CRISIS: Equestria - Divergence

Chapters

Chapter One: Commencement
Chapter Two: Criminal
Chapter Three: Casualty
Chapter Four: Catalyst
Chapter Five: Changes
Chapter Six: Creation
Chapter Seven: Consultation
Chapter Eight: Construction
Chapter Nine: Couture
Chapter Ten: Compassion
Chapter Eleven: Competition
Chapter Twelve: Confection
Chapter Fourteen: Checkup
Chapter Fifteen: Casual
Chapter Sixteen: Carosuing
Chapter Seventeen: Complications
Chapter Eighteen: Crimson
Chapter Nineteen: Collusion
Chapter Twenty: Conscience
Chapter Twenty-One: Chic
Chapter Twenty-Two: Champion
Chapter Twenty-Four: Conversation
Chapter Twenty-Five: Celebration
Chapter Twenty-Six: Conspiracy
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Culmination
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Chronicle
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Confession
Epilogue: Conclusion
Foreword
Chapter Thirteen: Convention
Chapter Twenty-Three: Catering

Chapter One: Commencement

To my most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,

Surely by now you have begun to sense the strange magical force coming from the Everfree Forest. At first, I suspected it was nothing more than some of my more ambitious subjects practicing their spells in a place where they could do so without fear of harming others.

But now, the magical energies there are beginning to approach or possibly surpass even yours, my most treasured pupil. Further complicating things is the nature of the magic itself. It feels somewhat chaotic in nature but I am not completely sure, so I cannot precisely determine just how much of a threat it might be.

I must once again ask for a favor from you and your friends, the wielders of the Elements of Harmony, as I have done on many occasions in the past. I wish for you to travel into the Everfree and uncover the source of this strange anomaly at your earliest convenience.

If the Elements of Harmony are indeed required, inform me so that I may retrieve them from Canterlot Tower for you. If at all possible, I give you permission to do something about the situation even if the Elements are not necessary, but please do not put yourself in any undue danger. If you feel it is beyond your ability, just return home and contact me; I will handle the rest.

I have the utmost confidence in you, my faithful student.

Yours sincerely,

Princess Celestia

Twilight Sparkle hummed as she finished dictating the letter. "Well everypony, what do you think? Are you all up to the task?"

She stopped pacing back and forth on her rug and turned to her friends, who had all gathered together in her library to discuss the situation. Fluttershy and Rarity sat together to the side, whispering to each other in anxious tones; Rainbow Dash lounged lazily on the nearby sofa while Pinkie Pie bounced in place beside her; Applejack stood dutifully near Twilight, scratching her head and visibly pondering what to do about the letter.

Twilight felt an odd mix of anxiety and pride as she rolled the letter's contents around in her mind. Princess Celestia's tasks were always a joy to complete, but they were typically very straightforward and intuitive, or at the very least contained useful clues. This new task laid before Twilight and her friends was pretty much mud.

"I reckon if the Princess needs our help, it's our job to help, ain't it?" Applejack said, replacing her hat. "Y'know, as bearers o' the Elements o’ Harmony and whatnot? If this were somethin' anypony else could do, she wouldn't've asked us first."

"Well put, Applejack." Twilight walked over to the nearby bookshelf and pulled out the familiar copy of The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide, and immediately set to flipping through it. "Let's see, the Princess mentioned the magic feeling 'chaotic'. That sounds familiar. Hmm… chaotic… chaotic…"

Rarity jerked her head up sharply, causing Fluttershy to squeak in alarm. "Twilight, you don't think this has anything to do with Discord, do you?" she asked. "I'd really rather not go through all that again."

"You might be on the right track, Rarity," Twilight said, pulling her nose out of the book. "Still, I'm certain if the Princess knew that this was somehow related to Discord, she would've mentioned him specifically. It must be something else."

"How do you know for sure it's not, though? This really could be dopey ol' Discord trying to escape or something." Rainbow yawned and crossed her hooves behind her head. "Maybe he learned his lesson and this time he isn't blowing his cover with a bunch of cotton candy clouds and exploding corn and stuff."

"A possibility. Still, if it isn't Discord…" Twilight tapped her chin. "Changelings, maybe? No, this doesn't seem like the approach they'd take. King Sombra? No, it's unlikely he'd be interested in anything besides the Crystal Empire." She sighed, out of ideas. "Perhaps this is some new threat to the kingdom?"

Pinkie hopped over to Twilight's side and proceeded to bounce around in tight circles, accidentally shoving Applejack away in the process. "What are we arguing about what it is for?! This is a call to adventure! To excitement! Ooh ooh! Like the time when we had to go throw that cursed ring in a volcano! Or when we had to go looking for the seven pieces of the evil wizard's soul to destroy them! Or when the Princess asked us to find that Golden Fleece! Or—"

Twilight sighed and stuck a hoof out, causing Pinkie to run into it and stop moving. "Pinkie, I don't recall any of those things. At all. In fact, those sound entirely fictional."

Pinkie rubbed her nose, then instantly perked up again. "Oh. Well maybe I just read those stories and imagined that they were featuring us, but it sounds the same! Epic adventures, starring the greatest heroines in all Equestria! Doesn't that sound neat?"

"We're just going to investigate a strange magic disturbance, Pinkie, not embarking on some epic adventure," Twilight said. "It shouldn't take us more than a few hours to look into it, and it's all right next door in the Everfree Forest, not on the other side of the world or anything."

"Aw phooey." Pinkie pouted and swung her forelegs down in dejection. "I'll never get that Vorpal Sword."

"Riiight…" Twilight lifted her book back level with her nose. "Well, if it's not Discord, and it's not changelings or Sombra, who or what could it possibly be?"

"Anomalous magic with a chaotic nature, hmph. Is that all the information we have to work off of here, darling?" Rarity tapped her chin. "I should think that the Princess would have given you more information than this."

"All I know about it is what's in this letter," Twilight said. With a faint glow of her horn, she added, "And what little I can sense about it from this distance. I can't get a really solid feel of what it is, but I at least know where it is. We should get moving though. The longer it's there, the more likely it's going to cause some damage or attract attention."

"Do we really all need to go?" Fluttershy gulped and began to nervously inch towards the door. "I mean, it doesn't sound too dangerous, but, well, you know… if you don't need me I'll just—"

"The Princess mentioned the Elements of Harmony maybe being needed." Twilight gave Fluttershy a reassuring glance. "I wouldn't want to find out they are necessary and not have one of us there. You should at least come along to investigate, just in case."

"R-right. I guess if that's what you want…"

"Well then, let's get going!" Twilight stamped her hoof and grabbed her handy map of the Everfree Forest from the nearby desk. "This shouldn't be too hard, and if it looks like it is, we can just contact the Princess and everything'll be just fine. No problem at all."

*****

"This… might be a problem…" Twilight gulped. "Oh dear."

The giant circular vortex of energy encompassed the majority of a tiny clearing roughly a mile from Zecora's home. Rivers of prismatic magic streamed their way through an ethereal void. The deep expanse of black beyond was speckled with glowing white stars, all faintly twinkling in and out of existence. No matter what direction they looked at it from, they all saw the same thing:

Total chaos.

"This is bizarre," Twilight said. "I've never seen anything like this. I'm going to need to run some calculations to try and figure out exactly what it is I'm seeing here." She lit up her horn and set to work.

Pinkie pulled a camera out of her mane and snapped a few pictures, giggling between clicks. "Neat! I bet I can sell this to the National Equinerer! They dig juicy supernatural stuff like this!" She tilted her head and turned to the others. "Hey, is anypony else getting a weird sense of déjà vu? No? Just me?"

"It certainly is a most intriguing sight," Rarity cooed. "It's so… beautiful. Why, I'm getting all sorts of inspiration for some new outfits for when we get home! Hmm, though the colors will be dreadfully hard to manage. I wonder if—" She trailed off, muttering to herself.

"What in tarnation is this thing, though?" Applejack asked as she circled around the anomaly. "If y'all ask me, it looks kinda like a… window? What's all that weird stuff on the other side? Magic?"

"It doesn't look very inviting." Fluttershy gulped from behind the nearest boulder she could find. "All that stuff looks… scary."

"Good observation, Applejack: a window filled with magic. This brings to mind descriptions of strange phenomena I've read about before called 'portals'." Twilight frowned and dimmed her horn. "Whatever this portal is, it's definitely what's causing the magical disturbances. Rarity, I'm sure you can feel the magical radiation too?"

"Beg pardon? Oh! Yes, of course darling." Rarity skewed her eyes and nodded in understanding. "It's making my horn feel… tingly. Not really in a bad way, just… strange. Where do you think it leads? Just into that void there? Heavens, that doesn't look at all pleasant."

"I don't know where it goes exactly, but I'm not too eager to find out, either," Twilight said. "I'm going to close it off with a sealing spell. I can't really tell what kind of energy this thing is made of, but I think I can handle it by myself. Everypony should probably stand back, though."

Pinkie groaned. "Awww. Do you have to? I was thinking of setting up a booth and charging admission! 'Come see the mystery window into the WORRRLD OF TOMORROW!' Five bits to look, ten bits for pictures, twenty bits to stick your hoof in! And I'd have a banner and sign posts and a concession stand right over there and—"

"I doubt it's a portal into the future Pinks," Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. "That's science-fiction junk. This is magic. It's completely different stuff, right Twi?"

"Girls, please," Twilight said, as she channeled her magic through her horn. "I need to focus. One little errant calculation and I might break the portal instead of sealing it. I don't know how much damage that might cause to the surrounding area, or to us, but I'd rather not find out."

A soft purple glow formed on Twilight's horn as she concentrated. She clenched her teeth and hardened her expression as her magic took shape. After a few seconds of focus, a brilliant flash, followed by the blinding light of a sealing spell backed by all the magic Twilight could muster, shot from her horn. The shining bolt of magic struck the portal and engulfed it in a deep lavender glow. Slowly, the portal began to shrink.

"See? No problem at all," Twilight said, smiling and sticking her nose in the air. "It's all in the—"

The portal exploded outwards, destroying the seal in a blinding flash of purple and blue and knocking everypony to the ground.

Before, it bathed the clearing in a dull grey glow. Now, it brimmed with a prismatic sheen that coated the entire area in the full color spectrum. With startling speed, the anomaly steadily began devouring the surrounding area with a powerful pull that hadn't been there before. Everything it touched was yanked towards the portal's surface and into the void beyond. Dirt. Twigs. Boulders.

And, of course, ponies.

"Who-ho-hoooa!" Pinkie shouted as she, the closest, was sucked towards the portal. She tried to gallop out of the field, but the pull was too strong, and despite what was clearly her best effort she still inched towards it. "Ahhh! I don't want to see the future yet! Heeelp!"

"Hang on Pinks!" Rainbow charged forward and grabbed Pinkie's hooves. She beat her wings in an attempt to force herself backwards. For a moment, it worked. But, before she got much distance, the pull intensified, drawing the two hapless ponies in. "Uh oh, not good!"

"Hold on!" Applejack snagged Rainbow's tail in her mouth. "I gotcha, sugarcube, just hold on!"

Applejack dug her hooves into the ground as she tugged against the pull of the portal. Slowly but surely, the gap between Pinkie and the surface of the portal widened.

Rainbow sighed in relief. "Phew, thanks AJ."

The portal pulsed. Applejack's hooves cut grooves into the dirt as the portal's pull latched onto her as well.

Applejack tripped and lost her footing. "Aw, horseapples!"

"Rarity to the rescue! I've got you, darling!" Rarity grabbed Applejack's tail in her magic and started tugging.

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!" Fluttershy exclaimed as she attempted to help by grabbing Rarity's tail with her mouth. "Oh, I just knew this was a bad idea!"

"Girls! Hang on!" Twilight used her magic to grab Fluttershy, pulling her as hard as she could away from the portal's grip.

The ponies all breathed a sigh of relief as they slowly left the grip of the field. Twilight was thankfully far enough out of its pull to concentrate fully on her spell and getting her friends out, rather than worrying about herself getting sucked in.

Then, the portal quivered and absorbed Twilight's spell. Its pull doubled in strength.

Twilight's jaw fell. "Oh Celestia, you've got be kidding—"

The portal pulsed with light, and in the process, sucked Pinkie past its inner rim. "Oh noooo!" she yelped.

Rainbow was unable to keep her grip without the risk of getting pulled in too, but she loyally held firm to Pinkie. She gave a panicked shout as she too slid forward into the portal.

"Consarnit!" Applejack blurted once she joined them.

Rarity panicked. In a futile attempt to strengthen her grip, she wrapped her magic completely around Applejack, but that only seemed to fuel the portal's energy field. She followed Applejack into the portal against her will. "Oh my goodness!"

Fluttershy whimpered as she was pulled along by Rarity's tail and into the darkness. "Oh dear…"

Only Twilight's magic prevented the other mares from falling into the abyss beyond. The portal fed upon this energy, sucking it into the portal like thousands of fireflies drifting down on a breeze, adding to the splendor of the magical rivers below.

Twilight tugged as hard as she could, but her friends were too far into the field to get out without risking serious injury to her steadily depleting magical energy. She stood firm, and with a fierce pull that made her horn sputter and fire off errant sparks into the wind, Fluttershy's tail lifted back out of the portal's rim.

"Almost… there…"

Using all the magic she could muster, she heaved upwards, digging her hooves into the dirt and grass beneath her as her horn blazed with magic. More of Fluttershy appeared. A purple tail, followed by a panicked Rarity, emerged from the portal.

"Just a… little more…"

She locked her jaw, making it ache. There was Applejack! The pain in her horn was bordering on unbearable, and it was glowing with such intense fury and firing off so much rampant magic that she worried about a possible explosion. She could just see Rainbow's tail.

The portal pulsed once more.

"Oh, come on!"

Twilight could handle no more. With a weak flicker, the light of her horn died out. With a final, powerful pulse of energy, the portal ripped the six ponies down into the abyss. Aside from the magical fluctuations of the vortex, the clearing was silent.

*****

A turquoise pegasus with a sea green mane flew towards the Everfree Forest, cursing to herself the entire time. Her pace was brisk and erratic, as though she was fleeing a predator. She was exhausted and not able to fly as fast as she would like, her breath heavy as she swung her gaze around in a panic.

She chanced a glance to her rear after she cleared a small hill, then said to herself, "For cripe's sake, she's still followin' me! Of all the annoyin'—"

"Heeey! Wait up!" A wall-eyed gray pegasus trailed behind her in the air, saddled with a pair of drooping saddlebags and carrying a brown package in her hooves. "Come on, I've been trying to give you this package all day! Stop flying away!"

The mailmare had been at her tail the entire day, quite literally since she had got out of bed. That had been a rather disturbing experience. Ever since then the mailmare had been enough of a distraction that it was beginning to affect the non-mailmare more than just mentally. It had taken her a great deal of effort to get far enough ahead that the other mare couldn't barricade her path and attempt to get her to sign for a delivery that simply wasn't hers.

"It's not mine!" she shouted back. "Buzz off!"

"But Miss Rains—"

"It's not my package! It's not my package! I didn't order anythin' from the Muffin of the Month Club! It's not mine!"

"It's not?" The other mare blinked, one eye at a time. "Why didn't you say so before?"

"I did say so before! At least a hundred times, you frackin' featherbrain!"

"Heeey, that's not very nice! Fine! I won't give you your package then, if that's the way you want to act! Jerk!" the gray mare said, sticking out her tongue.

"It's not mine!" But the other pegasus was already fluttering off. "Cripes, frackin' mailponies. Fantastic, now I'm late, and… now I'm talkin' to myself. I hope that tear hasn't caused any damage…"

Summer Rains—for that was her name—came to the clearing where she detected the space/time distortion, and as she caught sight of the pulsing portal her mouth contorted into an incredible scowl.

"Oh great. Great. Somepony's been tamperin' with this tear, and now it's just gone all sorts of haywire. Doesn't anypony these days know how to just walk away from really strange fields of magic? Honestly!"

She pulled a plain-looking silver stopwatch out of her saddlebag, then carefully balanced it in both hooves as she sat on the ground. With a click on the top, the portal stopped churning, its magical energies frozen in place. She wound the watch counterclockwise, and the portal shrunk bit by bit with every turn until she got it down to a manageable size, safe from any errant gravitational forces.

Satisfied that the rift was safe to observe, she approached it, with her watch held between herself and the portal. The watch glowed a bright neon green, and instead of displaying a clock face on the front it displayed a set of wavelengths, numbers, and a tiny list of objects that had been drawn into the portal.

Summer was glad the list seemed small at first. Animals could sense Void magic pretty well and typically tried to avoid it, so it was usually only stationary objects that got caught up, or poor critters that happened to be in precisely the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Let's see, a bunch of random animals, some plants, a few rocks, yadda yadda yadda. Nothin' too—" Her face contorted in concern. "Aw geez, some ponies did get sucked in. Great, this day just keeps gettin' better and better." She sighed. "Well, not much I can do for them from this end. Better find out where they ended up…"

*****

Twilight and her friends screeched through the ethereal flow of the strange void they had fallen into, desperately seeking a way out and coming up short. The group found themselves drawn along by the currents of magic as they flowed upon them, not unlike being gathered together on a raft bounding down some white water rapids. Twilight discovered she could use her magic to steer them, but wasn't sure if they'd fall off the "river" if she tried to steer them out of it.

Considering that "off the river" meant "into a bleak, endless abyss", she didn't feel that it was worth testing that theory.

They managed to huddle close, clinging to one another in desperation. Wherever they ended up, she was confident that at the very least they'd end up there together.

"Hey guys, look up ahead!" Pinkie pointed further up the river. "Bet you've never seen a river do that!"

The others followed Pinkie's outstretched hoof and noticed that the river cascaded upwards then veered back into a loop that ended in a sharp downward spiral. Twilight was immediately reminded of the roller-coaster she and her friends went on during their visit to the new amusement park outside of Fillydelphia. She also remembered not being able to walk straight for nearly an hour afterwards.

Applejack gulped and gripped her hat tightly. "Aw horseapples."

"This won't end well, I can feel it." Rainbow clung tightly to Pinkie. "Normally loops would be no biggie, but normally I'm the one in control!"

"Hang on, everypony!" Twilight shouted.

Pinkie cheered and lifted her hooves in the air. "Yaaay! Everypony put your hooves up! It's so much more fun!"

They hit the bend and soared up and through the magical field. At the apex of the climb, they flipped backwards along the river, and they found themselves falling upside down at a breakneck speed through the rest of the flowing aether.

"Wheee!" cheered Pinkie.

"Aaahhh!" screamed the rest.

The magic careened off the side, slowing the riders down enough for them to collect their wits, and their lunch. Applejack seemed almost tempted to puke into her hat, but apparently decided against it and replaced it upon her head. Rarity was the most affected, turning slightly green and swaying to and fro.

Pinkie giggled and snorted into her hoof. "One more time! Let's go again! That was so much fun!"

"I think I'm going to be ill," Rarity mumbled, holding her stomach. "Yes, definitely going to be ill."

Fluttershy trembled in a terrified panic, clinging desperately to Twilight's legs, while Twilight in turn was holding onto Applejack for dear life. This would be no time to fall overboard and become separated.

As they bounded along the stream of magic, slower now than before, Twilight had an opportunity to look out alongside them, where she saw other "windows" zooming past. Each appeared to vent out into other locations, though most of them went by too quickly to make anything out; some sights looked familiar at a glance, but it was hard to tell.

One thing was for certain though: if she and her friends wanted to escape, they'd have to get into one of those windows. Twilight only hoped whichever one they picked led back home. Using her magic to latch onto another fork in the river's path, she and her friends found themselves flowing directly towards a tiny ripple in the distance, barely large enough for them to fit through and growing smaller as they got closer.

Wherever it leads, Twilight thought, it has to be better than here.

*****

The six mares dropped unceremoniously out of the aether and into a pile of garbage, in an opposite order to how they'd originally been drawn through; so, Twilight first, Pinkie last.

"Oof!"

"Eep!"

"Ah!"

"Ow!"

"Ugh!"

"Wheee! Let's do that again! Can we, can we? Huh huh huh?"

Above them, Twilight saw the portal slowly fade away until it disappeared with a faint hiss. They were stuck.

"Oh, my aching head." Twilight coughed as she warily got to her hooves and looked around herself for her friends. "Is everypony okay? Where are you, girls?"

"Over here!" Rarity called from nearby. "I'm alright, darling. I think I landed on something, though."

"Yeah, that'd be me," muttered Applejack. She shifted herself out from under Rarity, sending the unicorn sliding down the pile of trash to the concrete below.

They cleared themselves out of the garbage, Twilight being the last to get to solid ground. She peeled a damp, torn newspaper off of her flank, and glanced at the front page headline:

Smog Levels Reach Record High!

"'Smog'? Huh?"

Twilight blinked in confusion and flipped the paper over, searching for anything more informative, like the name of the publication or maybe a date, anything that could help pin down where they were. Finding nothing useful, she glanced upwards.

Her pupils shrunk in alarm. "Oh dear."

The others in the group collectively followed Twilight's gaze skyward, and their jaws dropped.

A dark haze filled the few parts of the sky that could be seen through the crisscross of clotheslines and metal railings. Buildings covered in strange, unrecognizable metal colored in dull shades of brown, gray, red, and black, reached for the light above, their tips disappearing into the smog. The bright glow of the city filtered in through the occasional gap in the skyscrapers, contrasting with the relative darkness of the alley.

"Pfh, see Dashie, told you it went to the future," Pinkie said. "This is just like that movie where the stallion drove a car really fast and— no wait, he ended up in the past. I mean, the sequel takes him to the future, but it doesn't look like this." She poked Rainbow's side. "Hey Dashie, which movie was it where the pony goes to the dystopian future? I'm thinking… something with a samurai?"

"The hay if I know. You're the movie buff around here, not me," Rainbow said. She shook her head in disgust. "I'm stickin' with my opinion, though. I still don't think this is the future, or at least not our future. I hope."

Fluttershy poked her head out from behind Rarity, who was busy shaking garbage out of her mane. "Where are we?"

"I don't suppose anypony has any theories?" Twilight asked, at a loss herself.

Pinkie raised a hoof into the air. "I know I asked this before, but is anypony else getting a sense of déjà vu?" she asked, turning to the others. Everypony shook their heads. "Just me again, huh? Wow, weird. Maybe it just reminds me of another story I read. Hmm…"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Well, it's obvious where we're not at least."

"Kinda reminds me of Manehattan," Applejack said as she adjusted her hat, "just dirtier and a whole heck of a lot bigger. Even I'll admit this place needs a bit of sprucin' up. I couldn't imagine livin' around all this here junk."

Applejack swept her hoof around, emphasizing the grime and garbage that littered the alley surrounding them: broken bottles leaking oddly colored fluids; scraps of rusted metal; shards of old, discolored cement. The one remaining wheel of an old, tattered stroller squeaked as it spun haltingly in the foul smelling breeze.

Speaking of which.

"Oh my!" Rarity covered her nose and waved a hoof in front of her face. "It smells like somepony's been burning… something out here, too. Who burns garbage, really?"

Fluttershy shuddered and huddled in closer to Rarity and Applejack. "It's so… dirty. And dark. I don't like this new place."

"Aw, don't be silly! It's always fun to be in a new place!" Pinkie laughed and threw a big hug around Fluttershy, causing the pegasus to yelp in surprise. "Oh, just think of all the new ponies! Ooh, ooh, I bet I could throw a million new parties!"

Pinkie paused, dropping Fluttershy in the process.

"Oh gumdrops, I don't know where there's any party supply stores around here. Can we look for one of those? Ooh! And I'm starving! We need to find a sweet shop or an ice cream parlor or a bakery or something!I need three hundred cc's of chocolate and sugar, stat!"

"Pinkie, we've got more important things to worry about than if there's enough balloons for a party," Rainbow said. She dejectedly looked skyward again and shook her head. "Rarity's right though, this place is a dump. Look at all that dirty air. Don't they have any kind of weather patrol here? You can barely even see the sky!"

A murky orange hue, not like a sunrise or sunset but rather the more menacing glare of a raging fire, poked through the sparse breaks in the smog layer. It churned with an angry agenda, a stormy sea seething back and forth. Twilight couldn't help but wonder if the entire sky was ablaze.

Fluttershy sniffed and shuffled her hooves. "Oh, I hope the little birdies up there are okay…"

Rarity coughed and continued to wave her hoof in front of her nose. "Heavens, let's just get out of this dreadful little alleyway and into the streets, at the very least. Perhaps if we ask around, we can find out where we are?"

As they rounded the corner, they could see neon lights adorning large billboards, advertising goods and services they'd never heard of. Something called "Dolor" was prominent on most of them, with each billboard advertising a different color. The closest one had a slogan reading:

Introducing new Dolor Black! Great for a meal, or even a snack! It's hip, it's cool, it's not wack! Better than White, it's Dolor Black!

Down at the street level, a chaotic stream of ponies swarmed along the busy street. They kept themselves divided onto one side or the other, leaving a sizable portion in the center open, which Twilight found similar to how they left room for chariot taxis in Manehattan back home. A good hundred yards up above them, organized formations of pegasi flew along odd glowing lights, orderly avoiding each other despite their sheer number.

Twilight shook her head in disbelief. There were enough pegasi in the sky alone to rival even Cloudsdale's population, and enough ponies of all kinds on the ground to dwarf all of Ponyville. How many ponies lived in this city?

Twilight moved ahead, seeking out a pony that hopefully wouldn't be distracted too much by their own tasks. She found a dark blue pegasus mare that was taking the ground route, likely to avoid the heavy air traffic high above, wearing a bright green jacket.

Twilight cleared her throat and introduced herself. "Excuse me, but—"

"Yeah, what do you wa-aah!?" The pegasus leaped back in surprise mid-turn and nervously scooted away in obvious panic. "G-get away from me! Help! Police! Police!"

She flew off in a rush, leaving Twilight stunned and confused.

Rainbow came over and patted Twilight on the shoulder, while glaring upwards at the retreating pegasus. "Well what the hay was that about? Rude much?"

"Hmm." Twilight tapped a hoof to her chin. "Very peculiar. Was it something I said?"

"Ya didn't even get to sayanythin', sugarcube," Applejack noted. She shifted her hat forward a little, narrowing her eyes. "I already don't like this place. Ain't got no sense for welcomin' visitors."

Rarity brushed a hoof through her mane. "Let's try another pony. Hmmm… aha!" She pointed her hoof across the busy street, where there was a large bench near a sign labeled Bus Stop. "There, that dashing unicorn."

Twilight made to start towards him, until Rarity coughed rather too loudly.

"Ahem. Perhaps we should let me do the talking?"

Twilight blinked. "Huh? Why?"

"You'll find that a little charm goes a long way. Leave it to Rarity, dear."

Rarity trotted over to the stallion, a reddish-black unicorn wearing a tuxedo vest and a matching tie. He was busy reading a newspaper as he waited at the "bus stop". Rarity fluffed her mane and tail, checked her coat, and brushed off any traces of dirt or grime she could find. Seemingly satisfied that she looked her very finest, she cleared her throat and introduced herself in a rather flirty tone..

"Pardon me, my good sir. So sorry to interrupt, but my friends and I seem to be in a bit of a bind." She gave her very best pout and fluttered her eyelashes. "Would you be so kind as to—"

"Ew, get away from me," the stallion said, scowling and shying away from her. "Have you no shame at all?"

"I beg your pardon?!" Rarity exclaimed. "Oh! Of all the ways to greet a lady! Well, I never! You should be… ashamed of yourself? Hello? Are you ignoring me now? Hmph!"

With a huff, she returned to the others, disgruntled and dejected.

"That stallion clearly has some grave vision issues," she snorted. "No manners amongst these ponies, none at all. You'd think someone dressed so dapper would be a little more courteous. Even— ugh. Even Prince Blueblood at least had the decency to act polite at first."

"Aw, don't get discouraged, sugarcube." Applejack patted Rarity on the shoulder. "Maybe the stallions 'round these parts just ain't affected by that patented Rarity charm?"

"Yeah, maybe you're just not his type?" Rainbow offered.

Pinkie bounced up and down excitedly, pushing the three out of her way to address Twilight. "Ooh! Can I try next? Huh? Can I? Oh please oh please?"

"I don't know Pinkie," Twilight said, hesitating. "I mean, Rarity and I couldn't get any answers, what makes—"

Pinkie held her hooves together in a pleading gesture, sank to her knees, and forced her eyes to widen and fill with tears.

Twilight stared for just a minute, her mouth curling into a nervous smile. She balked. "Fine."

Pinkie immediately leapt back to her hooves. "Yaaay! You'll see, I'll get some answers! Sherlock Pie is on the case!"

She scoured the nearby crowd, then snapped her hoof towards an off-white earth pony with a curly orange mane wearing a simple blue blouse.

"Aha! My first suspect!"

The pony in question was focused on fumbling with something in one of her saddlebags, so she didn't notice Pinkie's approach.

"Hi!" Pinkie had somehow made the statement from the interior of a nearby ponyhole cover; Twilight hadn't even seen her climb into it.

"Ahh!" The other pony jumped, not seeing where the source of the voice came from. "Who's there?!"

"Hey now, no need to get all jittery. I just wanna ask you some questions," Pinkie said from the far side of a nearby lamppost. A lamppost that happened to be no more than six inches thick and yet somehow still hid Pinkie from view.

The other mare nervously twirled in a circle, trying to find the source of the voice. "Show yourself!"

Pinkie's head popped out from inside of a covered trash can. "I just want to know where we are!"

The profoundly disturbed mare curled up into a tight ball, her eyes darting around in panic as she stroked her tail with a hoof. "Oh no, this is just like that one dream! Make it stop…"

"You're not being very helpful, y'know?" Pinkie whispered into the white pony's ear, leaning in from out of one of her saddlebags.

"Aaahh!"

The mare rocketed into the air and down the street in a cloud of dust, leaving Pinkie to tumble around in the air before landing in a heap on the ground.

"Pinkie, how was that supposed to help?" Rainbow asked as Pinkie bounded back over with a pleased grin on her face. "You scared that pony half to death!"

"Aww, no way Dashie. I can't scare anypony! Scaring isn't my thing. She was just surprised, that's all!" Pinkie shrugged. "It's okay, she probably wouldn't have helped either. But hey, at least I found out I'm still me, no matter where we are."

"Pinks, you are so weird sometimes," Rainbow sighed, gently patting Pinkie's shoulder.

The group continued their fruitless trek through the city streets. Every so often, they would try to ask any passing strangers, but they were always greeted with one the same three reactions: a scream followed by a mad dash in the opposite direction, a cold shoulder, or perhaps worst of all, absolutely nothing. Eventually, even these three responses died down and were replaced by a new and slightly unsettling response: open staring.

Now that they were in a much busier part of the street, it was becoming difficult for the group to not be the center of attention. Ponies with young colts or fillies present shielded their children's eyes. A few odd ponies ran away from the offending mares. Others pointed in earnest and either muttered amongst themselves or chuckled at the sight.

The six mares of Ponyville shrunk a little under the judging gazes of everypony in their immediate vicinity.

"Does anypony else feel as if, well, everypony else is watching us?" Twilight asked.

"Why're they all starin' at us?" Applejack whispered back. "We don't look that outta place, do we?"

"It's giving me the creeps though, that's for sure," said Rainbow. She sneered in the direction of a pair of large earth pony stallions that were pointing in their direction with wide smiles on their faces. "I don't trust these ponies. Something's up."

Rarity huffed at a random catcall from nearby, and shot a sharp glare in the sound's direction. She defensively moved herself in front of Fluttershy, obviously to protect the pegasus from the gazes of as many ponies as she could. "For once, I'm with Rainbow Dash. There's something rather unscrupulous going on here. I'm used to attracting a lot of attention, but this is ridiculous!"

Twilight shook her head. "I don't know, but I— oof!"

As Twilight rounded the nearby corner, she slammed into another mare that had been doing the same thing going the opposite way.

"Owww…" Twilight groaned.

"Twilight! You okay?" Applejack rushed over to Twilight and immediately began helping her up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Twilight said. "Thanks."

"Crikey! Watch where you're walkin'!" said the other mare.

She was a short—so short Twilight almost thought she was a tall filly—icy blue unicorn with a snow white mane and dark blue eyes. She wore a magenta turtleneck over her upper torso, leaving her cutie mark—a crystal made of ice—fully exposed. She also wore a matching scarf that was rather long and wrapped around her neck several times, as well as a matching beret.

The other mare gasped, and hurriedly picked up from the ground a stopwatch that had been knocked aside when she'd bumped into Twilight. She carefully scrutinized it for damage, and after a brief moment of examination, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," Twilight said. "We're all in an awful hurry. Oh! Maybe you can help—"

The other mare snorted and brusquely swept right past Twilight and her friends. "Out of the way! I don't have time to be buggerin' about with a bunch of bloody nudists. I'm late!"

"Sheesh." Rainbow sneered in the departing mare's direction. "Somepony's got their tail in a knot."

"You okay there, Twi?" Applejack asked. "Ya look like ya done seen a ghost."

Twilight's eyes shot open in realization. That mare had just called them something. It was a word she hadn't heard used before in normal conversation, but she did know its definition.

Nudists.

"Oh dear," she muttered.

As she looked around at the crowd of ponies surrounding them, she realized something she hadn't really taken notice of before: all of the ponies were wearing clothes, every last one of them. Except, of course, for her and her friends. That sort of thing wouldn't normally bother her—they didn't wear clothes at home all that often, usually just for special occasions—but clearly there was some sort of taboo on nudity here, and that made her horribly self-conscious.

She couldn't help but notice that some ponies here and there were tilting their heads and adjusting their positions and postures to perhaps catch a glimpse of something she'd rather keep private; that itself was odd since most ponies were just wearing shirts or jackets, so wouldn't those bits of anatomy be visible anyway? What was it about wearing a shirt that made a difference?

Twilight's face turned a bright pink as she nervously shifted in place. "Girls, perhaps we should try and find someplace a little less public to discuss our situation?"

"Whatever for, darling?" Rarity asked. "I know these ponies so far have been rather rude, but—"

Twilight hurriedly whispered her discovery to the others.

Rarity's face turned a brighter pink than Twilight's, and she frantically began to look about for something to cover herself. "Good heavens! Scandalous!" She grabbed a nearby newspaper with her magic and hastily set about trying to mold it into something wearable.

"What're we gonna do, Twi?" Applejack asked. She removed her hat and started trying to use it to cover up what she could.

Twilight gulped. "I don't know. C'mon, before we get into any… trouble…"

Her worry turned to panic as a siren roared to life off in the distance. It was close enough to a fire alarm that she knew it meant trouble, but given the reactions they'd been getting she had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't firefighters coming this way.

Rainbow seemed to have the same thoughts. "Aw man, beat it! It's the fuzz!" She grabbed Pinkie and tried to fly off, but was caught by Twilight's magic.

"Hold on, Rainbow," Twilight said. "Running away isn't going to help us any, and splitting up would be a bad idea."

Within moments, the six mares found themselves surrounded by police ponies—pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies alike—all dressed in neat black uniforms and sporting bright gold badges.

Fluttershy crowded herself into the center of her group of friends. "Oh dear…"

"Halt! New Pandemonium City Police! You are under arrest!" called one unicorn, a white stallion, who was levitating a megaphone in front of him.

With a flashy wave of a hoof he signalled to a few of the other officers to move in. The six Ponyville mares were soon surrounded by a few earth ponies menacingly wielding their batons with their mouths, and a pair of unicorns that levitated what appeared to be hoofcuffs.

Twilight sighed and stepped forward, offering her hooves in surrender.

"Twi, I sure hope y'all got some idea what you're doin'," Applejack murmured as she followed suit.

"We should just cooperate," Twilight said, turning to her friends. "I wouldn't want this to get disagreeable. Besides, they're authority figures here. Police? They can help us." She gulped. "Right?"

Chapter Two: Criminal

Police Chief Smokestack grumbled as another pile of papers plopped down onto the podium in front of him. He stared at it as if it were an unwholesome pest, his expression not unlike a disgruntled bulldog. With a sharp grunt, he shooed away the clerk that had delivered the annoyance.

After a moment of deep consideration and puff of his cigar, Smokestack resigned himself to his loathsome task. He removed his cap with his magic and ran a kerchief across his brow. This case load was heavier than usual, and considering the leaflets hanging out the sides, it was a great deal messier too.

Smokestack lazily ran a comb through his mane and replaced his cap as he took a brief look throughout the empty courtroom, which lacked many of the proper necessities of a courtroom: there were no chamber seats for the public or interested parties; there wasn't a jury box; instead of two tables meant for the attorneys and parties of the defense and prosecution, there was just one long table meant to hold all of the accused in the case.

He still had a bailiff—a strapping, cherry red earth pony stallion with a short, golden blond mane—that stood just below the podium that he himself sat behind. The well-built bailiff looked very imposing compared to Smokestack, who was rather chubby and out of shape. His cutie mark, a pair of hoofcuffs, only added to the image of a stern, hard-working pony; Smokestack's mark, a lit cigar, did not inspire the same.

At least this won't take too long, even if it is a rather large casefile, he thought to himself.

In New Pandemonium City, the police upheld the law, carried out the law, served as both judge and jury, and even provided attorneys—on request—that worked for the police department and had an obvious bias. It made things quicker and easier for all parties involved. The accused would come in, he'd charge them, question them, deliver them a verdict, and finally sentence them.

They'd be done in time for lunch.

He took another puff from his cigar and gestured to the bailiff. The bailiff nodded, adjusted his own cap, straightened his uniform, then signaled to the other officer standing near the door. This one opened the door and signaled to another pony outside, then held the door open as three other police ponies led in a group of six mares they'd arrested only an hour before.

All six mares were wearing gaudy bright orange jumpsuits, typical for all ponies arrested while they awaited their speedy trials. Smokestack noticed that the white unicorn in particular did not look pleased with the outfit, but honestly, none of them looked all that content to be in this situation.

The other officers all left the room so that the only ponies left were the six jumpsuit-clad mares, Smokestack, and his bailiff, the latter of which remained at firm attention just below the chief's podium.

"Right then. Let's get started, shall we?" Smokestack lifted the stack of papers and began to read:

"Case File dated the twenty-eighth of the winter quarter, year three thousand and fifty-nine. Case File labeled: The Ponies of New Pandemonium City versus…" He squinted at the paper in front of him. "Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Danger Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkamena Diane Pie. The Honorable Judge, New Pandemonium City Police Chief Smokestack—which would be me—now presiding. How do you plead?"

"We don't even know what the charges are!" the one called Twilight said. "We were just walking about minding our own business, and nopony explained anything… Your Honor. We don't even know what we did wrong."

Smokestack raised an eyebrow and hummed thoughtfully to himself. He wasn't used to accused parties actually taking the time to ask any questions. He was supposed to be asking questions. They did usually plead "not guilty"right away, though, so this was new.

He shrugged and shuffled through the papers again to get to another page. "Hmph, I suppose we'll go through these one at a time. I can't wait to hear these excuses." He breathed a weary sigh. "I hear that some of the patrol officers are making a game of the most creative ones. Isn't that right, Flathoof?"

The bailiff—Flathoof—continued to stand at attention and simply shook his head. "Wouldn't know, Chief. Haven't been on the beat since you made me Captain."

"Yes, yes, that's right," Smokestack mumbled. He put his hoof under his chin and rested his elbow on the podium. "I suppose that even if you were, you wouldn't have been invited to participate, you ol' stick in the mud. Well anyway, let's hear these excuses.

"Okay ladies, we'll start at the beginning." He read from the papers again. "First charge: Public Indecency. That is, wandering around city limits without proper attire as stipulated within New Pandemonium City bylaws. The orange one, Applejack?"

He glanced over at the so-called Applejack, causing her to gulp.

"Her charge on that count is reduced by half because she was at least wearing a hat."

The white unicorn, Rarity, groaned.

"Second charge," Smokestack continued. "Disturbing the Peace, as a byproduct of your public indecency. The station got enough phone calls in the fifteen minutes leading to your arrest that I swore we were running some kind of telemarketing service in here."

He glanced over at one called Pinkamena. "One call in particular was from a mare that said she had been psychologically harassed by a pink earth pony mare." Then, he glanced at Rarity. "And another from a stallion claiming to have been propositioned by a particularly bold prostitute, a white unicorn mare."

Rarity slapped the pastern of her hoof to her forehead and fainted; the one called Fluttershy barely caught her before she hit the floor.

"Third charge: Failure to Provide Identification. You were not carrying any form of identification on yourselves at the time of arrest, nor could you attest to the whereabouts of your identification." He then shuffled the papers all back together in order. "Those are the charges against you six. So, how do you plead?"

Twilight looked around to her friends and shrugged. "Uh… guilty? We didn't know we needed any of those things, Your Honor. So… I guess we don't really have a good argument in our defense. But we certainly didn't mean to disturb anypony."

The one called Rainbow rolled her eyes and groaned. "Geez Twilight, just confess to everything why don't ya?"

"Well, what would you like me to do, Rainbow?" Twilight asked. "He presented the charges, and we did do all those things, intentionally or not, and we have to abide by their laws."

Smokestack smiled and shuffled his papers back into order. He took another long draw from his cigar, and blew a ring of smoke off into the air. "Excellent. At least we have an understanding. My officers don't just arrest random folks off the street, you see. Now, if you'd be so kind as to explain why you say you didn't know you needed identification?"

Rainbow sauntered over to Twilight and said, "Let me do the talking, Twi. You gotta keep all your answers short and sweet."

"Rainbow, I know how to handle this. I did study law."

"Well?" Smokestack asked.

"We're not from around here," Rainbow said.

"Actually—" Twilight started, lifting her hoof.

Rainbow slapped Twilight's hoof away. "Next question, please."

"Now now, let's hear what your friend has to say," Smokestack said. He took another puff of his cigar and leaned back in his seat, putting his rear hooves up on the podium.

Twilight briefly shot an indignant look at Rainbow, then turned back to Smokestack and explained. "Actually, we're from a town called Ponyville."

Smokestack and Flathoof both gave each other confused looks.

"'Ponyville'?" Smokestack asked, sitting back upright. "You're pulling my leg, right? What an utterly ridiculous name for a town. Let me guess, ponies live there?" He turned to his bailiff. "Flathoof, have you ever heard of a place called Ponyville before?"

Flathoof shook his head. "Nnnope. That's a first, Chief. It might be someplace in Utopia though, sir. I'm not too knowledgeable about their town names down there."

"And what leads you to think that?" Smokestack asked, resting his chin on his hoof and elbow again.

"They were arrested only two blocks from the NPRD building, sir," Flathoof explained, giving the six ponies a quick glance. "Seems to me they made the mistake of forgetting to register before they came into the city."

"Yeah, that's it," Rainbow said. "We're from Ponyville, Utopia. Wanted to register, but we got lost. Big city, y'know?"

Smokestack furrowed his brow. "Convenient excuse, almost believable. Flathoof, you think their story has merit?"

"I see no reason to doubt them, sir," Flathoof replied. "They didn't cause any property damage or harm anypony, so I don't think they're dangerous."

"A fair point…"

"Plus, this is the first time I've ever heard 'we're not from around here' as an excuse for missing identification. It's usually 'it's at my friend's apartment' or 'it's in my other jacket' or some other old excuse. So I figure either these mares are either very, very clever, or they're telling the truth."

"And considering they got caught wandering naked through the streets I highly doubt the former." Smokestack stroked his mustache and rapidly puffed his cigar. "Very well. I'll trust your judgment on this, Flathoof."

Smokestack returned his gaze to the mares. "That explains why you weren't carrying identification." He shuffled his papers around and stamped a part of one of them. "I'll modify the charges to reflect your status as undocumented residents. Now, care to explain why you were wandering around naked though?"

Rainbow shrugged. "Same thing. We're not from around here."

"Actually—" Twilight said. Rainbow hung her head, exasperated. "Where we're from, we don't usually wear clothes outside of special occasions, so truth be told it came as a rather uncomfortable surprise to learn that we were supposed to be."

Smokestack raised an eyebrow, then leaned over and whispered to Flathoof, "Is Utopia going hedonist nowadays? If it is, the beaches might have just gotten more fun."

Flathoof coughed uncomfortably and shook his head. "Wouldn't know sir. Never been myself, obviously. I'll admit I'm not accustomed with Utopia's standards or taboos."

Smokestack took another long draw from his cigar, then grunted and put it out in the ashtray on his podium. "Hmph. That certainly would explain things." He turned to the mares again. "So, you're southern natives, which means that we have to acknowledge our cultural differences regarding clothing at first, but you're still expected to procure some after the trial.

"However! There is still the fact that your antics, however justifiable they may be under the law, did indeed disturb the peace around you and caused widespread havoc. Don't have a fancy excuse to get yourselves out of that one, do you?"

Rainbow stared forward and crossed her hooves over her chest, wide-eyed with confidence. "Yeah we done it! What of it?!"

"Rainbow!" Twilight exclaimed.

Smokestack casually pulled another cigar out of his uniform pocket, lit it, and took a long draw. He blew out another smoke ring and chuckled. "Well, I'm glad we've gotten that all cleared up. So, you're all guilty of one count each for Disturbing the Peace, with minimum charges for Public Indecency and Failure to Provide Identification. Verdict has been delivered. Let it be noted, Flathoof."

Flathoof stared at Smokestack and shrugged; he wasn't carrying any sort of notepad. "Okay, sir. Noted."

"Under the circumstances, you six have two options," Smokestack explained. He lifted up his left hoof. "Either we toss you in jail and let the system weed you out, or—" He lifted his right hoof. "You can get yourselves documented and be released on parole. You should all be so lucky that Flathoof is taking your side. He's not an easy one to convince."

"You'd release us? Just like that?" Twilight asked.

Rainbow nudged Twilight hard in the ribs.

"Ow! Rainbow—"

"Geez, Twi, shut up, before he changes his mind!"

Smokestack grinned and waved his cigar around in the air. "Why, our little city is always looking to get a few more taxpayers into the system. Your crimes weren't violent or damaging—well put, Flathoof," he added, nodding down at the bailiff. "And, you all cooperated with the arrest and legal proceedings."

The six mares from Ponyville instantly gathered in a huddle. Twilight spoke first, loud enough that everypony in the room could hear. "I think it's pretty obvious what we need to do here. No sense in not cooperating, right?"

"Duh, and get ourselves thrown in jail?" Rainbow shook her head. "Fluttershy wouldn't last two seconds in the clink!"

"I don't like dungeons…" Fluttershy muttered.

"That Flathoof fella seems on the level," Applejack said, glancing out of the huddle towards the mentioned stallion. "Maybe he can help us figure things out?"

Rarity's nose scrunched up—she was awake again—as she ran a hoof along the collar of her jumpsuit. "And I simply must get myself out of thisawful thing, and into something a little more me."

A few moments passed in silence. They all turned to Pinkamena.

Pinkamena blinked and looked around the huddle. "What are you all looking at me for?"

"Aren't you going to suggest anything?" Twilight asked. "I did ask for everypony's opinions, though I guess at this point majority rules, doesn't it?"

Applejack chuckled. "Yeah, ain'tcha gonna suggest a party or somethin'?"

Rainbow quickly covered Applejack's mouth. "Don't give her any ideas!"

Pinkamena rolled her eyes. "A party? Pfft, c'mon Applejack I can't always have parties on my mind. But now that you mention it, what about a prison party? Ooh, I just got the best idea! We could have nail files in the cake, and—"

Rainbow groaned loudly enough to interrupt the discussion.

Twilight broke the huddle and turned back to Smokestack. She cleared her throat and nodded. "Well, I guess we're taking the second option then."

"Excellent! Most excellent." Smokestack rubbed his hooves together, then snapped a hoof towards Flathoof. "Flathoof! Please see to it they all get properly documented and added onto the parole list as quicklyas you can. I'd like to see that bonus on my next paycheck, if possible."

"Right away, sir," Flathoof said, saluting. He turned towards the six mares and stepped forward. "Alright, ladies. Time to join the herd, as they say." Taking Smokestack's stack of files, he grunted and plopped them onto the table before them. "After we take care of a little paperwork."

*****

Flathoof gave a noticeable sigh as Twilight came up beside him in the precinct hallway, matching his stride with the others not too far behind her. Many other officers in the white halls were beginning to stare at Flathoof and his new entourage. He felt quite odd leading six mares dressed up in orange jumpsuits along like a clutch of ducklings, and knew he looked it too.

The group arrived at the elevator leading back to the ground floor. He pressed one of the silver buttons; it turned gold. Now they just had to wait for the elevator to come to them.

Five seconds. Ten seconds. Fifteen. Did it always take this long, or just when he was in a hurry?

Flathoof turned towards Twilight when she gave a tiny cough to draw his attention. "Yes, Miss Sparkle?"

"I wanted to thank you for helping us. I'll admit, our story might seem a little... odd," she said. She smiled and nodded appreciatively. "So, thank you."

"You can spare the pleasantries with me, Miss Sparkle," Flathoof said. "Our prisons are filled up enough as it is with all sorts of real criminals. I don't feel like seeing precious space wasted on a troupe of nudists. Not the most dangerous of crimes, y'know?"

"Wait, so you don't believe us?" Rainbow asked.

"Nnnope. Now, I don't know where exactly Ponyville is, but it sure as hay sounds like a made-up town, if you ask me. Most likely scenario is you're all refugees from out in the Wastelands just looking for food and shelter. That isn't a crime in and of itself. So think of this as killing two birds with one stone."

He saw Fluttershy grimace at his choice of idiom.

"I'm helping you get on your hooves, while keeping our prisons open to criminals who actually deserve to be there." Flathoof shrugged. "You're all lucky Chief Smokestack is willing to look the other way when he sees an opportunity to get a few bits out of it."

The elevator arrived with a soft ding and all the ponies shuffled inside at Flathoof's lead. The inside of the elevator car was stuffy, since they had to get uncomfortably close together in order for them all to fit. Three of the mares each were squished in on either side of him.

"Well, regardless of why you did it, we appreciate you doing it." Twilight cordially offered her hoof towards him. "I'm Twilight Sparkle. It's a pleasure to meet you, Officer—"

"Captain," he corrected.

"Captain Flathoof. I know you already know our names, but I feel a proper introduction is in order, seeing as we kind of owe you our freedom and all. I mean, if you don't mind?"

"Hmph." Flathoof took her hoof and gave it a very light shake. "If you insist, Miss Sparkle. Go ahead then, get on with it."

"Splendid!" Twilight clapped her hooves together and listed off her friends, starting from her left. "These are my friends, Rarity—"

Rarity nodded pleasantly. "How do you do?"

"Fluttershy—"

"Um, hi…" Fluttershy muttered.

"Rainbow Dash—"

Rainbow tilted her head. "Hey."

"Pinkie Pie—"

Pinkamena—shortened as Pinkie, it seemed—tried to bounce in place, but she was hindered by the lack of space. "Hiya! It's so cool that you're our new friend. I should throw you a party to celebrate! Oh, I just need supplies, and a place to hold the party… which we don't have. Hmm. This plan isn't working out so well yet, is it?"

"And Applejack—"

Silence.

"Applejack? Hello?"

"Wha? Oh!" Applejack blushed and rubbed the back of her head. "S-sorry, Twilight. Kinda got, uh, distracted by somethin'. Howdy!"

"Right. You're certainly a colorful group." Flathoof shook his head and muttered, "Sometimes I wonder why I get myself into these things. Why don't I just look the other way like everypony else?"

The elevator dinged again, and the elevator doors opened to reveal the bustling lobby.

It was a madhouse on the ground level compared to the relative calm of the upper floors. Ponies of all kinds were everywhere in the building, interacting with the police officers that were on duty. Some ponies were at the front desk reporting crimes or asking questions. There were other ponies being led through the station, their hooves in hoofcuffs; most of these ponies gave the six mares coy smirks as they passed by. Other officers were working at desks all across the floor, answering phones or filing papers.

Flathoof led his entourage through the first hall past the main lobby, past several offices labeled Internal Affairs, and towards the second hallway on the opposite side.

"So we're not headed for that NPRD place you mentioned?" Twilight asked, glancing back towards the lobby they'd just passed. "I thought we were getting registrations taken care of?"

"The NPRD building isn't necessary. The precinct has all the same forms and equipment here, if you know where to look and who to ask," Flathoof explained. "Besides, I can't exactly imagine any of you want to go walking out around town wearing those jumpsuits, looking like a group of convicts."

Rarity grimaced at her jumpsuit again and stroked her mane worriedly; she seemed to be the only one that cared that much about how she looked. "Please tell me we're going to be getting something to replace these soon, and a place to get some proper grooming done? I don't know about you girls, but I could really use a bath."

"Well, something like that," Flathoof said. He pointed off towards a hall to their right as they passed it, but kept going. "There's a storage room down that way were we keep all sorts of confiscated items, including clothing. We normally just donate it all to our annual auction, but I'm sure we can find something in there for you to use after we get you all sorted out. After that, you'll have to buy your own."

Flathoof turned right down a narrow hallway lit by several flickering fluorescent lamps. Near the halfway mark, he stopped and gestured to a set of double doors marked Clerk Office. The mares filed past into the room and looked around.

Unlike the rest of the police building, this room was near empty, save for two clerks seated behind a pair of dull metal desks. The nearest one, a unicorn mare with a jet black coat and bright red mane, stealthily attempted to fix her mane and adjust her thick, round glasses as Flathoof strode up to her. She wore a wide grin on her face, which she tried to hide behind a hoof, poorly.

"Oh, hey Fla— Captain Flathoof. Always a pleasure to see you. How can I be of assistance for you this fine afternoon?" She glanced over at the mares that had been following him, but did not drop her smile.

"And a fine afternoon to you too, Snapshot," Flathoof said, tipping his hat. "I need to get some identification and citizenship forms, and if you could make it snappy, I'd appreciate it."

Flathoof cringed a little at his own horrible, unintentional pun and tried to ignore it, but Pinkie had begun giggling into her hoof, breaking his concentration. He quickly added, "Oh, and some domicile registration forms as well. We'll need to find these six a place to live."

Snapshot nodded and got out of her seat. "I'll have those rounded up for you in just a minute."

"A place to live? Finding that is that part of your job too?" Rainbow asked after Snapshot had turned to a large bank of filing cabinets placed behind her desk. "Man, they make you guys do everything around here. Not like cops back home."

Flathoof sighed. "Well, it is my job as your parole officer," he said.

The six mares all blinked at once. Twilight voiced her curiosity. "Did I miss something? When did that happen? I thought you were just taking care of our documentation?"

"Yes, well, when the Chief assigned me to take care of your documentation, that was his code for 'Flathoof, you're their parole officer now'. He's subtle like that."

"Huh. Well, that’s convenient."

"Maybe for you.” He removed his hat and stroked a hoof along the captain insignia. "This isn't exactly what I imagined I'd be doing as a captain. I'd really rather be back out on the streets trying to catch real crooks."

"But, does that mean you don't like us?" Pinkie frowned and started sniffing back tears.

"I never said that," Flathoof added, hoping to avoid any waterworks. "I'd just prefer if I was actually out there on the streets instead of being a glorified foalsitter. No offense, but this sort of duty isn't exactly what I signed on for. Too much desk work, not enough hoof work."

Applejack grunted and adjusted her hat. "Ya make it sound like we're imposin' on ya. If ya don't like it, why not just find somepony else to take over and let us do our own thing? We can take care of ourselves."

Flathoof hesitated, then sighed. "Your little troupe here looked like a bunch of fish out of water. Like I said, I don't know where exactly you're from, but you sure aren't from around here, and I'm not about to send a bunch of know-nothing mares out there without a clue. You already tried that and look where it got you."

"Fair point," Twilight said.

"Now, if you don't like my attitude, that's your own problem, because I'm not changing it. Nnnope. Not. At. All."

Applejack stared at him for a brief moment, then shook her head and let the others get back to talking. He wasn't sure if his answer had satisfied her or not, and didn't really care.

Snapshot returned from the filing cabinets behind her and produced all the paperwork everypony would require. Twilight volunteered to have hers filled out first, and sat at the other side of the desk as Snapshot organized all the paperwork together.

Snapshot adjusted her glasses and hovered a pen over the form. "Okay, everypony, let's get started. We've got lots to do. So, you first: name?"

"Twilight Sparkle."

Snapshot nodded and filled out the corresponding space on the form, then skipped ahead to the next one. "Coat color, purple—"

"It's more of a lavender, really," Twilight said, her smile incredulous. She clearly expected a police officer filling out a very official document to care about specific tones of color. Proof enough she didn't know how things worked around here.

"Purple," said Snapshot, giving an irritated sigh. "Particular shades and hues aren't important for the forms. Your photograph will take care of that just fine. I'd like to just get this quickly without having to pick out specifics, okay?"

Twilight wrinkled her nose and nodded. "Alright then."

"Good. Now then, mane and tail, purple with a pink streak. Eyes, purple." Snapshot adjusted her glasses and stared at Twilight. "Should I just fill out everything on here 'purple'? I'm just noticing a pattern is all."

"Hey, it's not my fault you don't use shades and hues," Twilight huffed.

Snapshot shrugged and moved down to the next section of the form. "Next, special talent?"

"Magic."

Snapshot gave Twilight a look of disbelief and confusion. "Okay, sweetheart, I don't know if you've noticed but... you're a unicorn. Magic isn't a special talent, all unicorns can—"

Twilight laughed. "No, I mean, Magic itself is my talent. I can perform almost every kind of magic there is. I just need to see it used or have it described, and I can usually duplicate the spell. Typically not as well as the unicorns who specialize with specific types of magic, but for most generic stuff I'm better at it than the average unicorn."

She caught herself at the end and added, "N-not to brag or anything."

"Well okay, if you say so, O Magic One." Snapshot rolled her eyes as she jotted that down, then flipped the page and headed for the next section. "Former residence? Be specific this time."

"Ponyville. Uh, Utopia." Twilight smiled, and crossed her forelegs, confident in what everypony knew was a lie. "Ponyville, Utopia."

Snapshot raised an eyebrow and stared at Twilight again as if the other unicorn was insane. "Ponyville? There isn't any—"

"We've been over this already, Snapshot," Flathoof interjected. "Just put it in there and save yourself the headache. If anypony asks, say it's a new village or something."

"Right, okay." Snapshot sighed, and pointed her pen lazily at Flathoof. "You're lucky it's you asking me for all this, Flathoof. I'm gonna have to make sure this story stays straight or the NPRD is gonna come after me."

"Much appreciated."

"Moving on." Snapshot turned back to Twilight and set her pen back to the paper. "Former occupation, if applicable? Again, be specific, since this part actually matters and it'll likely affect your tax bracket and job opportunities."

Twilight thought for a moment. "Librarian."

Snapshot smiled and jotted the answer down. "Finally, something simple. Since Flathoof would want me too, I'll add a note of recommendation here for Central Database Holdings. Should help you find work quicker. Okay, that just about settles it, only gotta notarize it. Captain Flathoof is the author—"

"Aha, nnnope, don't put my name there," Flathoof said. He replaced his hat on his head, as it had fumbled in the sudden interruption. "The Chief would kill me if he found out I took one of his commissions."

"Commissions?" Twilight asked. Snapshot was busy scribbling other notes on the form that she didn't seem to need Twilight for anyway, which she seemed to take as a chance to ask Flathoof yet another question or two. She was a curious one, this Twilight.

"The pony who authorizes the form gets a pay bonus, since they're the one responsible for increasing the city's tax flow. That's why the Chief assigned me to take care of this: he trusts me not to try and take a cut." Flathoof sighed. "It stinks, since I could really use that bonus."

"Ain'tcha worried 'bout gettin' in trouble talkin' like that in front of your fellow officers?" Applejack asked. Her eyes flickered to Snapshot, then back to him. "Can't imagine anypony'd take too kindly to bein' accused of bein' crooked."

"Oh don't worry about Snapshot. She's a good egg." Snapshot didn't lift her nose out of the pile of papers she was working on, but Flathoof could see her smile. "Everypony around here knows I always speak my mind. They also know that if they don't like what I've got to say, they can always try and make me stop. See how well that works out for 'em."

He pounded his chest with one of his large forelegs and gave a hearty laugh.

Applejack's mouth curled up in a small smile, apparently impressed.

"Okay, and check, check, double-check, stamp here, done." Snapshot neatly straightened the pile of papers and turned them around to face Twilight, drawing her attention by tapping her pen against the bottom. "I just need you to sign here—" She flipped the page and pointed at the bottom again. "And here—" She flipped to the back page and pointed in three separate locations. "Here, here, and here."

Twilight signed each with the pen provided.

Snapshot smiled and straightened the papers again, then shuffled them neatly into a small folder. "Wonderful, now we just need to take your photograph and you're all done. Over here please." She stood up and trotted off towards a small booth on the side of the room.

Twilight nodded and followed Snapshot over, then promptly hopped into the seat that was provided for her. She then must have realized she was still in the tacky prisoner jumpsuit. "Uh, do I really want to be wearing this when I take my picture? Everypony I show my identification to will think I was a convict."

"Sucks to be you." Snapshot shrugged and adjusted the camera without looking at Twilight directly. "Look, if you've got a problem with it, I'll just draw in your frame, 'cause we need your picture and we need it now. Fair warning: I'm not a very good artist."

"Fine, fine," Twilight sighed. "Is Flathoof the only courteous pony around here? Yeesh."

She sat in front of the large, plain poster frame that would serve as the backdrop, and waited for Snapshot to take the picture. And waited. And waited. Twilight made to speak, when there was a bright, unexpected flash that made her shut her eyes.

Within a few moments, Snapshot produced a tiny card out of the machine attached to the camera, passing it over to Twilight after the latter had finished rubbing her eyes.

Twilight grumbled when she saw her identification. She was half-blinking in the middle of the shot and her mouth was half open in the process of asking a question; it made her look like some sort of drunk they just pulled off the street for a photo shoot.

Flathoof merely shook his head. "Eh, good enough. It'll get you through things until we can get you sorted for a reshoot."

"Why can't I just take another one now?" Twilight asked.

"Rules are rules!" Snapshot said sweetly. "Sorry, but that ID is official now, you've gotta fill out some forms and such to have another picture taken, and I'm afraid there's a charge for it."

Twilight muttered something under her breath that Flathoof didn't quite hear, but he suspected it wasn't pleasant. Snapshot certainly had a way with ponies.

The other five mares sat with Snapshot and filled their forms out and had their pictures taken as well, until everypony had their ID cards and were ready to be properly indoctrinated to life here in New Pandemonium City.

"Well then, you girls are all settled in as far as registration goes," Flathoof said, looking over the ID cards. "See? Snapshot got that taken care of in no time flat. Now, I'm going to get your lodging taken care of, so you all go take a seat over there," he added, gesturing to the seats against the wall.

"Thanks again, Captain Flathoof," Twilight said.

Flathoof nodded and stepped out into the hall, heading for the nearby outgoing phone. He had a very important call to make if this was all going to go smoothly.

*****

Once Flathoof had stepped away, Twilight took the opportunity to discuss the situation with her friends, hoping to come to terms with things and maybe discuss a possible solution. She was still at a loss for what had happened and what was still happening. All of this was just so alien to her that she couldn't really think straight.

"Well girls, we may as well make the most of this, at least for now, right?" she said as she looked to the others, hoping for reassurance. "I'm still bothered by that portal, to be honest. I've got so many questions about how it worked and why it sent us here. It might have clues for how to get back."

"Hmph, if ya ask me, we should just be glad nopony got hurt," Applejack said. She adjusted her hat and leaned back in her seat. "But you're right, Twi, we may as well try and get used to bein' here, at least for now. I just hope everything's okay back at home. Hopefully Big Mac'll be able to handle the crops for a lil' while, and be able to look out for Apple Bloom at the same time."

Twilight nodded. "Yeah, I'm worried about Spike and Owlowiscious. Spike knew we were leaving and was watching the library while we were gone, but I don't think he could have anticipated all of this. I know I sure didn't. I'm sure he's okay, but… well, I worry. How is anypony even going to know what happened to us?"

"Well, I'm not too worried about Gummy," Pinkie said, though her expression told Twilight that wasn't entirely true. "I'm sure the Cakes can take good care of him. I feel bad that they don't have me around to help with the twins though. They're gonna be super tired by the time we get home!"

Fluttershy gave a loud sniff. "Oh, just think of what all the animals are going to do without me there… especially my poor little Angel Bunny…"

"Come on, girls, this is no time to get discouraged," Rarity said, patting Fluttershy on the shoulder. "We might be in a bind, but at least we're in it together. I know I'm worried about Sweetie Belle, but sitting here and worrying about things like this won't get us any closer to solving the problem."

"Yeah, we should have some faith that things back home'll work out while we're gone," added Applejack. "Right?"

"Right!" Pinkie exclaimed, throwing her hooves into the air dramatically. "We need to stay focused on the here and now! Like getting a place to live! When Mister Flathoof finds us a place, I'm gonna throw us a huge house-warming party! I'm gonna need streamers, balloons, cake, ice cream, soda pop, candy, cookies, cupcakes, music, banners—"

Rainbow sighed and leaned back into her chair, though she did have a slight grin on her face. "There she goes. Even when we're stuck in a jam like this, the first thing on her mind is her next party."

"Aww, don't complain, Dashie!" Pinkie giggled and gave Rainbow a big hug. "You love my parties! More than anypony, I bet!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Rainbow replied, patting Pinkie's back.

"And besides, the last big party I threw was two weeks ago, and that's like a new record for me! I gotta have another party soon, or I might just explode, maybe twice! And with this whole new world to explore, I want to get started off on the right hoof. Ooh, I bet Mister Flathoof would love my parties too!"

"Well, ya might as well ask him," Applejack said, nodding towards the approaching stallion.

Flathoof returned from the hall and approached the group with a smile on his face. "Well, that's all taken care of. You ladies have a new place to live. We'll head there immediately and get you all settled in, so hop to it."

Pinkie bounded out of her seat and got face-to-face with Flathoof. "Hey Mister Flathoof—"

"Captain Flathoof, if you're going to insist on adding a title. I think I've earned it."

"Okay, Captain Flathoof!"

Pinkie took a deep breath.

Rainbow chuckled. "Here we go."

"♫Ohhh

You are our newest bestest friend and that is just so great!
You're invited to a party where the fun will be first-rate!
You'll get to spend some time with us and share our company!
And maybe when we're done you'll find we are the best ponies!"

Flathoof stared blankly at Pinkie for several moments, his eyes glazed over between blinks. Then, he turned to the nearest pony he could ask, Applejack. "Does she do that often?"

Applejack smirked and patted him on the shoulder. "Oh, you'll get used to it. Trust me. You'll have to."

He sighed and adjusted his hat. "What have I gotten myself into?"

*****

An icy blue unicorn grumbled to herself as she rounded her way up the flight of stairs leading to her apartment. She hated being on the hundredth floor for two reasons: one, there wasn't an elevator, so she had to climb the full hundred floors stair by stair; two, her window filter was broken and let outside air in, all of it smoggy and dirty.

Unfortunately this was where she had to live to do her job most efficiently; it wasn't worth the risk to let the city go without her being there.

The apartment complex wasn't particularly well-kept, but it was cheap. Really cheap. Which was good, since her job didn't actually have much in the way of monetary compensation. Her superiors ensured she would have a place to live and plenty of food to eat, but she had almost no spending money for use in her free time, not that she ever had much of that anyway.

She often wondered if any of her counterparts had this sort of difficulty working in their worlds.

She grudgingly opened her apartment door with a rusty set of keys, walked in, and took a deep breath to calm herself after the climb, regretting it as she got a mouthful of filthy, smoggy late afternoon air. She shook what felt like dust and cobwebs out of her snow white mane—they had a habit of clinging to her on the climb up—then dropped her keys on the nearby table and placed her scarf and beret on hooks by the door.

With a cough, she went to her kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and prepared a snack for herself. Prepared, of course, meant just taking a packet of Dolor Red out, opening it, then squeezing it out of its little tube directly into her mouth. It wasn't anything special, but it wasn't bad. Straight out of the package it tasted like overly ripe cherries.

She kept the packet aloft with her magic as she moved out into the den to take a load off. It had been a hard day at work, and she delighted in taking this chance to lounge on her sofa and just plain relax. Fifteen cases today, the last of which was nearly interrupted by a pack of nudists of all things. She hated portal storms.

She flicked on the television set in the corner, hoping to lose herself in the latest gossip that she didn't actually care about. It was calming, and living in a city like New Pandemonium meant she needed all the calm she could get.

Then, she noticed a neon green glow coming from her antique grandfather clock in the other corner. She hastily fumbled in the pocket of her turtleneck and pulled out a plain-looking, silver stopwatch. She clicked the top with her hoof, and the grandfather clock stopped glowing, opened wide, and let in a fresh breeze of sterile air with just a hint of minty freshness.

Despite knowing she was alone in the apartment, she followed protocol and double-checked the room for intruders, then entered the grandfather clock's tight entrance shutting the door behind her with a click.

The clock was much bigger on the inside, as big as the den she'd just left. It was filled with all sorts of gadgets, tools, monitors, levers, knobs, and other assorted clockwork wonders that looked nothing like the contemporary technology outside. Its size meant it wasn't directly attached to the world she'd just left, either; if it were, she'd be standing in her neighbor's bathroom right now, probably in the bathtub, or worse, the toilet.

One particular monitor drew her attention. It glowed bright red, as opposed to the soothing greens and blues of the others. She trotted over to it, clicked a few buttons, and adjusted the screen's focus until she could make out the image of a familiar face, a turquoise pegasus mare with a sea green mane: Summer Rains.

"Well now, this is a surprise. G'day, Summer," she said.

"Oh, thank Celestia, I thought you'd never answer!" She wiped her brow and gave the unicorn a look of sympathy. "Stupid portal storms. How's by you, Winter? You look like you went a few rounds in the ring with a boxer, doncha know."

"Yeah, been flat out all bloody day tryin' to calm everythin' down with this bloody portal storm. Finally got a chance to rest up, and now here you are." Winter Glow—for that was her name—shook her head and sighed. "You're on the emergency channel. Somethin' must be wrong."

"Well that's just it. There is, but I'm not sure exactly what, yet." Summer sighed and wiped her brow again. "I mean, there shouldn't be anythin' wrong, but I think my current case had an error somewhere and I can't figure out what it is.

"I had a pretty standard tear here, and accordin' to all my readings it started out rather small, nothin' special. Unfortunately, it appeared a little too close to an actual town. I usually don't have that sort of trouble, not like you do, believe you me. The locals don't usually see the tears before I get to them, but I got delayed by that frackin' mailpony and—"

"Mailpony?" Winter asked, eyebrow cocked.

Summer waved a hoof. "Nevermind. Anyway, somepony did somethin' to the tear, doncha know, and whatever happened, six ponies were taken from my world. Accordin' to the measurements I got from the Void rivulets, they flowed towards yours. That's the long and short of it. Cripes, it sounds real bad, don't it?"

"Now now, no need to get your knickers in a twist. It'll be alright," Winter assured her. "We've got protocols for this sort of thing. I'll just get them to another portal, give my Timekeeper a little click—" She mimed clicking her stopwatch. "Wind it up, send the poor blighters home, no worries."

"Aw geez, I mean, you make it sound easy."

"What's the big problem? You're actin' like this is serious. Look at ya, you're sweatin' and everythin'. It'll be a piece of piss, mate."

"That's just it, I can't explain it!" Summer blurted. She took out her own Timekeeper and frantically pointed at it. "These past few hours, I've been gettin' some bizarre readings from all over my end. Chaos levels are all out the wazoo!"

"Out the wazoo, huh?" Winter rubbed the side of her head in thought. "You're right, that makes no bloody sense at all. Ya think these things are connected?"

"Yup. I need you to find these ponies so that I can try and figure out what caused this; one of them has to be responsible. Luckily the levels are pretty low right now, but it's not still not good news, believe you me. Honestly, I'm hopin' that it's just a glitch from sealin' a portal with that much energy, but I have to prepare for the worst, doncha know."

"Sounds simple enough." Winter frowned. "Shit. I probably won't be able to send them home for a while, though. That portal storm just finished passin' through and I already sealed everythin' up. I'm not expectin' any more natural tears for another month or so. That won't be a problem will it?"

Summer sighed and wiped her brow again. "Aw geez, this isn't a good day is it? Frack. Well, we'll worry about that after we find out who they are. If it's serious, you can always fall back on emergency measures. Hopefully this is just a minor glitch and we can fix it and be back to normal. I'll send you my dimensional data so you can track them."

"Yeah, no worries mate."

"Thanks again, Winter. Always a pleasure."

Winter smiled. "Not at all, Summer. Always good talkin' to ya."

Summer pushed several buttons, and a sound behind Winter signaled that the information she was sending was being transferred over.

Winter waved farewell to Summer, then grabbed her Timekeeper and tapped it to the central core, copying the data into the more portable device. She then opened it and clicked the top several times, until it glowed a dull green with a tracking display on the face, directing her towards her quarries.

Finally, she exited the grandfather clock and ventured back out into her apartment, straightened her turtleneck, put her scarf back on, and began the arduous descent back down the stairs to the city streets.

A Chronomancer's work was never done.

*****

Thousands of miles south of New Pandemonium City, beyond the great expanse of the arid wastes that bordered the city's mile-high walls and across the great, churning sea, there was a place altogether wondrous and terrible. A place filled with magic that lived and breathed of its own accord, spurned on by the relentless power that fueled it. A place where one could watch as lightning endlessly danced across the sky, and where fire raged yet never burned out.

The Belt of Tranquility.

The Belt stretched precisely along the equator, in the center of the massive ocean that separated the northern and southern continents.

To its north, the sky was filled with a veil of churning magic colored a fiery orange, flowing from a massive tower in the center of New Pandemonium City, sitting precisely at the planet's northern pole.

To its south, the air was clear and bright, kept clean by a veil of invisible magic flowing from a similar tower at the southern pole, itself sitting at the center of a much smaller city deep within the snowy tundra.

Where these two fields of magic collided, the Belt of Tranquility formed, a massive wall of chaotic magical energy that caused the seas and skies along the entire equator to thrash violently about.

And today, something was amiss.

A consciousness floated tenuously in the rift between realms material and not, poised just north of where the magical energies were at their fiercest. It could feel that something was out of place. The Belt of Tranquility was very slowly shifting; the southern light was ever so slightly pushing north.

This would not do, the entity mused to itself. This would not do at all. The entity willed itself to fully enter the immaterial so that it could contact the one pony that would see to it that this dilemma was resolved.

*****

Lord Silvertongue looked out the window of his private study, out into the cityscape of New Pandemonium far, far below. Here in the highest reaches of Pandora Tower, Pandemonium's tallest skyscraper, he could see the entire skyline of the city.

His study was elegant and richly decorated with varieties of items that Silvertongue held dear to him: the banner of New Pandemonium City decorated the far wall, a flaming red sword thrust through a shining golden disk against a black void; an old portrait of himself was posted with esteem on the nearest wall just above the mantelpiece; a record player, an antique from times long forgotten, rest upon the table in the corner and played his favorite ballad.

The ballad was from an old opera, sung in a language that relatively few in Pandemonium could speak. The singer, a mare with a high falsetto, filled the lyrics with her soul, bringing the scene to life as her character was confronted by her lover, the opera's villain, who asked her to give up her life as a princess to run away with him. It was meant to be the climax of the opera. Silvertongue played it because it brought him peace of mind, something that he, as the shadow ruler of this great city, felt was crucial to his sanity.

The world's Dark magic was at its strongest here in this city, at this tower, for this was where the great northern Beacon had been built; the structure generated a veil of fiery orange magic that blocked out the sky above, even the light of the sun. The Beacon was fueled by the evil thoughts in the minds of ponies and influenced them along dark paths in life; while not every single citizen in the city succumbed to such things—in fact, astonishingly few of them actually did—enough corruption and easily-overlooked laws were in place to make chaos and wrongdoing a typical day-to-day activity even if ponies were unaware of it.

To the average onlooker, nothing in the city made sense. He'd designed it that way in order to keep the Beacon running. The ponies below were easy to deceive. Easy to exploit.

The record finished, and so Silvertongue tore himself from the window and his inner thoughts. His horn glowed a grim red as he lifted the record from its place, returned it to its sleeve, and replaced it in the nearby cabinet, where it would remain until he wished for it again.

He turned back to the window, his horn aglow, and flicked a number of switches alongside it. The window darkened until it was completely black, then became a perfectly reflective surface, bouncing the image of the room back at him.

He carefully gauged himself in the reflection. His pristine ivory coat was as pure and radiant as ever. Not a single golden hair in his impeccably-styled mane was out of place. A monocle rested upon his left eye, and was spotless enough that it enhanced the luster of the sea-blue color. His fanciest dress uniform was immaculate and covered him from neck to flank, the shiny black chitinous material polished and gleaming in the single light of the room, the red trim glistening like freshly-picked cherries.

His appearance was absolutely perfect. It had to be. Nihila's prized Warden wouldn't allow otherwise in her presence.

"You were expecting me."

Silvertongue did not turn to face the source of the voice, that of Nihila, the Goddess of Disparity. There would be no point; she spoke directly into his mind. There was no physical thing to even look at. In all things Silvertongue knew, he knew this: alicorns were the most exquisite creatures in existence, blessed with such incredible magic that they were above physical forms. Flesh was not worthy enough to contain their elegance and raw power. Physical beauty of even the absolute highest caliber could not compare to how alicorns appeared in one's mind's eye.

"I am always expecting you, my lady." Silvertongue bowed, even though he was the only physical being in the room. "It would be of no benefit to me to be in any less than flawless condition, lest you visit me in dire straits and become dissatisfied with my dedication."

"Well spoken, my Warden," Nihila cooed.

Silvertongue shuddered at the way her voice touched the deepest recesses of his mind. It would be alarming were he not used to it.

"I come to you with urgent news this day. Troubling news."

Silvertongue's curiosity showed on his face for the fleetest minuscule of a second, and he briefly touched upon a thought of concern that his intrigue would be mistaken for worry.

She spoke again. "The balance between Light and Darkness is waning."

He raised an eyebrow. "'Waning'? Harmonia would never indulge herself in such an action. It goes against her very nature."

"I have seen it first-hoof, my Warden," Nihila said. "Do you not trust my claims?"

Silvertongue smirked as a spark of anger flared through his mind. She loved to tease his devotion.

"It would be folly of me to trust you unquestioningly, my lady. Deception comes as naturally to you as fish take to water and birds to the sky. I didn't mean to sound as though I doubted you. I merely state the obvious: Harmonia cannot be to blame here. I know far too well that she would never threaten the balance on her own whims."

Nihila's fiery anger left him, replaced by an icy calm that filled his being in a soft, gentle manner. "That is a valid observation. If not Harmonia, then what could be causing this imbalance? I would have you investigate the issue and discern the cause. You are most efficient in these matters."

"I cannot fathom a guess as to where to begin," he stated, stroking his chin. "If it is the Light that has shifted, then I would need to investigate the southern Beacon, and I do not have the resources to gather information easily; the zebras are notoriously vigilant in their defenses. Such a task would perhaps take months to accomplish, assuming the best conditions."

"Troubling indeed. But, perhaps you don't need to concern yourself with the south," Nihila cooed.

Another spark swam through his head, this of creativity. She had an idea.

"Has anything suspicious occurred in your city lately, my Warden? I could feel many disturbances in the Void this day. They did not linger long. Another accursed Chronomancer has taken to your city. A shame, wasting all of that delicious energy." Her voice became sultry. The feeling was both terrifying and enticing all at once, and made Silvertongue's skin crawl.

"Yes, I'll admit that I do recall murmurs of such anomalies. It's the first time in decades that anypony in the city has witnessed Void phenomena, even if they know not what to call it. A moment, my lady." Silvertongue strode over to his intercom system and tapped one of the buttons. "Shroud."

"Yes, sir?" came a mare's voice over the intercom.

"I need a report of all suspicious activity that may have occurred in the city in the last, say... twelve hours."

"Of course, sir, I'll have a full report on your desk in less than thirty—"

"Now, Shroud, if you would? This is of critical importance."

He could hear her nervous gulp. "Of course sir, one moment. Um, let's see…" A shuffle of papers and clicks of buttons came from the other end. "Here we are. There were numerous sightings of strange energies around the city, but they all disappeared soon after being spotted."

"Yes, yes, I'm already well aware of that, Shroud. Anything else? Perhaps something I wouldn't find on the news?"

"Very well, moving on… oh! Here's one from the NPPD and NPRD Census Bureau. Apparently they registered six new taxpayers from Utopia today, and Police Chief Smokestack put in for his pay bonus application rather suddenly. The Committee thinks—"

Silvertongue slammed a hoof next to the intercom. "I'm not concerned with what the Committee thinks!"

He hated the need for the Committee. Their jobs were so contradictory to everything the city stood for, but he needed them to ensure that all of the day-to-day ruling was taken care of. He'd long since sunk into the shadows of maintaining the city, but could not become too involved himself, not directly. Though when they made mistakes and too much order returned to the city… well, that rarely ever happened anymore, he'd made sure of that.

Silvertongue hummed to himself. "Deliver that report immediately."

"Yes sir, right away. Do you need anything else, sir?"

"That'll be all, Shroud."

The intercom shut off.

Silvertongue waited for only a moment before the folder containing what he was looking for teleported in front of him, falling neatly onto his desk. He opened it and removed the files, then flipped through the pages. As he read, his face contorted in cemented concentration, and he probed the pieces of this particularly peculiar puzzle.

"Something amiss, my Warden?" Nihila asked.

"I never get new citizens from Utopia," Silvertongue said.

"I can think of one exception," she said, sending a teasing spark through his soul.

"Only one exception, my lady." Silvertongue tapped his chin. "It is most suspicious that six new visitors from Utopia would arrive today, all at the same time and even in the same place and all with the same story. The Committee, small-minded fools that they are, believe their tale to be a fabrication and that these six are in actuality refugees from the Wastelands.

"There is a minor detail in this report about them being apprehended on charges of… Public Indecency. Hmm, I'd almost forgotten that was actually a law, not just common courtesy. The Committee is more concerned with the Chief of Police taking a rather large cut of the allotment of funds these new citizens will generate; they think that he is covering for them somehow."

"Is that all, my Warden? It sounds dreadfully dull as-is, well beneath my interest."

Silvertongue thought for a moment before responding. "These Void fluctuations milady, you posit the belief that a Chronomancer was involved in sealing them rather than the rifts sealing themselves naturally?"

"That I did. Do you see some connection here?"

"Perhaps these new citizens are from someplace more… alien. Quite a coincidence, is it not? For there to be multiple distortions on this precise day, and for six new ponies to appear with no knowledge of our customs, all claiming to be from across the sea? We know little of what exactly it is that Chronomancers do, but perhaps this is somehow related?"

Nihila stayed silent for a moment, then responded with the icy calm from earlier. "My Warden, uncover more about these creatures you have found. I await a swift response."

He bowed. "As always, my lady."

Silvertongue felt her leave, and at last felt at ease again. While Nihila's essence was in his mind, he found it difficult to avoid having his entire series of thoughts laid bare for her to pore over like a book. Even after all these years he found it discomforting, and he knew that she was never far away and could do it at any time she wanted; a moment's privacy was rare indeed.

He pushed the button on the intercom again. "Shroud."

"Yes, sir?"

"Summon Shadowstep for me, if you would?"

"Of course sir, I'll notify him right away."

Silvertongue lit his horn and darkened the room, then patiently waited. One minute. Two minutes. He sensed a presence with him, a physical one at that, and lit his horn again to re-illuminate his study.

Sitting in the chair that had been empty before on the other side of his desk was a lithe pegasus stallion. He wore a black, form-fitting uniform with a deep purple gradient as it approached his head. It covered him from head to hoof, hiding any meaningful identity. All that could be used to distinguish him were his bright green eyes, the slightest bits of a pale blue coat, and his short and tidy midnight blue mane and tail that stuck out through slips in the fabric.

Silvertongue did not bother himself with the effort of turning to face the new guest. He could sense his presence just fine, and see him clearly in the reflection on the window screen.

Silvertongue nodded. "Punctual as always, Shadowstep."

"Of course, my lord," the pegasus said, getting out of the seat to bow before sitting back down again. "You called me? That means you have a job for me, yeah? What is it? Ooh, is it poisoning the drink of somepony on the Committee again? I do so love assassinations. Please tell me it's an assassination?"

"Not this time. No, this is one occasion where I can't imagine any violence will be necessary. At least for now." Silvertongue's horn glowed as he tossed the portfolio neatly onto the desk behind him. "There. That portfolio holds your initial targets."

Shadowstep pawed at the folder, opening it warily, then scanned the information within.

Inside the docket were the identification pictures and file information on six newly registered ponies from Ponyville, Utopia. Ponyville. It was the most ridiculously simplistic made-up name for a town that Silvertongue had ever heard, not at all suitable to a world dominated by ponies. Perhaps ponies would soon claim to come from Colt City, or Fillytown. Simply ridiculous—no, whimsical, like something out of a fairy tale intended for small foals.

The mares' names seemed normal enough—minus the orange earth pony, since even with all his knowledge Silvertongue didn't recognize the word "apple" unless in the context of a pineapple—and they certainly looked normal enough, even if some of their ID pictures were somewhat odd: the purple unicorn looked intoxicated, and the orange earth pony appeared somewhat brain-dead.

Shadowstep placed the portfolio back on the desk once he'd reviewed it, then leaned back in the chair and crossed his hooves. "What's so important about them? They don't even look like anypony'd miss 'em if they were to suddenly… disappear."

"That's not really any of your concern yet, Shadowstep," Silvertongue said. "But it is what you're going to find out. Find them. Follow them. See if they do or mention anything peculiar. If you happen to notice anypony else tailing them around, follow them as well, and if at all possible ensure they won't interfere with any potential plans. If you follow my meaning?"

Shadowstep pumped a hoof. "Yes! I knew there was murder involved somewhere here, otherwise why call me? Oh, thank you, sir!"

Silvertongue grunted. "You have your orders, carry them out."

"Yes, sir."

Silvertongue flicked the lights off and on again once more, and in the brief matter of seconds that the lights flickered, Shadowstep had vanished. If there was one pony good, perhaps perfect, at his job—so long as that job was sneaking around through the darkness and being a spy or assassin—then Silvertongue knew nopony more qualified than Shadowstep and nopony more loyal to him.

Alone at last and not expecting any more company anytime soon, Silvertongue placed a new record on the player. Eyeing the contents of the folder once more, he stared thoughtfully at the pictures of six mares that he was absolutely certain were going to be very interesting.

Chapter Three: Casualty

As Flathoof escorted his group of parolees through the city streets, he gave them a rather thorough rundown on what they could expect while they'd be living here. Twilight, who was determined to soak up all the information she could in hopes of hearing something useful, listened with rapt attention as details and tidbits poured from the stallion's mouth; the others, thankfully, mostly kept quiet and let her do her thing.

The Mid-South District had the best conditions out of all of the Mid Districts in New Pandemonium City. That wasn't saying much, but it was still worth noting; in Flathoof's words, it was like saying that this pile of rusted cans was better than all the other piles just because you stacked everything up neatly. Twilight wondered how bad the rest of the city was if this was considered the best.

Mid-South's skyscrapers were smaller and dirtier than the gleaming spires of the Inner Districts which towered over the rest of the city; those were composed of high-rise lofts and penthouses that housed the rich and famous, high-class office buildings and corporation headquarters, and where most of the ponies that worked for the government lived to avoid mingling with the common rabble.

Central Plaza, the busiest sub-sector in Mid-South, was as close to those conditions one could hope for; Twilight couldn't decide if that was a complement for Central Plaza or an insult to the Inner Districts. It was expensive to live here, even though it was ridiculously cheap compared to the Inner Districts' glitz and glamour.

What made it so expensive was that all—not some, all—of the most important organizations had their headquarters or their best-equipped centers here in this sub-sector. The New Pandemonium Police Department's Central Station was here, as was the headquarters for the New Pandemonium Registration Department. New Pandemonium Medical also had its largest clinic here and the same could be said for General Goods and Groceries and the New Pandemonium Fire Brigade.

There was also the Central Database Holdings, which at Flathoof's description sounded an awful lot like a library to Twilight and was where she'd be going to look for work according to Snapshot—and for research, but she didn't tell him that.

All of these structures were conveniently within relative walking distance to anypony that happened to live in any of the four domestic complexes that made up the borders of Central Plaza. If you didn't live in Central Plaza, then the horrendous travel time to get to the best service in the city, Inner District excluded, was considered shockingly inconvenient.

Exacerbating the issue were the police and fire brigade response times, which were simply atrocious. Flathoof explained that on average, it took about fifteen minutes or less for officers from his precinct to respond to a call from within the Central Plaza itself. Considering that the sub-sector was a few dozen miles square, this was a typical expectation if slightly slow. If you lived elsewhere in Mid-South, then anywhere between thirty and fifty minutes could be expected even in a severe emergency, perhaps sixty minutes if you lived closer to the borders of the other districts.

If you lived in either Mid-East or Mid-West, the NPPD Central Station's record time for responding to an emergency call was ninety minutes, and they'd been known to take twice that long on average. Mid-North? Two hours on average. The fire brigade was apparently just as bad, and entire neighborhoods had burnt down in the past because of similar pathetically-slow response times.

Luckily, the medical professionals did not have the same problem. The only issue there was whether the clinic in a sub-sector had the proper equipment or experienced personnel that was needed to handle whatever somepony's health issue was. Otherwise, a patient had to make the trip to Central General, which had the best equipment and staff in the city. If the patient was going on their own accord, this was usually fine. In the case of a severe emergency, however, an ambulance would take about the same amount of time the police or fire brigade would take to get to their patient, then double it due to the return trip.

Flathoof explained that back when he'd just been a rookie, he'd arrived at the scene of a riot in Mid-North nearly thirty minutes after it had ended. Some twenty ponies had needed to be hospitalized, and because of the severity and nature of their injuries they had to go all the way to Central Plaza to get treatment. Several of them died en route.

"That day completely changed my outlook on the way the city works," Flathoof said with a heavy sigh, "or rather how it doesn't. It made me rethink the way I need to work to make a change. It baffles me to no end. It's almost like the city doesn't want to be organized."

"Why don't they have any smaller stations in the other districts?" Twilight asked. "Surely that would help, wouldn't it?"

"Oh, they do have other stations, but they're so understaffed and overworked that Central often responds to more calls from their districts than they do themselves. I've considered transferring to another precinct, but I'd be just as overworked and wouldn't be able to contribute enough to make much difference."

"Surely it would be better than nothing at all, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, I know every little bit counts, but I think I'm doing more good being here than anywhere else. I can't just up and leave that, not without a really good reason."

"How 'bout that other officer that helped us with all that there paperwork?" Applejack asked.

Twilight noted that Applejack still seemed slightly miffed as she looked at her ID photo—she couldn't blame her, given her own photo. How Snapshot had been able to take the picture at just the precise moment needed to make her look like a drunkard back from a night on the town just baffled her. Applejack's made her look like some country bumpkin, upper teeth exposed and eyes half-lidded just so. That kind of precision timing seemed impossible, but there it was.

Flathoof raised an eyebrow. "Snapshot? She's a good mare."

He smiled at the incredulous looks Twilight and Applejack were giving him, and shook his head.

"Okay, she's a bit testy, I'll admit, but she means well, plus she's reliable, trustworthy, and knows her way around paperwork. That's why I went to her instead of going to the other clerks, or worse, the Registrations Department. It would've taken days to get through all the roundabout nonsense they'd put you through."

"It's perfectly normal to call in favors from friends in the workplace," Rarity noted. "I'm sure we all appreciate the hoops you two had to go through to help us out of our predicament."

"True, though I typically try to avoid working the system to my advantage. But you six needed help, and Snapshot knows all the loopholes to go through in order to ensure your files get registered by tonight. You'll be documented citizens in under an hour, I'd imagine. Probably already are, actually."

"Is there any particular reason for the rush?" Twilight asked. "Not that we don't appreciate it, but I'm curious."

Flathoof gave a concerned frown and shook his head. "If you all didn't have a place to live and such by the end of the day and no notarized documents, our policy is to escort you out to the slums of the Outer District and set you loose until your documents clear, which might take days. Weeks, even, if you're unlucky."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "That seems irresponsible."

"Oh, I'm not done. See, after the documents clear, policy is to go looking for you for maybe a few hours, and if we can't find you, you're presumed dead or missing. Most of the time the assumption turns out true, but nopony really knows."

"Good heavens, you'd just… abandon ponies like that? Atrocious! Simply atrocious!" Rarity snorted with disgust and stuck her nose in the air. "How does your department live with themselves? And you work for ponies like that?"

The accusation made Flathoof wince. "Look, I don't make the rules and I certainly don't like a lot of them. If I had the ability to ensure that everypony that didn't get their affairs in order quickly enough was still taken care of, believe me, I would. Besides, it's rare for anypony to end up in a situation similar to yours."

He scratched his head. "I'm still confused how you girls managed to get all the way into the Mid-Districts looking like you did without anypony noticing you sooner. You should've been caught in the Gate District well before you got this far into the city."

The six mares shared nervous glances, but let him continue.

"Anyway, it's only in the Inner Districts that anypony really cares about what happens to one another, and that's because they have the money to afford the luxury. Even then, from what little I've seen of the upper crust I think it's all for show and social bravado."

He sighed with a great deal of dejection. "Sorry if I'm worrying any of you. I really don't mean to. It's hard to see at a glance since this city is difficult to live in, but it's still home. I'm going to do the best I can for you while you're under my care. It's my duty as an officer of the NPPD."

"And we appreciate it, don't we girls?" Twilight asked, looking to the others and receiving nods of approval.

Flathoof smiled and returned the nod. "At any rate, we're here."

He gestured to the massive domestic complex that would hold their new home, Southeast Point, so named because it marked the southeastern corner of Central Plaza. It was a great metal building one hundred stories tall and covering the entire city block. Twilight and her friends looked up in awe at the sheer size of it. She'd thought it was other buildings they'd been walking alongside for the past minute, not part of one.

While the place certainly looked habitable, it didn't look like it was in the greatest shape, and had little that lent to the image of "a decent place to live" as they'd been promised: the rust-colored metal looked more like actual rust; several of the windows were cracked or broken; all the awnings were faded and some were even a different color. It didn't look dilapidated, but it didn't look high-rise either by any means.

Considering the size of the place, Twilight calculated quickly in her head that this building—already far larger than the Royal Palace back home—likely housed as many ponies as the entire city of Canterlot if not more. If this was just one building then how big was the rest of the city? The sheer magnitude of such a population, far greater than she had first predicted from walking the streets of what had turned out to be just the outskirts of this large sub-sector, made her head spin.

More ponies living in this one city than lived in all of their own Equestria? Including their own big cities like Manehatten and Canterlot?

Impossible.

Large double doors led into the building, so it wasn't until they entered that they could see just the kind of place they'd be living. Twilight frowned as she quickly tried to readjust her earlier calculations. If the rest of the floors were organized anything like the lobby, then perhaps more ponies lived here than she initially thought. It was packed tight, and there was barely enough breathing room for everypony in the group as they walked down the main corridor past tiny crowds of other ponies coming and going from the building.

Flathoof directed them to follow him single-file, and at his guidance it didn't take long to locate the management office. At the reception counter sat an aged earth pony mare with a graying mane and tail. Her large, horn-rimmed glasses reminded Twilight of Rarity's pair back at home.

She barely bothered to turn her head up from the book she'd been reading to look at the newcomers. "Can I help you?"

Flathoof removed his hat and nodded. "Yes, I phoned earlier to see about speaking with Mister Lockwood. I spoke with a Spring Blossom."

"That would be me, sonny." She sighed and put her book down. "I'm assuming you're Captain Flathoof then? And these are the parolees you mentioned?"

The aging mare eyed the newcomers with what seemed like mild aversion. Twilight knew that she and her friends looked like they'd just picked their clothes out of a bin and walked out the door, which of course was exactly what had happened. They seemed all fitting enough but none of them looked particularly fashionable according to Rarity, even Rarity herself. Especially Rarity herself.

Twilight had picked out a cape and a sequined vest. The cape wasn't even fancy or decorated, just a dull blue like the vest, and it was much too tight for her liking. She didn't need to be reminded that it was a little too much like Trixie's—though not nearly as colorful or grandiose—but there weren't many other options.

Applejack had of course kept her stetson, and had picked out a plaid, brick red work shirt—which wasn't exactly clean—to go with it. It was a good fit. She looked like she belonged in a western, like the ones they sometimes filmed out of Appleloosa.

Rainbow had picked out a flight jacket, though it was a size too big for her and the sleeves nearly dragged along the floor as she stood there, and had been while they were walking. She was even wearing slightly-cracked goggles to complete the image.

Rarity had picked out a frilly, pale pink dress and accented it with a lilac ribbon that made her look the most traditionally-dressed in the bunch. It would possibly even be considered elegant were it made of a nicer material. They'd waited nearly half an hour for her to piece it together from different outfits, but that was just so Rarity that nopony really minded; of course, Rarity had still complained the whole time about how unacceptable it was.

Fluttershy had picked out a cute baby blue blouse and matching skirt that attracted a lot of attention for some reason, at least from what Twilight could tell, what with the way ponies through the streets had been looking her way with stunned expressions. Seeing as Fluttershy had been a model back home, perhaps it just accentuated her figure?

Pinkie's outfit was… unique. She'd leapt into the pile and taken a collection of utterly random articles that didn't match. The green propeller cap did not mesh with the black denim jacket with the popped collar, which did not work together with the gaudy yellow t-shirt with a logo that Flathoof said belonged to a comic series intended for foals, and then there were the red roller skates. Yes, unique. That was really the only way to describe it.

Spring Blossom, having looked over the outfits herself and clearly finding them just as odd as Twilight felt wearing them, cleared her throat and turned her attention back to Flathoof.

"I spoke with Mister Lockwood earlier," she said. "He's just finishing up a meeting with some other tenants and should be done in a few minutes, then he'll be right down. He asked me to inform you that he regrets any inconvenience caused by making you wait."

"That sounds like him," Flathoof chuckled.

She pointed off to the side, towards a room with a glass door with plenty of seats. "You can wait in the reception area until he gets here."

"Much obliged ma'am." Flathoof turned back to his entourage. "Come along, ladies. If I know Lockwood, he'll be down before too long."

He held the door to the reception area open for the six mares to enter, then followed them in.

"So, who is this Lockwood fellow?" Rarity asked as she fluffed the cushion of the seat she was taking. "An owner of this establishment perhaps? He must be a friend of yours."

"Just the landlord, but we go back a ways, yes," Flathoof said. He tugged at his collar and straightened his uniform again for the second time since they'd entered the complex. "We went to school together a long time ago, and he's been pretty close with my family since then."

"Well ain't that somethin'," Applejack said. "We lucked out in meetin' y'all then, I s'pose."

"Yes, I suppose you did. Anytime I've ever needed a favor, he's been the pony I went to see first. I don't know how much help he can give me here, but if he can't do anything directly he'll at least know somepony else who can. He's usually pretty good about that sort of thing."

"He sounds decent enough," Twilight said. "Any friend of yours can't be too bad, right?"

Applejack snorted. "Pfh, tell that to Snapshot. I ain't never met a pony with such an attitude before, but if Flathoof says she's on the level, I suppose we owe her some thanks."

Pinkie bounced rapidly up and down next to Rainbow, who was trying to take a nap on a pair of seats since Pinkie wasn't using hers. "I just hope he's not a super stuffy fuddy-duddy or anything! Then we'd have another guest for the party! Ooh! Does he like chocolate cake, or vanilla? I prefer strawberry myself, because it's pink and super duper tasty, just like me! Right, Dashie?"

"Yeah yeah, right Pinks." Rainbow paused a second, then bolted upright, wings slightly flared. "I mean, right, it's pink! You're pink!"

"I just hope he's nice…" Fluttershy mumbled. "I've had my fill of the other kinds of ponies for more than one day, I think."

A few moments passed, then a knock came at the reception room door and a pegasus with a rich gray coat walked in. He wore a brown rain jacket and fedora of a lighter shade than his mud-brown mane and tail, which were neatly combed and short. He wasn't particularly well-built, a little on the scrawny side actually, but had good posture and was neat and tidy.

The one thing—two things, really—that Twilight noticed most were his eyes, mostly because they were a rather odd shade of gold; she was reminded of the wall-eyed mailmare that serviced Ponyville, whose eyes were of a similar color.

"Ah, Lockwood!" Flathoof smiled, trotted over, and greeted his friend with a sturdy hoofshake. "So glad I was able to get a hold of you. I'm sorry I was so hasty on the phone, I was—"

"Yes yes, Flathoof," Lockwood replied, his smile wide and friendly. "Don't fret over it. I'm always willing to do a favor for you, you know that. Now then, these are the six mares you told me about?"

"Eyyup."

Lockwood looked out over the six mares briefly, giving them each a polite smile. "Utopia, eh? Fancy stuff. I'm surprised they even wanted to come here out of all the places in Equestria. I suppose I should feel honored."

"What kind of options are we looking at here, buddy? Please tell me you've got some good news for me."

"Hmm…" Lockwood tapped his chin, then gave a light-hearted shrug. "Well, you're in luck. We have some vacancies right now, actually. A few ponies here and there failed to pay their rent again, and there's only so much I can do when other ponies aren't willing to cooperate. Sad to say, but there it is."

"Eviction, huh? Can't be helped."

"Indeed. So, one of our larger rooms should accommodate them, but it wasn't actually designed for six so it might be a little… cozy, but it's the largest I've got available. Now then, as to the issue of payment—"

Flathoof made to interject, but Lockwood stopped him with a hoof. "I wouldn't ask right away, but I do have obligations to the owner. Gotta treat this completely legit, you understand? The building is only ten years old and he’s not even the original owner, so he's really watching the numbers to make sure it's a good investment."

Flathoof coughed and tugged his collar. "Well, not only are they new in town, but they don't exactly have any bits on them either. I always thought Utopia used bits too, but maybe I'm mistaken. I was hoping we'd be able to work something out here."

Lockwood pat Flathoof on the shoulder. "Say no more. There are enough loopholes in the city's tax code that I can probably work out something to get them their first month's rent reduced, at the very least until they find work. I'd suggest they start looking for jobs right away though. Does that sound reasonable?"

"Incredibly." Flathoof turned to the mares and grinned. "Right, ladies?"

"Oh, most definitely," Twilight said. "Thank you for your help, Mister Lockwood. We really appreciate it."

"Please, just Lockwood will do," Lockwood said. "I'm only 'Mister' when I'm doing real business, and this is a favor for my good friend Flathoof. I always take great pride in helping those I care about, and there's no exception here."

He clasped his hooves together. "Now then, before I show you all to your new abode and let you get adjusted and all that, I believe some introductions are in order. Seeing as I'll be your landlord for the next… however long you're at my fine establishment, I feel it'd be good to get to know you all a little better. As has been established, my name is Lockwood." He offered his hoof to Twilight. "And you are?"

"Introductions, yes, of course." Twilight nodded and politely shook his hoof in return. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends Applejack—"

"Howdy," Applejack said, grabbing and shaking Lockwood's hoof.

"Rarity—"

"Charmed." Rarity smiled and offered her hoof to Lockwood first. He smiled back and gave it a very dainty shake.

"Rainbow Dash—"

"Hey." Rainbow grabbed and shook Lockwood's hoof very briefly.

"Fluttershy—"

"Um, hello." Fluttershy nodded politely, but did not offer her own hoof and instead scuffed it nervously on the carpet.

"And—"

Pinkie pouted. "Heeey, why'd I have to go last this time?" Then, the pout turned into a huge grin. "Wait, that means I'm the grand finale! Woo!" She bounced a few times and pointed at Twilight triumphantly. "Saving the best for last, I like your way of thinking, Twilight!"

Twilight balked. "Uh…"

"Hiya, super-cool new friend!" Pinkie said, grabbing Lockwood's hoof with both of her own and shaking it—and him—vigorously. "I'm Pinkie Pie! I'm the bestest best party pony this side of the moon, and probably the other side too!"

As soon as Lockwood was back on solid ground, he straightened his jacket and laughed. "Such a colorful group. A pleasure to meet all of you." He smiled and pushed open the reception area door to usher them out. "Now then, let's go see your room, shall we?"

They followed Lockwood out of the reception area with Flathoof taking up the rear, and after a short trot down the entry hallway they entered the main stairwell and began the climb up several flights of steps to their new home.

Several floors later, Twilight and her friends were totally exhausted; Twilight didn't think anypony could keep climbing. Stair after stair, after stair, after stair, it seemed to go on forever and ever. The stairs were dusty, musty, and not at all pleasant, it was cramped and dry, and it was a long climb. Her appreciation for the generously given home was slowly beginning to diminish, as much as she hated to admit those kinds of thoughts.

Eventually it got to the point where her friends couldn't hold their tongues and clearly had to say something.

"Geez, what are we on, the eight-billionth floor?" Rainbow fluttered just barely above the stairs, and had been doing so for the past thirty floors. "I can't believe we're probably gonna have to do this every day. No wonder all the ponies around here look so fit."

"Are we there yet?"

"It is good exercise," said Lockwood, who seemed none the worse for wear. His stride hadn't diminished at all, and by now he was several steps ahead of the rest of them. "You'll get used to it soon enough. At least once you know where your room is, if one of your friends is home you can always just fly up to the window and they can let you in."

"Are we there yet?"

"Golly, I ain't had this kind of a work-out in ages." Applejack removed her hat and briefly fanned herself with it when they got to the top of the next flight, losing her position in the line to Twilight. "Doin' a lap or two up 'n' down should be the same as buckin' near half of Sweet Apple Acres in one go."

"Are we there yet?"

Rarity wheezed, completely out of breath. "I hate stairs…" She'd fallen totally behind, with Flathoof purposefully trailing just behind her to help her. "Hate… stairs… I'm going to… take out all the stairs… in my boutique… so many cobwebs… dust… stairs are dirty… hate stairs…"

"Are we there yet?"

"Um, phew…" Fluttershy definitely kept her response short not out of shyness but of desire to conserve breath.

"It's not so bad," Twilight said, huffing and puffing with every stair. Applejack had caught back up by now and passed her again. "I know I needed the exercise, that's for sure. Maybe not this much, but Spike was always saying I should get out more."

"Are we there yet?"

"I wish you'd told me they were this high up, Lockwood." Now, even Flathoof began to complain as they ascended yet another flight. "I don't get out as much as I did when I was on the beat. I can't believe I let you talk me into this."

"Are we there yet?"

"Me?" Lockwood chuckled. "I believe it was you who were calling in asking for a favor. Don't tell me you're getting tired back there, Mister 'Roughest Toughest Lawpony in Pandemonium'. Heh heh."

"Are we there yet?"

"PINKIE PIE!" Rainbow belted, snapping her head around to face the pink pony that had been literally bouncing up every single stair and wasn't showing any signs of stopping or tiring. "If you ask one more time—"

"We're here!" Lockwood exclaimed as he held Rainbow in place. He pointed at their door, where he read from a little gold plaque that read 84-5:00. "Room eighty-four and five. Those first two numbers are your floor number, the eighty-fourth. The third is your room position on the floor, which means you're in the five o'clock position."

"Well that's a pretty orderly numbering convention," Twilight said. "Though it's a little confusing with that last bit. You use a clock face to determine room numbers? Makes it easy to figure out your room if you forget the number I suppose."

"If only all the rooms were as neatly positioned as yours." Lockwood pointed at their neighbor's door, which read 84-6:30.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Eighty-four and… six thirty? That's a bit confusing."

Lockwood shrugged. "The superintendent lives in room two and four twenty-eight. Not four thirty, not four twenty-five, but exactly twenty-eight, because that's where the door plaque is. Somepony made a mistake when they put it in, but the numbering scheme is what it is."

"That don't make a lick o' sense, if ya don't mind me sayin'," Applejack muttered.

"Oh goodness no, there's no rhyme or reason at all in it. I mean, they almost didn't even come to agreement on how to decide the twelve o'clock position in the first place. Somepony wanted the room closest to the stairwell on each floor to be the twelve o'clock room. Can you imagine? Every floor would be different!"

Twilight shook her head in disbelief. "Well why don't they just name the rooms by a simple numerical system?"

Lockwood shrugged. "Because nopony could agree on which room got to be room one, or if maybe it should be called zero-one, or if maybe we should start with zero-zero, or if we should call that double-zero, etc. A lot of things in this city don't make a lick of sense when you really look at them. So, either you just grin and bear it, or you save up the money to get a flight to Utopia or Hope's Point."

He looked at Twilight and raised an eyebrow. "Well now hang on, aren't you from Utopia? Why in heaven's name would you all want to leave? I've been trying to save up for a trip there for about five years now; it's everypony's dream destination. Warm beaches, sunny fields, clean air, you name it."

"My theory is they're actually refugees from the Wastelands. We just used that Utopia cover story to get through the paperwork," Flathoof explained. "Sorry for not mentioning it earlier. They don't look dangerous or anything, and they seemed like they needed a good home. I had to help, you understand."

"Hmm, yes, though they look a little too healthy to be refugees, in my opinion," Lockwood said, running his hoof under his chin.

Twilight gave him a nervous smile as he looked at her particularly. If only these two knew the truth, she thought. She couldn't exactly tell them without making her group sound like total lunatics.

Lockwood then shrugged and waved the thought off. "Well, if they are refugees, I'm more than willing to help them get back on their hooves and into a safer environment. At any rate, you all look tired. So ladies, without further adieu, your castle awaits."

He placed a key into the lock and pushed the door open, gesturing for them to enter. Their new home was… well, Lockwood had called it “cozy”, and he had said it wasn't really built for six ponies. That seemed all the more accurate once they got in. It was a fairly decent-sized apartment if two ponies were to share it, and even with three or four it would likely seem a little cramped but still very liveable. With six, it seemed more like a hovel than a home.

Still, it was free for now if Lockwood came through on his promises, and it was being generously given simply because they happened to meet the right two ponies. Luck was a finicky mistress, but sometimes she worked in mysterious ways.

"Ech…" Rarity blanched, still trying to catch her breath and shake cobwebs and dust from her mane and tail. "Ponies live in this filth? Please tell me this room just hasn't been cleaned recently… or ever. At least then I'll believe the mess I'm seeing here."

"Actually, that's true," Lockwood said. He took on a solemn tone and gestured towards one of the bedrooms. "We weren't allowed to clean up after the murder. The police wouldn't let us. I mean, it's already been a full day. We should be allowed to clean up, right Flathoof? Twenty-four hours is the policy, isn't it?"

The mares just stared at him in disbelief, jaws dropped. Fluttershy audibly whimpered and hid behind Applejack, clearly hoping the bigger, stronger mare would protect her from whatever might be lurking around the nearest corner.

Twilight couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Death was a natural thing in their world, of course, and even though she knew there were bad creatures back home that might inflict it upon others out of malice, she certainly didn't exactly expect that to be a common occurrence around here, at least not one that popped up in a casual conversation.

"Kidding!" Lockwood chuckled, waving his hooves defensively in front of him. "Just… just kidding. A joke! Ha ha? Oh come on, as if I'd give you a room that somepony'd been murdered in only a day before. Ha ha! Ha?" He frowned. "Okay no really, why isn't anypony laughing?"

Twilight gulped and tried to smile, finding it tremendously hard to do. "Is that something you have to deal with around here? We, uh, aren't really accustomed to that sort of thing."

"What, murder?" Flathoof frowned and adjusted his hat. "I wish I could say we never had to deal with it at all, but in fact it's quite the opposite. I think we've had maybe seven equicide calls this week, and that's a pretty low number. Sure, it's not the weekend yet, but— I'm not helping things am I?"

Lockwood interjected, as the whole group was looking more and more distressed. "Listen, this is the safest District in the whole city apart from the Inner Districts, but that's cheating to compare us to them. We haven't had anything like that happen at Southeast Point in months. And it wasn't anything like— wow, okay I'm not helping matters either."

Fluttershy sniffed and huddled in closer to Applejack and Rarity. "This place is s-scarier than I thought…"

Rarity rubbed Fluttershy's back and held the trembling pegasus close. "Now now, darling, I'm sure it'll all be okay. Come on, let's focus on getting our new home cleaned up a little, hmm? Take your mind off all those scary things."

Pinkie bounced excitedly around the room, sending up clouds of dust wherever she landed. "Yeah! We need to get all the decorations set up for our housewarming party! Let's see, I need streamers, balloons and, uh… hang on." She reached a hoof into her mane and pulled out a small notepad. "Streamers, balloons, and… aha! A cake, some ice cream, and soda pop. And then there's the candy, and the cookies, and a jukebox, and—"

"Pinks, we've got more important things to worry about. Besides, this place doesn't look like it would have room for one of your parties anyhow," Rainbow said, gesturing around the room.

Pinkie tapped her hoof to her chin and bit her tongue. "Hmm, are we talking about one of my Super Duper Awesome Big Birthday Bash Parties, or my Ultra Fun Best Friends Forever Parties? Because then well duh, I know we don't have room for either of those, silly. This feels more like an Everypony Welcome Home Party, though depending on the area of the room and the dimensions I have to work with, I might be able to fit in a Totally Amazing Radical Party, assuming that the room is a perfect square and that we have enough pi to go around."

Pinkie waggled her eyebrows at Dash as if expecting a laugh. Rainbow groaned loudly instead.

"Did Pinkie just invoke mathematics in party planning? And a math pun?" Twilight's eye began twitching. "How would that— what could you— is there even—" Her eyes crossed. "Oh dear, I think I'm getting a headache…"

"Besides, where am I gonna find a break-dancing floor at this time of night? Day? Whatever time it is." Pinkie laughed as she sidled up close to Rainbow and gave her a big hug. "Anyway, even if I can't fit in enough room for just a Little Itty Bitty Teeny Tiny Just Us Friends Housewarming Party, we can always have our own little private party later, Dashie! Always plenty of room for one of those!"

Rainbow turned red, wings puffing out just a little. "Pinkie, geez!" she hissed through clenched teeth.

Lockwood looked between the two of them. "What's all this talk about parties?"

"The pink one's special talent is throwing parties," Flathoof replied. "So, she likes parties. A lot. And singing. And dancing. And games. And parties, did I mention parties? Yes, we went over this a lot back at the station." He subtly twirled his hoof in a circular motion around his ear, taking care not to let her or her friends notice.

Twilight saw it.

And she agreed.

"Ahhh…" Lockwood nodded in total understanding. "Well, ladies, what say we start getting your home all spruced up, hmm?"

*****

Today had probably been the most stressful and tiresome day Snapshot had ever had to endure in her two years as a desk clerk for the NPPD. If Flathoof weren't such an eligible bachelor, she'd have passed the load on to a co-worker. All that work and hassle wasn't really worthwhile, but doing little favors like that here and there for Flathoof? She hoped it might get her in his good graces, so that maybe he'd want to get in her "good graces".

Snapshot sighed dejectedly as she eyed the clock on the wall. One more hour. That's how much longer it was for her to finish her shift at this droll job. Then she could get back home where she could relax, have some much-needed alone time, and try to get some work done on her reading. Specifically, a rather steamy novel she'd picked up at Blazing Saddles—a completely reputable establishment, by the way—by the name of Fifty Shades of Hay.

She eyed the mare working at the desk to her right, a pink pegasus with a tacky dye job that gave her silvery white mane streaks of gold. Firecracker.

Snapshot wished the blasted mare would just up and fly away and never darken these halls again with her bow-legged, hip-swaggering, eyelash-batting, obviously-had-a-wing-job self. The hussy was always stealing all the good-looking stallions in the department, letting them rut her, getting them to put some good words in with higher-ups to get a pay raise, then leaving the saps behind.

It wasn't fair. Snapshot knew that she had seen Sergeant Goldenstar first, that she had been flirting with him so casually in the breakroom, and that she had asked him out! Firecracker had even been sitting just a table or two away in the cafeteria when she did it! And then the jerk went and broke it off at the last second, after Snapshot had gone through hours of making herself look presentable, attractive, nay, desirable.

The next day, he was over there at Firecracker's desk, playing with her mane and whispering sweet nothings in her ear. Just the first in the long line of stallions she'd seen at that desk, and it was always a different one!

Snapshot sighed in dejected disapproval. It was her own fault, really. Ever since she made it on the force she'd been trying to get the attention of one of the stallions around the department, and learned the hard way that most of them were really not worth her time: crooks, liars, cheats, sneaks, and perverts, the lot of them! She was desperate, but not that desperate.

There were only a few stallions left on the entire force that were worth any attention, at least physically and mentally, but they just had to be in relationships already. That was just the way things worked, wasn't it though? That all the good-looking, well-mannered stallions were the ones taken?

Except one. And he didn't seem interested at all in anypony, and hadn't been for as long as she'd known him. Of all the rotten luck, that the most good-hearted and certainly broadest stallion in the entire force was just not looking for a special somepony.

Snapshot would give anything for Flathoof to look at her the way she looked at him, and cursed the fact that she'd probably drifted so far into the friend zone by now that she'd need a map and three weeks of supplies just to find her way back out.

"Oh Captain, my Captain…" Snapshot muttered to herself, pressing her face into her desk.

As much as she wanted him to be hers, she knew that being hopeful and ignoring other opportunities was worse than trying to find love elsewhere. Flathoof did have that good-looking brother after all, crippled though he may be, and he always seemed to give her these little looks whenever she was invited over for dinner that let her know he noticed her as well.

The family had good genes, which just sent all sorts of signals to her brain that she had to push down and remind that it was too early to start thinking of foal names. Though she liked the sound of Jazzhoof if it was a colt, in keeping with their family tradition.

The doors of the office slid open, and a pegasus strode into the room, his steps measured and confident. With each stride, his lithe muscles pressed against his impeccable black suit. A perfectly straight, black tie tucked neatly into his jacket. His sleek, pale blue coat caught the light of the room just right causing it to almost ripple in the glare.

With a single smooth motion, he slicked his dark-blue mane back with a hoof and flexed his long wings. He took one brief look around the room, eyeing the two mares in front of him.

Then, by stepping forward towards Snapshot's desk, he quite literally walked into her life. Was her hair straight? No smudges on her glasses? Her breath was okay, wasn't it?

"You must be Officer—" The well-dressed pegasus looked at a report file he had open, then glanced back at her. "Snapshot, correct?"

"Uh-huh," she murmured dreamily. She quickly shook her head. "I mean, ahem. Y-yes, that's me. How can I help you, Mister…?"

He showed her his badge, which had his name on it with a badge number and everything. Snapshot knew she'd recognized that uniform. If all of the CIA's agents looked this good, maybe she'd consider applying sometime after she had more to work with on her resume. She certainly had the broad knowledge of the system's inner workings that she knew was one of their requirements. All she lacked was experience.

"Sparkwalker. Agent Sparkwalker," he said. "I'm with the Committee Investigation Agency. I need to speak with you about a recent registration you filed in regards to some suspicious information."

"Oh? Which one?

"Which six."

Sparkwalker plopped the report file on her desk, allowing her to see all the contents. Snapshot's eyes widened. Wow, the CIA sure works fast.

It felt as though those six mares had just left; the paperwork had literally been teleported to the NPRD not more than three or four hours ago. Snapshot had never heard of anything that made the CIA this interested, and that worried her. What if Flathoof was in trouble, and these six mares were criminals? Terrorists? Spies?

"I recognize them, yes," she said, mirroring his quiet tone. "What kind of information do you need?"

"Is there somewhere more private we can talk?" he asked.

She couldn't be positive, but she was certain he had darted his eyes to look at Firecracker to be sure she hadn't heard anything. The sunglasses he was wearing prevented Snapshot from following his gaze clearly. Why was he wearing sunglasses indoors? It wasn't that bright in here. Maybe that was part of the uniform?

But why was she worrying about that? He wanted the two of them to be alone. Sure, okay, it was part of an investigation, but she still got the feeling that this was going to be her lucky day.

Ah, opportunity, how loud your knock can be, she thought.

"Certainly. Follow me."

She waved for him to follow her towards the back of the clerk office. The pegasus followed her into the staff room, and after making sure nopony was coming this way, she closed and locked the door behind them.

The room was meant for lunch breaks and such, but it felt more like a private office, and it was certainly used for more than just lunch breaks. Firecracker sometimes forgot to lock the door when she and one of the other officers were… filing a report together. Luckily the room was soundproof and had tinted windows, so Snapshot had only accidentally walked in a few times.

Ah, privacy.

"So, what's this all about?" she asked, taking a seat in the cozy chair on one side of the office.

Agent Sparkwalker remained standing for the moment, near enough that she could actively drink in all his features as he reached into his suit pockets. He took out a small notepad, set it on the table just out of her sight, then sat a pen upon that.

Business before pleasure.

Sparkwalker took a seat directly across from her and picked up his notepad with one wing, his pen with the other. Snapshot found herself impressed that a pegasus could do something so delicate with his wings.

Hopefully that's not the only thing he can do with those.

"The Committee is concerned about the status of their case file," he said, shaking her out of her thoughts. "It would seem that Police Chief Smokestack applied for a bonus that arrived barely five minutes after these six forms came in. Normally, this wouldn't be too troubling. He does this kind of thing all the time, does he not?"

She pointed a hoof at herself. "Are you asking me? I don't get involved much with the Chief's financial affairs."

"Hmm." Sparkwalker nodded and jotted down a short note. Snapshot was suddenly nervous that that piece of information had been important. "No matter, this is about these six Ponies of Interest anyway. Our department is concerned with the speed at which their forms were filed, and we suspect that perhaps Chief Smokestack was rushing things along and may have overlooked things concerning them."

"Oh dear…"

"Now, your name is on the form as the Identification Photographer and as their File Clerk, so I believe it's safe to assume you had some interaction with them?"

"Ah, yes, I did." She was now extremely nervous that he would learn that she'd sped the paperwork along at Flathoof's request, not the Chief's. Would he get in trouble?

"If it's okay with you then, I'd like to ask you a few questions about them. You can tell me some details about them, yes?"

"I hope so. What's this all about anyway? I mean, not to pry—"

"Committee business. Classified."

"Please? A fellow officer that I know is their parole officer. I want to make sure he'll be okay, sir. Anything you can tell me will do."

Sparkwalker stared at her, but with those sunglasses on his face it was hard to tell. "His name?"

"Flathoof. Captain Flathoof."

"I'll make sure to take care of him should the need arise." He cracked his neck before continuing, "Now then, let's start at the top according to the order you filled the forms out, based on your time-stamps. First, Twilight Sparkle. What can you tell me about her?"

"Real bossy, seemed well-educated," Snapshot said. She didn't bother hiding a slight sneer. "Probably the brains of the group, if you ask me." She put a hoof to her lips. "Oh, I'm sorry, I know I'm not supposed to figure my personal opinions into this."

Sparkwalker smiled and nodded appreciatively. "While I didn't ask, your information is invaluable and could help our investigation. Please, feel free to relax and speak candidly. It may help us understand the psyche of these six, you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"And drop the 'sir' nonsense. Just Sparkwalker, if you please, Snapshot."

She turned pink and tried to hide her smile behind a hoof. "R-right. Sparkwalker."

They were already on a first-name basis. She wasn't used to the idea of a CIA agent being so informal. That was supposed to be a major part of their job, being rigid and uncooperative. But maybe this one liked her? Maybe if she played her cards right she'd have plans tonight.She absently started to wonder what he looked like out of the uniform.

Snapshot continued, more candidly as asked. "Well, she was kind of a busybody, asking all sorts of questions about the city. I mean, sure, I guess that makes sense if you're not from around here, but the others weren't quite as interested. They just left the work to her."

"So in your opinion, she might be the ringleader?"

"If I were to have a guess, yes. She also said she used to work as a librarian, so she'll probably look for work at the CDH or something similar." A brief pause, then: "I put in a recommendation at, uh, the Chief's request," she lied.

Sparkwalker nodded and jotted down more notes. "Hmm. Go on then, the next pony, Rarity. She appears to be posing for this picture?"

"Yeah, she insisted on making it a glamour shot," Snapshot said. "I'll be fair, it weren't for the stupid jumpsuit she'd look great. Really snooty though, and she seemed like a neat-freak. She insisted that she was a fashion designer back home which struck me as odd."

"How so?"

"Well, they weren't wearing any clothes when they got arrested according to the report. I mean, who ever heard of a fashion designer wandering around naked? Contradictory, right? You'd think she'd be wearing something at all times even if they don't usually wear clothes where they're from. Self-advertisement, that kind of thing?"

"A keen observation and a valid critique. Let's see, next is Fluttershy. She looks like she didn't want to take the picture at all. Did she give you a hard time?"

Snapshot laughed and waved her hoof playfully. "Oh brother, was she ever uncooperative."

"She was rude?"

"Oh no, I just had to ask every question at least twice to be able to hear her responses. She was really quiet and always tried to avoid making eye contact."

"Not somepony I'd expect to be a threat. But then you know the saying? 'It's always the quiet ones'?"

Snapshot nodded, worried that it might be true and Flathoof might be in danger.

He gestured for her to continue. "Go on then, tell me more about her."

"Well, she was kind of cute in a way, so she probably gets a lot of lookers back where she comes from. Said she was a veteran-arian, whatever the hay thatis. Something to do with military veterans? Does Utopia even have a military?"

"Animals."

"An army of… animals?" Snapshot raised an eyebrow and nervously smiled. "Please tell me you're kidding."

Sparkwalker blinked, then laughed. "Oh, no no, she's a veterinarian. They're like doctors, but for animals instead of ponies." He jotted that all down. "Moving on then. Pinkie Pie. Is she doing the crossed-eyes on purpose, or does she have some sort of condition?"

"Yes, on purpose. And what a mouth that one's got. Just would not shut up." She lifted a hoof and started shaking it around. "Yap yap yap yap yap. Not right in the head that one, but she made me a little suspicious, and not just because she seemed a few cards short of a full deck."

Sparkwalker leaned forward. "Oh? Go on."

"Well, while everypony else in the group said they were from Utopia right away, and Twilight Sparkle even added their ridiculous district or village or whatever into it. Pfft, Ponyville. Still makes me laugh."

"Ponyville is pretty ridiculous, isn't it?"

"Anyway," she continued, "Pinkie Pie kind of hesitated a little. It was a really subtle pause, so I wouldn't have noticed it if she hadn't been such a motor mouth otherwise. Now that I think about it, so did that orange one, Applejack was it?" Snapshot asked.

Sparkwalker nodded.

