Rockwell was standing outside the manor. Behind him laid a vast patch of lush green grass that covered the hill. The sky this morning was almost clear, with a few clouds slowly hovering above. The scenery was a polar opposite of what the camera recorded last night, much more scenic rather than horrific.

“See?” The agent said as he looked at the mare behind the camera with appreciation. “The hat and glasses go really well with the camera. You look like a tourist now.”

“What about you?” The camera mare asked. “Where’s your hat and glasses?”

Rockwell put his glasses on, probably to protect his eyes from the brightness of the morning sun. “You’ll be the tourist and I’ll be your tour guide, Mr. Hot Spot of the East Equestria Touring Company.”

“You don’t look like a Mr. Hot Spot. And tour guides don’t wear black suits.”

“We’re a fancy touring service.” He started walking and gestured the mare to follow her. “Our disguise is complete, let’s get a move on.”

The camera followed the agent as he trotted down the bottom of the hill and into the town of Ponyville. There were a few ponies already roaming around the town. Some of them can be seen browsing at the products of the stalls in the marketplace. Strangely, none of them found the agent in black peculiar, as no eye was ever laid on him. It’s like his invisible.

Once they reached the town square, Rockwell headed straight into a small but quaint cafe. He trotted towards the tables that the shop set up outside. Each table has four wooden chairs surrounding it. And the middle of the table had an umbrella filled with vibrant colors. Rockwell took the table at the farthest end of the left side, just under the shade of a great oak tree. And not a moment later a waitress approached them and gave both of them a menu.

Rockwell gestured for the camera to pan itself sideways. It quickly complied, turning itself on the side. The shot was now focused on the view of the town hall. In front of it appeared to be two figures having a chat. The camera zoomed in on the two figures. They were revealed to be Mayor Inkwell and Blurry. And the passed out Grey Star was still resting on Blurry’s back.

Rockwell looked back at the camera mare. “And you said the trail would’ve gone cold when we tried following them twenty minutes later.” A smug grin formed on his face. “Now who’s the right pony here? Pay up.” He held a hoof in front of the camera. A single bit landed on his hoof, making a small ringing sound when it was tossed. “Oh yeah, come to daddy.” Rockwell kept the hoof in his pant pocket. “It may not replace the sum I lost last night, but a win’s a win.”

Both ponies had their attentions focused back on the mayor and the thestral near the town hall. “I wonder what they’re talking about.” Rockwell said.

“Probably something important.”

“Maybe.” Rockwell replied. “But not too important that it’s worth talking about it in broad daylight. And watching thestrals during the day seemed weird to me. It’s like looking at Celestia abstaining from cake. It just doesn’t feel right looking at it.”

“It could be the bat wings.”

“Maybe. But dragons have similar looking wings and they don’t look off walking in the day.”

“Those are not bat wings.”

“But they are leathery.”

“You’re not making sense.”

“I know.” Rockwell leaned on the back of the chair. “Consequences of making small talk.” He looked back to the mares at the town hall. The camera followed. Both mares were still talking. “To think that nopony has ever wondered why there’s a passed out pony on Blurry’s back. Eh, they might take a while discussing whatever it is they’re discussing there.” He looked on his menu. “Anyway, wanna call the waitress and give her our orders?”

An image of a menu was raised from the bottom of the camera. It almost took half of the screen. It has wide a selection, ranging from different kinds of brews and a large of assortment of pastries that would go along with them.

“So uh, what are you getting?”

“How about a cupcake?” A squeaky sounding voice suddenly came out of nowhere. “Sugarcube corner is giving free samples!”

The camera mare gave a surprised gasp.

“Oh Celestia.” Rockwell said tiredly while slamming a hoof to his face.

The owner of the voice earlier finally revealed herself to the camera. It was Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter. She was happily bouncing around the defeated looking agent. On her back was a tray filled with cupcakes of varying colors and design. None of them seemed to fall as she continued bouncing around the troubled Rockwell.

