In The Money

Quincy East Warehouse - Striker Gang HQ 10:17

"So you let him get away?" Blacklight asked, his tone menacing.

"Well Boss there wasn't much I co-"

"Enough! This is one failure too many Flint Strike, and yet another poor excuse!"  His horn gaining a black aura, the unicorn rose to glare at Flint Strike, who now clutched helplessly at his throat.

"You have become beyond useless to me, this other pegasus needs to be caught, and you're getting in..."

The horn's glow intensified

"...My..."

Flint Strike's face was a deep purple, his eyes lolling back into his skull as he spluttered for air.

"...WAY!" The pegasus' neck gave a crack, body limply falling to the floor with a-

Flint Strike snapped his eyes open with a gasp, his body lurching forward in response to a motion it wasn't really experiencing, in just the right way for the stallion's forehead to impact his bedside table.

"Gah!" He recoiled with a cry, hooves held to the injury, while a quiet shuffling sounded beside him.

"Hey, what's up? Are you alright?" Was the tired voice of Ruby Shine, now looking over concernedly from her side of the bed.

The stallion craned his neck to glance over at her with a hoof still held to his head. "S'fine, I'm good." Although his hoof had moved to uneasily massage his windpipe. Feeling nothing out of place except a level of worry he wasn't used to, Flint rolled over to face his bed mate fully.

A pair of crimson eyes inspected him closely, their light red maned owner preparing to speak again. "What was that all about? Did you get drunk last night with Grinder?" She questioned slowly.

"Nah... No it's, uh, it was a bad dream." The stallion whispered back.

"Since when do you get bad dreams?" She looked at him oddly, sounding a little unsure.

Flint Strike closed his eyes with a sigh. "Had a not so good talk with the Boss, he wasn't too happy that he lost money to some nameless stallion. When me an' Grind gave him everything we had about what happened, he seemed to get even more ticked off. I'm no detective hon', but it was still easy enough to tell that Blacklight doesn't plan on talking nicely with that kid if he ever gets his hooves on 'im." Explanation finished, the stallion shifted onto his back before he thought to point out another detail. "And without the cause of his problems in front of him, he was startin' to use me as an outlet, and, well... You know what he did back in the Freshwater." The image of that corpse on the bar floor still hadn't left the stallion's head.

Ruby moved to lay on top of her colt-friend, resting her chin on his chest before kissing him gently as her wings hugged his barrel. "I know that this isn't how things were supposed to turn out." She started. "When you asked me out you said you were going to ditch the gang, that that part of your life had run its course. Then that unicorn shows up and drags you into his sorry excuse for a business arrangement, and a month later we're here, still stuck doing dirty jobs under the impression we'll get something good out of it." Here she stopped to focus intently on the stallion's eyes, before speaking firmly. "I stuck around for plenty of things Flint, quite a few of them not so good. But there's one thing I'll keep sticking by, because it makes those things worth going through... You." She finished with a smile.

"That... was kinda cheesy." The stallion said awkwardly. "But there's no question it's nicest thing ever aimed at me." He quickly added when Ruby gave a pouting frown. "And then there's the part where I realise... I'm sticking around for you too. I got it in my head before that starting up the only gang in LP would make me happy, to have people on my side and had my back y'know? But it's not the same... Now I just wanna get out of this Blacklight mess, but what can I do!? He said it himself, he won't let ponies who know about him out from under his hoof, and I want us to be able to get away from this. You looked past the thing that always put people off of me, made them turn the other way, I want to give you somethin' back now, but I can't here." Flint lamented, ears drooping and expression looking overall defeated.

"You're a goof." Ruby giggled as she beeped his nose. "We can play this out, we do just what we need to, that's it. Then we can drop it all, slip away while Blacklight's distracted with finally getting whatever he's after, leave the city if we have to." She reassured, giving Flint another peck on the lips and supportive smile. "Don't worry about that crazy 'corn, worry about the end of this road, and getting to it in one piece."

The brown pegasus smiled dryly and shook his head. "How are you always so right huh?" He chuckled.

"Well... Maybe I just get good ideas because I care about you?" The mare grinned.

"You know, I really like the sounds of that." Flint replied warmly, and ran his hooves down his partner's white fur, before giving her a deeper kiss.

"Hmm~" She leaned her forehead against his, and skimmed their lips over each other briefly. "Love you..." She whispered.

The stallion paused momentarily to look at nothing before he turned his eyes back to Ruby, wearing a smile that seemed almost too gentle for one with his lifestyle.

"Love you too." He affirmed. The pair had nowhere to be for a while, but would receive a noise complaint from the room next door within the hour.