"Well, she didn't say Utopia right away either. Makes me think maybe their story isn't as true as they claim. Nothing gets past my sleuth sense." She smiled, crossed her hooves, and leaned back in her chair, feeling very proud of herself.

"Very astute. I'll make note of your suspicions." Sparkwalker gave her a polite smile. "You've been very helpful so far Snapshot, thank you."

She frowned. "Oh, are we done?"

"Oh no, not quite yet, just thought I'd thank you for being so helpful to my investigation."

He tilted his sunglasses down slightly so that she could see him wink. Snapshot turned red and coughed into her hoof. She felt rather embarrassed that he was pushing all the right buttons, and a little nervous that he knew what buttons to push. For half a second, she felt anxious about this whole thing. Was this the right thing to do?

"Now then, the next one. Rainbow Dash?"

"Really full of herself, big ego, took everything I said as a challenge," Snapshot said, trying to regain her composure. "The fastest flier in Equestria? Really? That I find difficult to believe. When I said as much, she got a little riled up like she wanted to prove it right then and there."

"Well, looks can be deceiving."

"I suppose, but her response to my asking about it was to say that she's the only pony to ever pull off a 'Sonic… Rainboom'? What the hay is that? Some sort of sonic boom mixed with a rainbow or something? How would you even do that? Seems physically impossible to me, and kind of convoluted."

"Cool name though."

"I guess. Anyway, if you look under her aliases I noted 'Dashie' as a nickname rather than a preferred name. The pink pony kept calling her that, and was the only pony doing it that I could see. I got kind of a weird vibe from the two, like maybe they're more than friends?"

Sparkwalker nodded intently at that point and jotted extra lines. "Possible sexual interrelations. Interesting. Did any of the others exhibit similar attachment?"

"Not that I could tell."

"Well, one more then. Tell me more about this Applejack."

"Don't even get me started on her," Snapshot said, sticking her nose in the air. "Urgh, I saw the way she was looking at Flathoof, n-not that that matters," she added so that Sparkwalker wouldn't get the wrong idea.

Even if it was the right idea, she didn't want him to think it was.

"He's my friend is all, so I don't want to see him get hurt because some Utopian jezebel gives him that look and thinks she can just waltz in and flutter her eyelashes and land the most prized stallion in the NPPD in her bed when I've been—

"Anyway," she continued, coughing into her hoof again, "she seemed honest enough and looked pretty tough. She didn't have any problem answering everything straight away, except that Utopia bit I mentioned earlier."

"Yes, very good." He nodded appreciatively as he wrote down the last few notes, then glanced into the folder of reports again. "I understand they also filed domicile registration forms? You wouldn't happen to have a copy of them anywhere, would you?"

"Oh, sorry, I don't have one." She frowned and rubbed her temple. "They didn't get that to you yet? That must mean it's still in processing. Your department should get it by tonight, I hope. I'm surprised the other forms got to you guys so soon, actually. I've never heard of paperwork being processed so quickly."

"I was hoping I could get a copy sooner than that," he said. "We are in hot pursuit of these mares, you see. The faster I can find out where they are or where they may be headed, the faster I can find out what exactly they're doing here."

Snapshot frowned. If Agent Sparkwalker was delayed, it might be putting Flathoof at risk, and she didn't like the fact that she would be partly responsible. As much as she was attracted to this new pony, she still cared for Flathoof dearly and wanted to make sure nothing happened to him.

She nodded. "I can remember some of the things on the forms I filled out. Not every detail, but I assume anything would help, right?"

"Most assuredly," he said. "Any assistance you can give me in my investigation will be greatly appreciated."

"Well, I remember a name. Southeast... P-something. Park? Place?"

"Point?"

Snapshot pointed a hoof at him in acknowledgement.

Sparkwalker jotted the name down on his notepad. "Southeast Point. I recognize the name. Suspicious that they would be able to get a room so quickly in the busiest, most expensive part of the District, and with an arrest record even."

Snapshot frowned again. She had to come clean on this one. "Well, Captain Flathoof is the one who helped them get it. He said he had a friend who was the landlord. Lockwood, I think. He was just trying to help, so I don't think he suspects anything about them."

"Hmm, perhaps they've fooled your good friend better than you thought. I have just a few more questions. First, apart from what you mentioned specifically about them individually, did you notice anything suspicious about them as a group?"

"Well, like I said, their home sounded a little odd. I mean, Ponyville? Has to be a made-up name, and a really lame one at that."

He gave her a knowing smile. "So you don't think they're from Utopia?"

She nervously tapped her hooves together. "Well, I mean… no, I don't. But where else could they be from? The Wastelands? Like refugees or raiders?" she said, though she was still suspicious and knew that appearances could be deceiving. "They seemed healthy enough, at least physically.

"Still, I mean, how could they be from Utopia? They'd have had to take an airship, and they would've been told they needed clothes. Plus, I know we don't just give outidentifications, but the NPRD has a station at the Gate. How'd they get past it and into the city? It's right by the airport; you have to walk through it to get into the city."

"Valid observations." Sparkwalker smiled as he wrote down additional notes, then replaced the notepad and pen into his pockets. "Our department was thinking the same; we just needed confirmation. You'd make a fine addition to the CIA one day, were you ever so inclined," he added with a wink. "Anything else you can tell me?"

She shook her head. "I'm afraid I've given you all I can."

"Very well. So, one final question."

"Yes?"

Sparkwalker leaned forward in his chair and smoothly reached out a hoof to take hold of her own. She looked briefly at the point of contact, then swiftly back to him. He tilted his sunglasses, exposing his eyes fully at last, and gave her a smoky look and a flirtatious smirk. "When do you get off?"

"I… beg your pardon?"

She must have misheard that. No, he still had that coy grin on his face, like he was trying to remove her uniform with his eyes. It made her feel anxious. Vulnerable. Wanted.

He leaned further forward and wheeled his chair along with him so that their faces were close together. "You must get lonely, working these late nights here at the police station day after day. Exhausting work. You must crave the feeling of release when your shift is up."

"I… s-suppose."

She blushed a deep red, trying her best to keep her cool. Too fast. This was happening too fast. Should she feel worried? Relieved? She'd given up opportunities worse than this for dumber reasons, and she was not about to pass up this stallion just because she felt it was a little too impulsive.

Sparkwalker smiled and removed his sunglasses, neatly placing them into the jacket of his tidy black suit. She became slightly distracted by getting to see his eyes in full. A vivid green, very pretty. She almost didn't hear him speak, but then again she wasn't paying much attention to his words so much as his actions.

Was she daydreaming again? Had all that flirting been real? She was worried she was looking for signals that weren't there, or that he was just using the advances to try and weasel more information out of her, a tactic she admitted worked even if it wasn't intentional.

"You look so pent up," he said, his breath hot on her neck. "So tense. Please, allow me to help ease that tension, even if for just a moment."

Strong hooves on her shoulders, keeping her in place. A tender caress. This was so sudden, too sudden. But she didn't want it to stop, he was so perfect and she was so willing. She chose to forgo any sense of worry. Any sense of wondering, "why would a stallion like this be interested in me?" was completely gone. She couldn't care any less.

He was doing so much with those hooves of his that she'd completely fallen out of her reality and became entranced in this living fantasy, such that nothing mattered anymore. It was not her first kiss, but it may as well have been. He was so delicate, not at all rough, sloppy, or dulled like some of her previous coltfriends had been. She barely even noticed him unfastening his tie, or unbuttoning her uniform. Things were moving so fast. They'd only just met.

It was just like one of her steamy romance novels. The suave spy flies in and sweeps the bookish secretary off her hooves, rescuing her from her tedious, bored life and bringing her to new heights of excitement. Right from beginning, to the now-middle, and she was hoping soon, the end.

"Mmph~" She moaned into his kiss. "B-but… I hardly even—"

"If you want to think of this as your dream come true, then by all means," he whispered, giving a low laugh that made her heart flutter.

It's like he knows.

Sparkwalker roughly pulled her out of her chair, and she found herself pinned heavily on the floor of the office on top of the rounded floral-patterned rug. She'd never been more glad that the door was locked and that the windows were tinted. Her glasses fogged at his hot breath, and for a moment she forgot herself and found she was unable to resist pleading for his advances, her own hooves gripping at his mane and chest.

She could feel his smile on her neck. Taste his voice.

"One last thing, Snapshot."

"Y-yes, w-what?"

"Have you told anypony else what you've told me here today?"

"N-nopony. Please, b-be gentle…"

"No promises."

First, she felt the tenderness of a kiss upon her neck.

Then, a blade abruptly pierced her carotid artery.

Now, a severe, blinding pain. A hoof over her mouth silenced a muted scream. She looked up into his heartless green eyes, into his sadistic smile. His coat and mane colors dulled. No, that was her vision doing that. It started to fade into black. The blood loss was making her woozy. She tried to buck out of his grip, but she couldn't find the strength. She tried to cry out for help, but no sound came. The agony was unbearable. It bled far beyond physical pain.

She felt like she'd just committed some great sin. And, by thinking she was helping him, she felt she'd likely just endangered the one pony she now wished she'd never been distracted from.

Flathoof… I…

"Shhhhh." He cooed into her ear and stroked her mane. "It'll allll be over soon, my little shutterbug. Shhh. Now, be a sweetheart for me, and just close your eyes. That's a good girl."

Snapshot's eyes dimmed as the last of her life drained away in a pool of blood on the rug, staining it a deep, dark red.

Chapter Four: Catalyst

Twilight and Flathoof stood in the hall outside room eighty-four and five. They'd come out moments before, as the room itself had become much too cramped for them to bear, what with eight ponies trying to organize an apartment that was meant to house four. From outside, it was still easy enough for Flathoof to keep an eye on his parolees without bothering their move-in.

So, when Twilight requested a conversation with him away from the others, he'd obliged without question. Of course, she hadn't realized that her topic of conversation wasn't going to be met with that same cordiality.

"Let me get this straight," Flathoof said, sighing and holding the bridge of his nose. "You want to leave your friends here to tidy up your new home because you want to go to Central Database Holdings? And you want to go right now?"

"That's right," Twilight said. "I figured it would be a good idea to start looking for… work, and as soon as possible, so I want to take a look at their facility and get used to their system a little before I apply. Officer Snapshot was nice enough to put in a recommendation, and even if she only did it because of you I still plan to use it."

"That's not what I have a problem with. It's that you seem to think I'm going to just let you go out on your own."

Twilight rubbed the back of her head, knowing that was likely going to be the hard part to negotiate. "Well, I just didn't want to bother anypony else with my errands. I can get a bit absorbed in my work sometimes."

She elected not to mention that she was going to spend most of her time at the library doing what libraries were intended for: studying. Specifically, researching this perplexing new location as much as she could. What little she could gather from talking with Flathoof and Lockwood was not enough to quench her curiosity, nor enough to figure out what she'd need to know to get her and her friends home.

She had planned to take as long as she needed, but hadn't accounted for requiring an escort.

Flathoof shook his head and sighed. "While that is all well and good, Miss Sparkle, and I commend you for taking some initiative in looking for employment, I can't just let you go by yourself. You're on parole for one week, remember? Until then, all of you have to remain in my custody. So, if you want to visit the library, you'll have to wait until after everypony here is done so you can all go."

Twilight's face fell. "Oh. I was hoping to get a head-start on it."

Truthfully, she wanted to do it with as few distractions as possible. If she were allowed to "get in the zone" and start her research by herself without any interference from her friends, she hoped she would be able to get plenty of information in very little time.

Not that she didn't appreciate their company, but some of her friends weren't exactly the best study partners. Rarity and Fluttershy might be of help, and if the right subject matter was involved she could probably rope Rainbow into it too. Pinkie could be a help or a hindrance—it was all up to chance—and Applejack just wasn't the researching type. She didn't want to force them all to go.

"I am sorry, Miss Sparkle, but rules are rules," Flathoof said.

Twilight sighed. "I understand…"

The door fell open, and a gray form tumbled out onto the dirty carpet of the hallway. Twilight, shocked at the sudden intrusion and with everything lousy going on, leapt a good foot into the air and lit up her horn defensively.

After shaking himself off with a slight huff, Lockwood got back to his hooves and addressed the two surprised ponies with a sheepish grin. "Um… ow?"

Flathoof narrowed his eyes at the new addition to the conversation; he didn't seem at all surprised that Lockwood was there. "Snooping as usual, Lockwood?"

Lockwood brushed off his jacket with a wing. "Now now, Flathoof, surely you don't intend on keeping this young lady from trying to make her way in the world, do you?"

"I don't think this is something you can help with. This is my duty as their parole officer. I have to keep them all in my sight, as much as I'd like to think I can trust them. It's a stupid rule, I know, but it's there."

"So why do it alone? Surely you could get some help?"

"Look, I know it's a two- or three-pony job, but I can't expect any other officers to jump at the opportunity to foalsit a bunch of new citizens. Not that I trust many of them to do the job anyway, or not to try anything fishy."

"Perfectly understandable," Lockwood said. He pointed his hoof teasingly at Flathoof. "But, you seem to be forgetting that there is somepony you can trust to keep an eye on them. Somepony who's always willing to lend a helping hoof, and not just to his closest friends but to anypony in need."

"You?" Flathoof said, his eyes half-lidded.

"Of course!" Lockwood grinned as he straightened his jacket collar in mock offense. "Sheesh, who did you think I meant? Some random pedestrian out on the street?"

"Lockwood, this isn't a game. I know you like to help and all, but rules are rules, and as much as most other officers wouldn't have a problem breaking them, I do."

Twilight took a deep breath and relaxed. Too many surprises today had put her on edge. "But didn't you break some rules in getting us through all this?" she asked.

"'Break'? Nnnope." Flathoof nervously tugged his collar and glanced at Lockwood's cheeky grin. "I mean, okay, city regulations have so many loopholes and workarounds that, well, a pony with the knowledge of how it works could probably get around them. Snapshot happened to know just the right boxes to fill and marks to make."

"Just like the tax code loopholes I'm going to be working around to get my new tenants a solid start without paying first month's rent immediately," Lockwood added, playfully nudging Flathoof in the ribs. "And you know all about that too, don't you? Don't be such a hypo—"

"Okay, fine," Flathoof interrupted. He took a deep breath. "I guess if I've abused a few loopholes here and there already, no harm in going the full mile."

Lockwood beamed and gave Twilight a sly wink. "Precisely! I'm sure there is something you can conjure up to let somepony you trust be an additional caretaker for these lovely young ladies? Unless…"

"'Unless'… what?"

Lockwood narrowed his eyes and his smile broadened. "Unless, you were planning on keeping them all to yourself?"

Flathoof stammered, "H-hey now, don't accuse me of that kind of—"

"Aww, you sly pony you!" Lockwood placed his leg around Flathoof's shoulder. "I should've figured it out from the get-go. I didn't think you had it in you after all these years. Which one is it then? I'm guessing… is it Miss Sparkle here?"

"What?!"

"What?" Twilight asked, utterly lost.

"Well, what with the whole 'trying to keep her in my sights' thing, I figured—"

"It's not Miss Sparkle!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What's not me? What are you two—"

Lockwood laughed heartily. "Oh ho ho, I see! Suddenly you fancy yourself a ladies' stallion, and saw the opportunity to flaunt yourself in front of six eligible—"

"Enough!" Flathoof blurted. He took a deep breath and straightened his hat. "Fine, what did you have in mind, if it'll shut you up with these ridiculous ideas of yours?"

"Well I'm not too well-versed in NPPD rules, really. That's supposed to be your department. There must be some sort of workaround that would allow a civilian to assist you in tending to your parolees, though? Like a… deputy or something like that?"

"Well…" Flathoof mused. "I suppose I could list you as a third-party caretaker. It wouldn't really be questioned either, seeing as you're their landlord and all." He rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine, have it your way. You always do."

"Excellent."

"I'll have to contact the station and get Snapshot to file the paperwork. I need to get a good signal, so I'll be just over here," Flathoof continued, pointing at the nearby window on the opposite end of the hall

"Go right ahead."

Flathoof trotted over to the window, loosened the latch, and opened it. Then, after a quick look outside, he began talking into the walkie-talkie strapped to his right foreleg; Twilight couldn't hear the conversation, though.

While Flathoof was occupied, Twilight took the opportunity to converse with Lockwood. "Thank you. Both of you. I don't know what we'd do without your help. We were all in rather dire straits, and nopony else in this city—"

"Say no more, Miss Sparkle." Lockwood gave her a wide smile and patted her on the shoulder. "Believe me when I say I know just how unhelpful most of my fellow citizens can be. We're a rare breed, ponies like Flathoof and I. It's why we're such good friends!"

"It's a wonderful thing to have in common," Twilight said, thinking fondly on the bond she and her friends shared.

"And I've formed similar relationships with many of the ponies in this city and even some elsewhere, all of whom I feel I can give a similar level of respect and trust to."

"How many ponies do you know?" Twilight asked. "My friend Rarity is quite popular where we come from. I don't even know half the ponies she does."

"Oh a great deal of ponies, believe me," Lockwood said. He feigned exhaustion, as if knowing so many individuals was a physically taxing endeavor, earning a light smile from her.

Twilight pursed her lips in thought and tapped her chin. "This city seems so vast, how could anypony possibly hope to know so many?"

Lockwood beamed and flittered his wings proudly. "All it takes is one good friend, and you can move from there. You'd be surprised who your friends know, and who your friends' friends know, and so on."

"Makes sense."

"I know ponies from all walks of life, in fact. Take this building's owner, for example. Rich folk like him always appreciate a good, resourceful pony, so he'll be willing to look the other way when I give a vacant apartment to a bunch of parolees I just met. And not all of my friends are upper-class, either. Some are less… reputable than others, but they're handy when I need a favor,."

Twilight gulped. "You mean… like criminals?"

Her eyes nervously darted back and forth. It was bad enough that Lockwood had joked about murder earlier, but now he was claiming to be acquainted with criminals? Just who was this pony?

"Oh no, no no no, not at all," he dismissed with a rapid wave of a hoof. He then stopped and hung his head. "Well, okay, technically some of my friends are consideredcriminals by the system, but I assure you that their crimes aren't harmful to anypony. No murderers or thieves or anything like that. They're just guilty of some crimes against our city's wonderful government," he added.

His mouth bore a sneer, and his eyes had narrowed at that one word. Government.

"You could say their crimes are doing as I do: helping others by getting around the way the city's backwards and sideways and upside-down laws work. Falsifying documents, illegally obtaining goods such as medicine, that sort of thing. But, we can discuss that another time, if you'd like."

Over by the window, Flathoof could be heard finishing his call, clicking his walkie-talkie with a hoof, and turning back towards the apartment door. Lockwood pointed off in that direction. "Oh, here comes Flathoof. Don't mention my… other friends to him. He might not approve, you understand?"

Twilight nodded. "R-right."

She was sure Lockwood was on the up-and-up, but now she was slightly concerned about taking his offers for assistance. It wouldn't get them in any more trouble, would it? No, surely not. After all, he was clearly somepony who worked around the system often himself, and he was still considered respectable enough that he was close friends with a high-ranking police officer.

Right?

"So," Flathoof said as he stomped over, "I just got off the line with the station. I wish we'd thought of this sooner, because I could have asked Snapshot to take care of it while we were there and it'd be done by now. She got off duty maybe an hour or so ago, and the silly filly forgot to punch out again."

"That won't be a problem, will it?" Twilight asked.

"No, the night shift guy will fill everything out and get it done, because even he knows not to shirk duties given from ranking officers. I'm more concerned about it being done right. I'll get Snapshot to look it over tomorrow."

"So then, we can go?" Twilight asked, a hopeful grin on her face.

"Yes yes, we can go," Flathoof said.

Twilight excitedly clapped her hooves together. "Excellent! I can't wait to see this library. I wonder if it's anything like the one back home?"

Flathoof shook his head, but kept a smile on his face. "You're sure you can handle the rest of them, Lockwood?"

Lockwood looked into the apartment and watched as Rarity helped Fluttershy dust some of the cabinets in one corner of the room. Rainbow and Applejack helped one another rearrange the furniture, though the two were debating on where the couch they were carrying should go.

Lockwood shook his head, worry-free. "I don't think—"

Pinkie tripped over a rug and dropped the dusty mats she'd been carrying. They flew all over the room, spreading dust over everypony and everything. Rarity squealed in horrified disgust, Fluttershy started to cry, and Rainbow began to scold the pink earth pony openly. Applejack just hung her head in disappointment.

Lockwood chuckled and tugged his collar. "Uh… I don't think it will be too much trouble."

Flathoof laughed and slapped Lockwood on the back. "I hope you know what you're getting yourself into. Come on, Miss Sparkle. We'll leave my good-mannered companion to tend to his new-found flock."

The pair turned towards the stairwell to leave, but were stopped by a voice behind them.

"Now hang on just one doggone minute." Applejack stepped in front of the two of them, her eyes darting between the pair. "If y'all're takin' a little stroll, perhaps ya wouldn't mind if I joined ya?"

"You want to join us?" Twilight blinked and gave Applejack a quizzical look. "We're going to the library, Applejack. It's not a place you'd usually volunteer to go, if you don't mind my saying."

Applejack narrowed her eyes. "You sayin' I ain't got no book smarts?"

A pause. "Do you really want me to answer that question?"

Applejack gave an aggravated sigh and shook her head. "Nevermind. I'm just worried about ya goin' by yerself."

"I'm not going alone, Applejack. I've got Captain Flathoof with me," Twilight said, patting the stallion on the shoulder. "He's in law enforcement, remember? He'll keep me safe. No need to worry or—"

Applejack stomped her hoof and gave Twilight an indignant look. "I know that, Twi, I just wanna keep an eye on ya, that's all. And to be honest, I don't think I can take much more of Rarity's complainin' about the dust 'n' dirt. If she starts whinin', well, I won't be held responsible for what might happen."

Twilight raised an eyebrow and nodded, beginning to get the idea that it might be better not to argue. "Oh, well okay then. If that's alright with you, Captain Flathoof?"

"I don't know why it wouldn't be." Flathoof shrugged and walked past Applejack towards the stairs. "Very well then, come along Miss Applejack. I suppose we could use the company."

Applejack smiled. "Thank ya kindly."

*****

"That's a library?" Applejack whistled. "This place is—"

"Huge," Twilight completed.

Central Database Holdings was a large building, taking up not one, not two, but four full city blocks. While not as tall as Southeast Point, it still towered over the ponies walking the streets below. Lines of pulsing, neon blue lights highlighted the contours of the building's black metal exterior, from the edges of the structure to the indents that dotted it. Many of the lines flowed towards the largest indent on the front of the structure, indicating the entrance.

Twilight gulped. "If the dimensions are what I think they are, Applejack, then this building's bigger than all of Ponyville proper. Excluding Sweet Apple Acres of course."

The newer, shinier metals looked out of place compared to the buildings around it. Flathoof explained that this was because Central Database Holdings was a relatively new building compared to the rest of the area, and that most of the surrounding landscape had needed severe reconstruction to accommodate the structure's needs. Specifically, the insertion of a massive series of wires and cables beneath the streets, needed to power the center and transmit information to and from it.

That last bit confused Applejack, and from the looks of it, even confused Twilight. They were used to letters and packages, and thanks to Spike were also familiar with the magic of dragonfire-fueled mail services. Transmitting information through cables and wires, though? How was that even possible?

Flathoof gestured at it with a hoof and addressed Twilight. "Expanding on what I briefly explained earlier, this is the central depository for every single piece of data and information the city has available to it. That means research, literature, art, documentation, news recordings, public records, legal statements, etcetera."

"They must have an absolute ton of information stored there," Twilight mused, her voice tinged with awe.

Applejack nodded her head and removed her hat. "Dang, and all this here place does is hold books?"

Flathoof tilted his head. "Books?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, books. You said this place is a library, and libraries hold books, amongst other things, like documents and newspapers. Just like this place does. At least that's what you said."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Flathoof said. "The city’s database is entirely digital. Any written information gets copied into the computer system, then the paper documents are disposed of. Most ponies don't even bother writing things on paper anymore, besides legal documents since the NPRD insists on making things difficult, and the newspapers because… well, it's in the name. But even those get digital copies."

Twilight turned white. "Wh-what? No. No, you're joking. You must be joking."

His stern face said that he wasn't.

"They don't have books here, Applejack!" Twilight grabbed Applejack's side and shook her friend in a fierce panic. "They don't. Have. Books!"

Applejack eased Twilight off of her and held the flustering unicorn steady. "Whoa there, sugarcube, ease up a bit. He said they still got all your info stuff in there, just in a new way. What'd ya call it again?"

"A computer?" Flathoof scratched his head. "You don't know what a… huh. Well, what difference does it make anyway? Come on, let's not dilly-dally around out here." He turned to Twilight and patted her on the shoulder. "Miss Sparkle, since you're looking for a job, we're going to talk to the Chief Librarian. That's your best bet for getting in."

Twilight murmured, "Right. Yes, of course."

The trio entered the building via the glowing blue door at the front. It slid open automatically at their approach. This didn't surprise Flathoof at all, and it only seemed to cause Twilight a little surprise. Applejack, on the other hoof, had been spooked and nearly leapt onto Twilight in shock; doors didn't just open on their own. After she calmed down, they entered properly. Inside, they strolled down a long, black hallway that led to another door, which also opened at their approach, and led them into the main lobby.

It was then seen that it wasn't anywhere near as big on the inside as the outside. The room was still very large, and blanketed with desk after desk. There were enough desks in the room that Applejack was certain that they could probably build a small town out of them.

Upon these desks were the strangest things Applejack had ever seen. They looked like small windows, but instead of being clear, they glowed white. She could see little images moving on some of them, sometimes words, and the ponies at some of the desks were able to manipulate the images with their hooves.

True enough, there wasn't a single book in sight.

They approached the central desk, where they requested the Chief Librarian's presence. While they waited for the receptionist to fetch him, Applejack took the time to pick up and examine the shiny, crystal nameplate that sat on the desk.

"Oooh, fancy."

An olive green unicorn stallion with a neatly-combed lime green mane popped up from behind the desk. He wore a plaid tweed jacket adorned with a tag reading Chief Librarian, and large-rimmed glasses that were too big for his face, giving him every impression of a librarian.

Applejack, surprised, fumbled the nameplate, dropping it to the floor where it shattered. Everypony stared at it in stunned silence.

"Eh heh. Oops?" she murmured.

"That's alright, I have fifty more of those under here." The unicorn promptly reached under the desk, grabbed another nameplate, and replaced the broken one. "Though I'll say I'm used to only small foals breaking them."

His eyes remained narrowed as he spoke. His tone dripped with boredom. He didn't even seem to be looking at any one of them in particular. "Greetings and welcome to Central Database Holdings. I am Chief Librarian Archimedes. How may I be of service to you on this extraordinarily busy day where my time would be better spent elsewhere?"

Twilight coughed into her hoof, then gave a pleasant smile. "Yes, hi… I'm new in town and was looking for some kind of opening position, if you have one available?"

The librarian rolled his eyes. "Our job openings are always limitless because nopony wants to work in a stuffy office building pushing buttons all day. Not when there are more exciting jobs out there like bus driver, garbage stallion, or window cleaner. Who has time to bother sorting through all the information in the city? All the things that we have to send to everypony else that keeps them running? Yes, stars forbid anypony want to help with that."

Archimedes ended his rant with a loud inhalation of air through his nostrils. "At any rate, do you have any qualifications?"

"I worked at the… Utopian… Central… Library. Yes. Utopian Central Library. In Utopia. Because that's where I'm from," Twilight added with a nervous, awkward smile.

"Utopia, huh?" Archimedes raised an eyebrow and looked at Twilight as if she were a bug. "Are they still using hard-copies over there or have they stopped being such barbarians and finally made the transition over to digital materials?"

"What's wrong with hard copies?" Twilight scoffed.

"It's so easy to lose hard-copy material compared to digital data, either to damage or to thieves. Irresponsible, really. Not the case with digital. We have backups of our backups of our backups, and everything sensitive is quadruple encoded to prevent unauthorized access." He cleared his throat and continued to give her the same disinterested look. "But I digress. What types of materials are you familiar with?"

"Well, I'm used to hard-copy materials," Twilight said. "But I'm—"

Archimedes rolled his eyes and waved a hoof dismissively. "All well and fine. You're a librarian, so that means you can read, and that means you can learn. It's not that difficult of a transition, really. You're actually learning to use something easier. None of that decimal system garbage I'm certain you're accustomed to."

"Hey, what's wrong with the decimal—"

"Before I consider your employment though, I'll have to see how quickly you can adjust to using our database. I don't need another brain-dead lout on my staff, not after that last idiot nearly deleted half the city's registry when I asked him to change the name of a folder."

"I can assure you, I'm not an idiot," Twilight said.

Archimedes nodded his head, though clearly not really believing her answer. "Right, well, we'll soon find out. First, tell me why you're being escorted by a police officer." He turned to Flathoof. "Care to explain, Officer…?"

"Captain Flathoof. She's on parole," Flathoof said. "New in town, didn't have identification. You know how it is."

Archimedes frowned, giving Flathoof a quick once-over. "I suppose I shouldn't question why they were allowed past the Gate without identification?"

"Bit of a management mishap. Paperwork got messed up. They're only on parole because their attempt to get ID caused a ruckus downtown. Accusations of disorderly conduct and the like."

Archimedes hummed, then shrugged. "Doesn't sound like anything that might threaten my life or my work." He turned to Twilight again. "Now then, if you don't mind, Miss… forgive me, I didn't get your name, either."

"Twilight Sparkle," she said, bowing her head slightly.

Archimedes turned back to Flathoof, and pointed at Twilight. "Miss Sparkle here is going to need to come with me to provide background information and proof of her capabilities. Dreadfully sorry, but I can't allow anypony else into the Database Hub."

Flathoof narrowed his eyes. "Oh really? Why's that?"

"We have a strict policy: two ponies at a time, no more, no less, one of whom must have a Librarian Database Keycard. If I go about making exceptions here and there then I may as well not have the rule in the first place. Rules are rules, you understand."

"Right. Her parole says I have to keep her in sight at all times." Flathoof stared at Archimedes, not budging an inch. "Surely you can do whatever it is you need to do within close proximity to me? Rules are rules, you understand."

Archimedes stared right back. "My apologies, Captain. I hate to sound uncooperative, but I can assure you your superiors wouldn't have any trouble with my stipulations. I've done my share of research on the NPPD rules and regulations, and know that you can allow your parolee out of your sight if they're going in for a job interview. I trust that won't be a problem, will it?"

Flathoof balked and stood speechless for half a second. "Nnnope, no trouble. I understand. Rules are rules. But I suppose, then, you also know there's a time limit imposed on that rule?"

Archimedes waved his hoof. "Yes yes, we have an hour before you come barging in and start barking orders. Come along, Miss Sparkle."

Twilight gave a pleading look to Applejack as she was escorted away.

"Well, she'll be fine for now then, I guess," Flathoof said, breathing through his nose, clearly not used to having his authority challenged so directly. "Today has just not been working out so well. I need a cup of coffee."

He looked around and saw the library's mini coffee shop in the corner, with a sign over it reading CDH Café. He turned to Applejack and gestured towards the shop. "Come along, Miss Applejack. I'll buy you a cup too. We might be here awhile."

"Oh. Alright then." Applejack started following Flathoof towards the shop. "Well hang on, I thought ya said she was only gonna take an hour?"

"Yes, but I suspect Miss Sparkle will likely want to go a bit above and beyond if she can. I think I can trust her not to go running off and leaving you alone." Flathoof held the door open for her, and helped her pick out a table. "Besides, she'll want to look into other avenues of employment appropriate for her talents."

"You'd trust us that quickly?" Applejack asked, taking a seat at a corner table.

Flathoof chuckled. "I've learned over the years how to tell whether or not a pony is trustworthy. I tend to stick close to those who are."

Flathoof left Applejack and headed up to the counter, where she saw him order two large coffees. He returned a moment later and set her coffee in front of her, before taking his seat and immediately sipping from his own cup.

"Oh by the stars that's good stuff," he said, breathing deep.

Applejack stared at her cup for a moment, unsure what to make of the thick liquid that Flathoof had called "coffee". She knew what coffee was, certainly, but this didn't seem like any coffee she knew.

It was black, like any good coffee was, but it didn't really have a smell to it. Applejack sipped slowly at first, then took a bigger sip before setting her cup back down and exhaling sharply. It didn't taste bad, certainly; then again, it didn't taste good either. Bland, flavorless, yet at the very least palpable.

Applejack felt a sense of emptiness as she drank it, noting how good it also wasn't. They hadn't been here in this new place for very long, but already she was feeling extremely homesick the more she thought about what she was missing.

She remembered Apple Bloom waking up early and making coffee for her and Big Macintosh one morning. Her stomach turned at the thought of it. Whatever that little filly's cutie mark ended up being, it was not going to have anything to do with coffee. Still, even though this was among the worst coffees she'd ever tasted, it reminded her of home. She missed her family dearly.

Applejack felt nervous being alone with Flathoof, even if that had been the reason she'd come along to the library in the first place. Something about him piqued her interest, and it was more than just his honesty and hard-working mentality. She couldn't explain it.

When they'd been together in that elevator back at the station, she'd been squeezed next to him a bit too closely. She'd smelt a certain aroma on him that reminded her of home in a way. Nothing like apples, soil, or open air. This city didn't have those things anyway, or so she thought. But, the scent was still somehow familiar. The smell of soot, metal, and hard labor. Where would he get such a scent working in the city like this? The police station certainly lacked any of those things.

Flathoof broke the silence. "I'm glad I get to spend some time with one of you one-on-one. Trying to focus on six ponies at once has been proving challenging.You're all so… different. How did you all come to be such close friends?"

"Well, some of us knew each other before Twilight moved to Ponyville," Applejack explained, knowing there was no point in not mentioning Ponyville anymore. She couldn't bring herself to say "Utopia" unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Rainbow and I met 'cause she's with Ponyville's weather patrol, and I run the biggest farm in town. Her patrol team has to keep up a regular rainfall schedule, see? And Fluttershy, well, she's real good with animals, and we've got a few animals on our farm too."

"I'm only vaguely aware of what a farm even is, but it sounds like it's complicated work," he said with a nod. "Pretty neat that your farm got you in touch with so many friends."

"Yeah, but we weren't exactly 'friends' then, just, uh… what's the word? Acquaintances? We all got to know each other better when Twilight moved in. I guess she's kinda like our glue, 'cause she brought us all together. Weren't until Twilight came into the picture that I knew Rarity or Pinkie too well outside of seein' 'em in market every now 'n' then."

"How'd Twilight manage that?" Flathoof asked.

Applejack nervously took her cup in both hooves as she considered the tale. "Well, she was sent in from the big city to organize a big event 'cause our town was gonna be hostin' it. All five of the rest of us were picked for big parts of the event, 'cause we're the best at what we do, so she had to meet us first. Kinda took off from there."

Applejack elected not to mention the entire Nightmare Moon incident and the Elements of Harmony portion of the story. There might be time for that some other day, but for now it seemed a waste to try and explain something that Flathoof would likely never believe. She'd experienced it herself and it was still a little too whimsical to accept.

Flathoof nodded and took another sip of his coffee. "I suppose I can understand that. Lockwood has been much the same for me. I can't count the number of ponies I've met and had good relations with thanks to his involvement. That's his special talent, building up these little social networks of his."

"Well shucks, that's kind of a neat talent to have, ain't it? Somethin' like that’d probably help me make all kinds of business deals.”

"He's close with my family too. My mother just adores him. She tries so hard to get him to visit more often."

"Y'all got family here?" she asked.

"Of course I've got family," he said, confused. "What, they don't have those back in Utopia either?"

Applejack frowned; she knew he was joking, but it wasn't all that funny. "That's not what I meant. I mean, my friends never say much about their families. Heck, I knew Twilight for a year before she even mentioned she had a brother. I only found out he existed when she got invited to his weddin'. I was just wonderin' if y'all were the same, forgettin' to mention anypony else."

"I assure you, I'm not forgetting anything." Flathoof took another large gulp of coffee. "So, you have family back home?"

"I do." She sighed. "I miss 'em already…"

Flathoof smiled warmly. "The way I look at it, your family is always with you, no matter how far away you are. Even if it's across the world, they'll always support you, right?"

Applejack nodded and gave a small smile. "I suppose. I just worry about 'em, that's all."

"What are they like? Any brothers, sisters?"

"One older brother, Macintosh. We all call him 'Big' Macintosh 'cause he's… well, he's a big guy. Hard worker, just like me. Good with math, but I ain't never seen him open a book so I ain't got any idea where he gets it from. Who knows what he gets up to in his free time.

"One lil' sister, Apple Bloom. She's… well, she's—" Applejack hesitated for a moment, then shrugged and smiled broadly. "She's Apple Bloom! Been a lil' bit obsessed with gettin' her cutie mark, and she won't listen to reason about givin' it time.

"Also got lots 'n' lots of cousins, all part of the 'Apple Clan' as we call it. I won't go through the whole list though or we'd be here all day. Got a grandmother, Granny Smith. She's gettin' along okay… but me 'n' Big Mac are worried she don't have long…"

Flathoof took another sip of coffee. "Parents?"

Applejack's smile dropped, and she stared into her coffee like it was the only thing in the world to look at. "I don't want to talk about that, if y'all don't mind?"

"I apologize." Flathoof frowned and put his cup back on the table. "If I brought up any bad memories—"

"Don't worry about it none." She shook her head and took a sip of her own coffee again. "How about you? What's your family like?"

"Mine?" Flathoof blinked and scratched his chin for a second. "Okay, I guess I can tell you. I've got my mother and father, Shortcake and Stouthoof. Two younger brothers, Thickhoof and Shorthoof. One younger sister, Pattycake. The stallions on my father's side have all been Foundry workers for generations. And, as my father says, 'the Hoof line has always been attracted to great chefs', so that's what my family's mares have all tended to be."

Applejack found herself recalling something Pinkie once called her, "best baker ever". She shook her head. Why did she think of that at all?

He laughed and drained the last of his coffee. "Very traditional, you understand. I'm a bit of a black sheep, if you will. The first stallion in over twelve generations not to work in the Foundry. I gave it a try out of high school but decided it wasn't for me. Nearly broke my poor father's heart."

Applejack scratched her head. "What's a Foundry?"

"Oh, it's the major factory center in Mid-North. They make just about everything in the city that gets used for construction purposes of all shapes and sizes: metal smelting, tools, things like that. Not an easy job, I tell you. A lot of physical work, and there's always a risk of serious injury." She could hear the sadness in his voice with that last bit.

Applejack nodded. While she had only a vague idea what a factory was, it seemed like it was a lot like farm work, in a way: lots of physical labor, long days, and his family all did the same kind of work? Well, except himself, of course.

"Why ain't ya there with your family, if they all do the same kind of work?" she asked, remembering well her own younger days and hopes of being different by moving to Manehattan. "Sounds to me like that'd be mighty supportive for 'em. What made y'all change your mind?"

Flathoof chuckled as he sheepishly ran a hoof through his mane. "You can thank Lockwood for that. He was a wimp back in school and got picked on a lot. He still is a wimp, but at least he knows how to take better care of himself these days. I didn't like seeing my friend getting bullied around, so I stood up for him when he couldn't. Guess I kind of just ran with the idea of standing up for ponies, thought maybe the NPPD was my true calling."

"Looks like ya made it big there," Applejack said. "Still, y'all sound like ya ain't too happy about it."

Flathoof chuckled. "Oh, you would not believe the grief my family gave me for that. 'Not joining the family line', 'risking your life for strangers', 'working around all those crooked good-for-nothings'. It took them time, but eventually they understood why I wanted to do it, and since then they've supported me all the way. Helped a lot that Lockwood had always been another son to them. He's very convincing."

"Do ya still live with 'em? I know my friends don't live with their families no more. Far as I know, they don't even write or nothin'. Twilight didn't even know her brother was gettin' hitched 'til the week of the weddin'! Can you believe it?" Applejack shook her head in disbelief.

Flathoof nodded. "I certainly can. It's expensive moving out and living on your own around here. Unless you've got connections like Lockwood does, of course. My dad's too proud to accept much help, though, otherwise Lockwood would've probably hooked us up someplace nicer by now."

Well, now she knew where he got the smell. If he lived with his family and they all worked at that factory, then their whole house probably smelled like that at all times of the day, probably even overpowering the smell of whatever foods his mother and sister whipped up.

Flathoof shrugged. "Plus there's the practical reasons. My status as a police officer gets them a tax break, but only if I'm living with them. It's uncomfortable, sure, but I manage. My family needs every bit we can get, ever since…" He trailed off, then gave her an apologetic look. "Well, it's a long story."

"We got time, sugarcube." Applejack blushed when she realized she'd accidentally called him by the pet name she gave to all her friends. Where had that come from?

"Well, my brother, Thickhoof, got injured on the job about five years ago, when I was still just a rookie. Lost the use of his hind legs. He has to use a wheelchair or crutches to get around these days."

Applejack frowned at the dejected, faraway look in his eyes.

He sighed and batted his empty cup around between his hooves. "I had to work extra shifts for three years—most of my family too—just to pay his medical bills and to make up for the tax payments that he still has to meet. Lockwood has been a big help, getting us breaks whenever he can, but there's a limit to how many miracles he can work out."

Applejack smiled. "Well now, that's real nice of him."

"Like I said, my mother adores him. Kept trying to hook him up with my sister even though we're— even though the two of them don't see eye-to-eye." He gave a little laugh and used his hooves to draw out a round shape. "She's too big and loud for the poor guy. He likes a more, uh, soft and delicate type I think. Y'know, somepony like himself."

Applejack nodded. "I'm sorry to hear about your brother. I know I worry about things like that all the time. My brother got hurt a while back. Nothin' big, but it kept him outta work for a whole week. I was worried sick, and that ain't countin' havin' to double my workload to make up his. I kept worryin', 'what if he don't get better?', so I pushed myself a lil' too hard just to prove I could do the work of two if that ever happened."

"So you all work on your… farm together then? What kind of food do you grow? Is it any good?"

"You betcha!" Applejack smiled, glad to bring the topic back around to happier things. "Best darn apple crop in all of Equestria, if I do say so myself, not to toot my own horn or nothin'."

Flathoof scratched his head. "I'm afraid I don't know what an 'apple' is."

"Oh. Well shoot, yeah, of course ya don't. I can't see how anypony could grow apples around here anyhow. Well, we grow other things too, sure as shootin'! Carrots, celery stalks, corn, that sorta thing."

"I'll admit I've always kind of wanted to have real food more often, but it's not cheap." He sighed in disappointment. "I'm kind of disappointed you didn't bring anything with you. Not that it would've made it through customs, of course, not without a trade license and all that."

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Uh, 'real'? What in the hay does that mean?"

"Well like you said, this isn't exactly the best agricultural center," he said, swirling his hoof around above him. "I mean, we live in a smog-covered city surrounded by a barren wasteland that we oh-so-creatively named ‘The Wasteland’. So, we make synthetic food. Well, the Dolor company does anyway. They've got kind of a monopoly, but hey, you don't want to taste the knock-offs."

Applejack eyed her coffee with extreme disdain. It wasn't real coffee? Sure, she admitted it tasted a little funny, but she'd chalked that up to it just being an odd brew, not it being fake.

She gulped. "So, uh, what do y'all use to make it if ya don't got any crops?"

"Ponies."

Applejack turned white and was glad she hadn't been drinking the stuff at that exact moment, but was horrified that she'd already finished half her cup.

Flathoof started laughing. "Sorry, sorry, just a joke. I've got to remember you girls don't really have much of a sense of humor like we do. That whole 'Dolor Green is Ponies' thing is just a sick rumor. I've seen their facility myself, and I haven't seen anything that made me think the rumors were true."

Applejack continued to tremble, and pushed her cup away from herself as far as she could.

Flathoof tugged his collar and gave her an apologetic smile. "C'mon now, Applejack, you've just gotta relax. If you're going to hang around Lockwood for any amount of time, you're going to have to get used to some of his jokes. He's much better about it than I am. Or worse, depending on your point of view. He's got the tone of voice down perfect."

"R-right…" She gulped and eyed her coffee, deciding right then and there not to take another sip, just in case. "Heh, w-what a silly thought, usin' ponies as food. Heh. Heh heh…"

As the two of them continued to talk, neither took much notice of an icy blue unicorn mare in a turtleneck sitting several tables away, hurriedly scribbling in a notebook.

*****

"Easy now. Just a little more to the left. A little more… aha! Perfect. Wonderful work darling!" Rarity said to Fluttershy as she helped her straighten a cleaned set of curtains over a cracked window. "Oh it is so good to have an extra pair of delicate hooves like yours available, my dear."

"Thank you." Fluttershy blushed, her face obscured behind her mane. "It's nothing much, really."

"On the contrary, darling! With your help, we'll have this hovel looking spic and span in no time at all. Why, it might even just be liveable!"

Inside room eighty-four and five at Southeast Point, cleaning had really gotten underway now that there was more room to move, even if there were less ponies to do the work. The few bits of furniture left in the room by a previous tenant—and not a murder victim, hopefully—were enough to help them turn the cramped apartment into a comfortable home. It wasn't anything particularly fancy, but it was clean enough that it would serve them for as long as needed.

"And then we can begin decorating for the party, right?" Pinkie asked. She started bouncing in a circle, giggling into her hooves. "Oh boy, I wonder when we can go start shopping for—"

Rarity interrupted, "Pinkie, dear, that is really neither here nor there at this point. I think we should focus more on getting everything all cleaned up, then getting some rest. Maybe we can think about the party tomorrow, hmm? Besides, we don't have any money for supplies like that just yet, and I'd feel rather awful asking for any more charity from our generous friends."

From the doorway, Lockwood gave a light-hearted chuckle. "My dear Miss Rarity, with a face like yours, I'm quite surprised there isn't already a line of stallions lining up to give you gifts."

Rarity smiled back at him. "Oh ho ho, don't you think that just by doling out charm that you can get out of helping us tidy up, Lockwood. Come on then, be a good stallion and—"

A voice came from the stairwell. "Mister Lockwood! Mister Lockwood!"

Lockwood turned around and stepped into the hall to find the source of the shouting. "By the stars, what's all the commotion?"

A light purple earth pony mare bounded up the stairs and hopped into the hallway, landing next to him with a thump. Her sides heaved as she tried to catch her breath, and she put a hoof over her chest to calm herself. She rested a foreleg against Lockwood to steady herself.

"Thank goodness I found—" She took a breath. "Hold on—" Another breath. "Give me a minute—" She exhaled greatly. "Whew! Okay. I'm good. Mister Lockwood!" She grabbed his hoof and started dragging him towards the stairs. "You gotta come quick! There's another gas leak!"

Lockwood chuckled dismissively. "Whoa now, what are you getting me for then? That's Fixit's job, you know that."

The mare kept dragging him. "Mister Fixit's on his way!"

"Okay, so?

"It's in eighty-two and twelve thirty!"

Lockwood nearly tripped. "Aww, no, not those two again. Didn't we tell them last time they had a leak that they'd used up their allotted repairs for the month?"

She pleaded. "I know, sir, but you gotta—"

Lockwood held up a hoof to stop her from talking. "Fine fine, I'll take care of this. Go on, I'll be right down."

He grumbled and turned back to the four mares in the room that had watched the whole thing unfold, then started pacing back and forth rapidly, his head slowly shaking back and forth in thought.

Rarity coughed into her hoof. "Trouble, I take it?"

Lockwood sighed and straightened his jacket. "There's a pair of tenants down in eighty-two and twelve thirty that are real… basket cases. This is the third leak this month. We don't know what's causing it or if they're even at fault, but they're making a stink about it. I need to calm them down before they start trouble again, at least until Fixit shows up to… well, fix it."

He took a deep breath. "Okay, this is going to sound really irresponsible, but I need to take care of this. My primary job has to come first. Can I trust you all to just stay here and keep cleaning?"

Rarity and Fluttershy glanced at one another, then back to him and nodded. "Of course you can, darling."

Rainbow snorted. "Pft, you guys are lucky we're not real criminals, I'll tell you that much."

"I know, I know," Lockwood said. He smoothed his mane back with a hoof and straightened his jacket. "Look, I've gotta get down there. Just hold tight, okay?"

He turned back around and headed down the stairwell, leaving the four mares alone in their room.

Rarity turned to Pinkie and tutted. "Well? Don't stand around, dear. I'd like to have everything tidied up before Twilight and Applejack return. So—"

A loud crash sounded from the kitchen, causing Rarity to snap her head towards the violent clatter of flying pots and pans. "Good heavens, Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?!"

"I'm trying to clean up over here, what does it look likeI'm doing?"

Wielding a duster in her mouth, Rainbow stirred up a frenzy in the small kitchen area. Small cooking appliances leapt away in fear of her rapid cleaning. Huge clouds of dust tumbled directly onto other mounds of dust, spreading the mess rather than getting rid of it. If Rarity had planned to give the kitchen a good once over before, now she was desperate to fend Rainbow away.

Rarity stomped over to Rainbow, and yanked the feather duster away from her with a contemptuous snort. Immediately, she set about the enormous task of repairing the damage the pegasus had caused.

"It looks like you're taking a few big messes and turning them into a whole lot of smaller ones!" Rarity scolded, shaking the duster in Rainbow's face and covering the pegasus with dust. She then spun around in place, dusting the cabinets and the counter tops while she hummed a spirited tune.

Rainbow gave her an exasperated look and snatched the duster out of Rarity's magic. "Pfft, what does it even matter, anyway? It's not like we're going to be here for that long."

Rarity scowled, snatching the duster right back. "Regardless of how long we're here for, this is our home for now, and it wouldn't be right to—"

"This isn't our home, Rarity." Rainbow snatched the duster yet again, and batted it back and forth in the air above her head to keep it out of Rarity's reach. "Have a little faith in Twilight. She'll figure out something and we'll be back home in a jiffy."

Rarity looked offended, and grabbed the duster with her magic again. Rainbow held tight, tugging on it to keep Rarity from getting it back.

Pinkie loudly chomped down on another scoop of popcorn from her seat on the couch. Fluttershy glanced at the bag—she didn't know where it'd come from—then at Pinkie. Pinkie wordlessly offered her some, which Fluttershy hesitantly took. Butter-flavored, with a hint of salt.

Rarity continued to argue even as she fiercely fought for control of the cleaning instrument. "Are you implying I don't have any confidence in Twilight? I'm merely preparing for the off-chance that whatever solution she discovers isn't going to just immediately whisk us away and take us back to where we belong. It's called 'preparedness', Rainbow."

Rainbow pointed an accusing hoof at Rarity and started to speak, dropping the duster to the floor in the process. The chintzy wooden handle snapped in half as it hit the tile. Rarity and Rainbow gave each other nervous stares for a moment. Fluttershy cringed from her seat on the couch.

Pinkie coughed, almost choking on a popcorn kernel. Fluttershy tapped her back to help dislodge it.

Rarity rolled her eyes, grabbed the second duster from the nearby countertop, and got right back to her cleaning.

Rainbow huffed and pointed her hoof at Rarity again. "There you go acting like even if Twilight finds something that'll get us home, we'll be here long enough that we may as well—"

"Treat it like our home away from home, yes," Rarity interrupted. She pushed her way past Rainbow and started dusting around their tiny stove. "What exactly is your objection to being practical, Rainbow?" she asked, turning and jabbing the duster at the pegasus again. "If, Celestia forbid, we end up being here for a while, wouldn't it make sense to at least be comfortable?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes and, once again, yanked the duster out of Rarity's grip. "It's not that I'm not being practical, it's that I want to have faith in my friend to figure this all out."

She then stamped a hoof and jabbed the duster at Rarity for a change, getting dust all over the unicorn's face.

"Ptth, ffth," Rarity spat. "Rainbow Dash, really!"

A gasp sounded from the couch, followed by a quiet shush.

"I could ask you the opposite!" Rainbow shouted. "Why are you so determined to think the worst of the situation?"

"Me? I'm just trying to make sure that if the worst does happen, we don't get caught without a backup plan. Twilight would do the same thing."

Pinkie popped up between the two arguing ponies and wrapped them together in a tight hug. "Hey, turn those frowns upside-down, you two! I'm sure Twilight'll come through just fine. She's always been super-reliable in the past, right?" She dropped the two ponies in her grip to repeatedly tap a hoof to her temple. "Well, I mean, except for that time with the Parasprites. That was all me that fixed everything. Twilight just made it worse."

Rainbow narrowed her eyes. "So you're saying we should look to you for answers, Pinks? Because last I checked you were more concerned with throwing a party than with trying to get us home."

Rarity tutted, shaking the duster she'd managed to snatch back in Rainbow's face again. "Don't get started on her. She's just trying to make this whole experience more pleasant for all of us, and to thank our new friends. It's the least we could do to show our appreciation."

"And that's another thing!" Rainbow shouted, throwing her hooves into the air. "You guys are all so trusting of these two new ponies, who helped us for no reason whatsoever except to be 'nice'. It all seems pretty suspicious to me. What if they're up to something, huh?"

"And you think I'm the one assuming the worst? Listen to you!" Rarity turned her nose up. "I don't even want to think about what you think they could be up to."

"Yeah, I bet you wouldn't." Rainbow turned towards the den. "How about you Fluttershy? At least tell me you have some suspicions about 'em."

Fluttershy squeaked and tried to hide behind the couch. She thought she'd done a good job of not being noticed. "W-well, they both seem… nice. I can, um… I can tell when a pony is really being kind to me, or if it's just an act. Rarity's right, they don't seem like bad ponies at all."

"Urgh, whatever. I'll believe it when I see it." Rainbow grabbed the duster out of Rarity's hold again, and started sweeping a pile of dust under the kitchen rug. "If it'll shut you all up for a little bit I'll just get back to cleaning on my own."

Rarity grimaced and put a hoof to her mouth. "Oh dear, you're not really going to just sweep that all under the rug are you? Good heavens, that's counter-productivity at its finest."

Pinkie pulled a third duster out of her mane and passed it over to Rarity.

Rarity took it, paused, then shrugged. "Nevermind. Here, Rainbow, at least let me help you."

"Phew…" Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back against the couch. "Oh, if you girls don't mind, um… I'm going to take a step out for some fresh air. All this dust is bothering my nose."

"Go right ahead, darling," Rarity said, keeping the rug aloft in her magic as she tried to prevent Rainbow from sweeping any more dust under it. "You deserve a break."

Once she'd stepped out of the cramped little room, Fluttershy looked about and spotted only one other pony in the hallway with her: a janitor wearing… a turtleneck and a scarf? Odd clothes to wear while doing cleaning. They stood facing the corner away from Fluttershy, busily doing something with one the wall panels, it seemed.

Figuring that her friends were well out of earshot, Fluttershy let out another deep sigh of relief. She was glad the argument had settled down before it got any worse, more importantly that Rainbow hadn't forced the issue of sharing opinions. She hadn't wanted to share her own fears and tribulations about the whole situation.

Truth be told, she was actually somewhat glad to hear that she wasn't the only one frightened at the prospect of being stuck here forever. That meant she wasn't alone. She still hoped that Twilight would come through, of course. She knew she would, but how long would that take? How long would they be here? A few hours? Another day? A week? Months? Years?!

In her focus, she almost did not notice the janitor busily sweep past her and head for the stairs.

Fluttershy gave a nervous peep just before the janitor got to the stairwell. "Oh, um, excuse me, I think you dropped something."

Fluttershy trotted over and picked up a notebook that the janitor had misplaced. As she delivered it, she couldn't help but notice what was in the notebook. Was that a sketch of her? She was used to that kind of treatment even back home—she had been a model after all—though she didn't much like the attention.

The janitor grabbed it in a hurry. Fluttershy now noticed the janitor was an icy blue unicorn mare; she hadn't assumed one way or the other, but still, it was nice to have confirmation.

"Bloody hell, how did I drop— oh, I mean, thanks."

Fluttershy smiled. "Um, are you some kind of artist? In your spare time, I mean?"

The janitor glanced back and forth between her notebook and Fluttershy's eager expression. "Well, uh… yes! Yes. Ya could say that. I'm taking, uh sketch classes. Yup. Sketching… stuff…"

"Your drawing is very nice," Fluttershy said. "You really captured my image. It's very lifelike. Oh, if you don't mind my saying so," she added; some ponies hated getting critique, after all.

"No no, not at all, thanks for the compliment." The janitor tucked her notebook back into her sweater pocket and started backing towards the stairs. "Sorry to run, but I've got other floors to tidy up. Pleasure speaking to ya. Bye!"

And just like that, the janitor was hastily down the stairs. She was in such a hurry that she seemed to skip entire floors on her way down.

"Such a strange pony," Fluttershy said.

She turned and headed back towards the apartment.

Then, she stopped.

There was a breeze coming from the window at the end of the hall. She coughed a little as the smoggy air started to waft in. Had the window just been opened? There wasn't anypony around now that the janitor was gone. Fluttershy trotted over and closed the window with a click, took a breath of cleaner air, then turned back towards the apartment again.

*****

Winter set her things down in her den and hurriedly hung up her scarf and beret. She took a deep breath, and opened her refrigerator to help herself to a snack, a thick tube of Dolor Yellow this time. It was not her favorite flavor by any means—when chilled it tasted like too-sour lemons—but it was packed with nutrients that would re-energize her after galloping across the city in pursuit of a lead.

Summer had insisted that whatever was happening needed urgent attention, so she was going to get Winter's best work.

Once Winter felt relaxed and well-fed, she clicked her stopwatch and opened the door to her grandfather clock. A brief check around the room revealed nothing out of the ordinary. As she closed the door behind her, she noticed that it didn't click just right, almost as if something had been caught in the hinge. She tried again and got the same result. She scratched her head, then shrugged.

Damn door always has problems, she thought. Ah, I'll fix it when I'm done.

She cantered over to her communications screen and clicked a few buttons to open up her emergency channel. That's where Summer would most likely prefer to be monitoring the most, given the situation. It rang once. Twice.

As expected, Summer did not take long to answer. Her visage appeared on the other end of the monitor, and Winter could tell she had been quite busy these past several hours. It was nearing daybreak in this world, and thus likely in Summer's as well. Had she been up all night?

"Oh good, you're back already," Summer said.

"You alright there, mate?" Winter asked. "Ya look more rooted than I do."

Summer rubbed her eyes. They were just a little bloodshot. "Don't worry about me, Winter. Somethin' is definitely the matter on my end, so I'm hopin' that you're going to help me find out what, or rather who is causin' it. Please tell me you've got some news? Good news?"

"Well, I decided to keep my distance from them for now and just observe from afar," Winter explained, taking out her notepad. "I figured if I just came right out and started spoutin' all the timey-wimey shit, they'd just panic or get confused, or worse get excited. I don't want to get their hopes up or anythin' just yet."

Summer nodded. "Oh yeah, you said they're not going home for probably a month or so anyway."

"Right, so if they start gettin' anxious they're liable to break character and start soundin' crazy. Might make it more difficult to get them sent home later on."

Winter shuffled through her sketchbook and opened it to the most recent drawing she'd made first. It was a rough but accurate sketch of an earth pony with a curly mane and tail, and a cutie mark of three balloons. She'd noted in the margins that the pony was very, very pink.

Winter read from her notes on the back of her paper. "This is… Pinkie Pie. Really energetic, kind of a fruit loop. She kept talkin' about gettin' a party started, bugger all if I know why. Any bells?"

Summer tapped a hoof to her chin. "She looks familiar. I might have seen her around Ponyville, but I can't put my hoof on anythin' just yet. Just keep goin', I'll think of it. Who's next?"

Winter flipped the page over. This time, the sketch was of a dainty-looking unicorn with a curly, well-groomed mane and tail and three diamonds making up her cutie mark. Winter's scribbles said she was white with a purple mane.

"This was Rarity. She was a right figjam, very—"

"I'm sorry, she was a what? A figjam?"

"Eh? Oh. It means she's really full of herself, yeah? Figjam's an acronym."

"Forrr...?"

Winter rolled her eyes. "Stands for 'fuck I'm good just ask me'."

"Ah." Summer coughed; she wouldn't be quite so accustomed to that sort of language where she was from. "Carry on."

"Yeah, so she was very prim, very proper, very tidy, but she also seemed practical, and just wanted to get settled in case they couldn't go home anytime soon. She's on the right track far as I'm concerned. Anythin'?"

"Again, very familiar," Summer mused. "Gosh, I think I know these mares, but I can't think of what would make them significant. I know I should, but frack if I can remember."

"Maybe ya need to get some sleep?" Winter said. "We can continue this in the mornin'."

"No time for that," Summer dismissed. "Just keep goin'. It's just that my head's goin' a mile-a-minute right now, so I'm a bit fuzzy on the details doncha know."

Winter shrugged. "Well, alright then."

She flipped to the next sketch, a short-maned pegasus that was noted to have a rainbow-colored mane and tail, a lightning bolt-shaped cutie mark, and a light blue coat.

"Rainbow Dash. Very loud, sort of a figjam herself but in a different way. She meant well, though, like she was tryin' to be brave for the others. Made a pretty big fuss about bein' here and acceptin' help from strangers."

Summer frowned and rubbed her temples. "Aw geez, that name sounds familiar. Rainbow Dash is a bit of a celebrity around Ponyville, doncha know. Fastest flyer I've ever seen."

"So ya know some of them, but you're not seein' anythin' useful?"

"Right, I'm not seein' the connection between them all yet. For cripe's sake, I know there's somethin' important about her, but I just can't remember."

On the next page was a timid-looking pegasus with a long, flowing mane and tail. Those were noted to be light pink, like the butterflies that composed her cutie mark. Her coat was noted as being yellow.

"Fluttershy. She was very quiet." Winter gave a small smile. "She's a cute sheila, eh? Really lived up to her name. I'm kind of worried about what might happen to this one. My world isn't all sunshine and gumdrops."

"I don't really recognize her," Summer said, "but she must be connected if she was with the others."

Winter nodded and flipped her notebook page again. "Well at any rate, those four were settlin' in at their new apartment. I've got no idea how they managed to get one so quickly. Anyway, I found the other two bein' escorted by a police officer. I guess they got into a little trouble for not havin' any ID."

Summer frowned. "Aw geez, that's not gonna mess things up, will it?"

Winter waved a hoof. "Nah, no worries, mate. They're likely only on parole or somethin', so they won't be escorted all the time or for long." She pointed at her sketch of an earth pony wearing a hat, with a triple apple cutie mark adorning her noted orange flank. "First, Applejack. Mentioned working at a Sweet Apple Acres?"

Summer sighed and ran a hoof through her sweaty mane. "Frack! I recognize that name too. Everypony in Ponyville knows who Applejack is. That farm's been in her family for generations. And I know these girls are all connected, too, but I can't put my hoof on it."

"Well, it sounds like they all lived in your town so it makes sense that they'd be there. But why were they together? And why were they near the portal at the same time?"

"I'm thinkin', I'm thinkin'. I wanna say it's because they're all friends and… I dunno, maybe they were havin' a picnic?"

"Wouldn't explain why they're causin' an imbalance just for bein' gone, though."

Winter scratched her head, then flipped the page to reveal a unicorn with straight-combed hair and a starburst cutie mark, her coat noted as being a light purple. "Last, Twilight Sparkle. Kind of a bookworm, which must be a huge blow for her here, what with so few books in the city and all that." She paused. "Crikey, mate, you okay?"

Summer's face had gone white on the other end of the line. "Aw geez, awwww geez, I recognize her."

Winter brightened. "Oh? Good! But, uh, ya don't look happy about that. Is somethin' wrong?"

Summer pointed her hoof at the screen. "That would be the prized pupil of none other than Princess Celestia herself. I knew these mares looked familiar, and now I remember why. Frack me sideways, I've been so stressed out lately I didn't see it. Now it all makes sense, doncha know. Those are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony!"

Winter looked back and forth between the sketch and the screen. "The Elements of what-now?"

Summer sighed and put her hooves under her chin. "Okay, it's like this. In my world—and most worlds similar to mine—we've got six relics that represent individual aspects of Law: the Elements of Harmony. They usedto just sit around and do their job on their own thanks to Princess Celestia, doncha know?"

"Oh yeah, I think I read about those in trainin'," Winter said, recalling some of her basic history classes. "This world doesn't have anythin' like that. So what's the trouble if they just do their job on their own? What's it got to do with these six?"

"Well, ever since Nightmare Moon returned and was defeated, the power of the Elements were transferred from Princess Celestia to those six mares. I don't know which of them is which, besides Twilight Sparkle bein' Magic, but the others are Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, and Laughter.

"To balance them out, we've got Discord, who's basically pure Chaos in physical form, doncha know. In my world he's been beaten twice, once long ago by Celestia and Luna, the other recently by those six. His seal broke after the Elements changed hooves, eh?"

"So that's where your problem is, then. That seal is breakin', so Discord is causin' the imbalance without these mares there to counteract it." Winter leaned back in her chair and breathed deep. "Sounds like a right mess."

Summer shook her head and took out her Timekeeper. She clicked it a few times, shaking her head at each display of figures she saw. "You don't know the half of it, believe you me. See, when they left my world, their seal on Discord weakened almost immediately, probably because it's still fresh and they're not as strong as Celestia and Luna, doncha know?"

"Just goin' from bad to worse, eh?"

"Oh yeah. Not to mention that anythin' chaotic near him will cause that seal to weaken faster. Luckily, Celestia put his statue somewhere where he won't be exposed to too much. I hope."

"How long do we have, then?"

"Let's see…" Summer tapped her Timekeeper a few times, then groaned. "Aw geez, the seal might break within the next four weeks, and that's bein' generous," she explained. "I'd say realistically you're lookin' at three."

"Strewth! You're not giving me a lot of options here, Summer."

Summer sighed and nodded. "Frack, Winter, I wish I could, but we can't afford to wait until you get natural portals again. This is a mess. I doubt anypony would mind if we took drastic measures here. Emergency Measure Five sounds appropriate, doncha know."

Winter nodded. "The ol' artificial portal, eh? I'll need a huge amount of magical power to tear open a portal manually, but one of our alicorns should do the trick. Nihila seems like the smart choice."

Summer raised an eyebrow. "I won't say I know much about your world there, but isn't she… y'know, evil?"

"That she is, but it's the logical decision," Winter said matter-of-factly. She tapped her head with a hoof. "Think about it. I've got three weeks to get these sheilas home—four if we're lucky—and a trip from here to Utopia to see Harmonia will be cuttin' that awfully close, and that's assumin' we can get a flight out of Hope's Point easily."

"Hmm… yeah, I suppose it might be risky tryin' to make it all that way in such a short time, especially if you don't have a guarantee of transportation."

"Not to mention that my wilderness survival trainin' isn't exactly up to par for a group that size; I took advanced combat trainin' for my elective."

"You would do that wouldn't you?" Summer chuckled. "Well, why not just take a direct flight from your city, though? Don't they offer that?"

"Because I'd have to get seven tickets, and the prices, let me tell ya, they'd blow your bleedin' socks off. You'd have to be richer than rich to afford seven of the things; eight, technically, since I'd need to make a round trip. HQ can't just make that many bits appear out of thin air, eh?"

"Well shoot, that's a fine pickle then."

"Strewth. So, I don't think I could safely get them down south in time. If I had an extra month I might risk it since we'd be able to take it slow and steady, but not with this itinerary."

"Still, you think Nihila would actually help you?"

Winter tilted her head. "Yeah, why wouldn't she?"

"Because she's, uh, evil, doncha know? I think we've established that."

Winter dismissed the worry with a wave of her hoof. "No worries, mate. She might be evil, but she's not stupid. Those six leavin' your world caused a shift in the balance, yeah? Well then their arrival would logically do the same here. Look, I'll prove it."

Winter took out her Timekeeper, popped it open, and twisted a few dials to display some graphs and figures on the screen, which she then showed to Summer. "See? It's not a very big swing, but my world's got an imbalance brewin' too ever since those sheilas showed up. Hell, should just get worse the longer they're here."

"Okay, so… what does that mean for your plan?" Summer asked.

"Simple: like I said, Nihila isn't stupid, and she's likely already realized that Harmonia is the dominant power now, even if only by a fraction of a percent. She won't stand for that, and I'm willin' to bet she'd be glad to bring things back to normal, which means sendin' these mares packin'."

Summer gulped. "What is she, uh… thinks killin' 'em might be easier?"

"If she does, all the energy that's causin' the imbalance'll just stay in this world and she won't be able to get rid of it, and I'll make sure she understands that. Sendin' those girls home is the only option she has. I just have to get in contact with her… which I don't know how to do," Winter admitted.

"Is that gonna be difficult?"

"It might take some time, but hopefully not too much. Now that we've got a plan in action, I can have those six sheilas lend me a hoof in figurin' things out, eh? No worries at all."

"Well, if you think it'll work, I'll trust your judgement on this. You know more about your world than I do. I'll try and keep things calm over here to buy you as much time as I can, doncha know."

"That'll do nicely."

Summer smiled. "Okee doke then, just keep in touch, and… hmm…?"

Winter raised an eyebrow. "Eh? What's wrong, mate?"

Summer shook her head and rubbed her eyes. "Sorry. I think you might be right about me gettin' some sleep. I could swear I saw somethin'— look out!"

A split second later, and Winter would be just a bloody smear on her own video screen.

As luck would have it, she had very good reflexes.

A black-clad pegasus bounced off of her as she ducked at the last second. His gleaming dagger twirled over her head, embedding itself in the monitor and shorting it out.

Winter breathed rapidly. The blade had barely nicked her ear.

Her assailant did not remain disoriented for long; he was upon her again, a violent flash of blue and black.

"Crikey! What the bloody—"

She ducked out of the way of a swift buck.

"That's the idea!" The pegasus laughed. "A Chronomancer, eh? I thought your order was just a fable. Well, sorry about this, my little clock cleaner, but your time has run out. Ha!"

Winter sneered and steadied herself. "Great, here come the puns," she muttered to herself.

The pegasus unsheathed another knife and bolted towards her, a maddened demon out for blood.

She lit her horn and waited until he was point-blank, then blasted him with a steam of ice-cold magic.

He slammed into the low ceiling, but quickly shrugged it off. He grinned down at her like a madpony and licked his lips. "You've got some fight in you!" he growled. "I haven't had to work for a kill in ages, darling. You're making this fun. I think I'm in love."

She didn't reply, merely steadied herself for his next attempt, keeping her horn lit and her jaw set.

"No witty retorts? Come on now, I thought we had something special here," he chortled. When she didn't give him the satisfaction, he huffed. "Well then, if you're not going to be fun, let's just get this over with."

He rushed at her again. She expected another charge and was ready to blast him.

He surprised her by flinging his dagger towards her; she had to raise a smaller shield at an awkward angle to deflect the blade. It was enough for him to close in and tackle her.

They rolled together and slammed into the doorway of the clock, tumbled into the apartment den, and crashed through the coffee table. Winter felt her head slam through one of the table legs; that'd leave a nasty bruise for sure.

He pinned her when they came to a stop at the sofa. She saw that at least he'd been hurt too. Blood dripped from his mouth; shards of glass were embedded around his eye; one tooth was chipped.

Those injuries didn't stop him from putting pressure on her throat or giving a low, self-assured laugh.

She lit her horn, but did not blast him away; he was heavy enough that it might not work and would just waste her energy. But, with his attention all on her, he couldn't see behind him where her magic was gathering and freezing moisture in the air.

Just to sell the image, though, she used a little magic—a pitiful amount, really, since simultaneous spellcasting was difficult—to weakly push him away; naturally, he didn't budge an inch. He just laughed at the attempt.

"So, this is it then?" he snickered. "I take back what I said: you're boring. Once I found out what you were, I was expecting more from this encounter. A witty back-and-forth while we traded blows, maybe? A little more fighting spirit? A challenge, maybe?"

She struggled to keep his hooves from crushing her windpipe, not easy given his size compared to her, but she managed. She just needed a few more seconds; just a little more ice.

"Look at you, writhing on the floor like every other desperate victim out there, just as worthless as a common whore," he said, shaking his head. "I went through a lot of trouble coming up with different ways I was going to kill you, but this? This isn't even fun. No pleading, no choking for air? Even your face doesn't look scared enough!"

She clenched her teeth. Just a little more.

His jovial smile dropped entirely; now he just looked angry. "Come on!" he spat. "Say something! Beg for your life at least, you stupid bitch!" He pressed down on her throat harder, practically throttling her. "Cry out for mercy! Beg! Beg, damn you!"

She muttered something under her breath, too quiet for him to hear.

That brought his smile back. "There, was that so hard? You're going to have to speak up though." The pressure on her windpipe let up just slightly, and he leaned in close. "What was that?"

Her panicked expression—fake, of course—turned into a cheeky grin. Though it hurt to breathe, she managed to get out the words clear as crystal: "You talk too much."

He let out a yowl of agonizing pain as a spear of ice pierced through his midsection, clipping through the base of his left wing. The ice melted as soon as Winter dropped her focus on it to blast him off of her.

The pegasus slammed hard against the adjacent wall, giving Winter ample time to get up and recover, coughing all the while now that she could breathe again.

When she glanced over at him, she could see a certain fire in his eyes. If he wasn't mad before—

Then, to her surprise, he vanished into the shadows of the corner, melting into them like water.

It came so out of the blue that Winter wasn't sure what to make of it. She wracked her brain trying to think of what kind of magic—unicorn magic—that was and how a pegasus was using it.

She almost didn't notice him reappear in the shadows behind her, almost didn't notice him approach. But, thanks to his injured wing, he wasn't able to move swiftly and silently through the air; he had to step on broken glass and shattered wood.

She turned in time to duck another dagger thrust; where was he getting all these knives from, anyway?

He was quick, far too quick for an average pony to handle. Winter's remarkable reflexes were the only thing keeping her from getting impaled. He was ferocious when he was angry, but she preferred him like this: quiet.

After dodging a few thrusts, she went on the offensive, not with her magic but by slamming her hoof up into his jaw. He hadn't expected it—nopony expects a unicorn to use their hooves in combat—and fell back after the strike; she might be much smaller than he was, but she knew how to hit and hit hard.

She moved to press the advantage, leaping forward to clock him again.

He just slipped away into the shadows, vanishing beneath her as she landed on the floor.

"So, that's how it's gonna be?" she muttered.

She recognized the magic now. Umbramancy. Shadow magic. A very potent magic school that allowed one to manipulate shadows. In his case, he could move through them and appear anywhere else in the room. How a pegasus could use it she didn't know, but there was no mistaking it.

But Umbramancy had one key weakness: it required shadows to manipulate in the first place.

Winter took a deep breath and quick-charged a potent light spell; it was taxing on her magic, but it would solve the problem right here and now.

The spell struck the ceiling and cast several bright glares throughout the room, like miniature suns on a cloudless summer day. The light cascaded around the room in an instant, bright enough that Winter had to squint so she wasn't blinded.

The room was engulfed in light. No shadows. No place to hide.

The pegasus stood just a few feet to her left, his good wing hastily lifted to shield his eyes from the glare.

And she was ready for him.

One blast from her horn knocked him back. Another slammed him into the window, hard enough to shatter the glass.

And another shoved him right outside.

She was surprised to see him tumble and fall; she'd expected him to take flight, actually.

She cautiously stepped over to the window, horn aglow. She was no fool; he could be hovering just beneath the windowsill, waiting for her to lean over so he could pull her outside.

But she was ready.

She did, in fact, lean out the window to see where he'd gone, her magic prepped to slam his face into the side of the building if he tried anything.

But when she glanced down, he wasn't there. To the left? Nothing. The right? Nothing. Above her? Nothing.

He was gone. If he'd fallen down to the alley below, she couldn't see him from this high up; if he'd taken off into the sky, the smog was so thick up there that she couldn't see him through it. Plus, with that Umbramancy, he might have very well slipped into the shadow of the building.

So, as far as she could tell, he was gone without a trace.

"Shit," she muttered as she backed up into the room. "Guess I'm not askin' him any questions."

She shook her head and walked over to her grandfather clock. The door was busted open completely, the glass of the window shattered and strewn about the room.

Winter stepped inside and used her magic to close the door, putting a shield spell over it to keep it shut. It wouldn't be a permanent solution, but she didn't need it to be.

With that done, she grabbed her Timekeeper off the desk where she'd left it, then tapped a few buttons on the keyboard in front of her broken monitor. "Summer? Are ya still there?"

No response.

"Summer Rains? This is Winter Glow, reportin' in. Do ya read me?"

The speakers on the station gave a low crackle, followed by a familiar voice.

"Winter?!"

Winter let out a breath, relieved that the station hadn't been completely busted. "Good to hear ya, Summer. Where were we? I think we were gettin' ready to move—"

"Forget that shit! For cripe's sake, girl, are you okay?!"

"Yeah, I'm alright," Winter said, brushing her ear with a hoof; it was still bleeding, but not as badly. It'd leave a scar for sure, though. "Been better."

"What the hell just happened? Why can't I see you?"

"Just some yobbo tryin' to take my head off. He broke the monitor, so we're stuck with audio only."

Winter couldn't see Summer's face but she could just hear the other mare's indignant expression. "How can you be so calm when somepony just tried to kill you?"

"What good would it do me to be in a panic? I'll let you do the panickin' for me, thanks very much."

Summer grumbled. "Winter…"

"Relax, Summer, no worries here, eh? I dealt with the bastard for now, and if I've got time I'll try to figure out why he attacked me, but we've still got work to do. What's HQ's motto? 'Stiff Upper Lip' and all that shit? I just gotta keep movin' forward."

"You never cease to amaze me, Winter. Fine. I'll work on my end to keep things smooth and safe to buy you all the time you need to find a way to send those girls home."

"Good. Now obviously, I'm not gonna be in normal contact over the comin' weeks. Protocol says that I've gotta recycle my TARDIS in the event of a breach and all that. Can't exactly live here in this apartment, either, so I'll have to work somethin' out."

"Aw geez, Winter, I hope you're gonna be okay…"

Even though Summer couldn't see her, Winter smiled. "I'll be fine, mate. Just worry about yourself and the work on your end, and let me worry about me."

"Okay…"

"I'll try and get ya some updates over the Timekeeper when I can. I know it's limited, but hey, we gotta work with what we've got. At least I've still got it on me, eh? Imagine if I'd lost it! Ha!"

"Winter, you're a dope sometimes, but nopony's stupid enough to misplace their Timekeeper." Summer sighed. "Take care of yourself. Be safe."

"You too, Summer."

Another crackle from the speakers, and then silence.

Winter sighed, took her Timekeeper out of the grandfather clock with her—dropping her shield in the process—and grabbed her scarf off the rack by the door. With a glance towards the clock, she twisted her Timekeeper's dial twice, then rapidly clicked it several times.

The clock glowed white for a brief instant, then dimmed, now nothing more than a normal grandfather clock. The pocket dimension beyond had been sent back to HQ to be recycled. A shame, really; she'd just gotten the place looking the way she liked it.

She made sure she grabbed a few supplies and stuffed them into some saddlebags before she left; she wouldn't be coming back here for a while yet—with all the damages to the apartment she'd be thrown out anyway—so she'd need to take as many necessities as possible: her identification; a few tubes of Dolor products; a spare scarf, beret, and turtleneck identical to the ones she was wearing; and all the bits she had.

Satisfied with her preparations, Winter headed out her door without even bothering to grab her keys.

Chapter Five: Changes

Shadows played across the massive expanse of the dining room floor, seeping into the corners and blanketing the walls. A series of dim lights, flickering in and out softly, did little beyond casting a faint glow across the central table. A solid black tablecloth covered the table, obscuring it in the darkness and giving the illusion that the rows of thin, wax candles floated in their golden holders. Plates, bowls, glasses, forks and spoons; the table was set for ten.

This morning, as with every morning, it seated just one.

Silvertongue lifted a large berry to his mouth from a near-empty bowl, his fork steady and firm. He eyed it for consistency and color before eating it whole. For several seconds, he savored the bite, whisking the berry around in his mouth before swallowing. He then pushed the empty bowl away and levitated over a plate of genuine, fluffy pancakes, topped with more of the same berries dripping in their own juices.

Magmaberries were his favorite, and as such were utilized quite often in his diet. The name was for a variety of factors that the berries had: the lava-like consistency of their juicy interiors; their rich color, a deep, burnt red with bright orange and yellow splotches of which no two berries ever had the same pattern; and, their extremely spicy flavor with a savory-sweet aftertaste.

Like any berry, they were capable of being made into just about anything: they went well on their own as snacks, but were best frozen or deep-fried; they worked well as toppings or stuffing for pancakes, waffles, or any other baked goods, where the sugary sweetness helped overpower the heat; they even made delicious syrups, sauces, and dips, especially when roasted or blended.

As Silvertongue took a sip from his glass, he delighted in his favorite purpose for them: the best wine in the world. The flavor was so strong that it overpowered the alcohol content almost entirely; one did not drink magmaberry wine if their intent was inebriation. This only came through an excruciating process that was substantially more dangerous than just picking the berries themselves, and those only grew around the active volcanoes of the Redblade Mountains.

But a properly-made bottle of the finest magmaberry wine was a truly emotional experience. It was as though it had been fermented with pleasure and agony, all the best and worst sensations one pony could ever hope to experience in a lifetime, let alone two or more. The emotional state of the pony imbibing in it affected its flavor from their perspective. If they were sad, the wine could send them into a deep depression; if they were happy, it could fill them with an ecstatic elation.

Or so the enthusiasts would claim.

Silvertongue enjoyed his remaining breakfast one piece at a time, thoroughly scanning the morning's data report as he ate; he did not partake in a single newspaper, but a complete compilation of all the publications together.

The buzz of the intercom drew his attention. "Sir, sorry to interrupt your breakfast, but I have urgent news."

He dabbed his mouth with a napkin, then pressed the intercom button. "Yes, Shroud? What is it?"

"Um… it's regarding Shadowstep, sir."

Silvertongue's nostrils flared. He never took Shadowstep for an idiot that would disregard protocol that required he contact him first. "What news does he bring then?" he asked as he lifted his fork to take another bite of food.

"W-well, that's the thing, sir. He's… he's dead."

Silvertongue paused, his eyes widening just slightly from pure shock. He nearly dropped his fork.

"Sir?"

"I'm sorry, Shroud, but I'm afraid I must have misheard you," he said, his voice barely staying level enough to hide his surprise. "Did you just say that he's dead?"

"Y-yes sir. Tower security found him just inside the perimeter and… and Nurse Soft Touch pronounced him dead two minutes ago, cause of death being severe internal bleeding. I just double-checked to ensure the information was accurate before bringing it to your attention."

Silvertongue took a breath and calmly set his fork down on his plate, his mind suddenly racing as he tried to parse this information together. This was a far different outcome than anything he'd expected. At worst—and this was a long shot—he'd expected Shadowstep to have allowed his targets to notice him, for them to escape and hide somewhere that would take time and resources to uncover; he'd accounted for that possibility and was even prepared to forgive it if Shadowstep had brought him any useful information.

The thought that the idiot would get himself killed was so far down his list of possible outcomes that he'd have been less surprised if Harmonia herself had gotten wind of what was happening and personally came to destroy Nihila while their powers were off-balance, which of course was impossible.

"I see. Thank you, Shroud. Have his belongings sent up to me immediately, specifically his recording drive. In fact… just the recording drive will do. Dispose of his suit and weapons."

"Yes sir, right away. Shall I send word to the nurse that you'll be coming to view the body?"

Silvertongue thought about the suggestion for a brief moment.

Shadowstep, his supposed master assassin, was dead. The circumstances on how he had died—specifically what or who had killed him and how—would likely be interesting. The pegasus typically just killed his targets quickly and quietly; for him to have been injured and killed meant somepony had managed to spot him and then fight back, and extremely well at that.

However, it wasn't the how of Shadowstep's death that really mattered, not now nor in the long run.

Shadowstep had been on a very specific assignment, and unless the idiot picked a fight with some random passer-by in the street, there were only six culprits. No, one; he'd suspected the involvement of a Chronomancer, after all, and had ordered Shadowstep to deal with them if given the opportunity. He'd clearly attempted as much and failed, that much could be extrapolated from this information; the specifics of how it happened didn't matter.

The Chronomancer was clearly not somepony to trifle with lightly.

The why, though, that was the crux of the issue.

"No. Have them proceed with standard disposal procedures, and wipe his records from the archives," he said after his moment's thought. "Any other news to report?"

"No sir. I'll have that drive up to you in just a moment. Anything else I can do, sir?"

"That'll be all, Shroud, thank you."

With that, the intercom was off and Silvertongue was left to his own thoughts again.

Today had suddenly become… quite intriguing.

*****

Silvertongue strolled into his office just after he'd finished breakfast, a tiny device held in his magic that he'd retrieved from Shadowstep's belongings. It was a recording drive which, as its name implied, recorded everything that Shadowstep saw or heard and then stored it onto a portable drive that could be reviewed and annotated at a later time.

He took the device and inserted it into a socket on his desk, revealing an electronic display that sprung upright from the desk's previously flat surface. The device glowed dull blue as Silvertongue's computer interfaced with it; multiple notices and alerts flickered across the screen.

Silvertongue grunted, annoyed that the idiot pegasus hadn't bothered to update his software in, from what Silvertongue could tell, seven weeks. It took a few swipes of his hoof to bat the annoyances away and start sorting through the most recent files, at which point he found the report on Shadowstep's recent assignment fairly easily.

It appeared as a black box with neon green text strewn about and highly-detailed full-color images in the margins. Silvertongue gazed upon it, his eyes darting across as he began to read along. It was incomplete, no doubt in part due to Shadowstep's death, so Silvertongue only had direct recordings to use rather than supplementing them with Shadowstep's summarized notes; it would take longer, but that was no matter.

He noted that Shadowstep had divided each section neatly and that everything was tidily organized, just as he expected of any of his subordinates. He inwardly chuckled at the irony that he prefered everything neat and organized, yet the city he ruled was as disorganized as possible.

Each of the six mares from the prior evening's report had their own section with a wide multitude of notes; Twilight Sparkle's and Applejack's were noticeably shorter, though not so much so that it was a negative, apparently because they'd been in a public place and been harder to spy upon. Still, there was more information here than SIlvertongue had initially asked for, or even expected.

If Shadowstep were alive, Silvertongue would have forgiven him for being late to their meeting, probably even given him a little commendation for the effort. A shame he'd gotten himself killed. He'd been a useful asset over the last decade.

His eyes narrowed as he read the first part of the report, which regarded how Shadowstep had obtained a large portion of his information. The pegasus had adopted the guise of a CIA agent and interviewed an Officer Snapshot, whose name had appeared on the forms that they had reviewed prior to his mission. Just a filing clerk from all appearances, but one that was well-versed in the system and eager to help.

That Shadowstep had subsequently killed the mare was, in his eyes, a necessary evil. If the CIA got wind that one of their agents—one that didn't exist, at that—was involved in the situation, they might try to weasel their way into things sooner than he wanted.

He knew full well that the Committee would stymie his efforts just by merely being anywhere within a hundred miles of the situation. The damned fools would draw too much attention, alert too many ponies, and probably actively involve themselves with these six mares, making it that much more difficult to continue with any of his own efforts covertly.

He could only hope that Shadowstep had been discreet in dealing with the situation, but just to be sure, he'd have his technician, Hard Drive, hack into the surveillance system and ensure that as little evidence as possible was left behind; if Shadowstep was as dutiful as Silvertongue typically expected, Hard Drive was likely already working on it.

Then came the second page of the report, and Silvertongue's mouth curled in a grin as his suspicions were confirmed. A Chronomancer was indeed involved with the situation. More than that, she had been conferring with a counterpart of some sort that hailed from the world that these six mares had originated from. They'd even been discussing sending the mares home where they belonged.

After so many years, all of the theories had been proven true: Chronomancers did indeed deal with the nature of worlds beyond this one. Oh, what he wouldn't give to learn more about how their order and their magics worked. How many worlds were there out there? Were they all similar to his own? Were they different? How different? What purpose did Chronomancers truly serve in these worlds? What was their connection with Void energy?

He had so many questions that it was difficult to keep track of them all. If he had the resources, he'd likely spend countless hours researching the answers and then some, quenching his thirst for knowledge of the unknown. A shame the Chronomancers were so secretive; Shadowstep likely didn't realize just how lucky he'd been to bear witness to what he did.

But that wasn't important. What was important was how the situation that now presented itself could be used to Silvertongue's advantage. He sighed lightly to himself as he perused the report more thoroughly.

The profiles on these six "aliens" were fascinating. It was already substantially obvious that the "Ponyville" story was either a total fabrication or an incredibly odd truth, and he now knew it was the latter. The mare Applejack spoke of the place as though it were real and even mentioned working on a farm with her family. If the mare were being false then she was a natural liar with a skill that impressed even Silvertongue.

Knowing it was true was amusing. Did all towns and cities in their homeworld utilize pony-related puns for naming? That was both incredibly creative and incredibly quaint at the same time; it would take a lot of creativity to come up with enough to populate a nation with such settlements. Surely some would be a bit of a stretch once enough puns had been exhausted.

Another interesting tidbit was that nobody had mentioned yet that the six mares all had accents that would be somewhat easy to identify and that there was no way that the group came from outside the city despite their appearances otherwise, with a single exception.

Rarity, for example, had an accent that suggested she was from Whiteworth Heights, though her focus on fashion might have suggested Moonlight Hills. If one was unfamiliar with the differences in dialect, they might have even been fooled, but Rarity placed certain emphasis on certain words that should have given it away. Both of those were northern suburbs of the Romantique District, a part of the Inner Districts well-known for its fashion, food, and romantic culture, as well as its wealth.

And not a single pony had questioned why this mare had the same distinct dialect of the wealthy, fashion-conscious, and attractive members of some of the city's elite. Granted, it would take somepony with keen observation skills and knowledge of accents, dialects, slang, and the like to notice it, but still, it peeved him that such an obvious red flag had been missed.

He did note with irony that the only pony who seemed to be putting any effort into the fabrication they were going with—even if she didn't know it—was Applejack. That stetson hat perfectly matched the sort of clothing to be expected of a farmer from the southern continent, and her accent was a dead-on accurate impression of ponies from its northern region which was known for its rich coastal farmland. A town existed there these days called Newhaven, which had a modernized port that serviced airships.

The fact that these six were all together, with their vast differences in culture and mannerisms, was all that Silvertongue needed to prove that they weren't who they said they were even without reading the rest of the report. Most ponies would just let those kinds of discrepancies slide; he was not most ponies.

The mare that Shadowstep had murdered, Snapshot, was apparently connected with a Captain Flathoof of the NPPD, who was also conveniently the parole officer for these six mares so that they'd avoid jail time as punishment for disturbing the peace with their arrival. It was more than convenient, actually. Having somepony that these six would likely trust and cooperate with would potentially serve as a tremendous advantage.

He also made note of where they lived: Southeast Point. A relatively new building from his understanding, one currently owned and operated by the Rossa crime family. How this Flathoof had connections there was a mystery—there was a mention of a “Lockwood”—but one he'd look into. More importantly, knowing where these mares lived made it much easier to monitor them. Hard Drive would have more work ahead of him, that was for certain.

Silvertongue was very curious when he re-read through the Chronomancer's page. The Chronomancer of this world was intending on sending these six mares back, that was a given that he had anticipated from the moment that theory had come to his mind. After all, otherworldly visitors hardly seemed like a normal thing, and returning them to their world of origin seemed a natural solution.

What did surprise him—the second genuinely shocking surprise of the day after hearing Shadowstep had been killed—was that the Chronomancer wanted to seek Nihila's aid. He leaned back in his seat when he read that note, briefly shaken from his thoughts. The suggestion went against nearly every possibility he'd considered until this point.

He'd expected her to suggest Harmonia. The goddess of the southern continent was so good and helpful and bright that she wouldn't have given their request a second thought before helping them. Not to mention that she was relatively easy to openly contact in comparison to Nihila; Harmonia's Warden was a public figure, while he—Nihila's Warden—did not even exist as far as the ponies of the north knew.

If it were possible to contact Harmonia from here he had no doubt she would move heaven and earth to come to the mares' aid. So why was Nihila the ideal choice?

Granted, he could understand the hesitation to make the journey from here to Utopia. The northern lands had become so twisted and dangerous that few attempted the journey from here to Hope's Point by land, and what little information he possessed suggested that fewer still actually survived the trip. Even so, he'd have figured the Chronomancer to be resourceful enough to handle such a trip and so had already begun planning ways to manipulate and hinder the journey, none of which apparently mattered now.

Still, even after reading and listening through all of the report, there was something in all this information that struck him as awfully peculiar. These six mares contained enough magic within them to shift their entire world's balance just by going missing, and this world as well just by arriving. The Chronomancer had even confirmed Nihila's observation and helpfully provided a source for the problem, as much as the Law and Chaos distinction seemed misnamed. Was it something about these "Elements" that they were related to? It was unsettling.

It was also unimportant for the time being.

What was important now was alerting Nihila to the developments and devising plans for what to do about the situation before she grew restless. He focused his mind and let his essence waft out about him, an aura of magic that would serve as a beacon for his Goddess and draw her to him like a moth to a flame. She was always watching him, of course, but only by doing this did she know he had news to deliver.

"You summoned me, my Warden?"

Nihila's voice came cool and crisp into his mind, flooding his thoughts with a soothing sensation. He shuddered at the way her essence filled him. Elation and curiosity were not emotions he was used to her feeling, but she'd clearly been delving through his surface thoughts this past hour.

"My lady, I bear news regarding those creatures I discovered."

Her spirit sparked with pleasure, sending a shiver down his spine. "Ah, you flatter me with your efficiency. I am eager to hear how they pertain to the situation."

Silvertongue began to read off information from Shadowstep's report. Every time certain strings of words were used, different sensations flooded his soul as Nihila's essence fluctuated in reaction to their meanings.

The thought that another world would soon be in its death throes seemed to please her, filling her with joyful anticipation that made Silvertongue's entire being feel what she felt. He was in near ecstasy, and only maintained a calm and controlled demeanor because of years of posturing and proper etiquette.

The knowledge that these six, these wielders of the Elements of Harmony, were responsible for the imbalance that was beginning to manifest in this world rather displeased her. That word in particular—Harmony—filled Nihila with so much loathing that it worried even Silvertongue for a brief moment, not for his own sake, but for hers. She wasn't known for subtlety when she was angry.

But, it also seemed to pique her curiosity. The longer these six remained in this world, the more the imbalance would tilt in Harmonia's favor. While it would be only a minuscule proportion, it was the principle that mattered to Nihila, Silvertongue knew. Nihila's initial thoughts were simply to have the six destroyed immediately and be done with it.

The rest of the report revealed that that wouldn't help matters whatsoever. In fact, to Nihila's surprise as well—Silvertongue could feel it in her essence—the Chronomancer wanted her help to send them back. For the first time in countless years as Nihila's Warden, Silvertongue could sense that she was utterly confused.

"It would seem that this Chronomancer is either incredibly wise, or incredibly foolish," she said to him. "Why would she deign to ask me for help? Just because it is easier? I should be insulted that she considers me the simple, convenient path to her success."

"I agree, my lady, it is quite insulting to your immense power to be treated as little more than a cheap whore that this Chronomancer can call upon to aid her," Silvertongue snorted, knowing his choice of words would anger her briefly, which it did. "Perhaps we should contact her instead, demonstrate your reach and might and remind her that you are the true power here in the north?"

Nihila's essence tittered in appreciation. "Yes, that might do nicely. I will make this wretch beg me to send these pathetic mares back to their miserable home. She will regret this insult—"

"Or…"

Nihila paused. "Hmm? 'Or', my Warden? What thoughts dwell in that wonderful mind of yours?"

Silvertongue brushed the thought aside with his hoof and retook his seat. "Ah, nevermind, my lady. It was a foolish thought, it would never work."

"You sell yourself short, my Warden, for I have never known your schemes to be unsuccessful. I would hear this thought of yours. I command you: tell me."

"Well, my lady, as we know, the Chronomancer has no knowledge of how to contact you, which of course would be through me," he said, pacing slightly behind his desk. "While we could just contact her and get this entire debacle over with, I think that perhaps it would be in our interests to let her find me herself."

"Hmm… explain. What use do we get out of allowing those six mares to continue to strengthen Harmonia's influence? Their presence in our world is akin to a virus, and I will not have us simply let this infection run its course. They may believe that staying here longer would be a… good thing."

"Ah, that's just it, my lady: they're the key to all of this, whether it pleases you or not. These six mares clearly have enough power in them somehow that their very presence in our world has shifted the balance of the world in Harmonia's favor, correct?"

"Indeed, as I have said, but— ahh… I see what your mind is planning." Nihila's voice became soothing again and melted into him. "Perhaps we can convince them that Harmonia is not as benevolent as she seems? That her name is nonindictative, and that they should want our aid all the more? Yes, then they will gladly accept a hasty retreat."

Silvertongue grinned. "You're half right, my lady. Yes, perhaps we can convince them of that, and we can use them to our advantage in that endeavor. What if, when they seek out our aid, we manipulated them into serving your whims and desires? We could utilize them as weapons against Harmonia."

Nihila bristled at the concept of being weaker than Nihila, a thought that made Silvertongue's skin crawl. "Yes… yes, I see the wisdom in this plan of yours. But I see not the method for which you believe we can accomplish it. I cannot compel them to obey me directly; their connection to these 'Elements' is alien to me, and their minds and bodies will resist my attempts to corrupt their spirits."

Silvertongue grinned. It was a smug grin, hinting at the clever idea that she had yet to guess. "Ah, but my lady, perhaps you won't need to force them into accepting our offer? If they are seeking our help in the first place, would it not be in our best interest to appear to them as benevolent? To offer our aid to them and only ask for one simple thing in return? That would be when we strike."

"I do not envision them waiting patiently to ally themselves with us when their desire to return home is so great. Should you reveal yourself to them, my Warden, they will surely pester you with this request, and denial of it might turn them away and turn them towards Harmonia's accursed Light."

"Precisely, milady."

He grinned wider and leaned contentedly back into his chair.

"I am not in the position to carry out such an errand anyway. While I have a simple understanding of their personalities, there are a great many things I lack that I would need to adequately convince them that I have their best interests at heart. The Chronomancer acknowledges your nature, after all, and that would logically extend to me as well, would it not?"

"Naturally. All the more reason I see not how this plan of yours could work."

"That is only because concepts such as benevolence and compassion are so contrary to your very nature, my lady. It is not an insult to insinuate that a being of your repute could never hope to understand the inner workings of such innocent minds." He tapped a hoof to his head. "But I do."

Nihila laughed; her mirth was unexpected and rather chilling, like being dunked into a lake that had frozen over. "An innocent mind, my Warden? You? I have seen the atrocities you have committed. The horrors you have unleashed in my name, at my urging. What do you know of innocence?"

"Ah, that might be so, but you recall that I did not always serve you, my lady," he said with a smirk.

"A fair point…" she admitted; it was rare for her to admit a mistake or misunderstanding, and to him felt equally alien. "Carry on, then."

He cleared his throat. "Now, I do not have an intimate knowledge of these mares' psyches, their hearts' desires, their hopes and dreams, or the qualities of their souls. I do not know how deeply connected they are amongst themselves, nor do I know which particular buttons to push to elicit my desired reactions.

"And further, I don't even know which of them exemplifies which Element, apart from Twilight Sparkle who was mentioned directly, and these Elements may prove key to understanding them fully. Though, I may be able to fathom a guess to a few; this report is detailed enough that I could do so given time. But no, I do not believe I am qualified to coerce them."

"You have a plan in mind already, my Warden?"

Nihila forcefully felt her way through his thoughts. His plan wafted through his mind, and she picked it apart and understood it as if it had been her own. She seemed elated to find her Warden was such a resourceful thinker, but then again he knew he always had been; it's why she chose him for the position, after all.

"Ah, you are a most devious schemer. If we cannot coerce them into my grasp directly, perhaps we can do so indirectly. A brilliant idea."

"I thank you, my lady, for your praise." He smiled, feeling a tear come to his left eye as her sensations of warm pride filled his heart, another rare occurrence. "I shall begin my task immediately. While we seem to have a pleasantly broad window to work with, it would be prudent to utilize our time to its fullest, wouldn't you agree?"

Nihila cooed, "I will leave you to your work, my Warden. Call for me again when you are ready to proceed, and I will assist you with the final phase. Until then, I will monitor the Belt of Tranquility and continue my observations of their effect on the balance there."

"Indeed, my lady. I thank you for your blessings."

He felt Nihila's essence leave his mind and spirit. He shook off the feeling of emptiness, a sensation he would never grow accustomed to no matter how many times over how many years he had experienced it. Once his mind was at ease and his wits were gathered, he clicked a button on the table, turning on the intercom.

"Shroud."

"Yes, sir?"

"I need you to make a few calls."

*****

The little box that sat upon the den table of room eighty-four and five was a peculiar device. Flathoof had called it a "Teevee" or something to that effect. It was quite alien to the Ponyville natives, capable of displaying images like how movie projectors back home did, only with a different technology. Twilight had spent a great deal of time trying to discern how the device operated, and even now sat glued to the rear of the device, rather than the front.

"—just pay shipping and handling. And if you call now—"

Click.

"—I'll keelhaul ya, ya scurvy dog! I've got—"

Click.

"—terrible news, Mister and Misses Fudge. Your son is—"

Click.

"—pregnant?! How can you be pregnant, we never even—"

Click.

"—made a scrumptious cake! Best of all, decorating cakes is—"

Click.

"Heeeyyy, I was watching that…" Pinkie said, her eyes as big as dinner plates.

Flathoof leaned to the side to keep her from snagging the remote back. "We can watch your cooking program later, Miss Pie. It's almost eight o'clock, and we need to watch the news. Since you're new around here, you might just learn something."

"Awww…"

The couch in their den was much too small for all of them to sit on, so Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie sat on the floor in front, letting Fluttershy and Rarity use the couch proper. Flathoof continued to stand off to the side. He'd arrived about an hour earlier that morning, waking most of them up to get them started on their day. Rarity had made several complaints about interrupting her beauty sleep, none of which were paid any heed to.

With another click, the image upon the Teevee changed again. A delightfully engaging jingle played over a background displaying many sweeping vistas of New Pandemonium City. Bright, shiny gold text floated down from the upper corner of the screen, twisting through the center to surround a circular silver emblem bearing a large, glittering number one.

"You are watching Channel One Eyewitness News in the Morning. With Daybreak—"

The text was swept off the screen to reveal the moving image of a unicorn stallion with a lustrous golden coat and a short, tidy, bright blue mane. He wore a fancy dress suit with a matching tie. The stallion was giving a broad, rehearsed smile that gleamed in an unseen spotlight.

"—and Butter Pecan in the studio—"

The image of a white earth pony mare replaced that of Daybreak. Her curly, cream-colored mane matched the color of her own sleek dress suit, though she wore no tie. She gave a broad grin to the audience as well, and proudly crossed her hooves in front of her chest.

"Featuring Meteorologist, Clarity, with the weather—"

Now, a dull brown pegasus mare replaced the image of Butter Pecan. She kept her shiny black mane slicked-back and wore a dusty jacket with a matching bow tie. She just stared ahead, no smile upon her face at all.

"Stalwart, with sports—"

A burly, sky blue earth pony with a brown mane kept in a short crew cut appeared next. His sports coat was stretched to its limit to fit his physique. He didn't so much smile at the audience as give them an assured, confident nod.

"And Skyline with the traffic—"

A lithe pegasus stallion appeared next, sea green in color with a whitish-green mane styled back in a ponytail. He wore a decorated flight jacket and a pair of matching goggles. He gave the screen a brisk salute, snapping to attention as he did so.

"Hey, that pony's got style," Rainbow said, nudging Pinkie in the side. "He might be almost as cool as me."

"This… is Channel One Eyewitness News in the Morning."

The image shifted to show the first two ponies, Daybreak and Butter Pecan, sitting behind a desk and shuffling papers in front of them.

"Good morning everypony," said Daybreak, light gleaming off his smile. "Today's top stories—"

As he started to speak, his image shifted slightly to the left. Beside him, the tiny image of a red cross appeared.

"Hoof rot season so soon? New Pandemonium Medical reports a rise in cases of the serious disease early this year, and are recommending action be taken by every citizen to prevent the spread."

The image next to him changed into that of a great inferno towering over several buildings. "Also, yesterday's major fire in the northeast Outer District has still not been contained by the New Pandemonium Fire Brigade, and is beginning to spread further outwards in the district. Authorities are worried it may soon spread into Mid-East and Mid-North if efforts to stop it fail."

The image beside him shifted away, leaving just Daybreak again in the center of the screen. "First though, here's your weekly weather forecast with Clarity."

Flathoof snorted. "Seriously? Get to the news about the fire! Nopony wants to hear about the damned weather right now!"

The image panned over to the pegasus mare, Clarity, who was standing in front of a large green screen that quickly flickered to reveal a map of the city with lots of colored splotches plastered across it.

The map was perfectly circular, ironically organized into very precise districts. In the center was the Inner District, the smallest of the three major divisions, which was itself divided into several sub-districts with odd names that Twilight noticed were named after languages, such as Baroque, Romantique, and Sovia.

Just beyond that and covering roughly twice the area were the Mid Districts. She saw that theirs, Mid-South, was covered in the least of the colors, excepting the Inner Districts. The Outer District covered double the area of the Mid Districts, and was divided into two sections: the Outer District itself, and the much smaller area in the south labeled Gate District.

The weatherpony Clarity lazily pointed out a bunch of the splotches of color, and as she traced her hoof along the map, the image slowly changed to reflect the movement of the colors. She didn't seem particularly fascinated with her job.

"Weather forecast for this week," she said in a steady monotone. "Smog today, smog tomorrow, more smog the day after that. Smog all week folks, nothing new. Temperatures are staying steady in the mid-80's, though citizens in Mid-East and Mid-North may notice temperature spikes as that big fire starts moving towards them. I recommend turning on your air-conditioning."

She yawned, then pointed to a big red cloud over Mid-West. "Citizens of Mid-West are advised not to go outside without protective gear for the next three days, starting tonight. All signs point to a freak acid rain storm. Weather teams from Mid-South and the Inner Districts will attempt to divert it, but are not expecting to be able to do much except contain it."

She yawned again. "That's all for the weather, but we'll be back for a second look at the end of today's reports. Back to you, Daybreak."

"Thanks Clarity." Daybreak beamed, his teeth shining bright as ever, and turned to his other side. The image shifted with him. "Now over to Skyline with the morning's traffic report. Skyline?"

Now, the image switched from in the studio to that of the pegasus stallion, Skyline. It stayed steady behind him as he flew through a few smog layers above a particularly busy area of the city, where other pegasi were busy dodging one another for seemingly no reason at all.

They all seemed to be constraining themselves between two lines of floating, bright green lights that wound through the taller buildings. There was a blue line in between the two green ones, with pegasi on one side flying north, while those on the other side were flying south. The two halves were further divided into fourths by white lines, and these were the ones that the pegasi constrained themselves to the most.

The northbound side was where the trouble came in. Two of the three lines of white were instead flashing red, and no pegasi were flying between them.

"Thanks, Daybreak. As you can see, there's some heavy congestion this morning on Northbound Airway Intercity Thirteen caused by a malfunction in the two of the three guiding lines. Traffic Control estimates a three-to-four hour delay for repairs. I'd recommend taking ground routes instead if you're headed for Mid-North, and either Air Intercity Twelve or Fourteen if you're headed anywhere else."

The image shifted downwards towards the city streets, which looked just as congested with all the pegasi above swooping down to take the street level.

"To all of our unicorn and earth pony pedestrians down there, please be on the lookout for wayward pegasi taking illegal highway exits. NPPD units are already en route to try and direct the flow of traffic, but the estimated arrival time isn't for another hour. Now back to you in the studio."

"Thank you, Skyline. We'll be back to you for an update shortly." Daybreak smiled brightly and turned to his left, towards the mare sitting beside him. "Now to Butter Pecan with our top story of the day. Pecan?"

Butter Pecan spoke in a cheerful, though focused tone as the image shifted to her. "Good morning everypony. Today's top story! Hoof rot season is striking our fair city early this year, and there have already been numerous reports of it spreading quickly through the Outer District areas. Doctors are recommending immunization measures be taken as soon as possible. We have more from our correspondent at Central General, Hotwire."

The image shifted from the studio again, this time to a young unicorn stallion standing in a pristine white hallway, holding a microphone with his magic. His coat was a shiny purple, his mane a neatly-combed orange with red streaks. He sported a gold jacket and a matching tie.

To his left stood another unicorn, this one with an off-white coat. His olive green mane and tail spiked out and stood at attention, and from their luster it was apparent he used a great deal of product to keep them so straight. His eyes were obscured by his large lab goggles, and he wore a beige lab coat that draped all around his form.

"Thank you, Butter Pecan," Hotwire said. "I'm here at Central General where the reports of hoof rot being on the rise early this season were first discovered. With me is New Pandemonium Chief of Medicine, Doctor Blutsauger."

The white unicorn nodded with a soft smile as his name was mentioned.

Hotwire turned, hovering his microphone over for the other unicorn to use. "Doctor, tell us a little more about what exactly you've discovered."

The white unicorn coughed into his hoof and adjusted his goggles, then spoke into the microphone. "Ja, well, for the past few hours we have been getting calls from our clinics in the Outer District about these hoof rot incidents. Typically, hoof rot is an early spring illness, und ponies would have plenty of time to get their annual immunization shots. But, if hoof rot were to begin spreading early, before most of the city got their immunizations?"

The doctor then turned dramatically towards the screen. "We'd be looking at… an epidemic." He then turned back to Hotwire. "That was good, ja?"

Twilight noted the doctor's Weimarian accent, a little less thick than that photographer who took an interest in Fluttershy years ago. Photo Finish was her name? It seemed that at least across different worlds the assorted cultures still had some recognizable traits.

Hotwire coughed nervously, his eyes darting back and forth between the screen and the doctor. He tilted the microphone back towards himself. "What sorts of actions are being taken to prevent such an occurrence?" Then, he tilted it back towards Blutsauger.

Blutsauger crossed his hooves in front of his chest and nodded firmly. "I have spoken to the rest of the Committee directly und shown them mein research. They agreed that it would be better to practice caution than to risk toying with the lives of our citizens. I believe your studio will be getting a copy of the issued mandate soon."

Hotwire raised an eyebrow. "Mandate, doctor?"

"Ja ja, I know there are many ponies in the city that do not listen to medical reports or even watch the news, und so I requested that the Committee take responsibility to ensure that all the ponies in the city take action to prevent this potential catastrophe."

Blutsauger turned towards the screen again and pointed at it, wagging his hoof in shame. "Immunization shots are free to all ponies with valid identifications, und all of our clinics are open twenty-four hours a day. There really is no excuse."

"I see." Hotwire lifted a small pamphlet from his jacket pocket and glanced at it briefly, then turned back to the doctor. "For those at home, what are the symptoms of hoof rot, so they may know which ponies to avoid to prevent infection?"

Blutsauger adjusted his goggles again. "Ja, of course. Hoof rot comes in stages, und luckily we are only in the first stage of the disease's run. The first symptoms of hoof rot are tiny green splotches or warts on the hooves; unicorns may also have similar blemishes on their horns."

"And what if they've progressed past that?"

"If a pony is in the secondary stage, then their hooves will be completely green. Now, hoof rot is highly contagious." The doctor turned to the camera rather dramatically."Do not touch anypony who shows symptoms! Do not let them breathe on you! This is important! I would even recommend wearing a mask and staying at least six feet apart from others to limit transmission of the disease until you can get your shots."

Hotwire nodded. "Thank you for your time, doctor."

"Nein, keineswegs." Blutsauger smiled back and waved towards the screen. "Always a pleasure to do a service for this great city."

Hotwire turned towards the screen and stepped away from Blutsauger. "This has been Hotwire reporting for Channel One. Now back to you in the studio."

The image returned to the studio view, where Butter Pecan was shuffling a paper she had just been given.

"Thank you, Hotwire, and thank you Doctor Blutsauger. As noted in the report, we have just received the Committee's mandate." She lifted the paper she'd been given and began to read. "Issued one hour ago this morning, the Committee has issued an order that all citizens without up-to-date hoof rot immunization records in the past thirty days are to report to their nearest New Pandemonium Medical Clinic as soon as possible.

"They have also issued that anypony that does not get their immunization shots within the next twenty-four hours is subject to forced admission by order of the New Pandemonium Police Department. This mandate will be aired on all stations within the next fifteen minutes, and throughout the rest of the day in hourly intervals. It will also be broadcast every ten minutes on the public broadcast system."

She immediately brightened and turned to her right. "Now back to Daybreak for our next top story. Daybreak?"

"Thank you, Butt—"

Click.

"Awww what?" Pinkie wailed, grabbing the screen. "I thought you wanted to hear about the fire?"

"Bigger news just came up," Flathoof said. He sighed and adjusted his cap. "One thing after another. Come on then ladies, you heard the… lady."

Applejack got to her hooves and followed Flathoof towards the door. "Already? We have all day, don't we?"

"If I'd known about this report, I would've had all of you at Central General an hour ago when the Mandate was issued. I swear, I'm always the last to know these things."

"What's the big deal, though? Why the rush?"

"It's like this. The closest clinic to us is the busiest one in the entire Mid-District. I'm certain ponies are already starting to make their way there. I'd really like to get this done before too long, and the longer we wait here, the longer we'll have to wait there. So, let's get moving. Hop to it."

Twilight stood up and followed after Flathoof and Applejack. "You heard him, girls. Chop chop."

Rainbow groaned. "Awww, but they were about to get to sports. I want to see if they have a skyball league here."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Rainbow Dash, why do you have to be so argumentative?"

Fluttershy frowned. "Oh dear, here we go again…"

Twilight stamped a hoof. "Girls! Really, this is neither the time nor place for this sort of thing."

Both Rainbow and Rarity grunted. "But—"

Applejack stepped in and pushed Rarity and Rainbow apart. They both turned their looks of disapproval towards her instead. "Y'all heard Twilight, let's just get this over with. No more fussin' around. I reckon it won't take that long, and we can get back home and start gettin' to work on more important things. If y'all wanna argue, do it later."

Rainbow sighed. "I just wanted to see if they had a skyball league. Geez, sports was next anyway. It couldn't have taken that long."

"That can wait for later, this is more important. Do you want to get hoof rot?" Twilight asked.

"Well, no, but I mean, it's not that big of a deal. Pfft, we have that stuff back home too, they're making it sound like it's super serious and—"

"That's because maybe it is a serious illness over here?" Twilight tutted. "It might not be that big of a deal back home, but here they're making it sound like it could be deadly. Multiple stages? Warts? Hoof rot back home doesn't work like that. It just makes you smell for a bit."

Flathoof blinked and scratched his head. "You all must have it pretty lucky wherever you're from to have hoof rot be treated like a common cold."

"Even then, it's a dreadful little illness." Rarity shuddered. "Oh my, I remember having it once as a little filly. It made my hooves smell just awful for a whole week. Since then, I've taken great care to watch my health and avoid catching it again. It would drive away business!"

"Ooh, hoof rot stories!" Pinkie giggled, patting Rarity on the shoulder. "Why, I remember when me and my sisters all had it at the same time. They had to declare our rock farm a Class Five Smelly Zone! I didn't like being in quarantine all that much."

Rainbow held her hooves up in defeat. "Fine, geez, I didn't mean to sound like I didn't want to get this done. I was just wondering what the dang rush was for. No need to bite my head off."

Twilight stamped a hoof again. "Girls, please, can we just get going? I'd like to get this done as soon as possible. Right, Captain Flathoof?"

"Right." Flathoof sighed and nodded. He looked at the clock face on the nearby wall. "We're probably already running a little late. Come along, everypony."

*****

The Central General Clinic was shorter than the nearby buildings by a fair margin, nowhere near as tall as Southeast Point. It wasn't particularly wide either, not like Central Database Holdings from what Twilight could see. It was still big, to be sure. Flathoof explained that it had a larger underground portion where they performed the more serious treatments in order to avoid contamination from any smog residue.

The building was a dirty white with large red crosses adorning many of its features. A particularly large one was plastered just above the doors at the front. The doors were large enough to let a few dozen ponies in and out of the entrance at once, likely to accommodate room for stretchers, beds, or other equipment.

"See? I told you it'd be crowded," Flathoof said as they entered the sliding quad doors to the building.

Twilight and her friends' jaws collectively dropped at the sight of so many ponies in a tightly-packed space. A line of ponies stretched down the long hallway ahead of them and all the way around the corner in the distance. A little signpost at the end of the line by the door read:

Hoof Rot Immunizations

Approximate Wait Time:

15:00

"Fifteen minutes doesn’t sound too bad," Rainbow said, giving a hard look to the others. "See? No biggie."

"Those are hours, Miss Dash," Flathoof clarified.

"Fifteen hours?!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Whoa nelly…" Applejack removed her hat and fanned herself with it. "Golly, we're gonna be here all ding dong day."

The ticker clicked, and the numbers on the bottom changed: 15:15.

"Fifteen hours and fifteen minutes?!" Rarity began breathing heavily and fanning herself with a hoof. "Oh my, we have to stand in line with all these ponies for thatlong? Heavens, this is simply unacceptable!"

The ponies at the end of the line just ahead had apparently anticipated the wait time, and like many others ahead of them had brought cushions to sit on, and little bags of snacks and drinks. Twilight wished she had brought a book, but that just reminded her that they didn't have books here.

"Geez, you weren't kidding," Rainbow said. She scuffed her hoof on the floor and gave everypony an apologetic look. "Sorry I held us up. If I'd known—"

"It wouldn't have made much difference," Flathoof said. "Maybe saved fifteen or twenty minutes, I don't know."

He adjusted his cap and straightened his uniform. "Listen, you six go ahead and get in line. I'll see if I can find something out from the nurse station. I might not be Lockwood, but maybe I can try and work out some sort of a favor."

Flathoof trotted away from the six mares as they took up positions in line. He rang a bell at the nurse station when he got there; it was near enough that Twilight could see and hear him clearly.

A white pegasus mare came out of the nearby room, clad in a white nurse uniform and a little cap with a red cross. "Can I help you, officer?" she asked.

Flathoof gave a bright smile and removed his cap. "Yes. Well, maybe. I'm the parole officer for those six mares over there." He turned and pointed at his parolees. "I was wondering if there was anything you could do to maybe help me get their shots a little sooner?"

The nurse narrowed her eyes and frowned. "You're kidding, right? You want me to try and skip six mares ahead of a fifteen hour line? You must be out of your mind."

Flathoof continued to smile as he tugged his collar. "Eh heh. I know it sounds a little selfish, but they're new in the city and don't even have last year's shots. I'm worried something—"

The nurse sighed and calmly placed both hooves on the counter. "Look, as much as I'm surethat's the case, I simply can't just break protocol and skip them all ahead. This place is a zoo already. Can you imagine the kind of chaos that skipping a few mares ahead of the line would cause? If you think you can hold off a riot all by yourself, then feel free to convince me otherwise."

Flathoof sighed. "Well, it was worth a try. Thanks for your time."

He dejectedly walked away and returned to the other mares. "Sorry ladies, no luck. I'm sure Lockwood might've been able to do something. Knowing him he probably knows half the staff here. We'll just have to tough it out."

"Dang." Rainbow crossed her hooves in front of her chest and slumped against the wall. "This is gonna be so boring. I knew I should've brought a book. I could probably finish the newest Daring Do adventure before we're even done."

"Aw, take it easy, sugarcube." Applejack chuckled, patting Rainbow on the shoulder. "At least we got each other for company, yeah?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Um, maybe we should think of something to talk about? To pass the time?" Fluttershy said from her hiding place behind Rarity. "I mean, if… if you want to…"

Pinkie started bouncing. "Ooh! Ooh! We should play a game!" She then stopped, and glanced around the room. "Okay, I spy, with my little eye, something white!"

"Is it me?" Rarity asked, her mouth curled in a confident smirk.

Pinkie shook her head rapidly. "Nope!"

Rarity frowned. "Hmph. She usually picks me with that color."

"Is it… the nurse's gown?" Fluttershy asked, peeking out from behind Rarity.

"Nope!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Is it the floor?"

"Pfft, what? The floor is clearly beige, Dashie," Pinkie said. She then put on her best Rarity impression, which was shockingly spot-on. "I mean, really,Rainbow Dash, I know you're not a fashion expert, but you can't tell the difference between beige and white?"

"Well, it used to be white." Rainbow scuffed at a tile, revealing how much dirt was caked on it. "If they ever cleaned it, it might be."

Rarity laughed and nudged Rainbow. "Careful, darling, you're starting to sound a bit like me."

"C'mon you guys, you gotta keep tryin'!" Pinkie shouted. "Something white!"

Twilight hummed and tapped her chin. "The lights, maybe?"

"Nope!"

"The ceilin'?" Applejack asked.

Pinkie put her hooves on her hips and gave the others an impatient glare. "You guys are terrible! Come on! Something white!"

"We give up!" Rainbow exclaimed, waving her hooves around in the air. "Come on, Pinkie, everything here is nearly white! It's a hospital! What did you pick?!"

Pinkie sharply pointed at Flathoof.

"Uh…" He shied away from her accusing hoof.

Her hoof scrolled down his face, to his chest, to his badge, then to tiny, white writing upon it. The NPPD motto: It's a Living.

"Oh for the love of—" Twilight groaned, throwing her hooves into the air. "We can't even read that from here, Pinkie!"

Rarity fumed. "I thought it was a reflection of the light! Really, Pinkie Pie? Really?"

"Hey, come on, I'm just trying to pass the time," Pinkie said. She pointed at the signpost, which they still hadn't even passed yet. "See?"

15:25

"Huh. Did we go backwards?"

"Ugh. Moving on." Rainbow turned to Twilight. "Hey, I know what we can talk about! Twilight, how did last night go? Find out anything about getting—" She then seemed to realize that Flathoof was just half a yard away. "A job? Yeah. Getting a job."

"Well, the Chief Librarian said I was more than qualified for the position and wants me to go in for a follow-up interview… today. Oh." Twilight put a hoof to her mouth. "Oh no. How am I going to go in for an interview if I'm standing in line waiting for a shot? Do you think he'd understand?"

Flathoof nodded. "For a Committee Mandate, I'm sure he'd make an exception. Heck, he might even be in this same line, assuming he lives in Central Plaza and isn't up-to-date on his shots. I guarantee there are probably a lot of businesses closed for the day to compensate."

Rainbow nudged Twilight softly. "Did you find anything else out, Twilight?" In a hushed whisper, she added, "Y'know, anything important?"

Twilight blinked for a moment, then her face lit up as she caught on. "Right. Well no, I couldn't find out anything I was hoping to. I didn't have much time to do my research, sadly. I'd planned on spending all of today there and trying to find out some more but—"

"Excuse me, sir?" The nurse had come over specifically to speak to them.

Flathoof hadn't noticed her walking over and was clearly as surprised as the rest of them. "Yes?"

"It would seem there was a misunderstanding," she said, her smile small and apologetic. "You said your parolees were new citizens, right? Well, maybe there is something I can do for you."

"Oh?" Flathoof asked. He hopped to attention. "Oh! That's good news. Great news!"

"Now, since they're new citizens and all that, they're going to have to go through a routine physical and get some bloodwork done," she explained. "Nothing special. We only have one doctor on staff that can do this right now, which is why I didn't think of it before."

"Well, that's lucky."

"Indeed it is! Our Chief of Medicine had to be here early today for the interview. I've already spoken with his secretary and she says he's agreeing to do it. Though, not without resistance."

"Doctor Blutsauger?" Flathoof blinked and scratched his head. "The Chief of Medicine is going to give my parolees a standard medical exam? Isn't that a bit beneath his station?"

"Yes, typically. But the Board would want him to do it anyway, since…" She leaned in a little and hushed her voice. "You know, we get tax breaks whenever new citizens get fresh medical records, kinda like the NPPD does, yeah? Every little bit helps, if you catch my drift?"

He just nodded and smiled. "Thank you. I appreciate this, Nurse…?"

"Tenderheart," she said. "And don't thank me, I'm just doing my job. To tell the truth, this might put me in good graces with the Hospital Board. All these free immunizations are expensive, and we had to call in extra staff members to see that the line moved as quickly as possible."

"Right…"

Tenderheart handed Flathoof a card. "Here, give this to his secretary and tell her I sent you. She'll admit your parolees no problem. She's expecting you. Take the elevator—" She pointed down another hallway perpendicular to the one they were already standing in. "Up to the eighth floor."

Flathoof nodded and took the card. "Thank you again, Nurse Tenderheart. Come on, ladies. We're in luck."

"Thank goodness," Twilight said. "Hopefully this'll be quicker, right?"

"It should be." Flathoof shook his head as he led them towards the elevators, "It's not going to take fifteen hours, I'll say that much. I dunno, it might take about thirty minutes for each of you, an hour at worst? Longer than just getting a shot, but hey, we don't have to wait in line, right?"

"Well that's a relief," Rainbow said.

The elevators at Central General were much larger than those at NPPD Central Station, so nopony had to be squished next to anypony else. This elevator even played music as they waited, a cheery tune that was easy to hum along to, or in Pinkie's case, bounce along to. The elevator dinged as it reached each new floor.

The eighth floor was nice. The lobby had been a filthy white, clean enough to be passable but not really sterile or hygienic. This felt more like a high-rise office building, not a hospital. The floor was carpeted, and the walls and ceiling were a pristine white. They traveled down the hall to the right-hand side, just before the corner, to a big door made of a blackened wood. It was marked with a gold placard that read Dr. Blutsauger, MD — Chief of Medicine.

Upon entering, they saw the secretary they were to contact, a unicorn mare with a dull blue coat and curly white hair. She was busy filling out some paperwork when they walked in, and hardly noticed them until Flathoof stepped up to her and coughed.

"Can I help you?" she asked without looking up from her work.

Flathoof set the business card he'd been given onto her desk. "We were sent up here from Nurse Tenderheart to see Doctor Blutsauger. Something about getting—"

The secretary lifted the card with her magic and brought it in front of her. "Ah, right, I got her message a few minutes ago. You should count yourselves lucky that Doctor Blutsauger is even here this early, but what can you do when we have a possible epidemic on our hooves, hmm?"

"And we appreciate him seeing us," Flathoof said.

"These six mares are the patients then? May I see their identifications?"

Twilight and her friends all hastily fumbled through their outfits to find where they'd stored their ID cards, then presented them.

The secretary looked over each carefully and entered their information into her computer station. "Hmm, they don't have any medical records on file, like you said. They just got into the city yesterday afternoon, right?"

