Twisted Fate

Chapter Nine – North for the Winter

“Is it just me, or is it getting colder?”

“I hope he’s alright,” Faith broke the silence that sat between us. “He should be here by now.”

“Did we get the rally point right?” I asked in between nervous sips of coffee, the caffeine doing more harm than good in terms of calming my nerves. “We were supposed to meet at Joe’s Donuts if things went south.”

“Things did kind of go south,” Faith replied. “Hey,” Faith moved a hoof under my chin and lifted my head from staring down a mug of coffee, “It wasn’t your fault what happened. There’s no way we could have known Capo wanted to pull a heist of his own.”

“I know,” I sighed, “What happens to an assassin if they’re captured by the guard?”

“Bad things,” A voice nearly scared me hard enough to turn my coat as white as my mane.

“Who’s there? Joe?” I spoke up, looking for the source of the voice. It seemed like Faith and I were the only ones in the store.

“Joe? Who’s Joe? I’m Midnight, have we met?” The voice came out again, but surely our long range communication spell should have worn off by now.

“We can’t see you,” Faith said.

“Oh is this thing still on?” The source of the voice became revealed in the coffee shop as Midnight seemed to fade into existence, a necklace around his neck revealing the heist as a success. I barely had time to react before Faith launched herself in a hug around Midnight, causing me to get up from my seat and walk over to him.

“We thought something horrible had happened to you!” Faith nearly screamed in relief.

“Yeah well- ow!” Midnight was caught off guard from a rather hard punch I threw at his shoulder. “Destiny, what the hay was that for?”

“For making me leave you behind, now come here,” I said, giving Midnight a hug to let him know I was really glad he was safe.

“Hey wait a minute…” Faith paused, “We’re you using that necklace!?”

“Umm, yeah, why? I thought anypony with magic could use this.”

“Only Luna can use this pendant!” Faith was shocked to say the least. “Luna and one of the ponies of the prophecy, that is.”

“Prophecy? What prophecy?” Midnight asked. “Now I’m confused.”

“I’ll explain everything,” I spoke up, “Let’s get you a coffee first, though.”

“So, I’m some kind of special pony capable on controlling these insanely powerful artifacts?” Midnight’s reaction to my explanation went better than expected, gradually changing from surprise to understanding.

“Pretty much,” I replied. “I know it seems like a shock, but we were told by a couple thousand year old spirit about how these artifacts work, I wouldn’t dismiss it immediately.”

“So what do I tell Frostbite? You can’t just leave the assassins.”

“Leave? Why would you leave?” Faith asked.

“If I’m one of the ponies in this prophecy shouldn’t I go with you guys to help fight these cultists and gather up the artifacts?”

Faith and I looked to each other for a moment. “Team meeting!” I called as I grabbed Faith into a huddle.

“What do you think we should do, Destiny?” Faith whispered. “I mean I like him, but what about Frostbite?”

“I’ve got an idea,” I responded, breaking the huddle with Faith.

“That’s exactly what you’re going to tell Frostbite!”

“That’s your plan?” Faith looked at me flatly.

“I do what now?” Midnight asked.

“You tell Frostbite that you need to leave to save the world and protect the innocent, isn’t that what assassins do?” I asked him.

“I guess, but you really want me to tag along with you two?” Midnight suddenly seemed unsure at embarking on our epic journey across the world. I was about to speak when Faith answered for me,

“Are you kidding? After all we’ve been through and the fact that you are one of the three most unique ponies in the world you would think we would just drop you like that?”

“Yeah,” I added on, “As long as no more of that vigilante stuff happens, you’re alright in my book. Now come on, it’s five in the morning, I’d like to get back to base and sleep the day away.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Midnight replied. We all shared a laugh before waving bye to Pony Joe and heading out into the sunrise, the city being surprisingly active for five A.M.

“You want to what?” Celerity screamed again, causing the few ponies that were in the lobby at seven in the morning to again turn to her.

“Is all you do shout?” Faith asked, obviously tired at all the loud noises disturbing her after a night of no sleep.

“I’m sorry,” Celerity replied sarcastically, “But somepony does not simply leave or join the assassins, there is protocol to follow.”

