The jail was much bigger than Rarity expected, and it wasn’t nearly as dark as she imagined a jail would be. For some reason, Rarity believed that as they approached the jail, dense clouds would convene above them and lightning would crawl across the sky, but the only difference between the jail and its environ was that the design was rectangular despite the organically shaped buildings surrounding it.

Rarity was let into the front lobby by the Royal Guard, and he immediately trotted to the very small, skinny mare behind the lobby desk. They were clearly familiar with one another, and the Royal Guard appeared to be trying very hard to make her laugh. Rarity found it strange because the Royal Guard was hulking and powerful, and the mare he was wooing was so incredibly frail looking. A strange image made its way into Rarity’s mind as she tried to come up with a method in which the Royal Guard wouldn't crush the tiny mare to death during intercourse.

“Ms. Rarity?” The Royal Guard called loudly as if it wasn’t the first time he had addressed her.

“Oh, I’m quite sorry, dear.” Rarity chuckled nervously, “I was, as they say, zoning.”

The Royal Guard nodded and made a small gesture toward the scroll which Rarity had in her magic grip. Rarity looked up to the paper and saw that his magic was attempting to take it from her. She released it and chuckled again, “I’m sorry, sir.”

Celestia’s message floated to the tiny mare, and the Royal Guard immediately returned to flirting with her. The little guard stamped the page, placed it on the desk, and called for a clerk all while smiling at the Royal Guard as if he had her in a happy trance. Rarity checked her make up in her reflection on the floor while thinking that she should approach the two courting ponies to remedy her boredom, but she resisted because she felt it would be intrusive, so Rarity thought about what Rainbow Dash would say upon taking her first steps, as a free pony, in four days.

Rarity had seen movies where little timid mares were changed after going to prison. She wondered if Rainbow Dash had been incarcerated long enough to have been institutionalized or if she would be her same old loud-mouthed self. Rarity didn’t like being alone with her thoughts because she tended to overthink; so, she loudly cleared her throat and held up a hoof to the others.

“So, what’s happening now?” Rarity asked the lobby guard. She wasn’t sure if she had interrupted the Royal Guard when she spoke, but his glare told her that she may have.

The lobby guard began in her squeaky voice, “The court clerk is coming down here to file this withdrawal, and then I’ll issue the release downrange.”

The Royal Guard pointed curtly to a chair against the west wall of the lobby under a portrait of the district attorney after which the jail was named, “Just have a seat and get comfortable. It’s going to be a minute.”

The lobby guard whispered, “Rain!”

The Royal Guard’s gaze snapped to the lobby guard in a fashion similar to a foal that had been scolded by his mother. Rain rolled his eyes and looked back at Rarity, “I’m sorry for being rude, ma’am.” He said with very convincing feigned consideration.

“It’s alright, sir. I apologize for bothering you, but I’m very nervous for my friend. How long does it take for somepony to be released?” Rarity asked while peering at the lobby guard’s name plate, “Sweet Rejoice, is it?”

“Yes, and it varies so much that I couldn’t really say with any amount of accuracy.” The little guard answered with a sympathetic smile.

“I can imagine it would be pretty quick with a withdrawal directly from the Princess. Is there anything else that we can help you with?” Rain said quickly. His inflection indicated his continued desire for Rarity’s dismissal.

Sweet Rejoice touched Rain’s hoof and held up Celestia’s scroll to him, “Perhaps you should take this to operations.”

Rain’s mouth fell open and his brow furrowed at Rarity. He slightly shook his head, his horn lit up, and he took the paper from the little mare, “I’ll be back in a little bit with…” He paused while he read the name on the page, “…Rainbow Dash.” And then he departed down the hallway to the left of the front desk.

Rarity watched him trot down the hall for a moment and then she looked back at Sweet Rejoice, “I’m sorry for interrupting.”

“Don’t apologize.” Rejoice laughed. “I should thank you for that. He’s been chasing my flank for weeks. Every chance he gets, he comes up here and talks to me. It's pretty irritating.”

"Have you talked to him about it?" Rarity asked.

Rejoice shrugged, "Didn't matter. He's convinced he can change my mind." She did a tiny jazz-hoof gesture to punctuate the futility of his efforts.

“Well, then, why haven’t you filed a complaint?” Rarity asked.