"That's right."

"And they're already getting medical records taken care of and everything?" She beamed at the mares. "Good for you! It's not often we see new ponies take such quick action. Wait here, I'll inform the doctor you've arrived."

Flathoof nodded. "Thank you."

She left the room, exiting through the large door behind her. Flathoof breathed a sigh of relief, as did everypony else.

"This is going pretty smoothly," Twilight said, taking a seat in one of the office's comfy-looking chairs. "I was worried when we first got here that everypony was going to be unhelpful and rude, like those first few we met. It's nice to see there are other ponies around here that are like you and Mister Lockwood."

Rainbow grunted and took a seat next to Pinkie. "This all seems a little fishy, if you ask me."

"Aw, c'mon Dashie, everypony's gotta get lucky sometimes, right?" She threw her foreleg around Rainbow's shoulder, and got a faraway look in her eyes. "Why, I remember when I was just a little twinkie Pinkie, growing up on my family's rock farm—"

"Here we go…"

"One day, I saw a moving rock and got really scared because, hey, rocks don't move on their own! But it turned out it wasn't a rock, it was a rock lobster! Mom and Pop were super excited, because those are worth so much money to rich ponies as pets! So we sold it, and then we decided to take a vacation at the beach with the bits we made, and everypony got matching towels, and—"

Rainbow leaned over to Rarity. "What in the hay is a rock lobster?"

"—so we were headed there, and we saw a sign on the road that said fifteen miles to the—"

Rarity shook her head and shrugged. "Never heard of one. Fluttershy? Do you know, dear?"

"—and it was set way back in the middle of a field, which seems like a really weird place to put a place called the Love Shack, but I dunno, I guess everypony likes their privacy every now and then, right? So yeah, it was just a funky old shack, and—"

Fluttershy tapped her hooves together. "Um, well, they're little crab-like critters that use rocks for their homes, kind of like a shell. But they typically don't live where Pinkie used to live. They live by the ocean, usually under docks. And they're… not exactly good as pets."

"—so we took it hip-to-hip, rocking through the wilderness, which was really fun! Mom and Pop never liked to dance much except at my parties, so it was really neat to see them having such a good time. I told 'em, 'Mom, Pop, you gotta roam if you want to, even without wings or wheels or'—"

"So what the hay was one doing on her farm?" Rainbow turned to Pinkie. "Pinks! Your story doesn't make any sense!"

"—and it had pink air, which I thought was super cool 'cause I'm pink and stuff, and I thought maybe the air would taste different, but it didn't really, so I was kinda disappointed. All the trees were red though, which was weird. I thought maybe they were like, licorice or something, but nope! So then—"

Flathoof put a hoof to his face and groaned. "I swear, if I have to hear one more of these crazy stories—"

Their attentions were diverted away from Pinkie's bizarre tale when the large double doors opened and the secretary reappeared.

"Doctor Blutsauger will see you now," the secretary said. "One at a time," she quickly added when all six mares took a step forward, "and he insists on doing it alphabetically. That means you're first, Miss…" She glanced at her computer screen again. "Applejack?"

"Oh, well, okay I guess," Applejack said as she trotted forward and past the secretary. "Wish me luck, girls."

*****

Applejack jumped at the sound of the big doors snapping closed behind her. With a gulp, she looked around the new room she found herself in. Doctor Blutsauger's office was, to put it lightly, fancy.

The walls were richly decorated with all sorts of unique, exotic décor, all of it with an eerie medical feel. The lavish carpet felt oddly comfortable under her hooves, like walking on crisp, freshly-cut grass. There were no windows, but she actually preferred it that way since the big city was still unsettling to her.

The massive wall of degrees and qualifications eased Applejack's trepidation. Doctor Blutsauger was clearly a highly-decorated expert in his field. Rather, fields, given the amount of degrees on the wall. She didn't know any of the many different specializations that were listed, though. There were degrees for Cardiology, Hematology, and a few others, none of which she knew the nature of nor really cared to know, truth be told.

Along one of the walls was a display of jars filled with a transparent, greenish liquid and various other… things. Applejack had never paid much attention in school during biology lessons, but she figured the objects in those jars were organs. Certainly now Applejack was less at ease, and wondered how Doctor Blutsauger expected a wall full of pony organs to really soothe anypony that came in here.

The doctor himself soon exited from the side room.

He smiled broadly when the mare caught his eye. "Ah, Miss Applejack, ja? Wunderbar! Let's get this ordeal over with. I did not expect to be coming in today to give physicals und perform any hoof rot shots personally, but business is business, or so they say. Follow me, bitte."

He gestured behind him towards the room he'd just left. Applejack followed, and came into a sterile white room with a large table in the center. The walls were lined with various medical implements.

"Let's take care of a few measurements first. Step over to the device here." He gestured to a machine that Applejack thought looked similar to a scale. She stepped on it, and he came over and began adjusting knobs and levers on the panel. "Now then, I understand you are from the south, ja? Did you take a physical over there any time recently?"

Applejack thought for a moment, and remembered a doctor's visit she'd taken a little while before all of this. "Yeah, some few months ago, I think, to get a cramp in one of my legs looked at. I don't rightly remember exactly when it was."

Blutsauger continued to adjust the scale as he talked. "Do you remember any of the measurements you were given?"

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Measurements?"

He waved a hoof in a gesture for her to continue. "Ja, your height, weight, things like that? I'd like to have them for comparison, in case there is a large difference in the numbers. It helps to see if you've grown or shrunk in figure, ja? To learn if perhaps there is something in your daily routine or diet that may be affecting you."

"Ah, okay." Applejack nodded, and tapped a hoof to her temple in thought. She came up blank. "Uh, I don't rightly remember if they even took any. I ain't that good with numbers, see, and—"

"Fine fine, it's no big issue," he dismissed. "We can worry about that the next time you have a physical, to see how well you adjust to changing living conditions. Let's see. Ah, height is one hundred forty-one, slightly above-average, very good. You are a tall one, ja! Veight is four hundred twenty-seven, also above-average—"

Applejack turned her head and glared at him. "Well that's a bit rude, doc. Ya sayin' I'm fat?"

Blutsauger blinked. A second later, he laughed. Loudly. "Ach, goodness no. Ha! Ha ha!" He took a kerchief from his coat pocket and wiped it under one of his goggles. "Fat! That is a new one. I will have to remember it for the next Doctors' Ball."

She wasn't sure if she should laugh along with him or not, to be honest.

"Nein, meine liebste, you have some exquisite muscular tone, so the extra weight is all from that." He punctuated this by poking her well-muscled midsection. "You are a work pony, ja? The weight is understandable, given your height. You must do a lot of physical labor, und quite often? From the south, hmm. Construction maybe, or a farm pony, perhaps?"

Applejack blinked and nodded. "Yeah, that's right, I work on a farm. Good guess, doc."

"Ach, I make it mein business to know mein patients on a personal level, ja? It helps make them feel at ease, since many patients feel uncomfortable with a few of the procedures." He tugged the collar of his lab coat and bit his lip. "Speaking of which, for the next procedure, I am going to need you to strip."

*****

"Bonjour. Est-ce que votre réfrigérateur marche? Alors, vous feriez mieux d'aller l'attraper!"

Blutsauger pulled back several inches and looked at his stethoscope carefully.

No, there wasn't any dirt or dust on it. He leaned in again.

"おはようございます！クレージーホースインザモーニングへようこそ！僕はアンカーマンクレージーホースです！"

His stethoscope shifted.

"This is your captain speaking, we are currently on our final approach to—"

He kept himself calm; Pinkie only smiled. He coughed, and gave her a relaxed, though quizzical, look of concern.

Pinkie's grin got wider. "What's up, doc?"

Where did she get the carrot from?

*****

"Will. You. Stop. Moving. Please?" Blutsauger gasped. "You are. Making. This. So much. Harder. Than. It. Needs. To be!"

"C'mon doc, you gotta try harder than that," Rainbow said. "Or am I too fast for you? I'm not just a fast flier, y'know. I gotta be fast all over."

"You are not supposed to dodge the hammer," he panted as he lifted the rubber implement once more. Again he swung it down and again he missed as she moved her leg out of the way.

Rainbow crossed her hooves over her chest. "Well that's dumb, how is it supposed to test my reflexes if I just let you hit me?"

Blutsauger sighed and wiped his brow with his kerchief. "I thought I was done with dealing with things like this."

*****

"There we go, all done." Blutsauger nodded as he used his magic to toss a needle into a hazardous waste disposal bin. "That was not so bad, ja?"

Twilight opened her eyes and shook her head, though the spot was still just a little sore. "No, I suppose not."

She'd had to focus her attention intently on a clock on the far end of the room when he'd given her the shot, clenching her eyes shut when she felt the needle just prock her skin. She'd never mentioned it to any of her friends and probably never would unless it came up, but she wasn't exactly a big fan of needles.

"Mmm, this is something that I have not done in a long time," he chuckled. "Bloodwork is such a pleasure. Ah, sometimes I wish I had not gotten this promotion, ja? It is always the little things you miss the most."

"Right." Twilight grimaced as she felt him apply the tiny bandage to the injection area. "So, are we all done here for today? With everything? Please tell me that's the last of it."

"Hmm? Oh, ja, that will be all," Blutsauger said, waving a hoof dismissively. "Tell mein secretary that you are all done, und she will send the tax paperwork to your place of residence. Und she will give you a lollipop too, I think, for being such a trooper," he added with a wide smile, giving her cheek a little pinch with his hoof.

"Oh. Right." Twilight gulped, face turning red. "Um, thank you, Doctor."

Twilight sighed in discontent and left the office. Her friends were all in the entryway waiting for her, wearing varied looks of displeasure or bewilderment at the experiences they'd just gone through. Well, doctor's visits were certainly different here in this new world, that much Twilight knew was for certain.

But hey, the lollipop was blackberry-flavored.

*****

It was good to be back at Southeast Point. Not too many hours had passed, but it was still close to mid-afternoon as Twilight, her friends, and Flathoof ascended the stairs to their apartment. Every time she traversed these stairs, Twilight felt she was becoming more and more accustomed to the climb, and she hoped the others felt as she did. Having a good night's rest, stopping for a little lunch on the way home, and not having to deal with a lot of stress thanks to getting sucked into another world, allowed them a lot more energy for it. Even Rarity barely complained as they made the climb.

It came as a surprise to find Lockwood waiting at the top of the stairs for them, pacing back and forth outside their open door. He looked calm, but impatient.

"Lockwood?" Flathoof pushed ahead of the girls and approached his friend. "I didn't expect you until later tonight for dinner arrangements."

Lockwood greeted them with his bright smile. "Oh, there you all are. Must've been going in for those immunization shots, hmm? Right right, of course you were, silly of me to even ask. How was it? The line wasn't too long, I hope?"

"Fifteen hours and thirty minutes," Twilight said, sighing heavily. "When we got there, it was packed. I've never seen such a crowd in one place before, and I've seen an awful lot of crowds."

Lockwood raised an eyebrow. "Fifteen hours? Really? You're all back awfully early, then."

"Yeah, we got some help from a nurse there," Flathoof said. "A Nurse Tenderheart, to be precise. Friend of yours? Maybe she recognized me or something. I figured you might have had something to do with it, maybe called in a favor knowing we'd be there?"

"Tenderheart? No, the name doesn't sound familiar. I do know one doctor there, though."

Flathoof smiled and nodded. "See, I knew it. It wouldn't be Doctor Blutsauger, would it?"

Lockwood chuckled. "The city's Chief of Medicine? Oh, Flathoof, I think you overestimate me. I know a lot of ponies, but that's a little beyond my reach when social circles are concerned. I had nothing to do with this at all."

Flathoof hummed and scratched his head. "Well that's odd. I guess that nurse or secretary was just really nice then. Shame. I could've gotten some information for you. You'd probably like to meet somepony like that."

He shook his head, then pointed at Lockwood. "Anyway, I know you didn't come up here just to make conversation. Well, maybe you would, but that doesn't look like why you're here. What's going on?"

"Ah, yes, right. Well, I was doing some rounds after a city technician came by to service the phone lines, and when I returned to the lobby, a visitor was waiting to meet our new friends here."

"A visitor? Who?"

"You'll have to ask her. She's just inside."

"Why'd you let her into the apartment?" Flathoof asked with narrowed eyes.

"So that I could keep her within hooves reach, of course. Relax, she seems very nice and has been more than cooperative so far. I'm a good judge of character, you know that." Lockwood gestured for the door. "C'mon, she's been waiting for you. It's good you got here early, eh?"

Twilight, her friends, Lockwood, and Flathoof entered the apartment.

A short icy blue unicorn mare with a snow white mane rested on their couch. She was covered in small, somewhat fresh cuts and bruises, though they were minor enough that they didn't need treatment. The only really bad one was a gash along her ear, which was already bandaged. She wore a magenta turtleneck sweater and matching scarf and beret, the former of which had a few tears in it as if she'd been in a scuffle. Her cutie mark was a crystal made of ice.

She'd clearly been through a lot, but was otherwise awake, alert, and actually enjoying what appeared to be a cup of coffee.

"Oh good, you're here," the mare said after she swallowed a mouthful. She smacked her lips and gave Lockwood a small grin, lifting the cup slightly. "Good stuff, by the way. Ya don't skimp on your coffee, do ya? This is some serious gourmet shit."

Lockwood returned the grin. "I tend to wake up early, and I find that a good cup of coffee gets the day started right. It's a little late in the day for my tastes, though."

"Yeah sure, but I pulled an all-nighter so I needed a little of the ol' pick-me-up. I tell ya, I could go for a real coldie after all this, though." The mare then turned to Twilight and the others as she hopped off the couch. "Well then, let's keep this simple, eh? Cuttin' right to the point, my name is Winter Glow, Chronomancer of Equestria-V, and I'm here to send you home."

Twilight and her friends were, quite frankly, stunned.

Flathoof grunted rather loudly. "Lockwood, mind telling me what you're doing letting crazy mares in here? Bad enough you let a stranger in here in the first place—made her a damn cup of coffee, even—but I figured she was at least sane."

Lockwood huffed and put his hoof over his heart. "Flathoof, I'm hurt. You know me better than that. She told me she was acquainted with Miss Sparkle and the others and seemed to know a great deal about them, so I figured she was a friend of theirs that heard they were in the neighborhood. But just in case, sure, it's not like I haven't been keeping an eye on her until you all showed up."

"She knows our names?" Twilight asked, giving Winter a look.

"Indeed I do, Twilight Sparkle." She turned to the others in the group. "And Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. I know more than just your names, actually. You lot are a long way from home, and it's my job to get ya back where ya belong. Back to, uh… Ponyville, yeah?"

Twilight's eyes widened. "You even know where we're from?"

Flathoof put a hoof out to stop Twilight when she took a step forward. "She can get that from public records if she knows what she's doing. Probably how she got your address, too." He leveled a glare at the mare. "You're gonna give me a good reason, right now, why anypony here should trust you."

Winter nodded in complete understanding. "Right, yeah, figured ya might get a bit defensive. How about somethin' I know about them that ain't on record, eh?" She glanced at Twilight and nodded. "Like how Miss Sparkle is the prized student of Princess Celestia? Or how the lot of ya are connected to the Elements of Harmony?"

Flathoof shook his head and turned to Lockwood again. "Seriously? You think this mare's on the level after all that gibberish?"

Twilight swiftly pressed forward past Flathoof.

"Whoa, hey! Miss Sparkle—"

"It's okay, Captain Flathoof." Twilight looked at him and gave him a kind smile. "She's telling the truth. I think we can trust her."

"Huh?"

Twilight turned back to Winter. "You say you're here to help us get home, right? How?"

Lockwood scratched his head. "Wait a sec, I'm actually starting to think Flathoof was right on this, because now you're all talking crazy. What does that mean, exactly? 'Get home'? You mean like, back into the Wastelands? No no, wait, she said Ponyville, so… back to the southern continent? To Utopia?"

"We're… not actually from Utopia. At all," Twilight said, shaking her head. "We're from a place called Ponyville, yes, in a country called Equestria, but… it's all in another world entirely. We're not from this world."

"Oh my goodness! I just realized, that means we're aliens!" Pinkie blurted, She wiggled her hooves in the air at Flathoof and Lockwood with a wide smile on her face. "Fear not, ponylings, for we are not the probing kind. Unless you're into that sort of thing, I guess? Wait. No, still not probing you, but you wouldn't be afraid if we did."

Winter cleared her throat. "Strictly speakin', they're from an alternate world to this one designated as Equestria-IV. They were accidentally displaced here and it's my job as this world's Chronomancer to get them back to where they belong. Though I guess 'aliens' is sort of fittin'?"

Flathoof and Lockwood just stared at her and the others for a good, long moment in total silence.

The former stepped past the others and further into the room, moving towards the couch. "I think I need to sit down."

The latter removed his hat and scratched his head as he leaned himself against the wall. "This was definitely not the conversation I was expecting to be having today. Or ever."

Winter just chuckled and shook her head. "Yeah, I realize it's a bit hard to take in. Normally I wouldn't have even let either of ya know about it, but circumstances dictate I've gotta bend a few rules anyway. The both of ya already got yourselves knee-deep in this shit, though, so you're as much a part of it as they are."

She then turned to Twilight and the others, all of whom were much brighter with the information they'd been given; Twilight especially was eager to get to the plan for getting them home already.

"Alright, ladies," Winter continued, "let me give ya the rundown of what the situation is. You six got yourselves sucked in through a portal made of what's called 'Void' energy. Nasty stuff, capable of tearin' whole worlds apart, and it's somethin' us Chronomancers try to put a stop to.

"Now, since you lot aren't in your world right now, I've been led to understand that the seal ya placed on someone called 'Discord' is weakenin', what with ya not bein' there to connect with the Elements of Harmony. Makes 'em not work right, I guess."

"Wait, Discord's loose?!" Twilight exclaimed in a panic. "We need to get back home, now!"

"Yeah, what're we wasting time gabbing for?!" Rainbow blurted.

"We're gonna miss the chocolate milk rain!" Pinkie added, earning disapproving looks from Twilight and Rainbow.

Winter raised a hoof. "Hold on, hold on, don't get your knickers in a twist, ladies. I have it in good authority that the seal isn't breakin' all at once, but that it's a gradual process. I've been given a timeframe of three-to-four weeks before the seal goes kaput and things really go to shit, eh?"

"Oh. Phew, that's relatively good news, at least," Twilight said, letting out a breath of relief. Being taken by surprise by Discord was one thing; giving him time to plot and scheme before getting a chance to stop him again was another. "Wait… three-to-four weeks? That's oddly specific."

"Hmm? How do ya mean?"

"I mean, why give us such a specific time frame if you're sending us home? It won't matter… to us." She paused. "Unless it does. That timeframe is important, isn't it?"

"See, I figured you were smart," Winter said with a grin. "Yeah, so, the bad news is that I can't send ya home right this minute. It's complicated."

"So, wait, don't tell me we're gonna be stuck here for three more weeks?" Applejack asked, removing her hat. "Maybe longer?"

"It's a possibility, but consider it more of a deadline than a guarantee," Winter said with a nod. "If we're lucky, it won't take that long anyway; if we're not, then I'll speak with my counterpart in your world to work on a backup plan."

"Counterpart?" Twilight asked.

"Yup, every world's got a Chronomancer of its own. The one in your world is named Summer Rains. Maybe ya heard of her?"

"That layabout?" Rainbow scoffed. "You're pulling my leg. Summer Rains didn't even make the cut for the weather team. She just stays cooped up in her house all day or takes picnics out in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes in the middle of the night!" She paused. "N-not that I'm spying on her, I just notice things."

Winter shrugged. "That's just what she wants ya to think, then. Trust me, she's a Chronomancer just like I am. It's thanks to her that I found out what's wrong in your world, and she and I put this plan together. She'll be tryin' to make sure that Discord's seal stays stable for as long as she can to make this timeline work."

"I don't even understand how our seal on Discord is weakening so fast or so noticeably," Twilight said, trying to parse all this information out. "Celestia's seal took nearly a year to wear off after the Elements transferred over to us, and was it so subtle that she didn't even notice it."

"I suppose it should be obvious that the six of ya aren't as powerful as Celestia though, right?" Winter suggested; Twilight had to admit that was likely true, and gave a weak nod. "Well, that and your seal was still fresh, so it might've been weaker. Like a… fresh bit of glue, basically: easier to peel apart than when it's had time to dry. Best analogy I've got."

"Well that's kind of a gyp," Rainbow said, crossing her hooves over her chest. "Our seal should be just as strong as the one the Princess used. That's not fair."

"Well, that's just how magic works, eh? Celestia's control of Law magic is significantly greater than any of yours, even combined, especially since only two of ya are unicorns that can use actual magic. At any rate, the longer you're here, the faster the influx of Chaos magic will—"

Twilight waved a hoof to stop Winter from going on. "Hang on, now you're confusing me by bringing up ‘Law’ magic. Chaos and Law aren't really those kinds of—"

Winter held up a hoof of her own. "Listen, Miss Sparkle, I'd love to get into a debate with ya right here in the middle of your dingy apartment, but I'll save us both the trouble and say that every world is different in how it classifies things. It all comes down to the same concept: balance between two opposing forces, and your world's balance is off."

"Just cut to the chase already!" Rainbow shouted from the back. "We get it, we've gotta get home, and we've gotta do it quick. So, what're we gonna do about it?"

"Ah, the plan is rather simple, really." Winter glanced around the apartment. "You lot seem to have gotten yourselves situated with a place to live for now, eh? Basically, the plan is that you're all gonna just go about your days and adjust to livin' in this shithole city while I work on gettin' into contact with Nihila."

"Nihila? Who's that?" Twilight asked.

"One of this world's two alicorn goddesses, specifically that of disparity, darkness, evil, and all that hullabaloo."

Twilight balked. "Wait, what? We're asking an evil goddess for help? Isn't there, I don't know, a not-evil one we can ask?"

"Yup, sure is. Harmonia, goddess of peace, balance, and light."

"Well then let's ask her," Rainbow said.

"Thing is, to get her help we'd need to travel from here in New Pandemonium City all the way south to Utopia. To do that, we'd first have to cross the entire northern continent to Hope's Point, then get a flight to Utopia before we can even contact Harmonia. If we're lucky, the entire trip will take just shy of three weeks, assumin' no delays whatsoever.

"Now, before ya start thinkin' that doesn't sound so bad, crossin' the continent is dangerous. Hundreds of ponies attempt it every year, and statistics show that a group our size is likely to result in at least one death en route. The odds aren't great."

"No, that… that doesn't sound good at all," Twilight murmured.

"Yup, 'cause if anythin' like that were to happen to even one of ya, your world's screwed, and this world's screwed, because there'd be no way to reverse the imbalance."

"Not that it doesn't concern me, but… how come? If one of us had something… happen to us, then why would there still be an imbalance?"

"It's a bit complicated, but the short version is, your souls wouldn't go back to your world, they'd stay here. This world's balance would remain off, and your world would be out one bearer of the Elements, eh?"

Twilight gulped. "That… does sound pretty bad."

Winter shook her head. "After that, the Void would just come right in and start eating away at things in both worlds until there's nothing left. Within a few months, your world and this one would cease to exist, probably yours first. It's not worth the risk."

"So, what, we're just gonna sit here and try to make like we're movin' into this here city?" Applejack asked, scratching her head. "I'm not sure I like the sound of that much neither."

"She's making the outside of the city sound awfully dangerous," Rarity noted. "I know we're no strangers to dangerous things, girls, but perhaps it's best if we don't go running off into it?"

"And just stay stuck in this dung heap? For three weeks or whatever?" Rainbow scoffed. "I dunno, I think I'd rather take the odds. I can probably fly to this Hope's Point or whatever all by myself and get them to send help or something to get everypony else across."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Rainbow, what makes ya think that just showin' up like that would amount to anythin'? It ain't like we can just wait for ya to make the trip 'n' all. 'Sides that, what if somethin' happens to you while you're all by yerself out there? We'd be in a right pickle and we'd never even know it."

"Aw, c'mon, AJ. I'm Rainbow Danger Dash, this'll be a cakewalk!"

"I thought your middle name was 'Professionalism'?"

"She has three or four middle names by my count, dear," Rarity said with a little grin. "Her parents must have wanted to see how much they could get away with."

"Har har," Rainbow scoffed. "I still stand by my point: I think I can handle it, if you guys are up to give it a try."

"Staying here in the city doesn't sound so bad when you compare it to potential death, Rainbow," Twilight said with a sigh. "I'm inclined to agree with Rarity: I think that staying here and trying to fit in would be the better idea. The safer idea. We don't know all of the particulars of this world's threats, and we all want to get home safe, right?"

"Right…" Fluttershy muttered.

Rainbow glanced at Fluttershy, then sighed and nodded. "No, you're right. I guess we can just stick here where it's safe, even if the city is a big ol' lame-o dungheep." She shrugged. "I guess I'll just have to keep an eye on you guys."

"So, what's the plan?" Twilight asked, turning back to Winter. "How can we help?"

"Well, the main thing is gettin' in touch with Nihila," Winter said, rubbing the back of her neck. "Problem is that there's no easy way to do that. I'm gonna be spendin' my time over these next few weeks lookin' into how to go about it. There's bound to be somethin' resemblin' instructions somewhere in the city archives."

"You mean you don't even know for sure that you can even contact this Nihila pony?" Rainbow blurted.

"I agree, that sounds like an awful oversight, dear," Rarity added.

"No, I know I can contact her, it's just a matter of how," Winter corrected. "Down south, Harmonia can be contacted via a pony known as her 'Warden'. Nihila would have a Warden too, so I need to figure out how to get in touch with them."

Twilight tapped her chin. "You said something about researching the city archives, right? Well… maybe I can help? As part of this whole, uh… lie that we've been telling, I managed to get hired at the Central Database Holdings as a librarian. I'll be around all sorts of research materials."

Winter nodded appreciatively. "Good, good, that'll work out nicely." She turned to the others. "The rest of ya just do whatever ya need to do to get comfortable and stay safe, eh? Ya might need some kind of income so ya can get better clothes, food, maybe stuff to help ya relax or whatever."

"So wait," Flathoof said. All the mares jumped, having forgotten he and Lockwood were even still in the room. "Let me get this straight: these six mares are from another world, and to send them home you need to get in touch with some evil goddess within the next three-to-four weeks. Am I understanding this right?"

Winter nodded as if it was nothing at all. "That's the gist of it, yes."

"Well if you ask me, it sounds like you need some help," Flathoof said.

"And you are? Sorry, got sort of bogged down with all the other discussion and I never properly introduced myself to ya. Right rude of me, eh? Winter Glow," she said, offering her hoof. "Nice to meet ya."

Flathoof removed his hat and shook her hoof. "Captain Flathoof, NPPD. I'm their parole officer. I'd like to think I've helped these young ladies get through their first twenty-four hours here pretty well. And if everything you're saying is true and they need to get home, I suppose I'd be willing to offer up a little more."

"You mean you're gonna help us?" Applejack asked.

Flathoof nodded.

"The better question is, you believe all this?" Rainbow asked. "I mean, I hardly believe it and I'm living it."

"To be honest, I still find it all a bit far-fetched, but there's a whole lot about your original story that didn't make much sense either. If you're really from another world, then things start making at least a little more sense, like how you got into the city without anypony noticing." Flathoof shrugged. "So, what else is there to believe?"

"Well said," Lockwood agreed, patting Flathoof on the shoulder. "If you eliminate the impossible until only the improbable is left, then the improbable must be true. I'm with Flathoof. Anything I can do to help, you just to ask."

Flathoof turned to Winter. "So, we need to keep these girls occupied, safe, and provided for for at least three weeks?"

Winter nodded. "Correct."

"I'm only your parole officer for one week, and we've got one day behind us already," Flathoof said, giving the mares a nod. "But even after that, I'll be sure to keep an eye on you girls. I might not be around as often once I get back to my normal shift, but I'll do what I can."

Lockwood looked to the mares in the line. "Well, I think I can hook a few of you up with some friends of mine if any of you are looking for things to pass the time or trying to earn some bits. I've already got your apartment settled up so that you won't have to worry about rent until after you're meant to leave, anyway."

"We appreciate the help, both of you," Twilight said, bowing her head. "We can't thank you enough for what you've already done for us, and I wasn't really ready to ask for more, but… well, thank you."

"Yeah, you guys are alright in my book!" Pinkie said with a large bounce. "You know what this means, girls? A party! To celebrate new friends and stuff!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Yeah, alright. I guess things could be a lot worse than sticking around in this dump and asking for help from a couple of ponies we hardly know. If that's what we gotta do to get home, then let's do it."

Lockwood clapped his hooves together briefly. "Excellent. I'll get in touch with some friends to see if we can arrange some things. Now, I'm afraid I don't know all of you that well just yet, so if anypony can offer me a few suggestions?"

Rarity raised her hoof first, actually excited from what Twilight could tell, the first time she'd seen Rarity like this since they'd arrived. "Ooh! Back home, I'm a fashion designer, and a rather well-regarded one at that. Since everypony in this city of yours is required by law to wear clothes, I suppose there must be some sort of fashion scene here, yes?"

"Indeed there is! I know just the ponies to talk to, in fact, if you're looking to break onto the scene."

"How about the city's weather patrol?" Rainbow asked. "That was my gig back home. I was captain of the team, actually, so I know all about organizing schedules and assigning pegasi to proper positions and such."

Lockwood tilted his head. "Well, the only 'weather' we get in the city is just smog and the occasional acid rain. I mean, we do have weather teams to keep the latter contained, but they’re exclusively unicorns; pegasi can't touch acid rain clouds, obviously."

"Well… yeah, that makes sense. I don't think I'd want to get within fifty feet of something that could melt my skin off." Rainbow tapped her chin. "Well, how about skyball? The city's got a league or something, right?"

Lockwood nodded in thought. "Well, it's a bit late to join any professional teams seeing as they're midway through the season, but I do know a talent scout for a team in the semi-pro league. If he sees you play, he might recruit you."

Rainbow grinned. "Yeah, that sounds great! Even semi-pro's better than being cooped up in this apartment all day every day."

"Excellent, I'll arrange something with him so that he can give you a look. Their season starts next week so I'm sure he'd be more than happy to pick up some fresh talent."

"I don't rightly know how any of my talents really translate around here," Applejack said, fiddling with her stetson. "I was honest about bein' a farmer back home 'n' all, so unless y'all got some sort o' farm somewhere where y'all grow crops or whatnot, I don't know what to do."

"I'm afraid we don't have anything like that…" Lockwood murmured, tapping his chin.

Applejack stamped her hoof on the floor, looking quite dejected. "Shoot…"

"You mentioned that you do lots of heavy lifting and sorting as part of your farm work, right?" Flathoof asked.

"Uh, yeah, that's right."

"Tell you what, tomorrow I'll introduce you to my dad. I'm positive that there’s an opening in one of the shipping warehouses, and I'm sure he'd be happy to have somepony reliable take it. You strike me as the reliable sort."

"R-really? You'd do that for me?"

Flathoof gave her a little grin. "I don't see why not? It'll be good pay, my dad can help keep an eye on you, and it's right up your alley, too: hard, physical work. I know it's not the same as a farm, but it's something."

"Gee, uh… thanks, Flathoof." Applejack nodded, a slight smile on her face. "Yeah, that does sound mighty nice."

"Ooh ooh!" Pinkie said, bouncing in place. "If we're doing things like what we do back home, I worked at the bestest best bakery in all of Ponyville! Is there anything like that around here? I'm one mean baker, I tell ya. Well, not mean, but— you know what I mean."

Lockwood stroked his chin and nodded. "Yeah, I can work with that. There's a confection caterer that's only a few blocks from here that I've used for assorted charity work I do, so I'm sure if I drop the owner a line she'd be happy to have a new helper on staff."

Pinkie pumped a hoof in triumph. "Yes! Everything’s coming up Pinkie! Woo!"

The group then expectantly looked to Fluttershy, who hid behind her mane and scuffed her hoof on the floor. "Um… well, my talent is with animals, you know, and I, um… I haven't exactly seen any animals around to take care of. Is there something like that around here?"

Lockwood frowned and shook his head. "I'm afraid we don't have animals up here in the north, except some nasty, deadly ones out in the Wasteland that I wouldn't want you or anypony else getting anywhere near."

"Oh, w-well, that's fine," Fluttershy peeped, clearly unnerved by that. "I mean… if that doesn't work, then I was thinking… what if I just stay here at the apartment? You know, make sure the place is clean and neat for everypony when they come home from work? I think I'd like that…" She sighed. "It'd let me feel useful…"

"Oh, darling, you don't need to feel bad if you're not using your special talent here," Rarity said as she rubbed Fluttershy's back. "I'm sure we'll all appreciate your help no matter how you choose to offer it, and coming back to a comfortable home after a hard day's work sounds marvelous."

"Thanks, Rarity…"

Winter nodded. "Sounds like you lot got things figured out then, eh? Good, makes me feel better knowin' you've got somethin' ta keep yourselves busy while I get this all figured out." She let out a breath and headed for the door. "Miss Sparkle, I'll see you tomorrow at the CDH building to start doin' some research."

"Roger that," Twilight said with a smile. "Looking forward to it. Where are you off to now?"

"I've gotta get myself a place to live for the time bein'," Winter said with a shrug. "My last apartment got condemned, let's just say, and it won't do me good sleepin' out on the streets, eh?"

"Finding a place to live on such short notice isn't going to be easy," Flathoof said, eyebrow quirked.

"You could always stay with us?" Twilight suggested.

Winter glanced around the room, then shook her head. "Thanks, but no thanks. This apartment's small enough as it is with six of ya, and I wouldn't want to impose. You're goin' through enough trouble already, eh? No need to add more to the pile."

"We can't just let you go out there without a place to sleep, Miss Glow," Rarity said. "That would simply be unacceptable, especially given how much you're willing to do for us. I know it's your job, as you say, but surely there's something we can do to help you?"

"Unless ya know how to make an apartment available at the drop of a hat, I doubt it."

Flathoof nudged Lockwood. "Hey, landlord, you got any openings?"

Lockwood shook his head. "Afraid not, not one that I'd be able to swing for a single tenant anyway. The owner is a stickler for ensuring that rooms are given to appropriately-sized groups so we don't have to worry so much about missed payments, and I don't think Miss Glow here can afford the larger apartments I do have open no matter how much I manage to finagle.

"However… I think I might have an idea." Lockwood coughed into his hoof. "I hope this doesn't sound untoward, Miss Glow, but you could stay with me. I hardly use all of my space as-is, and you'd be close to Miss Sparkle and the others."

Winter tilted her head and gave Lockwood a quizzical look. "You're serious? Ya don't even know me and you're offerin' to let me into your home to live with ya? Just like that?"

"It's how he does things," Flathoof said, patting Lockwood on the shoulder.

Lockwood shrugged. "Look, Miss Glow, I'd be lying if I didn't say I feel awkward about the offer myself, but I did say I'd help these ladies however I could. That includes making sure you're taken care of as well, seeing as they need you to send them home, right? It's only logical, and it's only right. I'd feel like an ass if I didn't at least offer."

"Huh. I suppose you've got a point." Winter nodded. "Very well. It does make things simple for me, and if you don't have a problem with it then I don't have a problem with it. Just know that I've never had a roommate before, so I have no idea how this works."

"Excellent. Come along then, I'll show you where you'll be staying," he said as he walked past her and headed towards the door. He turned back to Twilight and the others before he left. "I'll be up here first thing in the morning with some answers for all of you regarding my contacts, alright? Hooves crossed."

"Thanks again, Lockwood," Twilight said with a nod. "Again, we appreciate all of this. You're too kind."

As Lockwood and Winter left, Flathoof let out a breath and turned to the group. "Alright, so, since it looks like we're all gonna be getting to know each other over the next few weeks, what say we get started on that? How about dinner?"

"Sounds good to me!" Pinkie said, rubbing her stomach. "I'm as hungry as a hungry hippo!"

"Dinner sounds wonderful, Captain," said Rarity with a smile. "I have the feeling this whole situation is just the start to some beautiful new friendships."

Chapter Six: Creation

The elevator hummed quietly as it slowly made its way down the side of Pandora Tower. The only passenger gazed out of the glass exterior and out upon the city's skyline. No smog congregated around the tower itself, giving Silvertongue a clear view of the parts of the city not plagued with the stuff, such as the lovely Inner Districts. Eventually, as the Inner Districts' gleaming skyscrapers and office complexes rose up into view, his view became obscured.

The elevator played soothing ambient music throughout its descent. The slow, delicate melody came from another of Silvertongue's favorite operas, much like all the pieces of music he regularly listened to. He bobbed his head slightly in tune with the music, waving one hoof around as if conducting his own invisible orchestra.

The singer, who played the villain of the piece, sang in his deep baritone as he set about his final scheme to vanquish his heroic foe towards the end of the second act. Silvertongue still recalled the opera clearly from the last time he'd seen it, despite how very, very long ago that was. It had been an extraordinary evening. He missed those days, though he never dwelled on them for long.

The elevator dinged when it reached the underground level. The doors opened, leading out into a long, dim, beckoning hallway, its black metal walls decorated with banners bearing the red and gold emblem of New Pandemonium. A large metal door, bordered with a gold and black outline, stood at the end of the hall. As Silvertongue approached it, he lit up his horn and turned the great circular handle in its center, then pushed it open, striding through the doorway with confidence, eager with anticipation.

Every step further in was a step further towards completing the monumental undertaking set before him.

The contents of the room beyond were easy enough to see in the dim light. An abundance of technomagic machinery filled just about every space in the room; monitors displayed mathematical calculations and abundances of text; several machines bore multitudes of buttons, levers, knobs, switches, and dials; a small power generator stood on the far side of the room, its unseemly orange glow bright enough to illuminate the room by itself; cables of all shapes, sizes, and lengths connected them all together.

Putting this all together in the span of an afternoon hadn't been easy. But time was of the essence; delays were unacceptable.

Silvertongue's eyes focused towards the center of the room, where a large platform had been raised. He approached it with what was almost a spring in his step, ecstatic to see the fruit of his labors firsthand, to see what his mad science and forbidden magics had wrought.

The large machine on the platform held six large, egg-shaped containers made of blue-tinted glass. Each container connected to a plethora of cables which in turn connected to the series of machines and monitors just to the side. A quick glance at the monitors told him that the contents of the containers were stable.

Silvertongue's mouth curled in a tiny grin.

He turned and called out into the room. "Doctor! Is everything prepared?"

A crash from the side of the room drew Silvertongue's attention. Somepony had tripped over one of the cables and was now swearing loudly as he tried to untangle himself. The pony, an off-white unicorn stallion wearing a dull beige lab coat and an overly-large pair of goggles, rounded the nearby machinery and greeted Silvertongue with a brisk salute and a smile.

"Herr Silvertongue! I apologize, I did not hear you come in. I was occupied with monitoring the subjects." Blutsauger ran a hoof through his slick mane to straighten it, giving a nervous chuckle. "But ja, everything is prepared. I only need to make a few final adjustments, and then we may begin."

Silvertongue laughed and patted the other unicorn on the shoulder. "You have outdone yourself, Doctor, and in such a short time as well. I am glad to see I will not be experiencing any delays. This shall be your greatest work, I assure you of that. History in the making."

Blutsauger smiled and nodded. "Danke, Herr Silvertongue. Though, I really must thank you for making it so easy to get the genetic material. I do not know if I would have been able to do this without such pure samples. These specimens are fantastic!"

Silvertongue turned his attention back to the containment pods. A mare rested in each. Here, in the one closest to him, lay a lavender mare, a unicorn with a deep purple mane and tail with a bright pink streak shooting along the middle. Her eyes were closed and from here he could not see her breathing, but all of the instruments told him that she was very much alive.

Twilight Sparkle, representative of this "Element of Magic". The only difference between the one here and the one somewhere out there in New Pandemonium City was that the latter had a soul, the former did not. Not yet. The lack of a cutie mark upon the flank of the one in the pod proved that.

Silvertongue knew that soon that would no longer be the case, that the little mare in this containment pod would no longer be Twilight Sparkle and yet would be all the same. All of the original's thoughts, memories, passions, and dreams—every last fiber of her being—would be molded to his designs, to his advantage.

In each of the other chambers lay another perfectly-copied clone of the other five mares in the group that wielded these "Elements of Harmony" awaiting the next stage of his plan. The thought of his labors being given physical form at long last brought a smile to his face. Soon enough, they could begin the task he had set before them.

Silvertongue smiled. "Excellent. Now then, Doctor, go ahead and finish your final preparations. I need to focus myself for the next stage. I should only need a few moments. Alone."

"Ja, Herr Silvertongue," Blutsauger acknowledged, hastily shuffling away.

Silvertongue breathed deep and let his magic waft about him.

Nihila quickly responded, as always.

"My Warden, you work quickly," she cooed, sending a shiver of cold through him. "I am pleased with your progress."

Silvertongue responded with his thoughts, not daring to speak aloud; nopony knew of his connection with Nihila, after all, except for himself. "I am as anxious to begin as you are, my lady. The stage has been set, and the actors are all in place. With your blessing, I may pull back the curtain and let our masterpiece perform for itself."

Nihila hesitated. A curious feeling, one he hadn't felt in a long while. "My Warden, I will be granting phenomenal magical powers to you, with which you will be gifting these creatures with life and power. Their bodies and souls will become molded to serve us. But I warn you, it will weaken me greatly, albeit temporarily. I will be unable to reach out from the Dreaming for a period."

"I have utmost confidence in my plan, my lady. These six mares that we are birthing this very hour are the perfect pawns to carry out this task. I have no doubt that the powers you are to bequeath upon them will be more than enough insurance that, even should our initial plan fail, they may still be of some use in the future."

"I am entrusting you with a great risk, my Warden. I know you will not disappoint me. You have my blessings. Continue your work and see to it personally if need be that my will be done."

"As you wish."

Silvertongue then felt the oddest sensation. Nihila's consciousness left him, but he did not feel empty. He instead felt empowered as her essence remained, filling with so much dark magic that for a fleeting second he feared it would tear him apart, unable to be contained by his physical form. Rivulets of orange magic coursed along the length of his horn.

"Herr Silvertongue!" called Blutsauger, shaking him from his awed stupor. "All of the preparations are complete, und we are ready to begin."

Silvertongue nodded, and strode away from his prized creations to a large machine opposite Blutsauger's workstation, where Blutsauger awaited him. The doctor assisted Silvertongue in attaching a mechanical brace to the latter's horn. Both the brace and machine were connected to cables of many different sizes and colors that stretched up to the ceiling then came down again and attached themselves to the mechanism holding the six containment pods.

Blutsauger checked the readouts on the nearby monitors to make sure everything had been connected properly, then trotted over to his workstation and made a few final adjustments.

"Now then, when you give the word, I will begin the energy transfer," he explained. He ran a hoof through his mane and adjusted his goggles. "Ach, this is mein first time performing this precise procedure, but it should not be much different than the others, ja? This time at least I have a blueprint instead of making everything from scratch."

Silvertongue took a deep breath. "I am ready to begin whenever you are, Doctor."

Blutsauger nodded and ignited his horn. He flicked switches, turned dials, adjusted levers, twisted knobs, and pushed buttons, then turned to the massive red power switch behind him. He took a sharp breath as he lifted it, and with a loud clang, it snapped into the on position.

Silvertongue felt a rush of electricity snap through his horn. The power in his body reacted to the amplification device he had designed, causing the machine to glow a dull red.

Blutsauger double-checked all his station's monitors, then gave a satisfied laugh. "Ha ha! We are all ready to go! Whenever you are ready, you may begin—" He dramatically lifted his hoof straight up into the air. "The magics!"

Silvertongue chuckled. "Then let us begin."

He churned his new powers slowly through the amplification machine's funnel, watching as the energy coursed through the cables above, causing them to glow a bright blue, and into the containment machine at the room's center. The machine rotated slightly and lifted one of the containment pods from the platform to the center, latching it firmly in place beneath the other end of the funnel.

The pony inside was orange. Applejack's clone. Blutsauger always did have a habit of doing things alphabetically.

Silvertongue licked his lips as the pod began to glow a dark orange, obscuring the pony inside from view. He allowed more of Nihila's magicks to flow forth until he was certain he'd drained a full sixth of it. He laced her magics with a portion of his own essence; a miniscule amount was all he needed, for it would be enough to ensure that his designs were properly carried out.

Darkness filled the room, shrouding everything in pitch black and leaving only the glow of the machines, the two unicorns' horns, and the pod to light the room. The room trembled once, causing the monitors to shake and their images to flicker.

Once the darkness had ebbed away, the machine stopped spinning. The containment pod remained shrouded in a dark mist, even as the machine pulled it away and lifted it towards the nearby wall, where it would be sent to an adjacent room for safekeeping and further monitoring.

Silvertongue snapped his hoof towards Blutsauger's station. "Halt the loading process, Doctor. I wish to look upon this first creation of mine."

"Ja, Herr Silvertongue." Blutsauger nodded and flicked a pair of switches beside his station, causing the pod to smoothly grind to a halt.

The black and purple mist slowly dissipated, and Silvertongue gazed into the pod. His first creation lay inside, alive, breathing, and kept in stasis to allow her body to adjust to the dark magicks that empowered her and gave her life. A smile crept upon his face. She was lovely.

Applejack's clone had been changed, no longer looking anything like her original self. Her orange coat had turned a vibrant blue. Her blond mane and tail became a dark red. Her figure was slightly leaner and more refined—beautiful, even—than the toned muscle of the original, but she was certainly not lacking in strength of her own. Her cutie mark would manifest after she awoke.

Silvertongue eagerly awaited the chance to see how her personality had changed from that of her counterpart, to see how well her mind had been altered compared to her body. But that could wait for later. He motioned to Blutsauger to send the pod on its way, then re-focused his magic.

There were still five more ponies to transform.

The machine spun and lifted up the clone of Fluttershy into the central slot. Silvertongue fueled the device with Nihila's magic, and the room darkened and shook. Fluttershy's counterpart was lifted away the same as Applejack's had been. Silvertongue did not signal to halt the process this time. He'd witnessed its effects upon Applejack's clone already, and knew he would soon see and meet the rest of these marvelous mares without squandering precious time.

Silvertongue repeated the process with Pinkie Pie's counterpart next, then with Rainbow Dash's, then with Rarity's and Fluttershy’s. The one he was most eagerly anticipating, Twilight Sparkle's clone, came last. Everything started off rather smoothly as he funneled Nihila's magic laced with his own through the amplifier.

But then, something went wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong.

Several of the machines in the room shook violently, monitors shorting out or becoming overloaded with static. Silvertongue felt phenomenal power flowing outward from the clone of Twilight Sparkle as she was slowly transformed. He'd expected Twilight Sparkle and her copy to possess incredible power; one did not wield something called "the Element of Magic" without having outstanding magical potential.

The energy felt somehow familiar, though he could not recall where he'd felt it before.

He turned to Blutsauger's station, needing to shout for his voice to carry over the screeching of the machinery and swelling of magical energy. "Doctor! What is happening here?! Why is she reacting this way?!"

Blutsauger observed one of his readout meters, then leapt away as it burst apart. "Her magical levels are off the charts! I did not think anypony could contain this much magical energy!"

"What manner of magic is it?! This is neither Light nor Dark in nature!"

Blutsauger wiped his brow and adjusted his goggles to double-check his readings. "The machines cannot pinpoint the source! They do not recognize it!"

More of Nihila's power flowed into the machine, causing Twilight's clone to give off even more energy. Silvertongue felt it tickling his skin, making his mane and tail waft about as though there were a fierce breeze in the room. The hairs on his coat stood on end. So much of Nihila's power remained to give this mare, and yet her power still grew.

Several tense moments passed.

"Her energy readings are stabilizing," Blutsauger said as the machinery settled down. He ran a hoof through his mane and shook away sweat. "The safety parameters will hold for now. The starglass cannot withstand much more, but so long as her power does not increase, there should be no—"

A loud crack reverberated from the center of the room, knocking some of the taller machines over.

Blutsauger quickly trotted in and eyed the glass, then staggered back. "Impossible. Impossible! Her magic is cracking the glass!"

"What?!"

Silvertongue's eyes widened at the implications. The magical power required to break through starglass was extraordinarily high. He himself had trouble cracking through it, and as Nihila's Warden he was supposedly the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria. Were Twilight Sparkle and her clone that powerful? As powerful as he was? More powerful?

Incredible.

Another crack. The fractures snaked along the surface of the glass like it was ice. The sound of pounding came from inside. Once. Twice.

Blutsauger leapt back as the glass snapped open, and galloped back to the safety of his workstation. "Nein! Impossible! Nein, nein, nein!"

The intense magic burst out the little pod, a fierce storm set loose into the chamber. Without its host to control it, the powerful magic acted of its own will. The magic sporadically took shape and flared about, lashing out randomly at nearby machines.

Silvertongue continued to pump more of Nihila's power into the amplifier, giving this wild and untamed magic more to work with. The cloud of darkness launched bolts of energy that ripped metal and glass apart like paper; it lashed out with fluidic tentacle-like strands, grasping at things and crushing them like toys.

Blutsauger clambered over to Silvertongue in a panic and groveled before him. "Herr Silvertongue, we must stop the process! Her powers will tear the room apart!"

"Stop? When we are so close?" Silvertongue snapped, pushing Blutsauger away. "We are only a few short moments away from bestowing life upon the most powerful mortal creature in this world, and you want to stop?" He jabbed a hoof in the direction of Blutsauger's workstation. "Get back to your station you miserable little foal, and keep her lifelines stable. I am not about to end this just because you are a pathetic coward."

Blutsauger gulped, and nodded as he backed away. "Ja… ja, I will just go back to mein station."

Blutsauger returned to his instruments, tweaking them in an attempt to calm the empowered mare's magic and not succeeding one bit. More of her increasing power flooded the room, tearing apart everything it touched. The doctor huddled under his workstation in terror.

Silvertongue remained undeterred, even as the magic lashed out at machines close to him. One bolt of magic flashed just past his ear, close enough that he could feel heat. Another exploded nearby, tearing apart a monitor station in a shower of metal, glass, and wires. He continued to stand firm, clenching his teeth and steadying his hooves.

One bolt of magic shot straight at him. He did not attempt to avoid it or block it, and trying to do either was impossible given the circumstances. All of his magic was maintaining the power transfer, and as long as he was latched into the amplifier, he couldn't move more than an inch at best.

When the black bolt struck him, he recoiled in agony. All he could see was black and red as darkness and blood flooded his vision. The blast exploded, shattering his monocle and ripping his eye apart.

A lesser pony might have blacked out or gone into shock, but Silvertongue was too far into this focus. He would not be deterred, not if it cost him life and limb. He'd worked too hard for far too long to reach this point. He was not about to stop now.

Only a little more.

He fought through the searing pain. It would not move him.

Only a little more.

He ignored the salty taste of blood. It would not shake him.

Only a little more.

He couldn't see straight. That would not deter him.

Only a little more.

It was done.

Silvertongue felt a saddening emptiness as the last of Nihila's magic fully transferred into the clone of Twilight Sparkle. The intense magicks calmed, and retreated back into their host.

Silvertongue roughly snapped the amplifier off his horn and stumbled out of the bracing device. He tripped over some of the broken debris of the room. He felt dizzy from the loss of blood.

Blutsauger jumped out from cover and ran to Silvertongue's aid, helping to keep him steady. "Herr Silvertongue, you've done it! The process was a complete success, und—" He trailed off, and his face paled. "Auweh, your eye—"

"It is a minor inconvenience." Silvertongue snorted, though his breathing was labored. He turned towards the center of the room, towards the heavily damaged machine in the center and the broken pod that lay in its remains. "Her pod is shattered. That means she will not be in stasis, correct?"

Blutsauger nodded. "Ja. She will not be in stasis without the containment pod sealed. Her life signs are stable, though. She will likely wake up on her own in a few moments."

"Excellent." Silvertongue smiled and licked his lips, ignoring the taste of blood. "Bring me to her."

Blutsauger hesitated. "Herr Silvertongue, shouldn't we get you some medical—"

"I said, bring me to her, Doctor. You can attend to my injuries later. I insist that they all see me soon after waking, and she is no exception. Bring me to her. Now."

Blutsauger sighed and wiped his brow. "Ja, natürlich." He assisted Silvertongue in hobbling towards the central platform.

The entire room had become a battlefield. Sparks of electricity jumped about from nearby machines. Debris had been scattered about. Smoke clouded the air. The pair had to walk carefully to avoid stepping on anything that might cause further injury.

Silvertongue insisted upon limping the rest of the way up the platform without Blutsauger's help. He came to the shattered pod, and beheld his sixth and final creation.

She had a rich, golden brown coat rather than the bright lavender of her original. Her long mane was cream colored and curled at the sides to frame her face. He had not expected this precise coloration to manifest, and he was struck with a brief pause as memories long gone flashed back to him, a wave of nostalgia unlike anything he'd felt for what felt like an eternity.

She looks just like—

The mare's eyes slowly fluttered open, barely conscious but very much awake. Very much alive.

Silvertongue shook away his lapse in focus and smiled down at her. "Rise and shine, little one."

*****

Hours later, Silvertongue stared into his personal mirror, scowling at the sight of the unicorn on the other side. Normally he would have gazed upon his visage, a testament to everything he believed in, with an air of pride. But from this day forward, he knew that he'd see that something had been robbed from him, something he would never see again upon that face:

Perfection.

Blutsauger's commendable work at repairing everything around his eye genuinely surprised him. No scars marred his face, his coat was as sleek and shiny as ever, and barring one single detail he could swear that nothing had happened at all.

But then, of course, that detail taunted him, reminding him of what he'd lost.

A strange darkness filled the void where Silvertongue's eye had once been; a black, ethereal stuff that drew all warmth from the air. A tiny speck of gold broke up the otherwise solid darkness, and where he looked, it moved. He could see clearly through it, more clearly than his original eye had ever been able.

The speck pulsed with magic that he was not intimately familiar with, though he felt the similarity between it and the magic that Twilight Sparkle's clone contained within her.

What should have been just the first step in the greatest accomplishment he'd achieved in a great many years was diminished by this one simple fact. It was rather… humbling.

A buzz from his intercom interrupted his thoughts.

"Ah, right on schedule," he said. He set his mirror upon his desk, then pressed a button on the intercom. "Yes?"

"Sir, Commander Jetstream is here as requested."

"Thank you, Shroud. Send him in."

Silvertongue lifted his wine glass and took a short sip, then leaned back in his chair and tapped his hooves together. His chamber door slid open; Jetstream entered the room. The commander was a pegasus stallion with a lean build and a square jaw. His coat was a dull blue, his mane a bright yellow. He wore a formal dress uniform—black, of course—decorated with medals.

Though Jetstream's pace was brisk and his expression alert, his eyes betrayed his exhaustion, as though he'd been roused from a deep sleep hours before he was supposed to, which was exactly what had happened; while one couldn't see the sun through the smog and orange haze over the city, Silvertongue knew it hadn't even peaked over the horizon yet. He himself had gone without sleep.

Jetstream quickly bowed before Silvertongue's desk. "Sir, reporting for duty."

Silvertongue stared at Jetstream, unblinking, for several moments, not even gesturing for the soldier to rise from his bow. "Commander," he said, "you look as though you've had a rough morning."

Jetstream remained bowed, as Silvertongue had yet to permit him to do otherwise. "I apologize, sir, if my appearance isn't in ideal condition. I was led to believe that haste was of utmost importance."

"Ideal condition indeed. I suppose nopony can maintain such a thing forever, anyway." Silvertongue snorted and sat upright in his chair, at last gesturing for the soldier to rise, which he did. "But you are correct, time is of the essence. I have a task for you, Jetstream, one that fits your talents and training quite well. A weapons test."

"A… weapons test, sir?" Jetstream asked, cocking an eyebrow. "That pertains to my skill set?"

"Indeed. You are amongst the best field commanders in the entire special ops division, with multiple commendations on record for your handling of AMP troopers. It's why your father recommended you to join my ranks, after all, is it not? Or is that another Commander Jetstream?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"The weapons that are being tested require target practice, and so thus they require targets. A firing range will not suffice; they require moving targets, targets that will fight back and test their full capabilities. AMP troops are ideal for the task, and I wish for the best of the best in the endeavor." Silvertongue gestured to Jetstream. "Hence the early morning call."

Jetstream smiled and saluted. "Sir! You will not be disappointed, sir! I am at your command."

"Excellent." Silvertongue leaned back in his seat and waved the commander away. "The test will proceed in an hour. In the meantime, help yourself to some breakfast and get cleaned up. I will not have you in my presence unwashed and disheveled during the test, understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Then you are dismissed."

Jetstream saluted again, and off he went.

Silvertongue sighed and turned his attention back to the mirror, to gaze upon what he had lost. A part of him was outraged at what had happened, but he knew such anger was time and effort wasted on self-pity. He had no room for that in his schedule. As he set the mirror down, he knew that the injury didn't even really matter in the long run. Events were already in motion, and this would not affect his plans in the least.

*****

Silvertongue stood in an observation chamber overlooking the testing ground for the "weapons test" as he had described it to Jetstream. Truth be told he didn't like the phrase or even the fact that this "test" was being conducted, but Nihila's terms of this plan were clear. The six mares that he had created and infused with her power had been granted abilities that would be of use at a later time, when they took the fight to Harmonia directly.

Whether Nihila could see the test being conducted or not was irrelevant; she would want results, and he needed to deliver them to keep her satisfied. It was little more than a distraction for the crux of the plan at present, but he figured he may as well do it properly and with the maximum effort possible to ensure that everything went smoothly. Quickly, yes, which is why the mares hadn't been given much time to acclimate themselves just yet and why this test was being conducted before sunrise, but quick did not mean he had to cut corners.

The arena below was large enough to comfortably hold at least one hundred ponies with plenty of room to stand and maneuver, so it would serve well as a testing ground. At present, it was occupied by a total of forty ponies, each clad in heavy armor from head-to-tail. They weren't flesh and blood ponies, of course, but robotic ones designed for field combat. Automated Mechanical Ponies. They stood in terse formation as they awaited orders from their commander, as was in their programming.

Commander Jetstream, who would be directing these robotic troops, stood in the observation room with Silvertongue, a visor over his face that would be used to control the machines below. Also present was Doctor Blutsauger, primarily to observe the mares after their tests and ensure that use of their powers had no negative side effects. The datapad he carried would do all of the work and truthfully anypony could do it, but Blutsauger was here for other reasons.

"Alright, I'm all synced up. Shall we proceed with the test, sir?" Jetstream asked, a hint of eagerness in his voice that hinted at his youthful vigor; a hearty breakfast, quick though it was, had been enough to reinvigorate him.

"Yes, I think we shall," Silvertongue replied. He turned to Blutsauger. "Initiate the test, Doctor."

Blutsauger nodded. "Ja, Herr Silvertongue."

The doctor pressed a button on his datapad, and a number of things happened all at once. The thick, iron gate on the far side of the arena creaked open, allowing the first subject to trot into the arena. A display on a nearby monitor displayed a great deal of data, so much that it was easy to lose oneself in it; most importantly, it presented the status of the AMP troopers below as well as readings on the physiology of the mare currently being tested, from her heartbeat to her brainwaves.

The mare in question was a pegasus. She had a slender, athletic build and was shorter than average, but her figure still filled out the silver jumpsuit she was wearing. Her coat was sporty red, while her mane and tail resembled a skunk—jet black with a streak of white down the center. She wore her mane short and wavy, though her tail was still rather long and dragged against the floor behind her. Her cutie mark—visible through a slit in the jumpsuit—was a meteorite burning up in the atmosphere.

At first, the mare did nothing, just entered into the arena as the door closed behind her and stared out at the AMP troopers before her.

Jetstream cocked an eyebrow. "Just one mare, sir? I thought this was a weapons test?"

"It is, Jetstream. What seems to be the misunderstanding?" Silvertongue asked, a glimmer of a grin on his face.

"Well, sir, I see no weapons on her. I'm afraid I don't understand. Unless that silly jumpsuit is supposed to be armor or something?"

"Of course not, dummkopf," Blutsauger huffed. "You are too focused on guns und missiles to know what a real weapon is. This mare is the weapon, ja?"

Jetstream rolled his eyes. "Another attempt at your 'super soldier' bullshit, then? What a waste of time and resources. A pony with super strength or endurance can still be killed by a flechette round to the skull, and then what are you left with? A superpony with their brains plastered all over the floor."

Blutsauger sneered. "Spoken like the blind soldier that you are. You have no vision."

"My only vision is further improvements to the AMPs. I'll take a platoon of reliable soldiers that don't get tired or hungry and feel no remorse or fear over some genetic experiment any day. Especially one in a tacky jumpsuit.” Jetstream scoffed. “Let me guess, your idea? It doesn't leave much to the imagination."

Blutsauger sputtered in indignation, but otherwise said nothing else.

"If you're so certain of yourself, Jetstream, then proceed with the test," Silvertongue said, placing his hoof on Jetstream's shoulder. "You already know the parameters: lethal force is authorized. Don't hold back on account of the subject's safety; if she cannot handle what you throw at her, then so be it."

Out of the corner of his eye, Silvertongue noticed Blutsauger gulp quietly.

Jetstream paused, then nodded. "Sir, yes sir. Full lethal." He turned back towards the arena and tapped a few buttons on his visor, issuing commands with facial gestures and button presses in conjunction. "Here we go, then. Commencing test on your mark, sir."

Silvertongue nodded and pressed a button to enable the intercom in the arena. "Testing begins… now."

Jetstream's soldiers fired a volley of flechette rounds from shoulder-mounted guns towards the seemingly defenseless mare.

Silvertongue watched, amused, as the mare took off into the air above the rounds like a rocket and, without warning, launched herself into the fray, a barely visible trail of fire in her wake. She was a living missile, fast and with a single-minded, violent purpose.

And she was just as loud as a missile, too, shouting at the top of her lungs as she moved, slamming her hooves into the nearest troopers she could find with enough fury to crack the glass in their helmets and dent their metal armor.

Jetstream was taken aback for a moment. "Wow, she's fast. Impressive." He smirked and tapped his visor a few more times. "But let's see her deal with this."

The troops that were still standing after her initial assault—which was the vast majority of them, as she'd only taken out three—surrounded her and armed their flechette launchers. She seemed to realize her disadvantage and took to the air again, high up above the crowd.

The soldiers all launched their rounds in a salvo that spread throughout the air. The mare was still fast enough to avoid the rounds, but the arena was so thick with death-bringing flechettes that she couldn't go on the offensive; she had no means to strike back, not with typical pegasus combat maneuvers.

That is, until she swept low to the ground, one of her hooves glowing white hot. A spark ignited, followed by a flame, which she then launched directly into the nearest AMP trooper.

The tiny fireball exploded spectacularly, sending strips of shrapnel flying every which way.

Jetstream's jaw dropped. "What the hell was that? Was that magic? But she's a pegasus!"

Blutsauger chortled. "The wonders of this latest project, ja? Infusing normal ponies with incredible powers that they would not normally have. I believe the common vernacular is 'superpowers'?"

"You mean like a comic book character?" Jetstream asked. "We can do that? What am I asking, obviously we can; I just saw it. I think." He glanced out at the arena while the mare was still blasting his soldiers with raging fire. "So she has… for-real superpowers, sir?"

Silvertongue nodded. "Though I am not fond of the vernacular myself, yes, that is essentially what we have accomplished. A perfectly ordinary pony just like yourself but infused with magic to give her special abilities. The process gifted her with control over Pyromancy magic. A somewhat limited school, but quite effective in combat. If she uses it in conjunction with her speed and ferocity, she'd be quite the threat on the battlefield, wouldn't you agree?"

"Sir, yes sir," Jetstream said slowly. "I've never seen anything like this before. How—"

"Focus on the test, Jetstream, if you would please?" Silvertongue tutted. "The particulars of the process aren't for you to know, and I doubt you would understand them anyway. You are merely here for the testing procedure."

Silvertongue watched as the mare in the arena fired another fireball and blew apart another soldier, then flew through the explosion undeterred, cackling all the way. She looped around and fired another, and another. The bursts were getting bigger with every shot.

Jetstream was losing troopers fast.

The commander shook off his stupor and tapped his visor again; his troopers took aim and fired once more, this time in tighter intervals to force her in particular directions.

The mare simply swept around in rolls and loops, nimbly avoiding all of the incoming salvo. A few rounds came close, though, and dangerously so; a single one of those high-velocity darts could rip through flesh and bone like wet tissue paper.

She did not look at all happy about nearly getting hit.

The mare struck up another pair of flames, smashing them together to create a billowing sphere of fire. She lobbed it towards the center of the largest cluster of troops.

The explosion was powerful enough to shake the glass of the observation chamber. It left behind a towering pillar of fire and smoke, plus the wreckage of over a dozen more AMP troopers.

The mare stood with her back to the blaze, mirthfully laughing, waving her hooves around to make the fire dance, creating an effective smokescreen.

"I think we've seen enough for now," Silvertongue said.

Jetstream nodded and ordered what was left of his platoon—far less than half—to fall back to their original positions.

Silvertongue pressed a button to activate the intercom. It drew the mare's attention. "That will be all, Havoc," he said. "That was quite an impressive display."

The mare pumped her hooves excitedly. "Hell yeah it was impressive, Pops! Booyah!" she cheered, her voice distorted by the glass of the observation chamber's protective window.

Silvertongue turned to Blutsauger. "Send in the next one."

"Ja, Herr Silvertongue."

Another series of presses on his display, and the arena door opened again to let the pegasus mare—Havoc—leave the arena, while sprinklers overhead doused the fire that was slowly raging out of control in the center of the room.

Entering next was an earth pony mare dressed in the same jumpsuit that Havoc was wearing, which hugged her ample curves tightly. She had a pink coat and a darker pink mane and tail, the latter of which she wore straight and long. Her cutie mark was a delicious-looking cupcake, red with white frosting.

"Heh, break a leg out there," Havoc said to the other mare. "No, seriously. Break a leg. That'd be hilarious."

The earth pony kept her gaze forward, ignoring the pegasus.

Havoc snorted and stomped her hoof. "Hey. Hey! I'm talking to you! Don't ignore me!"

The earth pony ignored her but was smiling; she was clearly enjoying this.

Havoc snarled, then stuck her nose in the air. "Psh, whatever. Bite me."

The earth pony slowly tilted her head sideways and smirked. "Sorry, but you're not my type."

The pegasus looked like she was about to retort, but clearly was at a loss for anything clever. Instead she resorted to: "Ah, screw you."

She trotted away in a huff, leaving the earth pony behind.

"Like I said, you're not my type!" the earth pony called back as the arena door closed. She shrugged. "Eh, whatever."

In the meantime, a series of AMP troopers were ushered into the arena via a door beneath the observation chamber, replenishing the original supply back up to its original forty.

Silvertongue pressed the intercom button. "Testing begins… now."

Jetstream's soldiers wasted no time firing flechette rounds at their new target.

The mare grinned, and shot forward to duck under them.

This was, of course, impossible, a fatal error of the highest degree. Multiple rounds pierced through her flesh; she fell limp in a bloody heap only a yard away from her starting point.

The troops started reloading rounds.

"Ha!" Jetstream exclaimed, poking Blutsauger in the chest; the doctor mostly ignored him, just staring out into the arena, a worried expression on his face. "See? Told you they could be taken down easily enough. I bet if I had some different loadouts I'd have been able to take out the pegasus, too."

Silvertongue gestured into the arena, where the mare was still clearly moving. "Don't be so quick to celebrate, Jetstream. Look."

The mare in the arena struggled to rise to her hooves, her legs bleeding profusely and her body riddled with holes. She could barely stand; the rounds had ripped apart skin, muscle, and bone alike. Blutsauger looked quite relieved by that.

Jetstream cocked an eyebrow. "She survived that? Huh…" He nodded to Blutsauger briefly. "Credit where credit is due, Doc. She took more than one bullet, even." He tapped his visor. "Oh well. I doubt she'll survive another volley."

His troops fired again.

Silvertongue watched with rapt attention as the mare didn't just stand back up, but defended herself. How she did so was, strictly speaking, medically impossible.

Her blood moved entirely on its own. A thick stream flowed from the many gaping wounds on her body and flared upwards, forming a shield that protected her from the bullets.

She staggered to her hooves and stepped awkwardly towards the nearest formation of soldiers. Her eyes were hidden by her blood-drenched mane, but she bore a wide, toothy grin.

Another stream of blood lashed out, grabbing one of the soldiers by the face. It squeezed until the soldier's head popped in its grip. The soldier attempted to aim its guns at her, but the tendril slammed it harshly into the ground.

Another stream took on a thin, blade-like shape, and rapidly sliced through the middle of another trooper. The clean cuts didn't appear until just as it moved, and it crumbled into multiple pieces.

A nearby trooper attempted to pounce on her with static-charged hooves. Another stream of blood twisted up to meet it, forming a spike that impaled it through the neck. She violently tossed it aside, flinging it into another formation.

Jetstream gulped. "What… what is this?" he asked as she tore through mechanical troopers with minimal effort, one by one in violent displays that would be rather gruesome were her opponents flesh and blood rather than machines.

"Hemomancy," Silvertongue said simply, watching as one of the soldiers shot her in the spine, which did as much to stop her assault as one could stop a hurricane with a brick. "It is a magic school related to the manipulation of blood. Her control over it is rather impressive, but incomplete. She should also be able to— ah, it would seem I spoke too soon."

The pool of blood she left in her wake converged on her, snaking its way back into her many wounds which seamlessly repaired themselves until she was able to walk normally. She looked as though she hadn't even been touched, let alone mortally wounded by flechette bullets that tore her apart.

"She can even heal herself with such an ability?" Jetstream asked. "That's—"

"Incredible," Silvertongue finished with a grin. "Accelerated regenerative capabilities as well as applicable offensive ones, both hallmarks of a true master of the craft. A full suite of control over her own bloodstream. Very impressive, if I do say so myself. " He turned on the intercom. "That will be all, Red Velvet. Well done."

The earth pony's fierce expression instantly changed to one of joy, and she gave a little wave towards the observation chamber. "Thanks, Daddy! I'm glad you liked it!"

Silvertongue turned to Blutsauger. "Next."

Blutsauger nodded and tapped his datapad to summon the next mare in the sequence.

Again, the arena doors opened so that the mare in the arena could exit, and a new one could enter.

The next mare was another pegasus, though she was built quite a bit larger than the previous one. She was taller than even the average male pegasi by a fair inch or two, and had a muscular frame that filled out her jumpsuit completely. Her coat was a rather simple gray, and her shoulder-length mane was bi-colored, slate and stone gray on either half; she’d dyed a magenta streak straight down the middle of both her mane and tail. Unlike the others, she wore accessories; in her case, a set of silver, metal boots decorated with red and gold gems. Her cutie mark was a gray cloud pouring down rain.

Red Velvet hopped over to the larger pegasus—the latter practically dwarfed the former—and stopped dead in her tracks. "Good luck out there, sis! You've already got some competition from me and Havoc, huh?"

The pegasus didn't respond. Even from here her facial expression made it crystal clear how she felt about all of this: pure, unadulterated boredom, as if she'd rather be anyplace other than here doing anything other than this at any other time of the day and with anypony else present but the perky pink pony next to her.

"Aww, get a load of Miss Sourpuss over here!" Velvet chuckled. She put her hooves on the sides of the bigger mare's face, scrunching up her cheeks. "'Oh, look at me, I'm so bored, boo hoo, you woke me from my nap'," she said in a mocking monotone. "Get a grip, sis! This is supposed to be fun!"

The other mare grabbed Velvet with one hoof and, without an ounce of effort, tossed her over her shoulder before stepping further into the arena.

Velvet blew her mane out of her face. "Wow! Nice throw!" she said with a wide smile. "Well, good luck! Don't screw up!"

Jetstream shook his head and watched as more AMPs were funneled into the arena to replenish his numbers. "These mares of yours are something else, sir," he said, absently flexing his wings. "Are they, uh… all mares?"

"Yes," Silvertongue said, clear and simple.

Silvertongue could tell that the commander was staring at the new mare's impressive wingspan; as a pegasus, he was clearly intimidated by a mare her size, or perhaps captivated was more appropriate. It was rather amusing seeing the commander acting his age; Silvertongue had forgotten Jetstream was barely out of the military academy and probably still dealing with hormones.

Ah, youth.

Silvertongue shook his head and chuckled. "Testing begins…" he said, tapping the intercom button, "now."

The other mare didn't move, just watched as the AMP troopers armed their flechette launchers and approached her.

Jetstream shrugged. "Well, as much as I hate to hurt a pretty face."

The troopers fired.

The mare snapped her wings open and dug her hooves into the floor.

All at once, the flechette rounds that had been fired scattered in various directions, diverting their paths away from their target and impacting the walls behind her instead, as though repelled by some invisible force.

The front row of AMPs rushed forward, their hooves charged with lethal levels of electricity.

The mare flapped her wings once; the entire row of troops approaching her slowed to a crawl until they eventually couldn't move. As each of them attempted to take another step, their legs collapsed under their own weight, and the mechanical ponies crumbled like nothing more than tin cans.

Then, she took the offensive.

She soared into the air while the other rows of troops were reloading, then slammed down, hooves first, into the floor in the middle of the formation. The impact was so great that it sent AMPs flying around the room; this was despite the fact that the AMP troopers weighed in excess of eight hundred pounds.

"What sort of superpower is this, sir?" Jetstream asked, apparently growing accustomed to the fact that these mares were using magical abilities—"superpowers", if that made Jetstream more comfortable—they should not have.

"Graviturgy, the manipulation of gravitational forces," Silvertongue explained, rubbing his chin. "She can generate gravitational fields around herself and others with a flick of her wings. The fields can be so minute and yet so powerful that they can divert a bullet's path, or crush an AMP trooper like an aluminum can."

"And what's with the boots?"

"Impact absorbers, which will prevent her from shattering her bones—or worse—when she strikes the ground with heightened force due to her increased mass and velocity."

Jetstream watched the mare tear apart more AMPs by flinging them around the room like ragdolls. He turned to Blutsauger and gave a little grin. "Good show, Doc. I take back what I said earlier. If your project can produce soldiers like this, just think of the kind of damage we can do to Hope's Point."

Blutsauger adjusted his goggles. "Ja, maybe, but I do not think we are planning that far ahead yet. Herr Silvertongue has something else in mind for them, I believe, ja?"

Silvertongue activated the intercom again. "That will be all, Gray Skies. A wonderful performance."

The large mare in the arena came to a stop before destroying another trooper, then glanced at the observation deck and gave a short nod. "Thanks, Dad."

"Send in the next one," Silvertongue said to Blutsauger.

Blutsauger nodded, tapped his datapad, and again the arena door opened so the mares could trade places.

The next mare was a unicorn, her coat charcoal black and her mane and tail a stark shade of yellow—not blonde, yellow, like a caution sign. Her mane was a total mess, looking like some poor attempt to give herself luscious curls that didn't quite pan out. Even her coat wasn't clean like the other mares' had been, instead covered in sweat and even a little dirt. At least her jumpsuit was clean, though. Her cutie mark was a trio of plain-looking coals.

As Gray Skies walked by, the unicorn lifted a hoof and grinned broadly. "High hoof!"

The pegasus just stared at her.

The unicorn nervously glanced between her hoof and Gray. "Like… uh, high hoof? C'mooon."

Gray shook her head and just kept walking past the unicorn.

"Hey! That's, like, totally uncool and junk? Don't leave me hanging!" The arena door shut behind Gray. "Tch, major unfresh. What-ever."

The AMP troops were replenished.

Silvertongue activated the intercom. "Testing begins… now."

The first row of troopers fired their flechette rounds.

The mare yelped, swiftly raising a barrier spell to protect herself. It was an awkward cast, so while none of the bullets had gotten through, they hadn't been properly reflected either. Instead, they clattered harmlessly to the ground around her.

"Hey! No fair! I don't get fancy shooty-thingies!" she shouted.

Jetstream snorted. "This one is… interesting, sir. Does she not have anything special like the others?"

"She does," Silvertongue said, keeping his reply short and sweet. "Continue the test, Jetstream. You might have to work it out of her the hard way."

"Hmm. Alright, let's try out the shock applicators."

He ordered a row of AMPs forward to pound on her shield with their electrically-charged hooves.

"Hey! Hey! Get off!" she cried. "No fair, I don't have sparky hoovsies either!" She paused, sniffing the air as though she caught some scent. "Wait. But, like, I can get sparky hoovsies! C'mere!"

Her horn flared, and an aura of gold magic grabbed one of the surrounding troopers, snapping it into the shield. Its visor shattered on impact.

"Aha! I knew I smelled magic! Gimme gimme gimme!"

She jabbed a hoof into the machine's face. The trooper wantonly fired off sparks, as if it had been struck by an incredible electric shock.

She dropped it to the floor, and her body glowed bright gold for a brief moment. Without warning, she released her barrier and aimed her hoof at the next-nearest soldier to her. A ferocious bolt of lightning burst out of her hoof and ripped into her target, tearing it to pieces.

Jetstream's jaw dropped. "What was that? What did she just do?"

"This ability is not technically a school of magic," Silvertongue explained, "but rather a particular style of using magic. Vampiracation involves the absorption and duplication of magic from something other than oneself. In this particular case, she absorbed the electrical energy from the AMP trooper and duplicated it… and apparently manipulated how it is used."

He found that last part particularly interesting, as typically one shouldn't be able to alter the original source of magic by much; the AMP's shock applicator delivered an electrical surge upon impact, not at range, so technically it wasn't possible to launch lightning bolts with it. There was a great deal of potential there if she could do such a thing with other schools.

"But sir, the AMP troopers' weapons aren't magical, how can she absorb them like that?" Jetstream asked.

"The AMPs are a technomagic construct, and thus utilize magic and technology together to function. She absorbed the magical energy that powers the shock applicator, which is nothing more than a localized font of Electromancy channeled through the troopers' conductive hooves. It's rather simple, actually, in a brilliant sort of way."

"This mare must be pretty intelligent to figure that out," Jetstream murmured, stroking his chin.

"Or just lucky," Blutsauger commented with a jovial smirk.

Silvertongue tired of watching the mare below blasting AMPs into shrapnel; with limited targets, there was little room to display the full extent of her abilities, impressive though they were, and she wasn't doing anything else new with them. "A fine display, Insipid. You may stop now."

"Yay! You liked it?!" the unicorn squealed, clapping her hooves. "Oh. My. Stars. This is, like, the best. Possible. Thing. Eeee!"

"I believe we are ready for the final test, Blutsauger," Silvertongue said. "Send her in."

Blutsauger nodded, tapped his datapad, and once again the arena door opened.

Another unicorn mare—this one with a golden brown coat and a creamy mane and tail elegantly styled to frame her face—was already waiting for her turn. Like the others she was wearing a silver, form-fitting jumpsuit that showed off her cutie mark, a gleaming silver sword overlaid upon a glowing sun.

The first unicorn, Insipid, skipped airly towards the arena exit, waving giddily as she passed by the newcomer, who merely gave a half-hearted nod of acknowledgement.

The AMP troopers replenished their numbers.

Silvertongue activated the intercom. "Testing begins… now."

Jetstream ordered all of his troops to fire their flechette rounds in unison.

The new mare's horn glowed as bright as a star, and a shockwave of energy cascaded throughout the arena. The closest soldiers to her were lifted into the air, flailing about as they attempted to re-acquire a lock. The flechette rounds that had been fired had all been caught in a glowing field of energy less than a yard from their target.

She twirled her collection of machines and bullets around, dancing them through the air like toys. "Lamentable. Inadequate. Uninspiring. Suffice to say, I am not impressed with the threat presented," she droned. "Now allow me to demonstrate what constitutes a threat."

Her magic twisted all of the flechette rounds she'd caught in front of her and arranged them into a ball. Without warning, the projectiles rapidly shot outwards in random directions, ripping apart mechanical ponies like tissue paper.

The troopers she'd lifted up with her magic remained untouched; the ones just behind those were completely destroyed.

The third line finished reloading and fired again.

She swept the robots she held through the line of fire with dazzling speed, using them as shields to soak up all of the incoming fire. Once the third line ran out of ammo, she discarded her makeshift shields, or rather the wreckage that was left of them.

A full two-thirds of the platoon was gone in the span of some twenty seconds.

The remaining troops reloaded and fired again.

She placed up a barrier at the last second, reflecting flechette rounds in every direction. Many of the AMPs were struck and mangled as the rounds bounced back with precise aim.

Five soldiers remained out of the forty that started. Less than one minute had passed.

The unicorn stepped forward, her horn aglow, and grabbed those that remained in the golden aura of her magic.

The glow around one grew bright, and the soldier it held compacted on itself, crushed like a tin can.

She flung another upwards into the air with so much force that it slammed into the ceiling and shattered.

The third glowed a bright white and disappeared with a flash and a pop. A teleportation spell. Where it had been teleported to, nopony knew but her.

The fourth exploded from the inside as its energy core went critical, sending shrapnel flying in all directions.

The fifth was struck with a bolt of energy that pierced through its head and impacted the wall behind it, melting the metal at the impact point.

Silvertongue knew that simultaneous spell-casting was possible, though limited, difficult, and exhausting for all but the most talented of unicorns, at least when concerning things other than simple telekinetics or basic-level illusions and barriers. She'd been using some exceedingly complicated magic, yet did not look at all the worse for wear.

If anything, she actually looked dissatisfied with her performance, as though she'd been given an inadequate gift for her birthday. Considering the entire platoon had been destroyed in less than the time it took to brush one's teeth, the posturing seemed unnecessary and misplaced; the average unicorn could only dream of such capability.

But then he knew that this mare was no average unicorn, and she obviously knew it just as well.

"How astonishingly soporific," she said, rolling her eyes. "I anticipated that this would offer only a modicum of challenge, but at present all that I have witnessed is a rather pathetic exhibition. Is not the intention of this 'test' evaluating my innumerable, prodigious talents?"

Silvertongue chuckled lightly to himself. He was already impressed with the display, but this one was so certain of herself and her incredible power that he saw no need to deny her the opportunity to display more of it if she so wished. The others had all been given a fair amount of time to practice and preen, so why not her?

A press of a button replenished the supply of AMP troopers; another platoon of forty arrived through the heavy iron gateway below the observation deck, and Jetstream readied them for the next round as they formed up.

Silvertongue glanced over to see that the pegasus was just staring into the arena, his mouth hanging open slightly in a stunned stupor, clearly impressed with the latest mare's power as much as he was. His button presses and commands weren't slowed by his entranced state, but one could be forgiven for assuming he'd gone brain-dead at that moment.

The mare just laughed at the machines as they approached. "Well! I had certainly hoped we could mobilize more than just an inadequate rabble of machines, but I suppose I am aware of the impossibility of such. A shame, but it will suffice."

She shook her head and ignited her horn, shrouding the gate the troops were walking in with a bright pink aura.

As soon as the last trooper appeared, she slammed the door closed on top of it. She then ripped the gate off its hinges and proceeded to smash the other soldiers with the giant slab of metal, one at a time.

Silvertongue watched with rapt attention, more than just impressed at this point with the power on display. The gate weighed several tons and was designed to hold a Gargantuan patriarch, a creature stronger than twenty ponies and just as big. A single unicorn could never lift such a thing with such ease; even he, with all of his power, experience, and knowledge would have struggled to do the same.

But her? She swept it around as if it weighed nothing at all; it was little more than a flyswatter slapping at bothersome pests.

The massive object pummeled the soldiers, scattering mechanical parts in all directions. Jetstream ordered his units to spread out to minimize the damage. As they moved, he ordered them to open fire.

She casually teleported herself out of harm's way, not even dropping her weapon in the process.

She crushed the rest of the new platoon with the gate, then merely laughed and tossed it aside, leaving just one soldier remaining.

"I am to understand that these automatons constitute the bulk of the city's military force, am I not?" she said as she approached the final trooper.

Jetstream, likely just as curious as Silvertongue to see her display, didn't issue any orders for it to defend itself, so it stood dead still and silent even in the face of its imminent demise.

She lit her horn again, lifting the robot into the air. Her magic took the thing apart like one would do a toaster oven that wasn't working properly. Every single piece of machinery jettisoned outwards, spreading in the air, all in the span of a moment and with the delicacy of a surgeon.

"A mundane little thing, isn't it?" she mused. "So much enterprise and ingenuity employed to manufacture such a pitiable construct."

She floated over a small cube-shaped component that had been removed from its chest, no bigger than an orange. "Ah, the central processing unit. The machine's heart and soul, so to speak. Powerful enough to calculate elaborate physics trajectories in the merest fractions of a second—" She snapped it in half. "And yet so fragile."

Jetstream just shook his head, dumbstruck. "She destroyed two entire platoons in under five minutes. With just… regular unicorn magic. Lots of it, sure, but… is she just a regular unicorn, sir? I mean, she has no superpowers?"

"That she is," Silvertongue said with a small grin. "She is 'just' a regular unicorn. She does not possess any additional special abilities like the others, and has no specialization in any particular school of magic—at least that I am aware of—or secondary tools to assist her. The process infused her with pure, unadulterated power."

He tapped the intercom button. "Golden Dawn, that will be all. An exemplary display."

She nodded at the observation deck. "Thank you, Father."

He turned to Blutsauger. "Our testing is concluded for now, Doctor. Open the gate so that the others may gather."

"Ja, Herr Silvertongue," Blutsauger said, tapping his datapad.

"I will be down shortly to meet with you and the others," Silvertongue said into the intercom. "Have everypony line up and await my arrival."

"Yes, Father," the mare said with another nod.

Silvertongue turned to Jetstream. "Come, you should meet them as well, Commander. You've become a part of this as much as myself or Blutsauger, as far as I'm concerned. We could not complete these tests adequately without your skills, and it would do you good to ingratiate yourself with them early on."

"Sir? I'm not sure I understand what you mean. Am… am I to command them in battle or something?"

"Oh no, Commander, that is far from the truth. Most likely it will one day be quite the opposite," Silvertongue mused. "They are the future, though, and one cannot benefit enough from knowing the future, wouldn't you agree?"

Jetstream nodded, though he was clearly confused and didn't understand his employer's meaning. "Uh… sir, yes sir."

It took only a moment to leave the observation deck, descend some stairs, and enter into the arena via a small door that otherwise blended into the walls. As Silvertongue entered, he saw that the five mares—except Golden Dawn—were in the midst of some sort of discussion.

An argument, more like, given how Havoc was shouting and Insipid was whining and they were generally making a lot of noise; even Gray Skies was involved in it, if only to use her hooves to keep Havoc and Velvet apart so that hooves didn't start flying. They were acting like foals; it was unbecoming.

"Ladies. Calm yourselves," Silvertongue said smoothly as he approached. "You are grown mares. Act like it."

Those four obeyed instantly, lining up without another word alongside Dawn. Silvertongue's mouth curled in a smile as he looked over the five of them, each one standing straight and tall.

"An admirable display, all of you," he said, stepping down towards the end of the line. "It gladdens me to see that the infusion process was a complete success, and that there appear to be no ill side effects. Now then, I suppose you are all excited to learn how well you performed, yes?"

They all nodded enthusiastically, save Dawn, who simply bore a cocksure grin, and Gray, whose nod was slight.

Silvertongue laughed. "Ah, but before I administer my evaluations, our dear Doctor Blutsauger needs to give you all a brief examination. While there are no visible side effects from the infusion process, we cannot leave anything to chance." He gestured for Blutsauger to step forward. "Doctor, you may proceed."

Blutsauger trotted forward, a wide smile on his face. "Ja, this will not take long, Herr Silvertongue. As you said, just some diagnostics, ja? This will take seconds."

He stepped up to Dawn and pressed his hoof on his datapad. It glowed, sending out a beam of light that enshrouded her in a dull blue glow. He hummed to himself and pushed some buttons on the pad, then brightened when the device's glow turned bright green.

"Wunderbar! You are in peak physical condition, meine liebste," he said, adjusting his goggles. "Und that was a fine display in the test, ja? A phenomenal display of power. Very impressive. I can see why you were saved for the climax."

Dawn nodded appreciatively. "Thank you, Doctor."

Blutsauger nodded and went down the line, performing the same quick examinations on the other four mares. Silvertongue was glad to hear that there'd been no internal issues with their powers in use. He knew that normal ponies typically did not react well to Nihila's magic coursing through them; some were physically affected, others mentally. That these five were all in peak physical and mental condition was a testament to his careful oversight.

When Blutsauger completed the examinations, he returned to Silvertongue's side and saluted. "All done, Herr Silvertongue. They are all in prime physical condition, ja?" he said, glancing at the line of mares. "None of them sustained any injuries in the first place, with one exception, und Red Velvet has recovered from her injuries completely, as if they weren't even there. I am impressed!"

"Excellent, Doctor," Silvertongue said, gesturing for Blutsauger to stand at ease. "Now then, for my evaluations."

Silvertongue walked over to the last pony in the line, Havoc, going in the order that they had been tested in. She beamed wide and lifted her hoof up as if expecting him to give her a hoofbump.

He left her hanging; it was unprofessional to do otherwise.

"Havoc," he started, leveling her with a serious expression. "First, let me express my disappointment in you for beginning your test by utilizing such lowbrow combat techniques. This test's intention was to evaluate your control over your powers, not how well you could 'kick ass', as you would say."

Havoc's smile dropped and her hoof fell limp to the floor.

"However, the rest of your display was quite impressive, and while it did not excuse the disappointing beginning, it was enough to increase your average," Silvertongue continued. "In the future, remember, always bring your full power to bear against your opponent. Do not lower yourself to their level. Eighty-nine points."

Havoc sighed. "Yeah, Pops, I get it. Open with the big guns from now on."

Next up was Red Velvet, who looked up at Silvertongue with a proud grin.

"Red Velvet," he said, "you displayed exceptional fortitude and capability for both enduring and distributing pain. Your ability is exemplary, and I see no need to advise you on improving it, other than continuous practice to hone your skills. Also, a word of advice: while your healing factor is impressive, I'd avoid letting vital areas be harmed; there is no telling what you can or cannot heal from just yet. Ninety-five points."

"Thank you, Daddy," she said, bowing down on one knee. "I'm glad you liked it."

Next was Gray Skies, who stomped a hoof and stood at even firmer attention, were that possible. She stood nearly eye-to-eye with him, an impressive feat considering he was used to towering over most other ponies; a quick glance at Jetstream saw that the other pegasus was trying not to stare at her wings and had a mild tinge of pink in his cheeks. He was actually surprised; he never took Jetstream as the sort to be nervous around a mare before.

"Gray Skies," Silvertongue said, "you displayed an acute understanding of physics and gravity, utilizing it to bring tremendous force to bear against your opponent. There is little else to say. I am impressed at how much power you wield, and am eager to see how much control over it you truly have. Ninety-nine points."

Gray bowed down as Velvet had done. "I guess I deserve that. Thanks, Dad."

Next was Insipid, who beamed up at Silvertongue, barely able to stay still. He chuckled softly and patted her on the head, making her laugh; something about her foal-like innocence just made him want to do that and he couldn't help but indulge.

"Insipid, your display of mimicking the magic of others was impressive, particularly that you could absorb the magic of a technomagic construct. That your touch causes such powerful feedback also intrigues me, and that could prove vital to you. However, your standard magic has room for improvement. In the future, remember that you are a unicorn, and that you can use your magic together with the powers you copy."

Insipid stared up blankly at Silvertongue, and tilted her head. "Uh, does that, like, mean I did good?"

Silvertongue smiled. "Ninety-one points."

"But Daddy," she whined, "I want a higher score, pleeease?"

Silvertongue laughed and ruffled her mane; he didn't know why, but he couldn't help himself. "Ninety-two points then."

"Whoopie!"

He then approached the last of the five, Golden Dawn. She stuck her nose in the air and kept that supremely smug grin on her face. If he wasn't so impressed with her abilities he might have scolded her for putting on airs, but she'd earned the right to be cocky.

"And last but not least, to you, the youngest of my six wonderful daughters," Silvertongue announced. "Golden Dawn, you displayed the most incredible magical power I have witnessed in a long, long while. You utterly destroyed your opponent's entire regiment twice over in record time. I see no need to advise you on your capabilities in combat. A perfect score, one hundred points."

"It would have proven impossible for me to achieve anything less," Dawn said, bowing low but not taking her eyes off of Silvertongue. "Your praise fills me with pride, Father. Thank you."

Jetstream gave Silvertongue a brief look. "Sir? Did you say 'six'? I only see five here."

Blutsauger cleared his throat. "Commander Jetstream, are you suggesting that Herr Silvertongue has made a mistake? That he does not know how to count? You must have misheard him."

"Oh come off it, doc, enough with the brown-nosing," Jetstream huffed. "I might not be some super genius genetic engineer or whatever the hell it is you do, but I have perfectly functional eyes and ears, and I know how to count, thank you very much."

Silvertongue paused, then nodded, a slight grin on his face. "You are correct, Jetstream, there is indeed a sixth mare. I did have you here to test all of their abilities, of course, because I needed somepony with your particular skill set, as well as other factors, such as your familiarity with others on my staff."

That confused the poor commander. "Sir?"

"Only five of these six tests were designed with combat in mind, as the other's abilities do not have practical combat applications that required such a trial." Silvertongue turned to Blutsauger. "I believe this charade has gone on long enough, Doctor Blutsauger. Go on. Show him."

Blutsauger hesitated, then nodded. Silvertongue watched Jetstream's jaw drop as Blutsauger's body shifted with a white glow from a lanky, white-coated unicorn stallion into a beautiful blue-coated earth pony mare with a dark red mane; the lab coat disappeared as well, replaced by the same jumpsuit the other mares were wearing, so that her cutie mark—a trio of oranges—was clear to see.

Jetstream balked. "What."

"Bonjour, Commander," the mare said with her distinct Romantique accent, giving the pegasus a slight nod and a smile. She offered her hoof for him to shake. "A pleasure to meet you for real, non? Je m'appelle Curaçao."

Jetstream just stared at her a moment, then cautiously took her hoof and shook, weakly. "I am so confused right now," he muttered.

"Curaçao possesses the power of Chameleomancy," Silvertongue explained as he took the datapad that Curaçao had been holding. "It is the ability to change one's physical form. To test her ability, I had her study Doctor Blutsauger so that she may take upon his guise during these proceedings and imitate him to the best of her ability. The fact that you didn't notice the difference proves she filled her role perfectly. Almost.

"However," he continued, turning to Curaçao, "I did notice a few disparities: a brief flash of concern during Red Velvet's test when she was struck, and the lack of Blutsauger's typical lascivious tendencies in regards to mares, particularly attractive ones like your sisters. Jetstream did not notice for he is not as well-acquainted with Blutsauger, but somepony else might have."

Curaçao nodded, but did not look ashamed. "Oui, Papa, I will do better in the future."

"I take some of the blame myself, of course; you had very little time to observe and evaluate the doctor's personality. Still, a commendable display of your capabilities. Ninety-two points."

Insipid gasped. Loudly. "Oh. My. Stars. Curie! We got the same score! We're like twins!"

Curaçao just rolled her eyes as she took her place in the time next to Havoc; she'd been the first official test, after all. "Oui, ma sœur, we are like twins. C'est merveilleux."

Silvertongue smiled and stepped away from the line, then turned and addressed the mares all as one. "My daughters. You six are most precious to me, more than anything I possess in this world." His words caused them all to smile brightly, even though the words weren't precisely true; they didn't know that, of course. "It pains me that we cannot simply relax and be a family just yet, but I have an important task for all of you, one that only you can accomplish."

He pushed a button on his datapad, which emitted a green light straight up and displayed a holographic projection of six mares: Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash.

"These six mares are in desperate need of help, and I wish to offer it to them," he explained, gesturing towards the holograms. "However, they have undergone some terrible experiences as of late and so they may be wary to accept help from strangers quickly. Your mission is to find them and aid them however you can. Let them know that you can be trusted. Then, when the time is right, they will gladly accept my help when I offer it at a later time."

"Okay, so, we're gonna go out and meet these chicks, and we're gonna get all buddy-buddy with 'em?" Havoc asked, scratching her head. "I mean… why? What's so special about them?"

"Do not dispute our father's agenda, Havoc," Dawn said with a sneer. "If he deems these mares to be of consequence, then they certainly must be. He would not squander our talents on mediocrity." She briefly turned to Silvertongue. "Forgive her, Father. She is an imbecile."

"Hey!"

"I assure you, Havoc, these mares are quite special indeed," Silvertongue said with a grin, "but I cannot reveal to you why just yet. You will learn it as you go along and make connections with them, forming bonds of camaraderie. Telling you now would only color your viewpoints, spoil your appetites for genuine friendship, and potentially alert them that you know more than you should. They would not trust you, and trust is of the utmost importance."

He pulled six envelopes from his uniform pocket and passed them to each of the mares; each was labeled with their names. "Inside those envelopes you will find some scant details on your assigned 'target', for lack of a better word, as well as details on efforts I have put in place to aid you in your missions. They are all tailored to your specific talents and skill sets.

"I believe it has already been discussed, but Dawn has been chosen as your team leader," he continued, gesturing towards Dawn; the proud smile on her face could light up a room. "If any troubles occur in the course of your mission, defer to her judgement on how to proceed; failing that, Dawn has nominated Curaçao as her second, should something occur where Dawn is unavailable. Is that clear?"

"So… we're not gonna get to talk to you?" Velvet asked, anxiously tapping her hooves together.

Silvertongue gave her a small smile. "Outside of mission reports, not much, at least not until the mission is done. I have my own work to do in regards to all of this, so regrettably there will be few moments where I am available to spend time with any of you. Fret not, my dear, for once we have all finished our tasks, we will have a truly grand celebration together."

That seemed to satisfy Velvet, who grinned and nodded rapidly. "Yeah! That sounds great!"

"For now, though, why don't you all review your assignments and discuss amongst yourselves a few particulars. The mission is now in your hooves, and I trust you all to make me proud."

He watched them open their envelopes and talk amongst themselves about their assignments, feeling a little swell of pride as he did so, like a true father watching his daughters aspire to bigger and better things.

He'd been surprised when Dawn, the first to awake, had called him "Father", mostly because that wasn't the association he'd expected to manifest in them, but when the others followed suit, he could not rightly deny them. After all, he'd made them, given them life. He raised them as well, for what it was worth; he'd built their memories and personalities, defined every aspect of their lives, and helped develop their talents and skills. Did that not constitute fatherhood?

So if that was how they wished to see him, then it was only logical to see them in the same light.

All in all, things were progressing exactly as planned. Now it was just a matter of time before everything fell into place.

Chapter Seven: Consultation

Twilight didn't get a chance to discuss magical theory with anypony else very often. In fact, it was actually quite rare that she got to discuss magic with anypony at all, theory or no. She only ever spoke with Princess Celestia about it and hadn't had a chance to since she left for Ponyville, and that was quite some time ago. And even then the conversations had been rather limited, mostly as part of her coursework.

Okay, so realistically, Twilight never got to discuss magical theory with anypony, ever.

But Winter Glow, despite her at-times odd vernacular—Twilight had never heard anypony with her particular accent before—was giving Twilight exactly what she'd always wanted: an equal. She didn't particularly like using that term, but when only one of her friends was a unicorn in the first place—and Rarity was smart, absolutely, but not when it came to advanced magical theory—Twilight couldn't think of another way to describe the sensation of speaking with somepony that shared that same passion and understanding.

And best of all, Winter seemed particularly knowledgeable on a subject that Twilight was legitimately curious about, and was more than happy to share that knowledge in a polite discourse.

"So, if I'm understanding this correctly," Twilight said as she and Winter strolled down the street on their way towards the CDH building for Twilight's first big day on her new job, "even the tiniest deviation in the balance of these forces—Law and Chaos according to your order—can cause cataclysmic damage?"

"Yup," Winter said without a hint of foreboding or worry. "It's not immediate, mind ya, but that's the general gist of things. That's why your world is fine for now: this Discord bloke’s seal is still keepin' his Chaos contained in whatever prison ya put him in. Summer Rains said somethin' about a statue?"

Twilight hummed and nodded. "The way that Princess Celestia described our ancient times, back when she and Princess Luna first defeated him, certainly sounds as though the world was completely drowned in Chaos. But if that was the case, why didn't this… 'Void' try and swallow the world then?"

"I won't pretend to know your world's history, but that's the important word here: history. Every world has its own… let's call it a 'backstory'. Things that happened in that history might certainly affect events in its present insofar as, say, your world's Discord bein' released in the first place, but that era of the world is typically immune to Void consumption."

"Really? How come?"

Winter seemed to ponder that for a moment, then gave a little shrug. "It's a complicated issue, but the best way I can explain it is that when worlds are created, they come into existence with that backstory already in place. So, while those events 'happened' as far as the world's inhabitants—you and your friends—are concerned, they didn't as far as the Void is concerned. It only affects things after the world came into existence."

Twilight paused. "That… doesn't make a lot of sense. Those events happened but they didn't happen? Are you saying that everything that happened in my world's history is… fake? Or something like that? Forgive me if I say that that sounds insane."

"No no, not at all, but that history holds no relevance to the Void because… well, it just doesn't." Winter shook her head, an apologetic grin on her face. "Even the Chronomancers aren't entirely sure why that is, but let me see if I can ease your mind a little, yeah?"

"Please."

"So, ya understand that there are obviously other worlds out there, right?"

"Obviously," Twilight said with a smirk.

"Well, there are more than just yours and this one, of course."

"Makes sense."

"And they're not always so different as yours is compared to this one, either. I can't tell ya any specific details—Chronomancer protocol and all that—but I can at least tell ya that there are worlds out there exactly like yours, down to the smallest details, except for one little, seemingly insignificant thing."

"Really? So, what makes my world different from this purely hypothetical other alternate world that's almost exactly the same but isn't?"

"I won't claim to know, because that's not my jurisdiction. Summer Rains could tell ya what makes your world different from others because she's your world's Chronomancer. Could be somethin' as small as just two ponies bein' married in one world but not in another."

"There'd be an entirely different world for that?"

"Oh yeah. Entire worlds are made because of reasons that small. But they can also form because of something as big as, say… your Elements of Harmony not existin' at all. Hypothetically, of course."

"Of course," Twilight said, not really wanting to think about such a hypothetical situation as the Elements not even existing. The kind of disasters that could lead to could be catastrophic. Then again—

"But wait, what about this world? It doesn't have Elements of Harmony, does it?"

"No, it does not," Winter continued. "It's history is actually quite a lot different from your own world, and HQ typically doesn't pinpoint the exact details that caused the difference if it's this significant. I can only tell ya what makes your world different from mine, and let's be honest—"

She gestured around them as they walked. She gestured at the tall buildings that rose much higher than the tallest of those in Canterlot and Manehattan; at the crowded streets and dirty skies clogged with more ponies in a city block that lived in all of Ponyville many times over; at the smoggy air that made it unpleasant to breathe when walking about outside and wasn't much better indoors either; and at the fiery orange glow in the sky above that was both foreboding and captivating all the same, like a sunset that had overstayed its welcome.

"—I don't think it'd take a genius to see we'd be here a while if I listed all the differences."

Twilight shook her head and sighed. She wasn't as apprehensive about things now that she knew what had happened, what was happening, and what was being done to rectify the situation, but that didn't mean that she wasn't nervous about the whole thing.

She'd only known Winter for less than a day, and while she trusted the other unicorn and sincerely believed she was going to do everything she could to help, Twilight couldn't stop herself from worrying that this otherworldly adventure of theirs had only just begun.

Three weeks was starting to sound like a long time.

*****

Twilight hadn't had a problem with the outfit she'd chosen for herself back at the police station the other day, and if anything found herself growing rather fond of it, in a way. She'd never be caught dead performing stage magic like Trixie did. Not because it was beneath her or anything like that, but because that sort of magic just wasn't something she considered proper, so to speak. Certainly she knew if she put her mind to it she could absolutely put on a show, but—

That wasn't the point.

What was the point was that she wasn't allowed to wear her normal clothing for work, but had to wear a proper uniform. She was rather surprised to find that the CDH provided one for her, and that she wasn't even being charged for it or anything. Given everything that had happened thus far, she was expecting the worst; she'd already prepared herself to ask Winter if she could borrow some bits to pay for a uniform if need be.

Once she put the uniform on, she felt every bit like a librarian, what with the cable-knit sweater and pleated skirt. It was admittedly a little much, but if this was what she needed to wear, then that's what she was going to wear.

Archimedes had told her when she arrived that, "Ponies of this city have a certain expectation for how others should look in particular professions." He'd then given her the outfit, told her to make herself presentable, and left her to her own devices, which was rather nice of him since that implied he trusted her to do it right. At least that's how Twilight chose to interpret it.

Twilight couldn't decide if the collected-yet-casual, haughty demeanor he exuded was just him putting on airs because that was expected of him, or if that was how he really was.

Regardless, once she'd changed into her uniform and headed back into the library room proper, she met up with Winter at one of the computer stations, where she was patiently waiting for Twilight's arrival.

Twilight knew that the computers could only be unlocked for use by a member of the staff, and that meant her now; she still felt weird about being made responsible for the use and maintenance of a device that she had never used before, but here she was. She'd just have to treat this like any new learning experience.

Winter grinned as Twilight came over, giving her a once-over. "Crikey, look at you, eh? Ya look cute as a button in that getup."

Twilight blushed and pawed at the sweater, which still itched a little since it was new. "Thanks. I'm still coming to grips with having to wear clothes all the time and all that, but I guess if these outfits help me fit in I should try and embrace it, right? 'When in Roam', they say. Or is that just an expression from my world?"

"Well, ya look every bit like a librarian, I'll tell ya that. Why, I bet if ya put your nose up in the air just a little…" Winter demonstrated, sticking her nose in the air with a properly snooty expression on her face. "You'll look like you're just the right amount of up yourself to fit in."

Twilight glanced over towards Archimedes at his desk, where he was busy leering down his nose at a teenage colt, every bit as stuffy as always and with practically the exact expression on his face that Winter demonstrated. She'd only known the stallion for a few hours at best, but she could just tell that he was good at what he did and that his attitude towards others simply had to be brought on because of a lack of appreciation for his work.

She knew that feeling only too well.

"Right," she said, turning back to Winter. She took a small key out of her new sweater's pocket. "Well, let's go ahead and get started, shall we?"

Twilight stuck the key into a little slot on top of the station and turned it, and in an instant the monitor sprung to life and was already prompting for input.

She'd been surprised at how these "computer" devices worked when she'd been first introduced to them the other day, but was starting to grow accustomed to certain aspects of them, even if she didn't quite understand how exactly they worked just yet. Fascinating things, to be sure, but she'd have time to indulge in her curiosity another day, hopefully.

"Right then, let's get crackin', eh?" Winter cracked her neck—Twilight could even hear a few joints pop, which she was sure wasn't healthy—and tapped on the screen to make the keyboard widget appear. "I say we start simple and broad, then just work our way down from there. So, we'll start the search with just 'Nihila'."

She typed that into the input field, then hit the Search button and let the computer do its work. In less than a minute, the database compiled its list and displayed its results: 10,314 Entries Found.

Winter whistled. "That's a lot of things to sort through." She and Twilight glanced at the details of the entries as Winter scrolled down the list, and saw that several of them were quite long, reaching upwards of hundreds of thousands of words per entry. "It'll take us weeks to find anythin' in this mess."

Twilight hummed, then smiled as a thought came to her. "Archimedes taught me a few things about making these searches easier and more refined. A few logistical operators, actually. Since we're only concerned with Nihila herself, or more specifically this 'Warden' of hers, we can narrow the search. Here, watch this."

Twilight typed into the search bar so that it read Nihila AND Warden, then hit the Search button and waited for the database to sort through it. The results weren't quite what Twilight expected: 9,997 Entries Found.

"Well, at least it narrowed out things that were probably less useful, I hope," Winter noted as she looked at the screen. "Well, we're not lookin' for information on Harmonia—I already know enough that if we were goin' that route we wouldn't need a bloody computer for help—so how about we take her out of the equation?"

"Yeah, that might work." Twilight typed in Nihila AND Warden NOT Harmonia, then hit Search again. This time the results were even less promising: 0 Entries Found. "Oh dear."

"Strewth," Winter grumbled, shaking her head. "Makes sense, though. Those two aren't usually discussed without mentionin' the other. That's the nature of counterpart goddesses, eh?"

"I suppose…" Twilight sighed. "Looks to me like we're sorting through all of that other data then, doesn't it? Gosh, that's a lot of reading. I mean, I love reading, but I just can't imagine trying to do it in front of a big screen like this instead of a book. It just feels… wrong."

"How so?"

"Well I mean, where's the texture of the paper on your hooves? Where the sound of pages rustling as you turn through them? Not to mention that I'd have to sit in this chair for hours and hours to go through all this material, rather than being able to lounge in bed or on the couch, or read while I'm walking about or while I'm doing other things."

Winter chuckled. "Y'know, I figured ya for a bibliophile, but I didn't think ya had it this bad." She put her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "If it's any consolation, mate, ya don't have to do all the research here."

Twilight paused, then brightened. "Oh! Right! You can check out materials just like at any library! I forgot all about that, what with the difference in material. I kept thinking that there was no way we would be allowed to carry this computer out of here." She cleared her throat. "Let's see…"

She fished a little device out of her sweater pocket and inserted it into the computer where she'd been instructed to by Archimedes; he'd called the device a "drive" and that it could store incredible amounts of data despite only being the size of a stick of gum, which could then be transferred over to other devices for later reading. And these drives were keyed specifically to the CDH, so only those with clearance—such as herself—could insert, remove, or modify them until they were checked out properly.

She tapped a few buttons on the screen, particularly a big button labeled Download, and waited as the computer worked its magic—or whatever it was that made it work—to transfer a copy of all of the data onto the drive. The screen displayed a waiting time to download the entire collection of data before confirming anything, though: 3 hours, 23 minutes.

"Of course the download speeds are still shit house," Winter scoffed. "Well, not like I had anything else to do today, eh?"

"I'm still fascinated by how these little things work," Twilight said, gesturing at the drive. "The only thing about it that makes any sense is that it's meant for housing data, and that every document or book takes up a certain amount. And it can hold multiple books all at once? Like a miniature library of its own?"

"Oh, more than that, mate. The drives they make these days are capable of storing entire libraries worth of books. A book takes up, let's say… one piece of data, eh? The number's bigger than that, but for argument's sake, let's say one. That data is called a 'byte'. That little drive there can store an entire terabyte worth of information."

Twilight blinked, stunned. "A trillion books? All on this one little thing?"

"Yup. And that's just the cheapo stuff the CDH uses for loaners; the more expensive drives can hold a full petabyte, and there are some high-end ones that go up to an exabyte."

"That's… oh wow…"

Twilight's eyes glazed over as she thought about the possibility of holding such a sheer volume of knowledge in one hoof. She had to take care to keep breathing properly; even if a single document or book took up one million of these so-called "bytes", there was enough room in that little stick to hold entire libraries worth of information and still have room left over. She watered at the mouth just a little at the thought of having access to it all.

She shook herself out of it, though. "Well, I'll get started on the forms needed to check this drive out for you," she said with a grin. "Then we can research at our own pace at home, right?"

Winter nodded. "And we can still do plenty of reading here whenever we need to. Who knows, we might need to search for somethin' completely different if this database doesn't have anythin' useful right off the bat."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't it have anything useful? Nihila's a goddess, right? There's sure to be lots of information on her in the database."

"Folks up here in the north don't really pay much heed to religion and all that shit, yeah? Nopony up here worships Nihila or prays to her or anythin', or as far as I know even acknowledges her existence in their daily lives. Might not even ‘believe’ in her."

"But… she is real, right?"

"Oh, absolutely, just as real as Harmonia is… but the northern folk don't really believe in her either. They mostly think the two are just creations of the southern ponies to guide their morals. Follow Harmonia's example, shun Nihila's, that sort of thing."

Twilight found that a little hard to parse through. She tried to imagine what it would be like in her own world if ponies didn't "believe" that Princess Celestia raised the sun every morning and Princess Luna raised the moon every night. Or would it be more comparable to all those ponies over the years that didn't "believe" in the tale of Nightmare Moon? No, scratch that, she had a more relatable story.

"I suppose it makes a little bit of sense," Twilight said. "If ponies can't see something with their own eyes, sometimes they have a tough time believing that it's real. I mean, in our world's history, nopony believed that the wendigos were real until they practically forced the three ancient tribes to unite as one. We still tell the story every year so that nopony forgets it and the wendigos return."

"Yeah, kind of the same deal, but it's a bit more complicated than that, since the only pony that ever actually speaks with Harmonia directly is her Warden," Winter said. "The southern Warden, from my understandin', is a public figure. That's our problem. The best I can tell is that Nihila's Warden keeps to themselves like some kind of hermit."

"Are you sure she even has a Warden?" Twilight asked. "What if she doesn't need one?"

"She and Harmonia do need them, actually. They can't interact with the physical world except through their Wardens carrying out their commands. Otherwise, they can only interact with ponies in their dreams, and those come across more often as rather vague visions than direct conversations. Or so the stories say."

"Well, whoever this Warden is, I hope they're decent enough to at least hear us out. We're banking on a lot here, trying to find somepony that clearly doesn't want to be found."

"I'll get started on lookin' through some of these documents now," Winter said, turning back to the computer screen. "I don't think it'd be a good idea for ya to do it yourself."

"What? Why not?" Twilight asked. "I'd be a big help—"

Winter gestured out into the library. "Don't forget, you've got a job to do here, eh? I have no doubt you'll be a big help in narrowin' things down, Twilight, but save it for when ya get off work." She set a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Trust me, I can handle readin' a few documents."

Twilight paused, then gave a little smile and nodded. "Alright, you make a fair point. Let me know if you need any help though, okay? You're still a library patron, and it's my job to be of assistance to you," she added with a wink.

With that, Twilight turned from the computer and headed out into the rest of the library to see if she could be of help to anypony else.

Over the course of a couple of hours, she learned that ponies used the library for all sorts of purposes, though there were very few that used it for the purposes she felt were appropriate; then again, since this library also kept record of all public data made available—from addresses to photographs, tax records to arrest warrants—she admitted that this was really less of a library as it was a depository, and ponies were legally allowed to use whatever information was available however they wanted.

Still, it felt a little awkward to help the few library patrons she met with what they needed help with.

One, a scrawny stallion that barely looked like he was out of high school, wanted all sorts of records on an older mare that, from what Twilight could tell, was a teacher at his former school. She didn't want to guess why he was searching for this information—her address in particular—but something told Twilight it wasn't for a good reason; it wasn't her place to question it—Archimedes had made that clear—but it still felt off-putting doing it.

Another, a mare who was clearly weeks away from delivering a foal, was looking into financial records and other information regarding an older stallion, though Twilight couldn't tell what the connection was; they didn't look related or anything. Given how the mare was looking at the information with a certain sadistic glimmer in her eyes, Twilight was again sure that the purpose of the search wasn't anything pleasant.

There was a couple looking into the reviews of certain hotels in the area they planned on renting a room at—they were the only ponies being upfront with their intentions. Still, there was something suspicious about the couple that she couldn't put a hoof on, but it wasn't her place to judge, really. They seemed friendly enough; too friendly, really, enough that Twilight had to avert her gaze more than once.

A young filly and her father needed some information on some chemicals for a science fair experiment. At first Twilight was happy to help, but then she saw that the chemicals being searched for weren't appropriate for a filly that age to be handling; in fact, given her own knowledge of chemistry, she was certain that these particular chemicals could just easily be combined into an explosive if they were handled improperly. Plus, the filly looked not at all interested in the project, while the father definitely did. Very odd.

An older mare wanted some information on her late husband's medical records, which she was legally entitled to, of course, but also on a complete stranger, which she was not; Twilight had tried to explain that she didn't have that kind of clearance, and it took an intervention from Archimedes to keep the older mare from biting Twilight's head off during her outburst, and in a library no less! Did some ponies just not care about respecting the rules of establishments they visited?

It wasn't until about an hour or so before lunch that Twilight got to deal with a patron that seemed to not only be on the level, but was using the library for legitimate scholarly pursuits.

The mare approached Twilight's desk—for Twilight had been given a rather small desk near the west computer area, as she was apparently in charge of that whole section—with a confident gait, her nose just slightly up. She had a rich, golden brown coat and a long cream-colored mane that curled at the sides to frame her face, and wore a snappy wine red dress suit and pale yellow bowtie that made her look both professional and presentable at the same time.

"Hello there!" Twilight greeted, keeping her pep up despite a long slog through a slew of less-than-pleasant patrons. "Welcome to the Central Database Hub. How can I help you?"

"I require the use of one of your computer stations for research purposes," the mare said, glancing off just behind Twilight and gesturing towards the stations with a tilt of her head. "That would be your responsibility, would it not, Miss… Sparkle?"

Twilight froze for a brief instant. The past two days had been enough of a harrowing experience that she was nearly always on edge, and it had been concerning enough when Winter Glow had come to her and her friends with knowledge that she shouldn't have had, but at least Winter's story made sense. Yes, her name was on public record according to Flathoof, but why would somepony look that up?

"H-how did you know my name?" Twilight gulped.

The other mare pointed absently with her hoof at Twilight's chest. "Your nametag?"

Twilight glanced down and noticed the bright nametag attached to her sweater pocket; she'd completely forgotten it was even there, since nopony had even acknowledged it yet today and it hadn't been bothering her, as in, it was quite comfortable to wear.

"Oh. Right. My nametag. Sorry, first day jitters, forgot all about it," Twilight chuckled. "Right, so, how can I be of assistance?" she asked as she led the mare over towards the nearest available computer station and inserted her key to start it up.

"I am researching the history of New Pandemonium City," the mare said as she took a seat. "Specifically a chronicle of events leading up to the city's initial construction procedures, the formation process regarding the city's ruling government body, and assorted elements revolving around the city's current social status quo in relation or contrast to the socio-economic conditions in centuries past."

Twilight blinked; this mare was either incredibly smart to be able to use all of that admittedly complicated vocabulary correctly, or another one of the many, many ponies out there that just liked to use ten-bit words to sound like they were incredibly smart. Twilight could admit she used more complex words at times, but she didn't pepper entire sentences with them.

But she could.

She cleared her throat. "So, the intention of your sojourn to this repository is to illuminate specific minutiae in regards to circumstances which resulted in the city's development both architectural and political, as well as a juxtaposition between both past and present civil structures?"

"Indubitably," the other mare replied.

Twilight and the other mare locked eyes for half a moment, and for that brief period Twilight felt an odd sense of familiarity, almost like looking in a mirror; this other mare's eye color was exactly the same as her own, down to a tiny imperfection Twilight had in her right pupil that nopony else really noticed. It was almost uncanny.

But then Twilight just smiled and nodded, not wanting to be caught staring. "Well, I'd be happy to help however I can, Miss…?"

"Dawn," the other mare said, offering her hoof, which Twilight took. "Golden Dawn, in full. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

"Likewise. So, let's see what we can find in regards to your little research project, hmm?"

Twilight spent the next thirty or so minutes helping Golden Dawn narrow down her search parameters several times—the city's history was surprisingly vast, with over 500,000 entries to sort through with just a broad search—and over that period she got a good chance to know this other mare, who Twilight felt an almost immediate connection with; just as it wasn't often that she got to discuss magical theory with anypony, it wasn't often that she met somepony that had a passion for learning.

"So, what's this project of yours for, anyhow?" Twilight asked. "Considering the amount of detail you're looking into and the specifics of the search, this isn't just some random essay for your college history class. A thesis, maybe?"

The other mare looked about the same age as Twilight, if she were to hazard a guess, so she assumed college was the most likely educational level.

Dawn grinned as she sorted through another few documents to drop into the download bin. "Nothing quite so pedestrian. My intention is to formulate this dissertation for entry into a scholastic journal, or, failing that, to serve as a foundation for a lecture."

"Wow, a scholastic journal, huh?" Twilight said, frankly impressed.

She'd always wanted to write a dissertation for one of the journals back home, but she'd been so focused on her friendship reports and dealing with threats like Discord and Queen Chrysalis that she didn't feel she had the time.

"Which one, if I might ask? I'd love to read it when you're finished."

Dawn paused for a brief moment, then smiled and shrugged. "If I may be forthright with you, I have yet to choose which of the city's journals would provide a satisfactory fit. Rest assured, once I do, I will be certain to inform you of it."

"That sounds great!"

"So, you share my enthusiasm for historical inquiry, hmm? Might I inquire as to why? So few in this city possess any sort of appreciation for the past."

"Well, I'm not originally from here," Twilight said—she and her friends were still supposed to be using the cover story they'd come up with, and Winter had helped provide them with more than enough details to fill out the holes it had. "I'm from the southern continent, from a little village called Ponyville."

Dawn raised an eyebrow. "Ponyville? That name seems rather… 'up the nose'? I believe that is the expression?"

"On the nose, actually."

"Yes, of course. On the nose," Dawn said with a light laugh.

Twilight wrinkled her brow. "You're not the first pony around here to say that about Ponyville, actually. Is the name really that odd?"

"It does possess a certain fairy tale quality to it." Dawn paused, then smiled politely. "Not to insinuate anything that might be construed as disrespectful. Northern locales are not known for their own inventive nomenclature, either, but for a more utilitarian purpose. Consider this city's districts, named either in reference to their cardinal directions from the city center, or, for the Inner Districts, the dialects utilized by the majority of their population."

Twilight smiled back. "I suppose when you put it that way, I shouldn't feel so bad if Ponyville's name is kind of 'on the nose', huh?"

"Not at all.”

“Say, maybe you would know the answer to this: why are the Mid Districts named regarding the cardinal directions? The center of the city is supposedly on the planet’s north pole, right? Wouldn't they all be technically south?"

"Correct, but the planet possesses a minor tilt to its axis. Were you positioned precisely in the city’s center with a compass in hoof, Mid-North would be indicated to your magnetic north, and so on."

"Ah. That explains a lot, actu—"

A cough behind Twilight nearly made her jump. She turned to find herself face-to-face with Chief Librarian Archimedes.

"Oh! Ch-chief, hi," Twilight said, not sure if she should be nervous or not. "Is something wrong?"

Archimedes stared down his nose at her. "Indeed there is, Miss Sparkle. Something is very wrong. Very wrong indeed."

Twilight gulped. "Oh? Um… wh-what is it?"

He gestured towards the far wall. "If you could, Miss Sparkle, tell me what time it is?"

Twilight glanced at the wall, at the clock there actually, and saw that it was— "Um… twelve-oh-two?"

"Indeed. Two minutes past noon. And when, Miss Sparkle, are you supposed to take your allotted thirty-minute lunch break?"

"At… noon?"

"At noon, precisely. Precisely at noon, in fact. You are late for your own lunch break, Miss Sparkle, and that reflects poorly on your superior, who is responsible for ensuring that those beneath him are properly organized and scheduled. Now, who is your superior, Miss Sparkle?"

"You are, sir?"

"I am, that is correct. So, let us sum up." Archimedes adjusted his glasses. "You are currently… three minutes late for your lunch break, which you were supposed to take precisely at noon, and such an oversight reflects poorly on me in the eyes of the city's employment board for allowing an employee—a new employee—to mismanage their schedule during work hours. Does that sound correct?"

"Y-yes?

"So, Miss Sparkle, what are you going to do to rectify this gross oversight?"

"I'm… going to take my lunch break?"

"You're going to take your lunch break, very good. Hop to it."

And with that, he walked off to go back to "helping" another patron with their own research project, whatever that might have been.

Twilight wasn't sure if she should feel glad that her new employer cared enough to ensure that she took proper breaks—or if he cared about her at all, and not just his own skin in case this got him into legal trouble—or if she should be upset because of his admittedly abrasive attitude. The former seemed more likely; if the ponies of this city were generally as heartless as Flathoof and Lockwood indicated at times, surely Archimedes could've just let her forget to take a break and fudge the time cards later, right?

With a sigh, she turned back to Dawn and gave her a weak smile, her nerves still a little rattled. "W-well, you heard my boss, I'm on break. I'd be happy to help you more with your project when I get back, if you need it."

Dawn rose from her seat, taking the now-filled data drive out of the computer and putting it in her pocket. "Actually, Miss Sparkle—"

"You can just call me Twilight, if you'd like."

That made Dawn smile a little. "Actually, Twilight, I was considering taking a respite from my research for a period as well. Would you mind if I joined you?" She gestured over towards the coffee shop in the corner of the library. "If I am not mistaken, I believe we can purchase food and beverages right here at the CDH. Perhaps we can continue our discussions?"

Twilight smiled back, moving to lock the computer station now that it was no longer in use. "Sure, that sounds great. Would you mind if a friend of mine joined us? I'm helping her with a research project, too, and was going to invite her to join me for some coffee."

"I would not object to more company."

"Great! The more the merrier, they always say."

*****

Twilight knew it would take a while to get used to the way New Pandemonium City worked. The commute from home to work was completely alien to her, what with her first real job being Ponyville's librarian, and she lived on the library's second floor; apparently, though, commutes like hers were considered completely normal, and in fact hers was considered easy, despite having to walk twenty blocks from her building to the CDH on top of descending all those darned stairs.

That was small potatoes compared to getting used to the food and drink offerings in the city. The Dolor brand of synthetic foods was the most common product available and constituted of the daily diet of over eighty percent of the city's populace; the Inner Districts tended to get actual food products shipped from the southern continent and could afford it, and those in the Mid Districts could only afford to indulge as a special treat every now and then.

But if Twilight had to drink this "coffee" that the CDH coffee shop served, and had to do it every day for the next three or so weeks, she was probably going to snap sooner rather than later.

Everypony had their own "thing", so to speak, their own favorite food or drink or activity that brought them real enjoyment, not counting their careers or duties or hobbies. Take Rarity, for example: her "thing" was the spa. She loved indulging herself in a day at the spa and more than that loved sharing the experience with others, and Fluttershy was the most common recipient of that generosity.

Twilight of course loved books and learning, everypony knew that, but that was also her job, no matter how passionate she was about it. She was a student of magic first and a small-town librarian after that, and so studying, reading, and writing were just things she did all the time, and she enjoyed doing them.

But the one thing Twilight loved, the thing that was her "thing" and that she couldn't go without, was a good cup of coffee. And this… stuff that the CDH coffee shop served was not coffee. There were so many other things she wanted to call it, some of which were definitely not appropriate for public areas—Winter might be comfortable swearing in public, but Twilight wasn't—but none of those words were "coffee".

