Money Is Everything

The smell of mildew from the morning grass was strong as the three of us made our way up to the fast approaching library. The sun was barely up in the sky, just enough for us to feel its presence.

"Now, ahm gonna give y'all a warnin', Cross.. Twi ain't too happy with ya about the newspaper." Applejack said with a slight glance in my direction.

It's easily understandable, the last thing we needed was more publicity. At the very least, I can be thankful that Princess Luna had nothing to say about the incident.

When we reached the door, rather than knocking, Applejack went on in while we waited. Eventually she emerged, and a few minutes after a tired looking Twilight stepped outside with a rolled up magazine.

She shut the door behind her and looked at me with a slightly disappointed expression.

"I get that it's in your nature to be a hero." She rubbed her eyes and unrolled the paper. "But you're still a wanted stallion. What would you have done if your face wasn't covered in ash and soot in that photo? Either of you?"

Steel and I sort of looked at each other, and I pointed out the stallion in the picture with half of his face horribly burned.

"That's Steel's father..."

She flipped the magazine around and stared at the picture for a second. Rather instantly she noticed that the stallion listed as "Bush Briar" lacked wings, unlike Steel.

Seeming to understand that this wasn't just on a whim, Twilight nodded and looked to Steel. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," Steel said. "There was nothing you could have done. The house is gone and there's not much else to it."

She looked back down at the newspaper for a second before rolling it up once more. "Well, aside from that, how did the trip go?"

"Pretty good, actually." I responded with a slight smile. "We got the rest of the gold back in the process."

"That's good news." She smiled back at me in response, and her door slowly opened to reveal Spike, holding a scroll.

"This one's addressed to Cross?" Spike said, as he handed the letter out to me.

I took the scroll, obviously, but we all seemed to have different reactions to it. Applejack went pale, Steel looked at it disdainfully, I stared at it blankly, and Twilight didn't have a reaction to it until she noticed our expressions and instantly took on a nervous expression. Spike, on the other hoof, looked completely oblivious.

There was silence as I unraveled the scroll.

Hunter—if I should even dare to call you that, we desperately need your help.

I am not one to easily admit it, but you are our best bet to finding the stallion you call Dwight. I would like to apologize for the actions of my dear sister, she has an old-fashioned way of going about things.

I'm asking you, personally, to meet with me in Canterlot Palace at your earliest convenience. As my sister has informed you, it would be in your best interest to get ahold of ponies that you can trust.

"Signed, Princess Celestia..."

I raised my head and we all looked at one another.

Eventually I broke the silence and explained to Twilight what had occured in the dream I had on the train. She seemed to better understand why I worded my letter the way I did... But nonetheless thought it was stupid, and I honestly can't say I blamed her.

"Ah suppose that deals with tha problem of Luna.." Applejack looked at me. "Who all are y'all bringing along, Cross?"

I glanced over at Steel, then back to Applejack. "I've got a few people I'm considering... You, Steel, possibly Skid."

Steel rolled his eyes. "We don't need to bring in anypony that was associated with Dwight."

Twilight looked at me quizzically. "Skid?"

"Skid was our getaway driver. Last I heard from him was right after the Manehattan heist. Said he'd probably work in the cab business up in Fillydelphia."

"Uhh– Ah think ahm gonna have to agree with Steel on this one, Cross. Are ya sure that's the best idea?"

"Skid's a good stallion. He may have made the poor decision of robbing a bank, but he's a good stallion none the less."

Twilight sighed and gave me back my letter.

"The thing is, I think that we'll be better off getting this taken care of now. I see no need to wait a few days, instead of just getting it over with."

"Oh, come on Cross!" Steel groaned. "We've been going for days! I haven't slept in an actual bed in months!"

Twilight, as if suddenly getting an idea, rose a hoof before adding on. "If you give me a day or two, I could find out a bit more on Slick's cab business. Surely that'd be of help! Fillydephia is a big city after all."

I looked at Twilight and then back at Steel. "The Princesses won't wait on us forever, sooner or later they're going to get harsher and I don't want to be idling around when they do... But fine, I suppose two days couldn't hurt."

"Are you serious?" Steel looked at me. When I didn't say no, he pumped his foreleg. "Yes! I'm going to take a nap!"

"I'll probably be back there soon..." I'd said as he trotted off. "While he's napping, I guess I could do some brainstorming and see if there's anypony else I know of that could be of assistance. I'm sorry we woke you."

Twilight shrugged it off. "I was bound to wake up sooner or later. Besides, it gives me a chance to take care of a few things before he wakes up."

Applejack nodded, also turning to leave. "They're a hoof full, that's fer sure. I'll see ya soon, Cross. Ah have a few things I could use your help with."