“It’s me silly! Pinkie!” Pinkie said, now bouncing in place. She had an excessively eager look on her face as she stared at the agent. “Have you forgotten about me now, Rocky? Because I didn’t! Are you on another mission right now? Are you keeping dragons away from Ponyville again? Came to check up on us if another parasprite infestation appeared? I see you’ve brought a new friend! You’re staying at the manor in the Outskirts right? Want me to throw a Pinkie Party for her lat-”

Rockwell managed to get a hoof on Pinkie’s bouncing withers and gently pinched it. The chatty pink mare suddenly fainted, smacking her face on the table and collapsing straight to the ground. For some strange reason, the tray didn’t tumble but was instead neatly placed beside her. And the cupcakes were unharmed as well.

He slowly got up from his seat and carried the now sleeping Pinkie up. He had her sit on his chair and then placed the tray filled with cupcakes on the table. He pulled out his vanisher ward and stretched her eyelids open. He gave each eye three flashes, making a total of nine. He then placed his menu on her face to make her look like she’s taking a nap...early in the morning.

“Everytime.” Rockwell said before giving a drawn out sigh.

“Did she just call you ‘Rocky?’”

Rockwell pointed a hoof at the town hall. “The mares are splitting up.” He said, ignoring the camera mare’s question. The camera panned its shot back to the town hall. Both Mayor Inkwell and Blurry did go on their separate ways. The former trotted inside the town hall while the latter, with a bit of difficulty, still managed to fly away with the passed out Grey Star in tow.

The camera tailed Rockwell as he followed the slow flying Blurry. The mare led the agent back to the Outskirts. She landed to a two story house. Rockwell and the camera mare stood a couple of feet away from them, just hiding behind a bush near the wall of another house. Four thestrals came out of the house when Blurry stood on the doorstep, two pairs of stallions and mares. Blurry passed Grey Star to one of the thestral stallions. She had a brief chat with them and flew away.

“So she’s heading to Everfree, huh?” Rockwell said, still eyeing the flying Blurry, who flew much faster without the thestral cargo burdening her. “Weird.” Rockwell looked at the camera with a smile. “I’ve been saying that word all night long. I can’t believe I’m saying it all day too.”

He and the camera focused their attentions back at the house. One of the thestral mares appeared to notice Rockwell spying on them. She notified the others and they slowly trotted towards the agent’s direction.

Rockwell looked back at the camera mare and lowered his glasses. “I believe that’s our cue to leave.” He began to slowly but casually trot away, so did the camera mare.

As Rockwell and the camera continued to roam the empty streets of the Outskirts, the camera panned its shot behind them. From afar, there appeared to be three thestrals on their tail. Their movements were brisk and had their wings opened. The thestrals ceased their running and were now hovering on the air. The camera turned back on the unsuspecting Rockwell, who was still trotting casually like a tourist.

“They fly now.” The camera mare said.

Rockwell turned his head around slightly, looking at their pursuers. “They fly now?”

“They fly now.”

“Yikes.” Rockwell said flatly. He and the camera mare suddenly ran. The camera didn’t even bother turning around again. It just ran fast as it could. The view on the screen was pretty shaky when it did. They took a hard right at a crossing. “In this case, we’re much better off hiding than running. Let’s find a house, any house as long as it’s unoccupied.”

“How about that one?” A pink hoof appeared in front of the camera, pointing at the backside of a familiar looking house.

“Looks familiar.” Rockwell said. “I like it.”

He and the camera rushed towards the house’s backdoor. He gripped the doorknob and started twisting it. It’s locked.

“Can you lock pick it?” The camera mare asked.

“No,” Rockwell replied. “But I can use my vanisher ward to erase the lock’s memory of its security pattern, opening it as a result.”

“Really?”

“I was being sarcastic. What kind of world do you think we live in? Science and circuits land? I am an earth pony though.” Rockwell backed away from the door. He turned his body and pulled his hind legs back in the manner of a recoiled spring. He thrust his hind legs on the door, bucking it open.

He looked to the camera and waved a hoof to the inside of the house like it’s his. “Come on, let me show you inside.”