Applejack's description of the stuff had been a gross understatement, ironically enough, especially since Applejack's "thing" was also coffee as far as Twilight could tell; they'd shared many a good cup together in the early mornings where they sometimes met up for breakfast, and discussed at length about certain blends they liked.

"So, enjoyin' your coffee?" Winter asked, a light hint of a smile on her face as she watched Twilight take a painful sip.

Twilight swallowed the offensive liquid and gave Winter a look that she hoped would answer the question without resorting to words.

"You'll get used to it, mate," Winter chuckled, patting Twilight on the back. "Hey, if you're desperate, ask that landlord of yours where he gets the blend he uses, then ya can just bring a thermos with ya to work. Real piece of piss, that. I'm sure he'd even give ya some if ya asked."

"I don't exactly want to ask him for yet another freebie, but I'll find out the brand, sure. The first paycheck I get is going towards a big bag of the best coffee I can afford." Twilight took another painful sip. "If I even survive that long."

"If it's that bad, ya can always add a bit of somethin' to it, eh?"

"Oh no, I take my coffee black," Twilight said with a grin. "It's a crime to add cream or sugar to it, as far as I'm concerned."

"Cream and sugar? What are ya, some sort of ankle biter? Piss on that." Winter pulled a little flask out her sweater pocket. "When I've got no choice but drinkin' this awful shit, I like to add a bit of the ol' gin to it, eh?" To demonstrate, she poured a small amount of liquid into her cup, stirred it around, and took a long sip. "Ah! Now it ain't so bad."

Twilight balked at the display. "Winter, it's only just past noon. A little early to be drinking, isn't it?"

"Huh? Nah, this ain't even enough to count as a proper drink. Though now that ya mention it, I could go for a coldie." She turned to Dawn, who looked about as put out as Twilight did. "What about you, eh? Ya want a bit of kick in your coffee there?

Dawn shook her head; Twilight noticed she'd barely touched her coffee any more than she herself had, even with three whole packets of that non-dairy "creamer" she'd used. "I must decline your offer, Miss Glow. As unappetizing as this… swill is, I do not find it proper to become inebriated. Regardless of the time."

"Bunch of lightweights you two are if ya think a teaspoon of gin'll 'inebriate' ya," Winter scoffed.

"So!" Twilight blurted, hoping to turn the topic away from day-drinking. "Did you find anything useful while I was gone, Winter?"

Winter shrugged. "Can't say that I did yet, no. There's a lot to sort through, and a lot of what I've looked through so far is basically just abridged history lessons about the southern pony religion, even a couple on how Harmonia and Nihila fit into the zebra pantheon."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "The zebra pantheon?"

"Yeah. The short and simple version is that the zebras worship Harmonia and Nihila too, as well as a bunch of other gods and goddesses that only zebras pay any heed to. If any of them are real, though, there's no tangible evidence of it. I think the 'blessings' they get are just straightforward alchemy and runic magic."

"What manner of research project are you endeavoring upon, Miss Glow?" Dawn asked. "An essay on the southern religions?"

"Not exactly, mostly just one particular aspect of it. Nihila, specifically. And it's more of a personal project, a curiosity, if you will," Winter responded with a tight-lipped smile; Twilight knew it was unwise to go further than that. "You said that ya got a little research project of your own? A history paper or something like that?"

Dawn nodded. "A dissertation on the origin of New Pandemonium City and its subsequent growth and development, to be brief."

"Found out anythin' interestin'?"

"Well, from what information I am now personally acquainted with, I know that the city's foundation was formed around the central structure of Pandora Tower, for instance."

Winter raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? That place is a mystery to almost everypony in the city. Nopony goes in, nopony goes out. You're sayin' that was the first thing in the city ever built?"

"According to the data that I have collected, that is correct."

"What's so mysterious about this tower?" Twilight asked, sipping her counterfeit coffee.

"Like I said, there's nopony that's ever gone in there and come out before," Winter restated. "Nopony knows what goes on in there, if anypony even works or lives there, or what its purpose is, but it's been there as long as anypony can remember. Apparently as long as the city itself," she added with a nod at Dawn.

"Not unlike a mysterious castle deep in the forest that potentially holds all sorts of ancient magical lore and secrets," Twilight mused, stroking her chin. When the other two mares gave her a look, she dropped her hoof. "What? It's a pretty classical fantasy location, even if this city isn't exactly fantastical in nature."

"Well anyway, I hope you're doin' better with your own project than I am, Miss Dawn," Winter said. "I've got a lot of work ahead of me if I'm gonna find what I'm lookin' for in all the data I've got to sort through. And only two reliable pairs of eyes to look through it, at that."

Dawn glanced between Winter and Twilight. "You are participating in this endeavor together, then?"

"Yeah, I agreed to help her out with it," Twilight said with a grin. "I've got a pretty big interest in this 'Nihila' myself, what with being from the southern continent and all. We don't hear much about Nihila. It's all, 'Harmonia this' and 'Harmonia that'." She coughed into her hoof. "Ahem. N-not to say I don't appreciate and love Harmonia and everything. Because I do. Because I'm from the south."

"Yes, you have made that perfectly evident." Dawn hummed, tapping her chin. "Would you be willing to accept additional assistance in this project of yours?"

Twilight blinked. "Huh?"

"Forgive me, allow my intent to be made more transparent: I am offering my assistance if you require it in this burdensome undertaking."

"You'd help us? Just like that? B-but, what about your dissertation?"

Dawn grinned. "I have already collected enough data to compile by dissertation within the next few days, at which point my only driving task would be to have it published, which I acknowledge may not be an expeditious process by any means. While I await a response from the myriad publishers of these scholarly journals, I would find myself remiss to not occupy my time and energy elsewise."

"And you want to use that free time of yours to help us with researchin' Nihila?" Winter asked, eyebrow raised. "Why?"

"If my obvious fascination with chronicles of the past has escaped you, then you have not been attentive in this conversation. I find the thought of researching a southern goddess that is not acknowledged in the north or the south to be quite intriguing. There is surely some historical reason for it."

Twilight nodded quickly. "We'd be happy to have your help, Dawn. Wouldn't we, Winter?" she asked, looking at Winter knowingly.

Winter paused, just staring at Dawn, then gave a short nod. "Yeah, alright, an extra pair of eyes can't hurt. Ya seem like you're a smart mare, Miss Dawn, so I imagine you'd probably be good at it, and frankly I can use all the help I can get. I'll be here at the CDH every day, so you'll know where to find me."

"Wonderful. This should prove to be a most illuminating experience," Dawn said with a smile. "You simply could not comprehend the desire I have to lose myself in research. I find there are so few individuals that share a passion for such things, and even fewer that appreciate it."

Twilight nodded; Dawn was truly a kindred soul. "I know, right? I have a hard enough time getting my friends to read much in the first place, let alone enjoy it. One of my best friends didn't even consider reading until she practically had it forced on her while she was in the hospital. I was convinced she was illiterate at first."

"Your pain is palpable," Dawn said, gently tapping her cup to Twilight's.

Twilight glanced at the clock on the wall, which was just approaching twelve-thirty; her lunch break would be over soon. "Well, I'd better get back to work. If either of you need any help, I'll be around," she said as she rose from the table.

Dawn rose from the table as well. "It was quite enjoyable to converse with you, Twilight. I must depart as well, as a matter of fact. I have collected all of the data that I required for my project and find it prudent to begin preparing my dissertation immediately." She nodded to Winter. "Miss Glow, a pleasure."

"You too, Miss Dawn," Winter said, nodding back.

With that, Dawn left the coffee shop and headed out of the building entirely.

"She's really nice," Twilight said. "I'm starting to think that my friends and I are getting amazingly lucky, meeting all these helpful ponies, especially considering Flathoof and Lockwood gave me the impression they're really rare in this city."

Winter leaned back in her chair and took another sip from her cup. "They're righter than ya think, though. I'm not gonna tell ya not to trust folks, Twilight, but I will tell ya to be very careful with who ya trust, eh? Not everypony is what they seem to be."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Don't you trust her?"

Winter took another sip. "Let's just say that I'm not as quick to trust just anypony as you seem to me. Part of the job, ya understand. She seems like a nice sheila, I'll give ya that, and I'm willin' to give her a chance to prove she's on the level, but it pays to have an eye open for suspicious behavior. And don't think I'm just pickin' on her because we just met her."

"I was actually about to suggest that," Twilight said with a huff.

"Well, don't. I'll be honest with ya, I don't really trust Captain Flathoof or Mister Lockwood, either. Not yet. There are enough corrupt cops in this city that I'll believe Flathoof is an honest, decent bloke when I see it, and don't think for a minute that I didn't put a magical charm on my door last night in Lockwood's apartment."

Twilight frowned. "They've been really helpful to us so far, though. You're even relying on them yourself to help us get through all this."

Winter held up her hoof. "I didn't say I distrust them, mate, only that I'm not ready to accept that they're on the level until things really start pullin' through. I'll give them a chance all the same, but I want to make it crystal clear, that if I have even the slightest inklin' that they're up to no good, I'll ice them and get you and your friends to safety. That's my job."

Twilight gulped; she'd seen enough movies and read enough books to know what "ice them" was a metaphor for, and found it a little uncomfortable that Winter would treat the concept so casually. She supposed she should be grateful that this other mare was willing to do something so unthinkable to protect her and her friends, but it was still a disconcerting thought.

"I suppose I can appreciate that, then," she said with some hesitation. "As long as you're giving them a fair chance, okay? And as long as we can avoid… 'icing' anypony."

Winter nodded, then waved her hoof. "Go on, Twilight, your break's endin' in less than a minute."

Twilight glanced at the clock, saw that that was true, then nodded back to Winter and ran off to clock back in.

Despite everything that Winter had said, though, Twilight was willing to give these new ponies the benefit of the doubt until given reason to do otherwise. Flathoof and Lockwood seemed completely honest and decent thus far, so she had no reason to doubt their intentions or distrust them, even if Lockwood had admitted to being associated with some unscrupulous types; no, perhaps because he'd admitted it, because that, too, was proof that he was willing to be honest with her and her friends.

Golden Dawn might be worth watching, sure, since they'd only just met and known each other for about an hour or so, but Twilight couldn't exactly judge on that account too harshly. After all, she'd met her best friends in the whole world all on the same day and only known them for a very short time before she came to trust them and their decisions and judgements; she'd even trusted Applejack with her life in less than a day's time.

Regardless of the differences between this world and hers, she was willing to give anypony she met a fair chance to prove themselves a decent pony, or at the very least to make up for a bad first impression.

After all, what would the point be in all those Friendship Reports if she wasn't willing to try to make new friends and apply the lessons she'd learned over the years?

Chapter Eight: Construction

Applejack woke up earlier than the rest of her friends did that morning, a good hour or so before even Twilight did. This meant that she didn't get to sit down for breakfast with the others, or even have a chance to really say anything to anypony; she was used to rising early and quietly so as not to disturb anypony that might be sleeping. She figured she'd let her friends get their rest for their own business today, since this was the first "real" day here in the city now that they knew they were stuck for a while.

Her morning routine was also quick and quiet, even if it was a little different from what she was used to on the farm. She had to remember to put on some clothes besides her hat, for one thing. This new outfit of hers fit well enough and was pretty comfortable, but she still felt weird wearing it all the time; she was just so used to walking about with nothing more than the hat on her head unless it was for a special occasion. She still had no idea why clothes were required; it wasn't like a shirt alone covered any private bits or anything.

Breakfast didn't consist of a couple cups of coffee and a hearty meal, either, just one of those little Dolor packets that their kitchen was now filled with so that the group would have food; Lockwood insisted on giving them a healthy supply to start with and claimed it was no big deal.

There were nine different colors, apparently, though Lockwood had only provided the "main" six: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Orange, Purple; White and Black were expensive, and Brown was, in his words, "utter crap" and not worth getting. Each one tasted different based on how they were prepared and stored, or at least that was how Applejack understood it. The packet of Dolor Orange she'd grabbed out of a cabinet tasted like slightly-old oranges with a little too much pulp.

After breakfast, she brushed her teeth, combed and tied up her mane and tail, and made sure that she looked her best. She was going to be meeting Flathoof's father pretty soon in the hopes of getting a job, and probably other ponies too, and even Applejack knew that first impressions were everything. She'd make Rarity proud, in a way.

Once she felt she was ready, she quietly headed out the door of the apartment and made her way down the many, many stairs to the complex's ground floor.

From there, it was a matter of following Flathoof's detailed instructions. There was what he'd called a "Bus Stop" just across the street from the apartment building, and there would be a bus—whatever that was—arriving soon, according to what time it had been when she'd left the apartment. There were several other ponies waiting there—no pegasi, she noticed—and as such both of the benches were already taken, so Applejack just stood and waited like so many others were.

It had been Lockwood who'd said that if there was one thing in the city that could be counted on, it was how utterly random everything was in whether it was run properly or not, and he had been quite clear about how the city's various modes of public transportation operated. That is, how absolutely, positively, perfectly they operated. So while Applejack was only a little surprised that the bus arrived precisely on-time to the absolute second, she supposed that was just one more thing to consider weird about the city. How some things could be so inconvenient but others so perfect was just confusing.

The bus itself was another weird thing to come to terms with. Applejack had been on a train before, naturally, and that was the best way she could describe what this vehicle was: a big train car that somehow moved without any tracks beneath it or anything pulling or pushing it along. She understood the basics of the steam engines that made a train work, but this bus either had a teeny-tiny steam engine somewhere or it ran on what could only be magic.

The vehicle was tall, too, essentially two train cars on top of one another, and Applejack could see through the windows that there were ponies on three levels worth of seats. A single earth pony sat in a compartment at the front of the bus operating what looked like a big wheel, a number of levers at its side. The doors on the side of the bus opened up and dozens of ponies disembarked, while simultaneously everypony at the bus stop grabbed their things and moved towards the designated entrance.

Applejack managed to make herself sixth in line, far enough ahead that she'd be able to get a good seat, hopefully—Flathoof had said that getting a good, clean seat was crucial—but far enough behind that she could watch the process of entering so that it didn't look like this was her first time. Flathoof had explained it well enough, but she still wanted to see it first-hoof so that she didn't make a mistake.

The stallion at the front stepped up to the door, took a little card out of his coat pocket, and slid it through a little slot next to the door. A light above the door flashed green, then the stallion hopped inside the bus, and the next pony in line stepped up and did the same thing.

The third pony in line, though, his card made the little light flash red, and Applejack had to duck when the pony was caught in some kind of magical field and literally tossed into the crowd of pedestrians behind the line. There was quite a lot of commotion back there, lots of yelling and screaming and swearing that even made Applejack blush, and she was sure a fight was about to break out. It took all of her effort not to try and do something about it, because then she'd miss the bus.

Applejack only had a vague understanding of why that had happened: there weren't enough bits on the pony's card to board the bus, which Flathoof said was a flat fee to ride from one location to another. She absently fished her own card out of her shirt pocket; Lockwood had given it to her the night before and claimed it was a spare he had that was loaded with enough money to last Applejack a couple of weeks getting to and from the Mid-North District.

So, when it was her turn, Applejack slid the card through the little slot and tensed up, hoping that Lockwood's confidence wasn't misplaced.

Green.

Phew.

Applejack boarded the bus now and found that the comparison to a train was actually perfectly accurate, albeit the cheaper cars that didn't have private cabins. The seats were tightly packed together such that ten pairs of ponies could be comfortably seated on either side of the central aisle, though perhaps "comfortably" was an exaggeration. A cramped staircase at either end of the car led up to the other two floors.

Naturally, there weren't any seats on the first floor, as they'd been taken up by other passengers long before Applejack had even set hoof on board. So, she headed up to the second floor instead, and was able to find a seat that was empty and, for now, not next to anypony else. A couple of ponies here and there gave her odd looks as she walked down the narrow aisle to her seat of choice; she supposed that her hat was drawing the attention, since nopony in this city wore anything like it.

Once she'd taken her seat, though, Applejack settled in, set her hat gently over her eyes, and tried to relax.

For the next two hours, the bus made stop after stop after stop, letting ponies off and on with such frequency that the car Applejack was in had a completely different set of passengers aside from her before the first hour was even up. Some passengers had taken the empty seat next to her, and while she tried to be polite and cordial with them, it seemed that everypony generally wanted to keep to themselves and didn't even spare her a moment of their time

Well, that was fine by her.

Instead Applejack occupied her time just looking out the window at the cityscape as it passed by. She'd made the comparison to Manehattan already, but she was starting to think that was unfair to Manehatten, which generally seemed to do a rather fine job of making itself look presentable, and certainly wasn't so congested. Why, even in Manehattan Square, the busiest part of the city, there weren't close to a quarter of the number of ponies that occupied the city streets here.

She was just glad she didn't have a fear of crowds. She couldn't imagine what Fluttershy would be going through.

*****

Eventually, Applejack reached her stop and hopped off the bus, then did what she could to get her bearings. The buildings in this part of the city were much smaller, regular-style homes rather than grand apartment complexes that stretched into the sky, more like the kinds they had in Canterlot, only smaller and packed together much, much more tightly. Apparently this was what a Mid-North residential neighborhood looked like, and sure, it was a bit run-down, but it was far less imposing.

She hadn't the slightest clue where anything in this city was, so she relied entirely on Flathoof's instructions to her by this point, which she remembered as clear as day. After the stop, she walked down the street to the corner to her right, turned left, and followed that street down for three blocks before making another left, going another block, then turning right.

Sure enough, just outside one of the homes on this street, she saw Flathoof waiting, already in his police uniform and everything. He's said he'd be leaving soon after she got there, but she wasn't expecting it to be so soon.

Beside him was another stallion, taller than Flathoof by a few inches and quite robust, with a butter yellow coat and a strawberry red mane that he wore very, very short. He wore a plaid blue work shirt not unlike Applejack's own, with a tan jacket over that.

Applejack had to blink a few times and rub her eyes just to be sure she wasn't looking at a picture in an old family photo album back home. She'd already noticed that Flathoof could easily pass for a Big Macintosh look-alike if he grew an inch and gained about twenty pounds of muscle, but then his father's resemblance to her own father was… unsettling. She was sure Twilight would have a better word for it.

Still, she shook off that brief sensation—Flathoof's father wasn't as tall as hers, either, and not nearly as well-built—and approached the pair. "Mornin'!" she said, giving a brief wave.

"Hey, right on time," Flathoof said with a slight grin. "How was your first bus ride? Did you manage to find a good seat?"

"I handled myself okay, I think. City sure is big though, ain't it? I know ya said the ride would take two hours, but I thought y'all were exaggeratin' or somethin'. Y'all do this every day to get to your job?"

"Absolutely. Speaking of which, I've got to catch the next bus in about five minutes, so I'm sorry if I have to make this quick." He gestured to his father. "Applejack, this is my dad, Stouthoof. Dad, this is Applejack."

Applejack stuck out her hoof. "Howdy there! Pleasure to meet ya, sir."

Stouthoof took her hoof and shook it. "Yes yes, nice to meet you. My son says you're a hard worker, Applejack. Is that true?"

"Sure as shootin'. He told me y'all work at some kind of factory or somethin' and had a job openin' for me?"

"Yes, in one of the Foundry's storage warehouses. You'd be a stock worker, which basically means lots of heavy lifting and sorting of materials and shipping containers. Think you can handle that?"

"Absolutely!"

"You'd better. If I recommend you for the position and you don't pull through with flying colors, it's my ass that looks stupid for suggesting it. Just so we're clear."

Applejack nodded. "We're clear, sir."

His comments made her just a little bit nervous. She was used to working hard and representing the Apple Clan when it came to making sure the farm was always in tip-top shape whether it be actual harvesting or just with sales and presentations, but she was very much unfamiliar with being responsible for somepony else's reputation.

"C'mon, dad, you don't need to worry her like that—" Flathoof started.

"Oh, shut up and go catch your bus," Stouthoof interrupted with a grunt. "If she can't handle me being a bit of a hardass right now, then she won't last twenty minutes with the warehouse crew."

Flathoof rolled his eyes and turned to Applejack. "Don't let him get to you. He's just mad because Mom's got him on a diet." He adjusted his hat and gave the two a nod. "Alright, I'm off. Good luck, Applejack. You'll need it."

Applejack nodded back and smiled. "Thanks, Flathoof. For everything."

With that, Flathoof cantered off towards the bus stop, leaving Applejack and Stouthoof alone.

Applejack turned to Stouthoof and adjusted her own hat. "Well, I'm ready to get goin' if y'all are, sir."

"Good, you're eager. I like that. Means you're confident," Stouthoof said as he turned and started down the street, not even gesturing for her to follow, though she did so anyway. "So, new in town, huh? Flathoof said you were from the southern continent?"

"Yessir, from a lil' town called Ponyville," Applejack said, keeping to the story she and her friends were going with as best she could. She hated lying about it, but knew that it was necessary and would do what she could to keep that secret intact.

"Flathoof didn't give me much information on why he thought you'd be good for this position, but I trust him—even if he is a bit of a dumbass sometimes—so I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt for now. Why don't you tell me just what it is you used to do that makes him think this is a good fit?"

Applejack nodded and rambled on to him as they walked through the streets, all about every last little job she did on the farm: bucking apples out of their trees—he didn't know what an apple was, either; pulling heavy carts full of crops from the field to storage or to market; hoeing soil to plant fresh seeds; watering plants day-by-day; tending to various critters that lived on the farm that provided products, like chickens and their eggs; chasing off varmints that threatened crops; the whole works.

By the time she finished—and he hadn't interrupted her once except to clarify things he didn't know anything about—the pair had walked clear from Stouthoof's home all the way to the Foundry where they'd be working, at which point he finally stopped her story.

"Alright, that all sounds like it might be of some help to you as far as the physical labor and such is concerned," he said with a courteous nod. "How about working under anypony else? You said you and your family own this farm of yours? So I take it you didn't have a boss while you were working there?"

"A boss? No sir, ain't had no boss on the farm," she said, scratching her chin. "I mean, I guess you could say that Mother Nature was the boss, really, since we had to organize all of our duties on the farm based on things like the time of day, what part of the year it was, and how the weather was supposed to be on any particular day."

Stouthoof smirked. "Well, you'll find out whether or not your new boss here is a bigger hardass than Mother Nature pretty soon, I think." He turned and gestured towards the factory. "So, this is your first time seeing a factory like this, huh?"

Applejack gazed at the mind-numbingly huge structure that stood before her. "Yeah… sure is."

It wasn't as tall as the apartment complex where she and her friends lived, but it was certainly wider, covering several city blocks. Dozens of tall smokestacks rose up from various parts of the structure, belching out plumes of thick, black smoke that choked the air above them even worse than the smog did. The structure was surrounded by a tall fence some thirty feet high; it'd keep out earth ponies and maybe unicorns, but definitely not a pegasus, though the smoke would probably do the job just fine in that case.

The sounds of work echoed through the air: of metal pounding metal, and saw blades slicing through materials, of ponies shouting and calling out orders and warnings and such, of machinery lifting and moving throughout the area. Applejack could even see some of the latter machinery, which looked like small coaches with large forks attached to the front, driving along without rails or anypony pushing or pulling them, just like the bus. A single pony was seated in a cage atop the contraption, manipulating levers that seemed to make the fork move up and down and also made the coach move to and fro.

The worst part of it all was the smell. She'd smelled the faint hints of this same scent on Flathoof just from being next to him in an elevator, and the odor was stronger on Stouthoof by far. Here at the actual location, though, the air was clogged with the stench of fire and ash, oil and soot, and even faint hints of sweat which, considering she couldn't see anypony but herself and Stouthoof—and she hadn't smelled it until now—meant that there were a lot of sweaty ponies working in that building.

"Impressed?" Stouthoof asked with a little proud smile.

"Well, it's certainly bigger than my lil' ol' farm, I tell ya what," Applejack said, the sort of non-answer, half-truth that she was okay with; the factory wasn't so much impressive as it was imposing and unsettling. "Ya said your family's been workin' here for generations?"

"That we have. Bit of a family tradition. Flathoof's the first stallion born into the family not to take a job here, y'know?"

"Yeah, he told me. Said y'all didn't quite like that."

"Eh, I was mad at him at the time, sure," Stouthoof said with a shrug. "Can't stay mad at him forever, though. I mean, I can, but at some point there's no fun in arguing with him about it. He chose his path and he likes what he does, so I say let him do what he wants."

He shook his head. "Well, enough gabbing out there like a couple of gossipy hens with nothing better to do. Let's get you inside so I can introduce you to your new boss," he said as he headed towards a gate that led through the fence.

"Hang on, ya mean y'all ain't gonna be my boss?" she asked as she followed him, now just a little less sure of this whole thing.

"No, you're working in the warehouse, like I said, so the forepony there is going to be your new boss. I'm the forepony for the smelting line, and nothing you told me on the way here makes me think you'd be qualified for that kind of work even if I did have an opening. No offense, but working with liquid metal all day isn't the same as bucking trees and hauling wagons."

"Well… alright then, I guess if that's the way it's gotta be…"

"Don't worry, you'll do fine. Just work hard, keep your mouth shut, listen to your boss, and I promise that nopony'll give you any real trouble. And remember," he added, putting a hoof on her shoulder and giving her a smirk, "it's my ass that gets an earful if you screw this up."

Applejack gulped. "Right…"

*****

Applejack was used to lugging along heavy loads back home, that was the honest truth, but she'd be lying if she said that what was expected of her here in this factory warehouse was easier than what she was used to. At home, she'd pull a wagon full of apples or other crops from the farm to the market in Ponyville, but that wagonload didn't really weigh much in the grand scheme of things. On a good day, Applejack could expect to pull a hundred or so pounds for at least a mile or so with relative ease, and the trips back were always easier.

The arrangements here in the warehouse expected her to carry at least twice that, and while the distance was far less per trip she was making multiple trips and doing them constantly. At the moment she was hauling a storage container that had been set upon a wheeled platform over to a designated area; the container weighed easily two hundred pounds, but thankfully she only had to pull it a hundred feet from a loading platform to its storage space. At least the harness she wore was comfortable enough; it didn't bite into her sides or anything.

Watching her at the moment was the pony that was to be her supervisor, a well-built unicorn stallion named Clay Brick. He had a brownish-red coat and a black mane that was just starting to gray, wearing an outfit very similar to what Stouthoof had been wearing as well as a yellow hard hat. Speaking of which, Applejack had had to leave her stetson in her assigned locker, because she also needed to be wearing a similar hard hat. She wanted to make a fuss, but decided against it; apparently it was a safety regulation.

A few other ponies in the warehouse had been rubbernecking for the past thirty minutes or so that Applejack had been hauling these few containers about. She noticed that they were all stallions, and that they all nudged one another in the ribs and laughed as they watched her work before heading back to their own jobs. She couldn't hear anything they said to one another, but didn't assume the best of the conversations.

Once Applejack had lugged this last container into place, she removed herself from the harness and grabbed the bottle of water that Clay was offering; she'd never had such a mighty thirst before. She was glad that even if the food in the city was fake, they still had real water to drink, and downing that bottle of surprisingly crisp, cool water was like a breath of fresh air after all that hard work. How the city got such clean water was beyond her; she'd have to ask somepony another time.

Clay grunted once and nodded. "Alright, not bad, not bad at all. You've got pretty good hauling power there, New Girl. I'll admit that I wasn't expecting much, but you blew right past my expectations."

Applejack let out a breath and wiped her mouth. "Uh, thanks, I think?"

"Oh, don't think this is a compliment," he was quick to add. "I've got a scale here from one-to-ten to determine the strongest members of the crew so I can divvy things up. You're sitting somewhere around a six or seven. Which is good, yes, absolutely, but half the crew is in the same range, so don't go getting a fat head just yet."

Applejack smirked. Considering the size of some of the other stallions on the crew she'd seen thus far, she'd take it as a compliment if her new boss thought she was able to keep up with them, even if he didn't intend for it to sound like one. In fact, she was sure he was just saving face by trying to tell her it wasn't a big deal.

"So, do I get the job?" she asked.

"Yeah, you've got the job," Clay said, making a few marks on a clipboard he had with him. "You'll start immediately. Is that alright with you?"

She nodded. "Absolutely, yes. I'm lookin' forward to gettin' to work."

"Good. First thing's first, though, let's get you introduced to the rest of the crew."

Clay trotted over to a small device on the nearby wall and pushed a button on it, and a loud crackling noise resounded throughout the warehouse. He spoke directly into the device, and Applejack was amazed to hear his voice boom out from everywhere around her.

"Listen up, Crew Seventeen! Crew meeting at the west loading platform in sixty seconds! Double time it!"

In the amount of time it took Applejack to try and figure out how Clay had projected his voice without magic—she was sure it was still magic that did it, but it wasn't his own—the entire crew of Warehouse Seventeen had lined up. Applejack recognized a few of them from earlier, where they'd been gawking at her hauling containers. Even now the entire crew—all stallions, as she'd noticed before—was looking at her like she was completely out of place, which was starting to make her feel like it.

"Crew Seventeen, listen up! I'm gonna make this quick so you can all get back to work," Clay announced, pacing in front of the crew like he was some sort of military sergeant. "We've got new blood on the team! I know it's been a while since we took on anypony new without somepony else leaving first, but here we are, and you all know what I expect."

"So who's the new guy already?" asked a green pegasus with a white mane, his tone impatient.

"Yeah, I don't see anypony new," said a hulking yellow earth pony with a green mane.

Clay gestured towards Applejack, his face and tone still as serious as ever. "Our new mare is right here."

Applejack gave a little wave, a nervous smile on her face. "Uh, howdy y'all. Pleased to meet ya."

There was a brief moment of silence.

Then, the entire crew—sans Clay Brick—erupted into raucous laughter.

"That's a good one, boss!" shouted yellow-and-green, throwing his hoof around another crew member, a red-coated pegasus with a blue mane. "A mare on the warehouse floor? Pfft, hahaha!"

"Yeah, is she gonna be the new cleaning lady? Mopping the floors after closing time?" asked green-and-white, slapping the floor with his hooves and faking a struggle to breathe.

Applejack's ears flattened against her head, her cheeks heating up out of both anger and embarrassment.

"Now hold on, guys, let's not be too hasty," said a blue-and-blond earth pony, a coy grin on his face. "We're all gentlecolts here, aren't we? We oughta be nice to New Girl. Show her a little bit of respect."

Applejack breathed a sigh of relief. At least somepony was decent—

"After all, I bet she's really great at handling huge loads," the stallion finished with a bow and truly mesmerizing shit-eating grin.

The rest of the crew ceased their hooting and hollering to switch over to whistling and howling, the target of their japes no longer one of ridicule but of perversion.

Applejack clenched her teeth. Of all the rotten—

Clay cleared his throat, which seemed to quiet a few of them down enough so they could hear him. "Miss Applejack here is indeed joining our warehouse floor crew, and in fact she's going to be taking over Station Thirteen."

That made the entire crew grow silent instantly.

"You're joking," said green-and-white, eyes wide. Clay's expression said he wasn't, but the other stallion pressed anyway. "Naw, you can't be serious. This is a joke, right boss? You're having a little laugh with us?"

"C'mon, boss, you know she can't just fill that spot just like that!" shouted yellow-and-green, incredulous. "That's Thickhoof's old position! I thought you were keeping that spot empty—"

"And now I'm not, at the request of Forepony Stouthoof himself," Clay interrupted, still keeping a calm, even tone. "If you have a problem with me filling the position that I myself chose not to fill, then why don't you go find Forepony Stouthoof and tell him that you think you know better than he does about who deserves to fill it?"

A few murmurs went through the crowd. Applejack was surprised, actually; now she knew what Stouthoof had meant when he said it was his reputation that was at risk here. This crew seemed to respect the stallion. No, this was more… fear? A fearful respect?

"But… but boss, she's a mare," complained green-and-white, gesturing at Applejack like she was a foal.

"So what if I am?!" snapped Applejack, so sick of hearing her worth put down by now that she was surprised she'd let it get this far. "I can do the job just as good as the rest of y'all can! I saw a few of ya gawkin' at me while I was haulin' containers around, so I know y'all saw that I can handle the job."

Blue-and-blond's mouth curled in a little grin, and he waggled his eyebrows. "Ooh baby, you can handle me all you want, New Girl," he said with a wink. "I bet a mare like you handled all sorts of packages back in whatever mailroom ol' Stouthoof found you in."

Applejack just narrowed her eyes at him; she also noticed a couple of the other stallions wince a little. "In case ya didn't notice, hotshot, I'm luggin' them big shippin' containers around just like the rest of ya. If you're lookin' for somepony to handle that little thing ya call a 'package', then maybe you oughta call the damn postal service."

The crew's earlier laughter at the concept of having a mare on their team had been particularly loud, but now, their laughter now at their embarrassed crewmate was uproarious enough to completely put their previous display to shame.

Clay groaned and stomped his hooves on the ground to get the group's attention back on him. "Enough, all of you! You've all wasted enough time here acting like a bunch of damned teenagers back on the schoolyard, so get your lazy asses back to work! Now!"

None of the crew members argued with him, not even offering a single peep of resistance to the command. A few wandered back to their work stations shooting looks and laughs at their embarrassed fellow crew member; a few glanced back at Applejack, and she wasn't sure if they were doing so out of amusement or mockery, or if their looks meant something else; the blue-and-blond hotshot just walked back to work grumbling under his breath, shooting an indignant look back at Applejack as he went.

Once they'd all cleared out, Applejack turned to Clay and gave him a small nod and a smile. "Thanks," she said.

Clay scoffed. "Thanks? For what? For telling that bunch of lazy assholes to get back to work? Time is money, New Girl, and the board hates wasting either of those. So don't go thinking I did anything to get you out of trouble, because I didn't." He paused for a moment, then gestured with his hooves for Applejack to get moving when she hadn't done so. "Well? What are you still standing around here for? Get to work. You're on Station Thirteen."

"Oh, right," Applejack chuckled. "But, uh… if y'all don't mind me askin' before I head out… what exactly was all of that about? The stuff about Thickhoof and Stouthoof, and me takin' his spot or whatever?"

Clay shook his head and clapped Applejack on the shoulder. "Another time, New Girl. Now go on, before the rest of these jackasses think I'm going soft on you just because you're a mare or something. For the record, I'm not. So get moving."

Applejack nodded, then headed off through the warehouse towards her new workstation. She wasn't sure what to think of this whole situation, but she was glad to be working at least. It sure would help to keep her mind off of everything going on, give her something to occupy her mind and time rather than worrying about whether Winter and Twilight had found anything yet, even if it had only been a few hours.

*****

The clerical office at NPPD's Central Station was, as always, dead quiet. At least, it had been, until Flathoof showed up late that afternoon and noticed that a certain unicorn wasn't sitting at her desk for the second day in a row.

Flathoof furrowed his brow. This was completely unlike Snapshot to just up and disappear like this. It was one thing that she'd left a note the other night saying that she was feeling ill and had not only forgotten to clock out, but wouldn't be at work yesterday. Typically, though, Snapshot was quick to notify somepony—usually him—if she'd be out for multiple days, and at the very least give a reason why.

Last time she was out at all was because a bad case of Dolor Green had given her some kind of stomach flu, and she'd been out for three days because of it. He'd known about it within hours of her not feeling well; she'd called him in the middle of the night—woke the whole family because of it—to say she wouldn't be at work the next morning, and made sure he'd known that she'd be missing the next day and the day after. She was always responsible like that.

But this was two days in a row that he hadn't heard anything from her whatsoever, and that was very, very unusual.

"What do you mean 'nopony's heard from her'?" Flathoof asked the other clerk, Firecracker, his voice loud and angry. "She's almost never taken a day off the whole time she's worked here, especially not without notifying anypony."

Firecracker barely paid any attention to him, and focused instead on filling out the myriad forms she had all over her desk. "I mean exactly what I said, big boy. No contact whatsoever. Figures that she'd leave me with all the paperwork."

Flathoof pounded a hoof on the counter. "I don't care about any of that. I want to know why nopony's bothered to find out why she didn't come in today or notify anypony. Didn't anypony call her apartment when she was late this morning? That's proper protocol."

"Yeah, but nopony answered, and you know as well as I do that we don't waste time on repeat calls."

"This is for a fellow officer, not just random pony," Flathoof said. He immediately regretted it, because that made him sound like he placed a fellow officer's well-being over that of average citizens, which he very much didn't. "Look, give her another call and let me know what you find out—"

"You're probably gonna have to clear that up with the chief, Captain," Firecracker said with a lazy sigh. She rolled her eyes and waved her pen in the air. "If you ask me, she's probably too busy shacking up with that CIA stallion that was here the other night looking for her. Either that or too busy crying her eyes out after he shot her down. I doubt she could have landed a stallion looking like him."

Flathoof balked. "The CIA? They had an agent here looking for Snapshot?" He shook his head. "What in the world? Why?"

"Don't know, don't care," she said, shrugging it off. "Dumb little filly got all hot and bothered the second he walked in, though, I could see it a mile away. Maybe she got lucky and the idiot fell for that 'nerd charm' of hers. I mean hey, everypony's gotta get lucky sometime."

Flathoof glared at her. "And you never bothered to inform the chief about this?"

"Duh, why would I? What Snapshot gets up to on her own time is her own business. She's not my friend, so I don't really care."

"You should care, because it's your job."

"No, honey, my job is filing paperwork, not playing detective." Firecracker flicked her mane and idly eyed one of her hooves. "It's not my business, and besides, it would be Snapshot's job to report it, not me. Read up on your protocol before you start quoting it at me, 'kay? Thanks."

Flathoof could feel his blood pressure rising. If the situation was reversed and Firecracker was seen interacting with a CIA agent, Snapshot would have reported it immediately, because it was… it was just the responsible thing to do, even if it wasn't strictly-speaking "her job" to do so.

"Anyway, they were still in the middle of their interview when my shift was over, and I wasn't keeping track of when they started," Firecracker continued. "I didn't really feel like sticking around to see what they were talking about, either. I barely even remember what he looked like apart from being kinda handsome."

Flathoof sighed and held the bridge of his nose. "Look, I'm going to just ignore the massive breaches in protocol that not reporting the CIA being involved entails, because it still would've been your responsibility since Snapshot wasn't at work yesterday. I'll even ignore your complete disregard for Snapshot's well-being—"

"Oh, is that what this is about? Caring about how she is?" Firecracker scoffed. "Look, Captain, the only pony around here that gives a crap about her is you. She's just a pencil-pushing busybody who would probably have been better suited being some fat CEO's secretary. At least then she'd be getting dick on the regular."

Flathoof just stared at the other mare like she was a bug. "You know… she never liked you."

"What-ever."

He shook his head and walked out of the room; trying to get anything else out of Firecracker wasn't going to get him anywhere. If there had been a CIA agent here in the precinct, then hopefully somepony else had seen him. At worst, if everypony was like Firecracker and just looked the other way, then one of the station's cameras would have surely gotten a glimpse. He'd rather bank on the latter, honestly.

The precinct's security office was on the second floor, so Flathoof made a beeline for the elevator, then took it straight up.

Before he even got to the other end of the hall, though, he walked right past the chief's office, where the door was wide open.

"Flathoof!" called Chief Smokestack. "Get in here!"

Flathoof swore quietly to himself, then turned about-face and strode right into the chief's office. Unlike the open, neat courtroom across the hall, the office was compact and cluttered with files upon files, a few decorations here and there—a photo of the chief's family on the desk, for instance—and a large rotating fan to keep a nice, cool atmosphere.

There was another pony in here as well besides the chief, a young earth pony stallion with an emerald green coat and an orange mane. He was wearing an NPPD uniform as well, though with a few distinct markings on it that Flathoof recognized as those belonging to officers in the Mid-East precincts. The stallion—barely more than a colt, more like—had to be fresh out of the academy if even that.

"Just the pony I wanted to see," Smokestack said, gesturing for Flathoof to take a seat in the only remaining empty chair.

Flathoof paused for a moment, the steeled himself. This was as good a time as any to present what he'd learned downstairs.

"Chief, before you get started, I wanted to notify you of a breach in protocol down in the clerical office," he said as he took the offered seat. "Apparently there was a CIA agent spotted here two days ago, according to Officer Firecracker."

Smokestack's eyebrow shot up. "Really now? What for?"

"I don't know, sir, he didn't deal with her directly as far as I know. Apparently he only interviewed Officer Snapshot, who was out yesterday and didn't file a report on the incident. Firecracker doesn't remember the timing of the meeting or what the agent looked like."

"Of course she doesn't, the airheaded tramp," Smokestack sighed. "If she wasn't so good at giving— Whatever, I'll look into this further, see if we can't dredge anything up. If you're right about this, I'm going to have to have some words with Director Underhoof at the next Committee meeting. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Captain."

Flathoof was glad the chief was taking this seriously, but then again he knew that he would. The chief absolutely hated when Director Underhoof's CIA got involved with NPPD cases; the jurisdiction friction between the city's law enforcement agencies was practically legendary these days. That tended to happen when the CIA Director was the Chief of Police's ex-wife.

"And another thing, sir," Flathoof continued, "Officer Snapshot was out again today, and nopony's been able to get in touch with her—"

Smokestack waved his hoof, a clear signal that this wasn't quite as important. "Have somepony give her a call or something, then. That's not exactly a breach in anything."

"They did, Chief, this morning. Nopony answered. Shouldn't we send an officer over to check up on her? I'd do it myself, but I'm on duty and I know you have to approve of me taking on another case, first. Considering she hasn't been in contact, this might well be a missing pony investigation in the making."

He didn't want to think on those terms—the idea that Snapshot was missing made his stomach turn—but it would be the best way to let the chief know this wasn't just another officer forgetting to show up to work or taking a day off to get drunk and gamble at the Inner District casinos.

"Ah, that would definitely make things more complicated. You're sure she's not just feeling ill and isn't answering the phone?"

"I'm not sure of anything yet, sir, expect that this is unusual behavior for her. She's never taken off sick days without notifying somepony."

Smokestack stroked his chin. "Hmmm… well, you'd know best, I suppose. Aren't you two dating?"

Flathoof flushed slightly. "N-no, sir. We aren't. We're just friends."

"Huh. Guess I owe Commander Matchstick eighty bits," Smokestack said with a shrug. "Anyway, I'll have to put somepony else on that investigation for now, Flathoof, but I'll make sure I put somepony reliable on it. I have something else in mind for you right now."

Flathoof raised an eyebrow. "Something else, Chief?"

"Let me cut to the chase," Smokestack said as he took a puff from his cigar. "You're aware of the fires sweeping the eastern Outer District, right?"

"Right, they still haven't put them all out," Flathoof said with a terse nod.

He was glad that at least the northern fires were contained and wouldn't spread into Mid-North or the factory areas, but it still felt terrible that the rest of the fire was an ongoing issue. The last reports said the death toll had reached triple digits this morning and property damage was estimated to be in the millions of bits.

"Well, if you saw this morning's news, it jumped into Mid-East, just like they were expecting," Smokestack continued. "I hear they've got it mostly contained by now so that it won't spread further west, but it got through a lot of neighborhoods in the few hours it was there, including through Station Six's territory."

"Wow, I had no idea it was still spreading so far. Were any officers hurt?"

"A few, but mostly minor burns and such, nothing serious. The real problem is that half the station burned down before the fires could be contained. It's gonna be a real pain in the ass adjusting budgets around for the rebuilding project, let me tell you."

Flathoof coughed. "Sir, forgive me, but I thought we were cutting to the chase?"

"Hmm? Right! Right." Smokestack gestured to the young officer in the other chair. "Flathoof, this is Cadet Gumshoe from Mid-East Six, where he was finishing the last month of his academy training."

Flathoof gave the young cadet a small nod. "Cadet."

The cadet returned the nod and gave a little salute. "Captain, a pleasure to meet you."

"Since Mid-East Six is currently in a rather unfortunate circumstance," Smokestack continued, "they've been reassigning officers and detectives to other precincts around the city, mostly to those that are a little understaffed. I had the academy cadets assigned here, though, and I've already got most of them assigned to detectives to finish up their training. All except Cadet Gumshoe here."

"And what does this have to do with me?" Flathoof asked, already dreading the answer.

"I want to assign him to you, of course."

Flathoof sighed, his hoof moving to the bridge of his nose. "With all due respect, Chief, I've got my hooves full at the moment. You put me on task as a parole officer to six different mares—"

"That's precisely why I thought of you!" Smokestack said with a smile and another cigar puff. "That's the only thing our young cadet is missing from his training, actually: proper procedure when dealing with parolees."

"But Chief, we have dozens of parole officers—"

"And none of them are as reliable as you are, Captain. None of them will teach the cadet every single rule in the book; whether he follows them later is up to him, of course—no offense, son," he added, looking at the cadet, "but at least he'll know them. Besides, you've got yourself a rather unusual set of parolees, right? What better way to learn the ins and outs of the system than with unusual situations?"

Flathoof clenched his teeth, desperately trying to think of a way out of this, but he knew he couldn't. The chief was placing his trust in him, and this cadet did need to learn proper procedures after all. Then again, with how… unusual Twilight and her friends were, there were sure to be lots of twisting of the rules to amend the situation. But maybe that was a good thing for the learning experience?

Damn it. Why did I have to be so good at this job?

Flathoof sighed, then nodded. "Alright, Chief, you can count on me."

Smokestack grinned and put out his cigar in his ashtray. "Good! Good good good. You wouldn't believe the headache this'll save me, Flathoof. I couldn't imagine trying to foist this poor cadet on anypony else."

"Of course you couldn't, sir," Flathoof said flatly. He turned to Cadet Gumshoe and put on his best grin. "Well, Cadet, looks like you're my responsibility now."

Gumshoe gave a brisk salute. "It's an honor to be working with you, Captain. Chief Smokestack has been telling me all about you."

Flathoof gave Smokestack a terse look. "Has he?"

"Yes, sir, and you sound like the perfect pony to help me finish the last of my training. I'm looking forward to learning under your tutelage."

Flathoof stood from his chair and adjusted his hat, nodding at the Chief. "If that'll be all, Chief?"

Smokestack kicked back in his chair and lit up another cigar. "That'll be all, Captain. Keep up the good work and you might just make Commander soon."

Flathoof gestured for Gumshoe to follow him out of the officer. "Come on, kid, let's get started on this training of yours."

Gumshoe nodded, then offered a salute to Smokestack. "Chief!" Then, he followed behind Flathoof out of the office.

"So, anything I should know about your training so far?" Flathoof asked as they headed for the elevator.

Gumshoe offered a sheepish grin. "To be honest, sir, I've completed most of the particulars of my training already, insofar as dealing with how to arrange scheduling and the handling of paperwork. Mostly the only thing I'm missing is getting to interact with actual parolees so I can have that bit of personal face-to-face experience."

Flathoof grunted as the pair entered the elevator, then pushed the button for the first floor.

"Well, you're in luck," he said, "because I usually spend most of the day meeting with the ones I've currently got under my care. Though to be honest, I've already done my runs for the entire group today, and by now they're all separated and going about their business, so tracking them down would be a bit difficult. We could interrupt their dinner later, but that's not really necessary."

"So… we're not meeting them, sir?"

"You'll meet them all tomorrow, Cadet." Flathoof paused as an idea came to mind. "Though, I think there might be a chance for you to meet one later tonight."

"Huh?"

"One of them, a mare named Applejack, got a job working at the same factory my dad works at, so she'll be coming back from work with him and almost certainly joining the family for dinner, knowing my mother. And knowing my mother, she'd also be glad to set another seat at the table for you."

Gumshoe balked, clearly not expecting this arrangement at all, but why would he? "Captain? Are you inviting me to dinner with your family? And one of your parolees? I mean, th-that seem highly unprofessional, and I'm not sure if—"

Flathoof rolled his eyes. "Don't act weird, Cadet. When you're dealing with unusual parolees, sometimes situations get unusual. I know it's not exactly proper protocol for a parole officer to invite his charge over for dinner, but it's not against the rules and it's helping the mare adjust to life in the big city."

Gumshoe seemed to consider this, then nodded. "No, you're right, Article Twenty-Three, Subsection Twelve, Paragraph Four: 'It is a parole officer's duty to ensure that their charge is able to reacclimate into society at large, including but not limited to the payment of taxes'."

"You've already memorized the protocol booklet?" Flathoof asked, impressed; there were officers on the force with years of experience that didn't have it memorized yet.

"Absolutely, sir. So, you have to make sure this Applejack is comfortable enough to earn a steady paycheck so that she can pay her taxes, right?"

Flathoof paused, then snorted. That wasn't the reason he was doing it, but it was definitely why nopony questioned any of the decisions he'd made so far in regards to Twilight and her friends, which included so many rules being bent that they'd probably snap under the right circumstances. And it was most certainly the excuse that he'd be using if anypony did ask questions.

"That's about right, Cadet," Flathoof replied. "This mare is a long way from home and got in some legal trouble when she first got here, so I'm making sure she adjusts into a good, tax-paying citizen as smoothly as I can. If that means inviting her over for dinner with my family, so be it. She's not a dangerous criminal, after all."

"Well alright then, I guess if that's how this is gonna go, who am I to argue? You're the boss, sir," Gumshoe said, giving Flathoof another brisk salute.

"Right. Well, for now I think we'll head over to the filing room to get you acquainted with my parolees’ paperwork, at least so I can see how well your training is in that regard. Sound good?"

"Absolutely, sir!"

The elevator finally arrived at the first floor, and Flathoof led his new charge out into the lobby. The cadet seemed eager to learn, at least, and even if Flathoof was bothered that he had yet another pony to keep tabs on and take care of, he figured that maybe it wouldn't be so bad. At the very least, it might give him time to look into other things.

Wherever Snapshot was, Flathoof figured that since the CIA was somehow involved, it likely meant she was just being asked—forced, more appropriately—to maintain discretion about whatever it is that she was questioned over and that meant not contacting anypony for any reason.

He just hoped she was staying safe.

*****

Applejack was used to doing lots of back-breaking work day-in and day-out to keep her family farm running, so the concept of a hard day's work wasn't exactly alien to her by any means. Working in the factory's storage warehouse, however, was an experience utterly unlike anything she'd dealt with before. It wasn't so much that it was harder or anything like that, no; sure, hauling containers around so they could be sorted and stored wasn't easy, but it wasn't exactly more difficult than bucking half an orchard full of apples by lunch time.

What made it different—unpleasant, really—was the environment that she was working in.

She was used to having clear skies overhead or maybe some clouds on particularly sunny days; the worst she could expect to deal with during the regular farming seasons was a nasty heat wave, and Ponyville's weather patrol was good about getting those cleared up pretty quickly.

She was used to working with family who loved her and treated her with respect and compassion, or even with friends that would always be willing to help her out of a jam even if she was too stubborn to accept it.

She was used to being able to judge her own work and decide whether she was doing a good job or not, and thus whether she deserved a chance to take a break under a shady tree with a glass of lemonade.

She wasn't used to working indoors all day in a stuffy old warehouse that smelled of grease and soot instead of grass and apples, or being so tightly-packed with others most of the day that the pungent stench of sweat she smelled was definitely not just her own, but of twelve hard-working stallions.

She wasn't used to working with ponies that looked at her like she was simply beneath them, not fit to be working in the same field at all. Or, in a few cases—Applejack wasn't blind—like they'd enjoy having her beneath them in a distinctly bedroom-related fashion, and definitely not in the romantic sense.

And even though Clay Brick certainly seemed like a decent enough stallion, he was definitely the hard-nosed and picky sort that was overly-critical of every aspect of the job and quick to press her into working to her limits. Not beyond them, thankfully, but Clay just did not let up whatsoever if she looked like she could handle it, and she was proud to say that she could.

So, when the end of Applejack's shift came along and she was able to clock out—the entire concept of punching a time card was utterly bizarre to her—the first thing she did was walk outside the factory—ignoring the members of her crew that hooted or whistled in her direction—find a bench to sit on, and take the breather she knew she deserved.

It didn't help that she was utterly starving by now; her lunch break had been horribly short and only consisted of a packet of that Dolor Red stuff, which tasted like overly-ripe cherries and wasn't at all satisfactory.

She'd always considered herself the hardest worker in all of Equestria, but damn if this new job wasn't exhausting.

"So, looks like you made it through your first day at work, huh?" asked Stouthoof as he walked over to her. He looked every bit as pooped as she did, his clothes and face covered in sweat and grease and even a few scorch marks. "Is it everything you always imagined it would be?"

Applejack let out a breath, too tired to laugh at his attempt at a joke. "Let me tell ya, Mister Stouthoof, I've never gone a day in my life where I wasn't workin' hard at somethin', but I ain't never experienced anythin' like that before. When I see my family again, I'm gonna make sure I tell 'em that just 'cause folk work in the city don't mean they ain't as hard workin' as us country folk."

Stouthoof grinned. "Well, it certainly sounds like this was a real learning experience for you, then. Did Clay give you any trouble?"

"Naw, he worked me hard and all that but I know he weren't doin' it to be mean. He pushed me to my limits, but he knew when to pull back." Applejack then snorted and glanced at one of the other crew members—the blue-and-blonde one, actually—as they left the factory. "It's the rest of the crew that gave me trouble."

"Ah, yeah, I imagine they did," Stouthoof said with a knowing smile, following her gaze discreetly. "Lots of stallions who work at this factory think that factory work is stallions' work and that mares don't have any business being here unless it's to clean up after we all go home or to work in the mailroom. That's just how it's been for years and years."

Applejack tapped her hoof to her heart. "Yeah, well, this mare ain't gonna let none of that horseapples get to her, no sir. I'll work just as hard as any stallion, like I always have. Harder, even. And not 'cause I've got somethin' to prove, but 'cause that's just who I am at heart. They'll see."

Stouthoof chuckled and clapped her on the shoulder. "That's the spirit. You'll show them yet, I'm sure of it. I know I was taking a risk listening to Flathoof, but if I didn't think you could handle the job I wouldn't have recommended you to Clay."

Applejack paused. "That reminds me: Clay said somethin' 'bout me takin' up Thickhoof's old position, that y'all asked him specifically to let me take it. What in the hay is he talkin' about? It kinda made the rest of the crew act funny."

Stouthoof's smile turned a little sad. "I won't go into any details, but shortly after my son got injured, Clay got promoted to the crew's supervisor position. He said that he wasn't going to fill Thickhoof's old position as long as he was in charge. I guess he said I asked him to let you have it?"

"He did. Now, I won't pretend to understand what happened with your son 'n' all, but whatever ya said to Clay so that I could get this job, I appreciate it. I can't thank you enough for helpin' me 'n' my friends out of this here bind we're in."

"Don't mention it. If you want to thank me properly, though, you can accept an invitation to dinner with the family tonight. My lovely wife would kill me if I didn't offer."

Applejack grinned. "Well sure, I'd be glad to stay over for dinner. That's mighty nice of your family to have me."

"Great. Well then, shall we get a move on? Shortcake's probably already got things all put together for an extra setting, knowing her, and I know better than to keep her waiting when she wants to show off."

"Sounds good to me," Applejack replied.

*****

Applejack hadn't been into Flathoof's family home yet, but she'd been trying all day to picture in her head what it might look like. What it actually looked like wasn't quite what she expected, but it was wonderful nonetheless. Everything was neat and cozy and decorated up with all sorts of family keepsakes to really make the place feel lived-in, like a real, honest-to-goodness home for a real, honest-to-goodness family,

The place was a little cramped considering the size of the family, but then Applejack was getting used to the fact that most ponies in this city had to live in cramped conditions unless they were lucky or wealthy. If anypony in the family minded, they must not have made it obvious; only Flathoof had ever said anything about the situation and it was more that he wanted more for the entire family, not because he was dissatisfied with his lot in life.

All that really mattered for tonight, though, was the dining room, which was almost entirely taken up by a dining table that was clearly designed to comfortably seat four or five but typically held six; for tonight it was seated for… eight? Applejack wasn't sure if she'd lost track somewhere—she wasn't good with numbers like her brother—but she was pretty sure that with her included the count should make seven. Maybe Flathoof was bringing Lockwood over? Or Snapshot? Yeah, that made sense; one of them would make it eight.

While Shortcake—Flathoof's mother—and Pattycake—his sister—busied themselves in the kitchen with the last of the dinner preparations, only Applejack and Stouthoof were seated in the dining room.

She'd only met the former of the two mares in the family briefly when she'd arrived, and felt another pang of familiarity when looking at her just like with Stouthoof and Flathoof. The older mare had a pleasant light tan coat and a long, curly orange mane that she kept tied up while cooking. If not for her more shapely figure, Applejack could forgive herself for mistaking the other mare for her own mother.

But, while the mares were in the kitchen—Applejack had offered to help but been refused since she'd just come home from a hard day of work already—she and Stouthoof got a chance to spend a little more time together. The older stallion had procured a bottle of whiskey out of a cabinet in the dining room that apparently only he had a key to, and set two glasses down on the table: one for him, one for her.

"You take whiskey, Applejack?" he asked as he poured himself a glass.

She nodded and pushed her glass a little closer, maybe too eagerly. "Yessir, I do. What's the occasion?"

He poured her a glass as well. "Celebrating your first day at work, of course. Family tradition since my great-great-great grandfather's day. We always celebrate when our family members become real adults and enter the working world. These days we do it with a little glass of whiskey like this because, well, be honest: you could use a glass, couldn't you?"

"Ohhh yeah, I could use a good shot after today," she said as she took the glass in hoof. "But, uh, this ain't exactly my first day of work, what with the farm 'n' all, and I mean, I ain't exactly family—"

"Applejack?"

"Yeah?"

"Just drink the damn whiskey."

"Yup."

Stouthoof raised his glass. "To you, Applejack. Welcome to the real world." He clinked it against hers and pounded it back quick.

She smiled, then did the same.

She'd been expecting something awful like that Dolor coffee she'd had the other day, or really any of the fake foods she'd had so far; dinner last night had been alright, but only just so, especially once she found out that it was made of more of that Dolor junk. But when that whiskey slipped past her lips and into her throat and burned just right, she knew it was the real deal. Not just the real deal, but it was a damn fine whiskey, too, better than some of the stuff back home.

"Yeehaw! That's mighty fine stuff ya got there," Applejack said, licking her lips. "That's for-real whiskey?"

"Of course it is," Stouthoof said with a wide grin. "You can't fake alcohol, no matter how much Dolorcorp tries. Even the cheap crap is better than anything they could put out there."

"But… where do ya get it? I thought that y'all ain't got crops up here?"

Stouthoof leaned over just slightly. "It's not exactly a well-kept secret that we ship this stuff in from the south, just like the moneybags do with all their authentic foods. Unlike those crops or other goods, though, alcohol is a lot easier to come by."

"How come?"

"Hell if I know, but thank the stars it is. Before we started getting convenient airship travel, we had to make do with less authentic stuff. Moonshine. Rotgut. Hooch. Call it whatever you want, it'd knock your horseshoes clean off. 'Course, things have been even better the last thirty years or so, once Hope's Point really got itself established."

"Hope's Point, huh? I've heard that name before, from Lockwood I think. That some kind of city somewhere?"

"On the southern edge of the continent, right along the ocean. Been at war with New Pandemonium for decades, but hell if I know why."

"What's that got to do with alcohol?"

"Hope's Point makes their own just like we do, with imported crops, right? But they also smuggle a lot of their brands up here, because then they can make money off of the same ponies that hate them." Stouthoof smiled. "I can't think of a better way to stick it to all the idiot warmongers up here, really."

Applejack got a serious look on her face. "Way Lockwood says it, y'all could get in real trouble if anypony heard ya talkin' like that."

Stouthoof dismissed the thought with his hoof. "Way I see it, Applejack, when my time comes, they can bury me face down so that everypony that doesn't like me can kiss my ass."

That settles it, Applejack thought. Stouthoof's alright by me.

"Hot soup, coming through!" called Shortcake from the kitchen.

Then, Shortcake and Pattycake—each wearing matching pink blouses and white aprons—came into the dining room and started setting the table, putting plates and pots everywhere that contained all manners of food that Applejack was positive were made with the same Dolor junk she'd been dealing with all these past few days. It certainly smelled delicious, Applejack had to admit that, but would it taste the way it smelled? She could only hope.

Then Applejack noticed Pattycake, who likewise noticed her for the first time since she'd come into the room, and Applejack felt like time had frozen for half an instant while her brain tried to figure out just what was going on, as if the world suddenly didn't make a lick of sense.

This other mare—Flathoof's younger sister—had a rich orange coat and a short blonde mane that she kept in a neat bun, both so similar in color to Applejack that she could've sworn she was looking in a mirror for half a second if not for the clothes they were wearing. Pattycake even had green eyes, though hers had just a little bit of blue in them.

Stouthoof looked between the younger mares as they just stared at one another for that long moment. "What the hell's gotten into you two?"

Shortcake slapped his shoulder gently. "Oh hush, dear, don't act like you can't see it. Look at them, they're like two peas in a pod! I didn't really notice it until they were in the same room together, but sure enough. Well, this is just adorable." She pinched Pattycake's cheek and cooed. "You two could be twins!"

"Gah!" Pattycake rubbed her cheek where her mom had pinched her. "Geez, Mom, get off me, would ya?"

Shortcake gave Applejack a little grin. "My girl doesn't have your manners, though. I don't know where I went wrong with this one."

"Pleased to meet ya, Pattycake," Applejack said after she collected her wits. "Flathoof told me ya like to bake?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I mean, it's kind of my thing," Pattycake said, gesturing towards her cutie mark—a triple-decker chocolate cake—as she took her own seat. "All the mares in this family are just naturally really good at cooking, y'know?"

"Yeah, Flathoof said as much."

"I still find it really weird how you two even met. He said something about you and some friends getting arrested and now he's your parole officer or something? I mean, doesn't that sound weird to you?"

Applejack smiled. "That's pretty much the long 'n' short of the story, yeah, and it sure is weird. Not exactly the best first impression we could've had, but hey, I guess it could've been worse."

Pattycake rolled her eyes. "If you say 'it could've been raining', I swear."

"Dinner's ready!" Shortcake called out into the house.

It didn't take long for the table to be joined by the other two stallions of the family, Thickhoof and Shorthoof, Flathoof's younger brothers.

The former had a cream-colored coat and a rich brown mane that he kept short and wavy, and wore a simple button-up shirt. Applejack was momentarily reminded of her cousin Hayseed Turnip Truck, only Thickhoof seemed to be more… well, she couldn't think of a word that wouldn't sound insulting to Hayseed—maybe Twilight could—so she wouldn't go down that road. She had also already heard enough about his injury that she wasn't surprised or embarrassed by the fact that he rolled in on a wheelchair and had done so without help.

Shorthoof was just about Apple Bloom's age, and if he wasn't the spitting image of that little filly then Applejack would eat her hat. Their coat colors were nearly identical, as were their manes, and the only difference between the two that was really noticeable was that one was a filly and one was a colt. Well, that and Shorthoof didn't have a ribbon in his mane.

"Oh, hey, you must be Miss Applejack," Thickhoof said with a smile as he rolled over to his spot at the table. "Mom said you'd be joining us. A pleasure to meet you. I'm Thickhoof."

"Well thank ya kindly, Thickhoof, a pleasure to meet you too," Applejack said with a smile and a nod. The other stallion was awfully polite and had a pleasant smile that she was sure would make other mares swoon if he wanted to. This family had some good genes.

"You have a weird accent, Miss," Shorthoof said nonchalantly as he eased his way into his chair.

Shortcake huffed loudly. "Shorthoof! You apologize to Miss Applejack right now!"

"It's alright, Miss Shortcake, he don't mean nothin' by it," Applejack said as she gave the colt a reassuring glance. "I reckon I do sound awful strange 'round these parts anyhow. I ain't met or heard anypony talkin' like me so far."

"That's very kind of you, Applejack," Shortcake said, giving Shorthoof a look out of the corner of her eye. "Seems to me though that my children have forgotten how to show manners around the dinner table."

"Speaking of dinner, we're just waiting on Flathoof before we get started, right?" Thickhoof asked as he leaned over and took a big whiff of the dinner that was set out. "I hope he's not late again. This smells fantastic, Mom."

"You know the drill, son," said Stouthoof with a wry grin. "If your brother's not here in five minutes, we start eating without—"

A noise from the den alerted the family to the front door being opened. "Hey, I'm home!" came Flathoof's voice.

"Speak of the devil."

"Dinner's ready, sweetie!" called Shortcake. "Come on in!"

Applejack noticed that either Flathoof was walking funny or that there was a second set of hoofsteps coming in with him.

Sure enough, it was the latter.

Flathoof had arrived with another police officer, an earth pony stallion with a green coat and orange mane. He had to be only a few years younger than Applejack, fresh out of high school most likely. He was built fairly well—thin but athletic—and carried himself with a strange mix of confidence and curiosity that reminded Applejack of how Twilight got around a new book, or Rainbow when she was watching the Wonderbolts were showing off a new trick.

Now she knew why there was an eighth place set at the table, at least.

The pair had removed the hats from their uniforms as well as their badges and other accessories and equipment so that they only wore their shirts. Without all that gear on him, Flathoof didn't look quite as intimidating as usual, and if anything looked fairly approachable. Now more than ever he looked like a younger Big Macintosh, even though they had to be about the same age.

"So, who's your new friend?" asked Pattycake as she eyed the stallion carefully. "He's cute."

The other officer blushed slightly and coughed into his hoof before saluting like some kind of soldier. "Cadet Gumshoe, reporting—"

Flathoof gently pushed the other stallion's hoof back down. "At ease, Cadet, sheesh. No need to be so formal, that's just my sister, not the Queen of Hope's Point or something."

"If he wants to treat me like a queen, I won't mind," said Pattycake with a flutter of eyelashes.

"R-right…" Gumshoe gulped and took his seat at the table.

Shortcake cleared her throat and gently prodded Pattycake's shoulder. "No flirting at the dinner table, sweetie. Wait until after dessert."

"Yes, Mom."

"I didn't know you had a partner, son," Stouthoof said as he gave the newcomer a once-over. "I thought you worked alone?"

Flathoof rubbed his chin and took his seat. "I'll make the long story short and just say that he's a transfer from a Mid-East precinct due to the fires, and he's been assigned to me to finish up his parole protocol training. Speaking of which." He nudged Gumshoe and gestured towards Applejack. "Cadet, meet Applejack. She's one of the parolees I'm handling."

Gumshoe offered his hoof. "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Applejack."

Applejack smiled and took his hoof to shake it. "Shucks, pleasure's all mine. Y'all gonna be assisting' ol' Flathoof here, then? Learnin' how to handle this whole, uh… parole business?"

"That's right," Gumshoe said with a small grin. "Once I finish this up, I get my real badge and everything. I'm glad to be training under Captain Flathoof, too. I heard he's the best down at Central Station."

"Well if there's anypony at that station that can do the job properly, it's my Flathoof," said Shortcake as she, too, took her seat. "But enough of that, everypony! Dig in before the food gets cold."

Now that everypony was seated and had the mare of the house's blessing, everypony at the dining table immediately began serving up food to one another and digging right in.

Applejack was more than just a little surprised at how legitimately good the food was, despite knowing full well that it wasn't real ingredients being used. She simply had to ask how that had been accomplished, and Shortcake was more than happy to share her secrets. According to her, depending on how one prepared the Dolor products, they could take on all sorts of different flavors, and getting the precise flavors you wanted was a matter of timing and skill, but most of all, care and passion.

The soup was made of Dolor Orange that had been heated and mixed with some Dolor Red and water, making the whole thing taste like vegetable soup, down to the taste of carrots and peppers. A lump of greenish-blue had been made of a precise mix of Green and Yellow and baked at just the right temperature to make it taste like buttery steamed broccoli. Thin, soft strips of Yellow had been seared properly to taste like grilled squash. A little bowl of Red had been properly stored and blended so that it tasted like cranberry sauce.

Applejack was, quite simply, stunned.

But there was something wrong with the whole picture. As she looked out across the table and saw Flathoof's family sharing this meal together, chatting about their days, and laughing and smiling at jokes and stories, the only thing that really came to her mind was that they were a very close, very happy family.

Worse, the fact that so many of them looked so similar to members of her own family just sent a little ache through her heart. Nevermind that if she were home right now she'd be sharing a meal just like this with her brother and sister and grandmother, no. The worst part was seeing two ponies that reminded her so much of her own parents sharing this meal all the same.

There was just something about the way that Shorthoof laughed when Pattycake told a story about her day at culinary school. It was just like how Apple Bloom would laugh when Applejack told stories about the kinds of shenanigans she and her friends got up to in their zany adventures. Something about the way that he ate his food, even, and had to be chided by his mother for chewing too loudly, just like Apple Bloom would do sometimes.

There was just something about how Flathoof, despite being rather talkative elsewhere, was a quiet listener while at the dining table, putting his full attention into everypony's stories like they were the most riveting things he'd ever heard, just like Big Macintosh did. He even took big, slow bites and was very neat and tidy, same as Big Mac, and just as polite and quick to pass the plates around when anypony asked because he had a bigger reach.

Then there were Stouthoof and Shortcake. It had been years since Applejack had gotten to sit down for dinner with her parents. So long in fact that the memories of those days were somewhat fuzzy and faded, like an old photograph left out in the sun. But she still remembered the way her mother would serve everypony their dinner, the kindness and love in her voice when everypony complimented the meals. She still remembered the way her father, no matter how rough and tough he was out of doors, would gaze lovingly into his wife's eyes from across the table.

It was enough to make a grown mare cry.

And so that's exactly what she did.

Stouthoof, who was sitting at the head of the table next to her, was the first to notice the change. "Applejack? Everything alright?"

Applejack sniffed and did what she could to fight back tears, but it was a losing battle. "Y-yeah, I'm alright. Just got a… got a lil' somethin' in my eye."

"Oh dear, the food's not bad, is it?" Shortcake said, hoof to her mouth.

"No no, the food's… the food's wonderful. It's really… really good." She tried to tug her hat down a bit so that nopony would see, but then forgot she wasn't wearing it at the dinner table.

"Applejack, you don't need to hide anything from us," Flathoof said with a gentle smile. "We're all friends here, aren't we? If something's wrong, you can say it."

Applejack took a deep breath and nodded. "I… I miss my family. Seein' y'all here together just… it reminds me of 'em and… and I'm here, but they're someplace else and I'm worried about 'em and I just can't stop wonderin' if everythin's okay back home." She was rambling at this point and couldn't stop herself. "And they've got no idea what happened to me or anythin', and it's gettin' close to harvest time and I'm not there to help and—"

She sniffed again and looked at Stouthoof briefly, then looked away again. "An' y'all remind me of 'em so much that I… I just can't stop myself—"

Stouthoof set his hoof on her shoulder gently. "Hey, it's alright. It's alright." His hoof moved to her back and gave her a soft, reassuring pat. "It's perfectly natural to worry about your family. You don't need to feel embarrassed around us."

"Oh, the poor dear," Shortcake said as she got up from her side of the table to come over and pull Applejack in for a hug. "It's alright, Applejack, just let it out. We won't judge you. I can't imagine what you're going through…"

Applejack sniffed and nodded again as she hugged Shortcake back. The older mare's tight, warm hug felt really nice and affectionate, that kind of motherly affection that you couldn't get from just anypony. It reminded her so much of home, of things she missed now and things she'd been missing for years, of things she'd probably never have again.

She didn't even notice that while she was losing herself in that hug, the rest of the family had cleared the dinner table.

*****

"Sorry if I made things awkward…" Applejack said as she stood at the bus stop with Flathoof later that night.

He'd agreed to make sure that she made it back to her apartment okay, for which she was grateful. Normally she'd have argued that she didn't need anypony to foalsit her, but after what happened at dinner she didn't feel right being alone.

"Hey, don't worry about it, it's not your fault," Flathoof said, patting her shoulder. "You're in a tough situation here, Applejack, and I understand— we all understand that it's not easy being separated from your family like this. None of us really know what it must be like… but we understand it enough to want the best for you."

Applejack gave him a little smile, then turned to Gumshoe, who'd come along and would be catching the next bus after Applejack's. "So, uh… that was pretty lousy as far as first impressions go, huh?"

Gumshoe shook his head gently. "Not at all. I have family too, y'know? I know that if I was ever separated from them, I'd be worried about them and miss them all the same. It's a perfectly healthy thing, so don't feel bad about expressing how it makes you feel."

"Heh… thanks. You're alright, Gumshoe." She glanced at Flathoof briefly. "Take care of this kid, yeah? He's goin' places."

As the bus rounded the corner and prepared to unload its passengers and take on new ones, Flathoof turned to Gumshoe. "You gonna be alright getting home on your own, Cadet? You could come with us, and I'll make sure you get to your stop okay after dropping off Applejack."

Gumshoe gave him a short salute. "Thank you, but no thank you, sir. I can take care of myself just fine. I might still be a cadet, but I went through training, same as you did."

"Fair enough. In that case, I'll meet you at the precinct first thing tomorrow morning, then I can introduce you to the rest of Applejack's friends. Sound good?"

"I'm looking forward to it, sir."

As Applejack boarded the bus with Flathoof and they found a pair of seats that were close together—on opposite sides of the aisle, but close together—she couldn't help but think that even after what had happened, she was glad she'd joined the family for dinner. It might take some getting used to being in this other world so far from her family that she couldn't even contact them, but she was glad knowing that she had her friends with her, and that she had new friends to help get her through the experience.

Maybe these few weeks wouldn't be so terrible after all.

Chapter Nine: Couture

Rarity had ridden a chariot taxi many times in her life before now. It was always nice to be able to take a load off her hooves to get from one place to another, such as from her boutique to the outskirts of Ponyville to visit Applejack. Certainly some ponies considered it lazy to ride in a chariot when one was perfectly capable of walking, but there was usually a practical purpose to it as well, such as keeping a nice dress out of the dirt or when one had purchased too many things from the store—though there was no such thing as "too many", of course.

But she'd never ridden in an aerial chariot before, as in one pulled by pegasi. She knew they existed back home—Twilight had first arrived in Ponyville via a chariot pulled by pegasi royal guards—but they weren't exactly common for intracity travel, especially in a smaller village like Ponyville. Here in New Pandemonium, however, they were an absolute necessity. The crowded "buses"—whatever those were—didn't run into the Inner Districts, and since that was where Rarity needed to be today, an aerial chariot was the best option.

The Inner Districts were in such contrast to the rest of New Pandemonium, or at least what Rarity had seen of it so far, that she was certain she was in a completely different city altogether, and when she said as much to Lockwood, who sat beside her on this wonderful little trip, he'd agreed and even noted that she didn't really know the half of it yet.

If the Mid Districts were comparable to some sort of dingy, dirty, alternate version of Manehattan, the Inner Districts were comparable to a more modernized version of Canterlot, with tall, gleaming skyscrapers instead of palatial spires and cozy houses and businesses, pristine concrete streets instead of cobblestone roads, and electrical lanterns and signs instead of oil lamps and vinyl billboards. Otherwise they were quite similar: trees decorated the roads—fake trees, Lockwood assured her—and there were fountains, parks, and plenty of neatly-spaced businesses and residences so that everypony could be comfortable and content.

"This is simply… marvelous, Lockwood dear," Rarity said as their taxi slowly flew past a large office building, where she could see ponies in crisp suits working at desks and cubicles. "How in the world is there such a vast difference between these two parts of the city? It can't be just because these ponies have more money, can it?"

"That's pretty much the driving factor, yeah," Lockwood said with a nod. "Money, but also influence. Don't think that everypony that lives here in the Inner Districts is rich, though. Some just have really good connections with the right ponies and when you know certain folks, money isn't that important."

She raised an eyebrow at that. "Speaking from experience, perhaps? Considering the sorts of connections you seem to have, darling, why aren't you living here?"

"It's not my speed," he said simply. "I like it much better in the Mid Districts, thank you. I can get more work done there on a day-to-day basis. Not to mention that there are only so many contacts one can make if they restrict themselves to the Inner Districts, which is typically what's expected of folks who live here."

"Well then, I suppose as much as I would have liked for my little group to have landed here, where it's clean and neat, it would have probably meant not meeting you or Captain Flathoof, wouldn't it?"

"Oh, Flathoof for sure. You'd have been picked up by Inner District police, and they're a different beast altogether." With a little smile, he added, "But who knows, you guys might still have met me somehow. Depends on where exactly you ended up, really. The Baroque District—where we are now—would have been your best bet."

He then tapped Rarity's shoulder and gestured ahead of them. "Ooh, just ahead, there's our destination: La Torre Gloriosa. Neat, huh?"

As the chariot rounded another office building, Rarity followed Lockwood's hoof towards a massive tower they were approaching made of white concrete with metallic gold accents; the concrete had even been textured somehow so that it looked like genuine pearl, giving the structure the appearance of exquisite jewelry. It was one of the tallest buildings that she could see for miles around.

"My oh my," she said, a little grin on her face as the chariot began its descent. "You have friends who live here? That tower is simply magnificent. A true center of class and prestige if I've ever seen one. It could almost pass for a royal palace."

"And if all goes well, you'll be working here by the end of the day," Lockwood said with a smile her way. "And if I were a betting stallion, I'd put my bits on you any day of the week."

She smiled; he certainly knew how to make a lady feel good about herself, that was for certain. "These friends of yours, how did you come to know them? Forgive me for saying so, but you don't look like the sort of pony to be acquainted with ponies known for high fashion." To emphasize her point, she straightened his jacket collar, which had gotten crooked en route.

"A friend of mine once lived in this tower years ago, until he and his family moved away down south," Lockwood said; she detected a bit of sadness in his voice. "I was also friends with his wife, a well-known fashion model. She was the sort of mare that loved to share her wealth with others, and often held lavish fashion events for charity. I helped organize a few since I knew ponies that could help promote them.

"Well, at one of these parties, there were these two rival designers that were making waves in the fashion scene. Word was that they absolutely hated each other's guts, a real water and oil situation. Thing is, they'd never actually met." Lockwood grinned and tipped his hat. "Well, I'm the one who made sure they were both invited. I figured that two ponies shouldn't despise one another without knowing one another first.

"I wasn't expecting much, really. Maybe they'd meet each other and get a chance to see just who their rival was, and at best they wouldn't hate one another but they'd just go back to being rivals but maybe with a better understanding of each other. Well, let's just say that… a lot more than that happened."

Rarity grinned knowingly; she'd heard this sort of story before, but it was always charming to hear again, and it made for good information if she was going to know her potential employers. "Oh? Do tell. Don't skimp on the details, darling, I'm no prude. I love a good saucy story."

Lockwood coughed into his hoof. "Uh, suffice to say, my model friend caught the two of them in one of the changing rooms getting… better acquainted. Right on top of the dressing table, actually."

Rarity overdramatically fanned herself. "Oh ho ho, what a naughty couple. That sounds rather… exciting, actually. I take it though that that's not the end of the story?"

"Oh no. They got engaged three weeks later, then married by the end of the year. It was the talk of the fashion scene for months. They merged their fashion lines together right after the wedding and everything so that they could be together in every aspect of their lives."

"How romantic," Rarity said with a wistful sigh, hoping that someday she'd find somepony that would treat her with that same kind of passion. "I'm willing to bet that your model friend was pleased with these results. Did she ever model for their lines?"

"No, unfortunately. Their family moved about two months before the wedding. I'm sure she would've loved to, though," he said with a wistful look to the south.

The chariot taxi landed and Lockwood, ever the gentlecolt, helped Rarity out and onto solid ground. He passed a fair amount of bits to the pegasi drivers to pay for the ride plus a tip, and they nodded appreciatively before heading off.

Rarity noticed Lockwood staring up at the tower, a sort of faraway look in his eyes that usually was reserved for daydreaming. "Everything alright?" she asked, putting a hoof on his shoulder.

He smiled and shook his head. "Oh, it's nothing. I just haven't been here for a long time. Just thinking back on some of the good times I had here, and of friends I haven't seen in a while." He adjusted his hat and started for the door. "But we're not here to listen to me reminiscing about the past, are we? We're here to get you a job. Are you ready?"

She nodded and followed behind him towards the doors of the building, where a doorpony, a unicorn stallion. dressed in the same white and gold as the building briefly made to stop them. "Morning, folks. Welcome to—" That's when he noticed Lockwood, at which point he just gave a polite nod, and said, "Ah, welcome back, Mister Lockwood. It's been awhile, hmm?"

"Hey there, White Shield, long time no see. Still working the door at this dump, huh?"

"Of course. Best job I've ever had."

"How's the wife? Still trying to break into the jewelry business?"

The doorpony laughed. "Nope, changed her mind last year, decided she'd rather get into the watchmaking business. At least it's in the same ballpark this time. But hey, don't let me keep you out here." He then opened the door for Lockwood and Rarity to pass through. "Enjoy your visit."

Lockwood tipped his hat to the other stallion, while Rarity merely smiled and nodded; the doorpony politely tipped his hat to her and smiled as she walked in. From there, it was a straight trip to the elevator on the other end of the lobby. When the doors opened, Rarity was surprised to see that it was operated by yet another pony, this time a pegasus mare in the same snappy uniform as the doorpony.

"Which floor?" she asked with a smile. She also noticed Lockwood and gave him a brief nod. "Oh, Mister Lockwood. Long time no see."

"Indeed, Stormfront. Good to see you, and looking so trim as well. Floor ninety-two, if you would?" he said.

The operator pushed the corresponding button as soon as Lockwood and Rarity were aboard. Once the doors closed, the elevator immediately started upwards without even the slightest hint of friction; the ride was as smooth as silk, which surprised Rarity immensely. The elevator at the police station and the one at the hospital were both a little slow and jerky in their motions, and when they stopped it had been a rather sudden affair that had made her lose her balance. This elevator arrived at its destination in only about ten seconds and stopped so smoothly that when the doors opened, she hadn't even realized they'd come to a stop.

The hallway beyond the elevator was wide but not very long. She and Lockwood took a right turn at the first corner, and instead of a hallway Rarity found herself greeted with what was basically another lobby, similar to the one downstairs. A reception desk sat front and center, above which was a plaque bearing the logo of the company Lockwood had mentioned earlier, a pair of glimmering silver L's with one overlaid upon the other atop a red heart. The company's name was emblazoned below that: Lovers' Lane.

Lockwood stepped right up to the receptionist, a cordial smile on his face. The receptionist, a cute, bespeckled earth pony mare, gave him her own cordial smile in return. "Hello there," she said. "Welcome to Lovers' Lane. How can I help you?"

"Hi there. I believe I have an appointment scheduled for… well, now, actually," he replied, glancing at a clock on the wall. "Got here right on time, it looks like."

The receptionist glanced down at an appointment book, then hummed and nodded, tapping the top of the page. "And you are Mister Lockwood?"

"That's me," he said with a winsome smile.

"The bosses are waiting for you in the design room at the moment, and they told me to direct you there when you arrived." She gestured towards the hallway just off to the right. "Head down this hall, it'll be the second door on your right. Can't miss it."

"Thanks!"

Lockwood gestured for Rarity to follow, and led her down the hall to the second door on the right, which was indeed labeled "Design Room". Lockwood gave the door a light knock.

"Come on in!" called a feminine voice from the other side.

Lockwood opened the door, and he and Rarity were greeted with a room that made Rarity gasp in surprise and delight. It was every bit like her own dressmaking room back home, only more lavish and certainly a lot bigger. Dozens of ponyquins stood at rapt attention, several of them already clothed in dresses and suits that were, in Rarity's opinion, quite fetching. Other, finished outfits were already hanging on assorted racks along the side of the room, and drawers and racks of raw materials covered an entire wall.

Rarity felt like a foal in a candy store.

Standing next to a naked ponyquin was a lovely unicorn mare with a light pink coat and a purple mane which she wore long and wavy. She wore a simple black-and-white polka dot shirt and had a length of measuring tape draped over her neck. A pair of cat's eye glasses completed the image; she looked every bit like the professional Rarity imagined her to be.

Next to her was a handsome, older unicorn stallion with a light blue coat and a short, spiked orange mane with hints of gold, though it had flecks of gray throughout. He wore a loose-fitting white shirt with puffy sleeves and a long gray scarf that hung freely around his neck. He carried himself with a kind of casual professionalism that Rarity rarely saw in ponies in her field, but she knew that definitely didn't mean he wasn't good at what he did.

"Lockwood, darling!" the mare exclaimed sweeping towards him and kissing his left and right cheeks. "Oh my goodness, it has simply been much too long. I don't think we've seen you since the wedding." She turned to the stallion. "Right, dear? Not since the wedding?"

"He was there at the reception afterwards, at least, though if I recall correctly I think he had to leave early," the stallion said as he approached and shook Lockwood's hoof. "Good to see you, old sport. How are you doing these days?"

"Oh, you know, living it up as well as I can. Still landlord over at Southeast Point," Lockwood replied with a wide grin, which made the two share a look that hinted at a piqued interest. "I hear the company's been doing well since the merger? I see you even changed the name."

"It has indeed, quite wonderfully in fact. I know you don't read the fashion papers, but my darling wife's latest dress was on the cover of Dernier Cri. Quite an honor," the other stallion added, pulling his wife in for a hug and kissing her on the cheek.

"Oh, stop it," the mare giggled, batting his chest playfully with a hoof. "Always so quick to praise my accomplishments but not his own. Did you watch this year's PFTA show?" she asked Lockwood.

"I usually just read about the winners in the papers afterwards," Lockwood admitted. To Rarity he briefly explained: "Pandemonium Film and Television Awards. Biggest entertainment event of the year."

"Well, regardless, my gorgeous husband provided the suits for each and every stallion nominee. All of them custom-tailored and everything, right down to cufflinks. And yes, that includes the host, and from my understanding, Lucky Clover was the talk of the show."

"Oh, they're just suits, love," the stallion said, rolling his eyes. "You designed close to half the dresses at the whole event. Every shot of the audience had your name all over it."

"Not quite that many, but I appreciate the compliment." The two then looked lovingly at one another, lost in each other's eyes.

Lockwood leaned over to Rarity and whispered, "And remember, these two used to hate each other. Felt I needed to remind you."

Rarity tittered a little and whispered back, "Well, hate and love are just opposite sides of the same coin, aren't they? Seems they just needed to give it a little flip."

Lockwood cleared his throat. "Well, while I'd love to stay, my friends, I have business to attend to of my own today and I really must be getting back to it. Before I go, though, I think we should go ahead and get some introductions made around the room, hmm? It would be terribly rude of me not to get that ball rolling."

"Oh yes, of course," the mare said with a smile as she turned to Rarity. "This must be that wonderful new talent you discussed with me. Rarity, I believe you said her name was?"

Rarity nodded and daintily offered her hoof. "Yes, that's exactly right. Though I'm afraid Lockwood never told me either of your names, so I'm feeling at a dreadful disadvantage at the moment."

The mare gently took Rarity's hoof and gave it a soft, feminine shake. "Forgive me, where are my manners? My name is Chantilly Lace. It's certainly a pleasure to meet you." She gestured to her husband. "And this is my husband, Peaked Lapel."

Lapel took Rarity's hoof and delicately placed a brief kiss on her pastern; she giggled lightly, just out of habit. "Charmed."

"Lockwood tells us you're a fashion designer from down south?"

"That's right," Rarity agreed, since that was the story she and her friends were going with to strangers now, especially since she had a little more information to work with thanks to Winter Glow. "I'm new in the city, see, and Lockwood's been ever so helpful in giving me and my friends opportunities to integrate into the city's culture, strange as it is to our sensibilities."

"And that's why when she said she was a fashion designer, the first ponies I thought to get her touch with were you two," Lockwood finished. He removed his hat briefly, a grin on his face. "Now, I hate to just pop in and run and all that, but like I said, I have a very busy day ahead of me. Miss Rarity here isn't the only pony I promised to lend a helping hoof."

Chantilly smiled and pulled Lockwood over to kiss his cheeks again. "Go on then, darling, and don't be a stranger!"

Lockwood nodded then turned briefly to Rarity, tipping his hat and giving her a wink. "Have fun."

"I think I just might, Lockwood dear," Rarity said with a grin. "Go on now. And do keep an eye on Fluttershy for me, alright?"

"Will do." He turned to the married couple and waved farewell, replaced his hat, and strolled out the door, shutting it behind him.

"So, Miss Rarity, what say we get right into it, hmm?" Chantilly said, leading Rarity over to the ponyquin. "First, though, a bit of framework for what's going on around here. My husband and I are sponsoring an upcoming fashion show to showcase some new talent in the designing and modeling fields."

"It's actually a series of showcases over the coming two weeks or so," Lapel added. "The first one is coming up fairly soon. And, if how Lockwood described your skill is true, we think you might be the perfect fit to represent Lover's Lane. The timing is just impeccable."

"I'm honored that you'd give me that opportunity," Rarity said, surprised at the swiftness of their generosity. "What exactly did Lockwood say about me that led to that decision, if I might ask? We haven't known each other very long and I'll be honest, he's never seen any of my professional work."

She pawed at the makeshift dress she'd crafted out of confiscated clothes. "Nor do I think I'm making the best first impression of my fashion sense, but it's the only clothing I own at the moment. Just the result of a rather unfortunate set of circumstances."

"I can tell," Chantilly said as she eyed Rarity up and down briefly, lifting her glasses as she did. "That outfit was clearly quickly cobbled together from several other outfits; I can see the seam work that was definitely done in haste, without a machine, and then touched up later on."

"Not to mention that the choice of colors isn't quite right, but it was clear that an earnest effort was made," offered Lapel as he sauntered around behind Rarity. "Now, I don't know the exact circumstances that led to this mish-mash of an outfit, Miss Rarity, but I can tell that if you could've done better, then you would have."

Rarity gave a nervous grin, only a little embarrassed. "I certainly would have liked to, yes. I had no idea ponies up here in the big city were required to wear clothes by law, so I didn't pack anything with me, figuring that I'd craft a new ensemble later on or at worst purchase one."

"Absolutely dreadful, dear. I can't imagine what you must be going through. This is simply a crime against fashion," said Chantilly. "Tell you what, as a favor to a friend of Lockwood, whether you get the job or not today, I'll be happy to give you a Lover's Lace original to take with you."

Rarity balked. "R-really? You'd do that for me?"

Chantilly smiled. "Any friend of Lockwood's can't be too bad, and I can tell you're feeling woefully uncomfortable having to wear that thing around."

"I… thank you. That's awfully generous of you, and I appreciate it ever so much."

"Well then, let's not waste any more time, hmm?" Chantilly gestured towards the naked ponyquin. "You have free reign over our materials to put together an ensemble that impresses us, and because the industry is all about pressure, we'll note that the premiere for the showcase event is only in a few days, and we don't have the time to wait for inspiration to strike."

"You've got two hours to design a dress that meets our approval, then put it together," Lapel said, pulling a heavy stopwatch from his shirt pocket and clicking the top. "Starting… now."

Rarity gulped, but immediately set to work, first by browsing through the selection of materials she would have available to work with, almost all of which she was intimately familiar with and most of which she was surprised to see in such quantities. Cottons and silks were understandable, but the selection of gemstones and exotic materials they had was exquisite. Some of these things were incredibly rare and expensive back home.

She was used to working under pressure, of course, but not with such a suffocating restriction in place. She supposed she wasn't meant to show the couple something that they'd be putting on the show floor by tonight or anything like that, but rather that they just wanted to see what she could come up with on the fly, or maybe they'd be using this design for the showcase?

The industry was supposed to be rather cutthroat at times, where designers would accuse one another of stealing designs that they'd been working on for weeks or months, and that's where she figured the reasoning here was: if Rarity was clever and creative enough to put together something impressive with only an hour or two, then she could do even better with an entire day. That would be more than enough time to put out a bombshell design at a moment's notice, something that could blow away competitors unawares.

Yes, that sounded wonderful. She could handle that. She could thrive like that if she had the right motivation.

In less than thirty minutes, Rarity—working faster and harder than she'd ever done before—managed to whip up a design that was a rather simple modification of a similar dress—more of a jumpsuit, really—that she'd made for Sapphire Shores years prior: simple white polyester with a healthy dosing of rhinestones made of actual gems to give it a lustrous gleam.

She was glad that she didn't have to start putting it together yet, though, only having to show off the design itself at first, because she could tell immediately that her prospective employers were, to be blunt, unimpressed.

"The choice of polyester is rather unique, I'll admit," Chantilly said as she eyed Rarity's design drawing, "especially combined with this particular allotment of rhinestones. I also appreciate the consideration of genuine gems for the design rather than artificial ones; they'd catch the light nicely."

"Maybe so, but gemstone-studded affairs are dreadfully out of vogue at the moment," Lapel offered, shaking his head. "This particular design is also quite loud, if I might say so. It would definitely attract a lot of attention at a ceremony or a ball, or maybe a concert if that was your intention, but it might attract the wrong kind of attention. Too flamboyant, too theatrical."

"It could possibly fit with a sort of 'retro' appeal," Chantilly suggested.

"No, it's too soon for retro. Trying to bank on outdated styles too early would just make the wearer look horribly behind the times rather than evoking nostalgia."

Chantilly nodded, then turned to Rarity. "I don't think we can work with this sort of design, Miss Rarity. I'm sorry, but—"

Rarity tapped her chin in thought; she needed an excuse, and fast. "No no, don't be sorry, Miss Lace, Mister Lapel. I understand completely. You see, this ensemble was rather in vogue down south and I was unaware that it had already gone through the ringer as it were up here in the north. I'm terribly sorry, it's my fault for not researching the current trends.

"If I may, however, I still have plenty of time left to come up with another design to show you. Why, I didn't even use half of what you've given me just yet. But I feel that I'm at a bit of a disadvantage working with outdated information, so perhaps you could tell me what is in vogue at the moment? I'll whip something up in no time that follows the trend while bringing something new to the table, I promise."

Lapel hummed, then nodded. "Very well. It's only fair to give you a fighting chance. I forgot to account for the cultural divide."

"At the moment, the current trend is lace, leaning towards a more sultry feel," Chantilly explained. "I don't know if you get any films of ours down south, but a recent release with Bolt Rockhoof and Scarlet Sands is getting everypony in a tizzy. The mares go to see it for Rockhoof because he has this one nude scene where he's just… mmff!"

"And the stallions can't take their eyes off Scarlet Sands, as usual," Lapel added with a smirk. "That mare has to be extremely popular in colt locker rooms, let me tell you. I'd have a picture of her on my locker if I was still in school."

"Anyway, she's wearing this absolutely devilish lace dress in the movie poster," Chantilly continued. "So now that's the current hot trend for mares, and it probably will be for the next couple of weeks or so until the industry decides they're tired of it. I know I'm tired of it already, but hey, sex sells, what can I say?"

Rarity nodded. "A sultry lace dress, then? It's not my usual forte, but I can certainly work with that."

She then got to work back at the drawing table, sketching up the new design to fit this odd-but-intriguing trend. Strictly-speaking, ponies back home rarely wore clothes that were considered "sultry" by any means; if they did, it was just because somepony interpreted it that way, not because of a conscious decision that the designer had made. At least not that she knew; she'd certainly never designed anything of the sort.

Granted, there were a number of fashion items that were considered sultry, but those weren't things that ponies were supposed to be wearing in public places. Rarity certainly didn't own anything like that, no sir, and certainly didn't have them ready for a special occasion with a potential future beau.

The design Rarity came up with was actually rather simple, but carried her own signature style to it so that nopony could say it wasn't a Rarity Original, not that anypony would. She'd considered black lace at first, but decided that if sultry was the name of the game then black was much too pedestrian; red was where it was at in that case, but it wouldn't do to just make a red lace dress and call it a day. It had to have something unique, something special.

Thus, Rarity's dress was made of a thin red lace that left the wearer's back mostly exposed, only covering their chest, forelegs, and sides while also leaving their flanks half-covered. The lace itself would then be judiciously sprinkled with crushed ruby dust to give it a sequin-like shine. In her opinion, the outfit would work significantly better if it were made of satin instead, but she wasn't here to buck trends just yet.

When Rarity showed off her finished work to Chantilly and Lapel, though, she knew immediately that she'd completely reversed course, and that their opinions of her now were much, much better.

"Oh my goodness," Chantilly said as she eyed the design carefully. "This is… this is luscious. I love the cut of the dress: revealing enough to attract attention but covering enough to make lookers want even more. This is the sort of dress I'd expect to see on a singer at one of those late-night revues up in Whiteworth. Enticing, yes, that's the word."

"I'm loving the idea of using crushed rubies to substitute for standard sequins," added Lapel. "It makes the dress pop. If a mare walks into a room wearing this, there won't be a pony in that room that won't turn their head."

"Absolutely, dear, very sexy."

"But is it too sexy?" he asked, turning to his wife. "It might feel like too much 'costume' and not enough 'dress'. Would this be the sort of thing a regular mare could wear to a formal party?"

Chantilly hummed and nodded. "Too sexy, yes, but I think that's an easy fix. Don't you, Miss Rarity?" she said, giving Rarity a side-eyed glance.

Rarity smirked and nodded as well. "I wasn't sure how sultry would be too sultry, so I figured it would be better to err on side of more revealing rather than less, at least for the designing stage. I was thinking it could stand to be a bit longer so that it doesn't accentuate the flanks and hindlegs so much. The exposed back, however, is an absolute necessity."

"Absolutely, I couldn't agree more." Chantilly passed the design paper back to Rarity and gestured to the ponyquin. "So, your design work is impressive, but there's more to making dresses and suits than a drawing. With the rest of the time you have, you're going to put that dress together."

"Lace and I always put our own personal touch into every outfit we design," Lapel explained. "Not a single dress or suit, nor a blouse or shirt or skirt, has ever left this building without one of us putting a little bit of ourselves into the process. And when we got started, before we'd met properly, we did it all ourselves. No assistants."

"I understand completely, and I wouldn't have it any other way," Rarity said with a smile. "Every dress I've ever made, I made entirely with my own hooves and magic." Not entirely true, Rarity knew, since her friends had helped each other put together their proper Gala dresses from her designs, but that was a unique situation and had never been repeated.

"Then by all means, let's see you work," Chantilly said.

Rarity wasted no time whatsoever in grabbing all of the materials she needed to stitch together her latest and certainly sauciest Rarity Original, one that she was certain would never fly back home but which she was glad would be attracting attention here in this other world.

Every thread, seam, and cut she put into the fabric was utterly perfect; the lace bent to her will like an obedient servant, leaving no unsightly flaws or foibles as she manipulated it around the ponyquin's form; last, she applied a sprinkling of ruby dust over a thin layer of fabric glue and flash-dried it with a careful magical treatment.

And then the dress was done. Exactly as "ordered", so to speak, with all the changes needed to the original design to meet her clients' requests. Rarity had to admit, now that she could see the dress itself in its completed state, she actually rather wanted to wear it; if she put that number on when she went out to a fancy Canterlot party, she'd absolutely attract all sorts of attention.

Chantilly circled the ponyquin, humming to herself and examining every last inch of the dress for any signs of mistakes or imperfections, anything at all to comment on, and Rarity knew that she would find nothing and she indeed found nothing.

There was something about working under pressure that Rarity sometimes found extremely motivating; certainly she let it get to her sometimes when it was clear she wasn't going to make a deadline without working herself to near-death, but this whole situation put her straight into "the zone".

Lapel used his hooves to frame the dressed ponyquin like he was holding a camera. "Yeah… yeah, I can see it. This is fine work, Miss Rarity. More than fine; this is professional-grade fashion. Just look at the way that ruby dust shines. Not enough to blind somepony but enough to catch the eye. I love the way you've applied it to draw attention to the curves."

"Yes, it certainly accentuates the features of whatever mare would be wearing this," Chantilly agreed and she carefully eyed the ponyquin's posterior. "Again, not enough to be risqué, but enough to be pleasantly inviting and alluring to the eye. Suitable for any formal occasion, from a high school prom to a fancy dinner with a Committee Representative."

Rarity smiled. "So… you like it?"

Chantilly beamed. "Like it, dear? I love it. This dress— your dress, you, are absolutely going to represent Lover's Lane at the showcase, without question. Any objections, love?" she asked her husband as she came over to embrace him.

"Not at all, sweetheart, not at all," he replied, embracing her back and kissing her forehead. "This is going to make some waves, let me tell you." He turned to Rarity and grinned. "Miss Rarity, if this is something you just put together in a couple of hours with a metaphorical blindfold, I am eager to see what you can put together when you've got more time to plan and observe new trends."

Rarity put her hoof over her heart, and had to fight to hold back tears of joy. She was used to being complimented on her work, but typically most of her praise came from friends and family, or the occasional client who had so many specific requests that it felt like the creations weren't entirely her own.

This couple had known her only a couple of hours and were already praising her work like it was a gift from the heavens, and what's more, they were industry professionals looking to add her to a label that serviced a city of potentially millions of clients. A dream come true.

Now she just needed to hit on that same kind of luck when she got home.

Lapel broke from the embrace with his wife. "We'll get some paperwork filled out by the end of the day so that we can officially add you to the brand. You'll be a part of our new Rising Stars collection that we're introducing with the upcoming showcase." He offered her his hoof. "Welcome to Lovers' Lane, Rarity."

Rarity took his hoof and shook it. "I'm… I'm honored, Mister Lapel—"

"Oh please, you're a part of the family now, dear," Chantilly scoffed. "You can just call us Chantilly and Lapel, or Lace and Lapel if you're particularly fond of alliteration."

"Well, thank you very much, Chantilly, Lapel. I'm honored to be included in your prestigious fashion line. I've always dreamed of being able to sell my dresses in the big city, you know? This is… it's like a fantasy come to life for me, just shy of having my own label."

She let out a breath of content. "So, apart from this paperwork, what's next for us? You've already said that this dress here is being featured at the showcase, but that's a week away."

"Indeed, so for the most part, your role is done until showtime," Chantilly said as she took Rarity's leg under her own. "Mostly, anyway. But since this whole showcase of ours is such a new experience, you've still got one more task ahead of you."

"Which is?"

"Choosing a model for your dress, of course," Lapel said with a smirk. "Since you're the one who made the dress and are essentially headlining our Rising Stars collection, your opinion on the mare that models your ensemble is important to us. After all, a dress is just a bunch of fabric until somepony wears it, then it's a dress."

"Really? You want my help choosing a model?" Rarity asked. "Surely you two know your models better than I do and would be able to choose better than I ever could. I'd hate for your modeling staff to think I—some stranger—am imposing on them or questioning their looks and talent."

"Well, that's the thing," Chantilly said. "As part of the showcase, which I remind you is intended to promote new talent in the industry, a few of the labels got together and thought it might be fun if we try to promote new faces in the modeling sector as well. We're not using any of our veterans; fresh talent only!"

Lapel headed over to the door and opened it for the two mares as Chantilly started pulling Rarity along. "The time limit we gave you was mostly because we're scheduled to view the potential models shortly. If your dress was a dud, we'd basically be doing this in reverse, i.e. finding a designer to put together a dress for whatever model we hire, and she'd be part of the dressmaking process."

"Sounds a little experimental, if you don't mind my saying," Rarity noted with a nervous smile.

"Darling, that's what the fashion business is all about," Chantilly chuckled.

*****

"Next!" called Chantilly.

Rarity huffed and leaned back in her chair, and the latest in the collection of models was sent out of the little runway room to await the results of this audition while the next one entered.

The former mare, a thin little thing barely out of high school, strut her way out of the room; the newcomer, another thin little thing, though this one looked old enough to at least legally purchase alcohol, strut in with the exact same confidence and poise, and just generally with the same "aura" about her as every mare before.

They'd been at this for a couple of hours now; apparently quite a few mares had heard about the auditions and come by to try and break into the industry when given this golden opportunity. However, Rarity felt herself being uncharacteristically stubborn as she took part in the judging process.

Each and every mare that walked through those doors was practically identical. Oh sure, colors were different here and there, but that wasn't important in the long run, not unless the mare in question's coat or mane clashed terribly with whatever colors Rarity chose for a dress. And yes, they weren't all the same type of pony, but Rarity was always careful enough to make it so her dresses could be worn by earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi alike unless she had a specific concept in mind.

But everything else about them was identical: their thin frames which lacked any sort of proper curvature to really highlight with a dress; their stuck-up attitudes that just sent up red flags to Rarity that they'd start questioning her choices eventually; their perfectly-practiced runway struts that said that the only thing that made these mares new to the industry was that they just hadn't been hired yet.

Worst of all, it was boring. Mares came in, they walked the runway, they left; rinse, repeat, ad nauseum.

"Next!" Chantilly called to usher in the next mare. She turned to Rarity and quietly noted, "We're almost done, dear. Anypony standing out so far?"

Rarity grunted. "I'm afraid not. That new dress of mine just doesn't suit any of these mares, not well enough to make me think it an ideal fit. I'll be honest, I designed the dress to fit a mare with a slightly fuller figure like mine. Very few mares where I'm from have such thin frames."

Lapel winced slightly. "Sadly, there aren't a lot of what the industry calls 'casual' models. It's just sort of ingrained in the modeling world that you've got to thin it to win it. Totally unrealistic but you try telling an industry that's been around for hundreds of years that they need to change their ways overnight."

"I've never agreed with the sentiment," Chantilly said, nose in the air. "It's not healthy for a mare to be so thin. Ivory Charm had some real curves, and she was tall and gorgeous." She sighed. "I suppose that's why she was so popular, really: she was different. A mare like that comes along once in a generation."

"Didn't hurt that her husband made sure she got her chance," Lapel added with a little grin.

"Ivory Charm… is that the modeling friend that Lockwood mentioned he was acquainted with?" Rarity asked.

"Oh, yes, they were quite close," Chanitlly said. "He was a friend of their family through and through. I don't know the whole story, but considering it's Lockwood that's involved I guarantee you that's it's a convoluted mess of coincidences, heh."

"Her husband was a big shot entrepreneur," Lapel added. He gestured towards the ceiling. "Lived up on the floor one-nine-nine, top of the tower, penthouse apartment. Absolutely gorgeous place. Just gorgeous. The pool was huge."

"Why ever did they move away?" Rarity asked.

The couple shared a brief look, then shrugged.

"Can't rightly say," said Lapel, "but Lockwood probably knows more than anypony. Ask him if you're curious."

He then looked and pointed at his wife. "Back to our discussion: I agree with you. I think we're missing out if we hired just another model for this showcase. I'm all about promoting new talent, but I feel like hiring one of the girls we've seen so far would basically just be pushing along the industry stereotype. Might as well put one of the vets out instead if we're gonna do that."

"Next!" called Chantilly.

The last mare on the stage strutted her way off the runway and left the room, and the next mare walked in with the same… no, Rarity noted, not the same poise at all. This new mare, a charcoal-colored unicorn with a mane that she hesitated to call "blonde" for it was really more of a lemon yellow, walked into the room like she'd done so completely by accident, lost like a filly that had misplaced her mother.

Like the other mares she had on a simple leotard that would show off her figure, and Rarity immediately noticed that this new mare was exactly what she was looking for. If she didn't know better, this mare's measurements were practically the same as her own, which is to say, she had a gorgeous figure with just the right amount of curves to draw attention to just the right areas.

Also, unlike the other mares thus far, this one clearly had no idea what she was supposed to be doing here. Rarity understood that the models had all been instructed on how to give their brief demonstrations: walk in, strut to four marked spaces on the runway—stopping to pose at each one, of course—then walk towards the exit, only stopping if asked to do so, which thus far nopony had been.

This mare walked in and strutted herself up to the runway in what was best described as somehow confident waddling, but stopped at the first marker and stared at the other three like she had no idea which order she was supposed to go in despite the clear-as-day labels. She started off toward the wrong one for about half a step before realizing her mistake, then stepped towards the other wrong one instead and almost made it all the way there before she tripped on nothing at all.

It was like watching a trainwreck; Rarity couldn't take her eyes away.

"I have no words for what I'm watching," muttered Chantilly as the mare on the runway stumbled to her hooves and nervously finished making it to the wrong marker, where she not so much twirled as spun.

"I have one," offered Lapel. "Disaster. Just get her out of here, honey."

"Hold on a moment," Rarity said, raising a hoof. "Don't discount her just yet. She has the exact figure I'm looking for."

"She does?" Lapel asked, glancing back at the mare

She was now strutting her way towards the next marker—wrong again—with the same sort of grace that one expected of a rhinoceros in ballet shoes. However, the way she was unashamedly moving her flanks in the process, shaking them to and fro without a care in the world, seemed to give Lapel pause.

"Hmm… she's got the posterior for it," he muttered. "The dress will make those curves pop for sure."

"And I'm all for hiring a mare that knows how to eat more than one meal a day," Chantilly huffed, "but the poor thing doesn't look like she could find her way out of a wet paper bag. Regardless of her having the kind of figure we're looking for, there are still expectations that do need to be met."

"Yeah, not being able to do the standard runway strut is kind of a deal-breaker," Lapel agreed.

Rarity frowned as she watched the mare on stage strut her way back to the same marker she'd just left, a smile on her face that told everypony in the room that she was having the time of her life, or else that she was completely oblivious to the fact that she was performing horribly. It was the sort of innocence that you just didn't see in a mare her age.

But Rarity wasn't about to let things end there. If the only thing this poor mare had wrong with her was being able to walk a runway, that wouldn't be hard to fix.

So she stood from her seat and made for the stage.

"Rarity? Where are you going?" Lapel asked.

"To help the poor dear," Rarity replied, giving him a polite smile. "It's only fair we judge her on the same standards as everypony else, and she clearly lacks the training the others have."

Since neither Lace nor Lapel objected, Rarity continued to the stage and approached the mare, just as she performed a not-too-shabby twirl too many times and fell over. Rarity was amused to see that it didn't stop the other mare from getting right back up and trying again. "Miss? Excuse me a moment."

The other unicorn nearly jumped at Rarity's presence and turned to face her, at which point her eyes widened in what Rarity could only describe as—and no, this wasn't her being narcissistic—sheer awe. "Wow…" the other mare uttered, breathless. "You're, like, really pretty up close and junk."

Rarity's smile widened a bit. "Well thank you, that's a very nice thing to say. What's your name, dear?"

"My name's Insipid," the other mare said, standing at attention and giving a smile of her own.

Rarity noticed that her teeth weren't quite straight, but in the sort of charming imperfection sense, rather than the sense of her being in need of an immediate visit to the dentist. Then she noticed the mane, which was such a strong yellow hue that it was though the mare had tried to dye it with paint. Her nose was just a little crooked, but like her teeth it was a cute imperfection.

Her eyes, though, were absolutely beautiful, the same shade of blue as Rarity's own and without a hint of a flaw to be seen. If anything hers were even healthier; this mare definitely didn't need glasses for any reason whatsoever.

The name was an odd point, of course. Insipid. That was a straightforward word, much like Rarity's own name was, only… not as flattering. Insipid literally meant "bland, otherwise lacking of interesting or distinctive qualities". Given that the other mare was possibly… lacking in certain departments, Rarity had to wonder if she'd been named after the word, or if she'd embraced her namesake and adjusted herself to fit it.

Rarity didn't know which was worse.

Regardless, she'd come to help this poor dear with something that she very clearly wanted to do very, very much. "Well, Insipid, my name is Rarity, and if you don't mind my saying so, I think you could use some help with your runway strut."

"My what?"

"Your runway strut." Rarity watched as Insipid didn't react at all, as if Rarity had been speaking total gibberish. "Your… your walk? The way you walk on the runway?"

"Ohhh. You mean my strut. I thought you, like, said something else. What's wrong with it?"

"You're doing it all out of order, for one thing." Rarity gestured at the markers in the proper order, easy to do since they were labeled in clear, bold lettering. "One, Two, Three, Four. You sort of went One, Three, Four, Three, and have been stuck on Three trying to twirl for about a minute now."

"And that's, like, wrong?"

"…yes. That's wrong." This was harder than Rarity thought it would be.

"Ohhh." Insipid nodded and smiled. "Okay! So, like, do you want me to try it again and junk?"

"Yes, that would be wonderful. Go on, head back to One."

Insipid stepped over onto the Two marker.

Rarity's eye twitched a little. "No… no, dear, that's Two, not One."

Insipid looked down at the writing and rolled her eyes. "Oh, pshaw, it was upside-down! Like, whoops! Okay, back to One!" This time, she did indeed go back to One. Progress. "Okay, ready!"

"Okay, now… follow the order I told you: One, Two, Three, Four."

Insipid bit her tongue and stared at the four markers, then nodded and, now that Rarity had apparently drilled it into her head properly, she was able to follow the correct order without any trouble. She still walked like she had something uncomfortable stuck in her leotard and bobbed her butt up and down with every step, but it was a start. A very… very slow start.

"That was very good, Insipid," Rarity said with a genuine smile. "Now that you've got the order correct, we just need to work on how you're walking. Have you had any proper modeling training at all?"

"Nope! I don't even know what that is!" the other mare exclaimed with misplaced pride. "Isn't that, like, a thing ponies ride on? Training?"

Rarity blinked, and bit her tongue, resolving to keep to a positive attitude. "If you've never received training—that is, learning how to act as a model—then why are you here applying for a modeling position? No offense, dear, but even with the standards that most folks hold models to, I've got a feeling you're overshooting a little bit."

Insipid's eyes widened as she looked off wistfully at nothing in particular, like she were practicing for a play. All she needed was a spotlight. What on earth was wrong with this mare?

"For as long I can remember," Insipid started, "I've, like, wanted to be a totally beautiful fashion model! Cha! So when I heard there was, like, a tryout thingy here to find new models or whatever, I said to myself, 'Self! You know what you've gotta do!' and so… I did… whatever that was? I forgot what I did, actually." She shrugged. Of course she did.

"Don't you have to have to have some sort of modeling experience or training to even qualify for the position?" Rarity asked, turning towards Lace and Lapel, who each just gave a little shrug.

"I mean, like, I dunno? But my daddy said that he'd get me the audition, and so… I guess he did, because here I am!" Insipid said, beaming. "He knew I wanted it, and, like, he wanted to make me happy, so he did it! I guess I've gotta pass a test or something first though? Ooh! Is that what this is? Is this the test? Did I pass?!"

Rarity blinked again. This mare was… well, bizarre was the politest word Rarity wanted to think of at the moment, but she was so earnest and eager that she couldn't help but feel sorry for her. If this were any other day, Rarity might've said that the poor girl would have better luck trying to pursue some other dream, but all things considered—

"Lace? Lapel?" she said, turning towards the couple. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to have Insipid here be the model we use for the new line."

Lapel dropped his pen, his eyes wide, as though he'd been given life-changing news by his doctor. "What?"

"You're serious?" Chantilly asked, completely deadpan.

"Quite serious, yes," Rarity replied.

"Rarity, far be it from me to argue against whatever sentimentality you might have for her, but Lovers' Lane has a reputation to uphold," Lapel said, his voice just a little frantic. "We can't just hire her because she's some sort of charity case, or whatever it is that's gotten into your head."

"On the contrary, I think she's perfect for the job. This isn't out of any kind of charity, I legitimately think she can work. Just look at her." Rarity pulled a still-beaming Insipid over and gestured at the other mare's figure. "See? You said it yourself, Lapel: she's got all of the assets we need to make that dress pop."

Chantilly chuckled and gently nudged her husband. "She's right, you did. And don't lie, I've been watching you ogling her ass the whole time she's been up there. Kind of hard not to with the way she's been shaking it. I mean, I know I have."

Lapel held the bridge of his nose in his hoof. "Honey, please don't tell me you agree with this?"

Chantilly shook her head and looked to Rarity. "I'm not sure this is a good idea, Rarity. Okay, I'll grant you that Miss Insipid here would probably look like absolute dynamite in that dress of yours, but there's still the matter of her not having any training on how to walk a runway, and we don't have time to wait for her to take the proper courses."

"She won't need to take any courses. I can help her with whatever she needs," Rarity said, stamping her hoof gently on the runway.

"That's a rather bold statement," Lapel said, eyebrows up; he obviously was holding back any semblance of doubt in his voice, but Rarity could tell he didn't buy her claim at face value. "Do you know how to walk a runway yourself?"

Rarity didn't say a word, just stepped onto the One marker, and silently strutted her way around to Two, Three, and Four, giving a little twirl at each one as expected. She may have never gotten her chance to model for Photo Finish way back when, but she'd certainly practiced for it and watched Fluttershy on the runway at every single show, so she damn well knew what she was doing.

Lapel remained silent for a moment after Rarity finished, then leaned back in his chair. "Okay. Fair enough, point made. If it weren't against the rules, I'd suggest you model your own dress. Wow. Don't take this the wrong way, but if I weren't married—"

Chantilly scoffed. "Get in line. I saw her first, honey. Besides, I mean, we're hosting the showcase. We can always adjust the rules."

"No!" Rarity blurted, perhaps too quickly. "Don't get me wrong, I'd adore the opportunity to model my own dresses for hundreds or thousands of ponies to see, but I'm making a case here for Insipid. I know how to walk a runway; I'll teach her how to do it perfectly by showtime. I made the dress, too, so I know how best to instruct her to work it, hmm?"

Chantilly leaned forward, hooves under her chin. After a long pause, she gave a slow nod. "Alright. Lockwood vouched for you as a reliable, talented pony, so if anything I'm willing to give you a chance."

Rarity just about let out a cheer.

"But!" Chantilly interrupted. "But, allow me to remind you that this showcase is your big break. Both of you. If you blow it out there, you're done. Lover's Lane will find some other new talent for the next showcase after that, and I doubt any other labels will give either of you an opportunity to try again."

Rarity nodded. "That is absolutely fair. We won't let you down." She turned to Insipid. "Will we, dear?"

Insipid just smiled and nodded. "I have no idea what anypony's talking about, or whatever? Did I, like, get the job?"

Rarity took a moment to breathe as she came to terms with the fact that her entire career—albeit one in some other world—now relied on Insipid's performance.

This was going to be a long week.

Chapter Ten: Compassion

Fluttershy normally lived all alone at home with nobody but her animal friends for company, most of all her precious Angel Bunny, so she wasn't used to waking up to the sounds of other ponies going about their morning routines. She'd been the last one to awake and felt more than a little odd waking up and finding the apartment in a flurry of activity as everypony set about their first "official" day here in this new world.

Applejack and Twilight had already left by the time Fluttershy was up, and Pinkie and Rainbow had left soon after. That left her with just Rarity for about an hour before Lockwood came to pick her up to head off into the city's ritzy Inner Districts.

Now she found herself all alone in an apartment she was still getting used to in a building filled with ponies she didn't know in a filthy city where she didn't feel safe for even a second. Lockwood was supposed to be coming back later after he'd dropped off Rarity, but that would be some time from now, and so she set about tidying up the apartment for real.

She briefly considered occupying some of her time with that "teevee" they had in the living room, but decided against it. They'd watched some of it the night before, and from what she'd seen there wasn't anything worth watching; the news seemed to be nothing but negativity, and other programs were either too violent, crude, or racy for her tastes.

Best to start working, then, she thought.

There weren't really any dishes for her to worry about, what with everypony's breakfast coming out of these little squeeze tubes. She wasn't fond of these odd fake foods anymore than the rest of them, but she'd make due with them for now.

Thus, she was left to organize a few things to make the place feel more like a home than a hotel. She arranged the kitchen so that the Dolor tubes were all sorted properly, with half of each of the six colors stored in cabinets, the other half of each stored in the refrigerator. The rest of the fridge was stocked with bottled water so that they didn't have to use the tap.

Lockwood had been very generous in getting them these things, and though they all hated asking for favor after favor, he was so amenable that nopony could really argue when he insisted on it. It wasn't often that Fluttershy met somepony so generous and kind outside of her own close circle of friends, and she had started to grow to enjoy his company, at least so far.

The apartment only had two bedrooms, one of which was being shared by Twilight and Applejack, the other by herself and Rarity; Pinkie and Rainbow took the living room's couch, which Fluttershy knew had to be uncomfortable. Even so, that meant that the living room area was essentially Pinkie and Rainbow's "room", and Fluttershy tidied that up first, which was rather easy.

Twilight and Applejack's room was also easy enough to tidy up. She noticed that they'd clearly come to some sort of arrangement on how to share the bed, which was really too small for more than one pony; a pillow on the floor told Fluttershy that one of them had slept there, but there was no telling who. She straightened the sheets, folded up the blanket that had been on the floor, and did her best to arrange the furniture so that whoever had been using the floor had more room.

Her and Rarity's room was easier to tidy up, as both she and Rarity were still sleepers that didn't toss or turn whatsoever; the bedsheets were barely wrinkled and took no time at all to straighten, and the pillows took no effort to fluff and position neatly. She didn't mind sharing the bed with Rarity; she'd never forgive herself if her best friend had to sleep on a hard floor while she got to sleep in a relatively cozy bed.

The apartment's singular bathroom was where Fluttershy spent the most time tidying up. Everypony had gotten their own toothbrushes—again, a favor from Lockwood—but apart from herself, Rarity, and Twilight, they'd forgotten to be even remotely neat about it. Not that it was messy, but it wasn't exactly presentable, as Rarity would put it.

Little strands of hair from everypony's mane hairs were in the sink, seeing as they'd all brushed their manes in here, so she gathered it up and tossed it in the trash. The soap dispenser wasn't where it was supposed to be, so she put it back in its proper place. The hoof towel was crumpled up, so she folded it and replaced it on its rack.

It was a little over an hour before a knock at the front door drew Fluttershy's attention. She glanced through the little peephole to see that Lockwood had returned, and so she opened up to let him inside.

"Welcome back," she said with a smile. "Did everything go okay with Rarity?"

"Wonderfully. I've got a feeling she'll do just fine," Lockwood said, removing his hat to fan himself briefly as he looked about the room. "So, I know this is obviously a little early to be asking, but how are you liking it here so far? I know it's not the same as where you're from and all, but hopefully things aren't too terrible."

"Oh, I think things will be just fine," she said with a small nod. "Um… I know that I'm still a little frightened by all this, especially… especially the times when I'm alone here. I miss my cottage. I miss my animal friends…"

Lockwood frowned. "I'm awfully sorry this happened to you all. None of you deserve to be in this situation. If there's anything I can do to help make your time here more pleasant, I'll be happy to do it. You only need to ask. Okay?"

She sniffed back a brief sensation of tears, then smiled and nodded. "Thank you. I know we've said that a lot already, but… thank you. I appreciate everything you've done for me and my friends. We all do. We'd… we'd be in a lot of trouble if we didn't have ponies like you and Flathoof to help us."

"And you're very welcome, Fluttershy." He replaced his hat on his head. "Now, I was just coming up here to check up on you before I headed off to do my rounds through the complex, but… I was wondering, seeing as you're still feeling a bit uncomfortable being alone and all, would you like to come along?"

"Come along?"

"Yes, walk the complex with me while I'm on my rounds. I'll be visiting with a few of the other tenants who live here in order to address some issues and complaints. Nothing too difficult, luckily. It would at least give you a chance to meet some of your 'neighbors', so that maybe you don't feel entirely alone up here."

Fluttershy considered the offer for a moment. On one hoof, he had a good point: she didn't want to be here alone. Since there wasn't a lot to do in the apartment just yet, at least until they started having the bits to afford new decorations, furniture, and supplies, there wasn't much to occupy her time, either. She'd be alone pretty much the entire day unless somepony came home early.

On the other hoof, the thought of meeting even more ponies from this strange world made her feel a little anxious. Certainly not everypony here was like Lockwood, Flathoof, or Winter, and she'd been led to believe that those three were in the minority by far. Lockwood felt brave enough to interact with them, but could she do the same?

In the end, though, the former argument won out; spending more time in Lockwood's company definitely seemed like the more enjoyable idea. "Okay," she said with a nod. "I'll go along with you, if… if you're sure you want me along?"

Lockwood smiled. "I do, absolutely! I wouldn't have asked if I didn't think you'd enjoy yourself. Whenever you're ready, we can head out. I've got plenty of time, so don't feel rushed."

She took a deep breath. "I'm ready now, if that's okay with you?"

"Then off we go!" he said, bowing politely by the door and gesturing for her to exit the apartment. "After you."

She smiled and headed out the door, thinking to herself how nice it was to have a stallion with such a pleasant demeanor around. There was just something about him that she found fascinating, but she couldn't put her hoof on it. It didn't really matter what it was, though; all that mattered was that he was putting in a lot of effort to help those in need.

*****

The stops along Lockwood's rounds through the apartment were rather quick affairs for the most part, mostly just brief exchanges between him and whatever tenant he was meeting and usually over details that Fluttershy didn't really understand since she'd never dealt with any of those sorts of things before. She understood what the concept of "rent" was and what a landlord was supposed to do, but since she owned her cottage in Ponyville, she wasn't exactly an expert on the subject.

A few tenants had issues a bit more complicated than that, of course, and Fluttershy watched with rapt attention as Lockwood, who she was used to seeing as a friendly, generous, polite pony, continued to be friendly, generous, and polite even to tenants that were quite the opposite. Even when she could tell he was growing impatient or aggravated, he kept his cool, and even his most impolite tone was still more polite than what she expected from somepony in his horseshoes.

He has the patience of a saint, she thought.

One pair of tenants, who lived on floor ninety-seven, were complaining about their air conditioner not working. Fluttershy didn't know what an air conditioner was, exactly, but came to understand from the context of the conversation that it was like some kind of fan that kept the apartments cool.

"It's been out for weeks now!" shouted the husband of the pair, a burly earth pony stallion that, in Fluttershy's opinion, was in desperate need of a shave and a bath. "What're you gonna do to fix it, huh?"

Lockwood, a smile still plastered on his face, just removed his hat and placed it over his heart. "My good Mister Slate, I assure you, your first reported instance of your air conditioner not working was put in two days ago, and I told you yesterday when I dropped by that the technician will be arriving tomorrow to take a look at what's wrong. I don't understand why you're bringing this up again."

"Because it's ridiculous, that's why! So what, are we just supposed to suffocate to death in this heat? You heard the news about the fires; they told everypony to keep their AC on full blast."

"Yeah, this is a serious health hazard!" complained the wife, a scrawny thing that, in Fluttershy's opinion, was much too young for the other stallion, and given their similar facial features and colorations could probably pass for his daughter. "I think we deserve compensation for being put at risk!"

"Missus Sweet, that health warning was for the districts affected by the fires, which would be Mid-North and Mid-East," Lockwood patiently explained. "And Mid-North is supposedly contained as of today, last I heard of it. Southeast Point is quite far from the fires, so that health warning doesn't apply to us."

"So?" asked the husband.

"So, there's nothing I can legally do to compensate you as far as rent is concerned. However, since you're saying that the issue has been ongoing and wasn't properly addressed, I can try to work out some kinks in the paperwork so that at least you won't be billed for the repairpony's rush visit."