Rejoice shrugged, “Because he strokes my ego. And although he’s not funny… he’s funny, if that makes any sense.”

Rarity nodded with a knowing smirk, “He’s no comedian, but you sure laugh at him a lot. I know a young boy whom I have the same relationship with.”

“It’s kind of sad.” Rejoice said. She made it out like she was joking, but a hint of honesty caught Rarity’s ear. “I’m not leading him on or anything. I’ve told him, flat out, he and I will never be anything to each other.”

Rejoice continued rattling away, and Rarity couldn’t bring herself to care about a stranger’s problems despite her boredom. After years of being friends with Pinkie Pie, Rarity had gotten very good at pretending to listen. She found that it was all about maintaining intermittent eye-contact, infrequent nodding, and an acknowledgment that they are still speaking when they pause. Rarity could hear that Rejoice was speaking while her mind shuffled through her projections of Rainbow Dash’s thoughts.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash weren’t exactly friends. Rarity’s idea of weeknight fun was enjoying a novel and a crisp wine while Rainbow liked to treat every day like the weekend. They spent very little time together alone. It would be more appropriate to label them as good acquaintances because, if they hadn’t had the same friends between them, it was unlikely that they would have ever met.

The air was suddenly dead with only the rhythmic squeak of the slowly rotating fan above them, and Rarity realized that Rejoice had stopped speaking. They stared at each other for a very long time until Rarity gave a light smile and said, “Yes…?”

Rejoice suddenly burst into an awful cackle. What that Royal Guard saw in this mare was beyond Rarity’s comprehension, but Rejoice started off in another barrage as if the pause had not taken place, and Rarity still couldn’t bring herself to listen.

* * *

“We need a plan.” Envoy told them while leading Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy to the train station, “We don’t know if Trixie is there or not.”

“It ain’t been that long,” Applejack interjected, “Why wouldn’t she be there still?”

“If Trixie went to Carneighie Hall, we couldn’t guarantee that she was hired, or even went to Manehattan in the first place.” Envoy said.

Pinkie Pie fired a karate chop at an imaginary foe, “I say we get in there and kick some flanks!”

“Why?” Envoy asked as the group stopped outside the ticket office. “I’m pretty sure that anypony we talk to will be willing to help.”

“Um…” Fluttershy began, “I really just want to go to Canterlot and see Rainbow Dash.”

“Well then, you go right ahead. I’m going to Manehattan to kick Trixie’s horn off her head.” Applejack said firmly.

Pinkie Pie rubbed her fore hooves together, “Her blood’s going to bleed when I’m done with her.”

“Don’t get worked up, fillies. I’m going to Manehattan alone.” Envoy said.

“Ah’right and why’s that?” Applejack asked with anger wrinkling her brow.

“If anypony says the wrong thing to anypony that we question, we could lose our lead and Trixie would be on the run again.” Envoy said while levitating a stack of bits to the ticket master in the booth. “You three go to Canterlot and enjoy your friend’s return to the free world. Tell Scroot where I am and he’ll come help me.”

“That’s bullshit! We’re detectives, too!” Pinkie shrieked.

“Don’t cut us out, Envoy. We brought you this lead.” Applejack agreed.

“Um… I like Envoy’s idea.” Fluttershy said quietly.

“Listen up.” Envoy barked. “I’m going alone. This is where the case gets really sensitive, and one wrong move could put us back at square one. I’m sorry fillies, but I cannot use your help in Manehattan.”

Applejack looked at Pinkie Pie and then back at Envoy to continue protesting, but she just shook her head and lowered her gaze. Applejack and her friends had gone hoof to claw with a full grown dragon and many other creatures far more daunting than a single pony, but their foes had never been actively evading them which required tedious investigation.

“Dammit.” Applejack cursed. “I guess we’ll send Scroot your way when we see him. I just hope y’all don’t get in any trouble down yonder. I’d feel just plain terrible if anything happened to y’all.”

“You’re serious?” Pinkie Pie stamped. “You’re just going to leave this up to somepony we didn’t know existed last week?”

Applejack tilted her Stetson down and shook her head, “We ain’t got a choice, Pinkie.”

Pinkie scoffed and poised a hoof toward Envoy while taking a breath in preparation to unleash on her, but deflated into a wordless sigh. She shook her head and set her hoof back down. Her face twisted in disapproval, but couldn’t find the grounds to protest further.