“What kind of protocol?” I inquired, eager to get on the road again with our new traveling companion.

“Papers to fill out, tests to run; it can take months for someone to legitimately leave the guild, and that’s without complication.”

“Months?” I replied in shock. “We don’t have that kind of time, if we don’t get on the move by tonight there’s no telling what kind of devastation those bastards in the Hammer could wreak.”

“Look,” Celerity responded, calmed down and talking with a tone of understanding, “I don’t like these guys any more than you guys do, but I just can’t bend the rules like that, it’s not how things are done.”

“Can’t you talk to Frostbite?” Midnight asked the salmon colored mare. “I’m sure if we explain to him the brunt of the situation he would understand.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” was the only response we got.

Faith and I moved sluggishly into our room. The single bed with the overly firm mattress sound more appealing than thinking about sleeping in the same bed with Faith while our ‘relationship’ was on the fritz, the two of us never getting to finish our chat about her constant teasing.

I crawled into bed next to Faith, subconsciously snuggling up to her for additional comfort, neither of us saying a word as we drifted off to sleep. As I blinked my eyes slowly, Faith murmured something in her slumber.

“Destiny…” she mumbled. Was she dreaming about me? I couldn’t be bothered to think too much about it. I contented myself in rolling over, Faith’s head resting under my chin as I blacked out in exhaustion.

A black void. I thought to myself that I knew what was going to come next, a chilling vision of an event in the past or yet to come. This time it was a city along the coast of a nation, bamboo roofed houses making up the majority of the city. I could see the citizens, ibex by the look of it. Their trademark horns and symbol tattoos in the same location as cutie marks being their main identifying factors.

The city was abuzz with activity, large market places with multiple stalls servicing ponies and ibex, floating river shops sailed along canals that cut the city into sections. It seemed like a sunny day, but I knew that like my previous visions it was likely to end up in some cryptic event that I would later have to interpret.

My invisible view point shifted, looking to a hill overlooking scattered huts near the edge of the city. I noticed something was not right as I squinted my sight to see what was wrong. I noticed a large elemental; a living embodiment of fire dominated the horizon at the peak of the hill. The elemental raised its infernal arms to the sky, darkening the blue sky into a tinted red as flaming rocks befell on the city.

The rocks were stopped however, as a powerful shield blocked the rocks as they impacted it, briefly bringing the invisible energy shield into sight. The city began to panic at the attack, the citizens fleeing into their huts and houses at the elemental fought to punch through the shield with his unrelenting assault of fire and brimstone.

I could see the shadow of a pegasus overhead as a beam shot out from a necklace hanging around its neck, causing the elemental to wail in pain as it recoiled at the damage done by the magical energy beam. The sky returned blue as my vision faded into darkness.

I awoke, the time on the nearby clock reading three in the afternoon. I looked to my surroundings, noticing the beige coated mare lying in front of me. Faith had not moved from her original position when I fell asleep, still nestled between my hooves and resting her head on my chest.

I sighed contentedly. I enjoyed the position I was in at the moment, but knew it would be complicated to explain my current posture if she woke up. I decided to wiggle my hooves out from under her body and moved her head lightly from its resting position under my own.

I hopped off the bed and gave myself a quick shake, waking me up from my tiredness. I knew it would take forever to get my body clock on schedule but the midmorning and early afternoon nap next to that mare was worth it. I walked over to the door and pushed it open, walking down the stairs and into the main lobby of the security firm.

Celerity was still working the desk, glancing up at me but not uttering a single word as she simple went back about her business looking at a couple of files for the cover company. I decided to pass up on asking her about the status on Midnight’s release, assuming that she would speak to me when she had information, and hopefully it would be soon.

I walked passed her and decided to check the training grounds for Gilda, hoping an interesting conversation with her will help kill time as I waited for Frost to get in from his cover job at the Manehattan archives. My search was rewarded when I found the gryphon on the target range again, practicing sharp shooting on her signature dual pistols as she popped off targets that stuck their heads out.

When she had successfully picked off six targets she set down her smoking pistols for a small brake, once again noticing me out of the corner of her yellow eyes. She took a talon to the handle of the doorway, opening up to allow us to talk as she picked up her pistols and packed them away safely.