The husband gave Lockwood a hard look for a moment, then grunted. "Alright. Fine. What do we do in the meantime? It's hotter than hell in here. Look at me!" he said, pulling on his sweat-drenched tank top. "You could drown a foal with the amount of sweat I've been giving off."

Lockwood hummed. "Might I suggest using the community pool at the rec center? It doesn't get a lot of crowds in the Winter Quarter, so you might get lucky and have it mostly to yourselves. I recommend the third floor pool, myself."

The wife pawed enthusiastically at her husband's chest. "Ooh, that sounds nice, honey. I can try out that new swimsuit I got."

"That the one with the uh… y'know?" the husband asked, his cheeks a little red.

She just nodded, waggling her eyebrows a little.

"Yeah, the rec center pool sounds nice," the husband said to Lockwood. "Is it still free for tenants here to use?"

"Yes it is, with identification."

"Well alright, guess we'll give it a shot, then."

"Good, good. Have fun, you two." Lockwood then replaced his hat, nodded, and left as the couple closed the door behind them. "Well, that could've gone a lot worse," he said to Fluttershy as he approached. "Luckily they mentioned the health warning from the news and such. I can cite that on the paperwork to ease this whole thing through; there are a few loopholes I can work out if health concerns are an issue."

"Lockwood, um… what exactly is your job here?" Fluttershy asked as they headed down the stairs towards the next apartment on his list.

"What do you mean? I'm the building's landlord," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"I know that, yes, but from what I understand, doesn't that mean you're only responsible for dealing with rent issues? I mean, at least that's what it's like where I'm from. This seems a bit, I don't know, above and beyond what's expected of somepony in your position?"

He smiled. "Ah. Well, I suppose you could say that it is, yes. The building does have a superintendent whose job it is to handle issues like repairs and such, but he and I have come to a sort of… agreement, let's say. I handle all of the face-to-face interactions with tenants and put in all of the paperwork, while he handles the actual allotment of labor and resources."

"Why would he make such an arrangement?"

"Oh, any number of reasons. Perhaps he thinks I'd just do a better job interacting with ponies? Before the building came under new ownership a few years ago, I used to assist the old superintendent with the same sorts of things, so it's not like it's strange to me. The old owner never had a problem with it."

"And the new owner doesn't, either?"

He shrugged. "If he does, he hasn't said anything to me about it yet, and since the building is still pulling in a profit I don't think he will. Something particularly drastic would need to happen to shake things up, I think."

"Like, say… six tenants didn't pay their first month's rent because they mysteriously vanished?" Fluttershy asked, eyes wide.

Lockwood paused, then cleared his throat and tugged his collar. "So anyway, this next tenant—"

"Lockwood, are you going to get in trouble when we leave?" she asked, stopping in the stairwell for a moment.

He just smiled and kept on walking. "I doubt it, but if I do, we'll just chalk that up to a first strike against me, hmm? Everypony makes mistakes, you know? What's one month's rent from a four-pony apartment compared to the continued responsibility of the rest of the complex?"

"But—"

"Come now, don't worry about little old me," he said, stopping in the stairwell to gently take her hoof and give it a reassuring pat. "If everypony I knew worried about every little crazy thing I do to help those in need, I daresay I could make a killing on anxiety medications. I deal with that enough from Flathoof, thank you very much."

"If you're sure—"

"I'm sure. Trust me, Fluttershy, I'll be just fine. I'm saving up money to make the big move south by this time next year, so even if something did happen, it wouldn't be that drastic. I'll make due."

Fluttershy paused, then nodded. "Okay… if you say you're going to be alright…"

"See? Now, let's not waste time in this stuffy stairwell talking about nothing important, hmm?" He gestured for her to follow. "We've got plenty more stops on today's tour, and we want to finish them all in time for lunch, don't we?"

Fluttershy followed, and they continued up and down the stairs, visiting apartment after apartment and dealing with more and more tenants, some of whom were again quick and easy to deal with—Lockwood was just reminding certain tenants about the rent payments being due soon—while others had more complicated issues beyond just broken air conditioners.

A lone tenant in a single-pony apartment, for example, was complaining about a smell coming from somewhere in the apartment, and despite Lockwood having apparently sent somepony to look at it and take care of it multiple times, the smell kept coming back, worse every time. Fluttershy could just barely detect the smell herself, but she recognized the pungent, musky odor as—

"Rat poop?" asked Lockwood when she made the suggestion.

She nodded. "I deal with all kinds of animals back at home. The rats I usually take care of are cute and cuddly critters, but… but sometimes, I'd see less friendly ones come out of the nearby Everfree Forest. They had a very distinct odor to them because they don't bathe properly and aren't very, um… sanitary. Lots of ponies think they carry disease."

"Well, we don't have any animals up here in the north, so I know it's not an actual rat infestation," Lockwood said, stroking his chin. "But that means that something is causing that smell, and it's not a problem with the plumbing." He turned to the tenant. "I'll have to put in a request for pest control. They most likely decide to fumigate the place."

The tenant, a scruffy, older pegasus stallion with a thick, bushy mustache, gave a terse nod. "If that's what you gotta do, sure. What's that mean for me, though? I can't be here if they're gonna fumigate my place."

"If you don't have any friends or family that can take you in, I can put in some kind of workaround to get you a hotel while the fumigation is ongoing," Lockwood replied. "I can't promise anything fancy, but I can at least make sure you've got a safe place to sleep."

"Hmm…" The tenant bristled his mustache. "Sounds good to me. Keep me posted, Lockwood."

"Will do, Scruffy."

With that, the tenant closed the door and left Lockwood and Fluttershy alone in the hall.

"If it's not rats, what is it?" Fluttershy asked. "It can't be some other sort of critter. You said yourself there aren't any animals up north."

"Animals, no; insects, yes." Lockwood sighed. "Nothing as bad as those Gargantuans outside the city walls, but we still get plenty of nasty pests in the city sometimes. Supposedly, anyway. We shouldn't be getting them in the Mid-Districts. It's more of a problem in the Outer District slums."

Fluttershy frowned as she tried to think of what kinds of insects could even remotely cause the same sort of odor as the Everfree rats. Cockroaches, maybe? She usually loved all sorts of animals and insects, but even Fluttershy could acknowledge that some were definitely not considered the cute-and-cuddly sort that anypony could learn to love if given a chance; there was a big difference between a cockroach and a bear.

And another thing, if they dealt with cockroach infestations out in the Outer Districts, just what did that say about the living conditions out there? Fluttershy had come to understand that the city's outermost residential areas weren't exactly the best quality—she'd heard them referred to as slums and ghettos—but just how bad were they?

After dealing with a few more problem tenants, Lockwood showed Fluttershy into his actual office on the complex's main floor. She was surprised that the office was so cramped considering that his apartment was allegedly rather spacious, but then she supposed he wasn't in here much anyway aside from dealing with paperwork. Apart from a desk and a pair of chairs for him to do his work and maybe meet with a tenant, there was just a big filing cabinet that apparently kept track of every tenant in the building.

Lockwood was quick with the paperwork, too, filing through form after form with the sort of speed that she expected of a unicorn with magic, not a pegasus. He didn't ask her for any help, but she did offer, and at her insistence—she felt that was basically his assistant for the day at this point—he allowed her to lend a hoof in putting stamps on a few forms once he was done filling them out.

It felt nice, being useful for something, even if it was something that he was more than capable of doing himself. That had been her concern when she'd learned that she and her friends would be stuck here for a while: that she'd be worthless. Her other friends all had talents and skills and interests that could help them occupy themselves and even make money doing; what did Fluttershy have?

She never wanted to be in the public eye again, not after the fiasco with Photo Finish; without any animals, she didn't have her special talent to lend to anything; she liked to sing, but even if Lockwood could help her do something with that, the last thing she wanted was for millions of ponies to listen to her singing; maybe she could foalsit but she preferred to know the ponies she was foalsitting for, and the ponies she was foalsitting.

So yes, being Lockwood's assistant for a few weeks and taking care of the apartment for her friends just felt… nice. She could live with that.

Once the last form was filled out, stamped, and placed into the outgoing receptacle by the office door, Lockwood took a breath, fanned himself with his hat, and allowed himself a moment to rest. "Thanks for the help, Fluttershy," he said with a grin. "You know, I might just hire you on as my official assistant if you keep this up."

Fluttershy blushed and shook her head. "Oh, you don't have to do that. I'm just happy to help for its own sake. Your job seems very stressful, and you're doing so much for me and my friends. It's the least I could do to repay you for your kindness and generosity."

He shook his head and smiled. "Well, if you insist on helping me out pro bono, fine, I won't refuse the offer. I've never had an assistant before, let alone a nice mare like you. I think you're spoiling me."

She hid her face behind her mane. "Th-thanks…"

He replaced his hat on his head. "Well, I have one more stop to do, and then I was going to take a lunch break. Care to join me?"

Her eyes widened. "F-for lunch?"

"Well, I was asking more about joining me on my last stop for the day, and was going to save the lunch invitation for later," he said with a grin.

"I… s-sure, I'll go. To both, I mean. What's this other stop we're making?"

Lockwood pulled a file out of the cabinet and gave it a once-over. "We had some new tenants move in this morning, apparently before I even woke up. Usually I like to greet new tenants before they move in to get a feel for the kinds of ponies they are, but I guess this was an unusual circumstance."

"Like ours?"

"Well, not exact—" He started to say. Then, he paused, scratched his chin, and nodded. "Actually, it is a little similar. They lived in an apartment out in the Mid-East District that got hit by the fires. Half the city is likely getting all sorts of requests for residence transfers and such just like this one. Luckily we had an opening."

"So… these ponies are living here because something happened to their home," Fluttershy said, putting the connection together. "How awful. I mean, I know my friends and I are a long way from home right now, but… but we still have a home to return to. These ponies might have lost everything in the fire."

"Regardless of the circumstances, I do need to meet with all the new tenants that move in so that I can at the very least put names to faces and introduce myself. They've got to pay rent, same as everypony else, y'know?" He replaced his hat on his head and stood from his chair. "Shall we?"

"Yes, let's," she replied.

While she'd been hesitant to meet many other tenants in the building so far, she found herself somewhat eager to meet these new ones, mostly because she felt immense sympathy for their situation. She couldn't imagine what she'd do if something terrible happened to her cottage back home; it hurt just to think about what all of her animal friends would do without all the little habitats she built around it.

She and Lockwood climbed the stairs up to the seventy-fourth floor and came to the door labeled 12:00, right in front of the stairwell. Lockwood adjusted his hat and jacket so that he looked as professional as possible, then gave the door a brisk knock.

There was no response.

So he knocked again.

This time, the sound of hoofsteps came from the other side, and soon after, the door opened.

On the other side was an absolute giant of a pegasus mare, taller than any mare Fluttershy had ever seen before apart from the Princesses back home, and even taller than most stallions; she could probably be eye-level with Big Macintosh, and he was taller than even Applejack. Her coat was gray, and her mane and tail were colored slate and stone gray on either half with a magenta streak down the middle. She wore a thick hooded sweater, colored a darker gray than her coat.

The mare didn't say a word, just looked at Lockwood first, then turned her attention to Fluttershy, then back to Lockwood.

Since she didn't say anything for several seconds, Lockwood cleared his throat. "Um, hello. I'm Lockwood, your new landlord here at Southeast Point. I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting yet. You must be… let's see…" He glanced at the paperwork he'd brought with him. "Ah, Gray Skies, the pegasus."

The mare nodded. "That's me."

"Wonderful. Let's see here, there are… three of you living at this apartment: you and your sisters Insipid and Red Velvet. Are either of them here at the moment?"

Gray shook her head, but didn't say anything; that was good enough, though.

"Oh well, another time then. Welcome to Southeast Point," Lockwood with a tip of his hat. "I see from your file here that you already filled out all of the necessary paperwork—good show on getting that done so quickly—so all I really need is this formal meeting; one down, two to go. Any idea when we can expect your sisters home?"

Gray shrugged. "Red's out exploring the neighborhood, and Insipid's looking for a new job. They left me behind to deal with this stuff." She turned briefly towards Fluttershy, then lifted her head briefly. "Who's that?" she asked Lockwood, though her gaze was still on Fluttershy.

Fluttershy, in turn, hid her face behind her mane a little bit; this other mare was certainly soft-spoken and seemed polite and calm enough, but she was so big that it was a little scary looking at her, or rather having her looking at Fluttershy. She could see, even with the sweatshirt in the way, that Gray absolutely bulged with muscle. Even Applejack would be impressed.

"Oh, this is my new assistant, Fluttershy. I'm just showing her around so she can get used to the place," Lockwood said with a grin. He gestured at Fluttershy gently with a tilt of his head, the universal sign for "go on, say something".

Fluttershy gulped, took half a step forward, and nodded politely. "H-hi. Nice to meet you, Miss Skies."

"Gray."

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Call me Gray. Nopony calls me 'Miss Skies'. Too formal."

"Oh. Okay, Gray," Fluttershy said with another polite nod. "It's nice to meet you."

"Indeed, it's a pleasure," Lockwood added. He looked between the two briefly, a little grin on his face. "You know, Fluttershy is also a relatively new tenant here at Southeast Point."

Gray turned her attention back to him. "Hmm?"

"Yes, she just moved in two days ago, actually. Isn't that right, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy gave Lockwood a nervous look, trying to nonverbally communicate with him as best she could, "what are you doing?" When he either didn't pick up on it, or just flat-out ignored it, Fluttershy realized that Gray was looking expectantly at her for an answer.

"Oh… um… y-yes, that's right, I just moved in. I'm… s-sort of new to the big city…"

Gray hummed, eyebrow up. "You're not from around here?"

"Oh, n-no, I'm from a little town called Ponyville. It's… down south," she said, maintaining the cover story that she and her friends were instructed to keep to.

"Ah. So I guess we're both strangers around here," Gray said. She paused, then shook her head. "I mean, I've never been here to the Mid-South District. I'm from New Pandemonium, obviously."

"Oh. I… guess that's true, yes. We're both strangers here then, in a sense," Fluttershy replied.

"You live alone?"

"No, I'm living with some of my friends. They're just all off doing… their own things, at the moment. Looking for work and things like that, I mean."

"Why aren't you?"

"Oh, um… I… I just…" Fluttershy murmured. "I'm… not really good at anything that would be useful up here. I mean, I guess I'm Lockwood's assistant now, but—"

"So they just left you here, huh?" Gray said with an understanding nod. "Hey, my sisters are like that, too." She paused, then tilted her head slightly. "So, y'know, I'm always home, in case you ever needed somepony to talk to or something."

Fluttershy blinked, blindsided by the offer. "Oh? Oh! Um… thank you. That's… that's very nice of you."

Gray shrugged. "Eh, not so much nice as it's boring being around the place by myself. Might be nice to have somepony to talk to. Somepony not so loud."

"Well, still, I appreciate the offer," Fluttershy said with a smile. "I… I might take you up on that."

"Cool." Gray turned to Lockwood. "So, are we done here?"

Lockwood smiled and nodded. "I think we are, for now. I'll still need to meet with your sisters eventually so that I can make this all official. When they return from their errands, I'd appreciate it if you could let them know to come see me ASAP."

"Sure, whatever." She tilted her head up at Fluttershy briefly. "See you around."

"Um… bye," Fluttershy said, waving.

The door closed, and Fluttershy and Lockwood were left alone in the hall again.

"She seems nice," Lockwood said with a grin.

Fluttershy smiled. "She… she does, yes. Um, sorry if I was… awkward about all that. I don't usually jump right into introductions so quickly…"

"It's alright," Lockwood said, taking her hoof and giving it a gentle pat. "I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable by doing that. I just sensed a potential connection there and, well, I couldn't stop myself. That's kind of my thing, in case you haven't noticed: helping ponies make connections?"

She nodded. "I've noticed. And you're very good at it, I can see that now."

"Well, I'm glad I could help get the ball rolling on this for the two of you. I have the feeling this will be the start of a wonderful friendship, mark my words."

Fluttershy smiled and nodded again. She wasn't sure if Lockwood was right, but she was hoping he was.

Chapter Eleven: Competition

A turquoise pegasus stallion with a stark white mane, which he kept slicked back and relatively short, walked through the streets of Mid-South's Central Plaza. It was late morning, which meant the streets were busy and the airways already cluttered with traffic. He'd made good time getting here all the way from Mid-East's West Square, so he didn't mind walking the rest of the way to his destination: the Central Plaza Recreation Center.

It wasn't far from where he was now, actually; he could already see it just up ahead, a large, two-story building that could house a fully-stocked gymnasium and plenty of room for local ponies to participate in all sorts of activities and sports. Most of the city's rec centers were large enough to at the very least include a skyball court, since they could be converted into other sport courts easily.

He adjusted his faded sport jacket and tie and entered into the building, making straight for the aforementioned skyball court. He had some reliable information that if he came here today and watched one of the early local pick-up games, he'd find some new talent for the Mid-East Rockets. Normally he preferred to scout new talent himself, but Lockwood had been rather insistent that he show up, and Lockwood had always been a rather pleasant acquaintance, so he felt he'd give him the benefit of the doubt.

The first game of the day—there were always plenty more—hadn't started just yet, but he could see the two teams beginning to form up; it wasn't exactly a neat or organized process, since pegasi just walked up to one of the two teams and asked if they could join in, but what could you do? He was used to watching these games unfold, sometimes with players switching out at random because some pegasus in the crowd wanted to play, or one of the players had to leave.

Everypony was wearing simple jerseys or exercise shirts, either their own or ones that they rented from the establishment. That was a more recent development, actually, the results of a number of charity drives to fund the rec centers so they could provide comfortable clothes for visitors that lacked their own. He'd shown up at some of those fundraisers himself; the catering was always fantastic.

He took a seat in the bleachers, separating himself from the other ponies that had gathered to watch the game. He scanned the current selection of players to see if he could spot anypony that stood out to him; Lockwood hadn't given a physical description of who he was supposed to be watching, just said that "he'd know her when he saw her", so that at least narrowed it down to a mare. That helped things a little bit, since there were only about four mares taking the field at the moment.

"Well well well, look who showed up," came a voice all too familiar to him. "Rainslick, how are ya? So desperate to find another loser to fill out your team that you're jumping District lines?"

The stallion—Rainslick—groaned and turned to see another pegasus stallion, this one with a broader build. The other stallion's coat was charcoal gray, his mane a silvery blue that he kept in a trim crew cut; he also wore a sport jacket and tie, though his were in much nicer condition and clearly cost much more money. If he didn't hate the other stallion's guts so much, he'd find him attractive.

"Thunder Guns! Hey, good to see you!" Rainslick lied, putting on his best fake smile. "I don't know anything about finding 'losers'. Why, if I was here to pick some of those up, I'd ask why you're here."

Thunder chuckled. "Oh, if there are any good players here, I'd be sure to snag them up before you could even breathe. You'll just have to pick up the sloppy seconds. But I'm sure you're used to that."

Rainslick barely contained a snarl. "Looking good, by the way. That is a nice jacket. It probably looked better in your wife's closet, though."

"Ah ah, look, but don't touch," Thunder said as he straightened the jacket, giving off a cocky smile, either unbothered by the quip or oblivious to it. "Wish I could say the same for yours. Did you get that rag of yours out of the city landfill? Oh no, don't tell me you bought it? I mean, I guess that's all you can afford on the kind of salary the Rockets pay you: third-hoof rejects. Just like your team."

"Oh, I make due," Rainslick said, keeping his teeth clenched so that the words he wanted to say would stay down. "But really, what are you doing here? I thought your team was already filled out for the season?"

"It is, but I like to keep my options open. You never know when you might find a good reserve pick to keep in the wings, right?" Thunder clapped Rainslick on the shoulder. "But you wouldn't know anything about that. You barely manage to field a full team some seasons. It's a shame, really."

"Be a lot easier if we didn't have certain other teams poaching our talent," Rainslick quipped.

Thunder hoof dug into Rainslick's shoulder. "Oh, careful there Rainslick. You wouldn't want to be throwing around base accusations without any proof now, would you? You know that poaching talent is against league rules and is a serious allegation."

Rainslick glared at Thunder. "Yes, I'm sure that all of my best players over the past eight years have just decided entirely on their own whims to violate their contracts and sign with the team that could afford to pay them off. Silly me, why would I think anything else?"

"That's a good colt."

A whistle sounded from the court below, signaling that the game was finally underway.

"Well, I'll leave you to your… work," Thunder said with that same cocky grin of his that Rainslick hated oh so much. He then strode off down the bleachers to take a seat, also separating himself from the others in the crowd.

"Pompous ass," Rainslick muttered under his breath. "It's always the good-looking ones."

He turned his attention to the game now, and watched to see which of these mares was supposed to be this potential star talent that Lockwood had indicated that he absolutely needed to see so badly that he had to dirty his hooves in Thunder Guns' territory.

Luckily, it didn't take long to figure it out.

The cyan-coated mare with a rainbow-colored mane was both impossible to miss and impossible to see at the same time. Basically, she was moving so quickly through the air above the court floor that it was hard for Rainslick to keep track of her, but during the brief lulls in action or whenever she wasn't in possession of the ball, he could see her clear as day.

Rainslick had been a talent scout for a decade at this point, and he had never seen a pegasus move like this before.

For one thing, she was quick, that was easy enough to notice; all anypony could see was a blue-and-rainbow blur streaking across the court to gain possession of the ball whenever it was fumbled. She was fast enough to save her team from fumbled penalties even when the ball was down in the red zone—the portion of the court closest to the ground where the ball was still in legal play, so-named because a fumble was guaranteed to result in a penalty. She even did it from the other side of the field more than once.

For another thing, she was coordinated. There were plenty of fast flyers in the sport—it was practically required of any pegasus who wanted to play in the striker position—but only the best strikers could play keep-away for more than a few seconds from even an average blocker. It wasn't a simple matter of holding onto the ball, since strikers had to dribble or pass it if they wanted to move more than five feet at a time. But this mare was so quick that she was able to perform feints that Rainslick had only seen in professional games.

She was a surprisingly good team player, too, a rarity amongst players with that kind of talent. Sure, the other two strikers on her team weren't anywhere near as fast or dextrous as she was, but she passed the ball to them all the same when one the better opposing three blockers managed to keep her cornered. Sure, the other strikers often only kept possession for a few moments—that was the nature of the sport—but then the blue-and-rainbow blur was always quick to recover it.

By the end of the first period, Rainslick was positive that this rainbow-maned mare was the one that Lockwood had suggested he come and see.

A glance towards Thunder Guns told Rainslick that he'd obviously noticed the mare's talent as well, which Rainslick knew did not bode well. Even if this mare was friends with Lockwood, would she pass up an opportunity to play with Thunder's team just because Rainslick knew Lockwood? He certainly hoped so; Lockwood was always a good judge of character, after all. He still needed to talk to her first, before Thunder did.

As expected, in between periods there were a few players here and there that left the field to go do something else. Others would move in to replace them, of course, typically because pickup games cycled players in rotations to give everypony a shot. The rainbow mare stayed on her team's lineup, though; even if this was just a friendly pick-up game, that team clearly saw they had a better chance to win with her on the field.

When the second period finally got started, it proceeded much as the first period had, at least for a few moments: the blue-and-rainbow blur got possession of the ball almost immediately and went about setting her team up for points, kicking the ball into the centermost ring of the opposing team's goal to earn the most points possible.

Then, on the next play, the game changed completely.

One of the opposing blockers actually managed to tackle the rainbow mare, taking possession away and costing the rainbow mare's team a fumble penalty for the first time of the game. Neither of the rainbow mare's striker teammates were fast enough to reacquire possession, and the opposing strikers went with the tried-and-true strategy of letting the ball hit the floor so their opponents would lose a point.

The new blocker hadn't been playing during the first period, which Rainslick found to be a shame since if she had, her team wouldn't have the frankly embarrassing point deficit they did at the moment. She was a sporty red mare with a black mane with a streak of white through the middle, a somewhat scrawny-looking thing but looks were apparently deceiving, because she packed a lot of punch.

Now, the game got much more interesting.

Until now it had basically been a standard game of skyball with one really good player making lots of outstanding plays, and thus the game itself wasn't very fun to watch. The rainbow mare was too quick for the blockers to catch, too nimble to screw up a dribble or a pass, too accurate to miss even the harder centermost goal ring.

Then this new mare entered the fray and turned the game from a team sport into essentially a one-on-one match.

The rainbow mare zipped around the court in an attempt to keep away from the red-and-black mare. Ball passes were becoming increasingly rarer as red-and-black was attentive enough to keep the ball in rainbow mare's possession, since she could outrace any pass and tackle the target of said pass; rainbow mare had to keep the ball with her to avoid losing control of the court.

The rainbow mare was certainly faster, enough to keep her opponent from completely dominating her at every turn, but one mistake was all she needed to lose control. So now the game had become this fascinating back-and-forth as the pair constantly one-upped one another.

Rainbow mare would feint to get around red-and-black long enough to either get the ball into the goal or otherwise pass it to somepony else if only for a brief moment; other times, red-and-black would spot the feint coming and tackle rainbow mare hard, and nopony on rainbow mare's team was quick enough to regain possession.

Still, none of the red-and-black mare's team strikers were anywhere near quick enough to gain possession of the ball after penalties and scores. It wasn't their fault, of course; they couldn't have known that they, a bunch of casual amateurs, were thrown into a game with two mares that could be in the pro league.

Best of all, it didn't take long for the two mares to start trash-talking one another like a pair of colts on the schoolyard. It was an essential part of the game, after all, but typically one couldn't hear it over the crowds. These two were loud enough that everypony could hear it.

"Too slow, shorty!" called rainbow mare as she twisted around red-and-black in a truly masterful feint, tossing the ball up and over her opponent in a fake pass to catch it behind her. "If you were any slower, you'd be moving backwards!"

A goal was scored for rainbow mare's team, the ball was reset, and the game continued.

"You'd have a better chance scoring with your dad, chump!" red-and-black shouted after she tackled rainbow mare hard around mid-court, barely avoiding a penalty for an illegal tackle.

The ball hit the floor, the rainbow mare's team lost a point, the ball was reset, and the game continued.

"Boom!" the rainbow mare cheered after she scored another perfect goal directly through the center ring. She got right in red-and-black's face. "The trash gets picked up tomorrow, shrimp! You'd better be ready."

The ball was reset, and the game continued.

Red-and-black tackled the rainbow mare later in the period, causing yet another fumble penalty to deduct from the rainbow mare's team. "I think I must've heard dinner bells, dork, 'cause your ass just got served!"

The ball was reset, and the game continued.

It went on like this for the remainder of the game, and despite the fact that this was just an amatuer pickup game held in a rec center in front of maybe two dozen ponies at best, it was probably the most entertaining game Rainslick had seen in years. The quips fired back and forth between the two alone could fill a book.

He wasn't sure which of these two mares had been the one that Lockwood wanted him to see, and that really didn't matter anymore. The rainbow one was the best striker he'd ever witnessed outside of professional play, faster than the eye could see; the red-and-black one was easily as good as some of the pro blockers despite her size, quicker even than most strikers and super aggressive.

Rainslick knew then and there that if he could get them both on his team, well, that'd just be perfect.

But a glance in Thunder Guns' direction told Rainslick that the other stallion was clearly thinking the same thing. If the other scout got to them first, Rainslick knew he'd never have a chance to recruit them, and worse, they'd be on an opposing team for the entire upcoming season; the Rockets would have yet another losing season for sure, no question about that, and that was if he could even field a full team.

So he knew that he had to figure out something, fast. The fourth period was nearly ending, and Thunder Guns, ever the professional even if he was an underhanded slug, would be waiting to approach them after they'd had a chance to shower and change after the game was done. Rainslick had to get to them first, or he'd be screwed.

With a glance towards the mares’ locker room door on the opposite end of the court, Rainslick came up with an idea. A risky, horrible, wonderful idea.

*****

Rainbow dried her mane out with a towel after leaving the locker room showers, thankful that they were free to use since she hadn't brought her own. She'd worked up quite a sweat out on the court, much more than she'd been expecting to, and so had actually opted to shower up a bit after the game.

It felt good, actually, to get cleaned up in a proper shower; she hadn't bathed since before that stupid portal had whisked her and her friends away, and hadn't found the time to do so since arriving, not with all six of them living the same cramped apartment. Part of that was Rarity insisting on being clean herself and spending too long in the bathroom; part of it was that there just hadn't been an opportunity; part of it was wanting the others who needed it to use it to make good first impressions at their new jobs today.

Let nopony say that Rainbow didn't care about her friends.

Rainbow had thought she'd been the last one to leave, if only because she'd taken a longer time to clean up and relax, but apparently she was wrong. When she approached her locker, clad in nothing but a damp towel around her neck, she saw that another mare was using the locker across from hers; well, not her locker, since it wasn't like they were labeled or anything, but the one that Rainbow had rented.

It was that red-coated mare with the skunk-like mane from out on the skyball court. The other mare had also showered up—Rainbow hadn't been looking while showering herself, and the showers were actually pretty big—and was currently drying off her wings. Rainbow couldn't help but check her out, even if just for a second; the other mare had a lean, athletic figure like Rainbow did, but she was a few inches shorter.

The other mare noticed Rainbow's arrival, and her mouth curled in a little grin, but she just kept going about drying off. "Oh, hey. I thought I was the last one here."

"Yeah, same," Rainbow replied.

"Hey, you were out on the field with me, right? Striker position? Good game out there."

Rainbow smirked. "'Good'? We beat you guys by like thirty points."

"Pfft, yeah, but that's only because I wasn't in the game during the first period," the other mare scoffed, twisting her towel to clean out her ears. "You'd have never scored so many points if I'd been blocking you all game, lamewad."

"Keep dreaming, shortstack," Rainbow mocked, tossing her towel into a bin designated for dirty rental laundry. "If you were in charge of blocking me all game, I'd be in the Hall of Fame by morning. They'd tell stories about the schooling I gave you."

"Ha! You're yesterday's news, dipstick," said the other mare as she got right in Rainbow's face, strangely unbothered by the fact that they were both naked; Rainbow didn't mind, but she thought ponies from around here did. "Maybe you oughta find out when the cheerleader tryouts are, see how you look in pom-poms and a skirt. The only balls you oughta be handling are in the stallions' locker room."

Rainbow paused, then smirked; this other mare had one hell of a mouth on her, that was for sure, and Rainbow loved having a verbal sparring partner that didn't shy away from dishing it out full throttle. "You know what, you're alright, dude. What's your name?"

"Havoc," the other mare said, offering her hoof. "You?"

"Rainbow Dash," Rainbow replied, shaking the other mare's hoof. "Good game out there, though, really. I mean it. You hit like a train for such a little filly. You're sure you're old enough to play?"

Havoc rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, you know dynamite comes in small packages, right? That's me: dynamite city." She grinned, patting Rainbow on the shoulder. "You're not a bad striker, though. I've never met anypony faster than me, but damn if you didn't make me work for those tackles."

"Yeah, not to toot my own horn, but you're looking at the fastest flyer in Equestria," Rainbow said, a smug grin on her face. "If you want my autograph, though, you're gonna have to get in line."

"Heh, your ass must get jealous of all that shit coming outta your mouth," Havoc retorted.

"Ooh, nice one. Not often I meet anypony that smack talks like you do and actually backs it up."

"Same to you, Rainbow… Crash," Havoc said, looking mighty proud of herself.

Rainbow snorted. "Yeah, never heard that before. I take it back, your smack talk sucks."

"Aww, what? Somepony else used that already? Damn. Sorry, it was just off the top of my head. How about Painbow Dash?"

"Heard it."

Havoc tapped her chin. "Rainbutt Dash? Does that sound too forced?"

"A little."

"Ooh, here we go: Rainbow Ass."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Sounds more like you're complimenting my awesome butt. I don't have a problem if you were checking me out in the shower; I am pretty hot."

Havoc stuck out her tongue. "Whoa whoa, no, that's not— ugh! Dammit, why'd the easy ones already get taken?" She jabbed her hoof in Rainbow's chest. "I'll think of a better one, don't you worry. I just need some more material to work with."

"Well, just don't hurt your brain trying to come up with something clever," Rainbow chuckled. "It's not really fair that I can't do the same for your name. I mean… 'Havoc'. Cool name, seriously, but I've got nothing to work with there."

"Yeah? Tough shit."

A cough from nearby drew their attention to a turquoise pegasus stallion with a stark white mane wearing a faded sport jacket. "Excuse me, ladies, if I could just have a moment of your time—"

"Dude! What the fuck?!" Havoc snapped, her face somehow getting redder and throwing her towel over her flanks. "Get out of here, you fucking perv!"

Rainbow was quick to close the distance between herself and the stallion, lifting him off the ground a little with one hoof and pushing him against the wall. Nudity taboo or no, this was the mares' locker room, which meant mares only, which meant this guy was snooping around where he didn't belong. Even in her own world, this guy would be deserving of a butt-kicking.

"What's the big idea, huh?" she asked him, angling her other hoof to clock him across the jaw. "Nosing around in the mares' locker room? Hoping to catch a look at us showering or something?"

"Whoa whoa, let's calm down now," the stallion said, holding up his hooves defensively. "You've got me all wrong—"

"Deck him, Dash!" Havoc snarled, grabbing her clothes out of her locker; Rainbow noticed it was a black varsity jacket with white sleeves and a big letter H on the chest. "Break his jaw! Break his nose! Feed him his own teeth for lunch!"

"H-hang on! It's not what you think!"

"Yeah? Well then how about you explain it to me?" Rainbow said, moving her free hoof slightly to make him flinch. "Give me one good reason. If I don't like your story, you're getting a hoof sandwich."

"Okay, okay, let's not get too hasty here," the stallion said. "First of all, no, I am definitely not here to snoop around and peek at mares for any reason whatsoever. Mares aren't my thing, alright? I prefer stallions."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Oh sure, good excuse. So what, you think if you say that you're gay that we're just gonna let you peek at our privates? 'Oh, it's alright, he's gay, we'll let him touch us because he'd never do anything funny'. Sounds like the plot to a weak porno."

"Yeah yeah, like he gets a peek at us and 'sees the light' or whatever and asks us to help him 'cure the gay away'?" Havoc suggested, rolling her eyes. "Nice try, dude, but I've seen that one. We're not that gullible."

"N-no, that's not what I'm getting at," the stallion said. "I'm not here to gawk at mares, I swear. I'm specifically here because of you two, actually."

"What, like you're some kind of stalker?" Havoc asked, teeth clenched, approaching the stallion as well and prodding him in the chest. "Yeah, that sounds way better."

"What? No! No no, you've got it all wrong. Look, my name's Rainslick. I'm a talent scout for the Mid-East Rockets, a semi-pro skyball team, and a friend of mine called me last night and told me there would be some talent here at a pickup game that I should see and would be interested in."

Rainbow raised her eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Who's this 'friend' of yours?"

"Lockwood. Do you know him? One of you has to."

Rainbow relaxed her grip just a little. "Yeah, I know him. He said he'd let somepony know to be here to check me out on the court today. On the court," she emphasized, poking him in the chest, "not in the locker room. What are you doing here? You could've waited outside instead of spying on us like a pervert."

"W-well, you see, there's a rival team's scout out there that I know would probably be interested in picking you girls up for his team. I… I had to at least try to talk to you first so that I could give my team a chance to hire you. If you're interested?"

"Pfft," Havoc scoffed. "Let me get this straight: you snuck into the mares' locker room and surprised us while we were naked just so you could try and recruit us to your skyball team?"

"That's exactly right."

"I'm not buying it. You know that sounds incredibly stupid, right? Right on back to the cheesy porno idea. ‘Oh yeah, you can join my team but you gotta let me tap that first’. Seen that one, too."

"I didn't have a choice! Thunder Guns would push me right out of the way to talk to you first, and then I'd never have a chance to try." He hung his head and sighed. "Look, if you don't want to play for the Rockets, fine, I understand, and I have nopony but myself to blame. But if I didn't at least try, I'd be just as much to blame for that too. You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take."

Havoc rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. As if we'd—"

"You said you were friends with Lockwood, right?" Rainbow asked.

Ranislick nodded. "Yeah?"

She let him off the wall and offered her hoof for him to shake. "Count me in then. You've got yourself a new striker."

He stared at her hoof, wide-eyed. "R-really?"

"Yo, Dash, what gives?" Havoc blurted, looking between the two like Rainbow was crazy. "This is skeezy as all hell. You're buying this dude's bullshit just like that?"

Rainbow turned to Havoc and grinned. "Look, this Lockwood guy I know seems to be on the up-and-up so far. I don't really trust him just yet, but my friends do, and they're giving him a chance to help us try and settle into things. I figure I might as well give him a shot, and I'd be a real jerk to spit on his friend's offer here and sign with a rival team. That's skeezy.

"Even though Mister Peepers here did sneak into the locker room just to make the offer," she noted, turning back to Rainslick. "I'm willing to look past that. But I'm warning you now, bucko, if you tried that whole 'I'm gay' excuse on us and it turns out you're lying, you're gonna have to call a proctologist to get my horseshoes out of your butt. Got it?"

Rainslick grinned. "Deal." He took her hoof in his and gave it a brisk shake. "Welcome to the Mid-East Rockets. I'll have a contract drawn up once I get back to office and get in touch with you for signatures and such." He then turned to Havoc. "How about you, Miss?"

"Me?" Havoc asked, pointing at herself, lost. "I'm not friends with this Lockwood guy like she is."

"Irrelevant. I saw you—both of you—on the court today, and you were both some of the most amazing players I've ever seen. I'd be a damn fool to pass up a chance to sign both of you. Until this moment I didn't even know which of you knew Lockwood, anyway."

"You want to sign me to the team too? Really?"

"Yes, really. Having the two of you on the team—an ace striker and an ace blocker—might just propel us straight into the playoffs. If you're interested, the offer's open. I won't force you into it or anything."

Rainbow smirked and nudged Havoc gently. "C'mon, Havoc. What's the harm? Hey, look at it this way: we'll get a chance to play together some more, and on the same team even! How cool is that?"

Havoc tapped her chin, then nodded. 'Yeah… yeah, alright, I'll do it. I've got nothing better to do with my time, and getting to hang out with this spaz," she said, gesturing at Rainbow, "sounds like it might be fun."

"Fantastic!" Rainslick exclaimed, a wide smile on his face. "Oh man, this is just what the Rockets needed. Wait until I tell the team. Thank you. Both of you," he said, shaking Rainbow's hoof then Havoc's. "Let's set an appointment for tomorrow afternoon, say, two-o'-clock, at the team headquarters. We're located in the Mid-East's West Square."

"Sounds good to me," Rainbow said with a nod.

"Yeah, I'll see you there, I guess," Havoc agreed.

"Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you so much. I'll see you two later, then. Thank you!" Rainslick waved and made his way for the exit, being careful not to let anypony see him leaving the mares' locker room.

"Huh. Well that was interesting," Rainbow said with a shrug. "So I guess we're teammates now?"

Havoc nodded. "Yeah, guess so. Neat. Oh, and Dash?" she added, averting her gaze.

"Yeah?"

"Put some fucking clothes on already."

Rainbow glanced down, realizing she was still nude. "Oh. Right."

Chapter Twelve: Confection

Pinkie wasn't really sure what to make of the strange array of treats that sat on a plate in front of her. They certainly looked like the typical sorts of confections that she was used to seeing—cupcakes, cookies, eclairs, etc.—but they were all a little… off.

They didn't smell quite right, for one thing; they just lacked that sugary sweet smell that came with all the baked goodies Pinkie loved. The textures were all off, too; the chocolate frosting didn't quite look like chocolate, and the whipped cream was flat and smooth, not light and puffy.

But the tastes, okay, those were pretty darn close. They weren't the best confections that Pinkie had ever tasted, but they certainly tasted close enough to the real deal that if not for her nose and eye for the details, she'd have been fooled completely.

It was still just a little bit off, though, meeting her standards just fine but not soaring above them. None of the treats were quite sweet enough, and they didn't have the same consistency at all. She'd eaten the cookie with a spoon like it was made of gelatin, for crying out loud.

"Good, right?" asked Cinnamon Swirl, the owner and proprietor of this establishment, The Sweet Spot.

The other mare was about the same age as Mrs. Cake back home, and roughly as well-rounded in figure. Her coat was a lush cinnamon brown, true to her name, and her mane a pleasant two-tone blend of chocolate and mocha. Cinnamon also wore a straightforward white chef coat and matching hat, both of which had colorful smudges on them.

Pinkie herself, incidentally, had changed out of her mishmashed outfit and into a cute little off-white waitress ensemble, complete with an apron. She'd liked her colorful, zany clothes at first, but she knew that such an outfit had no place in the kitchen or if she was going to be working in a pleasant little sweet shop like this, and so she'd enthusiastically switched it up. The new clothes would be hers once she was officially hired, and Pinkie would treat them right.

"They're super tasty," Pinkie said, licking her lips to get the not-quite-chocolate off. "A bit different from what I'm used to, but I like 'em! Pretty darn close to the real thing."

Cinnamon nodded. "That's right, Lockwood said you were from the southern continent. They use all sorts of authentic ingredients down there, don't they? No synthetics?"

"Yup! I really like what you made here, though, Miss Swirl. Like I said, it's almost as good as the real thing, and I mean that in the nicest, bestest way possible. I bet if you got to use real sugar and chocolate, you'd be the greatest baker in all of Equestria!"

"Well then, I'll take that as a compliment."

The interior of the shop, at least the front half, reminded Pinkie less of a bakery and more like a coffee shop. There was a glass counter loaded with assorted treats that were already prepared—donuts and danishes, mostly—with a cash register on top. Several small tables with chairs were carefully tucked into every nook and cranny available so that customers could sit and eat if they wanted to. Big windows looked out onto the street outside, which was already bustling with activity.

"Now," Cinnamon said as she turned and led Pinkie back into the kitchen proper, "your job here at The Sweet Spot is twofold. First and foremost, you will be operating the cash register, which means that you'll be taking orders and delivering them to customers on a daily basis. You're sure you can handle that?"

Pinkie snapped her hoof up in a brisk salute. "Ma'am, yes ma'am!"

"You're absolutely sure? It means you're going to be dealing with a lot of ponies every day, dealing with every single request and complaint they have, collecting payments and potentially issuing refunds, answering questions, chatting them up to make them feel at home, and just in general providing exemplary customer service. I ask again, Pinkie: can you handle that?"

Pinkie knew that Miss Swirl wouldn't ask twice unless it was really important, and if it was really important, Pinkie also knew that she'd put her all into it, and when she put her mind to something, that something got done.

"Absotively posilutely! I'm the friendliest face in the whole wide world, Miss Swirl. You can count on me to provide the best customer service ever."

"I certainly hope so," Cinnamon said with a grin. "We're getting close to the middle of the winter quarter, and that means the holiday season, and that means lots of catering. Now, I always take on extra help when the holidays are coming around, but let me be clear: this is a temporary position, and if you're not up to par, I'll find somepony else. Got it?"

"Got it," Pinkie said with a serious nod; her game face was on at maximum power at this point.

If Miss Swirl didn't believe her after this, well, Pinkie didn't know how else to prove it. She was utterly confident in her abilities to make ponies happy with her service, and had never met a pony yet that wasn't satisfied with the kind of service she could provide.

Okay, sure, sometimes ponies said she might be just a little overbearing, but it was always better to be too friendly and too attentive rather than being completely absent, right? It wasn't her fault that some ponies weren't aware of their surroundings and were easily surprised when she leapt out of bushes to deliver cupcake orders.

"Now, as for your second duty: when we're getting backed up with orders and you're not working the front of the store, you're going to be back here with me putting orders together," Cinnamon continued, gesturing to the fully-stocked kitchen. "Since you're not from around here, I take it you don't know how Dolor products work?"

Pinkie stroked her chin; it was true, she didn't, but she had a little to go on. "Well, so far all that I know about them is that depending on how you store and prepare them, they get all sorts of different flavors. I guess that's how you made it taste like cookies and cupcakes even though they don't taste like that plain?"

"That's exactly right. It's a complicated, precise process dealing with all sorts of different factors. Every single aspect of preparation makes a difference. But it's one thing for me to tell you, and another for me to demonstrate. Take a seat, this'll take just a moment."

Cinnamon then retrieved a number of small, stainless steel cups from around the room, each containing a spoonful of the familiar Dolor Red paste that Pinkie had grown accustomed to seeing by this point. She grabbed some from the refrigerator, some from the cabinet, others she scooped out of different pots on the stove, some she took out of the oven, and one she took out of the freezer. She loaded up a tray with the various cups and set them on the counter in front of Pinkie.

"Each of these bits of Red have been prepared differently," she continued. "Just to give you an idea of how big of a difference there is in how things are done, I want you to taste them all and I'll tell you how they were made. And here." She set a big glass of water on the table too. "Wash it down between samples so that you don't cross-contaminate flavors."

Pinkie blinked as she looked at the twenty or so different little cups, then nodded. "Okie dokie lokie! Which one should I start with?"

"Make it simple: start from the top left and go row by row, like you're reading a book."

Pinkie nodded, grabbed the first cup, and ate the paste inside without using the provided spoon. It tasted of overly-ripe cherries, which Pinkie knew by now meant it was straight Dolor Red right out of the tube, and that had been stored in the cabinet beforehand.

Next was what tasted like tart cranberry sauce. Cinnamon explained that that meant it had been stored at room temperature just like the prior batch, but then it had been blended and allowed to sit for an hour.

Next was the refrigerated batch, which tasted like strawberries. Then was a batch that had been chilled in ice water, which tasted like watermelon. The frozen stuff tasted like raspberries. When these three were blended and left to sit on the counter overnight, their flavors apparently changed to resemble bell peppers, tomatoes, and pomegranates, respectively.

Pinkie was astounded that the exact same spoonful of paste could change flavors so erratically.

Then came the cooked batches, and that's where Pinkie's mind was blown, because now the flavors started getting more interesting and complex.

For example, a refrigerated, blended batch that was simmered in a pan retained its bell pepper taste but now tasted like roasted peppers. If a little water was mixed in, it changed flavors completely to that of somewhat spicy chili peppers, which could then be simmered in turn to taste like roasted red chilis similar to the kind Pinkie enjoyed on her pizza.

If baked for one hour at 250 degrees, the straight-from-the-tube batch tasted like cherry pudding; 300 degrees made it taste like cherry pie; 350 degrees, cherry cobbler. Similar things happened when the other batches were baked, changing their flavors into more complex versions of themselves. Yes, even the chilled batch changed from plain watermelon into what Pinkie could only describe as varieties of roasted watermelon, which was not at all what she expected and was also not at all unpleasant.

The only thing noticeable about all of the flavors was that they were blander than Pinkie was used to, even more so than what she'd tasted earlier, and it was just plain paste as far as she was concerned. By the time Pinkie was done, though, she'd run through an entire gamut of red-colored flavors, some of them sweet, some spicy, some savory, but all of them strikingly familiar.

"And that's just the plain Red all by itself," Cinnamon explained once Pinkie finished off the last of the batches. "When you start mixing in other colors, the flavors change even more, but probably not in the way you'd think. For example, you know that red and yellow paint mix together to make orange, right?"

Pinkie nodded.

"Well, Dolor Red and Dolor Yellow mixed together do not taste anything like Dolor Orange. Now, you tell me why that's perfectly logical."

Pinkie nodded again. "Makes perfect sense to me! Cherries and bananas don't make oranges, silly."

"Exactly right. Sometimes the flavors don't blend quite right and you get weird combinations where you can taste the two flavors separately, like the cherries and bananas we just mentioned. But, if you were to refrigerate the Red…?"

"It would mix with Yellow to make strawberry-banana! Like those smoothies I like from that little corner store near Rarity's boutique!" Pinkie exclaimed with a rapid, understanding nod. "Cool!"

"Very cool. Now, we don't get all of the flavors in existence, of course," Cinnamon explained with a shrug. "For example, I know they've got something down south called a… grapefruit? Have you ever seen one? I've only seen pictures."

"Oh, yeah, I know all about grapefruits. They're kind of pink on the inside, and they squirt real good if you poke 'em with your spoon at breakfast and then your eye starts burning." She paused. "Ooh, do you have to mix Red with White to get pink stuff? There's isn't a Dolor Pink, is there?"

Cinnamon shook her head. "White and Black don't mix quite the same way as the other colors, actually. But no, there's no Pink. We can't get the grapefruit flavor until Dolorcorp decides to experiment with Pink someday, but that's a long ways off since Black is their newest flavor and they're trying to promote it."

"Aw, phooey. No Pink means no grapefruit, dragon fruit, or guava-flavored stuff. Well, how do White and Black work, then?"

"White is a flavor enhancer; on its own it tastes like mostly white foods, like marshmallows, vanilla, and whipped cream, but when mixed with other colors, it helps to enhance the flavors and give them different textures."

To demonstrate, Cinnamon took a little cup of frozen White out of the freezer, and mixed it together with the strawberry-flavored Red out of the fridge, then passed it to Pinkie, who scarfed it down like all the others.

"Ooh! Strawberry ice cream!" Pinkie chirped, her ears perking up. It was actually pretty decent strawberry ice cream, at least as far as flavor was concerned. Her tongue was all confused tasting it without the creamy texture, though.

"Now, that's what White does," Cinnamon continued. "Black, on the other hoof, is typically overpowering unless it's straight out of the tube, which just adds a licorice taste to certain other flavors, but otherwise doesn't combine too well. When mixed with other flavors after being heated, though…"

She took a scoop of liquidized Dolor Black from one of the small pans on the stove, poured it into another refrigerated batch of Red, and passed it over.

Pinkie ate it, and licked her lips enthusiastically. "Mmm, chocolate-covered strawberries, and really fresh ones too, with rich dark chocolate! Neat!"

"So, as you can see, there are practically thousands of different combinations of different flavors, and a lot of them are rather difficult to memorize. Sometimes the portions matter, too. Add too much Black to that last combination, and you've basically just got chocolate with a distant hint of strawberry somewhere; too little, and you can't even taste the chocolate."

"It sounds complicated, like you said, but I'm looking forward to trying out all sorts of different things!" Pinkie said with a bright smile.

Cinnamon shook her head. "Oh, there's no 'trying out' anything, here, sweetheart."

"Huh?"

Cinnamon gestured to the wall of the kitchen behind Pinkie, where there was a large recipe guide to every single item that the establishment served, from the chocolate eclairs made with proper portions of Black, White, and Yellow, to the strawberry-pineapple shortcake made of Red, Yellow, and White. Every recipe had precise instructions for how much of each ingredient and how those ingredients were stored, as well as how long to cook them if needed, and then how to mix them together. Just like regular recipes, really.

"The Sweet Spot has a particular set of items that we sell, and I only adjust the menu during certain seasons, like adding pumpkin pie in the autumn quarter, and peppermint bark in the winter quarter. I typically remove items that don't have high demand after about a year, and after the last ten years my menu has pretty much hit the point that I'm not making any changes."

Pinkie tilted her head. "So… no trying out new things? What if you could make something that everypony really, really liked, and just needed to find the right combination? That's how real ingredients work."

Cinnamon gave Pinkie a sad smile. "Believe me, sweetheart, I've experimented with all sorts of different recipes out there, but Dolor products aren't like authentic ingredients. If you change too much in a recipe, you don't just end up with variations of a recipe, you end up with a totally different recipe. Too much Yellow in the eclair turns it into chocolate-covered bananas; too much Red in the cherry jubilee turns it into chili pepper ice cream. Get it?"

Pinkie considered that and as much as she didn't like to admit it, it seemed to be the truth: the Dolor things didn't work like a regular recipe did. If she was making cornbread at home, for example, different grinds of cornmeal would change the texture or color of the final product, not suddenly turn her concoction into corn-on-the-cob or creamed corn.

Pinkie realized that meant if a certain Dolor color didn't exist the flavors it provided were impossible to make. And that meant that until they brought out the newest color, Black, the entire city of New Pandemonium had been denied easy access to chocolate for who knows how many years.

That was pure evil. What kind of mad pony allowed that sort of thing to happen?!

"Got it," Pinkie said with a nod. "No tweaking the recipes, no messing around. You run a tight ship around here, Miss Swirl."

"Excellent, you're a fast learner so far."

"I try!"

"Now, seeing as we've got about thirty minutes before I open up shop, and I've got most of the early-morning products done, let's say we have ourselves a little trial run and see how well you can put together… hmmm…" Cinnamon tapped her hoof on one of the recipes on the wall. "Strawberry cheesecake."

Pinkie saluted. "On it!" She grabbed a spare chef hat from nearby, zipped over to the prep table after grabbing what she needed, rolled her shoulders, and set to work.

"♫All you have to do is take a cup of White stuff,

Add it to the mix!

Now just take a little something else—not cream puffs.

A bit of Red, just a pinch!

Baking these treats is such a cinch,

Add a teaspoon of some Yellow!

Add a little more, and you count to four,

And you'll never feel so mellow!

Cheesecake! So sweet and tasty!

Cheesecake Don't be too hasty!

Cheesecake! Cheesecake, Cheesecake, CHEESECAKE!"

When she was done, the little plate on the counter was now topped with what looked like a genuine slice of cheesecake marbled with strawberry swirls and drizzled with a little more strawberry syrup.

Cinnamon raised an eyebrow. "Wh-what was with the singing?"

"Hmm? Oh! I just like singing sometimes, especially when I'm trying to get a groove going," Pinkie giggled. "Though it was kind of tough rearranging some of the rhymes to fit with the ingredients. The whole 'White stuff, cream puff' bit was a bitch of a stretch, I think, but hey, you try altering established lyrics on the fly."

She then waved her hooves over her creation. "Anyway, ta-da! What do you think?"

Cinnamon hummed and nodded as she looked over the slice of strawberry-cheesecake-shaped Dolor paste that had been arranged on the plate. "The presentation is excellent, I will certainly give you that. Yes, this is some grade-A professional work here just on that alone; I haven't seen anypony put together a presentation like this in years.

"But what really matters, of course, is the taste…"

She took a spoon and scooped some of Pinkie's mixture up, popped it into her mouth, and swallowed it down. She nodded appreciatively as soon as she was done.

"Hey… hey, alright. That is one perfectly-done product, Pinkie. You followed the recipe to the letter, though I think you might've added just a little more Red than what was called for. But I still like it. Well done."

Pinkie beamed. "Thanks! So, am I hired?"

Cinnamon nodded, a wide smile on her face as she took another bite. "Oh yes, you are definitelyhired."

Pinkie pumped her hoof. "Yes! Score one for the Pink! Ooh, I can't wait to tell Dashie! She'll be so proud of me!"

Cinnamon glanced at the clock on the wall. "Well, now that that's all settled in, it's just about time to open the store. Go ahead and take your position at the register and we'll get this day started, shall we?"

"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" Pinkie said with a brisk salute.

*****

Pinkie had always considered herself an eager-yet-patient pony with a heart of gold that could attend to a customer's needs better than anypony in the whole wide world. Ponies all over Ponyville adored her fun-loving, personable attitude, her eager, friendly demeanor, and her outgoing, lighthearted disposition; those were all words that Twilight had used to describe her at one time or another, and they were good words, and so she would use them too.

She always knew the best ways to make somepony smile. She was the sort of pony that could turn a frown upside-down with the same kind of masterful insight and dedication that a world-famous detective would use to solve the biggest mystery of the century. Even on the rarest of occasions, when somepony had a seriously-serious reason to be sad, Pinkie knew how to keep them from falling apart at the seams.

If she could get Cranky to open up and accept her friendship, she could do the same with anypony.

And so, despite being in a world where it seemed that every other pony had a scowl and a bad attitude, where most folks were too busy, too stressed, or too aggravated to even think of cracking a smile, Pinkie managed to find a way to at the very least make them smile in their hearts, if not upon their faces.

All it took was a little patented Pinkie Pie personality, passion, perseverance, and playfulness, and even the stodgiest of fuddy-duddies would be able to go about their day with at least a tiny spark of happiness.

"Hey, you gave me the wrong change!" shouted an angry pegasus stallion as Pinkie handed him four bits from the till.

"I did?" Pinkie said, glancing down at the four bits. She even counted them aloud, "One, two, three, four… hey, you're right! There should be five! Hang on a second."

She roughly smacked the side of her head a few times until another bit somehow popped from out of her ear and landed in the stallion's outstretched hoof.

"There it is!" Pinkie said with a beaming smile. "Must've gotten stuck in there! Sorry about that."

The stallion glanced at the bits in his hoof, then at Pinkie, then just pocketed them and nodded before taking a seat while he waited for his order, all of anger washed away like mud with a water hose.

Later, a unicorn mare complained, "I ordered a slice of blueberry pie with extra White on top." She displayed her order, a slice of blueberry pie with plenty of chilled White on top, the perfect substitute for whipped cream. "This is not enough White."

Pinkie hummed and nodded, then pulled a can of real whipped cream out of her mane and sprayed some on top of the slice. "Say wheennn~"

The mare watched in surprise, clearly having never seen authentic whipped cream out of an aerosol can before. She was so stunned that she almost forgot to tell Pinkie to stop when the pie was piled high with cream.

"There you go!" Pinkie giggled, putting the can back in her mane. "My treat. Just don't tell anypony," she added with a wink.

"Th-thanks," the mare said, digging her spoon into the cream to give it a taste. Her eyes opened wide in the telltale surprise that meant she'd enjoyed what she just ate. "Wow. Did you guys do something different with the White today?"

Pinkie shook her head. "Nope! Must be your imagination. Maybe the satisfaction of a job well done is making it taste better?"

"Right…" the mare muttered as she walked off, continuing to snack on the pie.

This continued on through most of the day, though not every customer had a complaint, and in fact very few did. Some ponies ordered their food with very particular instructions, which Pinkie knew weren't going to be followed when they got back to Cinnamon Swirl because they would basically ruin the product. It was a classic case of ponies ordering their food without understanding what made the food work in the first place.

Pinkie's favorite was a teenaged earth pony mare that ordered a blackberry cheesecake with no Yellow, easy on the White, and to substitute the Blue with Purple, which Pinkie knew altogether would make her order into a blueberry pie. Cinnamon Swirl had laughed out loud when she saw the order ticket, said something about "idiot kids", then followed the proper recipe.

The customer gave her compliments to the chef and ate it down without complaint.

*****

By the time Pinkie was done with her shift, she felt a satisfying mix of pride and exhaustion. The sheer number of customers at The Sweet Spot absolutely dwarfed the amount that she was used to from Sugarcube Corner, but the fact that she was able to get through every last one of them without a single unsatisfied customer lit her heart on fire.

Pinkie was very much a believer in the idea that one should leave places better than how they found them. She figured that if she kept this up, then by the time she and her friends had gone back home maybe New Pandemonium would be a happier place. After all, when somepony was happy, they tended to spread that happiness around; happiness was contagious, and Pinkie was patient zero.

A few hours after lunchtime, The Sweet Spot was ready to close, so she and Cinnamon headed out after the latter made sure everything inside was off and put away.

The surrounding neighborhood was, like most of Central Plaza, relatively nice compared to how Pinkie had heard other parts of the city described. The Sweet Spot itself was a cozy little shop in the wall along one side of the street, tucked in tightly with a bunch of other shops and businesses to the sides and above it; their immediate neighbors were a horseshoe store and a pharmacy.

"You did very well, Pinkie," said Cinnamon with a grin. "I think you're gonna do just great here. Maybe tomorrow we'll get enough of a rush that you'll get a chance to try making some stuff out in the back with me."

Pinkie blinked. "That… that wasn't a rush? I must've served over a hundred ponies today!"

"Yeah, it was pretty slow, wasn't it? That's okay, I get slow days every now and then during the holiday season. Some folks just aren't grabbing their gifts and treats yet, but they will."

"Wow! That must be a lot of ponies.”

Cinnamon finished shuttering up the windows and locking them up. "Hey, if you can, stop by early tomorrow, yeah? I think you'll want to take a crack at making the peppermint bark; it's our best seller."

Pinkie tilted her head. "Oh, sure. What time's early, anyway? I just realized that I never checked out the store hours."

"Don't worry about the store hours, that's only important to the customers. As for me, I usually like to start the first batch of baking for the breakfast treats—the donuts and such—by seven o' clock at the latest so that I can open up the shop at nine."

"Okay, that's no problem, I got here at eight today, so that's just an hour difference," Pinkie said with a shrug and a smile. "No biggie, Miss Swirl."

"Oh, no, that's just when I start the actual baking process. I usually have to spend about an hour or so before that cleaning and sanitizing the utensils and stations, as well as preparing all of the ingredients for quick access. I get here around five o'clock to get started. I want you here no later than six."

Pinkie's jaw dropped. She knew that bakers like the Cakes got up early to prepare and make the first batch of goods for the day, but she'd never been a part of that early morning routine before. She was usually just delegated to the lunchtime and closing time rushes so that the Cakes could take a break. In fact, the last time that Pinkie could remember waking up at that early of an hour was when she still lived with her parents and worked on the rock farm.

"Pinkie? Can you be here at six or not?" Cinnamon asked.

Pinkie shook off her surprise, then quickly nodded. "Ma'am, yes ma'am! You can count on me, Miss Swirl! I'll be here with bells on!"

"Good… though, maybe forget the bells," Cinnamon said with a smile. "Get used to those hours, by the way. I'll probably have you get here around that time for as long as you're working here. We're gonna be getting to the holiday party catering season within the next week or two and I'll need all the hooves I can get."

Pinkie nodded again. "You got it. So, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yup, see you tomorrow, Pinkie. Enjoy your evening."

"You too."

With that, Cinnamon waved Pinkie off and headed down the street towards wherever it was that she lived, leaving Pinkie alone in front of the store with nothing more than a small box with a couple of treats to take home, as well as a larger box with all of her old clothes, except the roller skates. Pinkie was keeping those; the rest she was thinking about donating.

Pinkie took a deep breath. "Welp, I guess it won't be all bad. If the Cakes can do it, so can I." Then, she suddenly gasped. "Wait! This means I'll get to wake up at the same time as Applejack! Yes! We can be early-morning buddies!"

With that thought in mind, Pinkie giggled with joy and bounced—yes, bounced, with the roller skates on—her way down the street though crowds of ponies, heading off on the hour-long roll—hour-long bounce?—towards Southeast Point.

*****

Pinkie hadn't memorized any street names just yet in Central Plaza, but she had a nose for things when it came to a sense of direction; in other words, her nose knew just where she needed to go, so she followed her nose, which was naturally very easy to do since it was right on the front of her face. Now, it would be strange if she were following her tail, but she wasn't, thank you very much. That only happened once.

As she rounded another corner that her nose was telling her to go around, Pinkie bumped right into somepony as she came down from a bounce just as made to spring back up. The impact sent her box of treats flying into the air, its lid somehow popping open all on its own in comical fashion, all of its sweet, tasty contents miraculously soaring upwards in a perfectly straight line.

Pinkie fell back on her butt with an "oof!", and stared in shock and horror as the sweets toppled upwards. She scrambled to get to her hooves, but in her haste, the roller skates made that quite frankly impossible, turning her legs into a veritable tornado beneath her.

The box came tumbling down, followed by the sweets one-by-one.

Luckily, there was another pony there to catch the precious cargo, the one that Pinkie had bumped into. The box fell into her hooves first, followed by each of the sweet treats with perfect timing and precision; the other pony didn't even need to move to catch the whole batch in one go.

"Phew…" Pinkie breathed. "Thanks! You saved my—"

Pinkie now got a good look at the other pony, and did so with a wide-eyed stare of sheer bewilderment.

The other pony was a mare, like her, and an earth pony, also like her. Her coat was a pretty shade of pink, just a little darker than Pinkie's, and her straight-combed mane and tail were a different shade of pink, also just a little darker than Pinkie's. Her eyes, though, those were the exact same shade as Pinkie's.

The mare wore what Pinkie could only describe as a schoolfilly uniform, with a black jacket over a white top, a plaid gray tie, a ridiculously—no, scandalously, as Rarity would say—short, pleated plaid gray skirt, as well as a pair of thin white stockings on her hindlegs which were particularly tight at the top.

The other mare also had a look of bewilderment as she stared at Pinkie, holding the box she'd just caught steady in one hoof.

The two of them just stood and stared at one another for a long moment, frozen in time. Other ponies scooted around them as they went about their days, grumbling about a couple of weirdos blocking traffic.

The other mare spoke first. "Uh… hey. You dropped this," she said as she passed the box over to a now-stable Pinkie.

"Oh! Thanks!" Pinkie said as she took the box. All of the treats inside were safe and sound despite their impromptu air time, so she shut the box and breathed another sigh of relief. "Sorry about bumping into you. I wasn't watching where I was bouncing. You saved my life! I mean, my dessert!"

"Hey, no problem, nothing's broken," the other mare said with a grin. "You're not hurt, are you? You took quite a fall."

Pinkie waved that thought off with her hoof. "Naw, I'm fine. I landed right on my butt, and I've got a lot of cushion back there, like a big ol' bowl of gelatin." She emphasized the point by hopping to her hooves—steadily this time—and giving her rump a little shake. "Woo! Look at it wiggle!"

The other mare raised an eyebrow. "Damn, girl, you've got some serious junk in your trunk."

"Thanks! My friend Dashie says I could bounce a bit off it. Say, what's your name, Miss-Looks-Just-Like-Me-But-Not-Quite?"

"I'm Red Velvet," the other mare said, offering her hoof.

Pinkie gasped as she took the other mare's hoof in hers and shook it vigorously. "Oh. My. Goodness. I love your name. Those are my favorite cupcakes!" She gasped again. "Oh! Your cutie mark is a cupcake, too! Perfect!"

"Thanks! What's your name, then, Miss-Also-Looks-Just-Like-Me-But-Not-Quite?"

Pinkie hadn't stopped shaking the other mare's hoof yet. "I'm Pinkie Pie! Nice to meet you! Say, are you getting a huge sense of déjà vu right now? Have we met before? And no, it's not just the fact that we look alike talking here, I really feel like we have."

Velvet shook her head, but had a curious expression on her face. "I'm pretty sure that we haven't, but you're right! It's like… there's this little feeling in the way, way back of my head that's telling me we've met before. Total déjà vu. Ooh, maybe we were friends in a past life? Or enemies? Lovers? No, not that last one."

"Ooh! Ooh! I've got it!" Pinkie said, raising her hoof in the air. "We're long-lost twin sisters, separated at birth! That's gotta be it. I mean, look at us: exactly alike. Same pretty faces, same blue eyes, same cute hoofsies, same rockin' tushies. You just style your mane differently from me, that's all."

Velvet glanced back at her butt briefly. "Huh, yeah, I guess my tush is rockin'." She turned back to Pinkie. "So, where were you headed off to in such a hurry that you bumped right into me?"

"Me? Oh, just heading home from work."

"You live around here?"

"Yup! At Southeast Point, actually, which isn't far at all. Speaking of which, I really oughta get going, or I'll be late for dinner with my friends." She waved. "It was nice meeting you Long-Lost-Twin-Sister-That-Was-Separated-At-Birth!"

Before Pinkie could bounce away, Velvet grabbed her hoof. "Whoa, wait! Not so fast, Pink."

Pinkie proceeded to bounce a bit slower. Not as in taking slower bounces, but as in slow-motion straight out of the movies. "Yeah? What's up?" she asked, her voice also slowed a bit to match her pace.

"You said you live at Southeast Point?"

"Yeah?"

Velvet smiled and pointed at herself. "I live at Southeast Point, too."

Pinkie returned to normal speed and stopped moving. "Really? You do?"

"Yeah! My sisters and I just moved in this morning. I'm just taking a walk around the neighborhood to scope it out, y'know? Find what kind of joints there are to eat at and stuff."

"Wowie! What an incredibly convenient, lucky circumstance that doesn't seem at all suspicious! You wanna walk back there together with me? I mean, you can walk, and I can roll." Pinkie rolled in place on her skates to demonstrate.

"Sure! Uh, one thing though."

"Yeah?"

Velvet pointed the opposite direction that Pinkie had been bouncing. "Southeast Point is this way."

"Oh? Huh." Pinkie scratched her head. "How'd I get that mixed—" She gasped, and stared cross-eyed at her nose. "Nose! You weren't leading me home, you were leading me to my new friend, you big goofball! I mean, thanks, but yeesh, what if we got lost?"

Velvet blinked. "What's all this about your nose?"

"Nothing." Pinkie did an about-face and started bouncing again. "Come on, Red, let's get home!" As Velvet turned around, Pinkie went cross-eyed again, pointed at her snout, and whispered, "We'll talk about this later, Nose."

As the pair walked—no, Velvet walked, Pinkie rolled—they got to talking, of course, because that's just what you did when you were walking or rolling with a new friend so that you could get to know them better. Pinkie told Velvet all about her new job, and how much she enjoyed baking and making ponies happy, and how much she loved parties, and how much she loved her friends.

Velvet just seemed to nod along to most of it, but occasionally Pinkie noticed her getting distracted by something elsewhere, glancing back at other ponies as they walked by or glancing at the other side of the street.

"Hey Red, what's got your attention, huh?" Pinkie asked.

Velvet jerked to attention. "Huh? Oh! Sorry, was I distracted?"

"A little bit, yeah. You just started staring off into space for a minute there, and I was in the middle of talking about how this one time I threw a party that was so much fun that we accidentally got the Ponyville Fire Brigade called on us."

"Oh. Sorry," Velvet said, sheepish as… well, a sheep.

"You said that already. So what's got you so distracted, huh? I'm not… gulp, boring you, am I?" she asked with an exaggerated gulp.

"No no, it's not that," Velvet said, waving her hooves.

"So what is it?"

"Him," Velvet said, pointing off towards the other end of the street.

Pinkie raised an eyebrow and looked, but couldn't see anything that could possibly be more engaging than the Fire Brigade story. "'Him'? Who? What? Huh?"

Velvet rolled her eyes, then grabbed the top and bottom of Pinkie's head to turn it in the direction she herself was looking. "Him."

Pinkie found herself staring across the street at a rather buff-looking white-coated stallion that was in the midst of washing the one of the storefront windows. He wasn't wearing much besides a button-up shirt that was currently very much unbuttoned and soaked with water. Every swipe of the squeegee across the window made the stallion's muscles tense and bulge, easy to see through the wet shirt.

"That guy?" Pinkie asked. "What about him?"

"What do you mean, 'what about him'?" Velvet asked incredulously. "He's a total hunk. Look at him! Don't tell me he doesn't do a little something for you?"

Pinkie shrugged. "I don't see what the fuss is about."

Velvet's jaw dropped. "Do you need to see an eye doctor or something? Maybe that's why you had no idea you were going the wrong way earlier: you need to get your eyes checked."

"Pshaw, that's silly. My eyes work great!" Pinkie said, briefly crossing her eyes. "I just can't see what about him's got you distracted. You find him attractive or something?"

"Uh duh," Velvet said, biting her lip.

"Ah, okay, I get it then. I know I get googly-eyed like that when I see somepony I like. So what are you waiting for? Don't let me keep you, girlfriend," Pinkie said, gently slapping Velvet's shoulder. "Go introduce yourself!"

Velvet groaned and rolled her eyes. "Nah, it'd just be a waste of my time. I live with my sisters right now, right? Well, we've got a couple of ground rules for living together, one of which is 'don't bring any dudes home'. It's not fair! I've got needs! Sexy, carnal needs!"

"Aww, I'm sorry to hear that," Pinkie said, gently rubbing Velvet's back. "I mean, if you need a workaround to take care of those things, you could always bring a mare home with you, right? I hear this city is allll about loopholes, and let me tell you sister, that's one heck of a loophole."

"Eh, sorry, no go on that one. I'm one hundred and ten percent not into mares like that, and definitely not desperate enough to get curious about it." Velvet shrugged and sighed. "It's alright. One of these days, I'm gonna get my own place, and I'm gonna bring studs home whenever I want!"

Pinkie leapt up and cheered, "Yeah! You go, girl!"

"So anyway, sorry about getting distracted. I'll try not to let my eyes wander around the sausage buffet we've got going on out here, no matter how hungry I am."

"It's okay, Red, I've got no problem if you're window shopping for dudes while we're hanging out. We can talk later." Pinkie gasped. "Ooh! You should come to dinner with me and my friends! I'm sure that they'd love to meet you." She gasped again. "Ooh! You should bring your sisters, too! If you guys live at the same building we do, I'm sure we'll be seeing lots of each other!"

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure we will," Velvet said with a smile. "I'm sure we will…"

Pinkie smiled. "Boy, that didn't sound foreboding at all!"

Chapter Fourteen: Checkup

Three Days Later

Twilight had gotten rather used to her new librarian position by this point, and was really coming to terms with how everything worked, the sorts of ponies she could expect to provide to service to, and the nature of the materials she was required to be familiar with. It was a lot different than what she was used to back home, absolutely, but it had just been another thing to learn and she'd learned it well.

After clocking in that morning and getting changed into her uniform, Archimedes stopped her as she was walking towards her workstation. "Miss Sparkle? A word, if you would?" he said, not looking up from his own paperwork at that moment.

Twilight froze mid-step. Usually whenever Archimedes wanted "a word" it meant that she was about to be given a lecture either on something she'd done incorrectly, or on some policy she hadn't known about yet that was somehow relevant to her now. In other words, it wasn't ever a good thing, even though he was rarely ever angry about whatever it was.

"Sure thing, Chief," she said, tepidly approaching his desk.

Archimedes temporarily set his paperwork aside, steepling his hooves in front of him.

"All new employees are required to report to me on a number of issues regarding their employment here by the end of their third day of official employment. This means that you should have approached me last night for a brief interview process, which naturally, you did not, correct?"

She paused, then slowly nodded. She'd forgotten completely about the evaluation interview; she'd been so focused on helping a few late arrivals with their work that she'd hurried through the end of her shift to avoid going into overtime. And, of course, so that she could avoid being late to dinner with her friends; she'd invited Winter to join them and knew that the Chronomancer was naturally a punctual pony, and she didn't want to disappoint.

He adjusted his glasses briefly; the light caught them just right to shine a glare at Twilight's face. "Do you enjoy working here at the CDH, Miss Sparkle?" he asked, leering down his nose at her.

"Yes, sir. I do," she replied with another nod.

He didn't say anything, just stared down at her for a moment, then gave her a little nod. "Excellent. That will be all, Miss Sparkle."

She blinked. "That's… that's it? That's the interview?"

He removed his glasses for a moment to clean them, but did not meet her eyes with his. "I have watched you work for three days now. You are quite diligent with your duties and have received no complaints from our patrons. I also see no reason to ask you frivolous questions on whether or not you understand CDH policies and procedures, because you clearly do."

"Uh… thank you, sir," she said with a brief smile; it always felt nice to have her diligence complimented, when usually ponies poked fun at her compulsive behavior. "So, if that's the case, what was the interview for?"

He replaced his glasses, then looked at her again. "I only needed to know if you enjoy your work here, or are forcing yourself to do it so that you can earn a paycheck. I will not tolerate members on my staff that do not have a passion for the work. It's why we don't have too many permanent members. I have standards, Miss Sparkle. You meet them."

"I've noticed," she replied, tilting her head, a little amused.

She'd certainly seen by now that apart from herself, Archimedes, and the cleanup crews that came in after closing time, there weren't any other employees here. Apparently the last employee had moved down south about two years ago, and Archimedes hadn't filled the position until Twilight arrived. She actually felt bad that she'd be leaving within the next few weeks.

"Carry on then," Archimedes said, leaning comfortably back into his seat and returning to his prior work. "Glad to have you aboard."

She paused, then nodded; she could have sworn she saw a little smile there. "Thank you, Chief. Glad to be here." With that, she headed off to her workstation, a little extra pep in her step that wasn't there before.

She found Winter and Dawn huddled together in front of a computer screen that had already been unlocked for them—Archimedes must have done it while Twilight was changing. He likely recognized the two of them by now, and would be blind if he didn't also see that they often congregated around Twilight's work area and talked to her a lot, even joining her for lunch breaks.

She smiled as she looked between the two as they pointed and read together through whatever document they had found. It hadn't taken her long to forge a strong bond with Applejack and the others back when they all first met, so she wasn't surprised that she felt the same sort of connection so soon with these two; she also was glad that the two of them seemed to be getting along together. It made all the research work they needed to do seem… fun, actually. She didn't usually get that unless he was doing it herself.

"You girls find everything okay?" Twilight asked with her practiced librarian air, nose up, chest out.

"Yes, Miss Sparkle," Winter said with a foal-like lilt, rolling her eyes; she enjoyed teasing Twilight when she was in librarian mode, and Twilight didn't mind it one bit. "This latest document has a bloody interestin' account in it from the old war that raged here in the north way before New Pandemonium was even built."

"Oh? Where'd you find that? I don't remember seeing it in our selection."

"I located it in mine," Dawn said, her own nose up just a little bit, and not because she was making fun. "I happened across it over the evening prior."

Twilight had gotten used to the other unicorn's smug attitude, and normally would be bothered by it. She'd had issues with Trixie before for exactly the same reason—using a magical amulet to take over Ponyville notwithstanding—and hoped the misguided magician would change. But, since Dawn was using her intellect for Twilight's benefit, Twilight had no complaints if she wanted to be a little egotistical about it.

"Really? What's this account about?" she asked.

"It's a bit of a personal blurb, if ya can call it that, regardin' the military leader of Old Pandemonium, a stallion by the name of Blood Beryl," Winter said, tapping the screen. "Nothin' particularly interestin' apart from how much of an evil, warmongerin' shit he was, includin' a few clever titles: Blood Beryl the Conqueror, Bloody Beryl the Destroyer, etc."

"Sounds like a nice guy…" Twilight muttered.

"Too right. But, there's one bit that really caught my attention: he's described to have possessed some particularly potent magic."

"Okay? What makes that interesting?"

"Blood Beryl was an earth pony. An earth pony that apparently wielded magic," Winter said with a knowing smile. "Things like blood magic and shadow magic to be specific, though the extent of which he could wield them is a bit vague. Just lots of mentions of how vicious he was in combat."

"An earth pony using magic? That's impossible," Twilight scoffed. "Only unicorns can use those kinds of magic, assuming we're speaking of Hemomancy and Umbramancy, because it sounds like we are. You're sure this account you're reading is absolutely correct and reliable?"

"Eh, it could just be a misinterpretation of events, sure, or maybe the bloke writin' the tales was embellishin' a lil' bit, but if it is true, that means this Blood Beryl had the kind of abilities that could be expected of…?"

Twilight followed along the train of thought. "A Warden? You think this… Blood Beryl might have been Nihila's Warden?"

"Back at that time, yes. He was killed in the war, of course, by whoever Harmonia's Warden was back then, at least as far as I can tell." Winter shrugged, shaking her head. "All this document says is that he was struck down by the forces of Light, which logically would mean Harmonia, and her Warden would be leadin' those forces."

"What do you make of this, Dawn? About an earth pony using magic?" Twilight asked. "Seems a bit far-fetched to me. Like something out of a… a comic book."

Dawn smirked. "Typically, you and I would be in complete concurrence with that assessment, Twilight. However, according to the materials we have perused thus far in regards to the capabilities of these 'Wardens', we have postulated that they possess particularly prodigious portions of power and thus preponderate over more plebeian ponies. This tale is within the realm of possibility."

"Hmm… okay, I suppose I can accept that, at least until proven otherwise." Twilight turned back to Winter. "And this Blood Beryl was defeated in the war, which was hundreds of years ago, right?"

Winter nodded. "Yup. Killed in battle against the forces of Harmonia, which apparently even included a detachment from Zeb'ra'den headed up by a warrior princess. The fact that ponies and zebras were workin' together in those days is surprisin'; they'd just come off of a pretty brutal civil war, and zebras didn't get along well with most ponies. Still don't, actually."

"Let me guess: there's no record of who became Nihila's Warden after that?"

"Nope, not a bloody thing," Winter sighed. "Luckily there are plenty of records suggesting that she did appoint a new one at some point afterwards, so logically we can assume that she's been taking on new ones ever since the war, same as Harmonia does. These records all say that her Warden died shortly after the war as well, from injuries sustained by Blood Beryl."

"And Nihila's Wardens must have kept themselves well hidden if we can't find any records of them…" Twilight hummed, rubbing her chin. "I'm starting to think that finding this Warden might be more difficult than we thought, especially if they don't want to be found."

She didn't feel awkward saying that in front of Dawn, incidentally. She and Winter had played it off as wanting to interview him to learn more about Nihila, as records on her were scarce and horribly outdated, and potentially even altered such that the information was inaccurate. If Dawn could help, they'd accept it. Both worlds were at stake, after all; they just wouldn't tell her that.

"Perhaps, Twilight," Dawn said, nose back in the air. "However, I am of the opinion that we have discovered a new avenue of research to pursue: the history of New Pandemonium City. As has been made apparent, there are some records of these 'Wardens' that do not pertain directly to Nihila; logically speaking, it is possible that these later Wardens did not make their correlation with Nihila obvious either."

"So… we may find records of other ponies with incredible power or influence that might be connected to one another!" Twilight said as the pieces clicked together. "If we can find some connecting links between these later Wardens, we might be able to narrow down who the current Warden is! Dawn, that's ingenious!"

Dawn scuffed a hoof on her chest. "Was there ever any doubt?"

*****

Applejack returned from her lunch break to find a few of the warehouse crew members, Clay included, gathered around a particularly large storage container on one edge of the warehouse. At the moment, the blue-and-blond stallion—Applejack knew him now as Blue Streak, who had been "the New Guy" before she was hired—was struggling to even move the thing an inch despite clearly putting a lot of effort into his pull. It just wouldn't budge.

Applejack stepped up alongside the green-and-white stallion, Shamrock Shake; she'd grown to know everypony's names by now and for the most part, that initial trepidation of taking her on board had evaporated. Most of them still made rude or lewd comments at her here and there, but she mostly ignored them and just did her job. Shamrock was one of the few that didn't seem to care much.

"What's goin' on over here?" she asked quietly. The other stallions apart from Clay were all busy hooting and hollering at Blue Streak is a bizarre mix of motivation and mockery, so nopony could hear her anyway. "Some kind of contest?"

"Mechworks sent us this container of AMP parts just before lunch," Shamrock said. "They screwed up on the weight limit though—it's supposed to go to Warehouse Five, where they got more Eights and up on staff. The boss is trying to get it stocked up anyway, 'cause that's just what we've gotta do, but it ain't budging."

"Why don't we use that loader contraption if our crew can't move this thing?" she suggested.

She'd seen those fancy machines lift containers up off the floor to put them onto higher platforms after they'd been moved into place. Why they didn't just use them all the time was a mystery, but then she'd be out of work if they did, so she wasn't complaining. She didn't even know how they worked, anyway, just that they could lift and haul more than any pony could.

"Warehouse Six is using it right now, I think. They're shipping out some big haul of pipes and stuff out to Mid-East for the reconstruction projects, and have to have it in by tonight."

Applejack watched as Streak gave up, shaking his head in exhaustion. She'd be surprised if he hadn't pulled a muscle trying to out-macho the rest of the crew, as was his usual behavior. Being the New Guy for so long must've done a number on his ego, and now he was quick to try and take it out on her, the New Girl. Not that it helped him any.

Another stallion, this one red-and-blue—Spangled Stars—strapped himself into the harness after Streak was taken out of it, and gave the container a tug. It still wasn't budging, and that was surprising; Spangled was one of the stronger Sevens on the crew, supposedly, and was gunning for an Eight spot; she'd heard him talking about doing extra reps at the gym to bulk up some more.

"Well, why don't the boss get ol' Hammer Toss on it?" Applejack asked. "He'd probably make good on movin' this here thing in a jiffy, then all y'all could stop gawkin' and get back to work."

Hammer Toss was the gold-and-green earth pony on the crew, a hulking stallion that Clay had designated as the crew's only rank Ten hauler. He would be able to move anything that got shipped into the warehouse, period, even if there was a mistake somewhere and a load got placed in the wrong warehouse. Kind of like right now, actually.

"Called out sick this morning," Shamrock said, shaking his head. He smirked. "Sick my ass. He was out drinking with some of us last night and went home with this pretty little unicorn mare. Hammer always did have a bad case of Horn Fever. Bet he was up all night plowing away. Lucky bastard."

He gave Applejack a sidelong glance, his grin widening a little. "Hey, you oughta come out with us one night. Probably be able to find a mare for you too. Or a stallion, I dunno. I've got no idea what cranks your chain, but let me tell you, New Girl, you need to get laid. Bad. Your ass is tighter than Clay's sometimes."

She ignored the comment. "So we're stuck with this thing clutterin' up our floor 'cause somepony messed up a number somewhere and ol' Hammer had to get his willy wet and got too hungover to get outta bed? Bunch o' horseapples."

"Yup, seems that way. Boss is having all the Sevens give it a try since they're the best we've got. I'm glad I'm just a Five; I'm not looking to throw out my back, not on this."

As Spangled Stars strained himself to the point that the veins in his neck were bulging, he eventually just gave up, shaking his head and removing himself from the harness, panting like he'd just crossed a desert without a canteen.

Clay sighed and tossed his clipboard down on the floor; he did that often enough that Applejack knew it'd never break at this point. "Shit. Come on, you bunch of no-nut pansies! What the hell do I pay you for if you can't haul one damn container!"

"Boss… it's… too heavy…" Spangled huffed, practically crawling back into the crowd.

"Yeah, this stupid thing's meant for an Eight, Boss," Blue Streak said, having caught his breath and taken a drink of water, which he was still drinking between sentences. "Blame Mechworks for this shit. Plus, it's not our fault Hammer probably got his dick stuck in some mare's cu—"

Clay suddenly pointed right at Applejack, his timing impeccable. "New Girl! About time you got your sorry ass back from lunch. I hope you ate your protein." He pointed at the empty harness; she got his meaning immediately. "I don't pay you to gawk at these scrawny shits like you're watching some damn peep show. Strap yourself in and pull this fucking thing."

Streak chuckled. "Woo hoo, were you checking us out over there, New Girl?" he said, nudging Spangled Star, who had just gotten back to the others at last. "Hey, whose ass do you like the best? Mine or Spangled? Be honest now."

"Well, if I'm bein' honest, it's hard not to admire your ass, Streak," Applejack said with a smirk; Streak was so predictable that it was sad, actually. "Y'all talk outta the damn thing so much I figured it's able to hold a conversation."

A couple of laughs rippled through the crowd as Applejack strapped herself into the harness. Streak grumbled something under his breath, but there was no way he'd be able to ignore the others slapping him on the back and laughing in his ears.

She took a deep breath, then made an attempt at hauling the container with all her might. True enough, the damn thing weighed more than anything she had ever tried to pull before, not just here at the warehouse, but ever, in her entire lifetime. She felt like she'd tied herself up to the Ponyville Library and been asked to uproot the tree it was built into.

She pulled and she pulled, and she tried to move her legs but she wasn't gaining any traction; the damn thing was so heavy that even with the wheeled platform beneath it, it wouldn't budge one single inch. She clenched her teeth and put more effort into it; the container still wasn't budging. It had to weigh thousands of pounds if it was still staying put; whatever the hell an "AMP" was, it must be pretty big to need these kinds of parts.

"Hey, New Girl!" called Streak. "Just give it up! You can't move that thing; we all tried. Just leave it for ol' Hammer Dick when he gets back."

"Yes… I… can…" Applejack breathed through tightly-clenched teeth.

She saw that the crew that had gathered around was watching her much as she'd watched them before, shaking their heads as she struggled to do something that none of them could. She knew she had no reason to be upset, not really; it's not like they were saying she couldn't do something they could.

But if it would shut that arrogant punk Streak up, she'd run herself ragged making this damn thing move.

"Alright, New Girl, Streak's right, give it up," Clay sighed, marking his clipboard. "We'll just have to wait 'til the loading lift gets back from Warehouse Six, or until Hammer gets back tomorrow. It'll set us back a while with this piece of shit blocking this section of the floor, but that's Mechworks' fault, so they'll get shit for it more than us."

Applejack did not remove herself from the harness; she just kept pulling.

Clay raised an eyebrow. "Hey. New Girl. I said give it up. We've got work to do if we're gonna get around the stupid thing being in the way. Your workstation should be okay, but—"

Applejack ignored him, just kept pulling with all her might.

Now Clay was angry. "Applejack! Are you listening to—"

The wheels under the container gave a low squeak. They'd started to move.

Once Applejack had gotten the wheels to budge even just a fraction of an inch, things got much, much easier. They rolled forward another half an inch as she pulled and pulled, taking a single step forward. Every muscle in her body felt like it was on fire, but she didn't quit no matter how much her legs were crying out for relief.

Another inch. Another. Another. The platform was moving at a smooth, slow, steady pace as Applejack pulled and pulled, squeaking along as it rolled its way across the warehouse floor. Her head was pounding; she could hear shouting from the other members of the crew, but she was so focused on what she was doing that she couldn't hear much of what they were shouting about, and she didn't care anyway.

It took a few minutes for Applejack to pull the container onto the track that would ease it into its storage space; it locked in with a loud snap. Once she did, she didn't have the energy to pull the harness off, she just stopped dead in her tracks and leaned against the container, taking in gulps of air, her lungs feeling like they'd pop right out of her chest.

Clay was on her quickly, removing the hauling harness for her and easing her out of the way of the track so that the automatic systems could load the container. She didn't put up a fight whatsoever; her whole body felt like it was about to collapse in on itself. She could barely even lift the bottle of water he passed over to her and spilled most of it all over her shirt.

"Holy shit, way to go New Girl!" called Shamrock as he started clapping his hooves together.

The other stallions on the crew joined in shortly afterwards without so much as a nudge of prompting. Even Blue Streak was clapping, looking mighty impressed in fact.

"What the hell are you slack-jawed morons all doing around here clapping like this is some fucking musical number for?!" Clay snapped. "Get back to work!"

The crowd cleared out pretty quick after that.

Clay just shook his head and glanced at Applejack as she struggled to get back on her hooves. "You shouldn't have done that."

"Why not?" she asked, her voice strained.

"Because now I have to bump you up to an Eight in the ranking," Clay said, marking his clipboard and shaking his head. "Which means you're gonna be hauling loads like that whenever they come in from now on. Hammer will certainly be happy that you're taking a portion of work off his shoulders. Literally."

Applejack plopped down on the ground and sighed. That hurt too. "Yeah, well… don't let anypony tell ya I ain't the hardest workin' pony there is…"

Clay snorted, amused. "You sure are, New Girl, and screw anypony that says otherwise. Now, get your lazy ass off the floor and get back to your station." He paused. "After you take ten minutes to put yourself back together. Get some water, sit yourself down, get some air in those lungs. But you're back to work in ten, count 'em, ten minutes. Got that?"

Applejack gave a little half-hearted salute and rose up off the floor. "Ten minutes. Roger that, Boss." With that, she stumbled her way over towards the break room.

"Oh, and New Girl?" Clay called as she left.

She turned towards him. "Yeah?"

"Good work."

She paused, then nodded. "Thank ya kindly."

*****

"No, no, no, not like that, darling," Rarity said as Insipid made another attempt down the runway. "You've got to really give the audience something to think about when you make your turns."

Insipid was currently clad in a plain, tight-fitting leotard, with her now platinum blonde mane styled so that it looked almost just like Rarity's, but a little shorter and with more curls. The other mare paused on the runway to look at Rarity with wide, puppy dog eyes that Rarity found irresistible; Insipid just had something about her that seemed to make everypony want to cater to her requests as best they could, and she didn't even seem to realize it.

"But, like… I still don't know what that means and junk?" Insipid complained, stamping her hooves in frustration. "I'm walking straight down the lines and everything, and like, I'm even doing them in the right order, or whatever? Cha. What else is there to do?"

Rarity got up onto the runway with Insipid and pulled her back towards the first marker. "Being a proper model is more than just being able to walk from point A to point B and doing a little twirl, darling."

"I thought I was walking from one to two? And then to three, and then four?" Insipid said, scratching her head. "I'm already not good with numbers and junk, and now you want me to memorize the alphabet? Like, gag me with a spoon."

Rarity blinked. She certainly hadn't forgotten that Insipid was a little… slow on the uptake at times, and that she had to be careful with her words so she didn't confuse the poor mare. Sometimes, though, she slipped up and had to backtrack her wordings to make sure she was clear with her meanings.

"What I mean, darling, is that walking from marker to marker in order and twirling around isn't enough to really impress the crowds," she said with a sweet smile. "You've got to add a little bit more to it than that. Add some panache! Pizzazz!"

Insipid raised an eyebrow. "Pan Ass Pizzas?"

Rarity held the bridge of her nose. Easy words, remember? she reminded herself.

"Style, darling. A little bit of 'oomph', as it were. The crowds at these fashion showcases have been watching models come and go for years, and they know the difference between your common, everyday runway model, and a star. And what are we, darling?"

Insipid pondered that for far longer than Rarity would have liked.

"Unicorns?"

"Yes, but—"

"Mares?"

"Yes, that too, but—"

"Ooh! We're also pretty? Like, super pretty?"

Rarity gave Insipid a cheeky grin. "Naturally, darling. But we're also the new Rising Stars of Lovers' Lane, yes?"

Insipid nodded rapidly. "Right! Rising Stars!"

"So, you need to show something out on that runway that will make you special. Something that will make you stand out among all the other same-old, same-old models that will be out there with you. My lovely dress can only do so much. You need to do for the runway what I do for the dress: make it shine."

"Okay… okay, I think I get it. So, like, what should I do? I have no idea how to make myself, uh… 'shine' and junk? Cha. Ooh, does this mean another makeover?!"

Rarity took Insipid aside for a moment to sit on a pair of seats in the runway room. "There was a time where I myself wanted to be a model, you know?"

Insipid gasped. "Really? No way! Why didn't you? You're super duper gorgeous and junk!"

"Thank you, darling. Well, truth be told, the photographer was looking for something different than what I had, something I lacked. My friend, Fluttershy—you remember her?"

"Oh yeah. She was the really quiet one, right? She, like, makes my sister Gray look like a chatterbox."

"Yes, but she also has a lovely figure for modeling, tending towards the thinner sort that is more common and widely accepted, even here in the big city. I made this new dress of mine for a figure more like my own; more like yours. So, you already have everything you need to really draw attention, because you're already different.

"But being different isn't everything. You still need to bring your own spark to the runway. Otherwise, everypony will think you just got the job because you have a bigger derriere and a fuller figure than the others, nothing more. Or worse."

"Worse?"

Rarity made sure the two of them were alone in the room before continuing. "Yes, worse. It's no secret in the fashion industry that sometimes models form a… less-than-professional relationship with certain designers," she added. "There might be some very mean ponies that might be jealous, and would falsely accuse you of that. Ignore them."

"But what if I did?" Insipid asked, her innocence and naivety on full display. "Sounds like it would make things, like, way easier—"

Rarity held her hoof to Insipid's nose. "Never. Ever. Do anything of the sort. No career in the world is worth your dignity. And if anypony ever tries to force you into anything like that, you come straight to me. Do you understand?"

Insipid tilted her head. "I… think so? So just, uh… stay professional?"

"Exactly. Stay professional." Rarity patted Insipid's shoulder. "Go on, stand up, show me your strut again, but give me something more."

Insipid nodded, headed over to the first marker, then walked to the next marker and twirled. As she did so, she threw her head back just a bit so that her mane flowed in the air for half a second before she moved towards the next marker.

"That's a good start, darling!" Rarity said, clapping her hooves. "Very good. Now, put some more attitude into it."

Insipid continued along the markers, one after the other, twirling at each one and putting a bit more force into every fling of her mane. She also started taking bolder steps as she walked, which made her tush pop a bit more with every step. When Rarity could see her face, she saw Insipid giving this certain look with her eyes and curling her lips in a slight little "come and get it" smile.

How Insipid had picked up all these ideas from the little pep-talk she'd just given, Rarity had no idea.

What Rarity did know, is that if Insipid went on stage in her dress with those moves, well… she was going to knock that crowd dead.

*****

Rainbow had been on the skyball team back at flight school, even been their star striker for three years running, playing nearly one hundred games over that time. She'd played a few pickup games in Cloudsdale as she was growing up, even after finishing school; she'd played some in Ponyville, too, when they often had to play without full teams because there just weren't enough pegasi willing to play at any given time.

But until today, Rainbow had never seen a team of players that were so… there had to be a nice word for it. Mediocre? Was that a nice way to describe them? Twilight would probably know better words to do the trick. She'd probably have more than one that would perfectly describe, in a nice way, just how not-great these players were.

Havoc, on the other hoof—

"Fucking trash," the other pegasus muttered as she watched their new team practice against a selection of floating buoys and machines. "Absolute fucking trash. I have seen literal garbage that plays better. Like a plastic bag in the wind."

Rainbow wanted to say, "They're not so bad." But that would be a bold-faced lie, and she may not be the Element of Honesty, but there was something wrong with lying like that.

So Rainbow just stayed silent and watched the others along with Havoc, and first focused herself on the two other strikers that would be joining her on the team's offense.

One was an average-build stallion named Dart Blazer, who had a cobalt blue coat and a short, wavy, chocolate brown mane parted down the middle. The other was a young mare that looked barely out of elementary school named Sweet Crespelle—she had to be of legal age to play, but Rainbow wasn't convinced yet—who had a light red coat and a blonde mane kept in a ponytail.

Neither of the two was particularly fast, especially not compared to Rainbow or Havoc, nor were they particularly coordinated. Crespelle dropped the ball constantly if she tried to keep possession of it longer than a few seconds, and this was against stationary buoys that weren't actively trying to block her; Dart was constantly shooting at the goal from halfway across the court and missing by several feet, despite it being wide open.

Then there were the other two blockers, and Rainbow could see that these two also needed some work before they were even close to being useful on the team's defense with Havoc.

The stallion of the two, Brisk Gallop, looked like he'd seen better days; his jet black coat was dull enough to almost look gray, and he had an aged white mane and a matching bushy mustache. The other blocker, a mare named Salsa Fresca, had a greenish-blue coat and a bright purple mane that she kept in a ponytail; if she didn't, it would be too long for regulations.

Gallop was so slow that even though the moving buoys were traveling at a speed that Rainbow wouldn't even call casual, he could barely keep up; Salsa, on the other hoof, was more than fast enough to do alright, and had the right aggressive mindset, but was apparently easily distracted and kept staring in Dart's direction, causing her to miss tackle after tackle.

Then there was the goalkeeper, Salsa's sister Lily Typhoon, who had an orange coat and a pink mane. She was certainly enthusiastic, swinging her hooves around to block shots from the buoy machine affixed with a ball launcher. The problem was that she kept her eyes closed the entire time and had drifted away from the goal by now, so she wasn't blocking anything at all.

These… were the Mid-East Rockets.

"Oh, hey, are you two getting to know your teammates better?" Rainslick asked, coming out of the office behind Rainbow and Havoc, who had camped out on the edge of the court to watch practice a bit before joining in.

"Uh… yeah, you could say that," Rainbow said, glancing at the court as Dart's latest kick bounced off a buoy and hit Crespelle in the head, leaving the poor mare crying on the floor. "You're sure this is the actual team, not like… the reserves?"

"Nope, we don't have any reserve players," Rainslick said matter-of-factly, apparently missing Rainbow's intent. "If it weren't for you two, we wouldn't have a legal lineup right now. I'd be scrambling to find a last-minute addition before the first game of the season."

"And this is a semi-pro team, right?" Havoc asked, incredulous. "This isn't like some little league charity case or anything? We're playing against other real teams of real adult ponies in legal skyball courts, right? Not against the elementary school team in their half-court gym?"

"Nope, we are a totally bona fide semi-professional team." Rainslick set his hooves on both Rainbow and Havoc's shoulders. "You have no idea how good it is to have the two of you along. You might just save this franchise from dying."

"Huh?" asked Rainbow and Havoc simultaneously.

"Yeah, didn't you know? It's been all over the… well, the third page of the sports news. But the owner is thinking about disbanding the team at the end of this season." Rainslick sighed and shook his head despondently. "We haven't turned a profit for him in the past five years he's owned us, and we weren't even making much of one with the previous owner either. If we don't bring something to the table soon, we're caput."

"And what does that mean?"

"Well, these guys," Rainslick said, gesturing at the other players, "are gonna have to go out and get 'real' jobs, I guess. Same with me, really. I don't know how I can turn ten years of being a talent scout for a losing team into a career, but… well, my mom always said I could do anything I put my mind to."

Havoc paused, sharing a glance at Rainbow, then cleared her throat. "When you say 'losing team', what do you mean by that?"

"Oh. Well, you could always check the league records for that kind of information, but I guess I could save you all the time. The Rockets haven't won anything in eight years."

"That's not so bad," Rainbow said. "Some teams go a long time with that kind of championship drought, but they're still popular. We've got this team back home that hasn't won a Skyball Championship in like thirty years but they're still one of the best-funded and most popular teams in the league."

"Oh, I don't mean a championship. We haven't won anything in eight years. Not a single game."

Rainbow's jaw dropped. "You haven't won a single game in eight years?"

"Nope. It's a league record, actually," Rainslick said with a smile, which he then quickly dropped. "Though I, uh… suppose we shouldn't be proud of that." He patted them on the shoulders again. "But you two might just turn things around for us. We're lucky to have you."

"Yeah… you are," Havoc muttered.

Rainslick gave the two a little salute. "Well, I'll let you guys get to your own business with practice and whatnot. I've gotta get over to the league headquarters to ensure the paperwork is taken care of for our new lineup. See you around!"

And with that, he flew off.

Rainbow and Havoc returned to staring out at the court of players.

Gallop had taken a break from flying to rest on the court floor—Rainbow was about twenty-percent certain he was still breathing; Salsa ran right into her sister Lily while she was busy staring at Dart again, and the two tumbled downwards in a pile of twisted limbs; Crespelle was still crying after getting hit in the head with a ball; Dart was still trying to get a ball in the goal, and missed again, and again, and again, unaware of anything else going on on the court.

"Havoc?" Rainbow said.

"Yeah Dash?" Havoc replied.

"Is this gonna suck?"

"Oh, this is gonna suck."

*****

Fluttershy diligently stamped form after form as Lockwood passed them over to her, with all the precision and speed of a machine built for this sort of thing. She'd gotten pretty good at it, actually, even if it took three days of practice. Not to brag or anything like that, of course; she was sure that anypony else could do at least as good of a job as she could at it.

But still, Lockwood was always quick to show his appreciation for her help. "You know," he said after they finished the final batch and he filed it away, "I haven't had things this easy since… well, ever. You're doing wonders for my work ethic, Fluttershy. I love getting things done by lunchtime."

Fluttershy blushed and smiled. "Thanks. I'm just doing the best that I can. I can't think of any other way to repay you for everything you've done for us."

"Well, I can think of a few other ways," Lockwood said with a small grin.

"Oh? Like what?"

"Well, for one," he said, stepping around the table towards her, "you can relax a little bit."

To emphasize his point, he tapped her shoulders, which she'd had uncomfortably raised; she didn't even know why she was doing it.

"I know things are different from your own home, but you're always so tense whenever I see you, as if you're expecting somepony to jump out at you at any moment."

Fluttershy let her shoulders droop a little bit. "I suppose so… but I'm like that a lot at home, too. I just get nervous without even realizing it sometimes."

"I completely understand, and I won't tell you that you're wrong," he said as he retrieved his hat from the rack by the door. "But I will tell you that it doesn't suit you. A mare like you should smile more, if you don't mind my saying. You've got a very sweet smile."

She smiled at that, blushing a little bit more. She wasn't used to being talked to like this except by her closest friends, and even then it felt completely different coming from, say, Rarity than it was coming from him. She didn't know why, really, but she liked it all the same. His compliments always felt so genuine; even Rarity said so, and she was usually good about picking up false praise.

"What say we get out of this dusty place and get some lunch?" Lockwood asked as he opened the door. "My treat."

"You always say it's 'your treat', Lockwood," she said as she rose from her seat. "If you keep treating me to lunch every day, then how am I ever supposed to repay you?"

"Like I said, you can start just by taking it easy, relaxing a little, taking the chance to smile and enjoy yourself," he said. "Everypony else is, or at least they're doing something useful with their time. All you do is assist me with my boring old job."

"But… what if that is what I enjoy?" she asked.

He smiled. "Well, then don't let me stop you. So, lunch?"

Fluttershy nodded. "Okay…" She paused before she left the room, then tilted her head. "Would… would you mind if I invited Gray to come along with us?"

"Not at all, go right ahead. I'll wait down here until you're ready to go, okay?"

"Okay," she said with a nod.

She moved past him to head for the stairwell, then ascended up towards the seventy-fourth floor; days of taking the stairs up and down constantly was making the trip easier and easier every time, and Fluttershy could feel her muscles getting a little tighter by the day. She knew that her friends were experiencing the same results and enjoying the same relative ease compared to their first day here, though Rarity was the only one complaining about it; "all these atrocious muscles will ruin my lovely figure," she'd complained.

Fluttershy knocked on Gray's door and didn't have to wait for more than a few moments for Gray to open up. "Hey," Gray said. "What's up?"

"Hi, Gray. I, um… I was wondering if… if you would like to join… to join me and Lockwood for lunch?" Fluttershy asked, trying her best not to hide behind her mane. She never asked anypony out for lunch, even her actual close friends—they always asked her—so this was particularly nerve-wracking.

Gray just stared at her and blinked a couple of times, then gave a little shrug. "Sure. You know I never turn down a free meal."

Fluttershy smiled. "Oh, that's great. Are you ready to go now? We were just getting ready to leave"

"Yeah, sure. Let's go," Gray said as she closed and locked the door behind her. "So… you go to lunch with Lockwood often?"

"Oh, he invites me along every day," Fluttershy said as they made their way down the stairs. "I think he's just glad to have some company, and… I am too." She turned to Gray, her smile still plain to see. "I'm glad you're coming too, though. I really enjoy your company."

"You do?"

"Oh yes. It's not often that I get to spend time with anypony that's… as quiet as I am, and that's so relaxed. Most of my friends are too loud or too active for me to spend much time alone with. Twilight says it's because I probably have an undiagnosed anxiety disorder…"

Gray nodded. "So you like being around somepony that makes you feel, what, safe?"

Fluttershy paused, tilting her head. "I suppose so, yes."

"And I make you feel safe?"

Fluttershy blushed a little and nodded, hiding behind her mane again. "Yes. I was a little scared of you at first because of how big you are, but… I can tell you're not a dangerous pony. You're a quiet soul, just like me. It just makes me feel at ease, that's all." She hung her head. "Oh, I hope that's okay with you for me to say."

Gray remained silent for a moment. "Yeah, that's okay with me." She gave Fluttershy a small smile.

Fluttershy gladly returned it.

*****

It was nearing the end of Pinkie's shift, and business had slowed to a crawl. No customers had walked in through the doors for close to thirty minutes, and the shop would be closing in twenty. If the rest of the day hadn't been a veritable zoo, then she might have been able to cope with the sudden lull; there was something about it now that filled her with suspicious dread, as if all of a sudden another busload of customers would pile in in the final few minutes and make her and Cinnamon work overtime.

As it so happened, a customer did indeed walk in, just one, and Pinkie was actually pretty glad to see her. "Oh! Hey Red!"

"Hey, Pink!" Velvet called with a lazy grin as she made her way over to the counter. "How's business?"

"Busy, busy, busy, and then sloooow for like the last half hour," Pinkie said, planting her face on the countertop. "I'm still so pumped up from the rush, but I've got nothing to spend all that energy on! It's maddening. I could go crazy at any minute with… with cabin fever! It's driving me insane!"

"Can you even get cabin fever in thirty minutes?" Velvet asked, eyes wide.

Pinkie shrugged. "Heck if I know! I'm a baker, not a psychiatrist. So, what brings you here?"

"Oh, I've got myself a sweet tooth craving something fierce right now," Velvet said, licking her lips. "I'm gonna pick up a few things to take home to my sisters, but I need a little something for myself right now. I've gotta get my stamina back up, y'know? So, uh… let's go with a half dozen eclairs, huh? And a 'me' cupcake."

"Sure! That'll be fourteen bits."

Red took a little plastic card out of her shirt pocket and passed it over, where Pinkie then slid it through a little reader on the register to deduct the bits from Velvet's account. Pinkie didn't get many of these "credit cards" from the shop's normal clientele, but Velvet and her sisters each had their own, and she'd seen Lockwood with one as well, so she didn't really question it. The concept of digital money was something that would make Twilight giddy; for Pinkie, it was just something neat.

Once the card was approved, Velvet had to sign the receipt, then the order was complete and Pinkie passed the ticket back to Cinnamon through a window behind the counter.

When Pinkie passed the card back, she noticed that Velvet's shirt wasn't buttoned quite straight, that her tie was askew, and that her mane was a little messed up. "Hey, what's with you today, huh? You look like you forgot how to dress yourself, you silly goose."

Velvet glanced down at her shirt, then rolled her eyes and smiled. "Oh. Whoops. I was in such a hurry I didn't even notice." She quickly unbuttoned and rebuttoned it without a fuss, though she took a moment to smell the collar a bit, which was weird.

"What happened that you were in such a hurry?"

Velvet grinned, and leaned her elbows on the counter with a dreamy sigh. "I've just had a really good afternoon. A little of the ol' afternoon delight."

Pinkie blinked and smiled, just glad that her friend was happy for some reason. "I don't know what that is, but it sounds tasty. Do you have a recipe for it?"

"Oh, it was, it—" She paused, then glanced at Pinkie. "A recipe?"

"Yeah! For this 'afternoon delight'. If it was so delicious that it made you forget to dress properly and comb your mane right, oh boy, I can't wait to give it a try!"

Velvet blinked. "Afternoon delight isn't a food, Pink. It's sex. I had sex."

Pinkie gasped, loudly. "Oh. My. Gosh. You did?! Way to go, Red! So, who's your new coltfriend, and when do I get to meet him? Is he handsome? What's his name? When did you meet? How did you meet? Oh my goodness I'm sooo happy for you!"

"Whoa whoa, hold up," Velvet said, hooves in front of her to try and calm Pinkie down. "Who said anything about a coltfriend?"

"Uh, you did? You said you had sex—and I am so happy for you—and that means coltfriend. I mean, it could mean fillyfriend, but you said that you were straight as an arrow, so, y'know, the answer is elementary, my dear Velvet," Pinkie added, grabbing a bubble pipe out of her mane and popping it in her mouth. "Nothing escapes my sleuth sense."

"Pink, you don't need a coltfriend to have sex."

"Huh? What do you mean? That's, like, the rules? I mean, okay, there are some old-fashioned ponies like my parents that say you have to get married first, but really, sometimes there's no way you can wait for that when you find the right pony, right? Dashie and I aren't married."

"Okay, I agree with you on all of that except the first part." Velvet leaned her head on her hoof. "You've never heard of casual sex before?"

Pinkie tilted her head. "Can't say that I have? Is that like the opposite of formal sex? Ooh, does that mean there are some ponies out there that have sex while wearing suits and ties? That sounds kinky. I mean, would that technically be cosplay? 'Cause I do cos—"

"No, that's not— Look, Pink, the stallion I had sex with was just some random hot guy I met while I was at lunch today. I've never seen him before, I didn't ask for his name, and I'll probably never see him again. We just kinda sat near each other at this hay fries joint, flirted a little bit, then hooked up in the bathroom."

"So you had sex?"

"Yes. Very, very good sex."

"With a stranger?

"Yes."

"And it was consensual?"

"Oh, ab-so-lutely."

Pinkie tapped her chin. "Well… I mean, I guess if you two had fun, there's not a problem with it. Right? Do you mean you've never had a coltfriend before?"

"Nope!" Velvet said with a proud smirk, tapping her chest. "I am not a one stallion mare, let me tell you. I mean, when I get my own place so that I can bring back anypony I want whenever I want, I might keep a little black book of booty calls at best, but I'm not planning on going steady anytime soon. That'd be like going to a candy store and getting the same flavor lollipop every time. Bo-ring!"

Pinkie frowned. "I don't think it's boring…"

Velvet paused. "Oh… I… I didn't mean to make monogamy sound bad. That's just… it's not my thing, y'know? I mean, if you pick a flavor that's really good—like, say, rainbow sprinkles?" she said, waggling her eyebrows and earning a giggle from Pinkie.

"Then by all means, keep at it!" she continued. "You're lucky if you've got a flavor like that, y'know? Some ponies spend their whole lives trying to find the right flavor, and by the time they find it, if they ever do, they're supposed to be on a low sugar diet… whatever that means in this metaphor I'm going with."

Pinkie paused a moment, then smiled and put her chin into her hooves as she leaned on the countertop. "Y'know, Red… this is probably the weirdest conversation I've ever had while working behind the counter of a bakery while wearing an apron."

"Oddly specific."

"But, it was very enlightening. I learned a lot about you today. More than I think I would've ever asked myself, but hey, some ponies like to share."

"And believe me, I love to share," Velvet said with a wink. "You want details?"

"Save it for a bonus clop chapter, Red. You might get one this time."

"Yeah, fair enough."

*****

Summer Rains stepped out of her little cottage on the outskirts of Ponyville, gazing up at the clear sky and marveling at how well the weather team was getting on without their usual captain around. Sure, it wasn't quite as neat or organized—Rainbow Dash was good at her job, no matter what anypony said—but things were managing themselves just fine. Best of all, the clouds were all still regular clouds, so nothing chaotic was happening this far out yet.

She popped over to her mailbox and found it filled with exactly one letter, oddly enough bearing the Canterlot Royal Seal. She hummed as she unsealed the letter, then read along:

"Dear Summer Rains,

As per our meeting, I am writing to inform you that Discord's statue has been moved inside the Royal Palace into a place where he will have the least possible interactions with others. I have taken measures to ensure that the Royal Guards are aware of him and steer clear of his room to minimize his potential influence.

I will note that his seal is waning as you warned, though I think he will remain contained so long as my sister and I attend to it manually on a daily basis. At present we only need to do it twice a day—we have set aside noon and midnight as opportune moments—but if this continues, we may soon need to increase the rate at which we attend to him.

Please inform me if you have any news regarding my faithful student and her friends, or if there is anything you can do to assist with Discord's seal.

Yours Sincerely,

Princess Celestia"

Summer grunted, folded the letter back up and dropped into her saddlebag. There was little to report to the Princess at the moment; her latest news came two days ago via text update, and Winter had assured her that the Element Bearers were safe and settling in for the long haul, and that they were making some progress so far on getting them all home, but there was otherwise nothing new.

As for the seal, there was nothing that Summer could do about it directly, and the only indirect solution she could think of was to try and use the Elements of Harmony without the Bearers in some fashion. Princess Celestia couldn't use them anymore, and neither could Princess Luna; perhaps new Bearers? But that would invalidate everything Winter was doing; very rude. An emergency measure at best if Winter failed.

With that, she set out on her daily rounds of Ponyville, to ensure that everypony who had been affected by the sudden disappearance of the Element Bearers was trucking along without issue. Ensuring that nopony suffered or panicked following the disappearance had been crucial to ensuring that Discord couldn't leech off of any chaotic energies, and that was priority one, full stop.

Her first stop was Carousel Boutique as that was the closest to where she lived, and was the easiest stop by far. With Rarity "out of town on business", the fashion shop had been locked up until her return. Her sister, Sweetie Belle, was currently staying with the Apple family, which Summer found to be a very generous offer; just the perfect harmonious sort of thing to counteract Discord's Chaos. The cat, Opalescence, had gone with her.

Sugarcube Corner was the next stop, and she'd arrived just after the doors opened for business, so there weren't any customers just yet. Carrot Cake was busy loading the display shelves with some freshly-baked donuts when she walked in.

"Mr. Cake, how are you?" she asked with a small smile. She sniffed the air and let out a content sigh. "Oh boy, those smell wonderful, doncha know."

"Oh, hey there, Miss Rains," said Mr. Cake with a smile of his own. "Coming in for your daily check-in?"

"You know it. Everything doing okay over here?"

Mr. Cake nodded. "It was a tough couple of days at first, but I think things have improved a bunch since then. The new girl, Cherry Cream? She really knows her stuff. Sure, she's not as… enthusiastic as Pinkie is, but she's able to tend to the shop and handle the baking. Anything new on your end?"

Summer shook her head. "Not since the last update. How's Mrs. Cake holding up?"

"She's upstairs right now with the twins; they were up bawling all night. She's expecting the babysitter in about an hour so that she can head out to pick up groceries, and not a minute too soon." He shook his head; he looked exhausted. "But hey, I know you've got more stops ahead, so I won't keep you."

He grabbed a fresh, glazed donut out of the display case, and passed it over to Summer. "And here, for the road."

"Aww, thanks. You take care now!"

"You too!"

With that, Summer headed out and made her way through Ponyville, scarfing down the donut as she went. Her next stop was the Ponyville Library. As it came into view, she noticed Spike sitting out front, leaning up against the tree under the shade. Apart from him, there wasn't a soul around.

"Morning, Spike," Summer said as she approached.

Spike opened one eye, then smiled and closed it again. "Hey there, Summer. Out on your rounds early today?"

"Yeah, felt like getting an early start, doncha know." She glanced around at the lack of ponies nearby; the library had never been busy, per se, but this was unusually slow. "Where is everypony?"

"Beats me. Don't hear me complaining, though. It's a beautiful day out."

"Yup, sure is. So, how are lodgings over at Sweet Apple Acres? Must be a whole new experience for you, huh?"

He shrugged. "It's not bad. I'm used to being the only guy around, y'know? But Big Mac's cool." He smirked. "I think I might've got him interested in playing some O&O with me."

She paused and, unable to think of anything else to add to the conversation—Spike had been handling things the smoothest, from what she'd seen—she just waved and started walking away. "Well, I'll leave you to your, uh… work. Later!"

"Oh hey, hold on a sec," he said, sitting up straight. "Anything new from Twilight and the others?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Nothing since last time, buddy. Relax. If I've got anything for you, I'll be sure to let you know about it first thing, believe you me."

He nodded. "Right. Sorry. I'm just worried, that's all. It's not the same not having them all around, y'know? I mean, this might sound weird, but it's kind of… normal?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure. Must be awful not having grand adventures every day, huh?"

Spike crossed his arms. "Pfft. They didn't even bring me on adventures most of the time."

"Well, the way I see it, when your friends get back and see how well you handled things while they were gone, I bet they'll be awful proud of you, doncha know. Might think about bringin' you along more often."

He smiled at that. "Yeah. I bet they will be. Well, see ya later, Summer!"

"See you later, Spike!"

She moved on next to the far side of town, towards Sweet Apple Acres. She didn't need to go far to see how things were going, which is to say, they were going just fine. She was used to walking this route back before this situation had turned everything on its head, and had been used to seeing the familiar forms of Applejack and Big Macintosh out on the fields bucking trees and hauling apples.

While the latter was indeed still out there doing just that, she noticed a couple of other Apple Clan ponies that had come into town to help out. She was pretty sure they were… Apple Fritter and Apple Bumpkin? Yeah, that sounded about right. It made sense for Granny Smith to have called on the extended family to lend them a hoof or two for a few weeks while Applejack was "out of town", and certainly helped that they could give them an expected timeline.

She was even sure she spotted the young Apple Bloom out there, as well as Sweetie Belle and their other friend, Scootaloo; whether they were getting work done or getting in the way, Summer didn't know, but those fillies sure could run. On a second glance, no, they weren't getting work done at all, they were playing tag in the middle of the orchard. At least they were having fun, despite everything. It did no good to worry all the time, right?

At any rate, it was easy enough to see that the farm was doing just fine in Applejack's absence, at least enough to stay afloat and not risk losing crops during the harvest season. Summer hadn't actually checked in with the Apple family personally except for updates on Applejack's well-being; she felt that bothering them with a little check-up while they were working so hard was just distracting, and Spike was a good enough source on how things were going.

The last stop on Summer's rounds was Fluttershy's cottage, which was currently mostly empty. Most of the animals that tended to hang around the area had moved elsewhere to occupy their time since their pegasus friend wasn't around, but they were wild animals and they could handle themselves out in the wilderness just fine.

Summer went around back of the cottage, however, to where Fluttershy kept some of her domesticated animals, which were currently under the care of a zebra mare from the Everfree Forest. Summer had bumped into her on the day this entire conundrum had gone down—the portal had only appeared a mile or so away from where this zebra made her home—and the mare didn't seem to have a problem with dropping by a couple of times a day to feed the animals when Summer asked later on.

"Hello, Zecora," Summer said as she stepped over to the fence that kept the chickens contained. "Lovely day, huh? How are you?"

Zecora stopped throwing some feed out to the chickens in the nearby coop, glanced up at the clear sky, and gave a little nod. "A lovely day, with sky so blue. I'm doing well, but how are you?"

Summer was still getting used to Zecora's rhyming. It was a neat little quirk, but she couldn't help but think that it must be outrageously tedious to deal with, what with needing to contort one's words to fit rhymes and all that. She tried to imagine how difficult it would be to hold a complex conversation that way.

"Not bad, not bad," Summer replied. "Just checking in on my daily rounds. Looks like you've got everything in hoof over here, though. So, uh, I'll see ya later."

Zecora just nodded and continued with her business.

As Summer walked away, she noticed a little white rabbit standing on the edge of the fence, his little paws crossed over his chest, giving her what was possibly the nastiest look that a cute little rabbit could possibly give. He tapped his foot on the post rapidly—impatiently—as though waiting for something.

Summer just rolled her eyes. "Nothing new, little guy. I'll let you know if I hear anything though, okay?" She made to pat the rabbit on the head, but he just leapt up, practically stomped on her head, then bounded off in a huff. She rubbed the spot where he'd landed and shook her head. "Crazy frackin' bunny. How does Fluttershy deal with him? Why does Fluttershy deal with him?"

With that, Summer headed off back into town to enjoy the rest of her day. She'd do another round later on before she headed home, just to make sure everyone was still holding up alright, but other than that, it was just business as usual. Still, she hoped that Winter was doing everything possible to figure out a way to fix this on her end; if Celestia's letter was right, three weeks was already cutting it close.

Chapter Fifteen: Casual

It was nearly lunchtime when Fluttershy arrived back at the apartment after another busy morning assisting Lockwood with paperwork and tenant visits. She'd gotten used to the procedures by now and was getting better and better about it every day. She didn't hide behind Lockwood anymore when they went to other apartments, she'd actually started introducing herself to some ponies, and once or twice she'd even had the confidence to say she was Lockwood's assistant.

She found it odd that the tenants gave Lockwood odd looks following that last remark, but figured they just didn't know he had one and were surprised, that's all. He seemed like such a diligent pony that they probably all thought he did all the work himself still, as he had been for years.

It felt nice, being able to help out around the complex. She just started thinking of it as the same thing as when she helped her animal friends back home, only instead of dealing with birds requesting aid building a nest, she was helping an elderly mare with a busted air filter in her window, or a small family with a leaky faucet in their restroom. Not actually performing the repairs, obviously, but at least putting them at ease over the issue.

Normally, she and Lockwood would head out to lunch right about now, but he apparently had a lunch meeting with somepony else and couldn't bring her along. She didn't ask why—he had these sorts of meetings all the time, though usually around dinnertime—but she still felt bad that she couldn't join him. Not too bad—she didn't want to seem like she was clingy or anything—but still, now she knew it would be hours before she saw him again.

She headed into the kitchen, opened up the refrigerator, and browsed the assortment of Dolor products kept therein. By now she and her friends had all decided on favorite flavors—at least as far as default ones were concerned—and she'd found hers to be the refrigerated Red. The strawberry taste, while not exactly strong, was still rather pleasant. Sometimes, when she didn't feel like making a full lunch, she'd just grab one of the tubes and eat the paste plain; it was perfectly normal to do, so she didn't feel weird or lazy doing it.

Just as she was about to grab a packet, there came a knock at the window, which meant that Rainbow was home from practice; her first game was coming up soon, so she probably had been sent home to rest. She headed over to the window, removed the air filter, unlatched the window itself, and let… Pinkie in?

"Oh… um, h-hello Pinkie?" Fluttershy said, gawking at her friend that had somehow just leapt through the window. She glanced outside, hoping to see how Pinkie had managed to leap up eighty-four floors, then backed away as Rainbow came in right after. "Oh, thank goodness. Hello Rainbow. How was practice?"

"Hey Shy," Rainbow said as she headed straight to the fridge. "Practice was fine. I think we're getting this team into shape, as good as they can be anyway."

"Hey, Fluttershy!" Pinkie said with a little wave. Since it was her day off, she was wearing her casual clothes, which is to say she was wearing her work clothes, just without the apron; it was as close to normal as Pinkie had and she liked it. "How are you? Long day?"

"Oh, I'm fine, thank you. Are you enjoying your day off?" Fluttershy asked.

"You betcha! Dashie and I went shopping, and boy, lemme tell ya, this city's not all that bad once you get used to it. They've got loads and loads of places to shop, y'know? Red told me about this place out in the Mid-East District, so Dashie and I dropped by on the way home."

"Yeah, uh, speaking of which," Rainbow said, coming back over to Pinkie with a few bottles of water. "Shy, can, uh… can Pinkie and I get the place to ourselves for, like… an hour? No no, make it two. Two hours?"

"Oh?"

Fluttershy then noticed the little pink bag in Pinkie's grip, as well as a fairly oblong box that was poking out of it. The bag's label displayed the name of the establishment, The Luv Shack, which also included a stencil of a mare in a not-at-all-subtle position that indicated she was ready for something… well, intimate.

Her face turned bright red in realization. "Oh! Oh, absolutely. Um… you two, yes… sh-should I go now? I can go now if you want."

"I mean, unless you wanna watch?" Pinkie said, waggling her eyebrows.

Rainbow, also red in the face, nudged her. "Pinkie!"

Fluttershy, now even redder, hustled over to the door, grabbing her key on the way. "Okayhavefunbye!"

She closed and locked the door behind her, then leaned against the wall a moment to catch her breath and calm herself down. She realized her wings had flared up—that had hurt a little as she rushed out into the hall—and so she pushed them down with her hooves, for all the good that did.

She then realized that she hadn't grabbed her tube of Dolor Red on the way out, and right on cue for her stomach to give a little grumble. With the apartment off-limits for the next two hours, that meant she had to go out to lunch, which while she was used to it by now, she was not used to going without Lockwood. She started to panic as the thought of going out alone into the city ran through her head.