The camera followed Rockwell as he hurriedly went inside the house. They appeared to be in a kitchen. He closed the backdoor and peered through one of the windows, using its thick curtains to conceal himself from any possible onlooker outside. The camera did as well, minus the curtain thing.

And not a moment as they started looking at the window, their pursuers arrived. They were still hovering from the ground, carefully looking at each of the houses they pass by. Rockwell immediately crawled away from the window once a thestral mare was looking at their direction.

He gave the camera another smile. “Pretty close call, don’t you think?” He said softly. He slowly got up and trotted around the kitchen. “Let’s go by the other windows to observe them further, preferably upstairs. Although I don’t know if this house even had a second floo-”

A white blur suddenly tackled Rockwell. He went down the floor for the second time. Purple petals suddenly exploded from the area where Rockwell and this mysterious pony were struggling. They twisted and turned on the floor, sometimes hitting their backs and heads on the oven or drawers. Their struggling forms looked reminiscent of that one Mistmanean symbol, the yin and yang. Once the ‘fight’ was over, Rockwell prevailed. He mounted the back of his now prone opponent, raising the pony’s head slightly upwards using his vanisher ward that was held horizontally on the pony’s neck. Although this victory seemed moot when he found out who he was fighting.

“What in Tartarus!” Rockwell cried in genuine surprise. “You’re Vinyl Scratch!” He immediately let the mare go.

Vinyl coughed a few times while holding her neck before replying. “Yeah no (Beep), (Beep) hole! What are you schmucks doing in my house!? I thought you guys were werewolves!”

“That explains the wolfsbane.” Rockwell said as he looked on the floor, where several purple petals were scattered around. “You know, if you would’ve used rose petals I might have gotten easier on you.”

“Haha.” Vinyl said sarcastically as she adjusted her glasses. “You broke my sword last night you (Beep)! That’s why I was forced to only use (Beeping) wolfsbane now!”

“You did have it repaired right?” Rockwell replied, getting up.

“Of course I did!” Vinyl retorted, her anger never faltering. “I’m not an idiot! I’m gonna have it back in three days!”

“Ah.” Even with his glasses on, Rockwell looked like his mind just connected two things together. “So you’re going to attack the wolves in three days time.”

“How did y-” Vinyl cut herself off. She looked like somepony caught her with her hoof on the cookie jar. “What made you say that?”

Rockwell flashed her a condescending smile. “So you’re not an idiot, huh?”

“(Beep) you, agent Rockwell. (Beep). You.”

“And good morning to you too.” Rockwell looked around the room as if he was searching for something. “Anyway, where do you keep your garlic?”

“The (Beep) are you rattling on now?”

“Well,” Rockwell replied, still looking. “Since I’m already in somepony’s house, I might as well have some. Or a clove at least, you know, just in case.”

“Hey! Look at who you’re talking to right now.” Rockwell stopped his snooping and looked at Vinyl. She bored her fangs at him when he did, pointed a hoof at herself too. “Do I look like I own a garlic friendly household here?”

Rockwell shrugged. “I dunno.” He walked towards the kitchen’s pantry that was filled to the brim with spices, sides, and snacks. “Your marefriend might’ve kept some.”

“Marefriend?” Vinyl said, anger fading from her voice. “You mean Octy? You think so?”

“Sure, why not?” Rockwell’s response had the vampire mare turn scarlet. “She’s a fancy mare. She likes pasta, right?” Vinyl nodded, although a bit blankly. She’s still probably occupied of the prospect of a relationship with her fellow musician.

Rockwell started digging in into the pantry’s contents. “And considering she’s the only one who cooks here, I’m guessing she might have...” He pulled out a couple bulbs of garlic that were placed in a vacuum sealed bag. “...kept some.” He showed the bag to Vinyl, who was instantly snapped out from her trance. “See?”

“So that’s why I can’t smell it when I’m in the kitchen.” Vinyl gave an appreciative hum.

“Very considerate.” Rockwell said as he opened the pouch and pulled a single bulb and kept it in his jacket. He then looked at the camera before saying. “She’s a keeper.”