Not his fault Flint snores so when he naps, Ruby got earplugs, why doesn't anypony else?

The skies of Las Pegasus - Southeastern quarter 11:29

This was a good day, the weather schedule had put the skies with very low cloud coverage, and a cheerful amount of sunshine that made the city seem deceptively innocent. In no rush to be anywhere specific, was High Rise who's casual wing beats were the only cause of noise for the most part, the occasional fellow winged creature that passed by aside. The common sound of construction work in the southwestern quarter being more of a white noise than anything noticeable to those having spent more than a couple of months in the city, and the general smell in the air was the same as always.

'Ah yes, so this is why I don't do many unnecessary flights. City air up here stinks of... City air, bleugh.'

Opting to find some sort of destination as an excuse to land, High Rise sent his gaze downward to search the buildings below. After a few seconds of his eyes roaming what was beneath him, the pegasus spotted something he could distract himself with, the quarter's shopping district.

"I could grab those clothes I was thinkin' about before, I need to keep my look fresh after all." He hummed, angling his wings to begin his decent. Thinking on some of the more important things he needed to consider as he did so.

'But do I go with a showy landing or not...? I think it's gonna be a slow day, better get my kicks where I can.'

With the decision made, High Rise's incline quickly steepened along with his speed, and he aimed himself at the center of the shopping district's main street. Giving several powerful flaps to up his momentum a bit more, he closed in on the heads of those going about their midday lives on the ground with a smile steadily creeping onto his muzzle.

At a distance of around three feet above everypony else, High Rise leveled out while twisting sharply so he was flying inverted. To the sounds of a few gasps just underneath him, the stallion crossed his forelegs behind his head and hummed a tune to himself, his head angled forward enough to see the surprised looks of those he passed, including the scolding face of a mother who's overzealous colt had been reaching up a hoof to try and touch the fancy pegasus. Turning his head to see if there was a space before landing, he added a bit more flair by flapping his wings at an angle which sent his hind-hooves over his head. With his wings now tucked to his sides, he dropped with the rotation and his hooves soon met the floor along which he skidded several feet.

Looking up with a grin, High Rise's performance was met with mixed responses - Some ponies had stopped to look at him, a couple of approving cheers were heard from likely younger ponies, others rolled their eyes at his recklessness and one mare was-

"This isn't the Wonderbolts academy jackass! Some of us are with little colts and fillies here!" Came an irritated voice behind High Rise, along with the hoof which had shoved him forward.

Turning around resulted in the pegasus seeing an unamused earth pony, whose young colt was trying to get a look at High Rise past his father's yellow foreleg.

High Rise dropped his grin for a small smirk, then leaned to wave a hoof at the slightly wide-eyed colt. "Enjoy that kid?" He asked the colt with a fun lilt to his voice.

Instead of a verbal reply, the pegasus was instead met with the sight of said child being pushed behind the stallion who had aimed a glare his way. Although the colt soon shuffled gingerly between his parent's legs to keep staring up at him.

With his smirk still present, High Rise shrugged noncommittally before walking past the pair, his attention towards them leaving with him.

The earth pony huffed in annoyance as he watched him leave, before carrying on in the opposite direction, with those who had stopped to see the confrontation also going back to what they were doing.

"Pegasi are cool dad! Can we have one at home?" The question of a childish voice just reached High Rise as he wandered the street, though it made him have an odd thought.

'That's... kinda weird to hear from a kid, makes me sound like some sort of pet.'

The stallion shook the thought from his head before starting the search for a store which would have what he was after. Shops that stipulated in clothing were dotted on either side of the way, and it took a while before one caught his eye, making a noise of approval as he read the sign above the entrance.

Teenage Kicks was a single story building he'd passed before yet never bothered with, but with what was in his mind, the name seemed appropriate.

Walking into the store led High Rise to be greeted with an assortment of attitudinal clothing hung on circular racks, collections from the same designers lining different walls while a few other ponies milled around. Smiling at the sound of upbeat modern music coming through the building's speakers, the pegasus headed over to the side of the room which held the store's range of jackets, and started to sift through the displayed items.

Reaching the end of the first rail having yielded no results, High Rise frowned slightly before spotting one of the round racks to his side. After swiping past a few more jackets that were closer to filly's outfits, the stallion beamed triumphantly at the object of his admittedly short hunt.

What he pulled off the stand was a heavy black coat that would come down to somewhere around the top and middle of his stomach. It sported a very high collar, and was made with a material that appeared to be manticore hide, otherwise known as seriously tough leather.