At least, it did, until she tried to remember the things that Lockwood and Flathoof often said to try and assuage her fears. She could go out for a nice walk through the streets—making sure to avoid alleyways so that she didn't get mugged—while she made her way to the restaurant—looking both ways before crossing the street so she didn't get hit by a bus—and then sit down and enjoy a good meal—hoping that she didn't catch food poisoning—

No, this was doing the exact opposite of making her feel better. She was so used to following Lockwood's lead that she couldn't help but think of how she might mess it up if she tried to do everything herself.

Until she remembered that she didn't have to be by herself at all.

She didn't quite race down the stairs, but she did move at a quick pace. Ten flights these days was fairly easy, actually, and so she arrived at Gray's apartment in no time, and gave the door a little knock.

Gray opened up after a few seconds. "Oh. Hey. 'Sup?"

"Um… h-hi, Gray," Fluttershy said, her face still a little red and her anxiety still flaring up but for entirely different reasons. "H-how are you?"

"Good. You?"

"Oh, I'm fine, thank you. Um… I was wondering… w-would you like to have lunch? With me?"

Gray paused for a moment, then shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Lockwood's got good taste in food."

"Oh, um… Lockwood… won't be with us. He's at a meeting. So it's… just me." She gave a little smile, hoping she didn't sound too weird. Did she sound weird? Oh no, what if she did?

"Ah. Yeah, alright. Where are we going?"

Fluttershy was about to respond, when she realized that she hadn't brought any bits with her. "Oh… oh no," she said, eyes wide. "I forgot my bits back up in the room."

"So? Go get 'em."

"I, uh… I can't. Rainbow and Pinkie are up there."

Gray arched an eyebrow. "Okay? They're your friends, right? What's the problem?"

Fluttershy's face reddened again. "They're, um… using the apartment. Just the two of them. And they want privacy."

Gray paused again, then nodded in understanding. "Ah. Gotcha."

"Y-yeah…"

"Hey, that's cool of you to let them have some time together." She leaned against the doorframe. "So what's the plan, then?"

Fluttershy paused; she tried to speak, but no words came out, because she was at a total loss on what to do. She'd thought this was a great idea, but now she felt like an idiot coming down here without a plan and especially without any bits.

Gray just rolled her eyes. "Ah, don't worry about it. I'll buy."

"Oh, n-no, I couldn't—"

Gray grabbed her key and shut and locked the door behind her. "Come on. I know a place."

*****

The little hay fries diner was one of the few in the city that made real hay fries, and as such was extremely popular and thus extremely crowded, even if somepony just wanted to get something to go. A line stretched from the door of the establishment clear around the block, apparently at all hours of the day. Fluttershy and Gray had stood in line for about twenty minutes before they were able to get in, and waited another five minutes to find a table.

Fluttershy held their seats while Gray went to place their order, then again when Gray went to collect it from the counter when their number was called. In both cases, she couldn't keep herself from letting her eyes wander a bit too much. Maybe it was knowing what Pinkie and Rainbow were up to, and being told so explicitly without being told so explicitly, that made Fluttershy so anxious that she was staring?

She hadn't been this flustered around another pony since flight school.

Whatever it was, it made her notice how opposite in physical stature Gray and Lockwood were, and yet so similar they were otherwise as well. Lockwood was, in a word, scrawny; Gray was chiseled to perfection. Gray's wings were rather big and she probably had a magnificent wingspan, but like Lockwood she never seemed to fly, at least that Fluttershy had seen, which was a lot like herself, actually.

They were both certainly attractive ponies, in their own ways, and they both made for good company.

But she stopped thinking about that when Gray brought back the food.

Fluttershy took a bite of her own fries—she always preferred hers plain—and was immediately struck by the fact that they were legitimately tasty, like something she could get back in Ponyville. They were perfectly crispy and hot with a pleasantly soft middle, each of them of a reasonable size so that they could be eaten individually or in a little bunch, and could be dipped in sauces without getting one's hooves messy.

The fact that the fries were real was the important part as far as Fluttershy was concerned. She knew there were restaurants in the city that served up real food that they imported from the southern continent, but that they were also prohibitively expensive most of the time. That much was definitely true in this case; a basket of plain fries like she had in front of her now cost as many bits as a dinner for two at one of the standard Dolor-based restaurants; a pony could buy enough Dolor paste to last them a week for nearly the same price.

It was basically a treat for most ponies that lived in the city, something that they could only do once in a while, but it seemed to Fluttershy that that was enough to make a place like this insanely popular.

"How are they?" Gray asked, taking a bite of her own fries—she'd ordered her with extra salt.

Fluttershy smiled and nodded, taking another bite. "They're… very tasty. Just like back home, actually."

Gray nodded back and took another bite of fries, but didn't say much else, and remained like that for a solid minute or so.

Fluttershy typically enjoyed the quiet, but considering the crowd around them in this public place, she knew that that wasn't going to happen, and in situations like this she began feeling anxious again. Having somepony to talk to when she was nervous was always nice, so even though Gray seemed content with just eating her fries and not talking—she'd been the same at lunch yesterday, too—Fluttershy decided to engage.

"So, um… how are you liking your new apartment?" she asked. "Is it much different from your old one?"

Gray shrugged. "It's alright. It's not as big."

"Is it a lot smaller? I hope it's not uncomfortable…"

"Nah, it's fine. Technically my room's bigger now since I got the living room." Gray dipped her fries in some ketchup—that was real, too—and took another bite. "The couch isn't bad, either. Good cushions."

Fluttershy smiled. "I'm glad you're finding it comfortable. I know my friends and I had some trouble adjusting at first, but we've got things arranged now so that it's a little bit better for everypony. They're all pooling money together so that we can get some new furniture later in the week."

Gray just hummed and nodded. "Mhmm."

"So, um… did you live with your sisters before you moved, too?"

"Yeah."

Fluttershy couldn't help but notice a bit of irritation in Gray's voice; maybe it was the questions, or maybe it was the answer? "Do you… like living with your sisters?"

"I guess," Gray said with another shrug. "I like it better when they're out for the day."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Red whines a lot about my 'no guys over' rule. She thinks it's not fair."

Fluttershy tilted her head. "What's a… 'no guys over' rule?"

"So, Red is a nymphomaniac. Sex is on her mind almost all of the time, y'know? Nothing else to distract her, I guess."

"Oh?"

"So, I'm not gonna let her just bring some dude over, especially not since I'm the one doing the laundry, if you catch my drift."

Fluttershy's face reddened again, and her hay fries seemed incredibly interesting at the moment. "Oh."

"Yeah, and Insipid's just noisy in general. I'll be honest, I've gotta give it to Rarity for putting up with it."

"They seem like they've become pretty good friends," Fluttershy said, though she understood completely what Gray meant.

On her few interactions with Insipid, she'd certainly noticed the other unicorn was perhaps a bit… well, she didn't have the kind of education that Twilight did, or the sort of quick wit that Rarity possessed. Fluttershy couldn't think of a nicer way to put it, and she wouldn't dream of insulting the other mare for any reason, especially not in front of Gray.

"How about you?" Gray asked, taking another bite of her fries. "Do you like your living situation?"

"Well, I'm sure I'll like it much better once we've livened up the place," Fluttershy said with complete honesty; she'd grown accustomed to the apartment enough that it's size didn't bother her anymore. "I'm still a bit, um… nervous, about being outside the building, I mean. To be honest, that's why I invited you to lunch. I… I didn't want to be alone."

"Yeah, I get it. The city's not exactly the nicest place, even here," Gray said with a shrug. "Is that why you always hang out with Lockwood? Because you don't like being alone?"

"Well, no, there's a bit more to it than that," Fluttershy admitted. "He's just been so kind and generous with me and my friends that… I want to help him. I don't feel right taking everything he's given us and not giving anything back in return." Her face reddened again when she added, "And… he's got pretty eyes…"

"Seems like a nice guy. You're sure he's on the level?"

"Oh, yes, absolutely. I can usually tell when somepony is genuinely nice and when they… when they're just faking it." Fluttershy smiled a little. "Like you. I know you like to act like you don't care, but I can tell you're genuine. About everything."

Gray arched an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"You kind of remind me of Rainbow, actually. I've known her for years, and… for as long as I've known her, she's been the kind of pony that acts like they don't care about certain things because she thinks that's what 'cool' ponies are supposed to do. But I know that even when she acts like she doesn't care, she cares a lot."

"And you think I'm like that?"

Fluttershy nodded. "I do. You just do a better job at hiding it. But I can tell that even though you complain about your sisters, deep down… you love them. You just don't like expressing it, that's all, so you conceal it with the way you act so… aloof."

Gray stared at her fries for a long moment, then grunted and took another bite. "If that's the way you want to think, sure, whatever."

Fluttershy could tell from the look on Gray's face that she was embarrassed by the conversation now, and so she wisely decided to just drop it there and enjoy her fries and the quiet between herself and her new friend. That was the nicest thought of all, actually: that Gray Skies was her new friend. Fluttershy didn't have many friends outside of Twilight and the others, and had always had trouble making new ones.

Between Lockwood and Gray, Fluttershy was beginning to think perhaps she'd judged this world too harshly at first. Not to mention that both of them just made her feel so… safe. Certainly this city was still scary to her and made her anxious when she was alone outside of her apartment—even in her apartment—but when she was with either of them, she felt that she didn't need to have a worry in the world.

It was… nice.

*****

Today's shift for Twilight was a little shorter than usual. She found it odd how the CDH operated on different hours on the weekends that the rest of the week—Ponyville's library was technically open as long as Twilight was home and awake—but then there were still quite a few things about this world that she didn't understand, like how those strange "buses" moved about on their own, or why pegasi had to limit themselves to skylanes above the streets and buildings.

Because Twilight had gotten off work about an hour earlier than usual, Winter had invited her out for coffee before they headed back home for dinner. Twilight had been surprised to learn that there were plenty of legitimate coffee shops in the city, ones that served real coffee like the kind that Lockwood stocked at home. She'd gladly accepted the offer, not just because of the anticipation for a good cup of coffee after work, but because she enjoyed spending time with her new friend.

The coffee shop Winter had chosen, Café Estrella, was located several blocks away from the CDH in the opposite direction from Southeast Point, and was a quaint little shop tucked into the side of a larger office building right on the street. At the moment there was a decent-sized crowd inside, but not large enough to prevent Twilight and Winter from finding seats after they ordered and collected their drinks.

This wasn't Twilight's first rodeo as far as coffee shops were concerned, but it had been a long time since she'd seen one with such a wide selection of roasts available. The shop in Ponyville was limited mostly to local flavors, which were all good, certainly, but lacked the sort of punch and taste that she was used to from Canterlot. Granted, she couldn't rightly judge the blends here by any metric—they were all named for regions she didn't know—so she'd relied on Winter's advice and chosen a blend from a southern city called Seaside.

As she brought her cup to her and Winter's table, she took a moment to breathe in the coffee's aroma, which was pleasantly chocolate-like. As always, she took it black and didn't add a single thing to it before bringing it to the table and taking a sip.

When the coffee passed her lips, Twilight felt her heart stop for a brief moment as the wonderfully piquant taste of really good coffee raced over her tongue. It was hot and packed with a flavor that Twilight could only compare to blends from the tropical southern regions of her own Equestria, where the sun was nearly always shining and the days were generally hot and long.

"Well?" Winter asked with a knowing smile. "How is it?"

Twilight stared wide-eyed at Winter. "This… is the best cup of coffee I've had in years." She took another sip and shuddered as the warmth just flowed out into her body, making her feel like she'd been wrapped in a toasty blanket on a particularly cold day. "By Celestia that's good…"

Winter laughed. "Well, I'm glad ya like it. Knew ya wouldn't regret takin' a break and comin' here, eh? I don't know if it's the best coffee house in the city, but I'd fight anypony that says otherwise if ya catch my drift."

Winter took a sip of her own coffee, a drink Twilight had heard of before called "carajillo", a delicacy of sorts that mixed three parts coffee with one part rum—Winter couldn't help herself, apparently—that had been fairly popular in some Canterlot circles. Twilight had never tried it before, mainly because she'd been too young to drink at the time, but truly because just the thought of adding anything to her coffee made her uncomfortable.

"This is really nice, Winter," Twilight said as they sat and sipped their coffees together. "I appreciate you bringing me here. The brand that Lockwood likes is really good, but this… this is fantastic. Sorry, I know I don't normally gush about anything, but—"

"Don't worry about it, mate, I get it. I really do. I'm not the same way about coffee, mind, but I know what it's like to really find somethin' ya enjoy and get a chance to sit down and bloody well enjoy it."

"What's yours?" Twilight asked. "What's your 'thing' that you really enjoy?"

"I mean, it's gonna sound obvious when I say it, but I like a good beer," Winter said with a shrug. "There aren't a lot of good pubs in the city, but I know they've got a few top-notch ones down in Hope's Point that ship some of their brands up here. Expensive shit, yeah, but crikey, it's totally worth it."

Twilight scrunched up her nose. "I wouldn't know anything about that. I've never really had much alcohol before. I mean, the most I've had was a sip of champagne at my brother's wedding, and once I tried a sip of wine at a Hearth's Warming party, but that's about it. Heck, I only ever buy the non-alcoholic cider when Applejack puts it on the market."

"Have ya ever wanted to try more than a sip?"

"I mean, maybe? I guess? I've kind of opened myself up to new experiences ever since I moved to Ponyville and made new friends, but I just never really wanted to go out drinking. I've just heard too many stories about the kind of bad things that can happen, y'know? I don't know my limit or what makes for a safe bar or even what kind of things are good to try!"

Winter smirked and lifted her cup to tap against Twilight's. "Tell ya what, Twilight: when we figure out how to contact this Warden and we've got things settled so that I can get ya home, I think you and I are gonna celebrate with a few drinks, eh? Not out in a pub or anythin' like that, though. Just you, me, and a few cold ones at my apartment. Er, Lockwood's apartment."

Twilight tapped her chin, then shrugged and smiled. "Sure, why not? Drinking at home with you sounds a lot more responsible than going out drinking, that's for sure. And hey, this gives us something to look forward to! Y'know, besides the whole 'sending me and my friends home so our world isn't destroyed' thing."

"Strewth."

"So hey, speaking of which, how is it living with Lockwood? From what I've seen, he's got a pretty nice place. It's pretty big for something meant just for one pony."

"Yeah, it's a swell little piece of real estate, I'll give it that. Lots of space, the bed is comfortable, the bathroom's roomy; generally just a really nice place."

"Is he a good roommate? Like, is he clean? Does he snore? Is he loud? These are just things I remember other ponies back at school looking for in their roommates, so I don't know what else to ask, really."

Winter shrugged. "Yeah, he's fine. Pretty damn clean, actually, and he's quiet as a bloody mouse when awake, but he snores a little bit. Not enough to bother me in a separate room, but hey, you asked."

"And do you trust him enough not to put magical charms all over your door anymore?" Twilight asked with a little grin.

Winter rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I do. Turns out he's not a bad guy after all, eh? Same with Flathoof, same with Dawn, same with your friends' other new friends and such. They all seem genuinely decent, at least enough that I'm willin' to relax a bit around them. I've still got my eyes open, though. Never can be too careful."

"And I'm glad you do," Twilight said. "I don't know if I've said this enough, but thank you for everything you're doing. I know it's your job and all that, but you're handling it a lot better than I'm sure somepony else might have. This job of yours seems awfully stressful."

"Stressful, yeah," Winter laughed, finishing off her coffee. "Y'know, it's not all bad, of course. Yeah, sure, I've got to globetrot my ass all around the world to take care of Void tears all the time, I don't often get a lot of time to myself, and I don't get to spend time with anypony. But every now and then, when there's a lull in the work, at least I can take a moment to look out upon this world and marvel at how beautiful and terrible it is at the same time."

Twilight frowned. "Sounds lonely. You don't have any friends outside of other Chronomancers?"

"Nah, not really. Closest thing I've got to a friend in this world is this bloke named Pewter who lives out woop woop— er, out in the Wastelands. He runs a checkpoint buildin' out there that helps folks cross the wastes on hoof by given' them a place to sleep and some food to eat, plus medicine and such. Nice guy."

"But he's not your friend?"

"We're just acquaintances, really. I see him maybe once or twice a year, and we don't talk much." Winter shrugged. "I dunno, he seems nice and all, but I tend to prefer gettin' my Wasteland trips done quick and not spend any time out there."

"Well, I'm sure he'd be your friend if you asked him," Twilight said with a smile.

"Not really interested, to be honest. Apart from you, I don't really think I have any real friends, and I don't have the patience to make more; I mean, your other friends are okay, but I consider them more 'acquaintances' too. No offense."

Twilight nodded, though she didn't quite understand it. She'd come to realize that some ponies had different qualifications for what counted as a friend, and she was glad to hear that Winter considered her one, but she felt kind of bad that her other friends didn't meet Winter's criteria. Maybe if she got to know them better, things would be different? She wouldn't force it, of course, but she was going to be hopeful for the best.

"Did you have any other friends?" she asked quietly.

"Not really, no. Just one filly back when I was in early training by the name of Hourglass. But then I got picked up for an apprenticeship, and I haven't seen her since. It happens. She's probably workin' her own gig by now, it's been about fourteen years, roundin' down."

"So, if you don't have a lot of friends, what about family?" Twilight asked, trying to change the subject. "I know that until I started making other friends, the only friend I ever thought I had was my brother, my BBBFF. I don't know a lot about my other friends' families, to be honest, but maybe I can learn about yours?"

Winter paused, then leaned back in her seat. "I don't have a family."

Twilight frowned, immediately regretting the change in topic. "I'm sorry to hear that. What happened?"

"You know how I said that if I didn't get you and your friends back to your world, eventually the Void would consume it?"

"Yeah?"

"That's what happened to my world."

Twilight gasped. "Oh no, that's… that's horrible. But… how did you escape? I mean, it's obvious now that this world isn't your original one."

"Chronomancer HQ sometimes finds worlds like mine, ones that are in danger of collapsing into the Void and that don't have Chronomancers of their own. By the time these worlds are found, it's already too late to save everypony…" Winter sighed. "They save who they can. I was one of the lucky few who got picked."

Twilight was astounded. "I… I can't even imagine how that must feel. I'm sorry for bringing it up, I didn't—"

"It's alright, Twilight," Winter said, patting Twilight's hoof. "To be honest with you, I was so young when it happened that I don't even remember my family. I don't remember what my parents looked like. I don't remember if I had any brothers or sisters, or if I'd even made any friends at that age. And it doesn't matter if I did; they're all gone anyway."

"Winter…"

"Don't worry about it. It happened a very, very long time ago, and none of that is important to me. What's important is the here and the now, and the future that lies ahead. There's no sense in living in the past. Okay?"

Twilight paused, then nodded and gave Winter a small smile. "Okay. Just know that… if you ever want to talk to anypony about it, I'm here for you."

Winter smiled back. "Thanks, Twilight. I appreciate that."

"What are friends for?"

Chapter Sixteen: Carosuing

Twilight knew that even back at home, employees at most places of business weren't expected to be present every single day of the week, not unless they owned and operated it themselves.

That was how businesses ran in Canterlot. There was a coffee shop that she frequented every morning back when she was attending Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and she always arrived at the same time. The barista that took and made her order was not the same pony every single day; three days in the week it was a jaded pegasus mare that probably needed a coffee herself, while the other four it was an upbeat earth pony stallion that was probably drinking too much coffee, if there was such a thing.

New Pandemonium City operated under the same system, where businesses and companies didn't make their employees come to work every day, either because they weren't open every day of the week, or because they had a large enough staff that they could split duties around. She was actually surprised that they actually gave employees time off at all, considering the reputation she'd been led to believe.

In Twilight's case, the CDH library was closed once a week, and so she had today off from work entirely. Pinkie had yesterday and today off from working at The Sweet Spot, because Cinnamon Swirl had other employees besides just Pinkie; the baker was there every day, because it was her business. The Foundry was also closed once a week, and so Applejack also conveniently had today off. It was one of the few times where the group actually had time to spend together outside of dinner, and by Celestia, they were going to make the most of it.

The first order of business was who was doing what, where, and with whom, since they all knew that not everypony enjoyed the same things. There were so many things to do in this city that everypony was afforded the opportunity to do something that they wanted to and with whomever they wanted to do it, and it was generally agreed that there would be no hard feelings whatsoever no matter how things divied up.

The first group formed up when Rarity had decided that since some of them had accrued some funds aside from what they'd pooled together for furniture shopping, they could and should absolutely consider purchasing new outfits to wear on a day-to-day basis, at the very least. Fluttershy and Insipid had agreed to go along, of course. They'd headed off for some Inner District shopping center about an hour ago.

Twilight didn't have any issues with the magician-like clothing she wore outside of work, though she asked Rarity to look into something similar to her work uniform; she rather liked it, actually, and figured that wearing something like that casually would be quite fitting.

She'd asked Rarity that because she'd instead elected to go with the second group, which formed around Rainbow, Pinkie, and Velvet, who all wanted to go see a movie at the local cinema. Applejack had agreed to go along with them—she didn't have much interest in movies but it was better than the alternative, she said—and Twilight had invited Winter along since she knew the city better than anypony except Lockwood, who had his own business to attend to.

The little sextet of mares arrived at the theater just after noon, primarily so that they could make it in time for the matinée showing and save some money. The first thing Twilight noticed about the theater here in the city compared to the ones she was used to was how much larger it was. In Ponyville, the movie theater only had a single projector and catered to only about twenty ponies at a time. The theater here had twenty screening rooms, each of which could seat between thirty and sixty ponies.

The second thing she noticed was the sheer size of the selection at the concession stand, and she wondered how much of it was real food and how much of it was Dolor products. The only thing that was immediately apparent as real was the popcorn, and it was almost insultingly expensive for a tub, plus extra for real butter; concessions were always expensive, it seemed. That didn't stop Pinkie from going in on a large tub with extra butter, but the tub was large enough—as big as Pinkie's head, mane and all—to share with the entire group.

Twilight elected just to get a small cola and call it a day.

The movie selection was also much more varied than what she was used to back home, a clear result of having multiple screening rooms. Since it had been Pinkie, Rainbow, and Red's idea to come to the movies, they were allowed to choose the film they'd be watching. They picked one called Xeno, which was billed as a science-fiction horror film not suitable for younger audiences. Twilight wasn't sure about the choice herself, but she didn't see anything that she would have picked, so she went along with it.

With tickets in hoof, the sextet made their way into the theater and took their seats; Twilight sat on one end next to Winter, who sat next to Applejack, who sat next to Rainbow, then Pinkie, and finally Velvet. Everypony got comfortable in their seats, sipped their drinks and ate their snacks, and waited for the film to start; Rainbow even made a big show about yawning and throwing her foreleg around Pinkie so that they were close together, for some reason.

First, though, came some previews of coming attractions, which interested Twilight since she was used to the movie just starting up right away at showtime back home. One film looked like some sort of psychological thriller about a family stuck in a haunted hotel over the winter; another looked like a serious drama about a boxer, which seemed to be a biopic; another looked like an action film about some sort of gang war in the slums of a big city, no doubt this one.

Finally, the movie itself started. It was a slow start, but gripping nonetheless.

A starship coasted through the cosmos, its pony crew in cryosleep, when the ship received a distress call. The crew was woken up to investigate, and found a strange alien ship crashed on a moon. Twilight found herself watching with bated breath as some of the crew explored the craft and found some strange egg-like objects.

Then one of the crew members touched one of the eggs, and this creature leapt out of it and latched onto his face.

Twilight nearly leapt right out of her seat; she grabbed the closest thing to her to try and protect herself from the terrifying scene, which happened to be Winter. Winter didn't react to the scare but did react to Twilight grabbing her, mostly by taking Twilight's hoof in hers and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Don't worry, Twilight," Winter whispered. "It's just a movie."

It helped.

A little.

And that's how Twilight stayed for most of the movie: her hooves tugging her cloak up near her mouth as she watched horrible thing after horrible thing happen to the misfortunate crew of that starship. She gasped and hid her face from the action on all of the particularly scary or violent moments, like when an alien worm tore out of the chest of a crew member, or when the worm turned up again—bigger, scarier, and deadlier—and tore apart the crew one by one.

Once the credits were over, Twilight vowed to never, ever, let Rainbow and Pinkie pick a movie for the group again without looking over it first. The ending was uplifting, absolutely, with the lone survivor of the crew escaping on a shuttlecraft with the ship's cat as the alien creature was blown out of an airlock, but that didn't make Twilight feel any better after witnessing the rest of the film's violent horror.

Winter seemed to find the film enjoyable from an actual cinematic perspective, saying that the pacing of the opening was just perfect; Twilight managed to critique the protagonists of the film for splitting up to hunt a monster; Applejack seemed about as shook as Twilight, but at least was able to offer her opinion on the film: too much violence for her tastes; Pinkie and Rainbow loved it, though Pinkie made an odd comment about seeing something just like it before; Velvet loved it too, citing it as the perfect blend of violence and horror, and that she found the alien creature invitingly phallic.

But now that the movie was over with and the group still had plenty more time in their day to spend, the conundrum came for what to do next.

"We could always go meet with Rarity and Shy," Pinkie suggested. "I wouldn't mind seeing what the shops in the Inner District have to offer," she added, waggling her eyebrows at Rainbow.

"As good as that sounds, I know that if we show up there, Rarity's gonna just rope us all into shopping for new duds," Rainbow said, shaking her head. She pawed at her jacket lovingly. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm just fine with what I've got. Plus, it's cheaper just doing laundry for now, right?"

"Hear, hear!" Applejack said, stomping a hoof. "Last thing I need is Rarity draggin' me through some fritzy frou-frou boutique tryin' to buy a dress that I ain't even gonna wear. This here's my work uniform as much as it's what I wear on my day off, ain't it?"

Pinkie shrugged. "Okay, okay, we don't have to go shopping. But we've got hours before we all meet up for dinner! What're we gonna do now?"

"Arcade?" suggested Rainbow.

"That's not the best 'group' activity," Applejack grunted. "Last time we went to an arcade, y'all stuck around for two hours 'cause you were goin' for some high score, while the rest of us didn't have no more bits to spend. I mean, we was impressed 'n' all, but I was bored as all get-out."

"Hey, it's not my fault I'm awesome, okay?"

"Uh, I think it kinda is?"

"Ooh, how about mini-golf?" suggested Pinkie.

"We don't have much mini-golf around here," Winter said with a shrug. "Golf never really took off in the north, y'know? Not enough space in the city for a proper course. And without regular golf, nopony wanted to bother with a miniaturized version of it."

"Aww, phooey."

Velvet beamed and waved her hoof in the air. "Ooh! Strip club! Strip club!"

Rainbow blanched. "Ew, no. Last thing I need is some dude's junk waving around in my face."

"You can sit in the back, then," Velvet huffed. "More for me!"

"What's a 'strip club'?" Twilight asked, red in the face, having never heard the term before but understanding what 'junk' Rainbow was talking about.

"It's the most magical place in the whole wide world!" Velvet said, hooves together in a dreamy pose. "The hunkiest hunks and studliest studs get up on stage and dance, dance, dance, shaking what their mamas gave 'em and taking off alll their clothes while thirsty mares throw bits at 'em." She bit her lip. "Mmmf! I can just picture it in my head."

"Ew, so can I," Twilight said, blanching just like Rainbow had. "That seems wildly inappropriate, not to mention potentially unsanitary. Who would want to degrade a bunch of stallions like that?"

Velvet pointed at herself. "Uh, me?" She then turned to Applejack. "C'mon, AJ. You're down to come see some grade-A studs with me right?" She turned to Winter. "Winter? You're in?"

Applejack shook her head. "Naw, that's quite alright, Red, I think I'll pass on the club, too. I'd feel a mite bit awkward gettin' some stallion shakin' his rear 'n' such in my face while out with all my friends like this."

Velvet tilted her head and smiled. "So you're saying maybe you and I could have a girls' night out sometime?"

"That's not what I— no! No strip clubs!"

"Yeah, I'm with Applejack on this: hard pass," Winter said. "It's not really my… scene."

Velvet rolled her eyes. "Man, you guys are laaame."

"If we're lookin' for a group activity, though, I've got a suggestion: laser tag," Winter said with a smile.

Pinkie and Rainbow simultaneously gasped and said, "You've got laser tag?!"

*****

Fluttershy marvelled at the sight of Le Bosquet D'Étoiles—the "Grove of Stars", as Rarity was kind enough to translate—which was a glamorous shopping center located in the heart of the Romantique District of the city's innermost territories. Being an official designer in a high-class fashion company got Rarity all sorts of perks that weren't typically allotted to the "rabble" of the Mid Districts, including the privilege of utilizing the Inner District shopping facilities.

The walls and floors of the mall were made of a fine marble that rivaled anything that Fluttershy had seen in the fancier parts of Canterlot, trimmed with gleaming, polished silver that caught and reflected light and with nary a blemish in sight. The ceiling was made of glass so that shoppers could look out onto the sky above, which rather than the smog-covered, orange-glowing skyscape of Pandemonium proper, was the pristine, artificial image of a star-covered nighttime sky, even now in the middle of the afternoon.

And the other shoppers were just as lovely as the architecture, dressed in impeccable clothes, their manes, tails, and make-up done up with professional standards, all of them with noses up with the typical snootiness that Fluttershy had come to expect from ponies in the elite upper class of any society. She almost felt like she was in Canterlot, and that the door to this mall had accidentally sent her home for some reason.

Of course, all this high-class fashion made Fluttershy feel dreadfully underdressed, like she was sticking out like a sore hoof, but then again that was the reason she was here: Rarity wanted to get her a fancier dress so that when and if Fluttershy was able to attend one of Rarity and Insipid's fashion shows, she'd be dressed to impress.

But nopony stuck out more than Gray Skies, who still wore her plain gray sweater had her mane and tail done up like she was in a punk band—Rainbow's description, not hers. She had to be doing it on purpose, because she had even started chewing a stick of bubble gum just to make sure that everypony around her knew that she didn't belong here with all these fancy ponies.

None knew it better than Gray herself. "Remind me again why I'm here?" she asked nopony in particular.

"Um… w-well, I thought you might like to come with us?" Fluttershy replied with a little smile. "I know you like to, um… be alone and stuff, but… I figured maybe you'd like a chance to try something new?"

"Yeah, I guess," Gray said, blowing and popping a gum bubble. "Still, this is pretty weird for me. Fashion's not really my thing."

"Oh, mellow out, sis!" Insipid chirped from the front, where she was following Rarity along through the mall. "I mean, like, Rarity and Flutterbutter—"

"Fluttershy," both Gray and Fluttershy corrected in unison; Fluttershy blushed when she realized that Gray had corrected Insipid as well; Gray didn't blush at all, and in fact her expression was totally neutral.

"Whatever! They invited us to, like, go shopping and junk? And I dunno, there's a part of me that, like, knows that I was meant for this."

"Meant for what?" Gray asked.

Insipid gestured out at the mall with wide open hooves. "This! Shopping! The mall! I feel like I was born for this! Cha!"

"I honestly can't think of a better place for you to be than with a bunch of vapid airheads wasting their days shopping with their daddies' credit cards," Gray replied flatly.

"I know! It's destiny!"

Rarity, who either didn't notice the conversation or was choosing to wisely stay out of it, finally butted in by slowing her pace so that the others could hear her. "Alright, everypony, we're here!" she exclaimed, gesturing towards a storefront. "Welcome to La Porte du Paradis—that's 'Heaven's Gate', dears."

The store was one of the largest on this level, not exactly difficult to notice. The window had several ponyquins on display with such a range of fashion that Fluttershy was certain that one could put together any sort of outfit they wanted without missing a piece. There were dresses, gowns, skirts, blouses, jackets, shirts, suits, sweaters, vests—well, there really was everything. They even had a selection of lavish horseshoes—for function—and fashion-conscious shoes like heels and boots, as well as all sorts of different hats.

Insipid's eyes went wide, and she gasped so hard that Fluttershy worried she'd suck all the air out of the mall. "Oh. My. Stars. This is, like, the greatest thing in the history of greatest things! Major. Fresh." She grabbed Rarity and shook her a little bit. "This is amazing!"

"It came highly recommended by Chantilly as the premier boutique for off-the-rack fashion, which is what we're here for." Rarity turned to Fluttershy and gave her a little wink. "After all, I'm not officially allowed to start making dresses within the Rising Star fashion line until after tomorrow's show. So, no Rarity Originals for my friends just yet."

"I'm sure these will be just fine, Rarity," Fluttershy said as they walked into the store, glancing about at the selection available. "Oh my goodness, they really do have everything. I've never seen so many outfits in one place before."

The group was approached by a snooty-looking, bespeckled earth pony mare with a thin frame wearing a fashionable dress suit. "Bonjour, and welcome to La Porte du Paradis." She gave Fluttershy and Gray a scrutinizing glare. "Are you all… together?"

"Yes, we are," Rarity said with a smile. "My friends and I are looking to get some new clothes."

"Yes, that much is obvious for some of you more than others," the mare said. She gave a brief look over Rarity and Insipid as well. "Lovers' Lane originals, hmm? You two have fine taste in fashion. It will not take long to present other options to you that should fit your tastes and body tones."

"Well, thank you," Rarity replied. "I appreciate the effort."

"What does fashion even taste like?" Insipid asked, earning a blank look from the worker, as if worried she would start nibbling her dress.

The worker mare just shook it off, then turned to Fluttershy next and gave her a more thorough once-over. "Hmm… your figure is commendable, you have a pleasing face, and your mane and tail flow quite well. Yes, I believe I can procure some outfits that can help your features pop, hopefully without giving ponies the same wrong idea that your current choice does."

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

"Your skirt, my dear, is much too short. Another inch or two would do you wonders, but as it stands it draws a significant amount of attention to your flanks." The mare adjusted her glasses. "Now, if that is what you were going for, I could recommend a different store that might be more to your tastes?"

Fluttershy's cheeked reddened. "I… I had no idea!" She looked to Rarity, then to Gray. "Wh-why didn't anypony say anything?"

Rarity, who seemed just as stunned as Fluttershy, replied, "I honestly had no idea either, darling. Considering the current fashion trends, I'm surprised it's not seen as being somewhat in vogue."

Gray just shrugged. "I thought you knew."

Fluttershy had never felt so embarrassed in her entire life. Had she really been walking around for a week with ponies… gawking at her flanks everywhere she went? Wait, did that mean that Lockwood had noticed it, too? Her blush deepened as she realized that she was accidentally flaunting herself to not just complete strangers but also dear friends. What if she'd been sending the wrong message to them this entire time?

"As for you," the worker mare said, approaching Gray, "your fashion sense is atrocious, not even considering current or recent trends. This… ensemble of yours is hideously juvenile and lazy."

"That's the point," Gray said, blowing another bubble of gum.

"And it's most unfortunate that you've done so," the mare continued, giving Gray a once-over as well. "Your figure is, by pegasus standards, astounding. If you were even a little more fashion-forward, my dear, I dare say you would be the talk of the town."

"That sounds like exactly the opposite of anything I could ever want."

Rarity cleared her throat. "Gray, darling, I understand that you have your own style, and far be it from me to judge you for it, but surely you'd like to have an outfit to wear if you ever attended a formal occasion? A wedding perhaps, or the opera?"

Gray's response was, naturally, short and sweet: "Nah."

Insipid puffed out her cheeks. "Sis! C'mon, don't be such a lamewad! You're being totally unfresh right now."

"I'm not the kind of mare that cares about any of that stuff. I don't go to parties, I definitely don't go to the opera, so I don't need a fancy dress for anything."

Fluttershy nudged Gray gently. "You don't have to actually buy anything, you know?" she whispered. "Maybe… just try some things on? Humor them a little bit?"

Gray just stared at her, and Fluttershy worried for a moment that she'd sounded too assertive and was making Gray do something she didn't want to do. But then, Gray just grunted, looked at the worker mare, and said: "Fine. Whatever."

"Wonderful," said the mare, adjusting her glasses. "Now then, ladies, if you would proceed to our changing area?" She gestured to the far end of the store, where a number of changing rooms were set up, some of them in use but most of them not. "I will bring over some samples for you all to try."

Rarity smiled and gestured for the others to follow. "Ooh, this should be fun. It's not often I dare to let another pony tell me how to dress, but I'm getting a little excited to see what sort of selection they have here. Who knows, I might just pick up a little inspiration along the way, hmm?"

The next couple of hours was spent with the mares—one at a time—trying on outfits that the worker mare brought over for them. The first dress alone—which would be for Rarity to try—boggled Fluttershy's mind when she saw the price tag. There was no way that the group had the amount of bits necessary to pay for all of this, even if Rarity had already received payment for the dress she'd actually designed.

But she didn't let that get to her right now, figuring that Rarity had noticed it too and would likely have the entire group walk out of the store without purchasing a single thing as soon as they were all done having their own little miniature fashion show. It wasn't exactly a polite thing to do, but knowing Rarity she might just cave and buy a hat or something to at least ease her conscience.

As Rarity sampled outfit after outfit, she was met with some applause from Fluttershy and Insipid—not Gray, though—who also provided some commentary when Rarity asked for it, which she typically didn't. Most of the time, Rarity just gave the outfit a once-over and decided it wasn't for her, though Fluttershy had to admit that she disagreed with some of those sentiments.

There was one black satin dress that made Rarity look positively gorgeous, and naturally it had been the most expensive. Rarity had left it to the side for now, in the "maybe" pile. Everything else was discarded.

Insipid went next, and Fluttershy wasn't at all surprised that she'd been offered the same outfits as Rarity had been, only in different colors to better match her own hues, given that the two unicorns had practically the same body type. Insipid often didn't wait very long for the opinions of the others before she decided that she liked something, and so every outfit she'd tried on went into the "buy" pile.

Fluttershy did note that her suggested satin dress—this one a lovely purple—looked amazing.

Fluttershy went next, and felt a little self-conscious about the whole ordeal. It had been a long time since she'd done any "modeling" and this essentially the same thing, but at least she was just doing it with friends, not for cameras. Even so, she was a little nervous as she tried on and showed off every outfit that was suggested to her, blushing madly when she got applause from Rarity and Insipid… and most of all, from Gray.

Gray didn't react much when the others had shown off their outfits. But then Gray wasn't friends with Rarity the same way, and she and Insipid had an… odd sisterly relationship.

An outfit similar to the one she was currently wearing had been suggested, this one with a white blouse and a long, green skirt laced with pink butterflies. It wasn't terribly expensive, and she found that it was rather comfortable and best of all didn't get in the way of her wings, so she put that into her "buy" pile to replace the outfit she'd worn in; if anything, that was the most important thing to get.

Another was a flowing green-and-blue dress that resembled peacock feathers, which she felt was too loud for her tastes, and made her feel incredibly anxious because the dress "feathers" reacted with her wings, which only served to make it look like a male peacock's mating display. Looking in Gray's direction while the fathers were up just made it worse.

The next was a long blue dress made of what felt like silk, and while she liked the way it looked and flowed over her, it was much too expensive. The next was a bright pink-and-purple number with a large frilly skirt, which was even louder than the peacock dress. After that came three more outfits, none of which Fluttershy felt she could wear regularly in any capacity.

The only other outfit that caught her eye was the last one, a black, sequined lace dress trimmed with pink, which was, according to Rarity, very much in vogue and would fit in at any high-fashion function that Fluttershy might want to go to. Despite its cost, Rarity insisted that Fluttershy place it into her "buy" pile, and that they'd make it work out one way or another.

Gray went last, and though she tried one more time to get out of the deal, she relented when Fluttershy gave her an enthusiastic wave.

The first outfit she came out with was a sort of layered blue dress with a silver trim on the collar and tail. It was much too formal for somepony like Gray was, by any means, but the particular shades of blue matched well with the bluish grays of her mane. Fluttershy felt she looked rather nice in it; she knew it was hard to make Gray "pop" because of her coloring, but the boutique staff was certainly trying their best.

The same could be said of most of the other outfits that Gray tried on, really. Nothing really fit Gray's… well, Gray-ness. She was too big and muscular for most traditional dresses to work on her, and her colorations made it hard to find anything that matched. For the most part, the staff was trying to make Gray's square-shaped peg fit into the traditional round hole that Rarity, Insipid, and Fluttershy all fit into perfectly. They just weren't used to somepony like her.

But then, Fluttershy saw Rarity whisper something to the staff mare, who gave Gray a quick once-over, then nodded and hurried off to procure one last outfit. This one turned out to be a slate gray satin dress—if Fluttershy didn't know better she'd say that satin dresses were this shop's specialty—that fit snugly against Gray's large frame, and had slits at the back to expose her well-toned legs.

Fluttershy found herself unable to look away once Gray came out wearing that, and had barely managed to summon up the ability to applaud it. She could feel her face flush and desperately hoped that her mane was hiding it, but knew there was no way whatsoever she could hide her frightfully rigid wings at this point, especially when Gray tested to see if she could move her own in that dress and proved that she could go to full wingspan. Full, impressive wingspan

"That dress looks simply wonderful on her, doesn't it?" Rarity whispered, leaning over into Fluttershy's ear.

Fluttershy peeped and hid herself behind her mane as best she could; she'd forgotten how close Rarity was sitting and was certain that Rarity noticed Fluttershy's blush. "Y-yes…"

Rarity just smirked, turned to the staff member, and said, "We'll take that one as well, thank you."

Gray grunted. "I didn't say I wanted it."

"Oh, hush, darling. Just take it home and keep it in your closet. You never know when you'll need something like this, after all. Maybe on a… date, one day?" Rarity suggested, her eyes shifting casually towards Fluttershy.

Gray just rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

She turned and headed back into the changing room, and Fluttershy had to bite her lip when she caught sight of just how well the dress accentuated every single curve and muscle, lest she let out another peep—or worse—and draw attention to herself. It wasn't fair that Gray had such a… powerful figure.

Once all of the outfits that had been picked out—Rarity did decide to take the satin dress after all—they headed up to the front counter to checkout. Fluttershy's jaw dropped as outfit after outfit was scanned and priced, and the grand total came out to just short of two thousand bits. That was more money than Applejack, Pinkie, and Twilight could make combined over the course of their entire stay here, and that included giving up all of the funds going towards new furniture tomorrow.

True, most of that was from Insipid's choices—she'd taken every outfit that she'd tried on and even added a number of accessories that the staff was suggesting to her without a second thought—but that was beside the point.

"Rarity, how are we going to afford this?" Fluttershy whispered.

Rarity did actually seem concerned at this point; she'd apparently been lost in the moment and forgotten that these dresses weren't cheap. "I've been paid enough bits for my first commission that I think I can afford one of your two outfits, dear, but not both, and not mine," she whispered back. "Which would you—"

Their conversation and collective trains of thought came to a screeching halt when the register made a loud beep, and the checkout clerk passed what looked like some sort of plastic card over to Insipid. "Here you go, Mademoiselle, your card has been approved. Merci for shopping at La Porte du Paradis."

Insipid smiled and tucked her card back into her purse. "Cha. Of course it was?" She turned to Rarity and Fluttershy. "Hey, what're you two, like, whispering about over there? Ooh, are we sharing secrets?"

Rarity's jaw dropped. "Darling, did you just purchase everything yourself?"

Insipid tilted her head. "Yeah? Uh-duh. That's, like, what Daddy's credit card is for! Spending!"

"But… but that was two thousand bits, dear."

"Okay? Is… is that a lot?"

"Yes!"

"So… okay, I don't understand the problem?"

"Darling, we couldn't possibly hope to pay you back for this," Rarity said, taking Insipid's hoof in hers. "Believe me, I understand everything there is to know about being a generous pony, but—"

"Oh, I'm not, like, doing this to be generous or anything," Insipid said with a grin. "I wanted to buy all of that. For. Sure."

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "But you're giving us these outfits, dear. Aren't you?"

"Yeah? So? I wanted to buy them. So what if they're, like, not all for me? I wanted to buy them." Insipid tapped Rarity's nose. "And I always get what I want. So, like, don't worry about it, I guess? 'Cause you seemed worried about it." And, with a bright smile, she added, "Cha!"

Rarity and Fluttershy shared a brief look, then returned the smile. "Well then, I, um… I certainly hope you can bring that same enthusiasm to tomorrow night's showcase, hmm? What I mean is, I hope you want to impress those judges and journalists as much as I do."

"Yup! We're, like, gonna knock their blocks off!"

"Socks, darling. Socks."

"Yeah! We're totally gonna knock their socks off!" Insipid paused, tapping her chin. "What if they're not wearing socks, though?"

The cashier had just finished putting all of the outfits into boxes, and turned to Insipid with a smile. "Your purchases are ready, Mademoiselle. Do you require assistance carrying these out?"

"Nah," said Gray, as she nonchalantly walked over to the stack of boxes and, as she flicked her wings just slightly, balanced them all on her back like it was nothing. Fluttershy and Rarity watched with rapt attention, Fluttershy in particular.

"My my, what I wouldn't give to have a stallion like that," Rarity muttered. With a little side-glance towards Fluttershy she winked and added, "So strong and courteous."

Fluttershy gulped and nodded.

The cashier just looked at Gray's display, clearly just as impressed. "Well… how about that. Huh." He shook himself out of the slight stupor he was in, then nodded to the group. "Good afternoon, mademoiselles. Enjoy the rest of your day."

"Thank you, monsieur," Rarity said with a nod.

As they exited the store, with Insipid skipping happily ahead and Gray taking up the rear, Fluttershy and Rarity lingered behind slightly enough that Rarity could ask, "Gray, darling, forgive me if this sounds rude, but if your sister has so much money… why is she living with you and Velvet?"

Gray didn't shrug—that seemed impossible with her current haul—but just tilted her head in a close approximation of a shrug. "Our dad wants us to watch over her and make sure she stays out of trouble. I'm sure that you've seen that she's…"

"A little slow on the uptake?" Rarity completed.

"Sure, if that's how you want to put it." Gray shook her head. "Leave it at that, though, okay? Our family situation is… complicated, and none of us really want to talk about it."

"I understand, dear," Rarity said with a nod. "Sometimes family matters can indeed get quite complicated, especially when financial matters are involved. I won't make any assumptions one way or the other."

"Thanks. And don't mention any of this to her, either."

"I wouldn't dream of it. Insipid is a dear friend, and I appreciate what she's just done. I couldn't imagine doing anything to upset her."

"Good," Gray said, giving Rarity a hard look. "I'm relying on you to take care of her on these 'shows' you two are doing together, since I'm not there. Got it?"

Rarity paused, then nodded, though she seemed more confident than nervous. "Crystal clear, dear. Crystal clear."

As Gray pushed ahead to keep up with Insipid, who had just bounded off to stare into the window of a candy shop, Fluttershy lagged behind a bit with Rarity. "This was a great idea, Rarity,” she said. "Look at how happy Insipid is."

Rarity smirked and smoothed her mane back a little. "Well of course it was, darling. I do tend to have a knack for planning out these sorts of things. A shame we couldn't convince anypony else to come along. I would have loved to pick out things for all of our other friends."

She then clapped her hoof on the floor, only breaking her stride by half a second. "That reminds me, we need to find a store around here that sells something similar to Twilight's work uniform. A cable knit sweater, I believe she said. Oh, she'll look absolutely adorable in it, I'm sure."

"Me too. You always pick out the best," Fluttershy said with a smile.

Rarity then gave Fluttershy a sidelong glance and a smile of her own. "So, are you looking forward to showing Lockwood your new outfit?"

Fluttershy felt her cheeks grow a little hot. "I… I think I'm more looking forward to knowing I'm not flaunting myself in front of him like I have been, apparently. I hope I haven't been giving him the wrong idea about me…"

"I highly doubt that he thinks anything of the sort, dear. Lockwood is a perfect gentlecolt, from what I've seen and heard. He would never think of you in such a way." Rarity gave a little wistful sigh. "If only more stallions back home possessed that sort of chivalrous attitude."

Fluttershy paused a moment as she watched the look on Rarity's face, that faraway hopefulness that she'd displayed once or twice before when talking about some handsome celebrity back home that she had her eyes on. Fluttershy was happy for her friend in that moment, and knew exactly why Lockwood would never think of her in such a way that she feared.

With a look forward towards Gray, she realized that she didn't mind it one bit.

*****

Rainbow slid behind cover in time to avoid being seen by an ever-watchful Applejack on the far side of the arena, sliding right next to Velvet, also in cover and watching the nearby set of walls for any sign of Twilight or Winter. In the ultraviolet light of the laser tag arena, it was harder than ever to tell the difference between Pinkie and Velvet, with only their manes and tails being obvious differentiators.

It made Rainbow a little jittery; she'd had that dream once: two Pinkies, one Rainbow. She'd needed to change her sheets the following morning.

Everypony was equipped with typical laser tag gear, which was basically just a rifle and a vest. The vests were a little clunky but still comfortable, and had spots on both the front and back which acted as target areas. The rifles were surprisingly well-made, and were said to be accurate at a distance of up to one thousand feet; considering the arena was only a fifty-foot square, that seemed excessive, but impressive nonetheless.

"AJ's over at Sector C right now," Rainbow said quietly so that nopony on the opposing team would overhear. "She's got a good vantage point over B, E, and F, so we're gonna need to distract her somehow. You got eyes on the unicorns?"

"Negative," Velvet said without taking her eyes off her vantage point. "No sign of either of them yet. I'm watching E, Pinkie's watching D." She turned to Rainbow briefly and waggled her eyebrows. "If you ask me, I should be watching the D."

Rainbow snickered, then glanced over at Pinkie. "Any sign of the unicorns, Pinks?"

Pinkie, who was positioned behind a wall just opposite Rainbow and Velvet, turned towards the pair and made several elaborate gestures with her hooves that looked more like charades miming than anything useful, including miming fishing, a bird in flight, boxing, and then tapping her tush.

Rainbow just stared at the display, a blank expression on her face. "What the heck does any of that mean?!" she hissed.

Velvet held up a hoof. "Hang on, I speak Pink."

Rainbow paused, and looked at Velvet like she was nuts. "What?"

"She said that we're gonna lure them in, then you're gonna fly over them and hit them from behind."

Pinkie smiled wide and rapidly nodded her head.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Yeah, alright. But we've gotta be careful so that AJ doesn't shoot me out of the sky."

She cocked her laser gun—the gesture was just for show since it didn't use ammunition, but it made the typical gun-cocking sound effect just for the coolness factor. "You guys ready?"

Velvet and Pinkie nodded and cocked their own guns.

The trio carefully made their way towards Sector D of the arena from their hiding spot in Sector H—all named for three-by-three grid positions so that they could coordinate better—sticking to cover so that Applejack wouldn't spot them and try to take a long-range shot. Sliding from cover to cover, laying low to the ground, and taking their time got them safely to their destination, whereupon Rainbow spotted that telltale horn of Twilight's poking up from a block of cover on the opposite side of a small clearing.

Rainbow pointed it out to her pink-coated teammates, then gestured for them to take positions while she got into a spot where she could fly over and behind Twilight's hiding place without Applejack spotting her. Once she was in position, she signaled to Pinkie and Velvet to start the attack.

Pinkie did so by walking out behind cover just barely, such that Twilight would be able to see her. This was enough to get Twilight to pop out of cover to try and take a shot, but Pinkie had already slid back into cover herself.

Velvet popped up to take a shot at Twilight, but the unicorn was taking great care to avoid exposing her chest.

While Pinkie and Velvet popped in and out of cover to keep Twilight's attention on them, Rainbow silently moved along the side of the clearing, then took to the air out of sight of Twilight, coming right up behind the section of cover pieces Twilight was using.

From there, it was easy for Rainbow to come right up behind Twilight, place her laser rifle right up against the back of the unicorn's vest, and pull the trigger.

Twilight's vest lit up bright orange.

"Tag," Rainbow said, dramatically blowing the barrel of her rifle. "You're out."

Twilight groaned and hung her head, then popped back up to smile at her friend. "Good job, Rainbow. I didn't even notice you!"

"Yeah, well, once to get up to my level, these things just come naturally to you. Better luck next time, Twi." Rainbow then popped out from behind cover and approached Velvet and Pinkie's location. "Okay, girls, let's go find—"

She froze up. Pinkie was on the floor, clutching her chest, her laser tag vest lit up bright orange. Velvet cradled her head in her hooves.

"It's gonna be okay, Pinkie," Velvet blubbered. "It's gonna be okay."

Pinkie noticed Rainbow, and reached out her free hoof. "Dashie… Dashie, they got me…"

Rainbow approached the two in a flash, swooping down to kneel beside Pinkie. "Pinkie, no! No, you can't—"

"It's gonna be okay, Dashie," Pinkie said with a sad smile. "It's gonna… be… o…" She then froze up, and went limp in Rainbow's hooves, her tongue rolling out of her mouth and her eyes rolling up into the back of her head.

Rainbow lifted her hoof to the heavens. "Noooo! Pinkiiieee!"

"What the bloody hell is this shit?" said Winter from behind them, her voice flat.

Rainbow smirked at Velvet, then wheeled around and shot Winter right in the chest, lighting up the other unicorn's vest.

Winter, however, had fired at the same time, but hadn't been aiming at Rainbow; her shot instead hit Velvet right in the chest without issue, lighting her up as well.

Winter rolled her eyes. "Shit."

Velvet dramatically grasped at her heart. "Ack! And thus, I die! Bleh." And she collapsed to the floor, closing both eyes.

Rainbow collapsed on the floor and pounded her hoof. "No! Why does everypony around me die?! What am I fighting foooor?!"

"Yeesh, tone it down a notch, Dash," Velvet scoffed, opening one eye.

"Yeah, sorry, got a little too into it," Rainbow chuckled.

"I thought it was great!" Pinkie giggled, eyes still closed.

Rainbow stretched her hooves. "Alright, guess it's just me and AJ n—"

Rainbow's chest lit up orange.

"What the—"

"Too easy," Applejack chuckled from behind the next line of cover. Rainbow noticed she wasn't wearing her hat.

"AJ? How? You were—"

"Up in the tower in the corner? Nah. That was just my hat. Figured y'all would try the whole divide 'n' conquer plan, so Twi 'n' Winter went out to bait y'all in while I snuck up on ya." Applejack blew the barrel of her rifle. "You're predictable, Dash. And it was easy to sneak up on ya when y'all're actin' all, uh… dramatic."

Rainbow wanted to be mad, but she couldn't be; the strategy had worked perfectly. She just walked up to Applejack and offered her hoof. "Good game, AJ."

Applejack smirked and shook. "Good game, Dash." She turned to the others as they started getting up and gathering around. "Welp, guess it's time we all headed back for dinner, yeah?"

"Heck yeah! I'm starving!" Pinkie said, rubbing her tummy. "I haven't had anything to eat all day!"

"Pinkie, you had half of a large tub of popcorn, a large soda, three boxes of movie theater candy, and some movie nachos," Twilight noted. "Plus three candy bars and another soda while we were waiting for our turn in the arena."

"Okay, besides that, I haven't eaten anything."

Applejack smiled. "Y'know, I really appreciate y'all takin' me out with ya today. It's been a rough week, and this is the most fun I've had in, well, a week. I needed this."

"We all did," Twilight said, stepping up and patting Applejack's shoulder. She froze up for a moment when she did. "Wow, Applejack, you feel different!"

"Huh?"

"I mean, I could see it but it's really different to feel it."

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "The hay are ya talkin' about, Twi?"

"Your muscles! You're increased your muscle mass by a lot in the past week." Twilight poked Applejack's shoulder again, moving down the leg a little. "Must be from all the heavy pulling your do at work. I'm impressed."

"In other words, you're looking great!" Pinkie chimed in. She then nudged Velvet and winked. "Shame she's not a stallion, huh?"

Velvet rolled her eyes. "Har har." She looked at Applejack and smirked. "I mean, not to make it sound like no big deal, but I bet AJ's whole crew is built like that. It's nothing… special." She paused, eyes slowly widening, a strangely devilish grin spreading across her face. "Oh. Oh."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to say this for like the last couple of days, AJ, but you're getting ripped," Rainbow added. "Like, I'm gonna be honest with you, we're not even in the same league physically anymore. I'm still faster in the air and stuff, but you're absolutely winning the next Running of the Leaves. I might just sit out and put money on you."

"Uh… thanks, I guess," Applejack said, scratching her head. "I mean, I guess I've kinda felt a difference. I'm able to lift the heavier loads at work easier than I was a couple of days ago. The stairs don't bother me no more, neither."

She then coughed into her hoof. "So, uh, like I said. Thanks for havin' me out with y'all. This was nice."

Twilight nodded. "With everything that's going on, I think we all needed a good break to put our minds at ease."

Velvet raised an eyebrow. "Yeesh, you guys must work real hard at your jobs to be this desperate for some fun."

Twilight shrugged. "I guess you could say that. We've just got a lot of things on our minds, y'know?"

"And hey, thanks for coming with us, Red!" Pinkie said, pulling Velvet in for a hug. "You're the best Long-Lost Twin Sister in the whole world!"

"Glad to be here," Velvet said with a grin. "Thanks for having me."

"Not to interrupt, but if we're all done huggin' it out, I think we were gonna head back home for dinner?" Winter suggested.

Pinkie blinked. "Oh. Right. Yeah, let's go! Dinner time! Woo!"

Chapter Seventeen: Complications

"Okay, um… a little more to the left… a little more… there! Perfect!" Fluttershy—now dressed in her new casual outfit she'd gotten yesterday—clapped her hooves together enthusiastically. "That's just perfect, Gray, thank you very much."

"Yeah, no prob," Gray said, giving a little shrug.

It was late afternoon, and apart from Fluttershy and Gray, the apartment was totally empty. Lockwood had given Fluttershy the day off, despite her insistence otherwise, in order for her to head out to a few stores to buy some things for the apartment: new, brighter lamps to light up the rooms, additional bed frames and mattresses so nopony using the bedrooms had to share, and new sheets and pillows for everypony's new beds.

Most importantly, they'd bought a pull-out sofa for Rainbow and Pinkie to sleep on so they didn't have to share the cramped—and broken as of two days ago—couch. Fluttershy knew that they'd likely be sharing the pull-out anyway, but she kept that thought to herself. She didn't know who else knew.

Gray had graciously helped her with the shopping, and had actually done a great deal more than what Fluttershy had expected. Though it still took multiple trips just so that everything would fit, Gray had helped move every single piece of furniture into the apartment without a single helping hoof. The lamps had been easiest, of course; the mattresses and sheets and such had been manageable; the bed frames looked like they'd be pretty heavy but Gray had even handled them just fine, and putting them together was a cinch.

The sofa, though, had been the real surprise. The shop owner had offered a pair of employees to help move the sofa into the apartment—there would be a fee, of course—but Gray had insisted they didn't need any help. The shop owner had laughed at first, until Gray had lifted the sofa entirely on her own and made it look like absolutely nothing; then, nopony was laughing, and in fact Fluttershy was sure that everypony who'd seen it was more than a little scared.

She wasn't, of course. Gray was her friend, and the fact that she had such a close friend that was so incredibly strong just reinforced the fact that Fluttershy felt utterly safe around her. She also didn't mind watching the muscular pegasus work, either, if she was being completely honest with herself, and had caught herself staring more than once today already. She knew exactly what Rarity would do if she were here, so she was glad Rarity was so busy; she didn't need anypony trying to push her too fast.

No matter how much she wanted it.

With the pull-out in place, the last of the furniture had been moved in and the day was done, and just in time, since the others would likely be heading home soon and Fluttershy knew she'd need to get dinner started. Tonight, she'd planned on making carrot soup—mostly boiled Orange with a little baked Yellow—and steamed, buttered broccoli—Green with some boiled Yellow.

"Would you like something to drink?" Fluttershy asked, giving Gray a sweet smile. "You must be thirsty after all that work. We've got water, coffee, and, um… I don't think Applejack would mind sharing a little of her whiskey."

Gray gave a light nod. "Sure. Just water will be fine."

Fluttershy headed into the kitchen and fetched Gray a bottle of water, which the large pegasus drank lazily, as if she wasn't tired or thirsty at all. "So, um… now that we've got everything set up, how does it all look?" she asked, gesturing out at the living room. "I think it looks wonderful."

Fluttershy had been nervous all day about the choices she'd made, since her friends had given her carte blanche for the decorations. Would they like her decisions? What if they didn't? What if they hated them?

"Looks nice," Gray said, short and sweet.

"Do you think maybe we should have gotten the blue lamps, though? I think Twilight would've liked the star designs on the lampshades."

"Nah. Green's fine."

"But what about the mattresses? What if I picked the wrong ones? Are they too hard? Too soft?"

"Nah, I tested 'em for you, remember? They're great."

"But what about—"

"Shy," Gray said, putting a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. "Everything's fine." Again, short and sweet.

That put Fluttershy at ease. Gray was right: her friends would love the choices. They only needed to last a couple more weeks, hopefully, so even if things weren't perfect, they'd be better than they had been so far and certainly good enough to get them through.

Then there came a knock at the door. Fluttershy looked out the peephole to find a pegasus stallion, a repairpony from the looks of his uniform, standing there. She opened it up to greet him. "Um, hello? Can I help you?"

"Hello there," he said with a smile and a brief glance at his clipboard.

He then looked up at her, and for a moment seemed caught staring straight into Fluttershy's eyes, which made her feel just a tad uncomfortable. Was there something wrong? Did she have something on her face?

Gray cleared her throat, though, and that seemed to draw him out of his stupor. "I'm here for a routine inspection of the apartment's electrical wiring," he continued. "May I come in?"

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow and tilted her head just slightly. She didn't remember Lockwood mentioning anything about any inspections today. She did, however, recall some information about a few of the other apartments having electrical issues over the last day or so, so that must be what this was about; it was better to be safe than sorry when it came to inspections, he'd said on more than one occasion.

She also knew from her experience with the other tenants thus far that letting the inspectors come in to do their work saved everypony lots of headaches in the long run.

"Sure, come on in," she said, gesturing inside with a grin.

"Thank you, ma'am," the repairpony said as he sauntered inside with his toolkit, plus some tools on his belt.

He noticed Gray standing there in the living room and gave her a nod of greeting as well, but at least he didn't seem as distracted. This was actually a little surprising; Fluttershy knew well enough that Gray's impressive wingspan was quite attractive to fellow pegasi, and had seen quite a few pegasi looking in her direction while out shopping today. Not this pegasus, it seemed.

"Hello, ma'am," he said. "Good afternoon to you. Just here to do some inspections of the electrical wiring."

Gray nodded back after a moment, but didn't say anything.

He turned to Fluttershy. "I'll go ahead and start in the bedrooms, if you'll direct me to them?"

Fluttershy nodded and showed the stallion towards where the bedrooms were.

"Thank you, ma'am," he said with a nod as he headed inside Twilight and Applejack's room first, closing the door behind him so it was only open a crack, though Fluttershy could still see inside.

And with that, he set to work, opening up a portion of the wall near the outlet and looking over the wires with a few tools from his kit. Fluttershy had no idea how any of that stuff worked and had never really cared to learn, so she just left the stallion to do his work without interruption. Twilight might have wanted to watch and ask questions, if she were here.

She wasn't even really surprised when the power in the apartment went out, shutting off the lights and the Teevee, and most definitely everything else that used electrical power, which of course meant the stove, so no making dinner just yet.

With a shrug, she took a seat on the new sofa next to Gray; the cushions were nice and soft, so she sunk into them and slid a little towards the larger pegasus, who made them sink much lower with all her muscle.

"I guess we're going to miss the rest of Rainbow's game," Fluttershy noted, disappointed. They'd been watching it on the Teevee up until now, though mostly just listening while they worked.

Gray shrugged. "Can't be helped. She'll tell you all about it when she gets home."

"You looked like you were enjoying it," Fluttershy said with a little smile. "I thought you didn't care about skyball that much?"

"I don't. But one of the blockers on the Rockets is my sister," Gray said as casually as could be.

Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Really? You mean… you have another sister? And she's on the same team as Rainbow? Who was she?"

"Havoc, the short red one."

Fluttershy had caught glimpses of the game here and there, and remembered seeing a short, red mare flying fast and hard into stallions twice her size without a care in the world, and making the impact stick, too.

She nodded in understanding. "Wow, what a small world. Rainbow said she made a new friend on her team named Havoc, but we didn't know she was your sister. Why isn't she living with you here?"

"She's got her own place," Gray said with a shrug. "That's all I know. We don't talk much."

Fluttershy frowned. "Oh. I'm… sorry if I brought up—"

"Nothing like that. We just don't talk much, that's all."

"Well… maybe you'll talk more soon? I mean, if Rainbow made friends with her, she might—"

Another knock came at the door, drawing Fluttershy off the sofa. When she gazed through the peephole, she found that it was Lockwood this time, so she opened the door with a smile.

"Well, hello… huh?" he said as he glanced into the apartment. "Oh dear, did your power go out as well? I was certain your apartment wasn't on that particular grid. Drat." He shook his head. "Well, it'll be taken care of soon enough. I'm terribly sorry if you all have to go without for a while. Are you alright?"

"We're just fine, Lockwood," Fluttershy said, letting him and gesturing at Gray.

"Gray, lovely to see you," Lockwood said, squinting his eyes. "I think. I can't see you at all, actually. You kind of blend in with the dark."

"I don't think this power loss is the same as the other outages, actually," Fluttershy explained. "An inspector came by to do a checkup on the lines. It must have gone out while he was servicing it. I mean, when you repair a pipe, you have to shut off the water, right?"

Lockwood stopped, and turned to Fluttershy, eyebrow up. "Bolt Cutter's here already? But… he wasn't supposed to arrive until tomorrow. And why is he here? Huh, the WPD is working fast today, it seems. Whatever, where is he now?"

On cue, the repairpony left Twilight and Applejack's room and made his way into Fluttershy and Rarity's. "All done in here, moving— oh, hello sir. Good afternoon. Just doing some routine maintenance. Power'll be back up before I leave."

After a brief pause, Lockwood gave the repairpony a tight-lipped smile. "Ah, very good. I was just saying to the ladies here that you WPD folks sure are working fast today. Good show. I wasn't expecting anypony so soon."

"Thank you, sir. Oh, before I forget, is everypony here a tenant in this particular apartment?" the repairpony asked, looking between the three of them. "Policy is that we speak with the tenants themselves following the inspection."

"That'd be me," Fluttershy offered with a nod. "These other two are my guests."

"Well then, ma'am, once I've finished up with the inspection, I'll need your guests to step outside so I can speak with you alone about any issues I may or may not have found in the process of my inspection. Just a part of our privacy policies."

"All perfectly normal," Lockwood assured her with that same tight-lipped smile.

He looked so odd like that, actually. But it wasn't the smile—he'd given those to tenants so that he could bite his tongue and keep his cool—but it was his eyes. Why did he look so… hostile?

"Say, I suppose since you're here, ol' Sparky must have called in sick or something?" Lockwood asked.

The repairpony raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"You know, Sparky! Oh, sorry, maybe you guys call him by his full name down there at HQ. Uh, let's see, it was… Shinespark? Everypony around here calls him Sparky."

The repairpony chuckled and nodded. "Oh, Shinespark. Yeah, he called in sick this morning so they've got me walking around doing his shifts. I wasn't even supposed to be here today, y'know? Let me tell ya, these hours are the pits."

Lockwood shook his head, pursing his lips in a tight-lipped frown that Fluttershy was almost certain wasn't sincere. "Ah, I'm terribly sorry about that. Well, I'll be sure to give ol' Sparky a piece of mind on your behalf, next time I see him."

Fluttershy was a little lost. Lockwood had said Bolt Cutter was the WDP inspector for this part of the city. Who was this "Shinespark"?

"Well, it's best if I don't waste time," the repairpony said. "I've still got the other bedroom to do, plus the bathroom, kitchen, and living room. If you don't mind?"

"Don't let us keep you."

The repairpony nodded again, then headed into said other bedroom and closed the door behind him so that it was open just a crack.

As soon as he did, Lockwood gently closed it almost the rest of the way so that they couldn't hear what the repairpony was doing—and vice versa—then turned to Gray. "Gray, could you do me a favor and take Fluttershy down to your apartment for a little while? Now, if you would, please?"

Gray nodded as if she'd been asked a perfectly normal question. "Yeah, sure, no prob."

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow, lost more than ever. "What? What's the matter, Lockwood?"

"Something's not right here, Fluttershy, and I would very much like to have you not be here right now," he replied, barely above a whisper.

"What are you talking about? Why?" Her eyes nervously darted about the room. "You're scaring me."

"This repairpony is absolutely not who he says he is. There isn't any Shinespark, so all that stuff he said was a load of baloney."

"Yeah, I picked up on that," Gray said, leaning back into the sofa a little. "Kinda obvious, really."

"I still don't get what you're saying, Lockwood," Fluttershy said, growing more anxious by the minute.

"I think that this fellow that definitely isn't with the WPD might try to do something to you if he gets you alone; it's not unheard of for ponies to pose as authority figures to lure their targets into a false sense of trust."

Gray nodded in agreement. "Makes sense. Standard predator behavior."

"What? What makes sense? What predator behavior?" Fluttershy aked, her heart racing. "You agreed with what he was saying—"

"Because what he was saying was a lie, and I wanted him to think I bought it like some kind of fool, which I am certainly not. WPD policy requires that their workers check in with the owner or landlord of the residence first, which would be me. Nopony met with me today, least of all this guy."

"You… you think this stallion is after me? For what?"

Lockwood frowned. "Oh, Fluttershy… I would really rather not say, but to put it simply, it would be bad. So, if you and Gray would step out for a few moments while I get to the bottom of this?"

"What, alone?" Gray asked, eyebrow up. "If you think this guy's a skeeze, I'll handle him."

He shook his head. "No, out of the question, I'm not putting either of you two in any danger."

"Dude. Have you seen me?" Gray flexed her foreleg a little.

"Maybe so, but it's my responsibility as landlord of this establishment to deal with issues such as this. Just head down to your apartment, Gray, and take Fluttershy with you. While you're there, call Flathoof, and tell him what's happening."

"So what are you going to do? This guy's gonna get suspicious if we leave."

"I'll say that you two stepped out for some air for a little while, as well as anything else I need to say to stall this 'repairpony' until Flathoof arrives to take care of him."

"Y-you want to keep us out of… out of d-danger, but you're willing to… to place yourself into it?" Fluttershy asked, hoof over her heart, anxiety levels rising.

Lockwood just gave her a little smile. "Come now, Fluttershy, do I look like the sort of pony that would put himself in danger just to get evidence of somepony's wrongdoing?" He patted her shoulder. "I'll be perfectly safe, don't you worry."

"But—"

"Let him be, Shy," Gray grunted as she rose from the sofa, giving a hard look at him as she passed by. "He's just got a bad case of white knight syndrome. Come on."

Fluttershy looked desperately at Gray. "But—"

"Shy. Come on." Gray said, taking Fluttershy's hoof.

"But—" Fluttershy tried to say again as Gray led her out of the apartment. She stared back at Lockwood, who just gave her a friendly wave as he closed the door behind them.

*****

Gray opened the door to her apartment and let Fluttershy inside, then closed and locked it behind them. "So—" she started to say.

"Gray, we have to do something!" Fluttershy peeped, nervously biting her hoof. "Wh-what if that… that other pony really is bad? What if he t-tries to hurt Lockwood?"

"That's why we're going to call Flathoof," Gray said as she stepped over to her apartment's telephone. "He won't take long to get here."

"But—"

"Let me just call him before you say anything else, okay?" Gray said, putting a hoof to Fluttershy's lips.

Fluttershy blushed. "Okay…"

Gray took a short breath, then called the direct line to the NPPD's Central Station, which she knew by heart; she'd seen it on the wall near the phone in Fluttershy's apartment once, and had an impeccable memory. Fluttershy and her friends had originally been given it so that they could contact him as their parole officer, but they could apparently still use it if they needed him for anything.

Like now.

The line rang once, twice. "Hello, NPPD Central Station, how may I direct your call?" came a feminine voice on the other end.

"Connect me to Captain Flathoof, please," Gray said with her usual casual tone.

"Alrighty. Hold please."

The line went on hold, playing a pleasant little jingle that Gray recognized from somewhere but that just didn't sound right as muzak.

"Shouldn't you let them know this is an emergency?" Fluttershy asked, barely able to stay still.

Gray shook her head. "Nah. They'd transfer me to the emergency line, and we'd have to deal with regular cops. They'd take too long."

The other line clicked. "This is Captain Flathoof," came Flathoof's baritone voice.

"Hey, this is Gray Skies, Fluttershy's friend. I don't think we've met before, but she's talked about you."

"No, I don't think we have," he said; he sounded confused, which was understandable. "What can I do for you, Miss Skies?"

She fought the urge to correct him; that wasn't important now. "So, uh, there's this repairpony in Fluttershy's apartment that's kind of acting suspicious. I've got her with me at my place, but Lockwood stuck around to confront the guy and stall him 'til you showed up."

There was a slight pause on the other end. "Lockwood's staying alone in a room with somepony he thinks is suspicious?" he asked, obviously displeased.

"Yup."

He sighed. "Of course he is. I'll be right there. Stay out of trouble." Then the phone clicked off, leaving the standard dial tone.

"Well? Is he coming?" Fluttershy asked, looking more and more like a frightened rabbit than ever.

"Said he'd be right here," Gray replied as she hung up the phone. "If he's anything like you say he is, he'll be here in ten minutes or so."

"Oh dear… no no no…" Fluttershy began pacing. "That's… that's too long. What if something happens? What if he doesn't get here in time? What if—"

"Hey, relax. Lockwood said he'd be okay, right?"

"B-but… I… oh, I don't know. Are you sure?"

Gray considered that for a moment.

She'd always generally been brutally honest about things, especially with her sisters, and a part of her wanted to just tell Fluttershy exactly what she thought was going to happen: that the obviously-fake "repairpony" was likely going to attack Lockwood, maybe knock him out, then run off hoping that he hadn't been identified. Best case scenario he'd just run off; Lockwood didn't seem capable of outrunning or outflying anypony.

Another part of her wanted to lie and tell Fluttershy it would all be fine, if only so that they could just chill here in the apartment. Maybe she'd get to take a nap after being relegated to a mover pony for most of the day. Not that she was exhausted, but she'd skipped her normal late morning and mid-afternoon naps.

In the end, though, she knew that her mission was to ingratiate herself with Fluttershy, which she felt she'd legitimately done, and she didn't want to lose that progress, or the friendship, actually; she actually was starting to like the little pegasus, truth be told. It wouldn't make Fluttershy feel any better, but at least she'd be honest.

"If that 'repairpony' really is a bad guy, I doubt Lockwood could handle him if he got violent," she said with a light sigh.

Fluttershy peeped, hooves over her mouth. "Oh no… oh no, oh no, we… we have to help him! Wh-what if something happens?"

"What's all this 'we' stuff?" Gray asked, giving Fluttershy a hard look. "No offense, Shy, but you're a creampuff. And if this guy was trying to get you, you'd just complicate things being there."

"But—"

Gray knew she'd regret this. "Look, you're going to stay right here in my apartment, like Lockwood wanted, okay? Safe and sound. But, if it'll make you feel better…" She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'll go check in on him and make sure everything's alright."

"You… you'd do that?"

"Sure."

"But what if you—"

"Shy, remember, I'm me," Gray said, flexing her forelimb for emphasis.

Fluttershy stared at the bulging muscle a moment, then nodded. "O-okay. But… but be careful. You two are my friends, and… and I don't want anything to happen… to either of you…"

Gray moved to the door and walked out into the hall, leaving her key with Fluttershy. "Keep this door closed and locked. Don't open it for anypony you don't know. Got it?"

Fluttershy nodded. "Okay…"

With that, Gray closed the door, waited until she heard it lock from the other side, then made her way up the stairs back towards Fluttershy's apartment.

The only thing Gray could really think about the whole climb up was how stupid this all was and how annoying it had become so quickly. If Lockwood didn't have some bizarre white knight syndrome, he'd have let her just smack this imposter around if he tried anything, and she'd be able to get back to lounging about in no time.

Now she was stuck doing more work, walking up and down these stupid, stupid stairs just because this doofus had some warped sense of chivalry or something. It might be his job to do what he was doing but he was stupid for doing it on his own, and Gray hated when ponies made her waste her time with boneheaded decisions.

The apartment door was still closed when she got there, and probably locked as well if she knew Lockwood—which she sort of did after going on a couple of lunches with him and Fluttershy. She tested it with a very careful twist of the knob; locked indeed.

She pressed her ear to the door to see if she could hear anything. It seemed oddly quiet in there; no voices, no sounds of a violent struggle, nothing. Then, she heard the very subtle sounds of hooves hitting the floor—not hoofsteps, but hooves hitting the floor, like tapping—as well as very weak grunting. Any other apartment and that would be a good sign that something fun was going on and that she should just walk away.

Given the circumstances, though…

Without too much effort, Gray bucked the door down, sending it sailing across the apartment, where it crashed into and broke the television set. Inside, even through the lack of lightning—only the light of the hall illuminated anything—she saw Lockwood struggling on the floor, the "repairpony" assailant choking him from behind with a large wrench, using his body weight to apply pressure.

Even in the poor lightning conditions, she could see that Lockwood's face was turning blue.

The assailant didn't even have time to react to Gray before she reached him in all of two steps and clocked him in the side of the head, knocking him off of Lockwood—who gasped for air and clutched at his throat—and to the floor.

The assailant barely recovered enough to try and take a swing at Gray; she just lifted her hoof and blocked it, the entire impact negated by her metal boot.

She clocked him again, this time on the jaw, and followed up by grabbing him by the shirt and slamming him into the floor hard enough to crack it. It helped that she could adjust his weight slightly by flaring her wings.

"Fun time's over," she said, pressing her hoof against the thug's throat and keeping her tone flat and even; this pony's unprofessional technique was just aggravating. "Really? Trying to kill him? A bit conspicuous, don't you think?"

"Not saying shit, bitch," he spat, at least as best as he could while her hoof was on his throat.

"Uh huh. You're not here just to take advantage of some mare, are you?"

"Huh?"

"You had hundreds of mares' apartments to choose from. You could've just asked my sister instead of all this fake story shit. Yet you picked this one. Why?"

The stallion didn't say anything, just pawed at her foreleg to try and get her hoof off him. Obviously, that wasn't going to work anytime soon; she'd increased her weight enough that he'd have to be three times his size to budge her even from a neutral position.

"Come on. Play along. Tell me what's really going on here." She placed her hindleg onto his groin, where she immediately began applying pressure, pinning his balls quite literally to the floor.

That got a reaction. "Fffff— n-not telling you… anything!"

"Try again." More pressure; more pain.

"Ahhh! Okay! Okay! I was after somepony specific!"

"Who?"

"A… a mare named Fluttershy."

"Why?"

"I… I don't know!"

"Wrong answer." Again, more pressure, more pain.

The stallion's eye twitched. "Nnng! I… I swear! We're just supposed to rough them up a bit and take them to the spot!"

Gray arched an eyebrow. "'We'?" she asked, loosening the pressure a bit.

"Yeah, this Fluttershy chick's not the only one. I don't know the others."

Gray reapplied the pressure, more this time; at this rate, the stallion would probably have trouble walking when he got up. "Yes you do."

"Augh! Ffffuck!" he bawled, his voice a little higher pitched. "I… okay! I remember, uh… it was some weird name. Like, uh… Jackalope or… Pineapple…?"

"Applejack?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"What are your pals doing with Applejack?"

"I don't know. Same thing, I guess?"

Gray applied the most amount of pressure she could before she broke his balls and ensured he'd never sire a foal, again, quite literally.

"I swear!" His voice was cracking; he sounded like he'd swallowed a squeaky toy. "That's all I know!"

"You said 'others'. Applejack is just one."

"I don't know! I swear to you, I don't know!"

"Fine. This 'spot'? Where is it?"

"Corner of 123 West and 789 South, out in Mid-West. It was just the meeting point, I swear, I don't know what else we were supposed to do."

Gray stared at the stallion a moment, then released the pressure off of his balls, though she still kept him pinned by the throat. "You'd better be telling the truth," she said, pressing down hard enough that he'd feel like a bus was on top of him, "or I'm going to finish what I started."

He could really only whimper, his hooves cradling his assuredly tenderized privates.

Lockwood, who'd been watching the whole thing while rubbing his neck, also had a hoof to his groin in what was likely a shared male pain reflex. "Well… I guess all I can say is thank you, Gray. I was definitely not expecting him to react that way when I said that I was the landlord and all the procedures he was supposed to be following."

Gray snorted and fixed him with a glare. "You're gonna get yourself killed, doing shit like that."

"Wouldn't be the first time somepony told me that." He staggered to his hooves. "As much as I appreciate the rescue, you shouldn't have come back. Where's Fluttershy?"

"Locked in my apartment. She'll open it for you if you head down there."

"Good. Good." Lockwood headed to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water, choking it down. "Ah… that's better." He also grabbed a Dolor packet out of the freezer—she couldn't tell the color in the dark—and set it to his face. "Much better."

Gray noticed that he had a bruise around his eye because it caught the light. "I'd ask why he tried to kill you, but my guess is these guys don't want witnesses."

"Probably not, no. Please tell me Flathoof is on the way."

As if on cue—

"Lockwood!" Flathoof exclaimed as he stomped into the room. "Are you alright?"

Lockwood smiled and waved the police captain over. "Hey, there he is. Wow, Flathoof, you made good time. This has gotta be a department record."

"Cut the wise-ass attitude, you idiot. What the hell were you thinking, putting yourself alone with a suspicious individual? Huh? You could've been—" A pause as he looked at Lockwood's swollen eye. "Sonuva— really? Again?"

"No worries, ol' buddy. Gray here was quick on the uptake and got up here to take care of things in time," Lockwood said with a gesture towards Gray. "I don't think you've met, right?"

Flathoof looked briefly toward Gray and gave her a once-over that took all of a second. "Hi." He turned back to Lockwood. "Still—"

"That's not important right now," Lockwood interrupted, setting his hoof on Flathoof's shoulder. "Gray was able to get some information out of this guy. There are more of them, and apparently they're after Applejack."

Flathoof paled. "Wh-what?"

"It's what he said," Gray confirmed. "They're gonna 'rough her up and take her to the spot'. Paraphrased."

"Shit. She's getting off work about now, and she's gonna be with… my dad. Shit." He turned to the door, where another, much younger police officer with an emerald green coat was waiting patiently outside. "Cadet! Read this punk his rights, cuff him, and get him to the station. And take a statement from these two and Fluttershy."

The other officer saluted. "Yes sir!"

Flathoof didn't wait around to hear the response, though, as he was already bounding down the stairs.

Gray casually let off the pressure on the thug's neck as the police cadet came over and cuffed his hooves behind his back.

Said cadet then looked up at Gray carefully, his eyes slightly narrowed. "Uh, I don't know when this other attack is supposed to happen, but if it's any time soon, the Captain couldn't possibly make it in time, even if he could run twice as fast as he can."

"Yeah," Gray said. "And?"

"Are you a good flyer?"

Gray tilted her head. "I guess?"

"Well, uh, I don't want to impose or anything, but seeing as how you're already involved… maybe you should go help? You'd probably make it there first, actually. I mean, the gravity of the situation seems pretty dire."

Gray was about to respond, when she saw that the cadet's hard look up at her was very familiar. She didn't even hesitate. "Yeah, alright," she said with a nod. She glanced at Lockwood briefly. "You gonna be okay?"

Lockwood waved that off. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Keep an eye on Fluttershy for me, okay?"

"Absolutely, I wouldn't dream anything otherwise."

With that, Gray walked out the door of the apartment, then glanced briefly at the frame, then back into the apartment at the cracked floor and broken television. "Uh… sorry about the mess."

*****

Since the power was out in Fluttershy's apartment, Lockwood headed down to Gray's apartment as soon as Cadet Gumshoe left with the fake repairpony; the cadet said he'd come back later to take statements after putting the crook through processing.

Lockwood gave the door a brief knock, waited only a moment, then smiled when Fluttershy opened the door. "Hey!" he said. "See, told you everything would be o—"

He stopped when she threw her hooves around him in a hug.

"—kay." He could hear her crying just a little bit, so he slowly put his hooves on her back and gave her a gentle pat. "Oh, hey, hey, it's alright. I'm fine. Just a little shiner, nothing an ice pack won't fix."

Fluttershy looked at the swelling around his eye and gasped. "Oh no! I just knew you'd get hurt. This is all my—"

"Ah! Ah ah! Don't you dare," he scolded, shaking his hoof gently. "If anypony is to blame for any of this, it's that guy, not you, not anypony else. Don't even think about blaming yourself for this, okay? You're not even remotely responsible for what happened."

"But—"

"No buts! We don't have time to play any blame games right now, okay? We've got much more important things to talk about and take care of. And not the power in your apartment; that'll get taken care of tomorrow."

He moved past her into the apartment, shutting the door behind him and immediately moving towards the phone.

"What are you talking about? What's wrong besides that?" she asked.

"Gray got that fake repairpony talking," he said, leaving out the more violent details, some of which still made his hoof subconsciously want to be sure his own family jewels were intact. "And apparently, he didn't pick your apartment at random. He was specifically after you. Used your name and everything."

Fluttershy's eyes widened. "What? Why? I never did anything to anypony, why would somepony be after me?"

"I don't know, but Gray also got out of him that he wasn't just after you. Flathoof and Gray are on their way north right now to try to find Applejack, because the guy mentioned that he wasn't working alone, and that she's another target."

"What?! Oh no, we have to warn her—"

"That's exactly what I'm trying to do," Lockwood said as he dialed the number for the Foundry's service line.

It rang once, twice. Then, an automated message: "You have reached the Foundry service department. If you know the extension—"

Lockwood knew it by heart, and dialed it in.

The phone rang again. Once. Twice. "Supervisor Clay Brick speaking."

"Hello, I was just wondering if a Miss Applejack was there, and if I could speak to her please?"

"You just missed her, son, she clocked out about ten minutes ago. Need me to take a message or anything?"

"No, but do you happen to know if she left with anypony?"

Clay chuckled. "Look, I'm not gonna go giving some random little shit on the phone a bunch of—"

"I'm not a random anything, actually. I'm a friend of Flathoof's, Forepony Stouthoof's son. This is an urgent matter, and if you could be of any help I would greatly appreciate it, and so would he."

There was a brief pause on the other end. "Okay, yeah, she left with Stouthoof to walk home together, same as she always does after work. Left about ten minutes ago, like I said."

"Damn."

"What's this all about?"

"Family business, sorry. It's complicated. Thank you for the information, though."

"Uh, sure. Hope things work out for you." The other line clicked, leaving Lockwood at the dial tone.

"Oh no, is everything okay?" Fluttershy asked, biting her hoof.

"She left with Flathoof's dad about ten minutes ago, so they're already making their way home," Lockwood sighed. "Gray's going to have to fly pretty dang fast to catch them before anything happens, but luckily she seems the sort that could do it. Big wingspan, eh?"

Fluttershy gulped, then nodded; there was a hint of a blush in her cheeks. "I hope everypony's going to be okay…"

"I'm going to call the rest of our friends, alright?" Lockwood said as he reached for the phone again. He pulled a little black book out of his pocket, which he always kept on him and which listed all of his contacts. "Better safe than sorry, right?"

He first called the CDH building to try and get in touch with Twilight, and was surprised when Chief Librarian Archimedes—he recognized the voice from past interactions—answered right away, almost on the first ring. "CDH, Chief Librarian Archimedes speaking. How can I help you?"

"I was wondering if I could speak with Twilight Sparkle? It's urgent."

"Miss Sparkle left about an hour ago," said Archimedes.

"Oh. Was she with anypony?"

"She was in the company of a friend of hers that does research here daily, I believe a Miss Glow?"

Lockwood was surprised he was being so forward and helpful. But he wasn't going to question it. "Well, thanks anyway, sir, much appreciated." He hung up and turned to Fluttershy. "Twilight's on her way home, too. Winter's with her. Hopefully they're coming straight here."

Fluttershy nodded, a little more assured at that. "Twilight's really good with magic, and she says Winter knows her stuff, too. I… I think they'll be fine, right?"

"Absolutely," he replied with a grin, more confident about it than she was at least. Twilight and Winter did seem the sorts to be able to handle themselves.

Next, Lockwood called over at the Mid-East Rockets' headquarters, and was able to get transferred to Rainslick relatively quickly. "Hey buddy, what can I do for ya?" the talent scout asked, a jovial lilt to his voice. "I mean, I owe you big time for putting me in touch with Rainbow Dash. This game is going great."

Lockwood paused a moment. "So the game's still on, is it? Must be in like the fourth period by now."

"Yeah, and that clock is ticking down, and I have never been so eager to see it happen. Between Rainbow's scoring and our new blocker putting up a practical firewall, the Rockets are— nope, not gonna jinx it. Nope nope nope. Almost did it, almost screwed it up."

"And Rainbow's on the field, then?"

"Yeah, of course she is. What kind of question is that? Even if I had a reserve player to sub in for her, I'd never take her off the field! That mare's scored more points in this one game than the Rockets scored all last season!"

Lockwood nodded. "Can you tell her to come straight home after the game? I know you guys probably want to celebrate afterwards, but it's crucial that she comes home immediately after she's done.

"Oh, uh, sure. Everything okay?"

"It's a bit complicated and I can't go over it with you, but if you could do that for me, I'd appreciate it."

"Well… I did say I owe you. I'll just have to drag her into a cele— nope, almost jinxed it again. I'd better get going before I put my hoof in my mouth."

"Great, thanks, Rainslick. Good luck!"

"So?" Fluttershy asked.

"Rainbow's on the court right now, so I doubt anypony's going to try anything in a public area with a lot of witnesses," Lockwood replied. "And if she heads home immediately afterwards, knowing how fast she is, she'll be here in a few minutes. Unless there's a traffic jam or something, which is really the safest place she could be."

Next, Lockwood called up Lovers' Lane's reception desk. "Lovers' Lane, how can I help stylize your day?"

"Is there any way you can put me in touch with Rarity, of the new… Rising Star line? I know they're doing a show tonight, but it's urgent."

"I'll direct you to the showroom's backstage, just a moment."

The line ringed, and ringed, and ringed. A airy-voiced stallion answered: "Lovers' Lane Showroom, this is Lens Flare, we're in the middle of a showcase—"

"Can you put me in touch with Rarity of Rising Star for a moment? It's urgent."

"Okay… let me see if I can— oh, there she is. Just a moment, sweetie." The line went quiet for a moment, the stallion clearly blocking the receiver with his hoof.

Then: "Um, hello? This is Rarity speaking—"

"Rarity, great! This is Lockwood."

"Oh, Lockwood! Hello, darling. Calling to wish me and Insipid a bit of luck tonight?"

"Uh, not exactly. Listen, are you safe right now? Like are you in a safe area?"

Rarity paused. "I'm afraid I don't understand, dear. What seems to be the trouble?"

"Okay, look, I'll be quick: somepony tried to foalnap Fluttershy earlier, and—"

"What?!" she yelled so loud that Lockwood had to hold his phone away from his ear. "Is she okay?!"

Lockwood held the phone's mouthpiece over to Fluttershy. "Oh, hello, Rarity," Fluttershy peeped into the receiver. "Wow, it sounds noisy on your end. Are you in the middle of the showcase already?"

Lockwood held the earpiece between himself and Fluttershy so they could both hear: "Yes, darling, I am, they're just doing the pre-show announcements. Are you okay? Did anypony hurt you?"

"I'm fine, Rarity, thank you," Fluttershy said with a grin. "Um, Gray and Lockwood kept me safe."

"Oh, thank goodness. I'll have to thank the two of them when I get back."

Lockwood moved the mouthpiece back to himself. "Rarity, back to my earlier question: are you safe right now?"

"I am, I suppose? I'm backstage here at the runway stage right now waiting for the curtain call. Insipid is going up third; she's so excited!"

Lockwood let out a breath. "Okay, so, Gray was able to get some information out of the guy that tried to grab Fluttershy, and found out that he has friends that might be going after some of you. You might need to leave and get someplace safer—"

"Absolutely not! This is our big night! If we don't perform well, we'll be kicked off the brand! My career— no, Insipid's career will be over. I don't care about myself, but this poor dear is putting her entire heart and soul into this."

"Can't she just go out there without you? She's the model—"

"Lockwood, darling, let me be clear: Insipid looks to me for courage and inspiration. If I'm not here for her tonight, she might not have the confidence to go out there and do this; she's told me as much, in fact. I couldn't live with myself if I broke her heart like that."

"But—"

"I will not leave her to drown in these shark-filled waters, Lockwood. I'm certain Fluttershy can hear me right now, and she'd tell you that I need to be here."

Lockwood glanced over, and Fluttershy nodded at that. He sighed. "Okay, okay, fine. At least tell me there's security at the event?"

"Of course there is. Chantilly and Lapel are running a proper showcase here, not some amateur hour presentation. There's security and a fairly large crowd. I can handle myself just fine if any ruffians try to ruin our big evening, I assure you."

"I don't doubt that you can. I'm just worried, that's all. I won't force you to leave if you're sure about this?"

"I am, darling, and I trust you to watch over Fluttershy for me until I can get back. And to make sure the others are alright as well."

"I will."

"Then we're— oh! I have to go, the show's starting. Wish us luck!"

The line clicked, leaving just the dial tone.

Lockwood rolled his eyes. "That's not how I was expecting that to go."

It was Fluttershy who set her hoof on his shoulder. "Don't worry about her, Lockwood. Rarity can be… very ferocious when she has to be, especially when she wants to make sure her friends are getting what they want. If she says she'll be okay, she will be."

"I suppose so. There should be enough ponies there to keep an eye on her, too." Lockwood shook his head. "Well, it can't be helped. Moving on then."

He dialed up the number of The Sweet Spot, but: "You have reached The Sweet Spot," came an automated message in Cinnamon Swirls' voice. "The shop is closed right now. If you need to place an order, please leave your name and number—"

"I figured as much," Lockwood said, hanging up. He glanced at the time and shook his head. "Where is Pinkie, anyway? She's usually home by now, right?"

Fluttershy frowned and shook her head. "Ever since I started making dinner for everypony, she's taken to hanging out with Velvet before coming home, since she doesn't need to make it herself. I think she mentioned last night that they wanted to go shopping together." She blushed and hid behind her mane. "For, uh… c-clothes."

Lockwood wasn't sure why Fluttershy was acting nervous talking about clothes shopping, but he supposed she was just getting anxious about the situation. "Well, it's not a good idea for us to go looking for her, and I can't contact anypony else. Damn."

Fluttershy definitely looked anxious now. "I hope she's okay…"

*****

Gray flew north from Southeast Point as soon as she was able to get airborne. Between her large wingspan for power and a shift in gravity so that her weight was being pulled horizontally north instead of downwards, she felt she'd make pretty good time getting to the streets around the Foundry. From there she'd just need to find Applejack, which wouldn't be too hard: just look for a stetson, she was the only pony that had one.

Before she could do that, however: "Dawn, this is Gray reporting in. We've got an issue," she said via the magical telepathic connection that her youngest sister had set up.

Dawn's voice came loud and clear immediately. "Report."

"There was somepony posing as a repairpony just a few minutes ago that tried to assault Fluttershy in her apartment. I put a stop to it and interrogated him afterwards. He's working with others, and some are going after Applejack; I'm on my way towards her right now."

"…and Fluttershy is not with you?"

"I left her with Lockwood, they're locked in my apartment right now. You should get in touch with the others; Applejack might not be the only other target. Do you have eyes on Twilight?"

"At this present moment, no. I departed from the library hours ago to leave her and the Chronomancer to their own intellectual investigations. It would assuredly prove suspicious if I were to return to their company, but Twilight should be more than capable of self-defense. However, I shall delegate orders to the others to safeguard their charges."

"That's alright, actually, you can still help. The guy I interrogated said they would be taking their targets to some 'spot' in the corner of 123 West and 789 South, out in Mid-West."

"Typically I would delegate such a task to Curaçao, whilst I interrogate this would-be assailant—"

"It's alright, I actually left the guy with Curaçao already. She might get more out of him than I did."

There was a pause. "You met Curaçao out in the field? Are you certain?"

"Pretty certain, yeah."

"Hmm. Then that is an acceptable situation, assuming you are correct in your assertion. I will locate this 'spot' and investigate, while Curaçao delegates orders to the others in my stead. You will continue on your current trajectory. Is that understood?"

"Roger that, sis."

With that, the connection closed, and Gray flew on.

*****

Gray arrived at the main quarter of the Mid-North District where the Foundry was located in no time at all; it helped that she completely—and very much illegally—bypassed all of the carefully-marked skylines that pegasi were supposed to follow, but at the speed she'd been going, no normal pegasus would have bothered to try and catch her anyway.

Once at her destination, she set about her search for an orange earth pony mare wearing a stetson hat. Her eyes darted to and fro among the streets below her, keeping to the rooftops so that she wouldn't be noticed or stalled by any wannabe cops, since she was moving at a regular pace now. It still wasn't exactly legal to be on the rooftops either, but there wasn't a law against it yet, so she'd carry on.

It took several minutes, but eventually she managed to spot who she was looking for: Applejack, apparently safe and sound and currently walking along the sidewalk with an older earth pony stallion who was quite obviously Flathoof's father, if Gray were to make a guess.

She considered just watching from afar until the two made it to the latter's home, but that was still a fair distance away and she didn't know what to expect from any would-be attackers. Plus, with the crowd the way it was, anypony could potentially be up to no good and might attack the pair from up close without warning. No, she needed to warn them directly; it's what Flathoof would be doing if he were here, and she didn't see a reason to do any different.

So, she swooped down from the current rooftop perch she was on, and made sure to call out "Hey, Applejack" before landing.

Applejack turned her head and noticed Gray coming down, her face a perfect picture of confusion. "Yeah? Uh, do I know you?"

Gray nodded; the two of them hadn't formally met, either, since Applejack usually had dinner at Flathoof's home these days so that her friends weren't waiting two extra hours for her before they could eat. At least that's what Fluttershy said, and it made perfect sense.

It wasn't the first time she'd ever seen Applejack, of course, but those had just been pictures, and were obviously outdated by now. This other earth pony had clearly put on a lot of muscle tone since those pictures had been taken; she was absolutely jacked, as Havoc would no doubt put it. It was probably from all that work in the factory, not to mention taking eighty-four floors worth of stairs twice every day for a week.

"We've never met, but I'm friends with Fluttershy," Gray said. "Name's Gray."

Applejack nodded in understanding. "Oh yeah, Velvet's sister. Fluttershy's mentioned ya before. You're as big as she said you'd be."

"Yup."

"Neat. Weird that I ain't ever seen ya 'round, though."

"We've just got different schedules." Gray cleared her throat. "Hey, so, I'm gonna be brief about this: somepony tried to foalnap Fluttershy earlier—"

Applejack's eyes widened. "What?! Is she—"

"She's fine, I kept her safe, and she's with Lockwood right now. I beat some answers out of the guy afterwards, and he said that he had friends coming after you."

"After me?" Applejack asked, incredulous. "What in the hay did I do that somepony's tryin' to come after me? Or Fluttershy, for that matter?"

"Don't know, don't care. All that matters is that I flew over here to make sure you're alright." She glanced around to see if she could spot a specific familiar face, and could not. "Looks like I made it before Flathoof did."

"Flathoof's on his way?" asked Stouthoof, giving Gray a hard look.

"Yeah. He came over right after he heard what happened, then we told him about you two, so he's on his way here as we speak."

"That's my boy," Stouthoof said, nudging Applejack gently. "The NPPD's finest, through and through."

"That don't explain why you're here, though," Applejack noted, tilting her head. "Shouldn't y'all be lettin' the police take care of this?"

"That cadet that was with him said I could make it here faster and, I dunno, authorized me to come, I guess?"

"That's Gumshoe, ain't it?" Applejack asked Stouthoof.

Stouthoof nodded. "Yeah. Good kid, real eager."

"Alright, guess it all checks out," Applejack said with a nod. "Uh, nice to meet ya, by the way."

"Yeah, same," Gray said.

She then paused for a moment, glancing over in the direction where Applejack and Stouthoof were heading before she'd showed up. She was absolutely certain that she saw somepony over there, a unicorn stallion, acting suspicious; he was seated at an outdoor restaurant, and while it looked like he was just watching the crowd go by, his gaze lingered far too long in Applejack's direction. He also wasn't eating anything and didn't touch his drink.

It wasn't just him, either; there were two others nearby as well, likely to account for Stouthoof being here as well in case he tried to help; strength in numbers.

One, an earth pony stallion, was casually leaning against a wall in an alleyway next to the restaurant, smoking a cigarette and looking perfectly nondescript, except that he, too, was looking right towards Applejack far too often. He and the unicorn even met each other's gaze one time too many to be a coincidence. Amateurs.

The other was a pegasus, who was up above the restaurant cleaning a window of the office building that the restaurant was built next to. He wasn't even remotely as discreet as the other two, his eyes going from the window towards Applejack in particular more than once, as if waiting for her to get closer.

Gray wasn't sure when or how they'd try to spring their attack, but she was sure that it wasn't going to happen now that she was here. A simple flick of her wing caused the pegasus pony's water bucket to increase exponentially in weight, dragging him with it down to the ground and crashing right on the unicorn's table like a load of bricks.

With those two effectively distracted and tangled up both together, and with the sudden crowd of onlookers gawking over the amusing sideshow, the alleyway stallion glanced towards Applejack again, and this time caught Gray staring right back at him. She lifted her hoof to her eyes, pointed towards him, and that was all that was needed.

He just turned around and headed into the alley, tossing his cigarette aside.

"They hay's goin' on over there?" Applejack asked, lifting her head up to try and see over the crowd at the commotion.

Gray realized it really had been a good thing she was here; this other mare clearly hadn't noticed anything suspicious.

"Eh, accidents happen," Gray said with a shrug. "Come on, let's get you two home, huh?"

*****

Flathoof raced along the bus route leading through Mid-North at a brisk pace, not quite a full gallop—he'd run out of energy before he even got through Mid-West if he did—but quickly enough that he was outpacing the vehicles. He traveled along a designated lane for emergency vehicles and responders, a small siren attached to his police cap so that ponies would keep clear and busses would be alerted to his presence.

He arrived at his home feeling like his legs were on fire; he'd made the entire trip from Southeast Point all the way here on hoof in just over ninety minutes, which was probably a department record for sure if he cared to check. This, by the way, was why Central Station's response time was so bad to districts other than Mid-South; nopony wanted to run this far, this fast, for this long.

He went straight up to the door and opened it up. He heard noises coming from the dining room, what sounded like yelling, actually. "Applejack?! Dad?! Everypony o—"

The sight he beheld as he entered the living room shocked him.

"—kay…"

Applejack sat on one side of the dining table—dinner hadn't been served yet—with her right elbow firmly in place in the center. Opposite her, her own right elbow on the table, was Gray. The two of them had their hooves locked together and looked to be having a hoof-wrestling contest. Considering that Flathoof knew how incredibly strong Applejack was—a week of hauling shipping containers did that to you—he was surprised that Gray was keeping even.

His dad and both of his brothers were watching the display, cheering Applejack on since they knew her best, but all of that amounted to very little since the two mares seemed so evenly matched. Neither of them looked like they were particularly struggling, and the match was teetering in the middle perfectly, with the balance only shifting fractions of an inch either way.

"What in the hell is going on here?" he asked in total disbelief.

Stouthoof lifted his head up to glance at his son, unimpressed with his arrival. "Hey, look who finally decided to show up. NPPD's finest, my ass."

Flathoof gestured between his father and Applejack. "Are you two okay?"

"Shit, son, did you run so hard that your eyes stopped working? Of course we're okay. Look at us." Stouthoof pointed his hoof at Flathoof sternly. "And take all that crap off. Your mother's getting dinner ready and she'll blow a gasket if you come anywhere near this table still in full uniform."

Flathoof just stared at his dad, then shook his head and sighed. "I take it nopony tried to attack you?"

"No, son. Nopony tried to attack us. Although Gray here said she scared a few off before she met up with us."

Flathoof looked in Gray's direction. "Speaking of which, just what in the hell are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay put with Fluttershy and Lockwood."

Gray grunted, but didn't take her focus off the contest of strength in which she was engaged. "I made it here first. If I didn't leave, something bad might have happened." She glanced in his direction briefly. "You're welcome."

"And thank you for that, I suppose, but still… I don't feel right letting a civvy get involved with all of this."

"Aww, relax, Flathoof," Applejack said, also not taking her focus off of the contest. "Any friend of Fluttershy's is a friend of mine, I figure, and Gray seems like a mighty nice gal, I tell ya what. Y'all should be glad she came to help, actually."

Flathoof kept his attention on Gray. "You're sure that you scared off anypony that might have been after them?"

"Positive," she replied.

"What if somepony followed them home?"

"They didn't."

"You'll forgive me if I want to make sure of that. No offense."

"Suit yourself."

Flathoof turned to his dad. "I'll be right back. I'm gonna check out the block and make sure there's nopony watching the place."

"You're too paranoid, son—" Stouthoof started.

"Some scumbag attacked Lockwood!" Flathoof snapped. "His friends could've done the same to you! To Applejack! If I'm being paranoid, then so be it. Better safe than sorry."

"Somepony attacked Lockwood?" Stouthoof asked with genuine concern. "Is he hurt?"

"He was fine, last I saw him, just a nasty black eye."

Stouthoof let out a breath of relief. "Phew. At least it's not like the last time somepony mugged him. You're sure he's okay?"

"Yes, I'm sure. And my point still stands: he was lucky. Miss Skies here," Flathoof said, gesturing to Gray, "apparently got to him before anything worse happened."

Stouthoof glanced at Gray. "You didn't tell us Lockwood got hurt."

Gray shrugged. "Wasn't important. Getting you out of danger was."

"Fair enough. Still, thank you." Stouthoof turned back to Flathoof. "Your mother's serving dinner soon, and we're not gonna wait for you to do a full patdown of the whole neighborhood before we get started. Some of us got just off work at a real job."

"That's fine. I won't take long." Flathoof adjusted his cap and turned for the door.

"Hey, hold on a sec," Gray said, shifting her wings a little bit. "I'm coming with."

Without warning, she brought Applejack's hoof to the table, hard enough that Applejack couldn't seem to fight it, but somehow gently enough that she didn't slam into the table too hard, just enough to shake the couple of glasses. Applejack just looked stunned as she stared at her hoof; Thickhoof and Shorthoof seemed to freeze in shock.

Flathoof raised an eyebrow. "Look, Miss Skies—"

"It's Gray. Nopony calls me Miss Skies."

"Okay, fine. This isn't exactly your business anymore, Gray, if you don't mind. Thank you for what you've done, really, but—"

"Holy shit, son, get that stick out of your ass and let the mare help if she wants to help," Stouthoof grunted. "It's bad enough that Lockwood always tries to do everything himself and gets himself into trouble for it; we don't need you doing it too. You don't have the excuse that he does."

Flathoof paused a moment, then rolled his eyes and gestured for Gray to follow him outside. "Fine, come on then. Just stick close to me so we don't get separated."

She nodded, stood, and followed into the living room then out onto the sidewalk.

As they started their way down to the corner to scope out the block—which was mostly empty at this time of the evening, as usual—Flathoof sighed. "Sorry about all that. I didn't mean to be rude back there, I'm just—"

"Nah, it's cool, I get it," she said, glancing across the street, her eyes darting about in search of trouble. "I kind of stole your thunder a bit, didn't I?"

He scoffed. "That's not it. It's my job to protect ponies, whether they be the softer sort like Fluttershy or the tough-as-nails sort like you seem to be. That's just what I do. It's not you're stealing my thunder or anything like that, it's just that I don't feel right when somepony else is doing my job for me."

"That's… what 'stealing your thunder' means," she said, looking at him like he'd just spouted off a bunch of gibberish, which he realized he kind of did.

"That's not what… ah, forget it. Look, just… thanks. Okay? Thank you for making sure my dad and Applejack got home safe. I don't know what I would've done if anything happened to them because I wasn't fast enough. Bad enough that I've got one friend missing…"

His thoughts drifted for a moment to Snapshot, and how nothing had come up yet that led him anywhere closer to finding her.

Gray paused a moment then nodded. "So, you like her or something?"

He tilted his head. "Who? Applejack? I mean, sure, but… oh. You mean— No, not like that," he said with a weak smile. "We're just friends."

He could admit to himself that he'd found Applejack rather attractive at one point, and still kind of did, actually—there was just something about a mare that could probably kick his ass that really checked his boxes—but that had passed days ago. She just reminded him too much of his sister, what with the similar looks and all, though it would be a stronger resemblance if Pattycake could stand to go to the gym more often than… well, never.

If circumstances were different then maybe, sure, but after a week of sharing family dinners with her and seeing her bond with his parents like she was another daughter, there was no way he'd ruin any of that by thinking with his dick instead of his head.

That, and he was completely certain at this point that the feeling was entirely mutual; if she'd ever found him attractive, he didn't know it, but she'd definitely said more than once how she felt like part of the family, almost like being home for her.

"How'd you guys all meet, anyway?" Gray asked, though her attention was still mostly focused on scoping out the street. "Fluttershy says you and Lockwood helped them out when they first got here."

"Yeah, we did. They came in from out of town and there was a paperwork mix-up somewhere that led to them getting arrested; you know how the city is. I got assigned as their parole officer, and I guess I just… sort of took pity on them and decided to help them out of a bind. Lockwood was the first pony I thought of to get them in touch with."

"Yeah, he seems resourceful. Fluttershy's been telling me how much he's given them for pretty much nothing." She grunted and shook her head. "It's kind of weird."

He raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Well, not a lot of ponies do things like that and ask for nothing in return."

"You seemed to do it just fine, Miss Fly-Across-The-City," he replied with a grin.

She paused. "That's different. Fluttershy's my friend. I did this for a friend, not a stranger."

"Lockwood always says a stranger's just a friend you haven't met yet."

"Yeah, or a dude that's gonna clock you in the eye with a wrench."

He laughed at that; this mare had a quick wit to her that he kind of liked. It was a rocky first start, but he felt he was repairing that first impression. "Fair enough. Still, you did a really good thing for your friend, in that case. And, uh… thank you again, for taking care of Lockwood. I appreciate that more than you know."

She paused a moment. "Okay, now I have to ask: are you and him… y'know…"

Flathoof arched an eyebrow. "What?"

"A couple?"

Flathoof stopped walking so that he didn't trip over himself in shock. "Wh-what? What gave you that idea?"

Gray just looked at him, eyes half-lidded. "Dude. Really? The way you've been talking about him, and the way he talks about you? You two are close. Super close."

"Well, we're not close like that!" he blurted, finding himself flummoxed like he was still just a colt. "He's been my best friend since high school. More than that he's… he's like a brother to me. I mean, legally speaking, he is, but—"

"Wait, what?"

Flathoof sighed. "I mean, we don't exactly keep it a secret, but we also don't exactly talk about it much. My family sort of… adopted him, a while back. Well, technically he adopted us, I guess you could say."

Gray's expression was blank. "I have no idea what that means."

"Well, he knew all sorts of tax loopholes and stuff that could help my family out financially. We're not exactly wealthy, as you can tell from our home. But, he needed to be part of the family to make it work. My parents loved him like a son already, so… y'know, might as well make it official."

"How'd you two get to be good enough friends where he'd do something like that?"

He smirked. "You ever get a good look at Lockwood? He's not exactly an imposing stallion, right?"

"Kind of scrawny, yeah," Gray said with a nod. "Let me guess: bullies?"

"Mhmm. I sort of stepped in to put a stop to it, because I'm not the sort of guy that tolerates a bully, no matter who or where they are. That's when I figured out I wanted to be a cop, actually."

"You're not helping your case any. That's pretty cliché 'fall in love' stuff."

He groaned, shaking his head. "No, no, no. That's not what happened, I promise you. We're just friends, and legally we're brothers, but that's all there is to it."

"You're awfully defensive about it."

"Because it's not true!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

She paused, looking him over briefly, then nodded. "Okay. I believe you." She tilted her head, catching onto another thought it seemed. "So, you're probably why he developed his white knight syndrome."

"Oh, that? No… I'm not the cause of that. I mean, maybe it's a factor, but I'm hardly the sole reason if that's the case."

"He's got a real bad case of it, y'know? He does some really stupid shit to try and protect ponies he cares about."

"Like locking himself in a room with somepony that he suspects might potentially be a rapist, foalnapper, or murderer?" Flathoof grumbled. "Yeah, he does do some pretty stupid shit. This isn't the first time he's gotten himself in trouble like this."

"You seem to know why. So, spill. Because I'm really not getting it."

"Well, it's not really my story to tell," Flathoof said with a sad smile. "It's very personal to him because it has to do with something that happened when he was very young. Ask him about it if you really want to know more than that."

"Fair enough," she said with a nod. "You're pretty protective of him, even though he's not really your brother."

"Yeah, well… you know the old saying, 'the blood of the covenant' and all that," he said, looking down the nearby alleyway, a rush of nostalgia going through him. "He might have been a bit underhoofed about the adoption, but… he did it with all the good intentions in the world.

"It doesn't matter that we don't share any real blood together, he's as much a part of my family as anypony. He helped me get into the Police Academy; he helped with our finances so that my dad could spend time with the family instead of working two shifts; he helped my mom when she went into early labor with Shorthoof; he helped us pay for Thickhoof's treatment when he got crippled.

"And, he did all of that, all of it… just because I stood up and told a group of young punks 'no, not today'. I… I don't know where my family would be without him, or where he would be without us, but it's not a world I'd ever want to live in."

Gray, who'd stood there and let him go off on his little tangent, just gave him a small nod. "Well, then I guess it's a good thing you guys met in the long run. Sounds like you're both much better off for it."

Flathoof smiled. "Eyyup… we are."

They finished the rest of the patrol in silence.

*****

Dawn arrived at the coordinates that she'd been given with relative ease; since she knew the specifics of the location she was going to and could pinpoint its latitude and longitude using city resources, it was a simple matter of teleportation at that point. She knew with certainty that no unicorn besides herself was so precise and talented with teleportation; nopony else could position themselves with the sheer accuracy that she could.

So, with a flash and a pop, she instantly appeared directly on the corner of 123 West and 789 South; given the late hour, the streets weren't crowded, so there had been minimal risk of there being anypony in the exact spot she was to materialize, which might have been… messy. Nopony even seemed to notice that she'd appeared, as if it was a perfectly common sight, or perhaps they were too distracted to care.

The small crowd was still plenty noisy, however, with assorted ponies sharing trivial conversations with one another as they passed by. A hulking bus blared its horn as it reached a stop so that more ponies could crowd the streets as well. Altogether, though, it was all terribly beneath Dawn's consideration.

What was worth considering was the large building that occupied the corner at her destination, simply because it stood out. The other buildings on the remaining three corners at this crossroad were small businesses that were still open to the public: a horseshoe shop with several spiffy window displays, a mane salon that catered exclusively to mares and fillies, and a toy store with a set of plush, colorful bears in the window with little cutie mark-like emblems on their stomachs.

But this big building, well, it was… curious.

For one thing, there was every indication that it was a fully-furnished office building, just based upon its size and shape. Windows along the outer walls were clearly there so that workers could look out onto the city while they toiled away at their assuredly meaningless jobs. The architecture had an almost Inner District-level aesthetic to it, with smoother lines than the typical sharp corners of the Mid Districts. A little stairway led up to a single door that would certainly lead into the main lobby.

And yet, there were no signs of life coming from the building despite it seeming like it was new and open for business. No lights shone through the windows, and in fact the windows seemed like they were either heavily tinted or boarded up. There were no sounds coming from inside whatsoever, not even the hum of air conditioners, fans, or incandescent light fixtures. No footsteps of ponies walking about inside from hall to hall and room to room. No phones ringing or keyboards clacking.

Dawn watched the building for a good minute or so to try and figure it out, but when nothing seemed to change, she decided that it would be best to investigate the interior. She headed up the stairs and opened up the door, then found herself in the building's lobby, which was inexplicably empty. No receptionist at the desk—in fact, no desk at all—and just a couple of plain-looking doors leading further in. The room was dark, and there weren't even any lights to remedy the issue, so Dawn had to light up her horn to see.

She opened one of the doors leading further into the building, then stepped back and briefly headed outside to make sure that she was indeed still on a busy Mid District street corner with hundreds of ponies walking about, not in the Outer District slums. Assured that she was where she thought she was, she returned to the door and looked back inside, not sure what to make of what she saw.

The inside of the building was, quite simply, dilapidated. The floor tiles were pulled up, missing, cracked, or otherwise just filthy; the walls lacked any semblance of wallpaper, their bearings and struts exposed like freakish skeletons; there wasn't a proper ceiling separating the stories whatsoever, so Dawn could see all the way up the next ten floors to the bottom of the roof; the remains of office furniture littered the floor, all of it burnt, moldy, or broken.

Dawn took a few careful steps inside, then decided that perhaps it was a bad idea to broadcast her position with a horn light that could be seen in the darkness from a mile away, let alone a hundred feet or so. Another spell replaced it, causing her eyes to briefly flicker like emeralds in the darkness as she gave herself a sort of night vision, making everything in the room stand out in shades of green.

She took a few more steps, glancing over a ruined desk and chair sitting against the shattered remains of a wall. The desk was busted open so that the paperwork inside was exposed, but all of that had been burnt up. The remains of a vending machine stood against a nearby doorway—the door was missing—and a look inside told Dawn that all of the snacks had been cleared out, save for a single candy bar that remained stuck against the glass on the top row.

Minute after minute, Dawn searched through every single room with as much meticulous observation as she could muster. In the darkness she knew that she could miss something if she wasn't careful and patient, but there was still nothing to find no matter how many rooms she looked through. All of the furniture was ruined, no documents had survived whatever had happened here, and if there had been any computers with databases to search, they'd been removed.

Yes, Dawn had noticed that much: there was evidence of computers at some of these stations, but the storage drives had all been taken out. That was disconcerting, because they would've survived whatever happened here and might have provided information, but there was simply nothing to find. Nothing at—

The clunk of the candy bar falling in the vending machine nearly frightened Dawn right out of her skin. She looked to and fro and couldn't see a single thing in the darkness that had changed; nothing had moved, and nothing was moving. The empty building still echoed with the sounds of the dropped candy bar all the up to the ceiling.

Then, just as she was about to relax, she heard hoofsteps to her left. She quickly looked in that direction only to see—

Nothing.

She stepped over towards the source of the noise. One step. Two. Three.

Then, more hoosteps behind her. She wheeled around to catch the intruder, but again, nothing. Her magical darkvision should have given her the ability to see something moving quite easily; it would stand out against the motionless wreckage of the offices like a sore hoof. And yet, nothing.

Maybe it hadn't been hoofsteps at all? Was it her imagination? The candy bar dropping had spooked her, that was it. She wasn't spooked, though, goodness no; she was just cautious, alert for a possible assailant, nothing else. There wasn't anything here that could harm her, anyway, not a unicorn as powerful as—

A nearby, burnt out filing cabinet toppled over and crashed right next to her.

In her sudden panic, she fired a flash of light into the air that soared up, struck the ceiling, and illuminated the entire building with the same pure, hellish orange light that suffused the skies. She almost blinded herself by forgetting to turn off her darkvision, and had to shield her eyes and blink rapidly to regain her focus.

When she did, the room looked exactly as it did in the darkness, just better lit. Everything was still burnt, moldy, or broken; with the newfound illumination, it was easier to see that the stains that covered parts of the walls and floor weren't water or coffee, but more likely dried blood; otherwise, the entire room was devoid of movement or life aside from Dawn herself, who was breathing quickly as she glanced about.

So, of course, there was nothing of interest, nothing to be seen, especially not those huge, dried patches of blood that she'd thought was water; no clues, no secrets, and certainly no leads. Dawn wasn't sure exactly why her heartbeat had quickened or why she was breathing so strangely.

But she pushed it down, and clenched her teeth. This had been a colossal waste of time.

"Curaçao," she said over her telepathic connection, "I am presently at the location that Gray provided and have concluded my preliminary investigation. There is nothing of significance to report, apart from the edifice being seemingly abandoned, with evidence that suggests some manner of conflagration in the past."

"Quoi? Nothing, you say?" came Curaçao's reply.

"Affirmative, nothing. The evidence suggests that this site could have possibly served as a rendezvous for the culprits before proceeding to another location. I have located no further evidence on where that might be, but that is my current theory."

"Hmm… je suis d'accord. If they wanted to simply hurt or kill their targets, they would not need to do so at a secondary location. Moving them to that site suggests that they wished to demand a ransom, oui? But there is nopony connected to Fluttershy that would warrant that. It is contradictory, non?"

"Yes, quite contradictory. Has the apprehended individual provided you with any additional information?"

"Non. I believe that Gray got the most we are going to get out of him for now, but I will see if we can have him… transferred to another facility, oui? Perhaps somepony else could get something more from him."

"Agreed, see to it. Do any of our sisters have news to report?"

"Ah, oui. Gray has made contact with Applejack, Insipid is keeping an eye on Rarity as best as she can, Havoc is with Rainbow heading back to Rainbow's apartment, and Velvet is… ah, still en route to Pinkie."

Dawn paused, her mouth curling in a sneer. "What do you mean 'still en route'?"

Chapter Eighteen: Crimson

Velvet wasn't exactly in a panic, so to say, but she was definitely walking a lot quicker than usual. Well, not so much faster as with a purpose. She'd just arrived at the Central Plaza Promenade, an outdoor mall packed with row after row of stores that catered to every possible customer with a need for any possible product. It wasn't like the ritzy Inner District malls and didn't have the same high-class selections, but this was the closest one could get otherwise.

She had searched the mall's entire street level by now, taking less than a few minutes to scan the crowd outside the stores as they walked about, and even stopping in a few stores that might have what she was looking for.

Or rather, who she was looking for.

She was supposed to meet Pinkie here in about an hour from now to go shopping for a number of things, but mostly for clothes. Sexy clothes, specifically. Apparently, Pinkie liked to dress up for Rainbow, a kinky side of the couple that Velvet that she found both exciting and inspiring. She considered checking out some outfits for herself.

But that was all beside the point. She was supposed to be here an hour later than she was now, and she was supposed to meet Pinkie at the entrance of the mall. Until then, Pinkie said she was going to explore after she got off of work, and that itself had been more than an hour ago. And then Curaçao had given her a little brain-call and now, here she was, an hour early and with no idea where Pinkie could possibly be.

She checked the candy shops. No Pinkie. She checked the toy stores. No Pinkie. She checked the adult toy stores, thoroughly. No Pinkie. She checked the video game outlet. No Pinkie. She checked every single clothing store she could find. No Pinkie. She checked the milkshake joint, the hay fries stand, and the waffle hut. No Pinkie. She checked the food court. No Pinkie. She checked the restrooms, resisting the urge to check the stallions' room too. No Pinkie.

She checked everywhere.

No. Pinkie. Pie.

Where the hell is she? Velvet thought to herself as she checked another row of shops, now leaving the fourth floor; bridges of steel and cement connected the buildings that lined the street to form the mall, forming additional layers to the structure. The only thing keeping the Promenade from being a classical mall was the lack of a roof.

"Velvet, do you have anything new to report?" Curaçao asked over their sisterly telepathic connection.

Velvet wasn't sure she liked this spell of Dawn's, since it meant that her sisters could contact her anytime they wanted. The absolute last thing she needed was one of them—Insipid would be the worst—to give her a brain-call while she was getting some action with a good-looking stallion. It was useful, sure, but there needed to be a way for them to turn it off when they wanted privacy.

"Nothing new, sis," she replied through the connection. "I still haven't found Pinkie yet or any signs of trouble, but I'm trying. I wish this mall wasn't so damn big."

"Dawn, elle n'est pas contente— she is not pleased that you haven't found Pinkie yet, so, ah… you had best pick up the pace, I think, oui? I can only keep her occupied for a little bit longer before she contacts you herself. I don't think you would enjoy that."

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Dawn can bite my big butt. It's not my fault this happened! Pink and I were gonna meet in like… forty-five minutes from now, and then we'd be all set! Can't I just wait at our meeting spot until she shows up?"

"If you do not find her before that, then that would be the next best option; if she does not show, well, then obviously we have un problème."

"Yeah… yeah, I know. Look, I'm gonna get back to my search, okay? Keep me posted if you guys figure out anything else."

"Bonne chance, Velvet."

The connection closed.

Velvet continued searching aisle after aisle of stores, and still, nothing. She was beginning to think that there would indeed be a problem, since she couldn't find Pinkie anywhere and had already searched the entire mall at this point. Either Pinkie wasn't exploring the mall at the moment and was somewhere else, she was at the mall but was in some random store that Velvet hadn't checked, she and Velvet were just missing one another somehow, or, and Velvet hoped this wasn't true, something awful had happened.

She returned to the street level of the mall and decided to start her search all over again; each full search of the mall took roughly thirty minutes if she moved quickly, so she had time to go for another look before her proper meeting time with Pinkie.

However, just as she was passing by the alleyway in between two sets of stores on the street level, she felt somepony roughly grab her and drag her into the alley, a hoof over her mouth to keep her from screaming—as if Velvet would scream. If anypony had noticed the abduction, they didn't care enough to do anything about it, which was just typical for the citizens around here; if it didn't affect them, they ignored it.

The stallion that snagged her carried her all the way to the back of the alleyway, where it turned a corner that would eventually head out onto the proper streets of the city. He was a big and burly earth pony dressed in a black trench coat with a black ski mask over his face, so Velvet couldn't see any identifying marks or attributes.

Wow, how cliché can you get? Velvet thought.

"Got her," the stallion said, turning to two other stallions, one a unicorn, the other another earth pony.

The unicorn looked over Velvet briefly, then nodded. "Yeah, that's her: pink coat, pink mane, blue eyes. Do it quickly."

Velvet managed to get the bigger stallion's hoof off her mouth long enough to say, "You know, boys, if you wanted a four-way, you just had to—"

There was a sharp pain as the other earth pony quickly drew a serrated knife and stabbed her in the gut, twisting just enough to rip apart muscle and skin with ease.

"—ask."

The pain was bad, sure, but it wasn't anything Velvet hadn't dealt with before; getting shot several times in the chest and stomach by flechette bullets had pretty much numbed her to pain a little bit, enough that she could fight through this and consider her options when she was supposed to be in shock.

Two such considerations ran through Velvet's mind. The first was rather simple: tear these creeps apart so that they'd need closed-casket funerals, find the nearest restroom and wash off all the blood, then get back to her day and go shopping with Pinkie like nothing had ever happened. She'd seen this really cute outfit in one of the stores that she wanted to try that would make her butt look amazing.