He put the pouch back in the pantry and turned to look at Vinyl. “Also. Since I’m in this household now, let’s play diplomacy. I want you,” He pointed a hoof at Vinyl. “And your group to make peace with the werewolves.”

“What!?” Vinyl snarled. “Are you crazy!? There’s no way we’re doing that! They started it! And if there’s anypony who ought to do some apologizing here it’s them! Make them apologize to us then we’ll talk!”

“Well,” Rockwell scratched his nose, carefully avoiding the spot where his band-aid was placed. “What if they’re not the ones doing it? What if there’s a third party involved here that’s pitting both sides to fight each other?”

“Again with the third party (Beep)! If you have no hard proof to show for it, I’m out. Or better, get outta my house!”

“I have a lead.” Rockwell said matter-of-factly. “It’s in Everfree. If we go there now, we still might make it.”

Vinyl growled in frustration, pulling her hair for added effect. “Are you being serious right now!? It’s the (Beeping) day you (Beep)! I’ll burn to a crisp if I step out now! Look, just tell me where it is and maybe I’ll check it at six. Now go! Shoo! I still have some sleeping to do.”

She was about to trot back to her room when Rockwell stopped her by placing a hoof on her shoulder. “If we don’t go now, we might lose the lead.”

“Why the (Beep) are you dragging me there for!” Vinyl shot back while swatting Rockwell’s hoof off her. “Go there yourself you lazy piece of (Beep)!”

“It’s just not fun going in there by my lonesome.” Rockwell said casually. “I need a companion, somepony I can talk to while travelling there. Your marefriend did a good job being one. I reckon you will be too.”

“No can do Doctor Whooves. I’d rather stay here with my pillow than be with you! I have a busy night tonight, get outta my house now!”

“If you come with me now, I could bump your inspection score up ten points.”

Vinyl’s ears perked up. “Really? You can do that?”

“Yep.” Rockwell said as he pulled out a cigarette stick and bit on it. “As quick as snapping a sword in half.”

Vinyl only replied with a scowl.

Rockwell chuckled softly at Viny’s reaction. “Now go get your daytime kit.” He said as he slightly opened one of the kitchen’s windows.

The group was now outside, slowly trotting towards Ponyville’s exit. As usual, most ponies were oblivious to the agent’s presence. They just kept passing by him like he’s nothing but a breeze of air. This scenario got even weirder with Vinyl accompanying them. The mare has now donned her daytime kit, which consisted of a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants. Vinyl also applied a single coat of sunscreen on the most exposable parts of her body. Rockwell suggested that she should add more coats on it but she insisted that one was just fine. As they continued their walking, Vinyl’s hooves were now starting to slightly smoke.

“And now I’m starting to smoke!” Vinyl angrily pointed out to the agent. “I told you going out was a bad idea!”

“That’s because you didn’t follow what I said.” Rockwell said calmly, probably not to draw the public’s attention to him. “I told you to lather it till no strand of hair stands out. But look at what you did. It’s still as spiky as your mane.”

“Hey!”

“I’m just glad I brought this with me.” Rockwell said as he pulled out Vinyl’s bottle of sunscreen from his jacket pocket. He then tossed the bottle to Vinyl. “There, now triple coat those smoking hooves of yours.”

Vinyl looked at the bottle she’s holding briefly and glared back at Rockwell. “I can’t believe it. You stole my sunblock!”

“No.” Rockwell replied, his tone stoic. “What I did was I assumed for the worst and brought this thing with me in case it happens. And as a matter of fact, it did. So please...triple coat those hooves, not double.”

“Shut up!” Vinyl said as she opened the bottle and started putting the protective cream on herself. “I’m getting to it!”

“Yeah, nice and thick.” Rockwell said as he pretended to help her put on the sunscreen. He switched his voice to sound like an authority figure mocking his subordinates. So basically, he’s using his normal voice. “Add a little more there. You missed a spot.”

“I said shut it!”

“Alright!” Rockwell exclaimed once Vinyl was done with the second coat. “Two down, one to go.”

“You know,” Vinyl said threateningly. “You are this close from getting jabbed right in the face.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Rockwell waved a hoof dismissively. “Cover your hooves with three coats of sunscreen first so they’ll hit harder.”

