Peacevic the Rapper in...

Ice's Day Off

"Nah, there's nothing good."

Ice Cold looked up from the rack he'd been perusing. Sus was walking towards him, looking dejected. The pegasus held up an issue of Power Ponies that'd caught his eye. "Well, what about this? It's new."

"It's from last week, dude. I got it when it came out," Sus told him.

"You're the one who suggested we come here the day before New Comic Book Day."

Sus sighed. "I was hoping I'd missed one..."

"You thought you missed one? You're the most manic collector I know."

"I think I'm the only comics collector you know." Sus started rifling through the rack Ice had been looking at, even though he'd already done so before. "It's not exactly Peacevic's thing, is it?"

Ice shrugged. "My sister collects Daring Do books, but I don't know about comics. I- aw, buck! She's in town, and I promised to meet her for lunch. I gotta go."

"Is your sister hot?" Sus flicked his mane out of his eyes and grinned. "'Cause if she is, I can come with..."

"Stump, I will stuff you into one of these displays," Ice growled.

SusP.E.C.T. just laughed as Ice hurriedly bought the issue he'd picked up and left the store.

"You're late!"

"So nice to see you too, Rainbow." It was rare to find another pony who shared his habit of hovering instead of standing, especially in the mostly-unicorn city of Canterlot, but his sister was one of them. He gave a small incline of his head.

As one, they both bolted to their table.

Rainbow Dash was able to get there just a eighth of a second sooner, as always. "Aw yeah! Who's the best? Who's the best? Rainbow Dash is the best!"

Ice smiled as his little sister posed. Though he'd never let her win, it always made him so proud whenever she outdid him. But her humility could use a little work. "So, best pony, have you seen Mom and Dad recently?"

"Yeah." Rainbow stopped posing and settled into her seat. "Had dinner with them last week."

"How were they?"

"Great, until I made the mistake of telling 'em I was having lunch with you." A waiter came to take their orders, interrupting Dash. Minutes later, the waiter left and Rainbow resumed her complaint. "Then they wouldn't stop."

"Dad still wants me to join the Wonderbolts, huh? Isn't one kid being a member enough?"

"That's what I said! He said he'd settle for you being a guardspony for Celestia if you really didn't want to be a Wonderbolt." Rainbow slumped in her seat, miffed at being so easily swept out of the spotlight.

For his part, Ice would've been glad to let her have it. He liked what he did. "What'd Mom say?"

"She's just wondering when you're gonna start using your degree."

"I'm kind of using it." Ice shrugged. "If you look at things a certain way."

Just then, Ice caught sight of his employer. Peacevic was at the other end of the outside dining area, his head whipping around frantically as he scanned the block. He spotted Ice and jogged over.

"Ice! Did you see a pony run by?! He would've been carrying a falcon in a cage."

"No..." Ice gesture in Rainbow's direction. "Sir this is my sister, Rainbow Dash."

"Awesome. Great to meet you. Gotta go!" Peacevic shot off again without another word.

"Was that your boss?"

Ice nodded. "Yep."

"He's weird," Rainbow informed her brother.

"I know," he agreed, "but that's what makes him fun to work for."

She frowned. "He's got Twilight acting weird, too. Ever since Trixie and her had that meeting with him. She won't tell me what's up, either."

"Rainbow, I can't talk about that. Mostly because I don't really know the whole story." Ice hated keeping his sister out of the loop, but it was out of his hooves. Aside from what he'd overheard at the meeting, Peacevic had yet to follow up on his promise to give his bodyguard the details. Which was a problem, Ice decided, that was going to be rectified soon.

"Just tell me," Dash urged, "is Twilight in some kind of trouble?"

"I think they both are, Rainbow. I think they did something to somepony, or somepony did something to them, and now everything's catching up."

Dash set her face into a look of grim determination. "Then we'll just have to protect them, won't we?"

"Obviously."

Peacevic could usually be counted on to be in the studio while he was in the process of recording, to the point where he often slept there at night. That habit, and the fact that he was almost always away from Canterlot, made Ice wonder why he even bothered owning a home in the city.

But that habit also made it fairly easy for Ice to find the rapper, who was currently on the lobby couch, reading a book. A caged falcon took up a corner.

"Ice," Peacevic greeted without looking up, "your day day off isn't over yet. What's up?"

"You said you'd explain why I had to help you fight off a bunch of hooded ponies. And the rune."

Peacevic absent-mindedly waved a hoof. "Yeah, I will. At some point."

"How about know." Ice, by virtue of the fact that he never stopped hovering, was now looming over his employer.

The rapper looked up in annoyance, then sighed and set the book down. He sat up.

"Fine. I'll tell you everything."