The second option, however, was the smarter one and thus the one she went with, because despite the pain in her gut right now, she was bearing through it and already in the process of healing. Something was definitely wrong with this picture, and Curaçao would want to know about it in case there was a direction she should take this in.

So, she put on her best expression of anguish and pain, crying out as loud as she could—though not loud enough to attract attention—just to play the part, and let her physical performance speak for itself while her mental faculties were occupied elsewhere.

"Hey, Curaçao," she brain-called to her sister. "So, I kinda found the guys who I'm pretty sure were after Pinkie, and I figured you'd know how to handle this situation better than me."

"Ah, c'est merveilleux. Is Pinkie safe, then?"

The stabby stallion stabbed her again, a little lower this time. It still hurt—the serrated edges were definitely not pleasant going in or coming out—but Velvet fought through it and let her blood magic do the work necessary to keep her alive, a rather passive, easy process with relatively minor injuries like a knife wound.

"Why is she still breathing?" asked the bigger earth pony, who was keeping a firm grip on her even as she thrashed about. "You stab a guy in the gut, his guts spill out, then he dies. She ain't dyin', and she's not big enough to take it."

"I mean, technically, yeah? I'll be honest here, I still don't know where she actually is. These dudes jumped me, then got right to business and started getting all stabby with a knife. They must've thought I was her, and, uh… well, you heard the bit about the knife. No foalnapping attempt here."

Curaçao paused. "They were trying to kill Pinkie?"

"Yup, that's what I'm guessing."

"Well… this changes things. Why would they do that?"

The pony doing the stabbing looked at the unicorn. "Boss, what gives? She's just bawling and bleeding all over the place, but she's still moving. It usually doesn't take more than one."

"Learn how to stab a mare, you idiot," the unicorn grunted, using his magic to yank the knife away.

"Hell if I— fuck!" She'd just been stabbed a third time, this time by the unicorn, and he was really twisting the knife in good."Sorry, that last one got me right in the kidney."

"Attendez! Are they still attacking you? Right now? Are you alright?"

"Just peachy, sis. I've had worse, you know that. Anyway, I figured you might find that information interesting, but I don't know what my next step should be. Should I grease these guys now, or ask them some questions, or—"

Velvet paused, because all of sudden, there came a flush of music from the end of the alley leading into the mall. The earth pony holding her tensed up slightly and turned his head to look that direction; the other earth pony turned his whole body to do the same; the unicorn took the time to stop digging the knife into Velvet's side to look over as well, but he left it embedded in her kidney.

"Shit," Velvet sighed through clenched teeth.

Pinkie stood there at the end of the alley, a boombox next to her playing an upbeat tune that was meant for smooth, flamboyant dancing from an era long gone by. Velvet had no idea where Pinkie had gotten the nice-looking, red, faux-leather jacket, but it suited her pretty well. Of course, she was also busting some of the freshest moves ever busted by a pony before, which just made the whole thing look more ridiculous, all while keeping her eyes locked with the stallions.

"Hey! You!" Pinkie called, grooving along and gesturing towards the bigger earth pony.

"What the hell is this?" asked the smaller earth pony, gesturing towards the display in exasperation.

"Let's go, big guy!" Pinkie continued, busting a slick Electric Slide. "Me and you! Dance off, right here, right now."

"Pinkie, get the hell out of here!" Velvet shouted.

"Velvet, you cut out for a moment. What is going on?" Curaçao asked telepathically.

Velvet groaned. "Pinkie just showed up. And she's dancing like an idiot."

Curaçao paused. "Merde. Get her out of there!"

"No shit! Do you want me to kill these fuckers or what?!"

The big earth pony turned to the unicorn. "Boss? Isn't that the mare we were supposed to kill?"

The unicorn snorted. "Looks like it."

"Then who's this bitch?" the other earth pony asked, gesturing towards Velvet.

"Watch it, creep! Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Velvet spat, baring her teeth.

"And how is she still alive?"

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Pinkie called, gyrating via Grapevine closer to the center of the action. "Dance off, right now! All the marbles! Let's go!"

Velvet snarled. "Pinkie, run! What the hell are you doing here?!"

Pinkie winked at Velvet and smiled wide. "I'm distracting these dingleberries, what else?"

"Yes, you are," growled the unicorn.

Velvet saw him reach into his trench coat with his magic and pull out what definitely looked like a shiny firearm, then take aim towards Pinkie. She kicked her hoof as hard as she could to hit the unicorn in the chin, hoping she'd unbalance him, loosen his grip, anything.

There was a bang.

Everypony present froze for a moment; even the music stopped with a loud record scratch despite playing from a boombox. Pinkie, in particular, glanced down at herself and patted all over her chest, where there didn't seem to be any sign of impact at all.

Pinkie just laughed, a cocky smile on her face; the music started back up again right where it left off. "Gee, I sure hope your name isn't Bullseye, buster, 'cause that was the worst shot I've ever seen! You couldn't hit the broad side of a barn! Did you train with stormtroopers or something?"

She then attempted to go back to dancing, only to crumble the instant she placed her left foreleg on the ground; the music stopped once again, this time without any comical noises.

Pinkie stared down at her leg, where Velvet could clearly see a telltale bullet wound, which was already bleeding profusely. Pinkie, naturally, paled as she gawked at the very real injury, her breathing suddenly hastening to a panic.

The unicorn, holding his chin after Velvet had kicked him, pushed the smaller earth pony stallion forward. "Finish her off." He then turned to Velvet and pushed his hoof down on the knife in her chest. "As for you—"

Velvet didn't give him a chance to finish.

Her blood lashed out around the leg attached to the hoof on the knife, engulfing it in visceral fluid, and without much effort at all she tore his leg clean off. More blood poured out of her wounds, forming tendrils that snaked and thrashed about, making her gut look like some horrible squid-like monster.

She didn't know why, but something about his screaming made her feel… good. Really good.

The big earth pony that had been holding her this entire time suddenly dropped her. The smaller earth pony, who was approaching Pinkie with a new knife he'd drawn, turned to the source of the screaming, his eyes widening when he saw what had happened; he dropped his knife in shock.

A new, strange smell filled the air in the alleyway, a scent that Velvet had never experienced before, and she realized instantly that she liked it. It filled her with a familiar sense of ecstasy, not at all dissimilar from how she felt when she was in the throes of passion with a good-looking stallion, only this sensation was spreading out from her heart, not her loins.

Whatever it was, she wanted more.

And she had a pretty good idea how to get it.

She turned sharply towards the lesser earth pony first—he was a bigger threat to Pinkie right now—and lunged at him like a coiled serpent. There was no way he could react in time to her driving thick spines of her own blood into him; one to the throat, one to the chest, two to the stomach, and one to the groin.

She landed right on him and slammed him to the floor, and though she knew he wasn't going to get up with what she'd just done, she made sure of it by driving one more spike right through his open, screaming mouth.

A little chill went down her spine, a wonderfully satisfying chill as the life faded from the would-be assailant's eyes. The sensation faded away when his breathing stopped, no longer as strong as before, but still good enough to make her shudder with enjoyment.

There was a brief sensation of pain when the bigger earth pony came up behind her and slammed both of his hooves into the back of her skull. Normally, that would have been particularly dangerous for her; she could recover from certain injuries quicker and easier than others, and brain injuries were not one of those.

But something about that smell in the air was fueling her blood with more power than ever, and so the pain was gone as soon as she'd even noticed it, and any chance of a skull fracture was simply impossible.

Her retaliation was simple enough.

She twisted around as the big earth pony staggered back, shocked that she'd not even reacted to a strike that by all rights should have knocked her out cold if not killed her. Her bloody tendrils wrapped around his chin and the top of his head, and with a sharp twist, she snapped his neck all the way around.

There was another gunshot, and she felt a bullet pierce into her throat.

She turned and glared at the three-legged unicorn, who had recovered his gun and taken a shot. She shook her head at him, a look of sheer disappointment in her eyes, like a school teacher scolding a colt that cheated on an exam. She even casually forced the bullet that had lodged in her throat up into her mouth, and spit it out like a piece of gum.

That smell filled the air again, and it was absolutely pouring off of the stallion.

With a sharp lunge, she drove a blade of blood into his groin, then sliced straight up to his throat, carving him open like cake.

With the three stallions dead, that scent in the air diminished tremendously, enough that she was able to form some coherent thoughts again. She wasn't sure what had consumed her just now, but it felt as though a part of her that she didn't know she had had come to the fore of her mind and taken over; the only thing she could think about was blood and violence and getting more of that wonderful smell, whatever that was. It wasn't blood, that was for sure, but something more… intangible.

There was still a lingering trace of it in the air somewhere, not enough to cloud her mind but enough to attract her attention. She followed her nose towards the source and found that it was coming from Pinkie, actually. And the look on Pinkie's face, the sheer shock and worry, gave Velvet all the clues she needed to figure out what the smell was:

Fear.

In an instant, Velvet withdrew her blood and the blood of the stallions that had splattered all over her—though she couldn't clean her clothes—into herself and cautiously stepped towards her friend, who just sat frozen on the ground clutching her injured foreleg. The wound was… well, bad, and the bullet hadn't gone all the way through, either.

Velvet took off one of her stockings and tied it off to form a tight bandage; Pinkie flinched a little bit when Velvet touched her. "Everything's going to be okay, Pinkie," she said, keeping her voice calm and collected. "I'm gonna get you out of here and get you someplace safe. Okay?"

She knew it wasn't a good idea to move Pinkie right now, but with all the commotion in the alleyway, surely somepony would have heard some of it—the gunshots at the very least—and called the police, and the absolute last thing that she or Pinkie needed right now was getting the cops involved; too many questions, and then they'd have to wait for a medical team on top of that. Not worth it.

No, Pinkie would get the help she needed much sooner if Velvet brought her back to Southeast Point, which wasn't very far from the Promenade.

Pinkie just stared at Velvet for a moment, then audibly gulped; that stench of fear still lingered on her, but it was diminishing by the moment, apparently seeing that Velvet wasn't out to hurt her. "O-okay…"

It took some effort to get Pinkie's leg draped around Velvet's shoulder so that Velvet could keep pressure on the wound while they walked, but they made it work, and slowly but surely made their way down the other side of the alley towards the city streets.

"Red…" Pinkie mumbled, probably a little delirious from blood loss, or maybe just in shock from the experience; Velvet couldn't smell so much fear on her anymore, which was good since it allowed her to think clearly, and what lingering amounts there were weren't directed towards her. "Wh-what… what was that? What did you just do?"

Velvet paused a moment to carefully consider her response. She and her sisters had been given explicit orders not to use their powers where anypony could see them, or to at least be subtle about it if it was necessary; she thought it was unfair since that meant Dawn and Curaçao had essentially free reign, and Gray could use hers if she was careful.

Not her, though, not really. And because of the circumstances, she'd just ripped three guys apart right in full view of Pinkie, which was pretty much the exact opposite of being subtle; she hadn't had much choice, but what was done was done.

Curaçao really should've given me permission to kill 'em sooner, she thought. Or I should've just done it sooner myself… damn.

"I, uh… I have these weird abilities, and I… I can do some pretty strange things… with my blood." Velvet paused again, biting her lip. "I'm not supposed to do it, though. Nopony's supposed to know I can do it." She looked right at Pinkie, more worried than stern. "You aren't going to tell anypony, are you? Please don't tell anypony…"

"I won't…" Pinkie said after a moment.

"You promise?"

Pinkie awkwardly moved her other hoof about. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," she said, putting her hoof right against her eye with finality. "I Pinkie Promise that I won't tell anypony."

Velvet blinked, then nodded; she could tell how sincere Pinkie was, and that's what mattered. "Thanks. I really appreciate that. Let's get you home, okay?"

*****

Rainbow arrived at the window of her apartment a lot later than she'd been hoping to arrive. It wasn't her fault that she had to follow all these stupid pegasus-only skylanes, and that her normal route home had been absolutely congested with traffic. She hadn't even wanted to come home yet, anyway, but Rainslick had said that she was to go home immediately, something about Lockwood asking her to do it.

That meant missing the afterparty with the team, which she hadn't wanted to miss, but it sounded important.

She knocked on the window so that whoever was home could let her in. But, after waiting a solid thirty seconds—far longer than she'd ever waited before to get in—she knocked again; maybe nopony had heard her?

"Hello! Anypony home?" she called. "It's me, Rainbow! Let me in!"

"Is this how you usually get into your apartment?" Havoc asked, watching the display with an amused grin.

She'd come along with Rainbow after the game, even though she'd also been invited to celebrate the team's first victory in years; the team had decided to celebrate tomorrow instead, which was fine by her.

Rainbow appreciated the company, and she was glad to have a friend that was willing to come with to make sure everything was okay; Rainslick had said that Lockwood made it sound urgent, which was why she'd rushed over herself.

Rainbow nodded, tapping the window one more time. "Yeah, usually one of my friends just pops open the window and I head inside. It's a lot easier than taking the frickin' stairs. Eighty-four floors on hoof is a huge pain after a long day, y'know?"

"Ugh, sounds like it."

"Don't know why nopony's answering, though. This is weird."

Havoc shrugged. "Maybe nopony's home?"

Rainbow considered that a moment, then smiled. "Hey, I just thought of something: maybe they're planning a surprise party! Y'know, to celebrate our win? They're not opening the window because then it would ruin the surprise."

"That's the reasoning you came up with? I dunno, sounds far-fetched to me."

"What else could it be? They wouldn't ask me to come home so quick and then not answer the door… er, window." Rainbow nodded, hooves on her hips with confidence. "Yeah, I bet when I come in the front door, they're all gonna jump out and do the whole 'Surprise!' deal. I bet it was Pinkie's idea."

"Yeah, sure, I bet that's it," Havoc said, though she didn't sound convinced. "So let's head down and come up the normal way, I guess?"

"Yeah, let's. Hey, this is cool, you'll finally get to meet my friends! You'll get a real kick out of 'em, I promise. Just be sure you act surprised though, okay?"

Rainbow and Havoc swooped down to the street level of the building in a flash, then headed in through the front door of the complex, briskly making their way through the entrance hall, past the crowded waiting room where some of her friends were gathered, and towards the—

Rainbow stopped just before she got to the stairs, then doubled back towards the waiting room. She went pale when she looked inside.

Pinkie was there sitting on a chair, currently staring worriedly at one of her forelegs, which had definitely been injured, and badly at that. Pinkie's friend Velvet was holding tightly onto Pinkie's other hoof for comfort. Twilight's horn glowed and covered the injury with magical light, but if anything was happening to it Rainbow couldn't tell, and Twilight looked just as fearful as Pinkie did. Winter was busy looking the wound over, more serious and scrutinous than worried.

Fluttershy and Lockwood were there, too, but they were just standing to the side, watching the whole thing with concern. Nopony else was here with them.

Rainbow barged into the room. "Pinkie! What happened?!"

The occupants of the room, except Twilight and Winter, turned their attention to her. Pinkie, in particular, gave her a sad smile. "Hey, Dashie. I, uh… I got hurt."

Rainbow was at Pinkie's side in an instant. "I can see that! How did this happen? When? Where?"

"Some dumb punks attacked us while we were out shopping together," Velvet said. Rainbow noticed that her clothes were stained with blood. "I managed to get Pinkie out of there, but… well, you can see that it wasn't a perfect job. It's my fault she—"

"She saved me, Dashie," Pinkie said, squeezing Velvet's hoof. "Red saved my life."

Rainbow stared at Velvet for a good moment, then quickly gave Velvet a hug. "Thank you. I owe you… a lot. So, thank you." She disengaged just as quickly then turned to Twilight, fighting the urge to scream in frustration. "How is it, Twi? Is she gonna be okay?"

It was Winter who grunted in reply. "She's been bloody shot, Rainbow, how do ya think it is? The bullet lodged itself in there real good, so we can't remove it without diggin' around in there, and I'm not exactly a medical professional so… that'd be a bad idea."

"Twi, c'mon, tell me there's something you can do," Rainbow asked, still looking right at Twilight. "Please? Please tell me you can do something. Anything."

Twilight glumly shook her head, but kept her focus on Pinkie for now. "My knowledge of healing magic is only rudimentary. I'm able to numb the pain she's feeling right now, as well as stop the bleeding, but that's about all I know how to do. I could try something stronger but I might make things worse; healing magic isn't something you do without practice and precision."

"How bad is it, Twi?"

Twilight didn't answer right away.

"Twilight. How bad is it?"

Twilight looked to Pinkie, who just gave her a brief nod. "Pinkie needs immediate medical attention, obviously. We were going to take her over to Central General right after I finished ensuring she was safe to move, since from what we know of this city, it'll take some time for any emergency professionals to get here."

"Yeah, and even then, it's not so simple," Winter added with a sigh. "This wound is serious enough that she's likely gonna need surgery, then need to stay in for recovery for at least a week. That'll get bloody expensive right quick, not to mention the shit wait time."

Rainbow recalled how long it had taken to wait just to get a simple shot a little more than a week ago. Sure, that had been a unique circumstance, but what if it was that bad all the time? Would Pinkie have to wait hours and hours in a filthy hospital waiting room just so some stupid doctor could look at her injury?

"Plus it'll complicate matters for… a number of things, eh?" Winter noted. "If she doesn't finish her recovery correctly, well… that could be bad."

Rainbow froze, staring at Winter, her face white as a sheet. "No. No, don't tell me that. You mean, she… she might not—"

"Hey. Don't go makin' assumptions, Rainbow, it makes us both looks like a couple of asses, eh?" Winter said, patting Rainbow on the shoulder. "Like I said, I'm no medical professional. I'm not givin' out the best assessments of her condition, just estimates. If we get her to a real doctor, I'm sure we'll get some better… well, more accurate news."

"Still… why does it sound like this is going to be really bad?" Rainbow asked, putting her hoof on Pinkie's shoulder and giving her a worried look. "There's gotta be something we can do, right?"

"Not unless we can skip the line at the hospital entirely and get her right into surgery. At this rate, I think it'd take a miracle," Winter sighed.

Lockwood cleared his throat. "If I may, since you and Twilight seem to have come to an agreement of sorts on what's happening and how to handle it… I think I might have a suggestion that could solve our little problem."

Rainbow stepped over to Lockwood without a second's hesitation. "Anything. Please. Anything you can do to help, I'll take it."

"Well, ladies, if it's a miracle you're in need of… I know a guy."

*****

Havoc found herself following closely behind Lockwood along the skylanes over the Mid-West District, carrying Twilight underneath her like a somewhat heavy sack of luggage. She wasn't really sure what to make of the situation she found herself in now, but everything happened so fast that she just got swept up in the flow and began agreeing to things just so that everything went smoothly, even though she didn't understand it all.

The former was because Lockwood said that he knew somepony who lived in that section of the city who could definitely—not even a question of "maybe"—help with Pinkie's injury, and was apparently so good at their job and so efficient at it that they were a better alternative than taking her to a proper hospital to see a licensed medical doctor. For a cut or a bruise, maybe, but for a gunshot wound? That seemed doubtful.

The latter was because Twilight needed to know the location personally so that she could properly use her teleport magic, whereupon she would teleport back and forth to Southeast Point to bring Pinkie, Rainbow, and Velvet over. She'd then stay behind to watch after Fluttershy until the rest of their friends arrived. Havoc chuckled inwardly at that; if this Twilight had Dawn's mastery of teleportation, she could do it in one trip and wouldn't even need Lockwood to show her where it was.

All in all, it wasn't exactly a terrible experience. Twilight wasn't a heavy mare by any means, but she wasn't exactly light, either, which would explain why Lockwood had had some trouble carrying her himself when he'd made the attempt earlier. The stallion was so scrawny that he looked like he couldn't carry a suitcase by himself, let alone a full-grown mare. So, Havoc volunteered to carry Twilight instead, if only so that Rainbow could stay with Pinkie, and because that Fluttershy mare looked just as much like a creampuff as Lockwood did.

Not that the guy wasn't good-looking; in fact he was kind of handsome—pretty, even. She'd been drawn to his eyes a bit when they introduced themselves, because they were just such a striking color that it was hard not to notice. She'd shaken that off—she wasn't the kind of mare that stared at a guy like Velvet did—but it was likely something she wasn't going to be able to avoid noticing for the rest of the evening. That and he had a cute butt. What? She was flying behind him the whole time, she had to notice.

Havoc had never been to this sector of the city before, at least as far as she could remember, and was surprised to find that it was halfway between being the same respectable "average" as the rest of the Mid Districts, and the slummy conditions of the nearby Outer District.

"Your friends live here?" she asked as the trio descended to mostly empty the city streets. "No offense, pal, but this place is a fucking dump."

"None taken," Lockwood said as he directed them along the sidewalk towards a pair of buildings labeled 122 and 123. "I used to live near here a few years back, actually, and even then I would have agreed with you. It's… not exactly the best neighborhood."

"You used to live around here?" Havoc glanced around at the scum-covered buildings, the streets which were in disrepair, and the busted street lamps along the sidewalks. She whistled. "Well, ain't nopony gonna say you didn't move up in the world. Whose dick did you have to suck to get your current digs?"

She noticed Twilight shift uncomfortably at the comment, but wasn't sure exactly why. Rainbow never had a problem with it when Havoc was her usual self, so why was this one? They weren't all prudish like that, she hoped.

"That's a rather long story, and it doesn't involve very many dicks at all, actually," Lockwood noted with a grin. "But none of that's very important right now. Follow me, through here."

Havoc and Twilight watched as he made his way into the dingy, grimy alleyway between the two buildings as if it were perfectly normal.

Havoc turned to Twilight. "So, uh, just so we're on the same page, I'm being asked to follow a guy I just met into a dark alleyway in a skeezy neighborhood in the middle of the night. Does that sound about right to you?"

"That sounds about right in your case, yes," Twilight replied with a smile as she followed after Lockwood. "Don't worry, Havoc, Lockwood is perfectly safe to be around. I may not have known him for long, but trust me: he wouldn't hurt a fly."

"He couldn't hurt a fly, more like," Havoc replied with a chuckle, noting the stallion's lean figure. "I mean, you're not exactly a heavy mare, Twilight, and he couldn't carry you more than a block. He's just… a wimp."

"Well, that's just how he is, at least physically. Not every stallion needs to be strong and tough, y'know? To be honest, I'm surprised you were able to carry me yourself."

"Huh? Why?"

Twilight paused. "Well, I mean, you're not exactly the biggest mare I've ever seen. Certainly not like your Gray, or even Rainbow or Fluttershy. You're a bit… um…"

Havoc narrowed her eyes. "A bit what, Twilight? Go on. Say it. Short? Small?"

"N-no, that's not—"

"You sayin' I'm tiny? Huh?"

"How about 'petite'?" suggested Lockwood as he directed them towards one of the alleyway walls.

"Nice save," Havoc noted.

She didn't really care if ponies gave her shit for being shorter-than-average—Rainbow did it all the time—but she loved to get a reaction. Sure, being short kind of sucked sometimes, but she packed as much of a punch as somepony twice her size.

She glanced around the alley and, not seeing anything particularly interesting, asked, "So, uh… what are we looking at here? Did you bring us out all this way just to look at a stupid wall? I mean, it's a nice wall, I guess. Could use some paint."

"No no, I assure you, we're exactly where we need to be: 122⅛." He turned to Twilight and gave her a nod. "This is our destination, Twilight, if you'd like to bring the others here."

Twilight tilted her head, scrutinizing the wall for anything that looked even remotely useful. "You're sure? There's nothing here but—"

"I'm absolutely sure. But, I can't get us any further until I've got Pinkie here so that we can all just walk on in. My friends aren't exactly trusting of outsiders, and I doubt I'd be able to convince them to help us if they think somepony is going to be teleporting in and out of their workshop. I'm good at what I do, but not that good."

"Well, if you insist." Twilight turned to Havoc. "It was nice meeting you, Havoc, even if these aren't exactly ideal circumstances. Thanks for the help, and for the ride."

Havoc shrugged. "Yeah, no problem."

With that, Twilight vanished in a flash.

Within the next twenty seconds, she reappeared with Rainbow, disappeared again, reappeared with Pinkie who Rainbow took from her, disappeared again, reappeared with Velvet, then disappeared for the last time after waving everypony off. The alleyway was now a bit more crowded than before, but at least everypony was here that needed to be; Lockwood had explained that a larger crowd than this would probably not be the best idea, and they were already pushing it.

Lockwood then stepped up towards a brick on the wall that was black rather than red, making it stand out from the rest quite easily if one looked at it closely enough; it could have just as easily been confused for a dirty brick if they were just walking by it and not paying it much attention. Havoc hadn't even noticed it until he'd made it obvious that it was there; somepony would have to have a good eye to see it otherwise.

He knocked on the brick three times, then took a step back.

In seconds, the brick slid aside, and Havoc could see the scowling face of an absolutely ancient stallion on the other side. "What? What? We're closed. Beat it, or I'll call the cops."

Lockwood smiled and lifted his hoof. "Good evening, Miracle, sorry to bother you, but—"

"Oy, great, it's you," the other stallion said, narrowing his eyes. "Hey, at least this time you're standing on your own four hooves, huh? What do you want?"

Lockwood chuckled at the old pony's words; Havoc wondered what had been so funny. An inside joke or something? "I've got a friend here that's in really bad condition, and I couldn't think of anypony better to bring her to."

"Figures as much."

Havoc watched in awe as a large section of the wall suddenly glowed white, then vanished, leaving an opening wide enough for the entire group of ponies outside to walk through. This made no sense to her. There was no evidence of any technology or technomagic that had made it happen, and she could tell the old pony wasn't a unicorn. Velvet looked just as confused; Rainbow and Pinkie, on the other hoof, didn't, just a little impressed.

"You never drop by just to say 'hello'," the stallion said, gesturing for the mares and Lockwood to enter into the tunnel behind him. "What's it been, by the way? Six years? Seven? Nevermind, don't answer, I don't care, rhetorical question."

Lockwood turned and gestured for the others to follow him as he entered the tunnel behind the old stallion. "Come on, ladies."

Havoc just shook her head in utter disbelief. "And now we're following him into this dark, creepy, secret tunnel in the middle of a filthy alleyway, where some old fossil lives that's going to fix all our problems." She turned to Velvet. "Come on. Fishy, right?"

Velvet glared at her. "Can it, sis." She then moved to help Rainbow bring Pinkie into the tunnel as well, leaving Havoc alone outside.

"Just me, I guess." Havoc sighed, shook her head again, then followed behind the others.

Immediately after she passed the threshold, the wall reappeared behind her, leaving her and her alone, it seemed, with thoughts on how diabolically fishy this whole situation seemed all of a sudden. The tunnel was lit by a few small lanterns, and not electrical ones, either. It was like walking back in time two hundred years.

Now that she had a chance, she took stock of this "friend" of Lockwood's. He was an earth pony, a wrinkled mass whose face looked like a shar-pei. His coat was grayish-green, with no way of telling which was the original color, and was the exact opposite from his greenish-gray, frizzy mane and tail. He wore an old, brownish-green cloak that looked like it should by all rights be crushing him under its weight.

As she followed the others through the tunnel, the next room certainly didn't help to alleviate her suspicions. It looked like it was straight out of some sort of horror flick about a mad scientist that dissected live subjects for his sick experiments or for cannibalistic rituals.

There was a wide variety of chemistry implements and cooking utensils, and ingredients for both, spread about the walls, making it look like a mixture of laboratory and kitchen, complete with an old-fashioned fireplace somehow. A few stainless steel slabs were set up in the center, and it was upon one of these that the ancient earth pony directed Rainbow and Velvet to place Pinkie down.

"Now then, let's take a look at your friend here," the ancient pony said, pulling a stool up alongside the slab so that he could sit comfortably.

Rainbow stayed at Pinkie's other side, tightly holding her hoof and rubbing her back. "Is she gonna be okay?"

The old pony smiled a perfectly sarcastic smile that reminded Havoc of Dawn when she was being particularly pretentious. "Look, sonny, I've gotta do some delicate work here, so if you don't mind, eh?"

"'Sonny'? I'm a mare!"

The fossil tilted his head, then shrugged and got back to business.

Lockwood stepped in briefly, as Rainbow was looking anxious and agitated. "Don't worry, Miracle here is, well… he's earned his name, okay? If there's anypony in the city that can help Pinkie, it's him. He's helped me more than once, and helped plenty of my friends as well. He's the absolute best."

"What, are you looking for a discount or something there, huh?" Miracle asked, giving Lockwood a hard look. "Flattery will get you nowhere, my friend. Nowhere."

"No no, I'm just trying to assure some of my very nervous friends that you're on the level, that's all. You do realize how it looks coming in here, right? First time I walked in here, I thought I walked into some nutcase hermit's hut. Which, when you think about it—"

"Ha, ahaha," Miracle grunted. Then, he returned to his work. After a few seconds, he said, "Somepony did a pretty good job at stopping the bleeding. Saves me a little bit of work. Bullet missed the bone, which is lucky; that'd take a lot longer to patch up. Clearly wasn't a professional firearm, either, or it would've gone all the way through."

"Can you fix her, though?" Rainbow asked, leaning forward desperately.

Pinkie patted Rainbow's hoof. "Dashie, please, let the doctor work."

"I can fix it, absolutely, no trouble at all. You'll be done in time for a late dinner. A really late dinner. Might I recommend this little place down on the corner of 53rd and 24 West? They've got the best MLTs; that's Mushroom, Lettuce—"

Lockwood cleared his throat, but otherwise said nothing.

"Yeah yeah yeah, alright. No patience, kids these days. Anyway, I'll remove the bullet first, then I've got some tinctures and such that'll patch up the wound in a jiffy. She'll be back on her hooves in two days, so long as she stays off of the injured one. She'll need plenty of bedrest."

Rainbow let out a breath. "Two days… we can deal with two days. Thanks, Doc."

"And what's all this 'doctor' stuff, huh? Do I look like a doctor to you?" he asked, gesturing to himself and his probably-unsanitary cloak. "Oy, ponies these days, they just think anypony that knows anything about medicine is a doctor. Let me tell you something: if you've got the bits, you can be a doctor by tomorrow. Bunch of quacks, those 'doctors' are."

Havoc, out of earshot, leaned over to Velvet. "I really hope this isn't one of those 'essential oils' places. 'Cause it's starting to sound like one."

"Shhh!" Velvet shushed.

"Well, we very much appreciate your help, as usual," Lockwood said with a smile. "I wouldn't have come to anypony else, you know that."

"Yeah yeah, sure sure. At least it's not you on the table this time, ya putz." He gave Lockwood a hard, scrutinizing look. "Nice shiner you've got there, by the way. Been keeping ice on it, looks like. Should be unnoticeable by morning. Same guy who tried to choke you, I take it?"

Lockwood winced, clearly embarrassed. "Noticed that, huh?" he asked.

"Bruising around the throat, which suggests that it was with a tool rather than hooves. Crowbar? Wrench?"

"Wrench."

Miracle grunted. "You're lucky. Most ponies have more severe conditions after an experience like that. Keep your breathing relaxed for a few days, maybe don't be so much of a chatterbox, eh? I'll give you a little oral salve so there won't be any bruising inside the throat. But it's going on your bill!"

Havoc was impressed; she hadn't even noticed any injuries other than the shiner, so maybe this Miracle guy wasn't so bad.

He then turned to Pinkie. "As for you, Miss, like I said, I'm gonna be taking out that bullet, then treating the wound with some of my own special concoctions. You're not gonna want to be awake for it, because oy, believe me, it's not a pleasant experience. I'm offering you the freedom to decline anesthetic, though."

Pinkie shook her head. "No, I'll take whatever anesthetic you've got to give me. I… I don't think I want to feel that…"

"Good, then we've got that settled." He then turned to Rainbow next. "And you, scram. Delicate procedures require delicate hooves, and I can't work with somepony else so close to me."

"I can't be with her while she's going through this?" Rainbow asked, hurt.

"No. You can be with her after I've finished up while she's recovering, but I need some privacy while working on the hard part, huh? She your wife?"

"Fillyfriend," Rainbow replied.

Havoc's eyes widened; she'd had no idea that Rainbow was dating Pinkie. A glance in Velvet's direction and seeing that her sister was unfazed told her that Velvet did, though.

"Well, don't worry, your fillyfriend is in good hooves, and I'm sure you'd probably rather not see the actual procedure I'll be going through. So please, go over there," he continued, gesturing to the far side of the room, where Havoc and Velvet were waiting, "and relax. I'll be done in about an hour."

Rainbow nodded and patted Pinkie's hoof. "You'll be okay, Pinkie. I'll be right over there, okay? I'll be right there when it's all over, then we can go back and let you get some rest."

Pinkie leaned over and pecked Rainbow on the cheek. "Thanks, Dashie…"

Rainbow then walked away from the table and joined Havoc and Velvet by the room entrance.

Miracle then wheeled on Lockwood. "Same to you, putz. Outta the way."

Lockwood smiled. "If you don't mind, I think I'll go speak with your lovely wife and get our account all settled."

"Ah, yeah, good idea." Miracle gestured to a door on the other side of the room opposite the tunnel. "The old witch is in the back. Probably asleep so, y'know, watch your head so you don't lose it."

"Duly noted." Lockwood turned to the mares and waved. "I'll be back once I take care of some business. You'll be alright out here, I hope?"

"Yeah, we'll be fine," Velvet said with a nod. "Thanks, Lockwood. For all of this."

Rainbow nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I owe you big time."

"Please, ladies, nopony owes me anything. I'm more than happy to help." He headed off towards the back, leaving Miracle essentially alone with Pinkie.

As Miracle provided Pinkie with a little bottle to drink from, Rainbow shook her head and wandered into the tunnel so that the chamber was out of sight. "I don't want to watch this. I can't watch this."

Havoc and Velvet paused, shrugged, and followed Rainbow into the tunnel.

"You okay, Dash?" Havoc asked, putting a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "You're looking a little pale."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just… just fine." Rainbow paused, then sighed. "No. I… I'm not." She shook her head again and leaned against the nearby wall. "Just thinking about what happened, what could have happened… it's making me so sick I could puke. I wasn't there when she needed me the most…"

"I wish I could've done more," Velvet sighed, looking just as distraught. "If I was a little faster—"

"No, don't you dare," Rainbow said, wheeling on Velvet and poking her in the chest. "You were there when it happened. You kept her safe, alright? I didn't. I was living it up at some stupid skyball game while she was getting shot in some dark alleyway. I wasn't there—"

"You can't be there for everything, Rainbow," Velvet retorted, poking Rainbow right back. "What are you supposed to do, spend every waking moment of every single day with her?"

"I should be!"

"No, you shouldn't! That's not healthy, for either of you. Every couple needs a little bit of space and time to themselves so that they're still their own pony. You can't be there for everything, like some kind of overseer."

"Red, you're the last pony that should be offering advice on maintaining a stable relationship," Havoc chortled.

Velvet glared at her, nostrils flaring. "Shut up, we are having a moment."

"I… I know that, but… I…" Rainbow sighed, and without warning pulled Velvet in for another hug. "Thank you. I can't ever thank you enough for what you did."

Velvet nervously returned the hug this time. "Yeah… you're welcome. Don't mention it, though, okay? She's my friend, too." She smiled. "I mean, yeah, obviously you guys are closer than we are. A lot closer. It's not like Pink and I are bumping uglies."

Rainbow chuckled. "Yeah, right. She told me you're not her type."

"Oh really?" Velvet asked, mock offended. "And here I've been telling her how good her butt looks. I take it all back."

"Say, that reminds me," Havoc interjected. "I didn't even know you had a fillyfriend, Dash."

"Yeah? What's it to you, squirt?" Rainbow asked, a light smile on her face; Havoc was glad to see her friend's spirits were back up. "Are you jealous? Or were you just hoping to get a piece of me yourself?"

Havoc blanched. "Ew, no way. You're not my type, even if I was into chicks. I just didn't know you were into chicks. You never mentioned having a fillyfriend before, and I always figured you were, y'know… straight."

Rainbow tapped her chin. "Oh. Yeah, I guess I never did. It just never came up. We don't usually talk about that kind of stuff, do we? This is like, the first time either of us has ever talked about relationships or whatever."

"Well, I wish we did it sooner, because I just finally came up for a new name for you, one I bet you've never heard before," Havoc said with a proud grin.

"Psh, yeah right. Every single one you've tried so far has either been an oldie or just plain lame. I thought you were sticking with Rainbow Dork? I mean, yeah, I've heard it before but it's not terrible. I mean, Rainbow Crash just doesn't fit somepony that's as good at flying as me."

"Yeah, but Rainbow Dork is getting old. Outdated. Time to upgrade to the new model, y'know? So now, I've got a new one for ya: Rainbow Dyke."

Rainbow froze, tensing up like she's been hit in the gut. For a long, long moment she froze—way, way too long—one eye twitching slightly.

"What did you call me?"

Havoc paused, arching an eyebrow. "Rainbow Dyke. Y'know, 'cause you're—"

Her eyes caught movement from Velvet, who was frantically swiping her hooves across her throat, teeth clenched, eyes wide, a pretty universal gesture that Havoc understood meant she'd said something wrong.

"The hell is wrong with you?!" Rainbow spat, getting right in Havoc's face, her eyes filled with anger that Havoc had never seen before. "Huh?! Where the hell do you get off?!"

Havoc took half a step back, completely blindsided by the reaction. "Whoa, Dash, don't get so—"

"Shut up! I asked you a question! What the hell is wrong with you that you think it's okay to call me a dyke? Huh?"

Havoc tensed up, more than a little confused, and starting to get a little angry. "I… we… b-but we always rip on each other—"

"No. We rip on each other and it's all in good fun, because we never rip on things that are serious. You think I give a damn if you make fun of my gameplay out on the court? About how good of a flyer I am, or whether or not I ever get laid? This is different!"

"I didn't know it was a problem!" Havoc spat back. "How the fuck was I supposed to know you were sensitive about being gay?! We never talked about it! I didn't know you even were gay! I've been ripping on your for liking cocks and balls all fucking week!"

Rainbow paused for a moment, her hard breathing slowing. Then, she let out a breath and back off. "No… you're right. You're right. You didn't know. I never said anything about it, I just kind of… figured you'd figure it out."

"And how the hell was I supposed to figure it out? What, was I supposed to notice you checking out my ass or something?"

"Pfft, if you can even call that an ass," Rainbow scoffed. "I've seen better cans in the soup aisle."

Havoc was about to retort, then paused, and let out a breath of her own, her anger washing away. "Look, I'm sorry, alright? I… I didn't know it was a sore spot for you, and… it wasn't cool for me to make fun of you for it. Not cool at all."

"Hey, I'm sorry too, for blowing up at you over something you didn't even know was an issue," Rainbow replied. She offered her hoof out. "Still friends?"

Havoc smirked, and hoofbumped Rainbow. "Still friends. Just know that I'm not gonna stop ripping on you for all the other shit."

"Hey, that's cool. Wouldn't have it any other way."

"Yeah, but it's not fair, now that I know I can't whip out any burns on how much dick you like to suck, since apparently dick's off the menu for you. That seems a little unfair. That's like half my material!"

"No, what's unfair is, you now know something about me that I consider off-limits," Rainbow said, tapping her chin. "But, I don't want to accidentally cross the line with you one day and have this pop up again. So, spill: what's the one thing I could say that would really set you off?"

Havoc chuckled and shook her head. "Oh, no way, I had to figure yours out on my own and got chewed out for it, so you can figure mine out yourself so I get a chance to get all up in your grill—"

Velvet, who had watched the entire display with rapt attention, leaned over to Rainbow and, without bothering to whisper, noted, "She's ashamed that she's still a virgin."

Havoc paled. "Red! The fuck?!"

Rainbow arched an eyebrow. "What? That's your 'off-limits' zone? That you never popped your cherry?"

Havoc's eyes darted between Rainbow and Velvet. She groaned, hanging her head. "Yeah… that's it. And you know what, it's only fair: you should get to rip on me once for it. So go on!" She thumped her hooves to her chest. "Let me have it! I deserve it!"

Rainbow smirked. "Dude, I ain't gonna make fun of you for being a virgin. That's something that you can probably change one day. That'd be like making fun of you because of… I dunno, a brand of soda you like or something. That's not even remotely in the same field as making fun of me for being gay. That's something I can't change about myself."

"I mean, I guess? But still, it's… it's just something about myself that I'm not happy with…"

"I mean, it's not exactly a hard thing to fix, if you're desperate enough."

Velvet shook her head and sighed. "I keep telling her I'll help hook her up with somepony. I bet I could get her laid by the time we all head home tonight. Give me thirty minutes and a busy intersection."

"Fuck that noise, I don't need your sloppy seconds," Havoc huffed.

"Oh, please, you're not even remotely interested in the same type of stallion I am anyway. You couldn't handle the kind of dick I get."

"What exactly is your type, then?" Rainbow asked with a grin. "Just please don't tell me it's somepony like Dart. We've got enough problems with Salsa checking out his ass all game. We're gonna have to invest in a set of blinders for her or something."

Havoc rolled her eyes. "Look, it's none of your business what my type is—"

"She likes guys that'll be submissive and meek in the sack," Velvet said with a smile. "You know, guys like Lockwood, maybe? I bet he likes being dominated."

Havoc tensed up. "Wh-what? No way, he's not—"

"I saw you checking him out earlier, y'know? You're not very subtle."

"I mean, yeah, even I noticed it," Rainbow said, nodding slowly. "You've had your eyes all over him since we got here."

Velvet nodded sagely. "I bet she was checking out his butt the whole way here. He's not my type, but I can see it."

"You didn't see shit! I was not!" Havoc lied, her face supremely red hot.

Velvet hummed, tapping her chin, then shrugged. "Okay, maybe I was wrong. Still, you do like the fancy, scrawny types that probably model at fashion shows." She paused, then gasped. "Oh! Havoc, I just had the greatest idea: you should ask Insipid to introduce you to some of her male model friends."

"Oh hell no. I'll just buy a dildo if I wanna fuck some brainless plastic."

At that, the trio shared a good laugh, and Havoc found herself immensely relieved that she didn't just blow everything she'd worked towards. She was actually a little impressed with how well she'd handled things; she was the absolute last pony she ever expected to be able to diffuse a situation and convince an angry pony to calm down. There was just something about Rainbow that made Havoc want to maintain their friendship, and it had nothing to do with her assignment.

Whatever it was, she was glad she had it.

Chapter Nineteen: Collusion

It was nearly midnight when Dawn rode the elevator up the side of Pandora Tower all the way up to the top floor, where her father's office was located. The elevator's speakers played a classical tune that Dawn very much enjoyed—she found that she shared her father's tastes in music—though she couldn't remember hearing it before now. She was certain that she'd heard all sorts of music like this, but not where or when she had; it was like having a word on the tip of her tongue but being unable to think of it, which was an utterly alien feeling.

As the elevator doors opened, she came to the long hallway that led to Silvertongue's private facilities. His office was closest, just down the hall to the left; further down the hall on the right was the door to his bedroom; the next door down was his private washroom. She'd only ever been in his office before over the past week, mostly to discuss the parameters of her and her sisters' assignment, but couldn't remember ever visiting any of the other rooms over the years even though she knew where they were.

She knocked on his office door three times, if only to be polite; only herself, her sisters, and her father's secretary had permission to come up here freely, and she'd been told that she—and she alone—needn't worry about disturbing him at this late hour.

"Come in," he called from the other side of the door.

She opened it up and walked into his office, where she found him currently seated in his large chair overlooking something on his computer. She never knew what he was working on and never dared to ask; if it was something she was supposed to know about, he'd certainly tell her. She was actually surprised that he was even awake, considering how late it was.

"Good evening, Father," she said with a polite nod. "I apologize for disturbing you at this late hour, but urgent matters have arisen and I require your beneficence regarding recent concerns related to the assignments my sisters and I are engaged upon."

"Dawn, my dear, I believed we were perfectly clear that issues regarding your assignments were entirely under your own authority," he said, not taking his attention away from his computer screen. "Whatever issues are troubling you, I'm certain that you're perfectly capable of handling it."

Dawn smiled a little at that; her father's confidence and faith in her always sent waves of joy through her heart, more than anything else in the world. "I am grateful for the accolades, Father, and I assure you that were this anything else, I would categorically resolve the issue at hoof with consummate success. However, this situation is… unique. I require guidance."

Silvertongue paused a moment, then nodded and turned his attention fully upon her. "Of course. You know that I am always here for you whenever you need help, no matter what it is. What seems to be the trouble with your assignment that you've come to me?"

"There were a few… incidents, earlier this evening," Dawn explained, taking care with her wording. "Initially, a pony impersonating a WPD inspector visited the apartment belonging to our friends… er, targets, and endeavored to abscond with Fluttershy; Gray was present during the attempt and can provide additional details if you require them, but suffice to say, she stymied the perpetrator's efforts and subdued him."

Her father's expression remained rather blank after hearing this, and his tone was calm and collected. "Were any injuries sustained?"

"Fluttershy and Gray were unharmed, but the assailant inflicted minor injuries upon Lockwood. I have been led to believe he will recover without requiring professional medical aid."

"The fact that an individual attempted this upon Fluttershy is, by itself, not worthy of my attention," Silvertongue said flatly. "Any random mugger or burglar would be a simple matter to handle. I assume that there's more to this tale?"

"Yes, Father. Gray interrogated the assailant and uncovered a plot to attempt similar acts upon Applejack as well as Pinkie Pie. It is abundantly clear that the attacks were coordinated and well-organized; the perpetrators seemed informed of their targets' schedules and locations, as much or more so than ourselves in fact."

"I see. Are they unharmed?"

"Applejack, yes. Pinkie, no; Velvet has informed me that these assailants attacked her, under the impression that she was Pinkie, and attempted to inflict fatal injuries, unlike what Fluttershy's would-be assailant was attempting, or Applejack's for that matter. Pinkie was injured in the ensuing scuffle, but I have been informed that she will make a full recovery in two days' time."

Silvertongue raised an eyebrow slightly. "These individuals attempted to murder Pinkie Pie?"

"Yes, Father."

"And how did Velvet handle the situation?"

"Velvet managed to eliminate the individuals and was quite clear with me that there were no witnesses to the event, at least none that survived."

"And these injuries that Pinkie sustained, they were minor in nature?"

Dawn paused, then shook her head. "I was informed by Havoc and Velvet that her injury was the result of a discharged firearm, but that an associate of Lockwood's managed to repair the damage via magic and alchemy."

"Truly?" he asked, a glimmer of curiosity on his face. "My my… quite an archaic art to use in this day and age. I may press Havoc and Velvet for more on the subject." He went silent for a moment, tapping his hoof on his desk. "What are your thoughts on the situation as you see it, Dawn?"

"At present, Father, I am both suspicious and concerned," she admitted. "These individuals were, as I stated, well-coordinated and well-informed. The assailants who attacked Fluttershy and Applejack can be reasonably explained as having done research prior to their attempted assaults.

"However, the assailants that pursued Pinkie seemed aware that she would be in attendance at the Promenade, and Velvet has assured me that they only spoke about their planned excursion betwixt themselves the night before. Pinkie's friends were unaware of her whereabouts, and neither Gray nor Insipid knew of Velvet's.

"In addition, the assailant after Fluttershy divulged a location to which he was to deliver her. I personally investigated the site and found nothing of importance, though the edifice was astonishingly derelict. I uncovered no further evidence, nor any justification for utilizing that particular location for their purposes, nor what their purposes were."

Silvertongue paused for a long moment. "All in all, Dawn, I agree that these circumstances are quite suspicious, and I wish I had any aid to offer you at the moment. How is the current situation regarding Fluttershy and Pinkie?"

"It is my understanding that Fluttershy is secure and was more concerned with the well-being of her comrades; Pinkie will require bed rest for the remainder of her recovery, and Velvet has described her as… numb."

"I see." He tapped his table again, then nodded in understanding. "I will look into these attacks further, if that would alleviate your concerns. I trust that will suffice?"

Dawn nodded appreciatively. "Knowing that you are evaluating the situation would indeed mitigate my anxieties, and those of my sisters. What further course of action should we take in the interim?"

"I would advise that you and your sisters remain alert for any further attempts to bring harm to your charges. For those of you assigned to a specific target, ensure that they are not left alone for any significant length of time, if you can reasonably manage it. Use your best judgement in that regard."

"And what of Applejack? None of us are assigned to her specifically."

"I will potentially consult with Curaçao on that, as she has not been given an assigned target. I do not wish to distract her from her own tasks at present, but the situation might require it. We shall see." He leaned back into his chair. "If any new information comes to light regarding these individuals, inform me immediately. Understood?"

"Yes, Father."

He smiled. "Good. Then run along, my dear, and get some sleep. I promise you, I'll take care of everything."

She returned the smile. "Thank you, Father. Good night."

"And good night to you as well. Pleasant dreams."

With that, she left his office, closing the door behind her and making for the elevator, the huge weight on her shoulders feeling much lighter than before. She knew it had been the right idea to come to her father for assistance. If anypony could help get to the bottom of this mystery, it was him; he would do anything for her, for her sisters, she knew that in her heart.

*****

Silvertongue stewed for a long moment after Dawn left, allowing his face to show the absolute distaste he had for the entire situation. He was glad that Dawn felt the need to inform him of what had happened over the course of the evening, but he'd certainly noticed a few holes in the report here and there. However, it was irrelevant whether she herself had obscured information or one of her sisters did.

He waited until he was completely certain that he would be alone and undisturbed before he reached out with his mind and essence to contact Nihila. When she did not respond immediately, he allowed more of himself through the bridge so that she would be aware of the urgency in which he needed her attention. The fact that she was ignoring him if even for an instant did not bode well.

When she finally did respond, her essence wrapped around him like a warm blanket. "You called for me, my Warden? What troubles you at this late hour?"

"I fear that there may be a complication in our plan, my lady," he said, keeping his voice calm and collected, despite the aggravation he was feeling.

"Oh? Pray tell, what—"

"My lady, if you would, you needn't feign ignorance with me. You surely know of what complications I speak of."

She sent an icy chill down his spine, sharp enough that he felt as though he'd been paralyzed and submerged in frigid waters. "You dare interrupt me? Do I detect a hint of insolence in your tone, my Warden? You had best rethink your words, lest I become displeased."

"I meant no disrespect, my Lady," he carefully replied, pushing down his agitation as hard as he could. "I only wished to make it apparent that we may speak plainly on the issues at hoof. I understand that it is in your nature to deceive and manipulate, but this is hardly the time or the place."

"Then speak. You say there are complications? Pray tell, of what complications do you speak?"

"It would seem as though some aggressors made attempts to attack three of our hopeful charges, specifically Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. Though the attempts were ultimately unsuccessful, it has put these otherworldly mares on alert, and could potentially cause a snag in the grand design that we have devised."

"I see. And why do you consider this information worthy of my time?"

"Because I did not assign these would-be assailants to attack anypony," he said, keeping his tone even despite wanting to express his frustration with her as he would with any subordinate who committed some error. "You did."

She chuckled through their connection, a wholly unpleasant sensation that felt like having his stomach tickled from the inside. "I ask again, my Warden: why do you consider this information worthy of my time? I never took you to enjoy stating the obvious."

"My lady, far be it from me to question your judgement, but these attacks threaten the success of the carefully-laid plan that I have devised with your blessings. If these otherworldly mares suspect that they are in danger, especially from myself or from you, they will not hesitate to refuse our offer."

"Their world's survival depends on me, my Warden," she hissed; he felt like a spike had just driven into the back of his neck. "They would be fools to deny me! They will accept my aid regardless of their fears or trepidations; it is too late for them now to venture south to seek Harmonia's aid instead."

"I would not be so sure," he replied, fighting back the hot sensation in his gut that her anger was causing him. "They have made allies in their short time here, resourceful ones, and I would not risk the assumption that they cannot procure means with which to travel south far quicker than expected, if pushed hard enough to do so."

"Then I would place trust in you to stymie such efforts. It is within your power."

"Maybe so, but there are risks involved. If given cause to flee the city swiftly—perhaps because they fear they are being monitored—they may also do so discreetly enough that I cannot stop it in time, especially if they believe that they will be prevented from leaving."

Her essence became hotter and worked its way up into his chest, like a bad case of heartburn. "You say that you do not question my judgement, and yet here I believe that you do. I do not tolerate insolence, my Warden, least of all from you."

"My lady, I only inquire as to why the decision was made, and why I was not informed," he said, finding himself having to focus on his breathing. "I have never given you reason to doubt me, so why do you withhold information from me? Have I done something to displease you?"

"Hmph… no, you have not, but you are no fool. You know that I must have other avenues to carry out my will, ones that are familiar only to me. It is my nature to deceive, as you are fond of reminding me."

He fought back a sneer. "I have always been aware of your cult's existence, but have never seen the need to hide their identities from me. Surely, as your Warden, I should be a primary leader of such worshippers."

"That is how that wretch Harmonia chooses to rule! Her cult may practice and preach their sickening tenets of love and peace in the open, but that is not my way. I am Darkness incarnate, and those who worship me do so from the shadows." She chuckled; the room suddenly smelled of mint. "If it soothes your wounded ego, they are unaware of your identity as well."

"That still does not explain why—"

"I have told you once already, my Warden: this scheme of yours progresses too slowly. I entrusted you with speeding these 'Elements' into my grasp, and yet they still dawdle, they work and play while they seek out answers that you could provide at any moment. They needed… a push. Through conflict, camaraderie is bred. Or do you not remember?"

Her smug tone hurt his ears despite being entirely in his head. "This 'push' of yours may very well be off of a metaphorical cliff, my lady," he replied; it was growing harder to maintain his level-headedness as she pushed and pushed at him; a lesser pony would have snapped.

"Is it? Tell me, my Warden, do these 'Elements' not now trust my pawns more deeply than before? Have they not begun to form further 'bonds' amongst themselves that you seem so fond of? My machinations have pushed matters along far quicker than yours have."

"Your machinations also potentially could have resulted in the death of one of our targets. Your misguided worshippers attempted to murder her. That is exactly the opposite of what we desire, is it not?"

She paused, caught in her mistake. "It was a calculated risk. That one's essence, this… 'Laughter', it was potentially the greatest threat to our scheme, for it was the most counterintuitive to my own. With this effort of mine, her confidence and joy have been neutralized; she will not trouble me further."

"If she had perished, my lady, our entire plan would be for naught."

She gave a dark chuckle that made his stomach turn. "Do you not have confidence in the pawn that you assigned to her?"

"I have the utmost confidence in all of my daughters—"

"Ha! Your 'daughters'… what a pathetic, sentimental term. Your attempts to ingratiate yourself to these tools is a waste of effort. Once they have served their purpose, they have no reason to exist. I want them destroyed once we have dealt with Harmonia."

"There will be time to discuss that later—"

"No. I think not. You grow too attached to them, and I fear you may argue with me at a later date. No, I will have your word now." She sent a jolt of pain through his body, only briefly, but enough to get her point across. "You will destroy them once we are done with them. Say it, my Warden. Say the words."

Silvertongue clenched his teeth for a moment, then nodded. "I will destroy them once we no longer have use for them, my lady."

"Good. Now, as for your miserable concerns over the welfare of your plan, fear not. I believe my cult has already served to advance things along at a pace that I find satisfactory. Should I become dissatisfied with your progress, however, I will not hesitate to provide another 'push'. Perhaps I shall encourage more subtlety next time, hmm?"

"Your restraint is a welcome blessing, my lady," he said with a bow. "Thank you."

Silvertongue felt her essence filter out of him, leaving him alone in the room and with his thoughts again. Nihila's restlessness in the face of victory was dangerous; she was threatening to unravel every aspect of this plan of his with these forced threats, and he knew that if she continued to be disappointed with his results, she might just jump the gun and reveal herself too quickly, far before he was ready with the final stages of things.

All he knew was that his own patience was wearing just as thin.

He pressed the button on his intercom. "Shroud."

The reply took a moment, since she had likely been asleep. "Yes, sir?"

"I want a progress report on Project Four-One-C-N. Now, if you would."

"Yes sir, one moment." He heard her moving about as she got out of bed and moved into her office, then went to work on her station. "I couldn't find anything pertaining to this Four-One-C-N in our database, so I started looking through the older archives. Everything in there is heavily encrypted with some really archaic code, so progress is going… well, slowly, sir."

"Any particular reason why?"

"Well, sir, my sorting algorithm doesn't work on the older, outdated documents, so I've been going through them one at a time by hoof. That, and I've been assisting Mademoiselle Curaçao with her own assignments, as requested."

He grunted, both upset that she was delayed but understanding that there was little choice in the matter. He knew that Curaçao's role in his future plans more than the present ones was crucial, and that any assistance she received would greatly accelerate her success; unfortunately, his current needs outweighed hers.

"Inform me when you've found what I'm looking for, but continue to assist Curaçao with whatever she needs when you can; however, explain to her that my own assignment for you takes absolute priority. She will not question it if told as much."

"Yes, sir. Shall I work overtime until I get results?"

"That won't be necessary for now. I will seek what I can in the archives myself when time permits."

"Very well, sir. Anything else that I can do for you?"

"No, that will be all, Shroud."

"Good night, sir."

As the intercom shut off, Silvertongue leaned back in his chair and contemplated the day's events. It was late and he knew he should be getting himself ready to retire for the evening, but too many things had happened today, too many things to consider and too many factors that had suddenly gotten out of his own control. He knew that he needed to make an adjustment somewhere to ensure that the rest of his plan proceeded as intended, but now things were dangerously close to unraveling.

He was going to have to be very, very careful moving forward.

Everything depended on it.

*****

It was early the following morning when Curaçao made her way to Shroud's office, where she found the bespeckled secretary wide awake and already busy on her computer doing whatever work she had ahead of her for the day. During the day's normal hours, when Shroud could reasonably expect a visitor—as opposed to the middle of the night—she wore a crisp dress suit and tight-fitting skirt.

Curaçao smiled and entered the office without needing to knock; she and Shroud had become so accustomed to one another's company by now that the latter wasn't bothered by these surprise visits in the least.

"Bonjour, Shroud. How are you this lovely morning?" she asked as she walked into the room, carefully balancing a serving tray on her back that she'd carried up from the kitchen level of the Tower.

"Oh, hello Curaçao. You're here early," Shroud said with a small smile. "I'm very busy, actually. Lord Silvertongue has me on a special assignment for him and I'm trying to work through it as best I can." She tilted her head when she noticed the tray on Curaçao's back. "What's that you've got there?"

Curaçao set the tray down onto the edge of Shroud's desk with a practiced, smooth grace. "I brought you some breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day after all, oui? I know you have said that you sometimes skip it when you are busy, so it seems I made a good decision to bring some."

Shroud smiled and looked at the few plates and cups on the tray, which contained enough food and drink for two ponies to share: two large waffles with syrup and topped with strawberries and cream; two large glasses of orange juice; two cups of coffee, black; two bowls of sliced oranges.

"Wow, this is a lot just for me. Why is there so much?"

"If you don't mind, I was hoping we could have breakfast together," Curaçao said as she pulled over a chair—she'd brought it into the office days ago so that she could do some of her work in here if need be. "I have some business of my own to attend to this morning," she added, pulling a portable datapad from her saddlebag.

"That sounds nice, actually," Shroud said, taking her own servings off of the tray and moving it in front of her. "What brings this on, though? I thought you usually worked during the day?"

Curaçao grumbled. "It is a rather complicated story, but suffice to say, my original plans for the day have been… suspended."

What Curaçao didn't mention was that the situation at hoof was related to her shapeshifting powers. She wasn't sure if Shroud knew about her abilities or if she was allowed to reveal them just yet—as much as she wanted to—so she didn't want to go into too much detail about it.

"So, I figured that I would continue with my work here over the early day so that I could try to figure out a new plan for moving forward, and potentially solve a few issues."

"Well, you know you're always welcome in my office," Shroud said with a nod as she started eating her breakfast. "Just so you know, though, Silvertongue said that the assignment I'm working on takes priority over anything of yours unless it's absolutely critical. I hope you understand?"

Curaçao frowned, but nodded. "Oui, je comprends. Mon père has many things that are much more important than what I am taking care of. Ce n'est pas un problème, I can handle this myself. I have more time now, considering the circumstances, oui?"

"So, what've you got to work on?"

"Well, the first thing is this," Curaçao said, tapping her datapad screen several times.

She brought up a file that had taken her some time to successfully download onto a drive without being noticed, a video file to be exact. It showed security camera footage from outside the front entrance of the NPPD Central Station in the Mid-South District. There was quite a crowd present walking back and forth along the street.

Curaçao pointed specifically at one individual in said crowd, a blue pegasus stallion with a darker blue mane—it was hard to tell specific shades—in a crisp suit and tie, wearing a pair of sunglasses. The footage showed him walking along with the crowd, then turning into the entryway of the building. The footage then suddenly jumped just slightly, so slightly that it was easy to miss, and the stallion seemed to just disappear with it.

"Looks like you've got yourself an agent of the CIA heading into the precinct there," Shroud noted, taking a sip of coffee. "And that little blip in the footage indicates that it was tampered with."

"Oui, that is the problem," Curaçao said, taking a bite of waffle; it was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, just perfect. "This is the only evidence that I have of this agent entering the building: a split-second turn. Otherwise, he looks like he is just part of the crowd and is rather difficult to notice, non?"

"What's this all about, then?"

"Well, as I said, this is the only physical evidence I have of this agent; all of the security footage from inside the building has also been doctored, and there is no footage of him leaving the building. C'est très déroutant."

"Sounds like typical CIA spooky business to me," Shroud said with a shrug. "They do that kind of stuff all the time."

"Oui, but they also keep evidence of all of their agents' deployments."

Curaçao tapped on another file, which displayed the most recent status of every single CIA Agent on record; this document wasn't publicly available, and she had gotten it from Shroud just a couple of days ago as part of her investigation.

"I have inspected this entire list, and not one of these agents was assigned to NPPD Central at the time this footage was taken, nor do any of them match the pony in the footage."

Shroud took another sip of coffee. "That's definitely not normal. Sounds like you've got yourself an impersonator, and a talented one if they doctored out all evidence of their being there. You've got less than a half-second of footage that even suggests they exist." She set down her cup. "So, how can I help?"

Curaçao arched an eyebrow. "Quoi?"

"This is obviously a big deal, right? Part of your assignment I'm guessing?"

"Ah… oui. But I cannot ask you for help, though. Mon père has told you that his assignment for you is more important, non?"

"Yeah, he has." Shroud smiled and took a bite of her waffle. "However, I'm currently on breakfast break, right? So if I wanted to help you out while I'm technically 'off the clock', well, that's my prerogative, isn't it?"

Curaçao's mouth curled in a tiny grin. "Oui, I suppose it is. Merci."

Shroud took the datapad from Curaçao and connected it to her computer via a thin cable, then rapidly started tapping on it whilst her eyes darted across the screen, all the while taking a sip of orange juice and a bite of waffle in between. Curaçao watched with rapt attention as the secretary worked, and, within a couple of minutes, she seemed to produce results. Even if they weren't good results.

Shroud leaned back in her seat a bit and shook her head. "Yeah, whoever your guy is, he's an expert, I'll tell you that much. I ran this file through my decryption software so that I could try to find where the adjustments were made, but it's corrupted somewhere that prevents my software from working, yet not anywhere that keeps it from playing."

"And you are certain he was not with the CIA? Perhaps they are hiding his identity?"

"No, the dossier on the agents wasn't tampered with at all, so you've definitely got an imposter, not a rogue former agent or something like that. I even ran his face through some facial recognition software and got nothing, so either your guy's a total ghost in the system or he hacked into that, too."

"Merde," Curaçao swore. She took another bite of waffle to calm her nerves, shaking her head. "This is not good. That means that all of the other security files were also tampered with, non?"

"Oh, definitely. I mean, I could pull them up and try to sort through them all, but that'll take a lot of time and probably won't give you any more answers." Shroud sipped on her orange juice again, looking at Curaçao with concern. "What's this about, if I might ask? I've always been a little curious what you're getting up to during the day."

Curaçao paused, then let out a breath. "Mon père has given me the assignment of better understanding the two stallions that I asked about on the day when you and I first met. They are key parts of the assignment that mes soeurs are working on, and it is my job to help however I can.

"I chose to focus first on Captain Flathoof, as he is a civil servant and was easier to research and interact with… at least until today," she said with a sigh, still a little bitter about recent events. "He has been concerned about a fellow officer of his who went missing, and a witness account suggests that an agent of the CIA was the last one seen with her."

Shroud nodded. "And that's where this imposter comes in. You think he's the one that talked to her, maybe did something more?"

"Oui, but I have no evidence of him other than this apparently useless footage, and an unreliable account from a witness." Curaçao hung her head. "I was hoping to break this open and leak my findings to Flathoof. I am certain that it would give him peace of mind, oui? He would be a valuable ally in the course of our assignments, more so than he already has been.

"But, with all this tampering, I am beginning to think that we might never learn what happened to her," she added. "After what I have learned about her, and what she meant to the captain and his family, I fear that they may never get peace of mind, oui? Truly tragic."

"I wish I could've been of more help," Shroud said, patting Curaçao's hoof. "Whoever's covering this up and why, they certainly didn't pull out any stops."

Curaçao glanced at Shroud's hoof on hers for a moment, then set her other hoof on top of Shroud's and gave the unicorn a genuine smile, which was returned. She liked it when Shroud smiled; the other mare had the cutest dimples that Curaçao had ever seen, and they complimented her glasses so well that it just made her… pop.

Curaçao just barely caught herself staring, and cleared her throat, removing her hoof in the process. "Merci. It is alright. I will have to put that project aside for now and move on to others. Maybe you can help while you are still on 'break', hmm?"

Shroud nodded. "Sure, let's see what you've got."

Curaçao took her datapad back from Shroud's computer, then tapped the screen a few more times. The next file was a dossier on the "repairpony" that had attempted to take Fluttershy the night before. This time it was more complete, including the pony's name—Power Flux—and his physical attributes such as weight and height, and other publicly-available data.

Everything about the stallion indicated that he was an upstanding member of society. He'd worked for the WPD for eight years, had been promoted from a standard service technician to an inspector technician, had never missed a day of work in his life, even had an ex-wife—ex because she was having an affair last year—and a five-year-old daughter that had died in a freak sports accident shortly before the divorce. He'd gone into a downward spiral after that and lost his job.

Sure, those last bits of information gave every indication of a stallion that should have been angry at society and might very well have taken it out on somepony else, and that would've been fine if it was just some isolated incident and that by happenstance he targeted Fluttershy. It was the fact that he was working with others and coordinating with them that made the entire thing seem completely out of place.

"Who's that?" Shroud asked, taking the last sip of her coffee.

"A suspect in an assault case last night," Curaçao explained, finishing off her own coffee. "He was supposed to have important information for me… but I could not get it from him directly, so I was hoping to find something in his records."

Shroud's eyes darted across the screen in less than a few seconds. "Oh, hey, is this connected with Captain Flathoof, too? He's on the arresting officer tag, along with this… Cadet Gumshoe. Maybe one of them knows more?"

Curaçao shook her head. "Captain Flathoof was not present for all of the arrest procedure, so he would not know more than what is on this dossier."

"Well then, maybe this Gumshoe does?"

"No. He doesn't. Cadet Gumshoe was suspended last night because this suspect falsely claimed that the cadet assaulted him, and physical evidence corroborated his claims." Curaçao sighed and leaned back in her chair. "This pony's lawyer was quick to get him out of questioning. And without a new address, I cannot find him."

"Oh. Well… that's a shame. How do you know the claims were false, though?"

"Trust me. I know."

She was still rather peeved about the whole thing. She'd tried asking the stallion more questions en route to the precinct, but he refused to answer and she couldn't properly threaten him while in her guise as Gumshoe. All that would do is start directing attention her way that she didn't want.

She decided instead to take him in and start working on a transfer to a different facility; with her connections it wouldn't be hard to get paperwork circled around to make it look like he had other arrest warrants in a different district. The process would only take a day or so at longest, and then the stallion would conveniently disappear en route.

But shifting his blame for his injuries at Gray's hooves onto Gumshoe to get out of trouble long enough to go off the grid? That took some real quick-thinking, and implied more coordination amongst these assailants so that he could disappear so quickly. Whoever this group was, they were far better organized than originally believed.

And yet he gave up information about the impending attack on Applejack with relatively little fuss, and that attack had been, in Gray's words, "amatuer-hour bullshit". Even the attack on Lockwood made little sense in the long run; why strangle him with the wrench when he could just clobber him over the head?

Contradictory situations and motivations. It was all quite… troubling.

Shroud frowned. "Well, this looks like a pretty complete record of everything. I could try to see if it was doctored, if you'd like?"

"Non, that is alright, it would not matter. Dawn has already investigated his old home and found it empty, as if he just… disappeared. This entire situation has left a bitter taste on my tongue, oui? I will investigate further if I can get more evidence."

Curaçao had hoped for more assistance from Shroud, but at this point it mattered little and she didn't hold it against her; by the time any information could be discovered anyway, there was no doubt that this stallion would be completely off the grid.

She didn't mention the fact that the only other ponies that had been involved in his plot had either fled the scene before Gray could identify any of them, or had been discovered dead in an alleyway, their bodies ripped apart in a fashion that proved that Velvet had used her powers to kill them, and hopefully not in full view of Pinkie. Curaçao hoped whatever officers got assigned to that case got sick, unable to stomach the carnage Velvet surely left behind.

Looking through what other information connected to the attacks provided more questions than answers, really. Velvet had been shot too, and had retrieved the bullet; as noted in Velvet's report, the weapon hadn't been a professional-grade firearm—most likely homemade—and so it couldn't be traced to a manufacturer. Still acquiring the materials and parts needed to make one's own gun wasn't exactly easy, so while it was a troublesome lead, that, too, went nowhere.

The building that Dawn investigated was also particularly mysterious, as despite Dawn's insistence that the building was there, that it was real, there was no evidence in public records about it whatsoever. Nothing on what kind of building it had been at any point in the past, nothing on when it was abandoned, nor about who owned it or who had leased the land, and certainly no details on what had happened there to make it so dilapidated.

At any rate, with her only living lead missing, there was nothing more that could be done. Curaçao filed away these dead ends into a folder in her datapad for later review; she hoped that eventually, evidence might crop up that would help her put more pieces of this puzzle together.

By this point, she noticed that Shroud had finished up her breakfast. "Well, I do appreciate the help, at least. I will let you go back to your own work, oui?"

"I've still got some orange juice left," Shroud said with a little grin, shaking the nearly-empty glass of juice. "So, if you've got something else, I mean… I'll take my time drinking it. Whatever it is you need, I know it couldn't possibly take very long for me to figure out."

Curaçao blinked, unsure what to make of the offer. "But, what about your other assignment? I do not want you to get in trouble."

"I won't. Look, you've been… the only friend I have in this whole place," Shroud said, hanging her head. "Like I said, nopony comes to visit me in person, even Silvertongue. I'm just a voice on an intercom to most ponies here in the Tower. My meals get left outside my door, for goodness sake.

"So, what I'm saying is… I want to help you. I like having you here. I know it's my job to help Silvertongue, and that he wants me to work on this other assignment full-time now, but… just let me help you with this, whatever it is, okay? Please?"

Curaçao gave Shroud a little smile. "D'accord."

"Great! So, what've you got for me?"

Curaçao pulled up the folder she had that contained all of the information she had on Lockwood, the same one that had made friends with all of her sisters' targets. "I have determined that this 'Lockwood' fellow is the best avenue to pursue to ensure the success of my assignment."

"This is the younger one, right? I remember giving you two Lockwoods."

"Oui, the younger one. The older one is… not worth pursuing," Curaçao said with a sour expression.

She didn't mention why, but the general gist of things was that the guy seemed like a total scumbag, with a decent-sized rap sheet—mostly on charges for extortion, blackmail, fraud, and sexual harassment—but otherwise totally unremarkable.

"I have been given the impression that he is something of a, how do you say, social butterfly? He has valuable contacts and connections in all areas of the city. By himself, he is a relatively unremarkable pony: he is not very strong or fast, he does not have a substantial income or an impactful career, he has no higher education, and he was not born into a powerful family."

"And despite all that, he knows a bunch of important ponies?" Shroud asked.

"Oui, so I have heard." She shook her head. "But I do not know how to connect all of the dots with him. There are so many files to search, and so many of them seem to have nothing to offer, no leads to pursue. At least not without lots of time—"

Shroud smirked. "Or somepony that knows how to analyze data efficiently. Let me take a crack at it."

Curaçao passed over her datapad, which Shroud plugged into her computer before setting to work. As always, her hooves were a flurry on the touchscreen, her eyes darting back and forth faster than Curaçao could follow. Curaçao knew she could do the same thing that Shroud was doing now, but it would take her significantly more time and effort, time which she did not want to waste.

She also noticed that Shroud didn't touch her orange juice, not until after she was done, which took about ten minutes of silence; how she worked so fast was a total mystery to Curaçao, and she wondered how this mare had developed such a talent, and furthermore if it applied to any other fields. She was honestly just content to watch the unicorn focus on her work.

"There we go," Shroud said, passing the datapad back to Curaçao. "I streamlined the data into a simple spreadsheet which includes names for every pony that could be a potential contact, sorted by the likelihood they're connected based on how often I saw their names. Some could just be coincidences, though, but that's up to you to determine."

Curaçao stared blankly at her datapad, opening up the spreadsheet and seeing that there were indeed names of ponies on it, which were indeed sorted by the frequency with which they appeared in Lockwood's files. She was surprised that Shroud had done this so fast, but mostly because the list was so long.

"These are… a lot of ponies," Curaçao said, scrolling through the list. It was just names here, nothing more, but that was enough to work with. "Is there any way you can get me some data on these individuals?"

"Already way ahead of you," Shroud said with a grin. "Their data is downloading onto your datapad as we speak, and should be done in about thirty minutes. I can continue working on my own stuff while you wait for it to finish."

Curaçao did indeed wait for the download to finish, and once it did, she sat there at Shroud's desk with her datapad in hoof and began her research; Shroud seemed to enjoy the company, and Curaçao had nothing else to do today but try and devise a plan to move forward, and that required a starting point. It required a new identity to work on, one that could ingratiate herself to this Lockwood fellow and forge a path forward.

Now that she had data to go with the names on Shroud's spreadsheet, Curaçao found herself bewildered not just by the number of contacts Lockwood seemed to have, but by their standings within the city's hierarchy. She reminded herself again that Lockwood was a pony of meager income with no formal education and who hadn't been born into an influential family, because his potential social circle said anything but.

Lockwood had contacts spread across every possible aspect of city life: newspaper editors, talent scouts, fashion designers, caterers, nurses, doctors, athletes, architects, photographers, computer technicians, registrar clerks, police officers, firefighters, transportation managers, restaurateurs; the list went on and on, and most of the ponies in question were of vastly different social classes on top of it.

One of the more interesting tidbits was that Lockwood was on the lists of founding members for over two dozen charities, all of which contained several other members on the list of contacts, sometimes multiple times. One such charity routinely held events in the Inner Districts and managed to actually succeed in gathering a reasonable amount of donations; in fact, they were scheduled to hold one such event, a masquerade ball, within the coming week.

The document on the charity included several details about past events as well, including photographs. Lockwood had attended each of these events, and she was able to find a picture of him in each and every one, typically in the crowd somewhere chatting it up with other attendees or at least in group pictures taken of the charity members. He was typically speaking with other ponies that appeared on the spreadsheet; these events were likely where he met them.

One in particular caught Curaçao's eye, though, a photograph from a ball that had been held some five years back—give or take a few months—in which Lockwood had of course been in attendance. Not just that, but this particular photo was from the dance floor at a ritzy ballroom, and Lockwood was actually out on the floor dancing; well, not on the floor, but in the air, engaged in a dance with another pegasus, a mare. It was hard to tell from a still picture, but the dance and the look the two shared looked somewhat intimate.

She'd often thought about dancing with somepony like that, preferably somepony special. She glanced briefly at Shroud, who was busy working away on her computer with diligence and efficiency, then shook her head and forced those thoughts down; this was no time to get distracted.

The mare in the photo was identified as one "Thunderbolt", and a quick check on the spreadsheet confirmed that this was no happenstance one-off meeting between the two; they had attended several dozen charities over two or so years, and he was legally involved in their company, Crown Spectrum, which from what Curaçao was now reading had become a tech powerhouse practically overnight and developed one of the most advanced innovations seen in the city in over fifty years: a technomagic device that could simulate unicorn telekinetic control.

Thunderbolt herself, though, hadn't been seen for years, and by all accounts her company was essentially running itself thanks to some intrepid business dealings that had Lockwood's hoofprints all over them. Funds were shipped overseas to the southern continent, so it was clear she'd moved back there—her file indicated she had moved there as a filly and then come back to the city to start a business when she was of age. Even that seemed a little suspicious.

One thing was for sure, this Lockwood fellow was definitely a pony that everypony should know, including Curaçao herself. Everything else on her mind—the Snapshot investigation, the investigation into the missing assailant—was to be put on the backburner. They were currently dead-ends as far as Curaçao was concerned; attempting to get anything more out of them now was just wasting time and effort better spent elsewhere.

This wasn't about her sisters' assignments anymore, not by a longshot. When their mission was done, their family would need to look towards the future, and something told her that the future depended on expanding beyond this shadowy scope that her father worked in, which meant operating openly.

Her next assignment was clear: she needed to arrange a meeting with this Lockwood.

Chapter Twenty: Conscience

Five Days Later

It was shaping up to be another long, hard day at the Foundry for Applejack. Load after load of heavy shipments of parts and supplies needed to be hauled about at all times of the day, as usual. Some containers came in from the Foundry lines and had to be pulled over into designated storage areas; others were being shipped out and needed to be loaded onto vehicles called "trucks"—similar to the buses that Applejack took every morning and evening—so that they could be brought elsewhere in the city.

As she hauled one of these hefty containers, which was loaded with parts intended for the city's military, she passed by a few of the other crew members that were currently awaiting their next assigned loads to haul. There was Shamrock Shake as well as Spangled Star, and a silver-coated, black-maned earth pony stallion named Steel Chaser. The trio noticed her approaching and stepped away so they weren't in her path.

"Hey New Girl, working hard or hardly working?" asked Shamrock with a cheeky grin.

The "New Girl" moniker no longer bothered her one bit. At first she'd thought it demeaning in a way, but now she'd essentially adopted it as her official nickname on the crew. Until somepony else got hired, that was her title to everypony else, and that was just fine by her.

"Hey, Shamrock, Spangled, Steel," Applejack replied; she'd gotten used to the heavier loads by now and was more than capable of walking and talking without issue. "How're y'all doin'?"

The three stallions walked alongside Applejack as she continued pulling, keeping pace such that they didn't pass her by.

"Can't complain," said Shamrock. "A bit slow for us Fives today, so y'know, got nothing much to do until Boss throws me a bone."

"Maybe if ya got off your lazy keister and hit the gym every now 'n' then, you'd make it up to Six."

"Psh, and get saddled with more work? Nah, I like it just fine where I am."

"What's in this load here, New Girl?" asked Spangled as he tapped on the side.

"Bunch o' parts headin' out to the NPAF airfield," Applejack replied.

"Oh yeah, I hear they're working on some new weapon system to get past the barrier at Hope's Point," said Steel.

"They're always working on some new toy to try and get through that thing, but it ain't never gonna happen again. Just a damn waste of time and taxpayer money, I say," huffed Shamrock.

"Hey, watch it," said Spangled, slapping Shamrock's shoulder. "My brother's in the NPAF. It's honest work, and they're protecting us from those dirty pirates."

"Pshaw! You still believe that propaganda shit? What are you, twelve?" Steel chuckled. "They ain't gonna attack us, not with all those big guns we've got on the wall. Nopony's that stupid."

"Not in the open, no, but you know damn well they send all kinds of spies and thieves up here to try and sabotage us and steal all of our secrets and technology. Bunch of no-good pirates, that's what they are."

"Hey New Girl, what do you think?" Shamrock asked. "You think it's all a load of crap, right?"

Applejack grunted. "Y'all know I don't know jack squat about Hope's Point, remember? I ain't from up here in the north. All I know is what I hear from all y'all with all this here water cooler talk, and heck if I understand anything about it."

She was glad to be included in their conversations, though sometimes she wished she knew enough to actually participate. She hated feeling like she was in the dark on things.

"Aww, c'mon, don't be that way," Spangled said. "Even if you don't know much about it, you've gotta have an opinion on it based on what you do know. We're not asking for an essay to put in the paper. This is just between us."

She rolled her eyes. "All I know is that everypony says it's a city full of pirates 'n' thieves, and heck if that don't make no sense to me."

Steel raised an eyebrow. "How do you mean?"

"Well, I reckon pirates 'n' thieves ain't gonna build no city with normal folks livin' in it like they're supposed to do. And y'all're tellin' me they got some kind of Queen runnin' the place? Bunch o' pirates followin' a pirate queen—sounds like pure fantasy bullhonkey ta me."

"See? Even New Girl knows the NPAF is full of shit," Shamrock said, slapping Spangled right back. "Put those tax dollars into some other areas like the schools and hospitals or whatever, and maybe folks would be able to get the help they need."

"Oh, gimme a break, Shamrock, you're just mad they made you pay to find where your damn balls went," Spangled fired back.

"At least I have balls!"

"Guys, guys, get a room," Steel scoffed.

"Shut up, Steel," the other two stallions said in unison.

By the time the conversation finished, Applejack had hauled the container into its designated spot, and unstrapped herself from the harness to let the machinery finish the job of loading it into the confined space out of way. Steel passed her a fresh water bottle.

"Thanks," she said, taking a swig.

"Say, New Girl, the crew's going out to The Salted Rim after work tonight. You in?" asked Shamrock. "I heard they've got some new specials on: two bits for beer, two bits for hay sliders, two bits for cannonball shots."

Applejack smirked. "Shucks, y'all know I don't turn down no hay sliders. I'm in."

Shamrock pumped his hoof. "Aww yeah, looks like we've got ourselves a real crew party tonight!"

Spangled slapped Steel on the back. "Ha, ten bits says Streak tries to outdrink New Girl again."

"Pfft, I ain't taking that bet," Steel chuckled. "I'll be out ten bits and I'll have to make sure that idiot gets home after he makes a damn fool of himself again. No thanks."

"Hey, it's not my fault you two live in the same complex."

The warehouse whistle blew—it always reminded Applejack of a train whistle, but apparently it was just some computer mimicking the sound—which meant that the warehouse was now officially on lunch break. The crew made their way for the lunchroom, which was in a separate, smaller section of the factory shared by all of the warehouses.

Before heading over to the lunchroom, Applejack stopped at the warehouse phone for a moment, just to give a call to Shortcake. She'd learned how these "phone" doohickeys worked and found them utterly fascinating; something like this would sure come in handy back home, especially if she could get a line over to Rainbow's place. Then, she could get weather arrangements taken care of in advance and save them both a lot of time. Not to mention making easier last-minute adjustments to shipping orders and such.

The phone rang twice before Shortcake picked up. "Hello?"

"Hey there, Shortcake, it's AJ."

"Oh, Applejack, hello," Shortcake said, her voice rising with joy; Applejack always enjoyed hearing the other mare's motherly voice. "How's work treating you today?"

"Well I'm gettin' my workout in, I tell ya what. Say, I'm just callin' to let ya know I'm goin' out with the crew for dinner 'n' drinks after work, at The Salted Rim."

"Ah, okay then. I'll make your dinner to-go, like last time. You just take care of yourself when you're out with those stallions though, okay?"

Applejack smiled. "I will."

"I mean it, young lady. Drink responsibly, make sure you've got plenty of water—"

"And always keep my eye on my drink, I know," Applejack chuckled. "I will, I promise."

"Good. I'll let Flathoof know you're going so that he can pick you up afterwards. Have fun, and I hope the rest of your shift goes well!"

"Thanks, Shortcake. Take care now."

"Bye!"

"Bye…"

She then hung up the phone and took a moment to lean against the wall and think. Just hearing the motherly inflection in the older mare's voice was always enjoyable. The fact that this mare that had barely known her for two weeks was treating her like her own daughter was just so… pleasant, like a wave of nostalgia passing over her. Sometimes it was too much and she'd start feeling anxious, but it was always a happy feeling.

She found herself wondering at times if her own mother would act and sound just like Shortcake did, if she were still alive. Would she be telling Applejack to keep an eye on her drinks when she and Rainbow headed out to the Ponyville bar? Would she tell her that Big Mac was gonna come pick her up afterwards? Would she get a good scolding if she came home too late, or too tipsy?

Once she'd taken a moment to breathe and reflect, Applejack grabbed her lunchbox from her locker and went to find a seat at the cafeteria. Once there, she saw that Clay was sitting all by himself today, which was odd since he usually sat with some of the other supervisors. Something was wrong; she could tell.

She walked over to Clay's table and set her lunchbox down, far enough away that she wasn't crowding in on him. "This seat taken?" she asked with a little smile.

Clay, who looked more than a little despondent at that moment, glanced at her lunchbox, then at her, then back to his still-full plate of Dolor-made food, which he lazily picked at with a fork. "Knock yourself out."

She sat down and opened her box, and began digging into her own lunch, all of it made of Dolor products. She and her friends were wary of investing in real foods considering how expensive they were; Applejack had argued for it, but she'd relented in the end when she realized that it meant not being able to afford enough to last them until they left.

Nevertheless, Fluttershy had packed her a respectable meal here: a "sandwich" that would taste like grilled cheese, a thermos with a serving of "tomato soup", and Pinkie had even packed a slice of "blueberry pie". As always, there was bottled water to drink; Applejack at least felt good that that was real, and felt that she'd drank more water in the past two weeks than she ever did back at home. Not having apple juice or cider available did that to you.

All of it tasted just close enough to make Applejack forget for a moment that it wasn't real food, but she was getting desperate for some apples by now; she'd woken up with the sweats a few times, and was starting to fear that she was going through withdrawals. Something about the fact that apples didn't exist but pineapples did just infuriated her to no end, like the world was mocking her.

Once she'd calmed down from her little inner rant, though, she noticed that Clay hadn't touched his food in the entire time they'd been sitting at the table, and that nopony else was bothering to ask if they could sit near him, to the point that other tables around the lunchroom were getting awfully crowded.

She scooted over a little bit in between bites of her food, then a little bit more, until eventually she just went all-in and scooted so that she was right across from him.

"So, uh… enjoyin' your lunch there, Boss?" she asked.

She recognized his plate as containing the Dolor-made "vegetable stew" and some "steamed broccoli" that the cafeteria sold; she'd tried the latter herself once and found that it didn't compare to what Shortcake made. She also knew it was a stupid question, because he hadn't even touched it, just stirred it around into a barely-recognizable mush.

Clay barely even grumbled a response and just kept poking his food without taking a bite. "It's fine."

She raised an eyebrow. "Everythin' alright, Boss? You ain't lookin' so good."

"I'm fine," he grunted, not bothering to look at her. "Just finish your lunch and get back to work."

"Look, I can usually tell when a pony ain't tellin' the truth, and it's obvious as all heck that y'all ain't 'fine'. What's the matter?"

He glowered at her for a moment, then sighed. "You're not gonna leave until I tell you, are you?"

"No sir."

"Why?"

"'Cause you've done good by me these past couple of weeks, given' me this here job 'n' all, and I figure I owe ya a lil' somethin' for that."

"I gave you the job because Stouthoof asked me to."

"Yeah, and Stouthoof's like a…" She paused and gulped. "He's like a father to me. And he's your friend. I figure if there's somethin' eatin' ya, it'd be nice of me to do somethin' nice for his friend, yeah?"

He scoffed. "You're too nice for your own good, New Girl. It's liable to get you in trouble one of these days."

She smiled at that. "If it does, so be it. But I ain't gonna just let somepony stew in their own misery just 'cause I don't wanna rock the boat."

He sighed and leaned back in his seat. "Fine. I'll tell you. I figure by now you know about Thickhoof's injury? The one that crippled him?"

Applejack nodded glumly. "I ain't asked him much about it, but I do know he got it here at work. Stouthoof said that's why y'all kept that spot open on the roster."

"That's right. Well, today's the fourth anniversary of when it happened." Clay shook his head and looked at the opposite wall, a faraway look in his eyes. "I just kinda get… like this, when I remember it. I see the date on my calendar when I wake up and all the memories come back… and it hurts."

"I can't imagine it bein' a pleasant memory…" She took a sip of her water. "So, uh… what exactly happened?"

Clay was silent for a moment, then took a drink of his own water. "Thickhoof and I worked together on the crew four years ago. I wasn't the supervisor yet."

"Huh. Figured with the respect y'all get from everypony that you'd been their boss for a long while now. Ya seem like the kind o' guy that's used to bein' in charge and knows how to do it, and ya say you've only been doin' it for four years?"

"Yeah, just four years. I was on the crew for longer than that, and almost everypony on the current crew was working with me when… when it happened. Shamrock, Hammer, Spangled, all of 'em."

"Well, how'd y'all get the position? Does it… does it have to do with what happened to Thickhoof?"

He nodded. "The supervisor we had then was this little… twirp named Hustle Blaze, a real piece of shit. Put more emphasis on speed than safety. The Foundry's board of investors might have appreciated it—profits are everything, and time is money—but even they know that you can't make money if your crews aren't working 'cause they got hurt."

Applejack arched an eyebrow. "How do ya mean? Everythin' seems mighty safe 'round here, from what I've seen."

"Yeah, that's because I'm actually following the company's safety guidelines, and then some. You've noticed how the only ones that ever operate the loader, or that I even allow to get near one, are Shamrock and Steel?"

"Yeah, I remember y'all givin' me a right earful when I started gawkin' at one on my second day. I figured that's just their job since they're not ranked high enough."

"There's that, and also because they've completed their training courses for using it. It takes four weeks to learn all of the operating procedures to use those things properly, because the courses are spaced out and focused on different aspects of the operation."

"Them things sure do seem useful," Applejack noted. "They can lift things that even Hammer struggles with, and they make it look easy. Been wonderin' why y'all don't got more of 'em."

"Because they're expensive to build and maintain, and they're dangerous when not operated properly, the training courses are time-consuming and expensive, and it all constitutes higher pay for the operators. I'm sure Shamrock and Steel haven't been shy about saying that they make much more money than anypony else on the crew?"

"Naw, they make sure of that a lot," Applejack grunted, knowing that the pair were always quick to throw money around at the bar, and always had top-notch lunches with real food. "And I figure you're tellin' me this 'cause one o' them machines is responsible for what happened to Thickhoof?"

Clay nodded. "Four years ago today, the crew's only loader operator at the time—Shamrock—had called out sick. Caught himself a case of Hoof Rot and was gonna be out for at least a week." He scowled, looking down at his plate. "We had a big shipment we needed to get loaded into the trucks, and that's where the problem started.

"Hustle didn't request a transfer to get another loader operator to our warehouse. It takes time and paperwork to sort it all out, like I said, and Hustle was all about speed, speed, speed," Clay said, emphasizing each "speed" with a slam of his hoof on the table. "Stupid sonuva bitch put our new loader operator, Crimson Heat, on the task.

"Problem was, Crimson hadn't finished his loader training. Crimson knew that. Hustle knew that. We all knew that. But Hustle put him on the loader anyway. 'Time is money,' he said, 'so stop wasting time'." Clay took another gulp of water, and was clutching the bottle like his life depended on it. "I told Crimson to just do it and get it over with, even though he'd objected.

"So, Crimson wasn't aware of the limits on the loader because he hadn't finished those parts of the training. He tried to handle a load that was a little too big, and the loader wasn't moving quickly enough under the weight. That's when Hustle had some of us get some harnesses on and help tug the loader to the truck dock, because time is money.

"And then, just to add insult to injury, I called Thickhoof over to help us out, even though he was just a Four and had no business being anywhere near all that weight." Clay chuckled darkly to himself. "Figure out where this is going, yet?"

Applejack gulped, and nodded. "The loader couldn't handle all that work and somethin' happened."

"Something happened, yeah. The loader's forks snapped off under all the weight, and thousands of pounds of steel came tumbling down on top of us. Two of the boys—Spangled and Steel—got out of the way just fine. I was stuck in the middle and didn't have time to move… but Thickhoof pushed me out of the way." Clay crushed his water bottle between his hooves. "Got his fucking legs crushed for his trouble."

Applejack stared at the crushed water bottle, then leaned back in her seat and let out a breath. "So that's how it happened, huh? And that's why you're like this? 'Cause ya blame yourself?"

"Of course I blame myself," Clay growled. "I'm the only one left to blame. Hustle got transferred to another crew that wouldn't be using loaders at all, but his blame-passing ass didn't even get a dock in pay from the whole ordeal. He passed all of the blame onto Crimson, who naturally got fired for ruining company equipment; the poor kid was just doing what I told him to do…"

"Ya can't blame yourself for all o' that, Clay," Applejack said, leaning forward. "It was an accident. Accidents happen."

"It was a mistake, and mistakes happen when ponies are irresponsible and stupid. I made a mistake, and it cost Thickhoof his legs. He saved my life and lost his entire livelihood because of it, and what do I get? A fucking promotion."

"Really?"

Clay scoffed. "Yeah, really. I was the most senior member of the crew, so when Hustle got transferred, they bumped me up to the supervisor spot. Hooray for me."

"Hey, c'mon now, that ain't your fault neither. Look, I get that some bad stuff went down that day, but it ain't your fault. I know that Stouthoof 'n' Thickhoof don't hold no grudge against ya."

"Well, maybe they should."

"Cut the crap, Clay," Applejack snorted, slapping her hoof on the table. "You know you ain't a bad pony, and ya know that it was an accident, that's all. Blame that ol' supervisor of yours for puttin' your crew at risk just to save some bits, but don't blame yourself 'cause ya tried to motivate the fella what got put into that position, and don't blame yourself for askin' Thickhoof for help.

"Ya done got promoted after what happened? Good. 'Cause from what I've seen, y'all take good care of this here crew. They all look at ya with respect, they work their butts off to impress ya, and dagnabbit, I think they might actually like ya, even if you're a real hard-ass. I sure as hay respect ya, 'cause you've treated me right.

"So fine, feel sorry about what happened. The whole situation's real ugly, I get that. But this ain't the right way to go about rememberin' what happened." She put her hoof on his shoulder. "Have ya ever even talked to Thickhoof since the accident?"

Clay shook his head. "What makes you think he'd even want to talk to me after—"

"'Cause from how I've seen ya treat your crew and how they look up to ya, I bet he looked up to ya too. If ya wanna make up for what happened to him, stop feelin' sorry for him and blamin' yourself. Talk to him about it. I'm sure that'd mean the world to him."

"What makes you so sure?"

"'Cause I know him, an' I know you." Applejack gestured at her own eyes. "You look me in the eye and you tell me I ain't tellin' the honest truth."

Clay met her gaze and stayed silent for a long moment, then gave a weak nod. "Maybe you're right…"

"'Course I am. If I ain't the most honest pony there is, I'll eat my hat."

"I'll hold you to that. The hard hat, too; the plastic will be harder to chew."

Clay then glanced around the cafeteria, which made AJ do the same; the other crews had all cleared out by now; their lunch break was supposed to be over, and the clock on the far wall indicated that it had been for the past five minutes.

He grunted, then picked up and threw away his plate of still-untouched food. "Alright, time to get back to work before anypony notices we're late. I don't need the board supervisor riding me because your lazy ass decided to take a long lunch break."

Applejack smirked and packed up her lunchbox. "I'll get right back to it, sir."

As she started to walk away, Clay called, "Oh, and Applejack?"

She turned. "Yeah?"

"Thanks."

She smiled. "Don't mention it. The crew might think you've gone soft."

*****

It was just before lunchtime when Flathoof arrived at the eighty-fourth floor of Southeast Point, dressed in his civilian clothes—a plain white shirt under a blue denim jacket—because today was his day off. He didn't get many—not even once a week, actually—so he made use of them whenever he had the chance. He gave a brisk knock on the door of the familiar apartment, and wasn't surprised at all when it was Fluttershy who answered.

"Hello there, Fluttershy," he said, giving her a polite smile and a nod.

"Oh, hello Flathoof," she replied with a smile of her own. "What brings you here today?"

"Well, it's my day off, and usually I like to take the time to enjoy myself during the day, and maybe spend some time with friends that I don't see that often. Usually that means Lockwood, but wouldn't you know it, he's got other plans. Typical."

Fluttershy gave him a knowing smile. "You mean getting ready for Rarity's show, I take it?"

"Of all the days in the world for it to fall on, right?" Flathoof chuckled. "But hey, no hard feelings about it. I know he's doing it to show support to all of his friends that'll be there. I'm surprised you're not going yourself, actually."

"Oh, it's alright. He was only able to get the one invitation, and it was specifically for him. Rarity might be my friend, but Lockwood is her friend too, and he's friends with the owners of her label. He should be the one going."

Flathoof tapped his chin. "Y'know, it's been a while since I've seen him putting that much effort into his appearance. Last time he dressed up like that was for when I graduated from the academy. Never seen him comb his hair all fancy-like, though."

Fluttershy's cheeks reddened a little. "He, um… he asked me to help style his mane. W-well, I offered, I mean. This showcase he's going to is very well-to-do, and he said that he had to make sure he looked his best to show his support for Rarity."

"Is that so?"

"Y-yes, and, um… to make sure that his tuxedo was all in order and everything." Her cheeks reddened more. "He looks very handsome in a tuxedo."

Flathoof grinned. "That he does. He'd probably look better if he put on some weight to fill it out a little bit."

"I think he looks great as he is." Her face was redder than Flathoof's coat at this point. "So, um… wh-what brings you up here? I think we got a little sidetracked…"

"Oh, right. Well, I would've done it with or without Lockwood, but I was going to see if you or any of your friends might want to join me for lunch. I don't know who's here other than you; I think everypony else is at work?"

"That's right," Fluttershy said with a nod. "It's just me and Gray, actually. We're just hanging out here for a little while before we go pick up Pinkie and Velvet, then we're all going to see Rainbow's skyball game tonight and cheer her on. And Havoc too, of course."

"Well then, we've got some time, I think. Would you two like to join me for lunch?" he asked.

"I wouldn't mind at all. We were just going to have something here, but Gray never turns down a free lunch. Let me just ask her, okay?"

Fluttershy then headed back into the apartment and returned a moment later with Gray in tow. Flathoof hadn't seen the bigger mare since the incident with Applejack, and it was actually nice to see her again. He still didn't think he'd thanked her enough for what she'd done for his family, but she'd told him to stop.

He gave her a little nod, which she returned. "Gray, a pleasure to see you again."

"Hey," she said, dipping her head slightly. "Shy says you wanna take us out for lunch or something?"

"That's right, my treat."

"Cool, free lunch sounds nice."

"Told you," Fluttershy said, giving Flathoof a little wink.

"So, where to? Your place?"

"No, that's a bit far," Flathoof said, raising an eyebrow. "Why?"

Gray shrugged. "Your mom's cooking is pretty good. Y'know, for synthetic stuff."

"Oh. Well, I'll tell her you said that. But no, I know a little sandwich place down the way that uses real bread," he said with a smile. "I don't know if you've ever tried a legit PB&J before, but they make one that's just out of this world. Can't replicate that taste with Dolor products just yet."

"Sounds good." She tilted her head at Shy. "Shall we?"

Fluttershy smiled and nodded. "Yes, this sounds fun!"

*****

Fluttershy nibbled lightly on her sandwich—the restaurant had a legitimate chickpea salad sandwich on the menu, which sounded and indeed was delicious—while she listened intently to Flathoof as he chatted with her and Gray about how things were going at the precinct. It was a question Gray had asked him actually; Fluttershy was surprised that her friend was taking an interest, but considering what happened the other day, it made sense.

"It's been better," Flathoof sighed, finishing a bite of his PB&J and washing it down with water—Fluttershy pitied him not being able to use milk. "I'll be honest, these past couple of weeks have been full of highs and lows, but mostly lows."

"Why's that?" Gray asked, taking a bite of her own PB&J.

"Well… it's been almost two weeks now, and nopony's been able to find out anything about Snapshot. Where she is, what she's doing, how she's doing; nothing." He leaned back in his seat and shook his head. "Nopony's able to confirm for sure that there was even a CIA agent in the building the day that she was last seen. All I've got is an unreliable report from another clerk."

"I hope she's okay…" Fluttershy murmured.

Flathoof had mentioned Snapshot multiple times since her disappearance; she and her friends were all legitimately concerned, seeing as the mare had been a big help in getting them situated. Apart from him, though, they all just continued about their days and hardly ever asked him about her. It wasn't that nopony cared, far from it, but it was just… out of their purview.

"I wish I could say she was," Flathoof said, closing his eyes. "It wouldn't be so bad, y'know, if anypony else at the precinct at least acted like they cared at all. The Chief already transferred in a replacement, and that just… that just made me feel like it doesn't matter anymore…"

"Didn't you say that cadet of yours cared?" Gray asked. "What was his name, Gumshoe?"

Flathoof snorted. "That's the worst part. He did. He actually offered to help me, but we both knew he couldn't; he's just a cadet. Was just a cadet. I'm absolutely livid that he got suspended because of what that thug said about him. Bunch of he-said, she-said crap."

Gray frowned. "I'm sorry. I realize that that's probably my fault."

"You were acting in defense of somepony being attacked and subduing the suspect until authorities arrived," Flathoof said in a practiced tone, as though he'd said it before. "Believe me, I don't blame you. The only thing that should've happened is that at worst, that crook would've maybe sued you for medical costs."

"Smart move, though, pinning it on Gumshoe," Gray grumbled. "Got him out of jail, didn't it?"

"Yeah, and the last I've heard of it he's gone off the grid. And wouldn't you know it, nopony cares about that either." Flathoof shook his head.

"Are you surprised?"

He paused for a moment. "I've been thinking for the past couple of years that there was something wrong with the NPPD. They're just not the servants and protectors of the public I always believed they were.

"I thought maybe it would just take a few good cops to turn things around. And I was wrong. One good cop went missing, and they didn't even bat an eye. They just pay lip service to an investigation that isn't going anywhere. Another good cop did his duty with stars in his eyes and a dream of being on the force, and he got thrown under the bus when it suited them."

Flathoof then leaned back in his seat again, hoof over his mouth in thought, but said nothing more.

Fluttershy put her hoof on his shoulder. "I know you cared about Snapshot a lot, Flathoof. She was more than just a friend to you, wasn't she?"

Flathoof shook his head weakly. "I don't know. That's the problem: I don't know."

"How did you two get to be friends in the first place?" Gray asked, drinking down some water. "With the way you talk about the force, not a lot of officers make friends with one another. More like a bunch rats that'd sell each other out to save their own skins."

"You're not far off," he scoffed. "Snapshot and I met at the academy. We were in part of the same cadet squad, and we just kind of… hit it off. Like I did with Lockwood, I guess. I figured she'd make a good friend, just like he was, because she needed somepony to look out for her, and… well, I was just used to that by then.

"She could barely make it through the physical courses," he chuckled, "but she excelled at the investigative courses. I helped her a bit with passing the physical exams so that she could graduate, and she helped me with some of the paperwork that I was having trouble with.

"I knew she was having trouble with her family," he said, his smile turning sad. "So even after graduating, I'd invite her over to spend time with my family when things were tough for her. Y'know, things like holidays, birthdays, you name it. They all loved her. Especially my brother—Thickhoof, not Lockwood," he added.

"You think they had a thing for each other?" Gray asked.

"Again, I don't know. It never went anywhere because, well… all this happened." He chuckled and smoothed back his mane. "My mom thought she had a thing for me, actually, but I dunno, I doubt it. She seemed a better fit for somepony smarter, and Thickhoof's as sharp as a whip." He frowned. "He has to be. All he can do these days is read and learn."

Fluttershy set her hoof on Flathoof's back, scooting a little closer to have a better angle. "I'm sorry, Flathoof. Wherever she is, I'm sure she's got to know you're doing everything you can."

"Am I, though?" he muttered. "Every lead I've tried has dried up. I've just sort of… resigned myself to never seeing her again. And I hate myself for it." He shook his head. "Sorry. I… I invited you guys out to have a good time, not to listen to me beat myself up over this."

"It's okay," Fluttershy said as sweetly as she could manage. "Sometimes, you've got to let that stuff out. It's better that you talk about it than just let it eat you up inside, right?"

"I suppose it is." He looked between the two. "So, uh… let's change the subject, shall we? You guys know all about my family at this point, if not from me then from AJ, but I hardly know anything about yours, Fluttershy. I suppose it's because we don't really spend much time together. At least I know a little about Gray and her sisters from all of you."

Fluttershy chuckled. "Well, there's not much to say about my parents, really. I love them very much, and they're just the sweetest parents a pony could ask for. My dad worked for the weather team where I'm from, and my mom is a gardener."

She elected not to mention Cloudsdale's weather factory. That would take too much of an explanation, and Gray—who was unaware of where she was really from—would likely find it odd or suspicious and start asking all sorts of questions; she knew Gray enough by now to expect it.

"Any siblings?" Flathoof asked.

"Just my younger brother, Zephyr," Fluttershy muttered. "He and I have a… strained relationship."

"Is it alright if I ask why?"

She sighed. "It's fine. He's just… he takes advantage of my parents. He can't ever seem to hold a steady job, so he's constantly moving back in with them until he goes off on another half-baked idea of his, then moves back in again when that falls through. He's been doing it for years and it just… it upsets me…"

"Not everypony can have a great relationship with their families," Flathoof said with a knowing, sad grin. "I hope things work out better for you, though."

"I do too, but… well, my hooves are crossed that one day he'll change, but I'm not exactly holding my breath…"

"Eh, not everypony knows how to be a proper slacker," Gray said without the slightest hint of irony. "It takes effort to be lazy, y'know? If you're bad at it, everypony just gets mad at you for doing it."

"Speaking from experience?" Flathoof chuckled.

"Kinda. I wasn't as good at it when I was a filly. My sisters used to complain that I'd just take naps when I was supposed to be helping with chores." She then paused, her expression becoming confused. "At least… I think that's how it happened. Right?"

Fluttershy arched an eyebrow. "Hmm? You don't remember?"

"I thought I did. I know that's how I was as a filly, but I'm having trouble remembering a specific instance." Gray shook her head. "Whatever. It's not important. I'm just saying, if your brother was anything like me, you and your parents wouldn't have a problem with him."

"Oh, Gray… don't compare yourself to my brother, please?" Fluttershy pleaded. "You're not lazy. You're very dedicated to your family, and I know you help them whenever and however you can."

Gray half-heartedly gestured at Fluttershy with her sandwich. "Are you trying to butter me up, Shy?"

Fluttershy's cheeks felt hot. "Wh-what? N-no! I'm just saying—"

"It's alright, I'm just teasing ya."

"Oh… r-right…" She wished she had the confidence to say something more, anything more.

"I don't actually know a lot about you or your sisters either, to be honest," Flathoof said, looking at Gray with a smile. "Just a few little details I've picked up over a few weeks listening to Fluttershy and her friends talk about them."

Gray leaned back in her seat, a cocky grin on her face. "You're the cop. Figure it out yourself."

"That's detective work; I was a beat cop before making Sergeant, and it's not like I had to start doing it to make Captain," Flathoof said matter-of-factly. "So if you want me to act like a cop, I guess I could read you your rights and slap some hoofcuffs on your or something."

"You'd want to talk to Red about that. She might be interested." She eyed Flathoof up and down briefly. "You're just my— her type, actually: muscular. You filled out that police uniform pretty well, from what I remember."

"Red's… Pinkie's friend, right?" he asked, glancing at Fluttershy. "Pinkie said she was the flirtatious type."

"See? You can do detective work just fine," Gray snickered. "And 'flirtatious' is completely the wrong word. More like… promiscuous. It's so bad that I imposed a rule in our apartment that we can't bring guys home, period, mostly so that she won't."

"But you two still get along?"

"I guess? I mean, we argue a lot—mostly about the rule—but it's not really a big deal."

"I'm assuming your other sister, Insipid, doesn't like the rule either?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Well, you said it was your rule, right? I'm willing to bet that means you were worried that Insipid would try it too so it's really like killing…" He glanced at Fluttershy, who just gave him a knowing look; he knew better than to use that metaphor. "Er… it's like a two-for-one sale."

Gray paled slightly. "I actually never even thought of that. Oh wow, I can't even imagine what kind of guy Insipid would even bring home if she was allowed." She shook her head. "But yeah, she complained too, but that was just because Red wanted something and Insipid usually whines because if somepony wants something, she wants it too, even if she doesn't know what it is."

"Insipid's the one that's in Rarity's fashion show tonight, right? She's the model?"

"Oh yes, and she's very pretty," Fluttershy said. "If you ever look through some of the fashion magazines, they've taken pictures of the showcases, and she's in quite a few of them. Rarity's dresses look great on her."

"And Red and I are very proud of her," Gray said flatly.

"Well, you sound like you've got a pretty good relationship with your family," Flathoof said with a grin.

"Eh, mostly. I don't talk with my other sisters that often. We're a big family, but they've got their own lives and careers to worry about. They don't have time for the three of us that often. Havoc showing up with Dash the other day was just a bizarre fluke. But hey, I'm glad you guys got to meet her."

"Well, at least it's because they're out there being successful," Fluttershy murmured, shaking her head.

"Hey, it's not all peaches and cream," Flathoof said. "Lockwood's my brother too, legally speaking, and as much as I love the dope, he's just as quick to embarrass me as he is to be of any kind of help, and he definitely does it on purpose."

"Ooh, there's a story there," Gray said, taking a sip of water. "Spill."

"It's, uh… it's a bit awkward," Flathoof said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm not sure it's appropriate to tell in front of a couple of mares."

Gray smirked. "Oh, now you have to tell us."

Fluttershy nodded in agreement, if only because Gray wanted to hear it. "It sounds like it might be a funny story. After all we've been talking about, I think a good, funny story would really help us finish off lunch right, don't you?"

"Well, when you put it like that…" Flathoof murmured. "Fine."

Gray gestured for him to continue.

"Okay, so… when I graduated from the academy, Lockwood threw a big party to celebrate, and invited a bunch of the other cadets—stallions only—from my squad. He also invited my dad and Thickhoof. So, our big bunch of stallions is out for a great time at this little bar that Lockwood had heard about, right? I forget the name."

"With you so far."

"Well, then they wheeled out the cake to celebrate the occasion. It was… a very big cake." Flathoof then hung his head. "Since I was sober, I figured out what was happening, and looking back I can't say that I was surprised when strippers jumped out of the cake. Twin sisters, actually. Good-looking mares. Very good dancers."

"Huh. Neat, but not super embarrassing."

Fluttershy was just barely following along at this point. She understood most of the situation being explained so far, but she wasn't totally clear on what a "stripper" was. She had a vague understanding considering the context that they were probably lewd dancers—the word "strip" suggested that clothing was removed—so Fluttershy found herself strangely invested in the story now.

"Well, it wasn't that bad, at least until the twins kind of not-so-subtly hinted that they'd always wanted to try…" He paused, then cleared his throat. "Well, let's just say that I felt a little awkward calling Lockwood 'brother' for a while after that party, and leave it at that, shall we?"

Gray blinked, then just burst out laughing without warning. Fluttershy was at a loss as to what was so funny—what in the world did those sisters ask?—but seeing Gray having such a good laugh made her own heart flutter a bit, and so she joined in too, giggling into her hoof. Flathoof apparently wasn't bothered that his embarrassment was the butt of some joke, because even he joined in.

It was the most fun Fluttershy had had in days.

*****

Late that night, well after dinner time, Flathoof arrived at a little dive bar called The Salted Rim about six blocks from his house. He glanced at the neon sign over the entrance, which showed a glowing blue cup with a flashing white rim and a green, lime-shaped wedge. It still amazed him that of all the authentic ingredients used in the city, it was the bars and pubs that were the largest buyers.

Flathoof entered through the classic tavern-like doors to see that the crowd was rather lively, with plenty of customers seated at tables all around the establishment and at the bar. A jukebox in the corner played some dance music at the moment, though luckily nopony was dancing to it. Cute waitresses in short skirts served up drinks and snacks to the customers, ignoring leers from some patrons that still seemed sober enough to have the capability.

Finding Applejack wasn't hard. It wasn't just that her stetson stood out in a crowd of ponies that didn't wear that kind of headwear, it was more that she was the only mare in the room that wasn't serving drinks; this bar had a reputation for catering to the Foundry workers, already a primarily stallion-centric crowd, so that was unsurprising.

He strode over to the table, where the warehouse crew that Applejack worked with were just finishing up another round of beers together, clinking glasses before chugging them down and letting out whoops of enthusiasm. Everypony seemed to be having a good time, and if Flathoof didn't have to get Applejack home he would've just turned around and let them continue on like that, but his mother would kill him—this was not an exaggeration—if he did.

He stepped right up behind Applejack and put a hoof on her chair, clearing his throat to get their attention. "Alright, everypony, sorry to break it up, but I've gotta take Applejack home now."

Of the table of twelve stallions—plus Applejack to make thirteen—all twelve leveled him with some of the hardest glares he'd ever seen, and a few of them had even gotten up out of their seats. Flathoof could see that they were of varying stages of inebriation, sure, but apparently all just sober enough to hear what he'd said and register that he was there.

But they were too drunk to really comprehend what he'd said or recognize him, apparently.

"What'd you say?" said the green one, who Flathoof guessed was Shamrock Shake; he'd never met the crew before, but Thickhoof and Applejack talked about them enough that he could put names to faces.

"You got some nerve, punk," said the big yellow stallion, Hammer. "Who do you think you are, huh?"

Flathoof wasn't easily intimidated, but Hammer was… big. And slightly drunk, which could be either a good thing or a bad thing. "Guys, hey, let's all relax a second—"

"No no no no, buddy, you relax," slurred a blue stallion, Blue Streak. "Nopony comes after our New Girl without going through us. You can just… fuck off." For emphasis, he poked his hoof in Flathoof's chest once, twice, three times, then just left his hoof there in a weak sort of lean.

Flathoof just stared at the other stallion's hoof on his chest a moment, then at Streak. "Please take your hoof off of me," he said calmly, but with a hard look in his eyes.

"Or what?" garbled the red stallion, Spangled Star. "What are you gonna do, huh? You bad at math? There's..." He counted off each of the stallions in the group. "Twenty of us, and three of you."

Flathoof looked around the group and realized that perhaps he'd come at a bad time.

Then, Applejack finally seemed to realize something was going on behind her, and turned to look up at Flathoof. "Heyyy! Flathoof!"

If it was possible for tension in a room to evaporate faster than it just did, Flathoof had never seen it. Frowns, glares, and tense muscles all relaxed into smiles, laughs, and cheers.

"Oh, hey! It's Forepony Stouthoof's eldest son!" called Shamrock, so drunk that he'd apparently slipped into eloquence. "Didn't recognize him out of uniform."

"Never thought we'd see you around a bar, buddy boy," slurred Spangled, patting Flathoof's shoulder haphazardly and nearly losing his balance. "What're you doing here?"

"I'm here to take Applejack home," Flathoof said flatly.

Streak, whose hoof was still on Flathoof's chest, lazily poked him again. "Oh yeah? You and what army?"

Hammer pulled Streak away and sat him back down. "Easy there, Prince Charming. Don't hurt yourself."

Applejack lazily turned her head back to the others. "Well boys, guess my escort's here. I'll see y'all tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, New Girl," called Shamrock. "Sleep tight!"

"And don't let them bedbugs bite, yeah yeah." She got up and clapped her hoof on Flathoof's shoulder. "Alright, Cap, let's mosey."

He chuckled, then nodded to the rest of the crew. "Gentlecolts, enjoy your evening. Thanks for keeping an eye on her."

"Us? Shit, we were just trying to keep you from losing some teeth," chuckled Spangled. "If you were trying to pick up on New Girl, she'd have clocked you good."

"Then thank you for saving me a trip to the dentist," Flathoof replied with a grin.

He left to a roar of laughter, and led Applejack out of the bar and into the street so that the pair could start their walk home. Well, more that he started the walk home, while she more accurately staggered her way along at his side. This wasn't the first time he'd taken her home like this—the crew had invited her out a few days ago—so he wasn't surprised by how she was acting, nor was he embarrassed or judgemental.

"Looks like you had a good time tonight," he said as they rounded a corner, though he had to make sure she rounded it with him.

"Mhmm, sure did," she said, a little breathless. "S'all good, though, I know how to hold my booze. I ain't no quitter."

"Eyyup, I can see that. You're sure you're gonna be alright in the morning?"

She nearly tripped in her attempt to dismiss his concern. "Pssh. Y'all worry too much, Big Mac. I'll be fine."

He raised an eyebrow. "Big Mac?"

"What're you, a parrot all of a sudden?" she chuckled. "Don't you worry none, Mac, I'll be right as rain come mornin', then we can get to work on the orchard. I reckon we'll be done by sundown." A quick glance around her made her stumble. "Say, does Ponyville look a bit weird tonight? They decoratin' for Nightmare Night early?"

He wanted to correct her, or say anything really, but she just seemed so convinced of what she was saying that he didn't have the heart. It wasn't amusing to see her like this, by any stretch, but he'd dealt with enough inebriated ponies over the years of police work that he knew it was best to just let her ride it out until they got home.

Besides, it felt kind of nice having another pony consider him their big brother.

When they arrived at his house, Flathoof took her inside as carefully as possible, one step at a time.

"Golly, there's more steps than I remember," Applejack muttered as he took her into the living room.

He led her into the hallway that led towards the guest room, and showed her inside without much fuss. She sort of staggered over to the bed as soon as she saw it, landing right on it with all the grace of a sack of bricks. She clamored her way up to the pillows and just rested there a moment, mumbling and grumbling something under her breath that he couldn't hear.

With a sigh, he stepped over to the bed and removed her hat, setting it on the nearby hat hook for her so she wouldn't ruin it. Applejack was so far gone at this point that he knew she'd be waking up with a hangover of epic proportions, and though it didn't bring him any joy at the moment, it would in the morning. His mother was going to absolutely torture this poor mare.

"You're sure you're gonna be alright?” he asked.

"Mhmm… thanks big bro," she muttered. "G'night…”

Flathoof smiled, though she couldn't see it with her head buried in the pillows. "Good night, sis.”

With that, he turned out the light and headed for the door, giving one last look inside at Applejack's sleeping form before closing it behind him.

Chapter Twenty-One: Chic

Rarity and Insipid arrived at the fashion showroom hours ahead of schedule, as was expected of anypony that was slated to appear in the show. Despite the fact that there were hours to go, that didn't stop the crowd of ponies—mostly workers decorating the stage, setting up seats for the audience, and preparing the lighting and music—from moving to and fro with a frenzied fervor. Rarity was reminded of an ant hill bustling with activity.

Tonight was to be the third and final show in the series that Chantilly and Lapel were sponsoring, and so Rarity was feeling particularly excited. The first two shows had been intended just to show off the dresses and fashions that had come from the new designers, as well as to showcase some new modelling talent. Insipid had made enough waves that the pair of them had been invited to participate in this final show, which would be showcasing the official integration of the new designers and models into their respective companies.

The show was being held at a glamorous studio in the Romantique District of the inner city, called Le Lac des Cygnes—Swan Lake, Rarity translated for Insipid—that was considered the premier location that every designer in the city wanted to showcase their material at. Chantilly and Lapel emphasized just how crucial this showcase would be to her and Insipid's careers. Rarity knew it was just Insipid that would be benefitting in the end, but that didn't matter.

As she and Insipid headed backstage, they met with Chantilly and Lapel near the dressing rooms. "Ah! And here come our Rising Stars!" Chantilly exclaimed as she welcomed the pair, kissing Insipid's cheeks first, then Rarity's. "My darlings, I know I have said this about a hundred times by now, but I am so proud of what you've accomplished."

"As of tonight, the Rising Star line is officially part of the Lovers' Lane label," Lapel said with a grin. He turned to Rarity in particular. "Typically, dear, I would follow this up by saying that you're expected to put out some more designs to add to your catalogue. I'm still astounded that you provided a catalogue already, and such a robust one at that."

Rarity smiled. "I just had so many ideas that I couldn't possibly contain them all."

The catalogue he spoke of was a book of various dress designs that Rarity had come up with over the course of the past two weeks, some of which were in vogue with the current trends, others which might be considered outdated—but might resurge later if trends here were anything like those back home—and others that she'd been told were wholly new and might help to start upcoming trends if the label played their cards right.

She knew she wasn't expected to design so many or so early in her new career, but she also knew she'd likely be leaving soon and wouldn't be able to provide Chantilly and Lapel with any new designs afterwards. She simply couldn't leave the lovely pair high and dry like that, not after the opportunity they'd afforded her and Insipid.

"And you, my sweet thing," Lapel said, now turning to Insipid. "I've heard whispers amongst the fashion journalists that they're looking for a model to be on the cover of next month's Jument à la mode, and a certain somepony is in the top running." He winked at her for emphasis.

Insipid just smiled and blinked. "Wow! That's major fresh. Like, I sure hope they get it, whoever they are."

Chantilly and Lapel shared a brief look, rolled their eyes, then went back to smiles.

Chantilly gestured for Insipid to follow her. "So! Come along, dearest, we've got to get you into makeup and start putting together the presentation. You've got five dresses to model tonight—two of Rarity's, three of mine—and we need to figure out an order."

"Yay!" Insipid cheered as she bounded along after Chantilly.

Lapel turned to Rarity. "As for you, there is to be a small ceremony at the end of the showcase, where the designers themselves are to be presented for the audience, so that they can finally put some names to faces."

Rarity gasped, hoof to her heart. "Oh? I'm going to go out on stage tonight?"

"Indeed you are. This entire series has been about not just dresses and models, but talent, and you, dear, are the pure definition of the word. Not to disparage the 'competition', so to speak, but let's just say that I'm grateful to our mutual friend Lockwood for introducing you to us."

Rarity smiled at that. "He certainly did us both quite a substantial favor in that regard, didn't he?"

"Yes he did. Which is why I invited him to the show, actually." Lapel gestured out towards the seats that were being set up. "These events typically aren't open to the general public, only to the social elite, journalists, and the like. It took me a little bit of finangling, but I managed to get a seat for him, if only so that he could see the fruit that little favor of his has led to."

"Just him, then?" Rarity asked; she'd hoped that Fluttershy would be able to see one of her shows in person, rather than just reading about them afterwards.

"Yes," Lapel said, raising an eyebrow. "Were you hoping for more?"

"I have other friends that I'm sure would have loved to come," Rarity replied. "But if it's not to be, it's not to be."

"Well, anyway, since you're going on stage tonight, Chantilly and I expect you to look your best—not that you'd have to try that hard."

Rarity tittered. "Careful, Lapel, your wife might think you're flirting with me."

"I think my wife flirts with you more than I do," Lapel chuckled. "But seriously, if you feel the need to freshen up and change at all, the designers have all been given their own private dressing rooms." He gestured over towards a second set of rooms on the other side of the backstage area. "You've got plenty of time before the show starts."

"Oh, I don't think I'll take too long," Rarity said as she sashayed her way towards the dressing rooms. "After all, I'm already fabulous."

*****

When Rarity said that she wouldn't take long, that was naturally mare-code for, "I'll be a while, because I have to look perfect." Lapel of course would have taken the hint, being married to a glamorous mare like Chantilly Lace, so naturally Rarity expected not to be bothered unless it was crucial, which would typically mean that Insipid needed something that only Rarity could fix.

At the moment, she'd just finished applying her own makeup, which wasn't anything particularly extravagant, just some dabs of powder and some mascara—adding blush would make her look like she was going on a date or to a party, not appearing as a professional at a fashion showcase. She'd even styled her mane just a little, applying a diamond clasp to keep it in place and really draw attention to her eyes.

All that was left was choosing the dress she was going to wear, which, since this was supposed to be about her showcasing herself for once, naturally meant she simply had to choose one of her own designs. She figured that since Insipid wouldn't be modeling the lacy red number that she'd first designed—it had absolutely been a crowd pleaser, but there was such a thing as overstaying one's welcome—that she could and in fact should wear that.

She stripped off her current dress, a lovely Lovers' Lane original design that Chantilly had recommended to her for day-to-day business, and prepared to slip on the new one, when a knock came at the door.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"It's Lockwood," called a voice from the other side. "I thought I'd drop by and wish you good luck before you go out there tonight."

Rarity smiled. Lockwood was a true gentlecolt down to the core, and had been for the entire time she'd known him. She wasn't in the least bit surprised that he'd managed to smooth-talk his way backstage so that he could give some well-wishes to a friend, but even so, she felt that that must have taken quite some effort. Surely he could have just congratulated her afterwards?

"Just a moment, darling, I'm not decent," she said as she moved towards the changing board opposite from the door. Once safely obscured behind it, she unlocked the door and called back, "Alright, come on in."

Lockwood opened the door and entered into the changing room—she couldn't see him at the moment from behind the board. "Hey, wow, this is a nice little dressing room they've got set up for you. Chantilly said you were gonna be going on stage tonight?" She heard him take a seat on the small divan that was in the corner. "She told me I could find you back here."

"That's right," Rarity said as she started putting on the lace dress. "So I simply had to look my best."

"That shouldn't be too difficult," he chuckled.

Rarity paused midway through dressing, but shook it off, reminding herself that Lockwood was always quick with a flirty compliment. She was used to hearing the same from Chantilly and Lapel—she'd come to understand that the pair flirted with nearly everypony as it was just how they were—but hearing it from Lockwood was a bit different.

"You're too kind, Lockwood," she said as she slipped the dress on and started adjusting the fit around her waist; she'd gotten more tone in her flanks thanks to all the stairs at the apartment. "Are you looking forward to the show?"

"More looking forward to seeing one of these famous 'Rarity Originals' in person. I normally don't do these kinds of things, actually, so I'm not sure what to expect," he admitted. "It's just going to be a bunch of models showing off some dresses for a little while?"

"That's pretty much the definition of a fashion show, yes," she chuckled. "I'd think you'd be more excited at the prospect of seeing a collection of attractive mares in fashionable clothing, strutting their stuff on the runway for all to see. Most stallions would kill to be in your position."

"Literally, I'm sure. I mean, it sounds nice and all, but I'm really just here for you."

She paused again, taking a moment to roll that comment over in her mind. It was absolutely something she'd expect a friend to say, but perhaps not with that exact wording. Maybe something like, "I'm here to support you," or, "I'm here to cheer you on." Those were what she'd expect to hear from her friends. But—

"Well, I guess I'm also here for Lace, Lapel, and Insipid, right? This is a pretty big day for all four of you."