“Sup, Destiny,” Gilda said. “What brings you down to the ol’ range?”

“Just looking to talk,” I said. “I’m not a good shot,” I admitted.

“You’re a blade mare, no shame in that. What’s on your mind?”

“You were working in gryphon intelligence before you got burned right?” I asked, knowing I was treading on thin ice talking about her banishment.

“Yeah, why?” she asked in a suspicious tone.

“Do you have any contacts you kept in the gryphon kingdoms?” I asked flatly, not bothering to beat around the bush with her.

“I kept a few,” Gilda replied apprehensively, “What part you heading out to?”

“There’s an artifact in the ruins of Old Asgard,” I responded. “Know anyone nearby?”

“Envy, an old gal pal back when I ran some ops for the kingdom of Talos during the resulting civil conflict after High King Guntram kicked it. The jarl of Talos enlisted me to do some wet work on a few traitors selling secrets in the Hall of Asgard. She was my inside contact.”

“And you’re sure she’s still friendly after the banishment?” I asked.

“As friendly as they come to exiled warriors, everypony has someone on the inside when their out, even you.”

“Wait,” I paused, “How did you know-”

“What? You don’t think everypony in the guild got the debrief on the walk in’s? We have your history down, and it’s quite an interesting one, I’ll say that.”

“The whole reason I was exiled was because of those cultists, I defended a friend of mine from them.”

“Alright then, I’ll help. Envy works at a bar in Asgard called the Grand Mead Hall; it’s the most popular bar in the city. She works the counter, and all kinds of ponies and gryphons alike visit there, so it should be easy enough to blend in. When she asks for your order, ask for a branded bird, she’ll know I sent you.”

“Sounds cryptic,” I commented. “That all?”

“Hey, I never said this spook thing was straight forward. Working with Frostbite is so much better, not as much red tape, and for a noble cause as opposed to furthering a cities goal for usurping power in the kingdoms.”

“Thanks, Gilda,” I put my hoof forward, offering her a friendly handshake, “It’s been a real pleasure getting to work with someone like you, you’re quite a character.”

“Ya’ think? Glad you see it that way, because I’m not sure Celerity does.”

“What did she do now?” I asked.

“She had to quote, ‘begrudgingly give me time off to sort out my personal life.’ Like what the hay does that mean?”

“A sign of fate that you should use the time off to go talk to that old marefriend of yours?” I added my input.

Gilda brought her talon to her forehead in an audible slap before muttering, “Frost always knows, doesn’t he?”

A voice came over a speaker system built into the building, “I do! Also, Destiny, could I speak to you upstairs, Faith is with me currently, thanks.” The unmistakable voice of Frost came and went in that one sentence, causing me to look to Gilda with a tad bit of uncertainty.

“Oh well, have fun,” was her only response. I sighed and thanked her once again for her help in setting Faith and I (and hopefully Midnight) up in Asgard without much hassle before heading back up the stairs to get talk to Frost.

“I’ve been considering your proposal,” Frost spoke in a controlled manner. It was unnerving to say the least compared to his rather cold, passive-aggressive attitude before changing into a stoic expressionless merchant of death. “Do you have anypony that can back up your story on this prophecy? It is not as if I am ungrateful for the work you put forward in helping put a stop to Capo and his organized crime ring, allowing us to focus our resources mostly on the Hammer present in Manehattan and the rest of Equestria, but I don’t want to simple lose a stallion on a story.”

“Do you have time to send anypony to Alexmanedria to speak to the ancient spirit of knowledge Wong Shei Tuong? Because we don’t if we want to make it to Asgard within the next few days, it’ll take a while on foot, a week and a half at least.”

“I’m sure I could arrange a chariot to get you to Pisa, on the edge of the Gryphon Kingdom borders. I’ll allow you to borrow him for the time being, but I ask you meet back with the guild elsewhere in Equestria when I get my answers. I will be in touch, Destiny.”

“So that means he can go?” Faith asked, a gleam present in her eyes at the prospect of a new traveling companion.

“Yes,” Frost confirmed, “You have my permission for Midnight to be on temporary leave from the guild to assist you two in fighting the Hammer over the entire world. I wish you the best of luck in your quest for the next element or artifact, the chariot will pick you up from here tonight, be prepared to move.”