Envoy floated tickets to Canterlot in front of her three companions, “I’ll see you back here in Ponyville when this is all over.”

* * *

Rainbow Dash strode into the front lobby of the jail with the Royal Guard close behind. Dash burst through the doors and declared in her loudest voice, “I’m free!”

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity called while jogging from the desk and leaving Rejoice in mid-sentence, “I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you!”

The two grabbed each other in a strong embrace and held each other for a moment. Rainbow Dash pulled away, “It’s totally great to finally see my friends again.” She craned to look around the lobby, “But where is everypony?”

“They’re in Ponyville helping Envoy.” Rarity said while moving for another hug, but Dash put a hoof on her chest.

“They couldn’t take ten seconds to see me out? Seriously?” Rainbow Dash asked with disappointment weighing down her ears.

“I’m sorry, dear. The last I heard is that they were looking into a big break as to where to find Trixie.” Rarity said.

“Trixie?” Rainbow Dash recoiled. “Why Trixie?”

Rarity shifted on her hooves, “Oh, dear. I forget that you haven’t been there for the investigation.”

Rainbow’s eyes grew to the size of saucers and she swiftly grabbed Rarity’s face, “Wait! Trixie killed Twilight?!”

Rarity squinted through the unforgiving pressure of Rainbow Dash’s hooves on her cheeks, “The evidence certainly makes it look that way.”

“That… that piece of… why that…” Rainbow Dash became more and more panicked and angry. She collapsed onto her haunches and resisted the urge to simply scream. She worked her jaw harshly and ran a hoof through her mane. She tried to bite back her tears, but they failed to heed her mental commands to stay put.

“Does it matter that it was Trixie and not somepony else?” Rarity asked.

Rainbow Dash tried to answer, but she stayed silent because she knew that the only vocalization she was capable of at the moment was heaving sobs. She simply nodded and squeezed her eyes shut. Her blue face was becoming more and more pink by the second.

Rarity rubbed Dash’s shoulder, “Breathe, honey. It’s going to be okay.”

Rainbow took a deep, sharp breath and let it out slowly. She took another sharp breath and appeared as if she was trying to say something, but she just let out her breath again.

The Royal Guard cleared his throat, “Dash, I have instructions to escort you to the princess.” He held up a hoof toward the door, giving permission for Rarity and Rainbow to lead the way, but they just sat still in the middle of the lobby. Rarity laid her head on Rainbow's shoulder and curled her fore-hooves around her. Rainbow clenched her eyes shut while trying to catch her breath, but each gasp for air was crowded by crying.

Rarity, despite her sympathetic sadness, didn’t feel like crying. So many tears had already been shed over the entire ordeal that she didn't have the strength. She simply held her friend and allowed her fur to soak up Rainbow's tears.

"Rainbow," Rarity whispered softly. "Let's go out and get some air, okay?"

Rainbow Dash nodded again, “Okay.” She sniffled, “Outside sounds nice.”

* * *

Celestia watched Scroot talk to himself while he played out different possible scenarios in his mind. Scroot was a fickle pony. He acted like he wanted everypony to hate him, and he appeared to hate the idea of having friends, but he wasn’t always like that. When he was younger, he was so full of life and pride. She couldn’t help but think that Scroot would be such a sweetheart if he wasn’t so profane and crass.

Scroot sighed hard and rubbed his face on a hoof while he quietly cursed himself.

“Is there something you’d like to talk about, Scroot?” Celestia finally asked.

“No.” He snarled, “I can figure this out. I just need the right angle.”

“Maybe I can help you.” Celestia said.

He sighed again and turned towards her, “I’m fine, Celestia.”

She walked slowly to him and sat on her haunches next to him. She nudged his shoulder and said, “You’re angrier than when I last saw you. What changed?”

“The last time you saw me was at my wife’s funeral.” Scroot gave a light chuckle, “I was sadder, by a lot, at that time.”

“You know what I mean, Scroot.” Celestia said.

Scroot nodded, “I do.” He frowned and shrugged, “There’s only so much ass-fucking you can take before you don’t let anypony in anymore.”

Celestia cocked her head, “And... What do you mean by that?”

Scroot stretched his back, stood up on two legs, and put both fore-hooves on his face, “I don’t even know.” He set back down and shook his head, “I’m scared of anypony becoming attached to me. I’m afraid of becoming attached to anypony. Caring just sets you up for heartache.”