Vinyl was practically growling at this point. She was breathing heavily that steam was coming out of her snout. It’s either she’s really mad or she haven’t put proper coating on her face. She did control her angry breathing a moment later, taking a couple deep breaths as if to calm herself down.

“So...” She continued her rhythmic breathing, which was doing wonders to her temper. “What kind of stuff are we looking for in the forest?”

“Finally, somepony to exposit to.” Rockwell said as they passed by a small cottage. “Does the name Blurry ring any bells to you?”

“Kinda.” Vinyl said, raising her head like she’s remembering something. The rays of the sun forced her to look down again. “Isn’t she like the mayor’s assistant or something?”

“Something like that. We suspect the mayor and her are behind all of this.”

“What?” Vinyl’s ears perked up under the hoodie. “That’s a pretty big claim you’re making there. You better have some solid proof to back that up.”

“I know.” Rockwell replied in a courteous tone with undertones of ‘duh’ behind it. “That’s why we’re here in Everfree, to find one.”

“Where’d you get the idea that it was them?”

“They sent somepony to spy on us.” Rockwell grinned a little. “But the mayor retrieved the spy before I could wring some info out of her.”

“Why didn’t you just you know, insist to keep her with you?”

“No, no. That’d be counterproductive.” Rockwell said as he shook his head. “I gave her up so as to not arouse suspicion that I’m onto them, although that encounter earlier did raise a few unwanted flags unfortunately.” He shrugged before continuing. “But what’s done is done.”

“So what’s your plan then?”

“Nothing complex, really.” Rockwell casually replied. “Find out what they’re plotting and stop it from happening. That’s the entirety of it.”

“Oh. Good thing I asked” Even with her glasses on, it’s still pretty clear that Vinyl rolled her eyes at Rockwell’s words. “I never would have figured it out myself.”

“It would’ve gotten much simpler if you just complied to my requests. Okay, we’re here.”

“What’d you just say?”

Rockwell gave Vinyl a flat stare. “I said we’re here.” He pointed at the forest in front of him. It still looked mysterious and dangerous in the day as it was at night. “Everfree, again, oh look. There’s the campfire we built last night. I say we should light it up...just in case.”

“Do you always babble to yourself like that?”

“It’s called babbling?” Rockwell said to the camera, pointing at himself.

“Whatever. I’m going in.” Vinyl trotted briskly into the woods. Rockwell and crew immediately followed.

But Vinyl suddenly halted when one of her forelegs started sizzling. The smoke coming out from it was faster than the ones she experienced earlier. She quickly pulled her hoof away from whatever it was that was burning her. She cried in pain as she did so. She rolled to the ground when she began to lift her injured foreleg, still grunting in pain.

“My hoof! It burns!” She cried, still in pain.

Rockwell quickly approached the mare. He dragged her hurting form away from the forest. “What happened?”

“I don’t know!” Vinyl cried out. “But when I walked into the woods I just started burning up!”

“Let me look at your hoof.” Rockwell gently brought Vinyl’s hurt foreleg towards himself. The camera followed where he was looking. The burns on her hoof looked different than usual. The burns appeared to look purple. And instead of covering the hoof they looked like a series of laces that were tied around the appendage. Fortunately for Vinyl, her fast vampiric regeneration was now starting to take effect. Slowly, the purple lace-like burn marks faded away.

Rockwell looked above him to see if there were any sun rays that have penetrated the canopy that might have hurt Vinyl. So far he could see none. There were nothing but the thick shades that that the forest provided. He let Vinyl’s hoof go. The burn marks were almost gone now.

Rockwell got up from the ground. “This is weird.” He said to himself. “Too weird...I may have to contact the tower agents again about this.”

“The what?” Vinyl asked, feeling alright now.

“Put on a fourth coat and try getting in to the forest again.”

Rockwell was hit with a bottle of sunscreen in the nose, right where the band-aid was placed.

Author's Note

How this guy stumbles into everything and still gets shit done is beyond me. Thank you for reading.