“Weapons?”

“Check.”

“Food?”

“Check.”

“Midnight?”

“Che- wait,” I paused. “I thought he was here, the chariot is supposed to be arriving in a couple of minutes.” I looked around the lobby of the private security firm, searching for the dark blue coat that represented our newest addition to the team. “Midnight?”

“Hey girls,” Midnight said as he rounded a corner, floating some cardboard cup holders that held a few plastic cups. “Sorry about cutting it close, just thought we’d like some coffee for the road. It’s a five hour flight to Pisa.”

Faith gasped, “I thought I’d never be so happy in my life to see caffeine! I’m starting to like you more than Destiny already.”

“Hey!” I protested. “Not funny, Faith.”

“Well you have to make up your mind,” Faith replied.

“On what?” I retorted.

“On whether you want friendly banter teasing or sexual teasing; honestly, you are such an indecisive mare.”

Midnight took a sip of his Stars Buck coffee before speaking, “Is this sort of bickering common between you two?”

“Fairly,” I admitted.

Before Midnight could continue a chariot descended from the Manehattan sky, drawn by pegasi dawned in golden colored royal armor. The guards lacked any sort of expression whatsoever, their stone faced expression unnerving me ever so slightly.

“Frost called in a royal chariot for us?” Faith asked.

“Must’ve asked Shining for a favor,” Midnight stated. “I heard back when Frost was in the royal guard those two were very close, practically brothers.”

“Sir,” one of the guards spoke up, “and madams, we are to take you to Pisa on the edge of the Gryphon Kingdoms, please climb aboard so we may depart.”

The three of us climbed aboard, and the chariot nearly immediately ascended into the sky. I had never flown above the tallest buildings that dominated the Manehattan skyline, but now I was getting a sense of want just looking at the bright expanse of urban land below me.

“Hey you guys,” I broke the silence and quiet sipping of coffee as I spoke. “I’m going to go stretch my wings; it feels like forever since I’ve gotten a real flight.”

“Okay,” Faith replied, “Just stay close so you don’t lose us, the last thing we need is for you to get lost halfway through the flight.”

“Relax,” I responded, “The sun just set, there’s enough light left for me to make out you two. I’ll just be a bit to get some flips in.”

I took to the sky with a powerful leap off of the chariot platform, the air below me revealing specs moving along the streets as they browsed the city at night. The chariot had been a couple of hundred feet up to clear any of the taller Manehattan buildings as well as any mountains we were likely to encounter along the way, specifically the Grand Dragon Mountain where according to Midnight, a dragon from the Scorched Lands had recently decided to take a nap and pollute nearby Ponyville and Cloudsdale with a thick veil of smoke. Had it not been for the Elements of Harmony, the entire country would most likely be covered in a choking smog for a hundred years or so until the dragon decided to wake up.

I decided to practice an old Archangel routine as I flew around the sky, using some of my personal signature moves like the cloud spinner extreme and the hypersonic blast wave. They were somewhat flashy, but I decided it was the best way to make sure I didn’t forget how to fly while we were in a country of gryphons.

I landed after finishing the short routine, looking to Faith and Midnight who had been half engrossed in a discussion while watching my performance.

“So,” I asked, “What did you guys think?”

“That was pretty awesome, I have to admit,” Midnight responded. “I knew you were good, but that was a little unexpected.”

“Though a bit flashy,” Faith added. “Still, that last trick, what was it?”

“The hypersonic blast wave?”

“Ah, yes that’s it; well the blast wave looked very powerful indeed. Maybe one day your prowess in the air will come in handy or save our lives, who knows.”

I became mildly flushed at the praise from Faith, quickly disguising it and composing myself when I realize I was blushing, hoping the fading light hid it from the others.

“Well now that your wings are stretched,” Midnight said, “we can get down to business.”

“Okay,” I replied slowly, “What kind of business?”

“Well, mainly I have no idea where we’re going in the kingdoms, what we’re looking for or what our first course of action is when landing in Pisa. I was hoping you could explain a little, Destiny.”

“Me?” I asked, “What’s wrong with Faith explaining the plans while I was flying?”