“That makes the heart stronger.” Celestia said.

Scroot smiled and shook his head, “No, it doesn’t.

“Sure, it does. The issues that you resolve with your friends make you stronger. The more problems that you work through together than the stronger your relationship will be.” Celestia explained.

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall, Princess. Everypony will let you down eventually.” Scroot said as he returned to staring out the window.

“If they let you down, you work through it.” Celestia said. Her ears perked at the sound of hoof-steps outside the office.

“You say that like betrayal is easy. A thousand years ago, you banished your sister, and you're trying to tell me that you and Princess Luna are stronger now because of that?” Scroot said and looked over to the doors of the office as they opened to reveal Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and the Royal Guard entering.

“We are.” Celestia said to Scroot quietly, and then she stood and nodded to the Royal Guard, “Your services are no longer required and you may return to your post.”

“As you wish, Princess.” The Royal Guard bowed, left the office, and closed the door behind him.

Rainbow Dash's red, puffy eyes glared at Scroot, and then she punched Rarity’s shoulder, hard, “You didn't tell me he was here.”

All of Scroot's scripting became murky, and he suddenly didn't know what to say. He took a deep breath and got straight to the point. “I'm sorry, Dash.”

Rainbow Dash looked at Celestia, “What is this?”

Rarity rubbed her shoulder and cleared her throat, “Scroot has something he needs to tell you. I think it would help if you heard him out.”

“Help who?” Rainbow Dash growled, “If it's to serve your self-centered, egotistical conscience, than count me out. I don't care about your feelings.”

Scroot took a few steps closer, “I know you're mad...”

Rainbow Dash interrupted and began stalking to Scroot, “Four days, Scroot. It felt like an eternity, and not to mention the scuff on my image. I spent four days in a cage because you had to rush. You didn't care about us, and you didn't care about Twilight. You just wanted to be done and over with us as soon possible. You're wrong, Scroot. I'm beyond mad.”

Celestia stepped forward, “I think we all need to calm down and take things one at a time.”

Rainbow Dash’s hateful gaze shifted to the princess. Celestia’s soft features and loving eyes calmed her a bit. Rainbow groaned and nodded slowly, “Okay. What do you want to say?”

They all looked to the door as it opened again. Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie galloped into the officer and surrounded Rainbow Dash.

“Omigosh!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, “Rainbow Dash we're so happy to see you! I'm so glad that you're okay!”

“How're y'all holding up, Sugar Cube?” Applejack smiled.

“We're sorry we didn't see you out!” Fluttershy gave Rainbow a hug.

“I'm just glad to be with you guys. You're awesome.” Rainbow Dash held out her hooves and invited her friends to join in the embrace.

They all convened, squeezed each other, and silently enjoyed their reunion.

Scroot rubbed his head. “Girls...” he began, but he fell short on how to continue. He cleared his throat, but remained mute.

The girls all looked at him and waited, but his eyes just darted on the floor as if a clue for what he should say next was just below the wood. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth, but still was silent.

“Go ahead, Scroot.” Applejack urged. “Just tell her what you told me.”

Scroot met Rainbow's gaze and finally said, “I screwed up. I can't give you the last four days of your life back, and I know that is a hard place to be, but I really can't convey to you the amount of desire I feel for you to...” He stopped, shook his head, and continued, “I really don't want you to hate me.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head, “What is it that you want from me? To just let this all go like it didn't happen?”

Scroot gave a half chuckle and half scoff, “If I knew that was possible, I'd love that.”

Rainbow Dash sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes, “Yeah, if only it were that easy, sure.”

Applejack gave Rainbow a nudge, “Y'all need some time to get through this, but for right now, we should get down to brass tacks.”

“Would you like to help us out, Rainbow?” Scroot asked hopefully. “You ponies met Trixie; you know what she looks like, and all of that which provides an advantage. I could use your help finding her.”

“Help you find Trixie?” Rainbow Dash raised a brow and her face twisted with skepticism, “How do you know Trixie actually did it?”

Scroot shrugged, “It was your friends that put it together.”

“Pretty much all by ourselves, too!” Pinkie declared.

“Good ol' fashioned detective work, Rainbow Dash.” Applejack said, “Come with us to Manehattan and put this to a close. What do ya say?”

