The Incantation

I am happy...

Fluttershy's words rung around in my head long after we got in the restaurant and started eating. It was the way she said it, and the way she hugged me...I felt lucky to have somehow ended up in the company of such sweet and beautiful mare. I feel like -

"Emerald?"

Fluttershy's voice cut like a knife through my thoughts. Apparently I'd been staring at her as I'd daydreamt. She was staring back at me from across the plate-littered wooden table.

I rubbed the side of my head. "Sorry. I was lost in thought."

She took a drink of her punch in the mug the place had provided it in. "Oh, okay. About what, if I may ask?"

Absent-mindedly, I began shaking my leg up and down. It was something I did when I was nervous.

"Just...how good this hayburger was. And this apple pie was off the chart, too." I put my arm under the table and stopped my leg.

She gave a little laugh. "If you think this pie was good, wait till you try one from Sweet Apple Acres."

"I can't wait."

My leg started shaking again.

"Sooo...um, are you good with animals?" she asked hopefully. It almost sounded as if she was pleading that I was.

I stopped my leg before I replied. "I might be," I said. "But if you haven't noticed, my cutie mark is three teardrop-shaped emeralds...I'm actually good with jewelry." Hence, my stealing of it. More on that some other time, though.

"Oh, I know. I just thought I should ask. Sometimes the pet-sitting can be a hoofful if you aren't very good with animals," she said, pushing the plate nearest her further away. "I've been doing it for a while, so I can deal with them pretty well. But for somepony new to it..."

"I get the gist."

She smiled. "I was hoping so."

Time to venture into her life. "So, have you lived in Ponyville long? We're you born here?"

"Uh...no. I came here as a filly. I was born in Cloudsdale."

Cloudsdale was where most pegasi were from, though not all. It was a floating city of puffy white clouds, in which only pegasi (obviously) could trot upon. Pegasi control the weather anyway, so they also maintain the city in case it starts drifting apart. Many pegasi, including myself, had cutie marks relating to rain, clouds, or weather in general.

"I've heard things about Cloudsdale," I said complacently. "Most of them good."

"Oh, well, I wouldn't know too much. I never really liked it anyway. The ponies were so mean to me when I was younger." She sounded like she was reliving a nightmare. She probably was.

I sipped my drink - root beer, hehe - for the first time since the waitress had refilled it earlier. "Is that why you moved here?"

She shook her head. "Well, not exactly. It was more by chance. It's a long story...you probably don't want to hear it."

I shoved all the plates in front of me out of the way and put both elbows on the table, resting my chin on my hooves. "Actually, I'd love to hear it."

She beamed at me. "Oh, okay...that's so sweet of you." She swallowed. "I guess I can start with that day Rainbow Dash stood up for me..."

As she went on with her story, I couldn't help but find myself admiring her. She was such a kind, soft-spoken sweetheart. I liked that her eyes were always looking down when she was explaining something, like right now, as she explained that she was bullied until Rainbow had stood up for her, challenging her bullies to a race, how they used to call her "Klutzershy" due to her inability to fly in flight camp, how she'd been the holding the flag when she was knocked off the cloud by the participants of the race as they accelerated from the starting point, how she'd fallen onto a swarm of butterflies that saved her, and how she'd gotten her cutie mark calming the animals down after Rainbow Dash did a sonic rainboom for the first time, and how she'd decided Ponyville would be her permanent residence...

I was just about hypnotized. What was it about this mare that made me so goofy? Was it her shy eyes, or her soft voice, or her innocuous personality...

"You're beautiful," I blurted.

She stopped mid-sentence. "Oh...my...th-thanks..." She was smiling, but her cheeks were now a bright red. She was also looking down and not at me.

       I felt my cheeks burning and realized I must be blushing too. "I'm sorry...that kinda just slipped out. I just wanted to say that I think, uh...that you're really pretty. To make you feel better." Good save.

She still didn't look up. "It's okay...thank you, though..."

"Well, uh, I'm stuffed. No room for anything else. Are you good now?" I asked, still embarrassed about my earlier outburst.

She finally looked up at me. She seemed happier than she was just a few minutes ago. "Oh, yes. This was wonderful. I couldn't eat a other bite."

I grinned, satisfied that she was okay. "Glad to hear that. We should head out now." I left a tip and stood up. "Shall we?"

She giggled. "We shall."

She stood up and followed me out, where we stood awkwardly silent for a few minutes.

"Well, I just remembered I was going to see Rainbow Dash about something today. I'll, uh, catch up with you later, if you don't mind..."

"No, not at - "

She was already running off.

I stood there, confused. "All?"

       Dark Storm stood alone in his makeshift office, not far from the Castle. The office was a converted bedroom in his expensive two-story mansion in Canterlot. Before he started his current profession, he'd of never been able to afford such luxury.  But now, he had money pouring in like a river.