“I just assumed since you were the leader you would be the one coming up with the next moves to take.” Whoa, wait a minute. Did he just say I was the leader?

“I’m not the leader,” I protested, “This has always been a team thing and Faith knows it. I don’t order anything in this group; any and all suggestions are open onto the table.”

“In other words,” Faith said, “We have no plan.”

“Now that’s not true,” I disagreed. “In truth I got Gilda to give me the name of an old contact of hers in Asgard. Gilda said she would help us out with a couple of supplies while we searched the upper ruins or Old Asgard for the golden feather.”

“And as far as getting from Pisa to Asgard?” Midnight raised a valid point, my response being a pathetic response.

“We make it up as we go,” I responded simple, raising a face hoof out of Faith. “Like I said if either of you two have a better idea I’d love to hear it.”

“Fine,” Faith said, almost as expressionless as the guards flying the chariot. “We play it by ear then.”

“Thanks for the ride!” I called as I waved a hoof to the two pegasi that had flown us to the edge of the town of Pisa, a joint gryphon and pony settlement in the foothills of a mountain range near the edge of the territory held by the kingdoms.

The guards simple bowed and left without another word, their expressionless faces never wavering as they rode off into the late night. It had just been after midnight when we landed, Faith yawning in exhaustion at being awake at the late hour, Midnight seeming to be unaffected.

“Those two were cold,” Faith managed to comment between sighs and yawns.

“Colder than Frostbite,” I added. “Come on, we need to look for an inn to spend the night before Faith passes out.”

“I concur,” Faith managed to mumble. The three of us took off into the streets of town. I could feel the roads paved with cobblestone underneath my hooves and many of the houses containing thatched roofs and simple brick and wooden structures. I could still make our simple electrical appliances in many of the lit houses as we passed, alerting to me that this place was deceptively modern, though I had no idea where they got the generators to power the town.

As we walked along a main road, the emptiness was a stark contrast to the vibrant nightlife of Manehattan, the main street being virtually devoid of any life. A few houses still boasted lights this late into the night, including a building showing a sign that read ‘The Sleeping Dragon Inn.’ I motioned to my companions that there would be our best bet at a good nights’ sleep. They hastily agreed as I moved over and pushed open the door with a hoof.

My eyes were greeted with the sight of a lone bartender, a male gryphon, idly washing glasses. He was probably working the night shift, I concluded. It was likely this was a 24 hour inn and we would be able to check in even this late at night. The bartender sat behind a counter of ancient looking wood, several bar stools accompanying the old counter top. Behind him, several bottles of brand name alcohols, including several I had never heard of before greeted by eyes. My nose was assaulted with the smell of mixed drinks, several of the scents seeming increasingly alluring the longer I lingered near the area.

I gave a small shake of the head to clear my thoughts, my brain moving sleep to a higher priority than enjoying a drink at the moment. I walked up to the bartender, causing him to look up from his cleaning.

“Can I help you?” he asked in a friendly tone. I guess if you lived in a town founded by both ponies and gryphons, every one of them was fairly friendly for there to not have been civil war amongst the citizens.

“Can I rent a couple of rooms?” I asked. “And what are the rates for doing so?”

“10 bits a night per room, we have three open at the moment,” the gryphon responded.

“I’ll take all three,” I replied, not wanting to have to deal sharing a bed with Faith just to avoid paying ten extra bits. I was too tired for that kind of mental work to process the consequences of intentionally making Faith sleep with me.

“I can tell you three are tired,” the gryphon commented, “Well except your stallion friend over there, he looks more wide awake then Celestia in the morning. Either way, just pay for your rooms tomorrow, I won’t hassle you now.”

“Thanks,” I managed to get out. “We’ll pay in the morning when everypony’s up,” I replied. I half carried Faith up the stairs that led onto the second floor of the inn, Midnight following in hoof as we made our way to the three free rooms. I opened the door to Faith’s room and supported her as she moved over to the bed at a rather sluggish pace, eventually plopping herself down in the soft gryphon down before murmuring.

“Thanks Destiny,” Faith managed to say as she blinked slowly, fighting to keep consciousness as sleep began to overtake her.