Rainbow Dash looked down and nodded lightly, “I'm in.”

“I'll arrange for a royal escort to fly you there.” Celestia said.

Scroot shook his head, “Actually, Celestia, just give me two guards, and we’ll take the train. We need to do this low-profile.”

“Of course.” Celestia agreed and her magic teleported a paper that detailed her orders to the stallions outside the office.

“Hey, wait a minute.” Scroot glanced around the room, “Where is Envoy? She didn't already go, did she?”

“Yessir.” Applejack nodded.

Scroot immediately started out of the office, “Let's go, now. You can brief me the specifics on the way.”

* * *

Manehattan was Equestria's largest metro with more ponies in a square kilometer than any other city in the kingdom. Residences were filed into tiny apartments and crammed together in high rise buildings, and it was one of the few cities that had black asphalt streets. The city was constantly going, twenty-four-seven, and the fluid movement of traffic was more important there than anywhere else in Equestria. A delay for any reason destroyed opportunities and disrupted lives. There was no such thing as a minor inconvenience in Manehattan.

Envoy got off the trans-continental train, purchased a Manehattan transit card, and boarded an L -train. She kept to herself as the train whisked through buildings and then dropped underground. When the train was underground, it was easily going over 60 knots, and that made Envoy nervous. The other ponies on the train stared out and watched the lights of the tunnels zooming past the windows without a single thought of their lives coming to a fiery death if the track was off by even a few centimeters.

The train rose above the streets again and stopped over 57th street, a block away from Envoy's destination. She could see the enormous towers on the north-east and the south-west that made up the corners of Carneighie Hall. She trotted off the L and made her way down the stairs to street level. A pony with a saxophone and its case on the ground next to him disrupted the unnatural hum of carriages' tires on the street. So many ponies were cantering on the sidewalk and road that there was simply the drone of hooves beating the ground among the baritone melody of the saxophone.

Four poles at each corner of the intersection were joined by thick wires from which a traffic signal hung. On the pole across the street from Envoy was a light that read Don't Trot. There was no button to call for the sign to change that she could find, but while she was searching, the light changed to Trot. She started across the street, but quickly retreated to the sidewalk as it then flashed Don't Trot for several seconds before remaining steady in its command. She waited for the sign to change again, and then galloped to the other side.

Envoy had earned many looks from other pedestrians that simply said you don't belong here. She nodded nervously to them, kept on her way to Carneighie Hall, and thought that she should wait for Scroot to arrive before continuing. She disregarded the idea and trotted into the open entry door on the south face of the building.

She involuntarily gasped at the lobby interior which was a gorgeous cube of white and red. The east and west walls were covered in black and white photographs of the most famous performers that had been there, and they were framed with dim lights and velvet curtains. The floor was a beautiful scarlet carpet, and the ivory columns at each corner of the lobby curled over into the transom of the entrance and exit doors on either side of the reception desk against the north wall.

A young pegasus with a bad haircut between a Mohawk and a Caesar sat behind the desk. He didn't hear Envoy enter the building nor approach the desk due to his nose being nearly buried entirely in his book on the desk.

“Sir,” Envoy asked, “Can I speak with your manager?”

The young pegasus jumped and looked at Envoy as if she were robbing him, “M- Maybe I can help?”

“No, I need to lodge a complaint against an employee.” She said.

“Is it me? I know I'm not supposed to read on the job. I didn't see you, I'm sorry!” He pleaded.

Envoy gave him a warm smile, “It's not you.” She touched his hoof, “It’s Trixie.”

He appeared relieved, but he cocked his head, “Who?”

Envoy sighed and figured that Trixie wasn't there, but she still wanted to talk with the manager in case he spoke with her suspect, “Can I just talk to your manager, please?”

The young pegasus nodded, put his book in the desk, and trotted through the entry doors to the right of the desk. A few moments later, he returned with a tall, handsome green unicorn with short white hair swept to the right behind his horn.

The manager gave a smile that quickly twisted from friendly encounter to something inappropriate before he asked, “Can I help you,” He paused and then put on a hard inflection, “Miss?”

She thought he was prompting her for her name, “Majesty Envoy, and I need to ask you about one of your employees or somepony that may have sought employment here. Do you have an office where we can talk in private?” Envoy said as she levitated her badge from her breast pocket. As soon as she finished speaking she realized that his stress on the word was to inspire correction should Envoy be a missus.