Especially today.

A new client had contacted him, promising him millions of bits in exchange for his superior services.

Somepony needed to be taken care of.

Dark Storm was not a force to be reckoned with. He was a well trained fighter, good with many kinds of weapons. Being a bounty hunter, he had to.

Canterlot was also not his place of origin. His career catching - or killing - targets for hefty sums of money began in his hometown, Baltimare. It started not long after he'd become an adult. He'd been caught in the crossfire of two rival gangs in a fight, and been mistaken as an enemy of one. The other side ignored him until he'd slaughtered nearly half of the rival gang singlehandedly. Intrigued by his skill, the gang that ignored him hired him out for reconnaissance - and murder. It wasn't long before Storm was rolling in bits and taking orders as a hitpony and bounty hunter. After being contracted once by a rich unicorn in Canterlot, Storm decided that was where all the money was. And today, he'd been offered millions.

Storm even appeared as a bounty hunter might - he had an ebony coat and a blood-red mane. His eyes were brilliant orange-yellow, like shimmering opals. And he hardly ever smiled or laughed - his job was not humorous, and barely ever permitted even so much as a grin, but every now and then a dry sense of humour would rear its ugly head, showing just how sinister he really was.

Even better for him was being a pegasus - his cutie mark was a pair of nunchucks on fire, a sure sign of his skills and violent tendencies.

However, this was not a job one did alone - even though that's the way he preferred it and did his missions alone most of the time. He still hired two accomplices, in which he paid generously if they did well, and if not...

He'd be burying them.

Storm paced back and forth in the office, taking occasional peeks out the window as he waited for his client. Millions, he thought ravenously, untold riches...

Whatever the mission was, whatever the client wanted done, Storm planned on doing it to a tee.

He glanced up at his office doorway and stopped pacing when he heard his front door open and close.

His client had arrived.

Storm stepped out into the hall to meet his soon-to-be employer.

The client was merely an archaeologist. But a wealthy one nonetheless. The unicorn strode up to him with an all-business, no-jokes look glued to his face, and even the way he came up to him showed he wasn't playing games.

"You must be Dark Storm," the guy said as he approached him and they shook hooves.

"Indeed, I am." Storm motioned his client into his office. "Please - come in."

The unicorn had a very large sack that Storm assumed was full of bits. He got his answer when the client tossed the bag on the desk.

Storm sat in his rotating chair on the other side, while the unicorn sat opposite from him.

"So," the client cleared his throat. "On the table in the bag is 30,000 bits in incentive pay - enough to get you started, I presume?"

Storm nodded. "Go on."

"The subject in question stole something of extreme value. Not just money-wise, but sentimentally." He pulled out a paper from his saddlebag and slapped in on the desk, facing Storm. "This is he, the thief."

Storm curiously pulled the paper close to examine the article that proclaimed, "Thief In Canterlot Steals Artifact!". Below it, there was a picture of a pegasus with a white coat and black mane.

" The artifact is of great importance, " the guy went on, sounding like the professor he was. He had glasses to complete the look. "It is a crown of incredible abilities that would astound you if only you knew of them." He narrowed his eyes at Storm. "I trust I can tell you?"

"Of course," Storm smiled darkly. "Trust is of utmost importance to me when it comes to my clients."

The unicorns's glare softened. "I see...well, the crown holds power beyond your wildest dreams. It was crafted and enchanted millenia ago by a mage in the Crystal Empire, and since it grants the wearer unlimited power and invulnerability, it was buried deep down within the Crystal Mountains, hidden from all who might use it's power for evil. I came across it months ago on a trip to those mountains with some colleagues. Without their knowledge, I brought it home, with no intention of using it, but simply adding it to my collection if artifacts. But while my back was turned one night, that fiend - " he pointed at the picture on the paper, " - stole it."

"And you want me to retrieve it  from this gentlecolt?" Storm asked, raising an eyebrow.

The unicorn nodded. "Yes. His name is Emerald Rain. He must be around here somewhere. Canterlot isn't big    enough to hide forever. And he most certainly won't be able to evade the Royal Guard."

"Royal Guard? The princess knows of this?" Normally this wouldn't bother Storm, but her knowing and being involved could complicate things.

"She most certainly does, and for a good reason - there was a 5,000 bit reward placed on our friend not long ago by her. You will receive five million bits from me upon completion of this mission. Do with Emerald as you please - I simply want my crown," the unicorn said nonchalantly.

Perfect, Storm thought greedily. Two for the price of one. "A generous offer that I couldn't possibly refuse, good sir. When shall I begin my search?"

The unicorn smiled so eerily, it sent chills up Storm's spine.

"Immediately."