“Sleep tight, book worm,” I teased back, “We’ll get a fresh start in the morning.” I left her as I trotted out of the room, shutting the door behind me before coming face to face with a smirking Midnight.

“What?” I asked him, unsure why he was smiling, or why he was so close to my face.

“You need to stop hiding this from her,” Midnight scolded.

“What do you mean?” I said, not quite catching what he was hinting at.

“This whole thing,” Midnight said back as if it was as plain as the color of my coat. “It’s painfully obvious you two like each other, so just get it over with and tell you how you feel because it’s really annoying to watch her tease you waiting for a response and you too awkward or nervous to do anything about her.”

“I’m way too tired for this,” I stated. “Can we discuss my love life tomorrow morning over breakfast?”

“Fine,” Midnight huffed, “But you will tell her, and soon.”

“Deal,” I replied before I moved into my room, slightly thankful for once to have a bed to myself. Despite Midnight’s expert assassin observations on the relationship tension between me and my well-read companion, I noticed a lack of longing as I slept alone. Perhaps it was a subconscious conclusion, either of one that stated Faith and I were nothing more than friends and there should be no reason for me to long her missing from my immediate side, or that my mind drew the conclusion she was literally three feet away on the other side of the wall, and that I wasn’t truly alone.

I still silently thanked Midnight for basically pushing me to confess my feelings to Faith. I knew I couldn’t keep it bottled up but my mind kept rationalizing it as there being more important and world altering matters to attend to than my personal love life.

I climbed into bed, for the first time in a while my wings sore from a flight, and my mind racing with the possibilities that the next day held.

I awoke from a dreamless sleep, the windowless and clock void room hiding what the current time was. A soft light emanating from the night life guided my hoof until it could grab and pull on a string to turn on a lamp, the room becoming flooded with artificial light.

The inn room itself was non-descript as far as rooms go; a bed, a side table with the lamp and a small desk filled the room. Like most inns I had stayed in on my journey, food was served downstairs, and the smell easily wafted up from between the cracks in the door. My wing muscles still ached from the array of tricks I performed over Manehattan, but I forced myself out of the extremely comfortable gryphon down bed anyway. I still longed for a cloud bed, having not felt one since I was tossed out of my home just over two weeks ago, but had decided that such luxuries could be afforded after the world was saved.

I opened the door with a light push, my eyes adjusting to the natural light flowing in from the windows on the lower floor of the inn. I noticed Faith and Midnight already enjoying breakfast as I came down the stairs.

“You slept in,” Faith commented. “Glad to see you’re finally up.”

“And you passed out,” I teased back. “What time is it?”

“Just after ten,” Midnight replied, “Don’t worry about paying for the room, I got it covered.”

“Oh,” I replied with mild surprise, “Thanks, but you didn’t have to do that.”

“I know but if I’m going to be part of the team I should help out where I can,” Midnight gave a small smile. “Now come, get some food before it gets cold.” I didn’t argue to that as I moved over hungrily to the food prepared by the bartender still working from the night before.

“How long do you work?” I decided to strike up a conversation with the gryphon between bites of eggs and hay browns, deciding now was a good time to get information on the town of Pisa and what was the easiest way to get from here to Asgard.

Trotting was our last resort, deciding that spending a week crossing valleys and mountain tops was an unnecessary risk compared to paying a chariot fair. Gryphons still flew non flying passengers in between the Halls, as Gilda told me. Trade had been up recently between certain gryphon settlements and Pisa, home to a number of unicorn and earth ponies, meaning that their needed to be a simpler means of transportation than traversing the ancient dirt and cobblestone pathways between the Halls and the gryphons lacked an intricate rail system unlike Equestria.

“I work between midnight and noon, and then my brother takes over bartending and taking care of patrons while I get some much needed shut eye,” the bartender responded. “The name’s Hroth, and my brother, who is still sleeping at our home across the street is Hirschgard. We’ve been working at this inn for over ten years now after our parents retired.”

I had my suspicions about inn owners after my experience with Free Bird, but I had no reason or grounds to suspect anything was amiss with Hroth other than previous experiences.

“That’s a while, so you must know a lot of the locals here,” I commented back.