"Sure thing." I wasn't exactly sure what she had in mind, but I hoped it didn't involve me having to strain too hard to work. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm genuinely tired.

"I'll see you around, Cross. If you need anything, just stop by." She smiled half-heartedly before going back inside.

All that was left was for me to go home, relax, and think...

"I dunno how I'm gonna handle this mess," Skid rubbed the side of his head, stressed. "All these damned papers!"

He slammed his hoof down and watched as the large stack of papers on the top left of his desk toppled over and spilled across the floor of his office. What followed was an aggravated shout.

Suddenly a mare with a pale white coat appeared in the doorway, clutching a clipboard to her chest. Her yellow mane was completely frazzled, barely held together by the tie that was intended to hold it back. It was his assistant.
"B- Boss, are you alright?"

Skid glanced up from his fit of anger, speaking in a calmer voice. "Just.. Do me a favor and get up this damned mess, Chamomile. I'm gonna go have a smoke."

She nodded and set the clipboard aside, moving past him on his way out.

It had only been a month since that mare was stricken by one of his cabs in a freak accident, and yet, he and his company were suffering for it. Money wasn't the problem— no, there was enough of that to keep them going for awhile. The problem was just how many of his employees had quit. There were still enough around to keep the company afloat, but it wasn't anywhere near the massive business it had been. Pretty soon they'd have to sell their current HQ in favor of a smaller location if something wasn't done, and fast.

Taking the pipe out of his mouth, Slick looked at the massive city before him and sighed. It was a terribly rainy, gloomy day. It had been pouring down since he'd gotten up that morning, and yet it somehow made the city look more beautiful in his eyes. For just the slightest of moments, he'd forgotten about his troubles. But, there was no shortage of work to be done, and a little rain wouldn't slow down business hours, so he turned around and went back inside.

It was on his way back to his office that he noticed something in the air didn't feel right. The long hallways with their identical white walls, save for the occasional painting and window, seemed to stretch on endlessly.

As he turned the corner and entered his office he found Chamomile waiting for him in a nearby chair, adjacent to his desk, which now had the recently toppled papers neatly stacked upon it to one side.

"Somepony stopped by to see you, Boss. I figured I'd seat him in the conference room until–"

Skid let out a long sigh as he walked around the desk to his seat, his hooves echoing in the silent room. "Of all days... Sure, bring them in."

Chamomile nodded and got up, exiting the room.

Skid hoped it was just somepony who wanted to "see" him, like she had mentioned, and it wasn't some sort of business proposition, another complaint, or somepony who decided to quit upfront. He just wanted to get back to filing away all these damn papers.

"Thank ya, miss."

That voice... Why was it so familiar?

Skid sat up straighter in his desk, for some reason his body had gone into defense mode. The approaching hooves from down the hall were the only sound heard... And then they stopped. Standing in the doorway was none other than Dwight himself. He looked clean, as though he was about to attend a wedding.

"Howdy, mister big business." Dwight said with a slight smirk.

Skid was speechless as the old stallion trotted over and took a seat, propping up his back hooves on the desk away from the papers.

Dwight cleared his throat and took of his hat. "Due to a set of certain circumstances, it'd seem that we need to have a little talk."

Just before the silence got awkward, Skid realized this was the time for him to speak and he swallowed hard, putting on his business facade. "Talk about what? I owed up to my part of the job, I got paid, I left. Didn't you say you'd be up in the empire, getting laid?"

Dwight took out a cigar from a pocket on his ivory white suit and lit it. "You've got a business goin' under and I have somepony that needs to be gone. Ya make 'em disappear and I'll save your livelihood. Consider it a business proposition, except somebody is stickin their nose in my business and you need help with your own."

Skid put up an ashtray on the table and folded his front hooves behind his head. "I've never been the kind to kill, let alone plan to kill. You know this, Dwight."

"You see," Dwight takes a puff and looks into Skid's eyes, "I've already worked everything out. I've been one step ahead, even had tabs on this pony I want gone. All you have to do is agree. I've been nice thus far, but we can make this difficult." He then pats his side and the slight bulge of a revolver is seen through his suit.

"You needed someone you trust, otherwise you wouldn't have come to me. It'd be a shame if we let it get as far as for that to be necessary. If I might ask, what'd this pony do so bad as to make you need a hitpony of sorts?"

Dwight's mustache furrowed. "He betrayed me, my trust, and everything I've ever done for him."

Skid glanced away from his gaze. "Sounds like this pony don't know how good they had it... It's a done deal." He removed one of his hooves from behind him and held it out for Dwight, who sat up and took it with a grin.