'Must be a griffon made piece.' He mused, lifting it a bit higher to look over it, showing a two bulky zips running slightly off center down the front along with shorter versions at the ends of the sleeves towards the back. Turning it slightly revealed lined pads on the elbows and straps at the bottom which could be used to tighten the fit around one's midsection. It even had buttoned flaps for wing holes, this thing was the ultimate find!

'Looks like it was designed around those biker jackets that some minotaurs wear... I like it. Nah, I love it.' With a satisfied smile, High Rise slung the clothing over his back and walked through the store to the cash register.

A turquoise unicorn stallion with a styled orange mane looked up from his magazine as High Rise approached. The pegasus brought the jacket onto the counter as the unicorn looking to be in his early thirties, name tagged 'Color Clash', set his reading material to the side.

Color spent an uncomfortable few moments looking at High Rise strangely for no apparent reason, before leveling his expression to speak.

"Just this?" He questioned, sounding bored.

'Nooo. I've got some happy pills I was gonna buy stuck up my ass, want one?'

"Yeah, but I wanted to check. Can I get my cutie mark put on this?" The pegasus said with strained pleasantness.

The other stallion let out a breath through his nose prerequisite to speaking again in dull tones. "Mhmm, I can add that for an extra eight bits. It's spellwork so it'll take about ten minutes if you can wait. Where did you want it?" He finished with only mild expectancy.

"There'd be awesome."  High Rise told him as he pointed to a patch of material, turning in case the unicorn was yet to see the magical tattoo on his flanks.

"Can I get your name so I can call you back when it's done?"

The pegasus shrugged a little. "High Rise, but I was gonna wait by here for you anyway." He pointed out.

Lifting the jacket in his telekinesis and giving a nod, Color Clash turned to head through the curtain behind the counter as he talked over his shoulder. "Like I said, ten minutes and I'll have this out for you, so it'd be better to stick around."

"Gotcha." High Rise replied even as the till worker's tail vanished behind the curtain. "What a freakin' spaz..." He muttered, then caught sight of the mare that had been walking past him who was now staring at him, surprised by his condemnation of the store worker.

"Eh, no regrets." The stallion stated, and the mare blinked once then carried on as High Rise quickly eyed her flanks. Though he concluded she was no Switchboard, he did let his eyes wander a moment longer before looking around for a way to kill the time.

"Aha!" The pegasus had spotted the other item on his short shopping list, in the form of two rotating sunglasses racks stood next to the side of the counter. He proceeded to flick over most of the display, spinning the stand when necessary. High Rise had something particular in mind, and that something was-

"Yeeeheheaah." He drawled as he spun the second rack once and spotted what he was after.

"Aviators baby." High Rise remarked as he plucked a pair of wide lensed, reflective black sunglasses from their place. "Now ah be bitchin'." The pegasus twirled his prize around a hoof, staring intently as they went round.

Color Clash dropped his neutral mask the moment he was out of sight, along with the jacket he was carrying onto the chair behind a ledger desk just next to the doorway. The unicorn snatched a pen from the small desk and the first scrap of paper he could get his magic on. After scribbling a hasty note onto it, he trotted over to one of the ponies working the stock shelves - a chartreuse pegasus mare with an umber mane, and nudged her with an elbow to get her attention.

"This needs to be flown out to Blacklight at his office right now, tell him we've spotted who he's looking for if he starts asking you why you're barging into his office. Go out through the back." Was his stern order.

The mare hesitated only slightly until she took the note in her teeth and gave a sharp nod, running off through the shelving area towards the back of the building.

Color Clash turned and walked in less of a rush back to the jacket he'd discarded, shifting it up onto the desk to work on while he took his place on the chair that was placed there. The spell he needed to use would only take just over five minutes to do in reality, despite being a little technical the 'Temporal Image Transfer' spell was relatively low caliber, and simply took some concentration more than anything else. So with a few minutes of a lit horn and otherwise seeming to halfheartedly gaze at the material, the replicated ace of spades which stood on its corner with smoke rising from it was imprinted on the right shoulder.

After giving the finished product a quick look over, the unicorn rose from his admittedly uncomfortable folding steel perch and headed back into the front of the store, putting a placid expression back on his face.

High Rise leaned against the store counter already getting bored, the Aviators he'd picked up still spinning, though lazily, around his hoof. The moment before his thoughts could turn into a series of internal complaints about the situation was thankfully brought to a close when Color Clash reappeared, carrying his now customized item of choice.

"Noice." The pegasus commented with fading disinterest once he spotted his cutie mark in place on the coat. "I'll take these now that I found 'em though."  He said hoofing over the sunglasses.

Color Clash's response was flat as ever as he checked over the eye wear. "Right. Well that brings this to forty-eight bits, please."