“Well of course,” Hroth replied, “Anypony or gryphon in particular you’re trying to track down?”

“Someone who can secure my companions and I a chariot to Asgard, we have,” I gave an ever so brief pause as I searched for an appropriately vague term that still got my message across, “business,” I went with, “and need a faster way to get there then walking the paths on the ground.”

“Well there are the Braveheart brothers,” Hroth said, “but I heard from a pegasus in the market place they’re in a bit of a bind at the moment and can’t service anypony anywhere for the time being.”

“Do you know what the problem is?” Faith asked, having finished her meal and jumping into the conversation.

“No clue, the merchant didn’t say specifically, but I can only guess such a thing is serious for those two to close up shop. That taxi service is their whole life, like Hirsch’s and my inn.”

“Then we know where to hit first,” I said back.

The three of us walked along the street, a chilling breeze blowing lightly. The marketplace was abuzz with activity, from ponies and gryphons trading goods and services to the various other activities taking place in the street such as foals playing with one another.

“What’s the name of this place?” Midnight turned and asked me. The three of us had decided that our best course of action was to talk to the gryphons ourselves and see what we could do to resolve their problem. The way I had reasoned it, we not only could help a couple of gryphons in need, but it was likely that solving the issue would take a shorter amount of time then walking.

“Braveheart Transportation,” I replied. “We go in, ask them what the problem is, solve it, and get on our way to Asgard.”

“You make it sound so easy,” Faith remarked.

“That sounded easy?” Midnight said, “We don’t even know what their problem is.”

“Oh hush, you two,” I replied. “I just want to get this over with. There,” I pointed with a hoof, “That’s where they are.”

We opened the door to a shop sporting the sign ‘Braveheart Transportation: Getting you where you need to go no matter the risk!’ A design of an eagle in flight and a lion growling flanked the slogan on either side. A sign on the door said they were closed, but through the window I could see the two brothers idly attempting to decide what to do next.

I rapped my hoof a couple of times on the door, causing the two gryphons to look up in surprise. I moved away from the doors and windows and waited as they answered the door, their yellow eagle eyes staring through a slit in the door before they opened it.

“Hello,” the gryphon spoke, “I’m sorry to inform you but we are closed until further notice, please come back again some other time.” As he moved the door closed I stuck a hoof in the way to stop it.

“Hroth said you’re having a little issue,” I told him. “I said to him that I would look into your issue and see if we can’t get you and your brothers business up and running again.”

“You don’t get it,” the gryphon said, “There’s nothing anyone can do. The guard won’t look into it at all.”

“It’s a good thing we’re not guard then,” Faith spoke up. “Why don’t you let us in and at least explain what your issue is. I’m sure we can do what we can to put a stop to it.”

The gryphon paused a bit, as if contemplating letting us in. Finally he gave up on trying to keep us out, opening the door before speaking.

“Fine,” he said. “Brother,” the gryphon turned and spoke to his brother, currently nervously sipping on a cup of coffee, “We have guests.”

“Guests?” the brother gryphon replied as he eyed the three of us, paying special attention to me, probably because I was a pegasus. “Lion, why do we have guests when we are closed?”

“They thought they might be able to help,” the gryphon I assume was named Lion replied. “Please, Eagle, they could be our last hope.”

“It would help,” Midnight said, “If we knew what to help with, could either of you explain what’s so bad to make you close up shop?”

Lion started off, sighing before speaking, “A few days ago, a pegasus came by our shop. He had an, associate of sorts he said, in Asgard, which would harm our mother who was living there unless we shut down our taxi service for the next week. He threatened to ruin the store and break our chariots if we went to the guard, so we have forgone their help. We don’t know what to do anymore, other than comply and let him shut us down for a week.”

“Destiny,” Faith tapped me on the shoulder, “A random pegasus walks in, threatens to harm their mother if they don’t shut down for just a week, and has associates in Asgard. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but they sound like-”

“Hammer,” I finished for her. “They want to move in on Golden Feather without anyone from Equestria flying in, no doubt that banker we lost on Wall Street tipped them off.”

“Do you have a description of this pegasus?” Midnight asked.

“Teal coat, silver mane, cutie mark was, oh I can’t remember,” Lion trailed off.