He raised a brow with a naughty smile, “Absolutely. Follow me.”

He led the way and Envoy followed as they went through the entry door and made their way into a small corridor of offices on the right side of the room before the main performance hall. They entered his office, a small room with an artistic mahogany desk in the middle and several pictures of him with famous performers. He took a seat behind the desk and gestured to one of the smoking chairs in front of him across the desk.

“Can I get you a drink?” The green unicorn asked as he levitated a bottle of whiskey and two old-fashioned glasses from his desk.

She sat down and shook her head, “Do you have an employee by the name of Trixie?”

“My name is Green Berry.” He said as he poured the drinks anyway.

“Alright, Berry.” She smiled uncomfortably. He must believe that she's flirting with him because he was coming on very strong for somepony that she had just met, especially in a professional setting.

“Most ponies call me Green.” He said and leaned on the desk while sliding one of the whiskey glasses to Envoy's side of the desk.

“Okay.” She shifted her eyes, but continued to smile, “I don't drink, Mr. Green.”

“I assume you're looking for the job.” He said while dipping his head and trying to explicate some kind of subtext, but Envoy didn't get it.

“No.” She said firmly. His apparent fantasy for some office action seemed to include Envoy at that point, and that had to be shut down immediately.

“Are you sure?” He asked softly, and he ran his tongue along his upper lip.

She cleared her throat, shook her head, and sat up, “Look, I don't know what you're thinking, but I'm just here to get some information. This is important.”

He shrugged, “I'd be willing to talk in exchange.”

Her eyes narrowed, “You're a special kind of stupid, aren't you?”

Green let out a disturbing chuckle, “You're not from around here, and I knew that from the second I put my eyes on that perfectly toned body of yours.” He stood with his front hooves on the desk. ”Just have a drink, and we can talk.”

Envoy glanced at the drink and noted to herself that he hadn't taken a drink of his own. “Do you know Trixie or don’t you?”

“Maybe,” He shrugged, and then nodded toward the drink again.

Envoy eyed it for a moment and then picked it up with her magic. She watched him anticipate her drinking as she touched the glass to her lips. She discretely casted a spell over the top of the glass and held the liquid inside while pretending to sip.

She put it back on the desk and shook her head, “I don’t like whiskey, Mr. Berry.”

He shook his head and pointed at it, “That’s bourbon.”

“I don’t really care.” Envoy shrugged, “Can we talk about this now?”

“I think we should let a little bit of time pass first,” He smiled. “Where are you from?”

“I’m not interested in me, or you for that matter, I need to talk about Trixie.” Envoy explained.

“I want to know who I’m talking to.” Green shrugged passively, “So, tell me about yourself.”

“Are you going to help me or not?” Envoy asked.

Green Berry grinned as his horn glowed, opening a drawer on the desk, and levitated a pair of fuzzy green hoof-cuffs, “Absolutely. What do you want to know?”

She eyed the cuffs and shook her head, “Do employ a unicorn named Trixie?” They were safety cuffs. They had a small lever on the outside so that the wearer could free themselves with their rear hooves. “She will only have been working here for a couple of days. You would have hired this pony recently.” Envoy explained as she shooed away the floating cuffs that were trying to affix themselves to her hooves. She slapped the cuffs with a hoof and said, “Cut it out.”

Green chuckled and made his way around the desk to her side and stood uncomfortably close to her. “I've only interviewed one mare in the last few days. Her name was Frisky. There were few more words involved, but I don't remember them.”

“You didn’t hire her?” Envoy asked while trying to lose her tone and pretend that it wasn’t happening. The urge to leave was strong, but she decided to put up with his shit if it got her the necessary information.

“No, and that was upsetting because she was so damned good looking. Nothing like you, but worthy of a strip joint.” He shared a laugh with himself while putting a fore-hoof on one of the armrests of Envoy’s chair. “I'll bet that's where she got the idea.”

“What do you mean? She went to work at a strip club?” She asked. She hadn’t realized that she had retreated to the farthest part of the chair away from him. At that time, it dawned on her just how close he was getting, “Can you stop this? Back off.” She commanded.

He said nothing, and she stared at him with such hatred and distain that it was unmistakable, but he almost seemed to enjoy that more. For several seconds, he just stood there and watched her hate him.