'Ouch, I should check price tags before I pay for stuff.' Rise mentally cringed as he opened his saddlebag with a wing, counting out the required amount of bits as he passed them over.

The other stallion seemed a little irritated that he hadn't opted to pay with a card, but would make no complaint about making a sale as he hoofed both the jacket and glasses back to High Rise, who once again basked in the gratification he got from just looking at a piece of leather. Sure, some ponies found such materials off-putting, but damn if it didn't look good.

"Thanks." High Rise said plainly, smiling wide and heading off with nothing more to add. The stallion stopped himself next to Teenage Kicks front entrance, folding up the wing flaps on the jacket before slipping it on with no small amount of satisfaction.

"Okay, this was so worth paying for." He spoke aloud once he felt the microfiber lining settle over his fur. Griffons really knew what they were doing with this stuff, the jacket might have had notable weight but it was apparent that it wouldn't cause the wearer to overheat in warm weather, nor freeze in the cold. Paired with the manticore hide on the outside which would keep out strong winds, it was the perfect fliers' cover that had looks.

Doing up the double zips and each sides' sleeve closer, High Rise stepped back outside. Looking up to the sky with a grin as he secured his Aviators on top of his muzzle, the pegasus who now more or less resembled a greaser given his mane-style, took the air once more.

Blacklights Office Complex - Half a mile north of Quincy East 11:36

A pegasus mare with a note fixed between her teeth burst through the doors of a multistory building, which so happened to be the office complex of Blacklights Electronics, a structure which had swiftly and suddenly grown alongside the company. Behind the desk in the ground floor lobby was a somewhat surprised receptionist mare: A cream earth pony with a pink mane that was pulled into a neatly done ponytail, with a pair of blue rimmed reading glasses resting on what was a slightly short snout for a mare. These are merely descriptive details of course, as our pegasus messenger wasn't stopping for long to take in the desk worker's features.

"Which floor is Blacklight's office?" She blurted as she ran across the foyer to the desk.

The earth pony managed some professionalism despite her bewilderment "Uh, have you made an appointment wi-"

"Which floor!?" The pegasus demanded, over exaggerating the urgency of her task.

Now a little taken aback, the receptionist became hesitant. "Uh... Fourth?" The answer sounding like a question, as if to ask whether or not the mare was happy now.

The aforementioned mare simply took off however, on a rapid course for the elevator that was aside the main desk, punching at the floor button for a moment before the doors closed and the device began its ascent. The earth pony gave a slow blink, and gradually turned back to the papers before her.

Elevator doors opening on the fourth floor was the only warning before a green mare rushed out from them, only to stop in the middle of the hallway and frantically look around with her mane whipping about, before she set off again for the door straight in front of her. Blacklight's company office did sport a protruding viewpoint for the city beyond it, it made sense for it to be at the front of the building.

Not knocking before entering was a pet peeve of the business-stallion, and everypony in his offices knew it, so his raised eyebrow and irritated undertones were relatively tame for one with his temperament.

"Can't say I recognize you, but that's not the point if we consider your method of entry. What do you want?" He curtly asked the mare who'd just barged into his office.

The pegasus finished taking deep breaths, before speaking with a level calm that suggested she may not understand just who she was talking to. "I have a note. 'We've seen who you're looking for'."

With the last statement, Blacklight became far more attentive, and gestured the mare over. "You saw him? Let me see it." He told her.

The pegasus dropped her charge onto the desk, although it was snatched up in a black aura before it could land, Blacklight already eating up what was written on the scrap of paper before he remembered the room's other occupant.

"Hm? Oh, yes, good work getting this to me. You can tell whoever sent you that I will be making putting extra into their business's charge break." Waving the mare off before turning back to the note suspended in front of him, Blacklight read it eagerly.

The pegasus you put out a notice for came in to us, matching cutie mark so it was definitely him. He bought a griffon made leather jacket, so that's another way you can identify him in the future. We also got a name: High Rise

- CC:TK

Setting the piece of paper down as he lent back in his chair, the stallion placed the tips of his hooves together as he thought on the new information.

'Buying out or threatening multiple businesses throughout the city has already payed off in yet another way.' He noted as he looked back to the slip on in front of him. 'And now I know who you are colt. Be careful, because it will not take me long to get my own hooves on you now. You owe me money. Nopony owes me money, I have it all already.'

Smiling darkly as he turned his chair to look out through the windows behind him, Blacklight nodded to himself slowly. "Wouldn't think an electronics company was the way to go would you? But when we are getting holds on the suppliers of the electricity itself, you could say we sit in a position of power." The stallion told no-one, seemingly content to monologue to himself.

"Yes, and I will have the power over this city, I'll run the show here by the time this is over."