“A cutie mark of a tornado I believe,” Eagle answered for him. I saw Midnight tense up noticeably. “But this town has over two thousand residents, there’s no way you’ll be able to find him.”

“I already know where to start looking,” Midnight said.

“You know this pegasus?” I turned to my new traveling companion in surprise.

“His name is Zephyr, and he used to be part of the Manehattan weather team.”

“I guess after we wrapped up the pendant heist the Hammer focused their efforts in the Gryphon Kingdoms, relocating cultists and such,” Faith reasoned. “Well if we know him, what’s our first course of action?”

“Well we have a description,” I replied. “It shouldn’t be hard to set up watch at a few points around the town and see if we can’t snag him at one.”

“There’s too many common gathering points in the city for just the three of you to cover,” Lion spoke up. “Allow me and my brother to help, anything to help put a stop to that bastard pegasus.”

“Deal,” I said back.

“Did I mention I hate surveillance?” Faith spoke up again in my ear.

“There are worse jobs out there, trust me,” Midnight replied. The three ponies that were us and the two gryphon brothers passed the time by talking back and forth through the long range communication spell set up by Midnight, with a little help from Faith to maintain it on five creatures at once. “You could be on coffee detail,” Midnight sneered.

“Very funny you two,” I spoke as I watched several groups of ponies and gryphons pass by, saddle bags full of whatever they had purchased at the nearby market I was stationed at. I was staking out on a roof top, attempting to stay out of sight while still maintaining a good vantage point of the streets below. Tailing a pegasus called for a different approach, and Eagle and I took rooftops on opposite sides of the town, with enough clear skies to see any flying creature enter or leave the area.

My area overlooked a local market; Faith took the area near the library, it being a major intersection of town roads. Midnight was stationed near the mayor’s office, keeping an eye out for any suspicious looking individuals. Eagle took the rooftops around a busy residential area, Lion taking a patrol route in between the areas, hoping to catch the pegasus on the move.

My new vantage point allowed me to get a better view of the town, the area turning out to be more than the cobblestone paths and thatched roofs that I noticed late last night. I realized the expanse this town covered, and the wide variety of life found here. Pisa was world famous for being a joint settlement between ponies and gryphons, the only one ever known to exist. While Vaporia was technically a cloud continent consisting of dragons, gryphons and ponies, they each had their separate forms of government and capitals, from the trio of dragons to the tribunal of pegasi to the prime minister of the gryphons of Aer. The point is that a pony-gryphon society had never worked before, yet I saw a day in the life of the town that was never supposed to work unfolding before my eyes.

It gave a small glimmer of hope for the future, and helped verify the part of me that doubted my efforts against the Hammer really made any sort of difference. Faith’s voice broke my thoughts as I had to control myself from bursting into action.

“I’ve got him” Faith’s voice came through loud and clear. “I can’t tail him though, he’s walking rooftops now.”

“Lion you got him?” I asked to the gryphon patrolling the areas between our stake out points.

“Heading towards the mayor’s office,” Lion replied.

“Seems like he’s in a hurry,” Eagle added.

“Midnight, get ready to take him down, but we need him alive,” I added, not sure if the former assassin would take the word ‘takedown’ as a synonym for kill.

“Yeah, yeah,” Midnight replied, “No permanent damage, I got it. Might be some temporary for knocking him off a roof top though.”

“You can do that,” I replied, not caring if the pegasus suffered a couple of bruises for his part in the acquisition of the artifacts. Threating family should always be off limits, and it made me sick.

“I see him,” Midnight said back. “Alright going in three, two, one.” A brief pause accompanied the count down, signaling Midnight was in the middle of a take down. I strained me eyes to try and make out the mayor’s office from my rooftop, as I could see a figure fall after being struck by a small bolt of light shot from the ground.

“I’m good you guys,” Midnight spoke up, “Anytime you want to bag him is fine with me.”

Author Note: After August 31st the story will go on hiatus for Noble Cause to tally the final word counts, chapter ten should be out by then and chapter eleven will most likely be partially on the way and posted to receive the most accurate word count. I will be finishing the planned twenty five chapters of the story, but will take a week break for the contest.