“Alright, asshole, I’m out of here.” She said as she began to get up and leave.

Green suddenly put both fore-hooves on her elbows, held her down, and his magic clicked the cuffs around Envoy's fore legs. She struggled against his force for a moment, but he was too heavy to move out from under him. She stopped herself and calmed down before she freaked out and ended up hurt.

“I’m not playing this fucking game. You hear me?” Envoy said slowly and concisely.

“Stay chill, baby.” He said as he kissed Envoy’s neck, and ran his tongue up the left side of her jaw which made her skin crawl. Green’s magic flicked the seat's recline release and leaned Envoy on her back as his sweaty body forced itself on top of her. Anger grew in her chest, and she gritted her teeth. She began to think that he'd done this many, many times before. She tried to keep cool just long enough to see an opening to escape. His horn pulsed and the buttons on her shirt popped off, one by one.

She looked around the office for something heavy that she could lift with her magic, something that she could smash into his skull while he was busy kissing her body. She recoiled as he wrapped his lips around hers with his corroded slimy tongue sliding across her teeth. She pushed back on his chest hard, but got nowhere.

He let his entire body weight rest on her hooves so she couldn’t move, ran his hoof down the side of her face, and whispered in her ear, “I haven't had a good lay in a while. Don’t worry, this won't last long.”

“Stop.” Envoy gasped and tried to spit out the taste of his mouth while she pushed against him again. She felt like she could vomit. “Please, just let me go, and I’ll leave and say nothing.” Envoy pleaded, and then she saw the whiskey bottle that was still on the desk behind him.

“That's not the way this is going to work.” He said while he gave a sinister smile. “I'll get mine. You might as well pretend to enjoy it.”

“I said stop, mother fucker!” She demanded as her magic picked up the bottle. She also lit up the cuffs so that Green would believe that they were all she had in her magic grip.

A disgusting smirk split his face as he used his magic to rub her genitals, and then the whiskey bottle slammed into the back of his head, but it was much more durable than Envoy thought. A hard hollow ding sounded as it bounced off of his skull and tore his scalp. He let out a surprised yelp, sat up with a fore-hoof on her chest, and the other hoof involuntarily making its way to his head to investigate the damage.

She swiped her free hoof to the right which knocked his front leg out from under him. She threw her head forward as he fell and her horn smashed into his eye while her forehead delivered a devastating blow to his chin. He grabbed at the air and tried to catch himself as he fell backward onto the desk. The bottle shattered on the floor, and the glasses broke under him. She kicked the cuffs from her hooves, flipped over, and bucked his soft organs with her rear hooves. He gasped hard, but no screaming came out.

She turned, leaped on top of him, and put her hoof on his throat. The glass stabbed deep into the small of his back under their weight, and he fought against each centimeter that split his hide. His rear hooves tried to find leverage, but he was trapped. His split lip poured blood onto the wood below his head and his right eye was already beginning to swell shut.

“Where is Frisky?!” She screamed and released his neck just enough to allow him to speak.

“Fuck you!” He shouted. She cut off his air again, brought her other hoof down, and gashed his eyebrow. She tried to hit him again, but he caught her hoof with his magic.

Envoy hopped her back legs onto the chair and put all of her weight into crushing his throat. Panic filled his eyes and his magic faded from her hoof as he began to lose consciousness, and then she beat his face several times in an attempt to break a few teeth from his face. She let up on his neck, and he violently came back to cognizance in a coughing fit.

“Where is Frisky?!” She screamed. “Tell me you filthy piece of shit or I'll break off your horn and fuck you in the neck with it!”

“The Plot!” He whined over and over. “Please, don’t hurt me anymore!” He gasped for a breath that wasn’t crowded by his bleeding lips and broken teeth, and he tried to put his head back to get clear air, but he had started crying so hard that his body was involuntarily heaving him upward.

Envoy grabbed his horn with her magic, turned his head, and she leaned in close to his ear, “If you're lying to me,” She growled, “I will be back. Am I absolutely fucking clear?”

Green nodded vehemently and sobbed, “She's there. I promise I'm not lying!”

“You’d better not be.” Envoy snarled, and then she galloped out of the room and left Green Berry choking on his own blood.

Author's Note

(Illustration to be completed soon)