to the festival for now, and make a mental note to investigate this strange occurrence later.
	#314420 Mar 2023

	2The Mortal Paper Fist:
	Try to find Sapphire Kite. As head of the town’s militia we should inform her about any strange occurrences we noticed. And maybe she already knows about this and can tell us why it’s happening, easing our worries.
	#314320 Mar 2023

	The Mortal Paper Fist:► The Mortal Paper Fist (#3143)
	Sea Swirl bough an octopus doll from a certain shop. I’m not surprised. Then she gifted it to Sassaflash, which does indeed surprise me. Maybe it was an attempt at convincing Sassaflash to try out the toy together with her? And now I have to think about a certain scene from The Boy’s involving The Deep and an Octopus. °-° XD
	#314620 Mar 2023

	1Steady Gaze:
	Let's try entering the watermill to talk to the engineer. If it's locked 'cause they're attending the festival, then we might at least get a name from their "out to lunch" sign. Afterwards, maybe we can briefly catch up with Moondancer and Dawn Break; I figure Moondancer would be pretty interested in tagging along when we see Princess Twilight to (dice-willing) donate the ring.
	#314119 Mar 2023

	Steady Gaze:► Steady Gaze (#3141)
	Just when I think there are no more mysteries left, we get hit with this! When I try to speculate about the cause, I think of... - underground activity by grootslangs or other megafauna, - some kind of giant dark energy portal thingamabob, or - (relatively) innocuous magical aquatic plants. I do love it when it seems that the author has a deeper plan beneath the surface... Also, Sassaflash might be the first remotely prudish character we've ever met (at least, of the characters where this has come up). 😆 But I'm glad, given that I don't think we have the bed space for you know what, and we want to heed Tattle Tail's warning to not show off the ring too often. I also wonder, does the river have a name? Maybe Mare's Tail River since it feeds Mare's Tail lake, or the Hoofington River since it's the only one here? Or, more likely, it's just unnamed, since Leaf Chaser didn't bother to label it on her map.
	#314219 Mar 2023*