An awkward save. But she shook that off as well, figuring that she was looking too much into it. Lockwood was always quick to compliment her and show his support. He was like that with all of her friends, wasn't he?

Well… no, come to think of it. He was quick to say that Rarity looked beautiful as ever when they saw each other, but she'd never heard him say the same to anypony else. He'd give similar compliments to Insipid when she and Rarity were together, but that was just proper manners.

Regardless, he was here and she was dressed, and she figured she might as well get an opinion on things. She stepped out from behind the changing curtain and saw that he'd actually come dressed for the event, much to her surprise. It wasn't exactly an expensive tuxedo, but it looked good on him, much better than that dreary raincoat he always wore, and without that rumpled old fedora she could actually focus on his lovely eyes for once.

"Well now, just look at you," she said with a little smile. "Don't you look handsome?"

He smiled and adjusted his tie. "Lapel told me that I needed to dress up a bit for the event. I usually only put this thing on when I've got a charity ball to go to."

"I think it makes you look rather dashing, darling," she admitted. "You should wear it more often."

She'd always thought he was handsome. Not exactly her type, but handsome nonetheless, especially in that tux. Why a good-looking stallion like him chose to hide himself behind a stuffy raincoat and fedora just boggled her mind; she'd thought the same thing about Gray once she'd gotten to see the mare in that snug dress the other day.

"Well, thank you," he said. "That means a lot coming from somepony with your taste in fashion."

Rarity then posed a little to display her dress. "Well? How do I look?"

He nodded appreciatively. "You look stunning in that dress, Rarity, and that diamond clasp really brings out your eyes. Simply breathtaking. I'm surprised Lace and Lapel didn't ask you to model for them."

Rarity's cheeks reddened.

Stunning. Breathtaking. She found herself sincerely hung up on those words. Until this very moment, she'd not realized that he had in fact been paying her a special kind of attention, and chastised herself for not noticing it sooner. But, it was better late than never, she figured.

She twirled herself in the dress a bit, causing the light reflecting off of the ruby dust to reflect all across the room. "You really think so, darling? That I should be a model?"

He nodded again; there was definitely a bit of red in his cheeks. "Oh, absolutely. That sounds like something you'd really enjoy: designing, making, and modeling your own dresses? You are the whole package. That'd probably be a first for the industry, right?"

"It certainly might be," she said as she moved a bit closer to him, blushing again as he continued to push her buttons. "Yes, that does sound like it would be marvelous. I'll have to consider that for when we return home."

She noticed that he wasn't quite sitting up straight in his seat, but hunched over just slightly, like he was nervous. That pretty much settled it. She knew she was going home in less than a week if Winter's estimates were right. Damn it all if she didn't indulge herself with a little fling.

Showtime wasn't for about an hour from now. That would be more than enough time.

"Lockwood, dear, why don't you lean back and get comfortable? That divan is simply divine," she said, laughing at her own little joke. "And I won't have a gentlecolt like yourself slumped over like he's ready to collapse, not in my dressing room."

He seemed to realize that he was, in fact, slouching, and so he leaned back onto the rear cushions, scooting against them with a little smile on his face. "Ooh, you're right, this is nice. I should get one of these for my place."

"Comfortable now?"

"Very much so, yes."

She took a seat next to him on the divan so that he was between her and the corner. In this current position, a glance down gave her a view of a portion of his cutie mark, enough to see that it appeared to be an umbrella. She'd never seen it before, since it was usually hidden under his raincoat, and for a moment wondered what it represented.

Then she recalled how cutie mark visibility seemed to be subject to interesting rules: seeing the whole thing or not seeing it was perfectly acceptable. Seeing it partially, however, was seen as provocative, alluring. He couldn't be more suggestive about his intentions if he tried.

"I should thank you again for everything you've done to make this possible," she said, adjusting her dress in such a way that her entire leg was exposed. "There aren't many ponies out there that would put themselves out so readily for a stranger."

"I think you've thanked me quite enough, Rarity," he replied with a smile. "Just seeing you happy with the results is all I need." He seemed to notice her leg and the way she delicately traced her hoof along it, and quickly averted his gaze. "Is it… is it getting hot in here?"

"You really know how to make a lady feel special," she said, leaning against him slightly and biting her lip. "I wish there was something I could do…"

He didn't shy away whatsoever—if anything he leaned against her in turn—which was good enough of a sign for her that she could continue, and so she did. She placed her hooves on both of his shoulders so that they were face-to-face. She took the look in his eyes as him being nervous that she was making the first move.

"Oh, uh, what's the matter?" he asked, his wings flaring out a bit. "Is there something on my face?"

"Not yet," she said as she used her magic to lock the door.

She pushed him back onto the divan, which was rather easy because, even though she wasn't particularly strong, he was far from being a peak physical specimen himself. She then leaned up to his ear and whispered, "It's alright, darling. Just relax, and let Rarity take care of everything."

"I, uh… I th-think—"

She lifted herself up to straddle him; she could feel that he was excited. "Do you want me, Lockwood?" she asked as she pressed her hoof to his chest. "You don't have to pretend to be shy anymore. I can tell that you do, you wonderful little flirt."

He tensed up when her other hoof caressed his flared wing. "Wh-whoa, I think you've g-got the wrong idea."

"I meant what I said earlier: you look rather dashing in that tuxedo. But now I can't help but wonder…" She pressed her nose against his. "Let's stop beating around the bush, hmm? We're both attractive ponies who are clearly attracted to one another. There's nothing wrong with a little… fun, between friends."

He was breathing heavily, much as she was. She knew he wanted this. She could see it in those gorgeous eyes, feel it in the way his hooves slowly wrapped around her and caressed her back. He looked so anxious and vulnerable, and yet excited at the same time.

She closed her eyes and moved to kiss him, and saw him doing the same as she did.

Then: "Rarity," he blurted just as she pressed her lips to his. "We can't."

She froze up, and pulled back from him, perplexed by his expression; his eyes were no longer excited, but fearful and confused. "Darling? Is everything alright?"

"I, n-no, it's not. I think there's been… a horrible misunderstanding," he said, holding one hoof up between them so that she couldn't move any further, as if he was worried she might force herself on him.

Rarity frowned; all of the wonderful little thoughts in her head deflated in an instant. "Oh. I… I see." She slid away from him slowly, not really sure what to think; what had she done wrong? "Forgive me, I may have come on too strong. You're looking to take it slow—"

"What? No, that's not what I meant."

"Then what do you mean?" she asked, narrowing her eyes, confusion giving way to anger. "You're obviously attracted to me; I am well-acquainted with how pegasi and stallions display their arousal. Or have you just been leading me on with your flirting all this time?"

He shook his head quickly. "You're a very attractive mare, Rarity, absolutely, but I… what gave you the idea that I've been flirting with you?"

Rarity blinked. "Is this a joke? Why, all of the compliments you've given me over the past couple of weeks. Especially tonight, where you seemingly pulled out all the stops."

"I compliment ponies all the time!" he blurted.

"Not the way you've done for me! You said that I looked 'stunning' and 'breathtaking'," she said, gesturing down at herself. "Or was that a lie?"

"No, you do look stunning, and breathtaking," he said, his eyes darting down her form briefly; he seemed embarrassed that he did, "but—"

"See? That is a flirtatious compliment, and a very strong one at that."

He raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

She sighed. "Darling, when a stallion compliments a mare on her looks, the words they use are often an indicator of how they feel. If you were to say I looked 'pretty' or 'great'—or, heaven forbid, 'nice'—then I would say that we're merely acquaintances at best and that you were just being polite. 'Lovely' and 'amazing' are much stronger words, things I would expect from friends and family.

"You, however, used the words 'stunning' and 'breathtaking'. Those go right up there with 'gorgeous' and 'beautiful' in terms of impact—other words that you've used, I remind you—and they all suggest that there is definitely physical attraction there."

He blinked, stunned. "So, because of the words I used to describe you, you thought I was flirting with you?"

"Naturally. That and all of the other little compliments sprinkled here and there that clearly indicated that you felt the need to say them when others would not, along with the way in which you said them. I could give you a complete rundown of just this evening alone, if you'd like, but it's been going on for a while now."

He seemed rather mollified by the information. "I… I had no idea. I was just being nice to a pony I considered a friend." He shook his head. "I'm sorry if I was sending mixed signals. I didn't even realize I was doing it."

Rarity laughed at that. "I believe this might be the first time in history that a stallion has ever had to say that to a mare." Then, she sighed. "I'm sorry I got a little, um… forward. Thank you for stopping me before I did something we'd both regret. Can you ever forgive me, Lockwood?"

He smiled. "Of course I can. What are friends for? This was just a misunderstanding, that's all."

"Thank you."

A thought came to Rarity's mind: he hadn't denied being attracted to her, and he was definitely aroused when she'd made her move. No, she hadn't misread that much; he did want her, at least subconsciously, but had consciously fought against it. Now, either he was an idiot that didn't want to indulge despite it being entirely mutual, or… there was somepony else.

That was too juicy to pass up, and Rarity just couldn't help herself.

"So, who is she?" she asked, rising from the divan to go and touch up her makeup.

"Who is who?" he asked, straightening his tux.

"The other mare, of course," she said, completely nonchalant.

He paused, long enough that Rarity noticed. "What are you talking about? What 'other mare'?"

"Don't play coy with me, Lockwood," she said, focused on fixing her mascara in the mirror. "We're far past that. Based on the way your wings are still splayed out like a horny colt, you were just as aroused as I was."

She had no trouble admitting that to him whatsoever; if he hadn't stopped her, she'd been more than prepared to change dresses before going on stage.

"If there wasn't another mare, I'm certain that you would've let things continue."

"No, I would never take advantage—" he said, trying to force his wings back down.

"Then I would think you more idiotic than chivalrous," she said bluntly. "There's a big difference between taking advantage of me and just being a nitwit, and you'd be a true nitwit to suggest you were taking advantage of me when we're both sober, clear-headed, and obviously have a mutual attraction to one another, not to mention that I initiated things."

That gave him pause.

"Don't lie to me, Lockwood: you find me attractive, don't you? And I don't mean in just a casual sense; there's a part of you that wants me." Her eyes darted—briefly—towards his crotch.

Lockwood gulped, then nodded slightly. "I find you… very attractive, Rarity, and I'd definitely be lying if I said anything otherwise."

"Then there is obviously a reason that you resisted, and that can only mean that you have somepony else that you're loyal to. Is that true?"

He closed his eyes and nodded again, but said nothing.

"Then that is all I need to know. Again, I apologize for my actions. Had I known you had a special somepony out there, I would never have given any of your comments a second thought. You've just… cultivated this image of an eligible bachelor around yourself exceedingly well, so naturally I had different assumptions about your intentions."

"Don't tell anypony about it, please?"

"Hmm?"

"About the fact that there's somepony else," he said, giving her a pleading look that she'd never seen him with before. "Nopony can know. Please, promise me."

Rarity wasn't sure what to make of that; what sort of mare was he involved with that he wanted to keep it a secret? Still, she nodded. "I won't say a word to anypony. Cross my heart and hope to fly," she said, starting the motions, "stick a cupcake in my eye. I Pinkie Promise, and nopony breaks a Pinkie Promise."

"Thank you."

"I assume that we can say the same about our little… misunderstanding?"

"Naturally."

"Good." She paused briefly, then said, "Would you mind if I asked about her?"

He hesitated. "I… can't give you any details, really."

"Just a few things, darling. Is she… gone?"

Lockwood thought that over for a moment, then shook his head. "She's not here in the city."

"Ah. I recall you mentioning when we first met that you were saving up to leave one day. It's for her, isn't it?"

He nodded.

"And that must be hard for you, because of Flathoof and his family. They're your family too." By now, Flathoof had shared that tidbit with everypony. "She must be truly special to cause you such a dilemma."

"She is." Lockwood sighed and buried his face in his hooves.

"Then she's lucky to have somepony so dedicated to her as you are."

"No… I'm the lucky one."

After another long pause, Rarity cleared her throat. "Well!" she said, her smile returning, "I believe you have delivered your well wishes, so perhaps it would be a good idea to take your seat out there and get ready for the show? I still have to get myself ready and ensure Insipid is put-together."

He smiled and nodded, getting up off the divan to head for the door, though perhaps a little too quickly. "Yeah, sounds good to me. Good luck out there, Rarity. I'm sure you'll knock them flat," he said with a confident grin.

"Thank you, darling. For everything."

*****

Once Rarity had changed, fixed her mane and makeup, and finished thoroughly chastising herself for her embarrassing faux pas, she made her way out from her dressing room and to the rest of the backstage area. She was amazed how quickly the crew had been working when she chanced a glance out at the runway, as they'd gotten the entire seating area set up for the audience, the lights and decorations were in place, and ushers were already bringing ponies to their seats.

She saw Lockwood out there being taken to his seat near the back, and knew that unless she waltzed out on stage he couldn't possibly see her, but figured it would be best if she didn't try to get his attention anyway. Best to let things cool down a bit; she desperately wanted to get home and take a cold shower as soon as possible, and knew he did too.

Rarity knew her priority now was making sure Insipid was ready to go out there and strut her stuff. Tonight's show was no longer about "competition" as the others had been thus far, but about showmanship and celebration; the designers and their models were all officially signed to their labels now, not just on trial runs, so unless there were some major issues, tonight was just supposed to be about fun.

She found Insipid at the dressing and makeup station in the backstage area, rather than her own dressing room; a quick look at the schedule had said that Insipid was supposed to be going on the runway first, so she was in what was essentially the primary battlestation for the entire event.

Insipid looked absolutely marvelous at the moment. Her mane had been styled in a set of lovely, sleek curls with a shiny silver tiara to cap it off. She was currently starting off the show with one of Rarity's dresses, a white lace number with an exposed back that clung tight to Insipid's curves, and flowed all the way off of her backside like a fishtail; Rarity had been inspired by the legends of sea ponies back home. The lace itself was trimmed with pearls.

Rarity approached and gave Insipid a little grin. "My my, darling, that dress looks positively magnificent on you. I mean, we knew it would, but I must say I was not expecting such results."

Insipid beamed and, with her magic, waved the little silk fan she'd been given to complete the image. "Eee! I love it! I can't wait to go out there! This is so exciting! We're official! Woo!"

Rarity wanted so badly to hug and congratulate her friend, but that would mess up Insipid's dress and makeup and that was obviously ill-advised. So she resorted to just taking hold of Insipid's hoof and widening her smile. "I'm so proud of you. You've come such a long way in such a short time. I just knew you had it in you."

"It's, like, a dream come true," Insipid said, smoothing out the dress. "I've wanted to be a model for as long as I can remember… and it's finally here. I did it." With a look towards Rarity, she added, "We did it. Right?"

"We certainly are a wonderful team, aren't we?"

One of the production assistants, a pegasus mare with a clipboard, came over and announced to the pair, "Thirty minutes to showtime, ladies. Start making any final adjustments and changes you need."

"Thank you," Rarity replied. She then turned to Insipid and patted her hoof. "Alright, darling, let's go over your routine one more time, hmm?"

Insipid took a breath. "Yeah. Okay, so, like, with this first dress, I'm gonna, like, use the fan and be all… uh, 'coy', I think you said?"

"That's right. Use it to hide your lower face, so that the audience can only see those beautiful eyes of yours. That way, when you make your turns out there, you can shift the fan around to give them just a glimpse of the rest, to leave them wanting more."

"Right. Okay, and like, I've gotta work my tushie so that the pearls on the tail catch the light and junk?"

"Absolutely. It draws attention to your curves and really makes the dress pop." Rarity grinned. "You've got this, darling."

"Hmph, the only thing she's got is a weight problem," came a disdainful, nasally feminine voice from nearby.

Rarity and Insipid turned to see an off-white pegasus mare standing nearby. She had a two-tone blue mane that was cropped so that it surrounded her face. She wore a black dress suit that clung to her thin frame, plus a pair of much-too-big sunglasses. She had one of those long cigarette holders as well.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I caught that," Rarity said, though she was pretty certain that she'd heard just fine.

"This one here," the mare said, gesturing dismissively towards Insipid with her cigarette. "She is much too big to be a proper fashion model."

Rarity held in her desire to vehemently argue the point, at least for now. "And just who are you, exactly, that feels they can critique my model's figure?"

"Chiffon Silk," the mare said, taking a hit from her cigarette. "You had best learn it quickly, honey, because I am the top name in fashion in this city."

Rarity recognized the name alright. She was an avant garde designer that represented OFF Brand, a rival of Lovers' Lane as far as Rarity knew, and one that Chantilly had said was a top-notch… well, Rarity hesitated to repeat the term, as it was woefully unladylike and rhymed with stunt.

She'd never met the mare in person since she never came to the shows themselves it seemed, but she was required to be here tonight to present her brand's new designer and model. Rarity had expected someone with a little bit of class given the name and the reputation of the brand, but nopony was perfect.

Insipid looked between Chiffon and Rarity, clearly confused by the discussion. "Um, did she, like, just say I'm fat or something?"

Chiffon casually brushed her mane out of her face. "You have the figure of a moose, dear, that is what I'm saying."

"…is a moose fat?"

"Yes, quite fat indeed. Perhaps we should go on a safari, because it would seem you have an entire animal kingdom in there," Chiffon said, looking to Rarity. "The figure of a moose, and the brain of an ant. How this 'model' of yours manages to even remember to breathe is beyond me."

Rarity narrowed her eyes. "Miss Silk, if you don't mind, we have a show to put on. Would you kindly leave us be?"

"I think not, Miss Rarity," the other mare replied, blowing a puff of smoke to the side. "I do not know what Lace and Lapel are getting at, but they insult the very industry by letting this… creature dare to put on that rag you call a dress. I wish I had come to an earlier show; I might have talked some sense into them."

"The entire point of this showcase was to put new talent on display—"

"And the purpose of the circus is to put freaks on display, and that is where this creature belongs." Chiffon sneered at Insipid. "She is an insult to models everywhere. Besides that, look at her face. Her teeth are crooked. It would explain why she always keeps her mouth shut in all the photographs."

"Miss Silk—" Rarity hissed.

"Not to mention her garish technique on the runway. A runway model does not sashay their rumps about like some sort of two-bit whore from the Mid-West District." She then leered at Rarity. "But then, perhaps that's how she got the job in the first place?"

"You had better not be implying what I think you are," Rarity said through clenched teeth.

"I have heard rumors that Lace and Lapel were quite hooves-on with one of their models lately, but until I saw this beast I didn't think it held any water. There's no way Lover's Lane would hire such a creature unless she was working harder beneath Lapel's desk than she does on the runway."

"How dare you," Rarity seethed. "Of all the unsubstantiated—"

Her train of thought stopped when Insipid leapt out of the makeup chair and went running towards the dressing rooms, practically bawling.

"Insipid!" Rarity called, moving to chase after her.

"I take back what I said about the moose," Chiffon said, taking another puff. "With the way she squeals, perhaps a pig is more apt."

Something inside Rarity snapped. She wheeled on Chiffon and got right up in the other mare's face. "You absolutely despicable mare! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Chiffon backed up slightly, but didn't back down. "Ah, yes, Miss Rarity, right? I thought that Lace and Lapel hired a fashion designer, not a foalsitter. Though your dresses look as though they were designed by—"

"Oh, shut up," Rarity huffed. "You can disparage my dresses all you want, you contemptible cow, but how dare you insult my friend? How dare you suggest that she has been anything less than an honest mare putting her heart and soul in her career! You and your… freakshow fashions that no self-respecting pony would ever wear!"

"It's called avant garde, darling, and it's art," Chiffon snorted.

"It's ridiculous. Everything of yours that I've seen has looked like a walking junkyard. No wonder the fashion magazines only give you paltry blurbs near the end. You wouldn't know fashion if it came up and slapped you right in the face, and if I weren't a lady, I would damn well do it myself."

"Are you threatening me?" Chiffon asked, taking another step back; Rarity hadn't realized she'd been advancing on the mare this entire time and backing her into a wall.

"A lady doesn't start fights, dear, she finishes them, and you are no lady. You are just a miserable, jealous, hideous, deplorable, loathsome creature that doesn't even deserve to share the same air as that wonderful young mare," Rarity said, gesturing towards where Insipid had run off. "I hope you're proud of yourself, you witch. Oh! And one more thing."

She lit up her horn and extinguished Chiffon's cigarette.

"No smoking backstage near all of the dresses. Have some class."

With that, Rarity turned and stormed off to go find Insipid, leaving Chiffon—and a bunch of witnesses in the form of staff members and other models and designers—to just get out of her way.

She wasn't sure what Chantilly and Lapel were thinking, inviting that cretinous mare to the showcase. In fact, she was beginning to think she hadn't been invited, and probably just snuck in to try and start trouble with the other labels' models and designers. Insipid just happened to be the first target.

It didn't take long at all to find Insipid, who was busy crying up a storm in her dressing room.

Rarity tepidly knocked on the door. "Insipid? Darling?"

"Go away!" called Insipid in between sobs.

"Darling, it's me, Rarity. May I come in?"

"Leave me alone!"

That wouldn't do. Rarity knew she had to console her, and couldn't very well do that from out here.

"Dear, I'm coming in, alright? I just want to talk."

Insipid sniffed loudly, but didn't otherwise respond.

Rarity cautiously opened the door and found Insipid curled up on her divan, sobbing away with her back to the room. Just seeing the poor mare like this made Rarity's heart ache; Insipid didn't deserve anything that had just happened, not by any means. She shut the door behind her and sat on the divan in the space that was available, then put her hoof on Insipid's side.

"Darling… I'm here for you, if you want to talk…" she said quietly.

"She… she… she called me ugly…" Insipid sniffed, wiping her nose on her hoof. "She called me ugly and fat and… and stupid and… and she said that I did things that I didn't…"

"I know, I know," Rarity cooed, rubbing Insipid's side gently. "That horrible mare said some very nasty things."

"You told me never to do those kinds of things with anypony to get ahead. You told me, and so I didn't do them, so why would she say that I did?"

Rarity shook her head. "Because she is an awful pony, darling. There are lots of awful ponies like her out there that say the things that they do because they're miserable themselves, and they just want to bring others down with them. They can't stand the sight of other ponies' success, and that's what you are, my dear: successful."

"No I'm not…" Insipid groaned. "I'm only here because of your dresses…"

"Oh… oh no, darling, that isn't true at all. Without you wearing them, these dresses are just fabric. They need somepony to wear them in order to give them life. That's what you do: you give my dresses life."

"That's not true. I heard Mister Lapel say that they were going to have you model them. They should've. You'd have been a better model…"

Rarity felt her heart sink. Lapel had said that on the day they'd all first met, but it had been in jest somewhat, a harmless flirt in front of his wife because that was what they did. Even if he'd meant it, Rarity would never have actually accepted it, not after seeing Insipid's heartfelt attempts.

"He did… but that's because he didn't see what I saw in you at first. You are a diamond in the rough, darling. We chose you to be our model, and look at what you've done with that! You're here! The big, final showcase! You made it, Insipid. You. It was you out there on the runway, you posing for pictures."

Insipid sniffed again, and lifted her head up to look at Rarity; the poor dear's mascara was running all over her face. "You… you mean it…?"

"Of course I do."

Insipid sat up, wiping her nose again. "You don't think I'm ugly?"

Rarity pulled Insipid in for a loving hug. "No, never." She helped Insipid hold her head up to look in the mirror opposite the divan. "Look at you, darling. You're beautiful. Anypony that says otherwise is either blind or horribly misguided."

Insipid sniffed again, then gave Rarity a little smile. "And you don't think I'm fat?"

"You and I have practically the same figure, dear. If you're fat, then so am I. You don't think I'm fat, do you?"

"No…"

"Then there you go. Those other models out there, they have those slender frames because that's what they think they need to succeed, and it's dreadfully unhealthy, not to mention that it sends the wrong message to fillies and mares everywhere about the kind of figure they're supposed to have to be beautiful."

"I don't want to send a wrong message…"

"Of course not. See?" Rarity tightened the hug and grinned. "I'd bet that with the success you've shown out there, there are bound to be more aspiring models out there who look just like you. You can be an inspiration to them."

Insipid's smile widened a bit more. "That sounds nice…" She turned to Rarity again. "And you don't think I'm stupid?"

Rarity shook her head. "No, I don't. You sometimes have trouble understanding things that are too complicated, but you always learn eventually."

Insipid nodded, but her smile faltered a little. "My sisters say that I'm slow…"

"Everypony learns at a different pace, you know? Even if you're a little slower than others, you still put your heart and soul into everything you do, and there's nothing stupid about that."

Insipid's smile returned, and she hugged Rarity tight. "Thanks, Rarity. I mean it. You're my best friend in the whole world."

Rarity returned it, rubbing the back of Insipid's head. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah. Lots."

"I won't make you go out on the runway after all this, darling—"

Insipid abruptly stood up. "No. I'm going out there. I don't care what that jerk said, I'm gonna do it anyway." She turned to Rarity. "And do you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because I want to."

Rarity smirked, and rose to her hooves as well. "Wonderful. Let's get you back to makeup. We have an audience to impress, and a mare to knock down a peg or two."

*****

Insipid and Rarity walked up the stairs of the Southeast Point, stopping when they reached Insipid's apartment on the seventy-fourth floor. They had both changed out of their fancy dresses from the fashion show and put on their more casual—but still super pretty—clothes. The two laughed and smiled for the entire trip from the studio all the way home and all the way up to the door.

They'd also come with Lockwood, but they had dropped him off at his apartment downstairs first. Insipid didn't know why he and Rarity were acting weird tonight, but they had shared a few whispers earlier that she couldn't hear, so whatever it was it had to be a secret between two friends, which was perfectly okay because Insipid knew secrets about Rarity, too, like how she liked mint ice cream more than strawberry. Maybe she was telling that to Lockwood?

"Well, darling, this has certainly been a wonderful evening, hasn't it?" Rarity asked when they got to Insipid's apartment door.

"Yeah! I had, like, the best time ever!" Insipid said with a bright smile. "We totally showed that mean old bat who's boss! Cha!"

Rarity patted Insipid's head. "We absolutely did. She'll think twice before trying to insult the top model in the industry again, won't she?"

"Yeah, or maybe, like, three times? 'Cause that's more than twice, and that means she's really thinking about it."

"Indeed, perhaps she will think thrice." Rarity pulled Insipid in for a hug, which Insipid returned. "Just remember what I said, dear. You're beautiful on the inside and out, and nopony should ever make you feel like anything less."

"Thanks Rarity, I will. I promise."

"Good. Now, I'll leave you to your sisters for the evening, alright? We'll meet for a little brunch tomorrow."

"Yay! Brunch! It's like fancy breakfast," Insipid said, remembering how Rarity had explained it.

Rarity smiled and laughed. "Exactly. Good night, darling. Be sure to get your beauty sleep now."

"Night!"

As Rarity went up the stairs towards her own apartment, Insipid unlocked the door to hers and headed on inside. She found Gray napping on the sofa, as usual, though this late she might really be sleeping, not napping. Velvet sat in the comfortable chair in the living room near the couch, watching something on TV while eating Dolor-brand ice cream. Not as good as the real thing, but good enough for Velvet.

"Hey, sis," Velvet said, not turning her head; she knew who it would be, duh. "How was your fashion show?"

Insipid gave a happy sigh. "It was great! Lace and Lapel are, like, so cool. I'm totally official now! Cha!"

Velvet tilted her head and gave a little smile. "Well hey, good for you, sis. I'm proud of you." She pointed towards the fridge. "Oh hey, if you want something to eat, there's some leftovers in the fridge. You ate dinner already, right? I mean, you're not skipping meals or anything?"

"Pshaw, no way," Insipid said, walking to the fridge and opening it up. "Rarity told me that only, like, those other models skip meals. I have to maintain a ladies figure and, like, that means curves."

"Hell yeah, sis, you show those matchsticks who's boss."

Insipid blinked. "Matchsticks? Huh?"

"Nothing, nevermind." Velvet smiled and lifted her legs up a bit. "Say, do you think maybe I could be a model? I've got the figure for it like you do."

Insipid hummed and looked over Velvet from a distance, then shrugged. "I dunno. You'd have to ask Rarity for, like, a real answer. I think once she said you look like you'd be better for, like, other magazines, whatever that means."

Velvet raised an eyebrow and cracked a grin. "Oh ho ho, really now? Hmm…"

Insipid then finally looked into the fridge and recognized the leftovers as: "Ooh! Lasagna!" She helped herself to a good-sized serving, put it on a plate, closed up the fridge—she had to remember that step because Gray got mad when she didn't—then sat on the couch next to Gray. "What're we watching?"

The show on the TV was what looked like a movie of some kind. Insipid didn't really get movies, at least the kinds that her sisters liked to watch.

Gray liked watching movies with mysteries and drama these past few days, but Insipid didn't know if she'd ever watched something different before that. Velvet, though, was always watching these weird movies where stallions and mares would wrestle each other naked, but was always quick to change the channel when she knew Insipid or Gray were there, so Insipid figured she liked sports.

The movie she was watching now also looked like some kind of sports flick, but not the same kind. A big, hunky stallion boxer was going up against another big, hunky stallion boxer.

"A sports flick," Velvet answered; Insipid had been right, of course. Boxing was a sport, so this was a sports movie. Duh, even Insipid knew that.

"Ooh," Insipid cooed as she watched the two actors pretending to hit each other so well that it looked like they really were, but they weren't, because it was a movie, right? "What's it about?"

"I dunno, but I can't look away," Velvet said with a mouth full of ice cream.

Insipid just quietly watched the movie with her sister for a few minutes, eating her lasagna while trying to figure out what was going on in the movie as best as she could. She could tell that one of the two boxers was smaller than the other, and that the movie was paying more attention to him for some reason, like it was rooting for him. But didn't the bigger, stronger boxer always win in these things? That's how sports worked, right?

Gray stirred next to Insipid and lifted her head. "Oh. Hey. You're home," she said, still half-asleep. "How was the show?"

"Great!" Insipid said back with a smile. "I'm a real fashion model now! The big time! Rarity says, like, that I have something called a 'career' now. Isn't that great?"

Gray blinked away her sleep and yawned, though she still wasn't fully awake. "It's still so weird that of the three of us, you're the one with a real job."

"I know, right?" Velvet agreed. "But hey, that's how Daddy wanted things to go. I think it's a good thing, don't you?"

"Mmph. Yeah. Teaches her some responsibility, I guess."

Insipid beamed, sticking her nose in the air. "That's right. I'm, like, responstable now. That should mean that I'm in charge. Cha!"

Gray paused, then shook her head and glanced at the TV. "What're you even watching?" she asked Velvet.

"A sports flick," Velvet answered. "I missed the first half so I'm not sure what it's about, really, but whatever, I'm not watching it for the plot." She pointed at the screen and grinned. "Check out the muscles on these two hunks, yeah? What I wouldn't give to be the filling in that sandwich."

"Gross."

"You can't be a sandwich with those guys, Red!" Insipid huffed, shaking her head. "They're not, like, bread, or whatever?"

Velvet must not have heard Insipid, because she just kept looking at Gray. "Oh, don't you give me that, sis. You and I both know that we're absolutely into the same type of guys. I can tell."

Gray raised an eyebrow. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Pshaw, sure you do. But it's weird, y'know? I thought for sure you'd be into the type of guy that would just do whatever you wanted, like the kind of guys Havoc's into. I mean, maybe not quite like the guys Havoc's into, because a mare your size? Woof, you'd crush some poor stallion's pelvis."

"What's a pelvis?" Insipid asked, mouthful of lasagna.

Neither sister answered, too involved in this two-way conversation it looked like.

"I really have no idea what you're talking about," Gray said, laying her head back down. "I don't have the time or effort to spend on stallions like you do."

Velvet rolled her eyes. "Heh, I make time for stallions, sis. The only thing keeping me from doing the mattress mambo with some stud right now is you and your stupid 'no guys over' rule. It really isn't fair, y'know?"

She always brought that rule of Gray's up and complained about it, almost nightly. Insipid didn't understand the rule at all, and at first had thought it unfair that she had to listen to a rule she didn't understand and had complained about it too. Gray told her that the rule wasn't for her to worry about and that she shouldn't care about it because it was stupid. So Insipid didn't care about it anymore, because she didn't care about stupid things.

"I'm still not changing it, so stop asking," Gray said. "I already do your laundry for you, I don't need to be cleaning up… that too. Bad enough when you get it on your clothes."

Velvet smirked and leaned back in her seat. "I bet you'd change the rule if you had a guy you wanted to bring over."

"Well, I don't, so no, I wouldn't."

"Are you suuure?"

Gray sharply lifted her head up, glaring at Velvet. "Yes, I'm sure. Not everypony's a nymphomaniac like you are, Red. Not everypony has guys on their mind all the time."

Insipid didn't know what a "nymphomaniac" was, but Gray called Velvet that a lot. If it was a mean or bad thing, either Velvet didn't know it was or she did a good job at hiding being hurt by it. So obviously it wasn't a bad thing, because Velvet had said nothing could hurt her and Gray would never say something mean.

But why did Gray act like it was a bad thing? Maybe Gray didn't know what it meant either and was just using the big word to sound like Dawn, because Dawn was super smart and knew all sorts of words that made Insipid's head hurt. Obviously that was it, duh. Everypony should want to be a total smartypants like Dawn was. Insipid did. It was just really hard.

"First, of all, I don't have stallions on the brain all the time," Velvet said back, her smirk still on her lips. "Just most of the time; in fact, I haven't even gotten laid in a couple of days now; I've got more important things on my mind, like Pinkie's safety. But, you don't have to be like me to have stallons on the brain, especially not if it's a specific stallion."

"Again: no idea what you're talking about," Gray snorted.

Velvet kicked her hindlegs up and got comfortable in the chair. "So there's nothing going on between you and that hunky red stallion with the blond mane?"

Gray raised an eyebrow. "Huh? You mean Flathoof?"

"Yup. Good ol' Captain Flathoof."

"No, there's nothing going on between us. What the hell are you talking about? What gave you that idea?"

Velvet leaned her head back. "Don't play dumb with me, sis. Like I said, I know you're into the same kind of guys I am: big, hunky, and super handsome. Flathoof fills those criteria as well as he fills out that police uniform. Heh heh, rawr."

"You're delusional."

"What, you think he's ugly?"

"No, I don't."

Velvet waggled her eyebrows. "So you think he's handsome?"

"I didn't say that, either, stop trying to put words in my mouth."

"You can't, like, put words in somepony's mouth," Insipid scoffed, shaking her head. "Words aren't, like, food. Unless it's in alphabet soup."

Velvet continued ignoring Insipid, which was a little rude. "Alright, fine, I'll admit defeat," she said, putting her hooves up. "You win: you absotively posilutely do not have a thing for Captain Flathoof, the studly police pony."

Gray nodded. "Right. Good. Now, just shut up and let me get back to sleep." She set her head back onto her pillow and closed her eyes.

"Sooo… I guess you wouldn't mind if I tried to wrangle him, right?" Velvet asked with a huge grin.

Gray's eyes snapped open. "Huh?"

"Well I mean, you don't have a thing for him, so obviously you wouldn't mind if I made a move on him, right?" Velvet's grin was this weird mix of innocent and naughty that Insipid didn't really get. It was weird. "Because like I said: total hunk with junk in the trunk. If you don't want him, I'm happy to score with him myself."

Gray just stared at Velvet for a long moment, then set her head down on her pillow and closed her eyes. "Do what you want."

"I bet if I asked, he'd bring some hoofcuffs. Maybe cuff me to the bed—"

"Whatever."

"Okaaay, if you say so," Velvet answered with a grin and a little sing-song voice. She yawned, stretched her hooves, then got up out of the chair. "Well, I don't know about you, Insipid, but I'm pooped, so I'm gonna get to bed. I've got new material for dreamland tonight."

Insipid nodded and waved goodbye. "Night, sis! Sleep tight!"

"You too." Velvet tilted her head towards Gray. "And you, Gray. Nighty night!"

"Whatever. Good night."

As Velvet headed off to her room and Gray drifted off to sleep on the sofa, Insipid sat there with only one thought in her mind:

This is some good lasagna.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Champion

A large crowd had turned out tonight to watch the Mid-East Rockets take on the Mid-West Warriors, larger than what was typical for any game in which the Rockets played. Word of mouth had gotten around over the past week about the Rockets bringing an actual team to the court this season—headed up by two star-level players—when just the season before, and the seven before that, they'd been the worst team in the league.

Rainslick watched with rapt attention from the private box assigned to the Rockets various staff members and crew… which meant just him, really. The owner would be here as well if he ever bothered to show up to a game. As it was, the Rockets organization consisted of just the seven players and Rainslick, who performed duties as talent scout, manager, press secretary, and budgeteer.

Well, there was also the janitor at the Rockets' headquarters, but he didn't come to games either. He just preferred to sit in the supply closet and read his dirty magazines.

It was only a few minutes into the first period, and already the Mid-East Rockets were up 14-3. It was one thing for Rainslick to be awed by the performance of the new talent he'd signed on, and Rainbow Dash and Havoc were still by far the best players on the team, probably in the whole league. But, he was more impressed with how the other players on the team had come into their own since the new players had joined up.

He remembered when he signed each and every one of these players, none of whom were much better than amateurs but all of whom had heart and drive, and more importantly, were willing to actually play for the Rockets.

Dart Blazer was a wide-eyed idealist, always with his head in the clouds and whose eagerness to succeed were next to none. It was just a shame that the young stallion couldn't hit the goal rings if his life depended on it and lacked any sense on making a pass. That was just how he'd always been.

Now, though, with some coaching from Rainbow, he was making passes with stellar accuracy, and even shot plenty of goals himself. Just now, he dribbled the ball around one of the Warriors' blockers and kicked it hard over towards Sweet Crespelle.

Crespelle was the youngest member on the team, and was barely of age to legally play in the league, as in he'd have been in trouble if he'd signed her two days earlier than he did the previous year. She could hold onto the ball plenty well and even dribble it from leg to leg just fine when hovering still, but had trouble flying and dribbling at the same time.

But not only did she catch the pass from Dart without any issue, but she was able to swivel it around herself to keep it in her possession without dropping it once. He found it amusing the way that she tended to dribble the ball these days, using her flanks and head to bounce the ball rather than just her hooves and legs. It worked not because she was more accurate, but because it was usually… distracting for the blocker that was supposed to be watching her.

This blocker, though—a lithe mare with an eyepatch by the name of Whirlwind—was able to focus enough on the situation to move in to tackle her, sending the ball down towards the court floor; that which usually distracted other blockers—including Thunderclap, another of the Warriors' blockers—didn't work on her.

But Rainbow was always quick enough to recover the ball from a teammate's fumble, pretty much no matter where on the field she was. The other blockers weren't used to her speed yet and got caught flatfooted whenever they tried to keep up, which usually either gave Rainbow opportunity to score, or to get the ball to Dart to take a shot, like she did just now.

Dart caught the pass and kicked the ball straight at the goal rings; the goalkeeper—an athletic stallion named Hazelnut Stripe—had been fooled by Rainbow's feint in his direction. Dart's shot clipped the outside of the inner ring, but still made it through the middle ring for two points. The score was 16-3.

The ball was back in mid-court, and as the ref dropped it down, Rainbow was once again right there to grab it. This time, though, the Warriors' lead blocker—a quick, bulky stallion named Sidewinder—went straight for her when the ball was tossed rather than wait, as was tradition. Since she was in legal possession of the ball by the time he got to her, it was a perfectly legal takedown; a clever adjustment of tactics.

So, when he slammed into Rainbow, she dropped it straight away, and neither of the Rockets' other strikers were in position to get it.

Typically in such situations, the blocker's team would let the ball fall to the floor to inflict a point penalty, but the Warriors' attempted the riskier strategy of retaking the ball to go for more points; they needed to catch up and fast. One of their strikers, a swift, lithe mare named Heartlily, snagged the ball and raced towards the Rockets' goal.

Rainslick wouldn't have been surprised if Havoc had leapt in to block, but she was currently guarding the Warriors' lead striker, a quick stallion named Snow Squall, who she'd kept out of play for pretty much the entire game. That was Havoc's strong suit: being fast enough to keep up and surpass most strikers so that they didn't get an opening at all; it was much easier for a goalkeeper to monitor two players rather than three.

That left the job of stopping Heartlily to Salsa Fresca, and the aggressive mare did not disappoint. It hadn't been too long ago that Salsa, who Rainslick had signed along with her sister Lily Typhoon, was considered the best player on their team and a top-notch blocker… if she wasn't being constantly distracted by her crush on Dart Blazer.

Rainslick wasn't sure how Rainbow and Havoc had helped her work that out, but she was entirely focused on the game now. She was on Heartlily like white on rice, slamming the other mare hard towards the court floor almost the second after she'd gotten possession of the ball, sending said ball soaring upwards.

The Warriors' other striker, an athletic stallion named Scattershot, was ready and able to recover it and made straight for the goal as well. At least, he did, until out of nowhere he was tackled by Brisk Gallop, who moved with speed that Rainslick would never expect from a stallion his age.

Now, Gallop had been signed because he was an old pro that was looking to come out of retirement, but had grown slow in his old age and couldn't even sign with the majority of semi-pro teams, let alone make it back into the big leagues. But Havoc had figured out that the stallion was, true to his name, still insanely fast; he just couldn't keep flying around for long periods.

So instead, he'd been tasked with essentially hovering around the Rockets' goal and waiting for one of the opposing strikers to get close before going in for the kill. And damn, he was good at it. That was the old pro at work.

The ball struck the floor almost immediately after Scattershot dropped it. The score was now 16-2.

And what perfect timing, too, as the clock just ticked down to signal the end of the first period. Rainslick smirked and leaned back in his seat, lifted up his light beer, and waited until the second period started. He'd been waiting eight long years for the opportunity to see his team succeed, and thanks to those two new mares, there was absolutely nothing standing in the Rockets' way of making the playoffs this year.

*****

Rainbow stretched her legs a bit and drank from a bottle of water as the team cooled down in the locker room between the first and second periods. She liked to keep limber, and her left side was still a little sore after she got hit hard by Sidewinder, but that was just the nature of the game.

Skyball was a brutally physical sport, even back home. In their world it had been used in olden times as a military training exercise of sorts, established during the rule of Commander Hurricane before the three pony tribes had even united. The rules had obviously changed since then, but the idea was still the same: the cultivation of tactical planning and practice of swift, brutal strikes against the enemy.

That the rules were the same even in this entirely different world boggled Rainbow's mind, but she supposed that was just the nature of alternate worlds.

Dart—who was still team captain despite him trying to pass it Rainbow or Havoc—was in the midst of giving the team a little pep talk. "Okay, gang, we're doing real good out there tonight! Let's keep up the pace!" He pointed at Rainbow first. "Good hustle out there, Rainbow. Great feint in that last play."

Rainbow shrugged. "Thanks. Nice shot yourself. The mid ring's hard to hit from that distance."

Dart beamed at that, then turned towards Havoc, Salsa, and Gallop. "And you three, great blocking out there. Especially you, Havoc, Squall hasn't taken a single shot all game. I was worried when I heard how good he is, but you're bringing the big guns tonight."

"Damn right," Havoc said with a smirk.

Dart then turned to Crespelle. "You okay after that last hit, Crespelle?"

The younger mare nodded, though she was still rubbing her leg. "Yeah, I'm okay. I think they figured me out, though. I can't distract Whirlwind at all. She's got this, like… laser focus." She shuddered. "She creeps me out a bit, too. Why does she just use one-word sentences all the time?"

"She's got no style for smack-talk, that's why," Rainbow offered. "So you're gonna have to smack-talk her to keep her on her hooves. She's got that stupid eyepatch, make fun of that."

"Call her a wannabe pirate, says she's got scurvy up her cooch," Havoc said, giving Crespelle a smirk. She glanced at Dart. "If anypony else needs pointers, I'm your gal. I mean, you've noticed their whole team's got no game in that sector, right? That Squall dude's gotta be the worst."

Dart raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? How so?"

"Okay, so, I made fun of that dumb scar he's got on his face, right? Told him it looked like he tried to make out with a weedwacker. Do you know what he slung back at me?"

Dart shook his head.

"He said, 'Whatever', and that was it." She shrugged. "Talk about taking all the fun out of the game."

"At least their goalie's easy to keep off his balance," Rainbow said with a grin, looking at Dart. "I wasn't sold on 'chicken wuss', but that set him off real good. Three easy points. Make fun of that stupid tattoo of his next. Seriously, who tattoos their face?"

"Ooh, call him 'Tramp Stamp'!" Havoc said with her usual shit-eating grin. "I know that's not what it is, but it'll throw him off.”

Dart then glanced at the clock and nodded. "Okay, gang! Let's get back out there and put these wannabe warriors in their place!"

"Hoo-rah!" cheered Gallop in his deep voice, mustache bristling.

As the team made their way out of the locker room and back through the hall to the court, Rainbow noticed a familiar face standing about midway through, casually leaning against the wall like he thought he was cool or something. She hadn't seen Thunder Guns since that day at the rec center a while back, when he tried to recruit her and Havoc to his team, the Arcadia Wizards, and was soundly denied.

The bulky talent scout gave a cocky smirk as he stood in the way of the team. "Well now, isn't this a happy coincidence. Fancy meeting you here, folks."

Havoc scoffed. "No shit. This is our team's locker room, where else would we be between periods?"

"Oh, is it? I didn't notice," Thunder said, feigning ignorance.

"What do you want?" Rainbow snorted, eyes narrowed.

"Me? Nothing, nothing at all. I'm just here to watch a fantastic skyball game, that's all, and fantastic it has been."

Dart huffed. "Yeah, right. We know your game, Thunder. So make like a banana and split."

Havoc gave him a half-lidded look of disapproval. "Dude, c'mon…"

"It's the honest truth!" said Thunder with a smile. "Though, I can't say that there are a lot of important ponies out there that would really ever bother to watch…"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" asked Salsa.

"Just that there seems to be a sudden abundance of talent on the Mid-East Rockets, and so it's just a damn shame that none of the pro-league scouts have bothered watching a Rockets game in years." He shook his head. "Tsk tsk. They're missing out."

"Cut to the chase, dickweed," Havoc growled. "We've got a game to play out there."

"Of course, of course. I'm just trying to be a good friend to such wonderfully-talented pegasi, that's all. You see, the professional teams always send their scouts to watch the Wizards play. Do you know why?"

"No, why?" asked Crespelle.

"Because we're champions. We've won nine championships in the past twelve years, all because we have the talent. And that's why the pros come to us. They watch our games and offer our championship players the opportunity to move up to the big leagues." Thunder gave a little dismissive wave towards the court behind him. "They don't waste their time watching teams that haven't won a game in eight seasons."

"You're behind the times, dude," Rainbow snorted. "We're already 1-0 this season, and we've got the momentum going to keep it up. Just you watch: it's gonna be the Rockets in the playoffs this year."

"Maybe you make it. Maybe you don't. But why risk it, when you could play for a real team?" Thunder not-at-all-subtly dropped a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket. "Oh, whoops! Let me just get that."

He made a big show of picking it up and looking it over. "Thank goodness. Why, it seems this check here would pay more than enough bits to buyout the contracts of a couple of star players, if they were interested."

With a grin, he put the check back in his pocket. "Well, I suppose I should be heading back to my box to watch the game, just in case any stars want to be born."

With that, he pushed his way through the team and headed off down the hall, taking the opposite turn towards the upper levels of the stands.

"What a shithead," Havoc snorted as she watched him go.

Rainbow gestured for the team to follow. "Forget him, let's get out there and play ball."

*****

As the second period was just getting underway, Rainslick ordered another beer from the handsome young waiter that was servicing his box, which meant basically he was catering exclusively to him all night unless the Rockets' janitor decided to show up. As he passed the waiter his empty bottle, he also gave him a little wink; the waiter's smile was slight, but noticeable enough.

Then, the game clock started back up, and Rainslick relaxed in his seat and readied himself to watch the best game the Rockets had ever played continue right along where they left off.

To his dismay, the exact opposite happened almost immediately.

Rainbow grabbed the ball at the start of the play like she always did, even spinning to avoid Sidewinder's tackle, but then passed it to a wide open Crespelle, who just fumbled it like she'd never handled a ball before in her life. It went straight from her hoof towards the court floor, and Rainbow, who wasn't expecting the fumble—meaning it wasn't some sort of fakeout—wasn't able to get there fast enough.

Score was now 15-2.

The ball was put in play again, and again Rainbow snagged it up, twisted herself around Sidewinder, and this time chucked the ball towards Dart. Dart just kicked it towards the goal rings, a pretty classic and familiar play to keep the defense on their hooves, but the ball went so wide that the goalie didn't even have to move.

14-2.

On the next play, Rainbow got hit hard by Sidewinder, dropping the ball down and straight into Heartlily's grip. She dribbled the ball and made for the goal, and Salsa moved to tackle… but was so slow that Heartlily barely even needed to make an attempt to avoid it. Salsa might as well have not moved at all.

Surely that meant that Gallop would step in to pick up the slack, but no, he didn't move one bit, just hovered and watched, his eyes just staying focused on Scattershot who wasn't even in possession of the ball. Did he just… not see Heartlily? Was the old pro's vision going?

Heartily seemed just as confused as Rainslick was, but that didn't stop her from taking a shot at the goal rings. And then, Lily just kind of lazily batted the ball away, not hard enough to block it but enough to divert its course so that it actually went into the inner ring instead of the medium ring that it was going towards.

14-5.

This just continued on for several minutes as the second period turned into a total nightmare.

Rainslick kept hoping that it was a fluke, or that maybe he was drunk and watching the wrong team or something, but for every miraculous play that either Havoc or Rainbow made to try to keep their team in the game, the rest of the team just dropped the ball—literally—so that they were taking three steps back for every one step forward.

As the buzzer sounded to indicate the end of the second period, the waiter came back to take Rainslick's order. He ordered a double shot of scotch instead; he needed something stronger.

The score was now 4-27.

*****

"What the fuck is going on out there?!" spat Havoc as the team reconvened in the locker room. "You guys are playing shittier than the toilet at a chill-eating contest! Did you all suddenly get brain damage on your way to the court? Huh?!"

Nopony answered, but instead of looking ashamed or upset at Havoc's tirade, they all just looked despondent, more like they were ignoring her than anything else.

Rainbow was just as upset about the situation as Havoc was, no doubt about it. She'd come in off the field after the first period with high spirits and confidence, then came back one period later wondering if her teammates had been abducted by brain-stealing aliens without her knowledge. But she knew Havoc was angrier, so just let her do her thing.

"Nopony's gonna talk, huh?" Havoc snorted. "You think this shit is funny? We're busting our asses out there," she said, gesturing between herself and Rainbow, "while the rest of you are sleeping on the job! Where the hell is the team we were playing with in the first period, huh?"

"I thought we were playing to win out there, guys," Rainbow added calmly; she and Havoc had a bit of a good cop, bad cop dynamic with these little speeches. "What happened? What's the matter?"

Salsa scoffed, leaning back against one of the lockers. "Why should we care anymore, huh? So we win this one more game, and then what? Lose the rest of the season? Nah, I'm not gonna bust my butt to try and win if we're just gonna go back to square one."

Havoc blinked, stupefied. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Salsa's got it all wrong," Dart said, standing up from his seat. "We're not gonna lose the rest of the season's games, we're just not gonna even be allowed to play. Might as well get used to not playing now."

"No, seriously, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with us," Crespelle said, giving Havoc a hard look that was out of place for her youthful face. "You're not the first teammates we've had that we thought might bring us out of the dumps only to jump ship the first chance they got."

"First ones with the decency to win us a game first, at least," Dart added. "So you've got that going for you."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Wait a second, hold on… is this about that offer Thunder Guns made?"

"What do you think?" Crespelle huffed.

"He does it every year, albeit not so openly," Dart sighed. "Last year he poached up Whisper Wind, and the year before that he grabbed Diamond Dust, and before that it was Ruby Light."

"And they all got traded around to other teams before the end of the seasons, too. I think Diamond plays for the Blizzards now, and Ruby for the Machines," noted Gallop, his mustache bristling. "No idea about Whisper, though."

Havoc arched an eyebrow. "So, what, that dickcheese just comes and poaches up other players off the Rockets and then just trades them off? I thought he was grabbing them to make his own team better?"

Gallop shrugged. "He doesn't need to, the Wizards are statistically the best team in the league, and have been for a long time. They've got the money to buy talent."

"He just does this to mess with the Rockets," Lily said, tapping her hooves together. "Specifically to mess with Rainslick. None of us know why, but those two hate each other. Worst thing is, Rainslick can't do anything about it."

"I thought player poaching was illegal?" Rainbow asked.

"It is, if he comes right out and says he did it, but he's got enough plausible deniability to suggest that anypony that came to him did so of their own volition," Dart said. He gestured between Havoc and Rainbow. "Just like you two are gonna do."

Havoc held up her hooves. "Whoa whoa whoa, who the hell said we were gonna do anything like that?"

"Don't tell us you didn't consider it, Havoc," Salsa said with a glare. "Of course you're gonna do it. You two actually have a chance to make pro, and Thunder's absolutely right, nopony who matters comes to Rockets games."

"He might actually put you guys on his roster instead of trading you around," Dart added. "You'd be stupid not to take that offer."

"You guys aren't serious, right?" Rainbow asked, a sarcastic smile on her face. "I thought Rainslick and I were perfectly clear that I was only gonna be in town for a few weeks, and that I'm on the team for fun. He's already looking for a new striker to cover my spot. Why would I leave now?"

"The money from that check would probably be a good incentive."

"I don't care about some stupid check. C'mon, Dart, think about it: when am I gonna have time to spend it?"

Dart paused, then shook his head. "Fine, fair point." Then he gestured at Havoc. "What about her, though? We still need her to play, even if Rainslick replaces you in time for the next game."

Havoc just outright laughed at that. "Holy shit, Bullseye, you really are stupider than you look."

As with Rainbow, Havoc had come up with nicknames for all of her teammates on the fly during their first game together, and used them whenever they were on the field or in the lockers. She said it was her way of motivating them, making them feel like she cared, like they were her friends, her family.

Dart's "Bullseye" moniker was because of his tendency to take long-range shots and passes, and how he'd miss them until Rainbow kicked him into gear with his aim; originally a jab, now a praise.

"You really think I'm gonna just up and leave you guys because a fucking paycheck? You guys all know that I'm a trust fund brat; I've got enough money that I could probably buy all of your contracts and start my own team if I wanted to. Which I don't, because if I own the team then I can't play."

"Nice humblebrag," Salsa snorted. "You think you can just wave that 'trust fund' crap around—"

Havoc held up a hoof. "Can it, Tailchaser, and let the big girl talk, okay?" she said, despite being a good three inches or so shorter than Salsa; "Tailchaser", incidentally, was poking fun at her former habit of getting distracted, specifically by Dart's butt. "I'm obviously not interested in money, so what, you think I'm interested in fame or some shit?"

Crespelle crossed her hooves. "Don't tell us you haven't considered it, 'cause that'd be just a big lie."

"You're right, Jailbait, I did consider it," Havoc said, throwing her hoof around the attractive younger mare's shoulder; the nickname was, well, easy to understand if not entirely accurate. "But, see, there's a problem with what he's offering."

"Yeah, what's that?" asked Lily, raising her nose in the air.

Havoc pointed at Lily. "It's very simple, Princess." The nickname stuck because Lily tended to be a bit of a diva in the locker room. "Which do you think would get me more fame: playing on the best team in the league and maybe winning another championship? Orrr… playing on the supposed worst team in the league and beating the shit out of the other teams?"

"The second one," Gallop grunted.

"Exactly." Havoc looked at the others. "See? Gramps gets it." The nickname was obvious.

"You're saying that you're not interested in Thunder's offer?" Dart asked.

"Hell no! Fuck that guy, he's a prick." She flashed Dart a shit-eating grin. "I signed up to play with you idiots. And I say 'idiots' because you guys are acting like a bunch of mopey dumbasses right now."

Salsa hung her head. "Yeah… I guess we are…"

"So, now that we've got that all settled," Havoc said, strutting in front of the team for a moment. "How about you all get your heads out of your asses, get out on that fucking field, and help me and Rainbow Dork kick the shit out of these losers! Who's with me?!"

She shoved her hoof out into the open, looking amongst the team.

Rainbow smirked, and was the first to put her hoof on Havoc's. "Heck yeah, let's go kick some tail!"

The others all followed suit, until the whole team's hooves were together in the middle of a huddle.

"One, two, three," Rainbow chanted.

"Go Rockets!" they all shouted together.

*****

When the second period had ended, Rainslick wasn't sure what to think about his Rockets. It was if an entirely different team had taken the field in between periods, and he'd watched a pretty respectable lead turn into a devastating deficit in the span of a few minutes. It wasn't exactly a record-breaking turnaround, but it might as well have been for the effect it had on him.

But now the third period had started, and Rainslick had to do another double take. The Rockets from the first period seemed to have been found and returned to the arena, got rid of those weird doppelgängers that had their faces but not their talent, and retook to the field with gusto.

As soon as the first play started, Rainbow passed the ball to Dart, who then instantly shot it straight into the centermost ring without a second's hesitation and with pinpoint accuracy. Three points, three seconds.

On the next play, Rainbow snagged the ball again, passing it to Dart who just as swiftly passed it over to Crespelle. Crespelle then quite literally danced around Whirlwind, who had somehow lost the focus she had before and made a reckless charge. She was then able to get up to the goal and slap the ball through the outer ring. One point.

On the next play, Rainbow got hit and Scattershot took control of the ball. He soared unopposed towards the goal until just before taking his shot… and then Gallop slammed into him like a bus out of nowhere.

Heartily managed to recover it before it hit the floor, but the instant the ball was in her possession, Salsa slammed her hard into the court floor for an easy point penalty.

On the rare occasion where one of the strikers managed to bolt past or avoid the Rockets' blockers, Lily was back in true form again, blocking shots that by all rights should've been clear goals, or deflecting them enough to limit the points gained.

The game turned back around relatively quickly now that the Rockets were playing like a team again, and by the end of the third period, the score was a much tighter 19-22. Rainslick made sure to order another beer from the good-looking waiter in preparation for the fourth period, which proceeded much as the third had.

By the time the clock ran out in the final period, the score was 31-27. A narrow win compared to the team's first game, but a win nonetheless. Whatever the hell had happened in the second period was now a distant memory, a fluke of some kind that was best left forgotten, and had thankfully been solved.

As the waiter came around to take his order again as the game was ending, Rainslick declined and passed over the team credit card to pay his bill. When the waiter returned, Rainslick signed the receipt and took his own copy, but noticed the waiter give him a coy look as he walked off. A phone number had been left on the back of his copy of the receipt; Rainslick smiled and pocketed it, then headed off to meet the team in the locker room to plan a proper celebration for their second victory.

*****

The Rockets celebrated late into the evening, coming together as a team and enjoying their reaffirmed camaraderie. They kept drinking to a minimum since everypony had to fly home and Crespelle wasn't legally old enough to drink—though Havoc had discreetly snuck a bit of her own beer to the younger mare—but that didn't keep anypony from having a good time.

Once celebrations were over, though, and Havoc was flying with Rainbow back towards the latter's apartment—after what had happened to Pinkie, Havoc was easily able to convince Rainbow to let her fly her home after practice and games—the pair got to talking while they were stuck flying behind some other pegasi in one of the city's many bothersome skylanes.

"Ugh!" Rainbow groaned as they turned a corner and found themselves stuck in a traffic jam; apparently a pair of pegasi up ahead had accidentally bumped into each other and now they were arguing who was at fault right in the middle of the lanes. "I swear, if there's one thing I'm looking forward to leaving behind when I head back, it's this."

"Must be nice not having traffic down in Ponyville," Havoc agreed. She shouted up at the commotion ahead: "Hey! Get out of the fucking road!" Then, back to Rainbow she said: "We need to find another route or something. Every night with this shit."

"How do you put up with it?" Rainbow asked. "You've lived your whole life in the city and dealt with this garbage. How did you do it?"

"I'll be honest, I don't know," Havoc said with a shrug. "I don't remember it ever being this bad. I don't know why but I've got the feeling I spent more of my time on the ground than in the air… and that doesn't sound like me at all. Weird, right?"

"Maybe you just grew into flying as you got older," Rainbow said with a shrug. "I know Fluttershy didn't fly much when she was younger, either, even though she was in flight school with me and everything. She liked to spend most of her time on the ground where the animals lived."

"What, like bunnies and shit?" Havoc tilted her head. "That sounds kind of… nice, actually."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

Havoc corrected her course; she had a reputation to uphold. "Nicer than this shit, I mean. I swear, though, I think this city just has beef with pegasi or something."

"I wonder if it's got anything to do with that city to the south. Hope's Point, wasn't it? Don't they have like a majority pegasus population? Twilight's been doing all kinds of research and she mentioned something like that."

"Ah, yeah, that's probably it. Would make sense to try and screw with the heads of pegasi here because all the pegasi down there are pirates or some shit." Havoc then tapped her chin. "Then again, maybe it's the other way around, and the reason there's all sorts of pegasi down south is because they can't stand dealing with this skylane shit?"

"Yeah, a real chicken/egg scenario, huh?"

The arguing ponies finally got out of the way when an NPPD pegasus flew up to clear them off, letting traffic continue as normal.

"Finally!" Havoc exclaimed.

"But really, this bites," Rainbow said as the pair kept themselves constrained to the lanes weaving through the smoggy air. "The only time we really get to fly around freely is on the skyball court, and that's not big enough to really do it for me. I need big, open skies. I haven't been able to really fly for weeks!"

"I feel you, Dash, I really do. I wish there was something I could—" She paused. "Wait. There is something I could do."

"Huh?"

Havoc gestured at the section of skylane ahead that dropped off and led towards the street level, fading until it disappeared so that pegasi could land appropriately in a designated area. "Take the next exit."

"What're you talking about?"

"Just trust me, okay? I've got a great idea, and you're gonna really dig it. I promise."

Rainbow shrugged, and the two descended down the exit back towards the street, where Havoc led her through the much less-congested sidewalks towards the southern end of the city. There weren't many skylanes in this sector, so the streets tended to be a little bit quicker to navigate, relatively speaking.

It took some time, but eventually the pair reached the edge of the Mid-South District where it ran right up against the city's outer wall, which stretched so high above them that neither one could see the top clearly. It was still easy enough to see the large, turret-based defensive gun positioned at the top, though it wasn't moving right now.

"So this is the edge of the city, huh?" Rainbow asked, putting her hoof on the wall. "Neat. Y'know, I haven't been out this far myself. Why's the wall so big?"

"It keeps those big-ass bugs outside from getting inside," Havoc said matter-of-factly. "As for the guns, well, same thing really, but also to keep out any ships from Hope's Point."

"Okay, so, spill: why are we here?"

"Glad you asked." Havoc leaned in to whisper. "See, not a lot of ponies know this, but there are ways out of the city that don't involve using the Gate or taking an airship. You just gotta know where to look, and I happen to know one of those ways out."

Rainbow's eyes widened. "Really? You know a way out of the city?"

"Shhh," Havoc said, glancing back and forth; they were the only ones here, of course, since the hundred feet or so between the wall and the city were kept open. "Don't tell anypony, okay? It's a big secret, 'cause this is how ponies used to get out of the city, back before lots of the modern stuff got put together at the Gate."

"How do you know about it then?"

Havoc blinked. "I dunno. I don't remember where I learned it, but I know about it." She shook her head, then started feeling along the wall. "There should be something… here!"

Her hoof pressed on a loose section of metal, which then opened up a hatch of sorts that led into a tunnel that stretched through the entire depth of the wall to the other side. It was dark inside, and there was a rather sinister clanking echo that Havoc didn't know the source of and couldn't identify.

Rainbow tilted her head. "Whoa, cool. Secret passage, just like in the Daring Do books." She leveled Havoc with a hard look. "There better not be any booby traps in there, Havoc, or I swear, I'm gonna—"

"Nah, don't worry about that, it's totally safe," Havoc said, unsure why she knew that with such confidence. "C'mon, this leads right out into the Wastelands."

Rainbow took a step forward, then hesitated. "Not to sound weird, but uh… aren't the Wastelands dangerous? Like you said, there's some big bugs out there or something?"

"Yeah, but those things don't hang out in the air." Havoc nudged Rainbow in the ribs. "Don't tell me you're chicken, Dash?"

Rainbow scoffed. "Shut up. I'm just making sure you're not gonna get us killed or—"

"Bawk bawk bawk," Havoc clucked, flapping her wings and bobbing her head. "Look out everypony, here comes Chicken Dash! Careful, she might lay an egg!"

"Oh yeah? Well if it's no big deal, why don't you go first?"

Havoc paled. "M-me? Why me?"

"Aww, what's the matter, afraid of the dark or something?" Rainbow pushed Havoc forward. "Go on, hotshot!"

"H-hey!"

They argued back and forth for a good minute before deciding to just go in at the same time.

Despite how dark it was in the tunnel, and how the echoing sound pounded through the walls with no source in sight, it wasn't really all that bad as far as Havoc was concerned. Just a little dark and spooky, no biggie. Just a few creepy noises, no biggie. She really wished she was allowed to light a spark right about now. When did she develop claustrophobia?

When they got to the other end of the tunnel, the pair found themselves on the outskirts of the Wastelands where it met up against the city's outer wall. Rainbow, who had never seen it before, stepped out a bit and took a look around, with Havoc right behind her.

The Wastelands were, of course, aptly named. For as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but arid badlands, just dust and dirt of an unhealthy orangish-brown hue that wasn't even remotely capable of supporting plantlife. A mountain range loomed off to the east a bit, which even from this distance was clearly of a different color, like a dull gold. But that was miles away, and just barely peeked over the horizon.

"Wow, they weren't kidding when they said this place was bad news," Rainbow said, shaking her head and scuffing her hoof in the dirt. "I mean, I always just figured everypony was exaggerating a little bit for effect or something. Yeesh." She gestured out into the distance. "And this goes on like this all the way to the coast?"

"Yup, this is pretty much the entire continent," Havoc grunted. "Apart from a few mountains and valleys, this is all you get. Unless you head like a few days west of here, then you get those big volcanoes. Big, active volcanoes, and they go all the way south and cut the Wasteland right in half."

"Whoa, cool."

"But uh, I wouldn't go that way if I were you. You'd have to be fireproof or something to make it over those." Havoc made a mental note to herself that when she got an opportunity, she'd go visit those volcanoes and see just how heatproof she actually was.

"Yeah, no kidding," Rainbow grunted. "You'd need to be a real idiot to head out that way. Or really desperate, I guess."

Despite the lack of a decent breeze, there was still enough wind that pegasi like them could fly, and so Rainbow used that to take to the air and hover for a little bit. Because the air out here was clear and clean, if a bit stale, it was actually a nice change of pace.

Havoc took to the air as well and hovered up next to Rainbow, then gave her a nudge. "So, wanna race?" She tilted her head over towards the gold-colored mountaintop. "Bet I can beat you to the mountains there."

Rainbow smirked. "Oh ho ho, you're on."

"Awesome." Havoc settled herself back on the ground in a ready position; Rainbow did the same, adjusting her goggles over her eyes. "Okay, ready? On three. One… two… three!"

The pair shot off like rockets towards the golden ridge ahead, moving faster than they ever could inside the city.

Havoc noticed that Rainbow was a bit faster than she was, as even though she was putting her all into her speed, Rainbow was nudging ahead inch by inch and still going faster every second. How Rainbow could do it, Havoc had no idea; she'd always thought of herself and her small frame as perfectly aerodynamic.

She realized right then and there that the only way she could possibly keep up with Rainbow was if she used her abilities to put some real firepower into her flight, to propel her along like a literal missile. And that was obviously out.

But still, she tried. Even though a part of her inside was shouting at her that she was weak and pathetic, another part of her was telling that Rainbow needed this more than she did, and that as awesome as it would be to win, it was okay to lose.

Of course, seeing that Rainbow was steadily getting so much faster that her flight trail was leaving rainbow-colored hues in her wake was rather surprising. All pegasi could leave such magic-like trails behind them—Havoc's was a fiery reddish-orange when she wasn't using her powers—but Rainbow's was much more striking.

What happened next shocked Havoc to her core.

Rainbow pushed forward again, gaining another burst of speed, her rainbow-colored trail practically rippling behind her. Then, without warning, Rainbow shot forward like a bullet, and Havoc felt like the world around her just exploded. There was a deafening boom… no, that wasn't good enough.

There was a deafening BOOM, and Havoc saw the world explode into a kaleidoscope of color right before her eyes. The sheer force of the sound disoriented Havoc, and she swerved completely off-course; she barely kept herself from slamming hard into the ground, bracing herself just enough so that she would just roll along instead to lessen the impact.

She did not, for the life of her, expect to not hit the ground, or, for that matter, for Rainbow to catch her. And, now that Rainbow had scooped her up and was still flying at supersonic speed, Havoc got to feel what that was like. The wind alone was buffeting her face like… well, she'd never felt anything like this before, so it was hard to describe, really. Like having her face pushed back by an invisible force.

How Rainbow could swoop around so quickly to catch Havoc mid-air while she was traveling at this speed and still maintain it seemed physically impossible, for that matter, but Havoc wasn't about to question it when she was fully capable of creating literal fire with her hooves.

A quick glance behind them gave Havoc the sight of a gigantic rainbow-colored ring expanding from the point where Rainbow had hit this incredible speed. It didn't cause any physical damage to the ground or anything, just sent dirt particles flying about like a swirling dust storm.

After a few seconds, the pair had arrived at the top of their mountain destination. Rainbow slowed down enough to come to a non-abrupt stop, setting Havoc down before swooping around to land in front of her.

Havoc, slack-jawed, just stared at her friend for a moment.

Rainbow smiled. "So, guess I win the race, huh? I mean, if you want to argue that we got here at the same time, go for it—"

"What… in the hell… was that?" Havoc asked, gesturing towards the still barely-visible rainbow ring.

"Oh, yeah, uh… sorry about that. I wasn't thinking and I kinda sent you flying—"

"Fuck that noise, I'm fine. Just tell me what that was!"

Rainbow scuffed her hoof on her chest. "Oh, that's just my patented Sonic Rainboom. Pretty neat, huh?"

"'Pretty neat'?! That was fucking awesome, dude!" Havoc exclaimed. "How'd you do that?!"

"I just… flew really fast," Rainbow said with a shrug. "It's what I do, yo. My name isn't Rainbow Dash for nothing."

"Holy shit, that's… that's the coolest thing I've ever seen," Havoc breathed, shaking her head. "You just… 'flew fast'? To go supersonic speeds?"

"Yup, that's it."

"Wow. That's… that's amazing. You're amazing. Holy shit!"

Rainbow beamed. "Hey, thanks. Y'know, you were keeping up with me for a little while there. I figured you could."

"Yeah, but…" Havoc shook her head. "I can't fly that fast. I knew you were quick, Dash, but wow."

Rainbow put her hoof on Havoc's shoulder. "Don't worry about it if you're not that fast now, squirt. I've seen you fly too, and I bet with a little practice and some dedication, you can do something just as cool. Might need to come out here to practice, though, where it's open. You can't do it in the city."

She then poked Havoc in the chest. "Just call yours something different, got it? Sonic Rainboom is my thing. And don't get cute and call it 'Sonic Rainboom Two' or something lame like that. I'll sue if I have to."

Havoc tilted her head. "You really think I could do something like that? Pull off supersonic speed, I mean?"

"Sure! I'm the fastest flyer I know, that's obvious, but you're like, second-best. A distant second," she added with a smirk. "But still, second-best. Work at it, and hey, maybe someday we'll have ourselves a real race."

Havoc nodded. "Yeah… yeah, that sounds awesome…" She sat herself on the ground on the mountaintop, just now realizing that the entire thing glittered like gold. "So, wanna head back?"

Rainbow took a seat next to Havoc and leaned back on a rock. "Nah, not yet. Let's take a little break, yeah?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Havoc said, leaning against the opposite side of the same rock.

The two sat like that for a long moment in total silence, nothing more than the faint breeze in the air to disturb the quiet. At least for a little while.

From up here on the mountaintop, she could see a lot farther out into the Wasteland. In one direction, there was the city, with its smog-covered skies and towering buildings, and that hellish orange light that poured out of Pandora Tower. In the other direction, nothing but arid, empty wastes and the occasional mountain, plus a weird reddish glow some ways east, just beyond the horizon.

She couldn't remember ever seeing the city from the outside, and frankly found the whole thing rather intimidating. She'd much rather be out here where she could fly wherever she wanted and not have to worry about smog and traffic all the time. This was really the first time she'd ever felt… free.

"Hey, Dash?" Havoc asked, keeping her eyes locked on the fiery orange sky.

"Yeah?"

"Mind if I ask you something?"

"Sure. Go for it."

Havoc paused a moment. "The other day, when I called you, y'know… that, you got really upset at me. Like, super pissed. I didn't ask then because there was a lot going on, but…" She paused again. "You don't have to tell me, but… why'd that make you so mad?"

Rainbow stayed silent for a long moment. "You really wanna know?"

"Yeah. I mean, you don't have to—"

"Nah, it's okay." Rainbow sighed. "So, when I was a filly back in flight school, there were a few punk colts in my class that used to make fun of all the other kids. They made fun of Fluttershy the most, really, and when I tried to stand up for her, yeah, they targeted me too. That's where the 'Rainbow Crash' nickname came from, by the way."

Havoc blanched. "Ugh, I tried to hit you with a name made up by a couple of little colts? Shit, I must've been off my game that day or something."

"Eh, it's not exactly hard to work with. Crash, Bash, Mash, Trash, Gash, whatever, lots of stuff rhymes, and the rhyming stuff is the catchy stuff."

Havoc slapped her forehead. "Rainbow Trash. Damn, I've been missing that one this whole time. Now I feel like an idiot."

"You don't have to feel like an idiot, Havoc. You are an idiot," Rainbow chuckled.

"Yeah? Well, at least I'm not butt-ugly like you are. If I had a face like yours, I'd sue my parents."

"Oh snap, bringing the heat today, shrimp."

They shared a brief laugh, then Rainbow sighed. "So yeah, that's where it all kinda started. Fluttershy learned to kind of keep to herself mostly, so she didn't get too much more of it as we grew up, but me, well, you know me. I just can't keep my big mouth shut."

Havoc grunted. "Please tell me you kicked these punks' asses, Dash, or I'm gonna lose all respect for you."

"There were a few scrapes here and there, yeah, and I always gave as good as I got, but that's not a big deal. I got in trouble a lot, so did they. That was just how flight school went, at least for a while. It got worse as we got older, though. When puberty hits, kids turn real mean. Y'know?"

"Ah… I think I get where you're going with this."

"So yeah, I had to deal with it more and more growing up, but it never bothered me much. Like I said: I gave as good as I got." Rainbow sighed again, and shifted so that she was sitting up. "That all kind of changed when I realized I was gay."

"How'd that happen, by the way?"

Rainbow chuckled. "Like I said, I was young and going through a lot of changes and stuff, and, uh… there was this really cute mare in my class. Firefly. I kind of asked her out, but she turned me down 'cause she liked some colt or whatever. I dealt with it. No biggie there, just typical school crap. But then, those jerks found out about it, and things kinda got… different.

"It wasn't so bad at first, y'know? Just making fun of me for getting turned down by a mare I liked, pretty simple stuff, nothing too harsh. But as we got older… it got worse. That's when they stared making fun of me because I was gay."

"What makes that so different from everything else?" Havoc asked with all the sincerity she could muster.

"Because everything else was just a bunch of crap. You and I make fun of each other for all sorts of things, right? It doesn't bother me because deep down, I know it's not true, and I know it's in good fun; even when they made fun of me for the same things, I knew it wasn't true, and that they were just a bunch of jerks that couldn't handle how cool I am.

"But when they ridiculed me because I was gay, I… I couldn't just ignore it, because they were actually insulting me. They were insulting me for who I was, something I couldn't just… change about myself, y'know?" Rainbow grunted and leaned back against the rock. "I had to deal with being 'Rainbow Dyke' for close to two years…"

Havoc frowned. "Shit, Dash… I'm sorry. I never would've said that to you if I'd known…"

"It's not your fault, dude, I didn't say anything to you to let you know. I guess I never really had to say it to anypony in a while, actually. Y'know, in Ponyville, they're a lot more open about it. There are quite a few gay couples there, actually. It's… kind of why I moved there. So I could be me, and nopony would judge me for it."

"That's where you met Pinkie, yeah?"

Rainbow sighed wistfully. "Yeah… that's where I met Pinkie…"

"That's cool. She's lucky to have an awesome fillyfriend like you are, Dash."

"Heh. Thanks." Rainbow shifted and stood up. "It's getting late, shortstack. Let's get outta here, yeah?"

Havoc stood up as well, and nodded. "Yeah, let's—" She was surprised when Rainbow gave her a hug, and froze up a bit. "Uh, h-hey, what gives?"

"Just… thanks. You're pretty cool, Havoc, and I'm glad you're my friend."

Havoc paused, then relented and returned the hug. "Me too, Dash."

Chapter Twenty-Four: Conversation

Shroud's hooves rapidly zipped across her computer screen, which currently displayed the two hundred ninety-third document she'd reviewed that morning alone. And, not finding what she was seeking, she discarded it like all the others and pulled up the next. She expected today to proceed just like every other day lately with the same meticulous investigation, all because she still hadn't managed to find what Lord Silvertongue needed despite all of her efforts.

But she was diligent, and she would do whatever it took to accomplish her task. She only took breaks to eat and use facilities and even spaced those out as much as she could, and though visits from Curaçao were distracting, she did not let the other mare take her attention from her work; Curaçao wouldn't let her do that anyway. She was still a little disappointed that Curaçao's visits slowed over the last few days so that she could focus. She missed having the other mare around.

Working under Silvertongue's employ had always been an arduous task, but success in her work was well-rewarded and she was always successful. She was determined to make sure that this assignment, difficult though it may be, would not be the exception. And so, she tirelessly read through line after line of document after document, most of it in languages she couldn't even read.

Silvertongue had assured her that familiarity with the language was irrelevant, as Project Four-One-C-N's parameters had very precise instructions for locating it that had been in the system since before Shroud was even born. She was to scan through every single document until she could find a symbol, an example of which she had drawn on a sticky note attached to her monitor.

It was a curious symbol. It resembled a pony, but not like one she'd ever seen before: tall and lithe, feminine despite the height, possessing a long, thin horn that would put any unicorn to shame, and a pair of wings that dwarfed even the largest of pegasi. The whole thing perplexed her; what kind of pony had both horns and wings?

"Two hundred ninety-nine…" she muttered, discarding another useless document. "Three hundred six…" There went another. "Three hundred twelve…" She had to count to herself to help alleviate the boredom; it helped her focus.

Then, something caught her eye in document three hundred thirteen. On this document there was a symbol that looked just like a unicorn's horn, only longer and not properly centered like similar symbols were in other documents. It was something that an average reader would have missed, but that she noticed immediately.

"An error, maybe?" she hummed to herself. That seemed unlikely, even if she knew what any of this stuff actually said. The text of the document looked absolutely corrupted, but the symbol itself was clear as day.

Putting the distracting thought aside for now, she scrolled down and reached the bottom of the first page, then turned to the next. Partway through the new page, she saw something strange again.

It wasn't the same symbol as before, but was curiously in the same position as it had been. This time it was that of a wing, and not the fluffy sort of wing that most of these documents used for categorization, but more sleek. Like the horn it was slightly off-center. It was noticeable enough for an average reader to see, but most would likely skip by it without a second thought.

"Another error perhaps? Two of them in the same document, when all the others don't have anything of the sort. Hmm…"

Putting that thought aside as well, she scrolled down and flipped to the third and final page in the document. Tapping a hoof to her chin, she scrolled to where the other two symbols had been, curious to see if her train of thought was connecting dots that weren't there or not.

After all, a large part of her duties included paying attention to details, no matter how small or how frivolous. Silvertongue liked to note that if one paid very, very close attention to even the smallest details, they could often find more information in a single sentence than from page upon page of documentation.

Sure enough, there was the image of a pony, completely normal except for its particularly well-built-yet-feminine body structure, something that wouldn't be necessarily noticed at all if she hadn't seen the pony symbol used in many of the other documents that didn't quite match this one.

There was nothing remarkable about this symbol apart from its size, unlike the other two which were at the very least placed oddly. But she paused for a moment to think, unable to shake the feeling she was missing something important. It was too coincidental that there had been two symbols in this exact spot on previous pages, both of which were unlike the others of their type.

A horn, a wing, and a pony…

Shroud lifted her sticky note off the monitor to observe the symbol she'd been instructed to seek. She could see that the horn and wing were nearly in the same positions and of the same appearance and proportions. She tapped her hoof to her chin in thought again.

"Layered encryption? In a document this old? Interesting…"

When there were documents that she needed to relay between SIlvertongue's secret employees, she'd encrypt them in such a way that the average pony would not recognize anything suspicious. It was simply a matter of chopping the document into pieces such that when viewed normally, the document was perfectly legible but looked like something dull. When viewed through certain decryption software, however, the document looked completely different.

None of the other documents she'd seen these few days had been encrypted at all as far as she could tell; years of performing the task gave her an eye for the tell-tale signs of document alteration regardless of language, and that technology was also fairly new compared to the dates on most of these. How could this document be encrypted like that?

She decided to experiment with her theory, though, and ran it through her decryption software; because of the document's age, she had to decompile it manually.

Minutes of messing with the components lead to nothing, but there was one thing giving her hope: the three symbols she'd seen were always in the same place and if anything seemed to be combining together. Eventually, they formed the symbol that she'd been using for reference: a pony with a horn and wings. The rest of the document's text all fell back into place, though the language it was still illegible to her.

"Yes, this was definitely what I'm looking for," she said to herself, grinning.

She marked the symbol so that it would be easy to locate later, saved a copy of the document onto a data drive, then reverted the file back to its original components as per protocol. Once that was done, she reached for the intercom button to buzz Lord Silvertongue and deliver the good news

But then she hesitated for a second, and she pulled her hoof away. No, with how important this assignment was to him, she knew that it would be better for her to deliver the data personally.

Shroud took a pocket mirror from her desk and checked herself over to ensure she looked her best as she headed out of her office. She knew Silvertongue had a preference for his employees to be presentable when they interacted personally with him, and since she rarely saw him in person, she figured it wouldn't be a bad idea.

Once she was satisfied, she grabbed the data drive, straightened her uniform, and took the elevator up to his office. Once there, she double-checked herself to make certain her uniform was tidy and that her cutie mark—an inkwell—wasn't showing, took a deep breath, then stepped forward and knocked gingerly on the door, five times first, followed by a pause, then twice more; he'd know it was her.

"Come in," he called from the other side.

She took another breath, then opened the door and strode into his office. She found him sitting behind his desk, studying the monitor of his own computer station. Whatever he was studying was clearly quite interesting, as his focus was firmly transfixed on the screen.

"Good morning, sir," she said, giving a small curtsy. "How are you?"

"Good morning, Shroud," he greeted, not taking his eyes from his work. "I am busy as usual, as you can see. Hmm… there's a thought. Tell me, what is your opinion on the strange anomaly that occurred the other day outside the southern city wall?"

She blinked, not expecting the question at all. "You mean what they're calling the 'Color Burst'? Most reports I've read are saying it was a sonic weapon used by Hope's Point to crack the outer wall. I don't think that's it at all, but then I don't know what else it could be." She tilted her head slightly. "Do you, sir?"

"I have some information that has shed more light on it, yes," he said, still staring at the screen, "but it's unimportant. I was just curious. Now, I assume you're here for a reason? It's rare to see you in person."

She didn't waste his time any further, and presented him with her data drive. With a hopeful smile on her face, she said, "I believe I've found Project Four-One-C-N, sir."

Silvertongue leaned back in his seat slightly and glanced in her direction, giving her a good look at his damaged eye. She had heard about the injury he'd sustained in an experiment he'd been conducting, but hadn't seen the extent of it yet. A totally black void where his eye should be, with just the little black pinprick of gold; it was a bit disconcerting.

He swiftly took the drive from her, inserted it into his computer, and immediately began scanning it, his face alight with curiosity; Shroud was not surprised that he could read whatever language the document was written in. Then, as he reached the point she'd marked, his face brightened. His sudden smile was contagious, and she smiled as well, knowing she'd done her job well.

"It is it, isn't it?" she asked excitedly. "What you were looking for?"

"It most certainly is," he said with a nod. "At long last, I will finally have the opportunity to read that which I went to such great lengths to acquire so many years ago. I have waited ages to be given this opportunity."

He seemed to notice her looking eagerly at him; she was not expecting praise, but genuinely glad that he was glad.

He turned his smile to her instead. "Shroud, have you any idea what this document is, exactly?"

"No, sir," Shroud said, shaking her head. "I can't read whatever that language is. But it must be important to you. You look that happiest I've seen you in… well, ever, if you don't mind my speaking candidly?"

"I always appreciate a bit of candor now and again, Shroud," he chuckled. "It's true, your discovery has certainly raised my spirits a great, great deal."

"I'm glad to hear that, sir."

He breathed a content sigh. "I was afraid that all these years of waiting had been for naught, that this document had been lost to the ages without my knowledge and that all my labors had gone to waste. This changes everything. With this, the war is finally over."

She arched an eyebrow. "War, sir? You mean with Hope's Point?"

"Nothing quite so mundane, no, but it is likely beyond your understanding, and I wish not to present a lengthy explanation that you wouldn't believe," he said, shaking his head. "Shroud, with this act, you have proven to me that you are most dedicated to my service, far beyond what I'd expected of anypony. Well done."

Shroud curtsied again. "It is always an honor to serve, sir."

"I have always expressed that diligence and hard work is key, have I not?" he said with a grin. "It is so rare to get a chance to do so. Your years of service have been long, faithful, and fruitful. And for that, I must commend you, with all due sincerity, for your dedication to your duty."

"Th-thank you sir," she said, completely caught off-guard by his praise. She was used to getting thanks and appreciation for her work, but this was something else. Something more.

"As a reward for your success in this task I have given to you, I believe you deserve a little reprieve. You may take the rest of today off from your regular duties, returning to work tomorrow morning at your normal hour. I shall think of some other, more suitable reward at a later time, but this will suffice for now, I feel."

She blinked. "T-truly?"

She'd worked for Silvertongue for years, and had not once ever taken a day off. Granted her work was purely secretarial duties and she technically worked from home since her office and apartment were less than five feet apart, and she typically had freedom to do as she pleased during the day unless asked to perform a task, but still.

"Yes, Shroud. Truly." Silvertongue then waved her off. "Run along, now. Leave me to my business, and enjoy your day."

"I… I will, sir. Thank you, sir," she said with another curtsey.

With that, she left his office and immediately made her way into the elevator before letting out a little whoop of excitement. Today seemed like it was going to be a good day.

*****

Curaçao left her bedroom in Pandora Tower early that morning after a shower to freshen up, and made her way immediately for Shroud's office, as she usually did every morning if only to have a pleasant start to her days.

Part of this routine was because Shroud's diligence, skill, and efficiency were of great help in accomplishing her own goals. The other part of it was because she'd grown to legitimately enjoy the other mare's company. She didn't interact with many ponies as herself apart from her sisters and father—she typically had to take on another's appearance or appear as nothing at all—so having the opportunity to just be Curaçao with Shroud was rather… freeing.

After taking the elevator down to the fiftieth floor, she entered Shroud's office as she always did—no need to knock—but found it strangely empty. Shroud was never late for work; that seemed as though it would be impossible, seeing as her apartment was on the opposite side of the door on the far side of the office.

"Allô?" she called. "Shroud? Où es-tu?"

No answer.

She strode over to the door to Shroud's apartment instead, and on this door, she did knock; it was rude to intrude on the secretary's private chambers without permission. "Allô? Shroud?"

Shroud's voice came from the other side. "Come on in!"

Curaçao opened the door and found Shroud in the nearby corner seated at her own personal desk in front of her personal computer, a little headset over her ears. She was wearing a loose-fitting, overly-large shirt and had a damp towel around her neck; her frizzy mane indicated she'd just gotten out of the shower less than five minutes ago, at best.

"Oh, hey Curie," Shroud said with a grin, using the shortened version of Curaçao's name; normally only Insipid called her that, but when Shroud said it it made Curaçao feel especially… nice. "What's up?"

"Ah, bonjour mon amie," Curaçao said with a grin of her own. "What is this? Why are you not in your office this morning?"

"I got the day off," Shroud said. "Your dad was really happy with the work I did on that assignment he gave me, so he gave me the rest of the day to myself." She tilted her head towards the monitor. "So I'm just relaxing for now, but I might play some games later or something. I've got a pretty big backlog."

Curaçao smiled. "Well, this is new. I have never seen you looking so casual before. It is… très mignon." She glanced down a bit, then back up to Shroud, the smile turning into a smoldering smirk. “Séduisante, oui?”

Shroud glanced down at herself, then blushed, tugging the shirt down to cover her half-exposed cutie mark. "Oh! I, uh… I just got out the shower—"

"It is no problem, and I do not mind one bit. Je l'aime," Curaçao chuckled. She then turned and headed back towards the door. "I will just leave you to your day, oui?"

Shroud rose from her chair, removing her headset. "Wait, you're leaving? But you just got here."

"Ah, oui, but I have some work to do, and I do not wish to bother you when you are taking time to yourself. Ce serait impoli—it would be rude."

Shroud frowned. "Were you just coming to see me to get help with work?"

"Oh, non non non, not at all, mon amie," Curaçao quickly replied. "I was coming to wish you a good morning before I went about my work, as we usually do, non? But this is your apartment, not your office. I would not want to impose upon your personal time."

"I mean, I can still help you with whatever you need, if you need help…" Shroud mumbled.

Curaçao paused, blinking. Shroud's expression was not hard to read; she'd spent enough time with the other mare that she could read her like a book. Shroud was upset; not angry, more… hurt.

"Oui, but this is your day off. You do not have to help me with my work—"

Shroud shook her head. "I know that, but what if I want to help you? I mean, I have the entire day to myself, but I wouldn't mind spending some of it with you," she added, blushing.

Curaçao gave her a small smile. "Well… then I would appreciate that very much. I enjoy our time together."

"S-so do I." Shroud retook her seat and cleared her throat. "So, uh… wh-what did you need help with?"

Curaçao strode over, taking a spot behind Shroud's chair as she passed the secretary her data drive, and explained the basic gist of things: "I have been working with the documents you gave me regarding this stallion, Lockwood, as well as all of the information I could find on all of his colleagues and contacts, and of their colleagues and contacts. It is a long list, non?"

"Yeah, I remember putting this together for you," Shroud said as she opened the document and scanned through it briefly. "So, what's your current goal?"

"Well, there are obviously certain contacts on this list that are more valuable than others, oui?" Curaçao gestured towards some of the names. "Par exemple, I gain very little from contacts within the NPAF, as we have plenty of influential contacts of our own there. However, I find some of the others much more interesting."

Truthfully, she didn't consider a single pony on this potential list of contacts to be lacking in worth. Certainly some of those had benefited her sisters greatly by proxy of assisting their charges, but not all of them had any immediately apparent purpose; Curaçao couldn't think of what use she could have for a small-scale dessert caterer, for instance. Some, however, were potentially excellent leads to further her family's agenda within the city in the years to come.

Eventually, those mysterious six mares would get all the help they needed to return home. Not to this "Ponyville" down in Utopia—there was no such place from all that Curaçao had been able to discern—but to someplace likely more alien than that. If any of her other sisters had realized something was amiss, they hadn't said anything; if any of them had figured it out it would likely only be Dawn or Gray, but certainly not the others.

When that came to pass, Curaçao and her sisters would likely be given other tasks to promote their family's legacy, and that was what she was assigned to figure out. She knew it meant seeking out ponies to help make it possible, and nopony seemed better to start with than this Lockwood fellow.

"Okay, so, which of these contacts are we looking for more details on?" Shroud asked as she scrolled her way down the list.

"No need for more details, mon amie, I have everything I need to begin with my work," Curaçao said with a smile. "No, it is just a matter of picking and choosing my targets and the methods I must use to contact them. At the moment, the ones at the top of my list are these two mares." She leaned forward and tapped the screen. "Mint and Matcha Tea."

Shroud adjusted her glasses. "Ah, the owners and editors of the New Pandemonium Times. Good choice."

"Oui, the most prolific newspaper in the city, non? They are practically célèbre."

"Yeah, mostly because of the articles they run on the NPAF." Shroud shook her head in disbelief. "I'm honestly a little surprised they've been allowed to get away with it. Not that I'm arguing for propaganda or silencing free speech or anything."

"Oui, but they could prove to be an extremely valuable asset in the future," Curaçao said, her eyes flashing with glee. "The problem is, I cannot simply contact them and make a connection. It would take years to build a proper partnership that could be used to our advantage.

"But, I have a plan," she added with a grin. She tapped the screen a few more times, bringing up a schedule of upcoming charity events. "These two are benefactors of an influential charity foundation, of which Monsieur Lockwood is also a member."

"Hmm, I think I see where you're going with this," Shroud said, relaxing back into her seat.

"Oui. I believe that Lockwood is the key to meeting with them and beginning to lay groundwork pour un partenariat, and this applies to all of his contacts, non? So, it is important that I first contact him and give him reason to do for me what he has done for mes soeurs."

"Makes sense. So, what's the plan?"

"Well, I cannot just walk up to him in the street. It would not be proper. Non, I must meet him at a social function, for I have been led to believe that almost all of his contacts were formed in such a way." Curaçao then pointed at the screen, specifically at one of the upcoming events. "And this is where I will meet him."

Shroud leaned forward to look at the screen more closely and read the details. "The charity is holding a masquerade ball tonight, huh? That sounds pretty fancy… dresses and masks, lots of mystery and music. Kind of romantic, really."

"Oui." Curaçao then sighed. "The problem is, I require une invitation. I was going to see if I could find a way to steal one from one of the other guests, but—"

"Pfft, you don't need to do that," Shroud said, waving her hoof. "Watch this."

Shroud's hooves dashed across the screen like lightning, clicking through pages and documents so quickly that Curaçao lost track of what she was doing. She'd gotten used to the secretary's savvy with a computer by now and had started to learn how to keep track of her actions on the screen, but Shroud moved like a demon when on her personal computer; Curaçao was at a total loss.

In under a minute, Shroud proudly tapped the screen again, and there on the monitor was a list of ponies that were invited to the event. "And voilà, the event's guest list. Now it's just a matter of adding a certain 'Curaçao' onto the list…" She did exactly that, adding Curaçao's name into an inconspicuous spot near the middle. "And bingo, you're in. Just show up at the door and say your name, and you won't even need the invitation."

Curaçao blinked, stunned. "Incroyable. You make it seem so easy. Bravo."

"Nah, it's no big deal," Shroud said, her cheeks reddening. "These sorts of events aren't usually hidden behind a lot of security. It was just a matter of sorting through the event organizers to find who was in charge of the guest list, then tracking down the documentation they'd have sent to the venue where the event is taking place. Anypony could do it."

Curaçao chuckled. "Oui, I am sure anypony could, but not as quickly as you. Merci beaucoup, mon amie, this will make things much easier pour moi."

She glanced at the event's details for more information now that she was firmly convinced she'd be attending. It was to be held late in the evening at a ritzy ballroom in the Baroque District of the inner city, so it would be a high-class affair for certain. Guests were expected to wear proper masquerade attire, meaning gowns, suits, and masks, of course, which wouldn't be an issue since Curaçao could shift her clothing to blend in.

One note on there, however, that drew Curaçao's attention was the suggestion that guests were generally expected to bring along a plus one. She figured exceptions could and would be made for certain guests, but since she was a new face for all intents and purposes, it wouldn't do for her to break the trend like that. She needed a date.

She glanced sideways at Shroud briefly, a little smile curling on her lips. "Shroud, mon amie… you said that you have the entire day off, oui? That includes tonight?"

Shroud blinked. "Yeah?"

Curaçao turned her full attention to Shroud now, her face getting a little closer. "How would you like to attend this masquerade ball with me?"

Shroud froze up, her cheeks reddening. "Wh-what?"

"The charity encourages guests to bring a plus one to this event, non? Well, I cannot simply show up and hope to make a good impression if I am tout seul, oui? All by myself? I need to have a…" She brought her face a little closer so that her breath was in Shroud's ear. "Date."

Shroud's cheeks reddened further and she drew back slightly in her chair. "Y-you want to take me to the b-ball? On a… a… a date?"

Curaçao smirked. "Oui. I would very much like to take you out on a date tonight, Shroud… if you wa—"

"Yes!" Shroud hastily blurted. She shook her head. "I mean, I'd love to. But I, uh… I don't get out much, and I don't really, uh, know how to dance, so I'm not sure a ball—"

"Oh, that will be no problem at all, mon amie," Curaçao said, gently putting her hoof on Shroud's. "I can teach you how, if you'd like?"

"I… I'll think about that. But… um, s-sure, I'd love to be your, uh… d-date tonight." Shroud gulped, but she had a little smile on her face. "I mean, it sounds… fun? I've never been on a date before. Or to a ball. Let alone a masquerade ball."

"Well, there is a first time for everyzing, oui?" Curaçao chuckled. She briefly tilted her head in thought. "I cannot remember the last ball I attended myself, though. Hmm. I know I have been to many, and yet…" She waved that thought off with her hoof. "Ah, it is sans importance en ce moment."

She stepped towards the door, pulling Shroud from her chair ever so slightly. "The important thing is that we get you a beautiful gown, oui? Ah, and we must also spruce you up a bit—your mane, your makeup, etcetera. You are already charmante, mon amie, but I know that there is so much more to you."

"I… oh, uh… yeah, I suppose so," Shroud stammered as she allowed herself to be taken away.

"Then let us get started. Allons-y!"

*****

It was the beginning of the evening, just about the usual time when normal ponies would be getting ready to gather around the dinner table, and yet the Fetta di Paradiso Ballroom in the upper Baroque District was filled to the brim and bustling with activity. Ponies from throughout the inner city had come to participate in the charity masquerade ball, as well as a scant few from the Mid Districts that had the money and clout to cross the class divide.

The ballroom was so named because the ceiling was painted with light, fluffy clouds, illustrious golden rays of light, and positively angelic ponies—nude, of course, because this was art—fluttering about in relaxed poses even without wings. Very tasteful. Very expensive.

Curaçao and Shroud arrived early enough that they didn't miss the party's social atmosphere, but just late enough to maintain a proper fashionable appearance as Curaçao insisted was required for first impressions. The staff at the door let them in without issue whatsoever; Curaçao was on the guest list, after all, and had brought a date—Curaçao preferred that term now—and that was satisfactory for everypony involved.

Curaçao had "dressed" herself in a totally unique black ball gown which glittered with sequins that made her look like a walking nighttime sky in the southern hemisphere, where the sky was clear and free to gaze upon; her mask, which was legitimate so that she could remove it, matched it perfectly. She otherwise did not change her appearance whatsoever, apart from styling her mane and tail to match current trends with her own added flair.

Shroud's own gown was a much more simple affair, with an off-white bodice and a flowing green skirt decorated with floral patterns. The Tower's live-in seamstress and tailor, Rosegold Satin, had expertly designed and crafted the gown in a matter of hours as well as a matching mask. Like Curaçao, her mane and tail had been styled into the current trends, but she wasn't able to wear her glasses; this was fine since she only needed them for reading anyway, but Curaçao felt it detracted from her charm.

The dancing portion of the ball had yet to get started, as these sorts of social events were primarily purposed to allow guests to mingle and hobnob with those of the same elite social standing, to make new friends and converse with old ones, and to potentially forge new bonds be they for business or pleasure.

"This place is… wow…" Shroud murmured as she walked beside Curaçao into the ballroom proper, barely containing her awe. "I've never been to any place like this in my entire life."

Curaçao glanced up at the artful ceiling and grinned. "Oui, it is quite nice. Il est approprié for ponies of a certain sort, and I think we fit that description," she added, glancing over at Shroud briefly to give her a wink.

Shroud blushed and hung her head slightly; it was hard to see the blush behind her mask, but Curaçao noticed it easily. "I mean, it's perfect for somepony like you. You're exactly the sort of pony that belongs in a place like this. Fashionable, classy, beautiful, sociable—"

"Do you really think I am beautiful, mon amie?" Curaçao asked with a flutter of eyelashes; she'd come to enjoy teasing the secretary.

"I… I, uh…" Shroud stammered, redder than before. She quickly gestured out at the rest of the room. "I mean, everypony here is a member of the beautiful elite. R-right?"

Curaçao smirked and leaned a little closer to the other mare as they walked. "You are adorable when you are nervous," she whispered.

"Ah… er…"

"Come, let us socialize with these 'beauitful elite' as you say, oui? I must find this Lockwood, and see what I can learn in une rencontre en face à face, rather than through just a computer screen." She pressed her muzzle against Shroud's ear. "I find that I tend to like the ponies behind the screen, oui?"

Shroud gulped. "If… if it's okay with you, Curie, I'd rather not be a part of the whole socializing aspect of this."

Curaçao raised an eyebrow. "Hmm? Pourquoi pas?"

"I don't handle social interactions very well. Apart from you, the only pony I've talked to face-to-face for years has been your dad, and that's purely business-related." She hung her head again. "The only time I ever talk to anypony else is through the intercom. I'm not good with ponies, really…"

Curaçao took Shroud's hoof in hers. "Then you do not have to, mon amie. It would be inappropriée pour moi to make you do anything that makes you uncomfortable." She gestured over towards a seating area at the side of the dance floor, which was mostly empty. "If you want, you may sit while I work, oui? I will check in on you in a few moments."

Shroud glanced at the seats, then nodded. "Yeah… that sounds good. I'll have some champagne, maybe a few snacks…" She gave Curaçao a small smile. "So, I guess I'll see you in a little bit? Good luck with this guy."

Curaçao returned the smile. "Merci."

As Shroud walked over towards the seating area, Curaçao found herself unable to take her eyes off the secretary. A part of her didn't want to let the mare go off and be alone while she went off to fraternize. She wanted to just take Shroud out of here and bring her back to the Tower where she would feel comfortable and safe.

But, with a sigh, Curaçao turned out towards the center of the room and started her search for her target. She had work to do; this entire endeavor was intended as a business assignment, and Curaçao was always first and foremost a professional.

As she strolled through crowds of well-dressed and well-groomed ponies in their fancy gowns and suits, she kept her eyes open for her target, politely ignoring attempts from various stallions—and one mare—to catch her eye. All of the ponies were, as Shroud had stated, the beautiful elite, and she had to admit that some of the mares were quite fetching indeed.

She knew she herself attracted a lot of attention—that had been her intent, after all—and the irony of it wasn't lost on her; for somepony that specialized in working from the shadows, that steered things along invisibly or in the guise of another, Curaçao loved the sensation that came with having every eye in the room on her.

Lockwood was not difficult to find because he, too, stood out from the crowd. Unlike herself, however, it was not because he was beautiful and extravagant or because he walked with grace and poise. No, it was because he was the only pony in the room that Curaçao could even consider underdressed, ironically.

The stallion's tuxedo was a distinctly middle-class quality, acceptable enough for a classy dinner or the opera. But in contrast to every other stallion in the room, with their lavish cloaks and puffed collars, Lockwood stuck out like a sore hoof. His strikingly high-quality mask, a silky purple affair with lovely blue feathers, didn't even match his tuxedo; perhaps Rarity had crafted that for him?

His brown mane wasn't styled beyond being perfectly trim and neat; his coat was clean and the tuxedo let his wings stay free, unlike the cloaks of other pegasi that covered their wings; most of all, his mask contrasted his golden eyes so strikingly that they'd caught her attention instantly. Even from halfway across the room she could see them, and she had to admit they were quite enticing.

He was in the midst of a conversation with a circle of ponies all dressed more lavishly then he was, and not a single one of them minded or seemed to be bringing attention to it. Curaçao recognized a few faces—despite the masks—from his sizable list of contacts, proof enough that her and Shroud's detective work had been on point.

First were two identical, attractive, green-coated mares wearing identical dresses and masks, the only difference being where the feathers were located on each. These were recognizable as Mint and Matcha Tea, who topped the list of ponies she planned on using Lockwood to communicate with, once she'd forged a bit of a bond with him.

Also present were Ruby Cross, a renowned surgeon that operated out of the Mid-East hospitals and who was doing pro bono operations to help victims of fire from a couple of weeks prior; Cobalt Steel, an architect that was currently leading some of the projects to rebuild parts of the Mid-East District that had burned down in the fire; and Gleaming Coin, an investor in the rebuilding project and who had recently purchased all of the property space that had been affected by the fire, even in the Outer District.

It all made perfect sense, seeing as this charity event was intended to provide financial aid to the Mid-East reconstruction efforts. These latter three were pretty much the lead ponies within the project, and so all of the various elites throughout the room were donating to their cause. Not entirely out of altruism, mind, but because donations could be funneled through tax code loopholes such that the donors would likely make money out of the deal.

Curaçao waited discreetly on the edge of the conversation, enough to eavesdrop a little bit—the conversation was dreadfully dull—while she sipped from a small glass of champagne. She waited, and waited, and waited, until at last the other ponies in the group all gradually took their leave to go elsewhere into the party, likely to schmooze with the other elites to obtain more donations.

Lockwood, now alone, turned to head elsewhere into the party as well, but Curaçao was quick, and stopped him with a tap on the shoulder before he could engage in another conversation elsewhere. "Pardonnez-moi, Monsieur Lockwood?"

He turned and raised an eyebrow, but had a polite smile on his face that Curaçao could tell was perfectly genuine. "Yes, that's me. Hello there. And you are?"

She offered her hoof daintily to him. "Je m'appelle Curaçao. A pleasure."

He took her hoof and gave it a gentle shake. "Enchanté, mademoiselle."

"Oh, parlez-vous Romantique, monsieur? Quelle agréable surprise. Je n'ai jamais l'occasion de parler dans ma langue maternelle."

He gave a small grin and laughed. "Oh no, I, uh, I just know a few greetings and such so that I can be polite to folks here and there. I couldn't hope to carry on a conversation, but I understand a little bit here and there."

"Ah, c'est dommage," she sighed. "C'est la vie. It cannot be helped."

"What can I do for you, mademoiselle?" he asked, maintaining his polite smile.

She hummed. "At the moment, nothing. I merely wanted to put a face to the name, for now."

He raised an eyebrow. "You know me?"

"Not personally, non, but I have heard of you. I believe that you know my sisters."

"I know a lot of ponies' sisters, I think. You'll have to be more specific." He paused, then tugged his collar. "Uh… that sounded better in my head. I meant, I know lots of ponies, just in general. Certainly some of them are somepony's sisters. Yours are…?"

"A few mares that moved into the apartment complex where you are the landlord," she said, maintaining eye contact. "Fairly recently, in fact. Say, about two weeks ago?"

He paused. "Ah, I think I know who you mean. Gray, Insipid, and Velvet, right?"

"Oui."

"They're your sisters?"

"Oui."

He tilted his head. "I'll be honest, mademoiselle, I don't recall them ever mentioning you."

"Ah, of course not," she said dismissively. "We do not speak often. I am afraid our relationship is somewhat… strained. I am too busy to spend time with ma famille. But, that does not mean that I do not care for them and pay attention to their needs. I ensured that they had a place to stay when their old apartment burned down in the fires, oui?"

Lockwood paused at that. "Really? I remember that paperwork being taken care of so quickly that I didn't even know about it until afterwards. I figured somepony with some kind of pull had gotten involved. That was you?"

"Oui. As I said, I care for mes soeurs, even if I do not spend much time with them." She sighed. "I have also ensured that they have funds to live off of."

"They said that money came from their father," Lockwood noted, apparently trying to catch her in a lie; he wasn't stupid, which was a very good thing, because that meant he'd actually be useful.

"Oui, but I did it on behalf of notre père—our father—because he is also too busy to do these things himself. I am in charge of their allowances, so to speak. If I was not, then Insipid would likely buy everything she sees. Imagine the effect on the city's economy!" she added with a grin.

"Fair point. Well, who exactly is your father that he has the kind of money to just toss around like that, but doesn't keep his daughters with him someplace nicer than Southeast Point? I've seen the kind of money Insipid spends, and she seems like she'd be right at home in the Inner Districts."

She smiled. "Mes soeurs are very independent. They wanted to strike out on their own, oui? I am sure you have met them and know that they are not the sort to rely on anypony else. Ma sœur, Red Velvet, par exemple, she prefers to have her freedom to do as she pleases with whomever she pleases. Sometimes in more… physical ways, non?"

He tilted his head. "Yeh, that sounds like her."

"Well, that was all well and good until the fires, oui? Mon père did not want them to suffer because of an accident, and so I helped to ensure that mes soeurs were taken care of." She shrugged. "I wish I could do more, but that is all that they would accept."

"Alright. But who exactly is your father, if I might ask?"

"I cannot say."

"You can't say? Why?"

"Because his work requires his anonymity, oui? Certain… interesting associations are very protective of their assets." She was very deliberate when she mouthed “CIA” to him with a coy grin, and had chosen her words precisely.

Lockwood, catching on, nodded at that. "Okay, now you're making sense. I'd expect that particular organization to be capable of pushing along paperwork and such to get things done quickly. Those sisters of yours were moved into the apartment practically right after the fires."

"Oui, we move très rapidement."

He tilted his head. "But what does any of this have to do with me?"

Here, she smiled again. "I did not choose your apartment complex randomly, MonsieurLockwood. I chose it because I saw that it was run properly by a stallion that cared for his tenants, oui? I did a very thorough background check."

"On me?"

"Oui, on you. I would not allow mes soeurs to move into an apartment where their landlord could potentially be un voleur or un violeur. I needed to know that I could trust you, and your background proved that you are a principled pony." Her smile turned to a sultry smirk. "And I found that there is much more to you than that."

He blinked. "Really? Like what?"

"Let us just say that I think you and I could have a potentially fruitful business relationship, oui? I know that you do not have anypony with my connections in your little black book, so to speak."

He paused, eyeing her with a sort of scrutiny she'd expect from somepony trying to spot a lie. That was the best part of all of this: the best lies also contained kernels of truth in them.

She was being honest about her intentions, and she had helped her father with arranging her sisters' move to Southeast Point, and she was involved with maintaining their budgets. The CIA cover story, however, was just a convenient—and believable—fabrication to mask her true connections.

He seemed to buy it. At least for now.

"It sounds like you and I might be able to have a… conversation," he said, though she could detect a hint of nervousness. "Frankly, I'm not used to discussing, uh… 'business' matters so directly. You're pretty forward about all of this, Mademoiselle Curaçao, if you don't mind my saying?"

"Not at all," she said with a grin.

"If you don't mind, though, can we put a pin on this discussion for a moment? I have some other friends at this event that I said I'd meet, and I'd very much like to see to that before I engage in any sort of business talk."

She nodded. "Oui, c'est acceptable." She gestured over towards the seating area on the far side of the room, where she'd left Shroud. "Come find me over there, if you would. I will be waiting. Not for long, I hope."

He nodded. "Right, then I'll see you in a few moments."

Curaçao nodded back, and the two parted ways. She knew exactly what he was doing; he wasn't a particularly good liar, which was fine because she didn't need a liar, she needed a well-connected socialite. But while he certainly might be meeting with friends, she knew that he was absolutely going to be asking questions about her, to see if anypony could corroborate her story.

They wouldn't be able to. At most somepony might say that the guest list had been modified that afternoon. That would just lead credence to her cover story of having CIA connections, because that sort of secretive, no-nonsense action was exactly what ponies expected CIA agents to do, not to mention that any background check would never reveal her in the system, just like any CIA agent. She was a ghost.

When she returned to the seating area, though, Curaçao's newfound elation evaporated like a drop of water in a frying pan.

Shroud looked positively uncomfortable in her seat at the moment, not because of her gown or anything of the sort, but because of her company. The well-built pegasus stallion had a light blue coat and a two-tone gray mane, and was wearing a red silk vest over a silky white shirt, a black cloak, and a ruffled white collar. His mask covered most of the left side of his face.

Curaçao recognized him as Vendetta, who sat on the Committee as the city's Treasurer. She also knew that he was the head of the immensely influential Rossa family, who headed up a not-so-secret criminal empire that dominated most of the city, and had only risen in wealth, power, and influence over the past six years following the sudden departure of their only real rival, the Fantasia family.

That whole situation was muddied and difficult to research, so Curaçao assumed it was an expertly-planned takeover of some kind and most assuredly involved several murders. Whatever had happened, it made Vendetta the wealthiest pony in all of New Pandemonium, whose hooves were all over the place within the city's most profitable industries. Only her father had that kind of financial firepower.

At the moment, Vendetta was being quite forward with Shroud, who only had so much room to scoot away from him before falling off her chair and onto the floor, and who seemed too frightened to just get up and walk away; she likely knew who he was and almost assuredly was intimidated by his reputation. His name was meaningful. The bulky bodyguard that stood nearby to keep other guests away likely didn't help matters.

Curaçao stepped towards the pair, and the bodyguard—dressed in a snappy tuxedo and wearing a simple black mask—moved to intercept her. "Sorry signora, you'd best get back to the party."

She just gave him a perfectly calm smile. "The other mare is with me, monsieur. I hope that will not be a problem?"

"Cute. If you want by, I'll need to make sure you're not carrying any concealed weapons."

She gestured for him to do so. "I have nothing to hide."

The guard patted her down for a moment—she was actually surprised that he was being professional about it—then just stepped aside slightly and gestured for her to continue onward. She nodded, and did just that.

Curaçao stepped up to the pair and, with a polite clearing of her throat she interrupted the display. "Pardonnez-moi, I hope I am not interrupting anything?"

Vendetta turned his attention to Curaçao and eyed her up and down briefly. "Well hello. You're a pretty thing too, aren't you?" He then smiled and tilted his head. "But yes, you are indeed interrupting. Can't you see that I am currently enraptured by this fiore stupendo? Not that I don't mind the attention of two beautiful mares, mind you."

Shroud shied away from him a bit more, her wide eyes wordlessly pleading for Curaçao's help. "I, ah… appreciate the attention, sir, b-but I really don't think I'm your type."

"Nonsense, my sweet thing," Vendetta said, putting his hoof on hers; she naturally pulled it back, but he just followed it along to her thigh. "A beautiful creature like yourself is worth getting yelled at by the wife over. She doesn't like to share, but I'm a bit of what you could call… a philanthropist."

"You wife would not be the only one upset by this, monsieur," Curaçao said, stepping forward and promptly—but delicately—removing his hoof from Shroud's personal space, a polite grin on her face. "I would advise you to keep your hooves off of mon amie."

"Oh really?" he asked, giving Curaçao a cocky smirk. "Why's that?"

"Because if I see your hooves ever come near her again, I will remove them and feed them to you," she said, her serene expression not at all matching her words. From a distance, it would look like a perfectly casual, pleasant conversation between two strangers at a party.

Vendetta rose up, straightened his shirt, and gave Curaçao a hard look; she'd pegged him as the sort of guy that would treat mares and stallions equally if they crossed him in any way. She could appreciate that.

"Is that a threat, tesoro?" He subtly gestured with his head towards his bodyguard. "My boy Rockabilly won't hesitate to toss you out of here, right on that beautiful ass of yours, and I happen to know that sometimes this neighborhood can get… pericoloso, especially at this time at night. You do know who I am, don't you?"

"Oui, I know you, and I know your reputation, Treasurer Vendetta, but you do not know me."

"And that's a shame. Look, how about you, me, and your friend here," he said, gesturing at Shroud, "all just put this little misunderstanding behind us, hmm? We can go back to my penthouse, and maybe we can get to… know each other better. I might just forget that you laid your hooves on me without my asking. An honest mistake, I'm sure."

"Oh, non, I assure you, you do not want to know me," Curaçao said, keeping her expression calm and collected but her tone fierce and quiet, practically touching her nose to his. "I will give you some advice: just walk away. Turn around, go back to the party, and find some other mare to lavish your attention on. But not this one. Just walk away."

Vendetta paused for a moment, meeting Curaçao's gaze with his own. Then, he smiled. "I like you, ragazza. You've got testicoli, more than most stallions I know." He put his hooves up briefly in a mocking display of peace. "Fine, fine. I'll go. But let me give you some advice, signora: nopony crosses Vendetta more than once. If I ever see your beautiful face again, well…"

He shrugged, then left it at that and walked back to his bodyguard. "Come on, Rock, I need a drink before the dancing starts. And a new dancing partner."

And off they went without looking back.

Curaçao turned back to Shroud, maintaining her calm expression as she sat down next to her. "Are you alright, mon amie?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Shroud muttered, sitting up straight and taking a few breaths. "Sorry you had to do that. I would've left, but… I didn't want to stir up any trouble while you were working—"

Curaçao put her hoof on Shroud's. "You do not need to worry about that. If anypony ever makes you feel uncomfortable again, ever hurts you in any way, you come tell me immédiatement, d'accord? Now, tomorrow, and forever: you come tell me."

Shroud nodded. "I will." Then, she shuddered. "Ugh… what a creep. I've heard about his reputation and all but I didn't think he was really like that. How does his wife stand him?"

"Money goes a long way, and no lawyer in the city would want to touch that divorce case," Curaçao chuckled.

"Yeah, I bet," Shroud agreed with her own chuckle. "Thanks for stepping in…"

"It is no trouble, mon amie. I am just glad I was here to help."

"I hope this isn't a bad time?" asked Lockwood, who'd just come over, a glass of champagne in his hoof.

Curaçao turned, her genuine grin returning as she looked upon this welcome interruption. "Not at all, Monsieur Lockwood. This is perfect timing, actually." She gestured to Shroud briefly. "This is Shroud, my date for the evening."

"Enchanté, mademoiselle," Lockwood said with a brief bow; he definitely possessed social etiquette, because despite it being polite to approach Shroud now to offer his hoof, he did not, because she was clearly troubled. A true gentlecolt, quite a rarity indeed.

Shroud just gave him a small nod. "You too, Mister Lockwood."

Lockwood glanced out towards the party briefly. "I see you two had the pleasure of meeting with Treasurer Vendetta, huh? Nice guy, isn't he?" he asked, his voice thick with sarcasm.

Curaçao did not need to question it.

Her research over the past few days told her that Lockwood was deeply ingrained within the Crown Spectrum tech company, and that its largest investor, at least until about five years ago, was a shell company that connected to the old Fantasia family. Another investor had bought the company out shortly after the Fantasia family disappeared, just in time so that Vendetta didn't get it, and Lockwood's hooves were all over that.

Lockwood had not done the same for Southeast Point, notably. That Vendetta kept him on the staff spoke to Lockwood's talent as a negotiator.

It could have all been just a wonderful little coincidence. He had just confirmed that it was not.

"Oh, oui, he is an absolute charmer," Curaçao replied, her own sarcasm not nearly as thick but still clear to hear. She stood up from her seat and smoothed her dress. "So, what did you find out about me?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Oh, do not play coy, monsieur. You must have asked some of your other friends if they knew me, or perhaps if they knew why I was here, non?"

He took a drink of his champagne, then nodded slightly. "Alright, you've caught me red-hoofed. I did ask around a little, and not one of them knew anything about you. Which, to me, would fall right in line with somepony working with the CIA. Now, I do hesitate to outright agree to that, though, considering what I just witnessed."

Curaçao smirked. "Oh?"

"If you're with the CIA, wouldn't that make Treasurer Vendetta technically one of your bosses?"

She chuckled. "Technically, oui, but that would require that he knew who I was, and only Director Underhoof knows all of the agents on the CIA staff." She made a show of looking for the infamous CIA Director. "And I do not see her here. Ah, c'est la vie."

That got a smile out of him. "That is a fair point. So I have no idea whether or not I can trust you or believe a word you say, which, again… that's very much a quality of the CIA, isn't it?" He took another drink of champagne. "I wonder, is Curaçao even your real name?"

"Does it matter if this identity is real or not?"

"No, I suppose it doesn't," he said with a little sigh, as though the thought didn't really bother him at all. "So, I said I would hear what this business proposition of yours is, and why the CIA is taking a sudden interest in me."

"When did I say that the CIA is taking an interest in you, monsieur? I believe I only said that I am taking an interest, oui?"

That made him tilt his head, confused. "Huh? So, wait… this isn't an official CIA job?"

"Non. This is a more… personal interest," she said with a grin. "I will try not to involve the CIA at all if possible, and I believe that the two of us can benefit greatly from such a partnership."

"Huh. Okay… well, let's hear it."

She shook her head and put up a hoof. "Non, not yet, monsieur, not yet. This meeting here, it was just to gauge the sort of pony you are, and you not disappoint me in the slightest. However, as to what it is I am interested in, let us just say that you have an incredible number of friends, don't you?"

He paused, then nodded. "I suppose I do. How would you know something like that, though?"

"If I was not clear earlier, I did a thorough background check on you. That is why I left mes soeurs in your care, and why I know they are safe. I appreciate that very much."

"Well… I suppose then that we can thank each other for that situation," he said with a curious grin. "I might not even be here if it wasn't for your sister, Gray. Long story, but yeah… I guess we've both benefited from them being where they are. They've been good friends to me and to other friends of mine."

She smiled. "Then perhaps we can do business in the future."

At that moment, the ballroom's band began playing a lovely waltz, and at once, the entire ballroom floor cleared off of all the socializing ponies to let those who wanted to dance out onto the floor. Curaçao grinned; despite the fact that she'd had work to do here at the ball, she had legitimately been looking forward to the actual dancing portion of the event.

She cleared her throat. "Now, if you don't mind, I believe our business is done for the evening, Monsieur Lockwood. I will be in contact with you again."

Lockwood nodded. "I'm not sure if I should be excited or not, to be honest, but I will say that it's been a pleasure to meet you. You sisters are good mares, and you seem to be cut from the same cloth."

"That is very kind of you." She then turned to Shroud and offered her hoof. "Shroud, mon amie, would you care to dance?"

Shroud, red in the face, just stared at Curaçao's hoof. "M-me? Dance? I… I don't know how—"

"It is alright, I will teach you," Curaçao said with a smile. "I would like to think that I am a very good teacher, oui?"

Shroud tentatively reached her hoof out towards Curaçao's, then glanced out onto the dance floor—particularly at Vendetta, who had indeed found a new dance partner—and withdrew it. "I… I can't. I'll just embarrass myself out there in front of all those ponies."

Curaçao knew that was a lie, and figured that the poor mare had been pushed far out of her comfort zone because of the evening's events. She regretted instantly leaving Shroud alone to fend for herself for even a moment. And so, she relented, dropping her hoof back to the ground.

"Non, I will not force this on you, mon amie, not if it makes you uncomfortable. I would be no better than Vendetta."

"I'm sorry, Curie," Shroud said, shaking her head. "I know you really wanted to dance—"

"Non, I wanted to share my evening with you. If you are not having fun, then I am not having fun." She sat back down next to Shroud and took the secretary's hoof in her own. "Maybe we should just go home, oui?"

"I'm sorry…"

Lockwood, who hadn't left yet, just cleared his throat. "Um… I apologize for, well, eavesdropping and interrupting the moment, but if I might make a suggestion?"

Curaçao looked at him and gestured for him to continue; she had a feeling she knew what he was going to suggest.

He let out a breath. "Look, your sisters and some of my friends are holding a party in my apartment as we speak. I left it to them to use since they needed the space, but of course I'm invited. I was just coming to the ball for a few brief appearances, then I was going to head back home and join the fun. They don't need me here anymore now that the dancing's started."

Curaçao helped him finish his thought. "Are you inviting us to join you, Monsieur Lockwood?"

He rubbed the back of his head. "Yes. Yes I am. I figure since your sisters are gonna be there, nopony would object. Plus it's a much smaller venue, if anypony's feeling uncomfortable with the crowd," he added, looking briefly to Shroud. "I know it's out of the blue, but you guys seem like you had an evening planned out, and somepony ruined it. I'd like to help salvage the evening, if I could?"

Curaçao grinned. She'd known all about the party—Velvet had mentioned it in her reports—but hadn't actually planned on going. "Ah, so that is why Velvet needed a balloon machine. I was worried she was up to something else." He raised an eyebrow and made to speak; she just held up a hoof. "I am in charge of their allowances, remember?"

"Ah. No, that makes sense, but I was just wondering what you thought she'd be using a balloon machine for?"

Curaçao paused, actually a little uncomfortable with answering. She hadn't even thought about it; it just sort of came out, and now she was thinking about what Velvet might use one for if not for a party. She'd seen other things her sister had bought that likely weren't being used for their intended purposes.

Lockwood simply nodded, reading the awkward silence well. "Say no more."

Curaçao cleared her throat and turned to Shroud. "Well? Would you like to go to this other party with mes soeurs?"

Shroud paused a moment, then nodded. "Yeah… that actually sounds kind of nice. I can handle a smaller crowd, I think."

"C'est magnifique." Curaçao turned to Lockwood and smiled. "Very well, monsieur, we will accept your invitation."

Lockwood smiled back. "Wonderful! I've got a feeling this will turn out to be a wonderful evening for everypony involved."

Curaçao glanced at Shroud and patted the other mare's hoof. "I couldn't agree more."

Chapter Twenty-Five: Celebration

The party was already underway at Lockwood's apartment, and according to Pinkie and Velvet, it had essentially started as soon as they finished setting things up, which meant, as far as Twilight was concerned, she'd arrived right on time with Winter and Dawn in tow. Fluttershy and Gray were already there as well and had helped set things up, and Rarity and Insipid had arrived just before Twilight did.

It was amusing to see her old friends interact with Dawn, who had never hung out with Twilight or Winter outside of the library—the library coffee shop notwithstanding—and so had never met any of them before.

"Hi there, Dawn, it's super nice to meet you!" Pinkie greeted. "I sure hope you enjoy the party!"

Dawn, in her typical stuffiness, gave a polite smile and a nod. "Indeed, as do I. I have never attended such an impromptu soiree before, so this unfamiliar experience should prove enlightening as to how a roisterer such as yourself functions in such an environment."

Pinkie blinked and remained silent for a good moment, then grabbed Velvet and too-loudly whispered. "Red, did your sister just call me an oyster?"

"A 'roisterer', darling," Rarity explained; Twilight had been about to jump in but didn't mind that Rarity beat her to it, and was actually rather impressed. "It's another word for someone who likes to party, although a bit archaic." She offered her hoof to Dawn. "A pleasure to meet you, dear. I'm Rarity."

Dawn took it and gave it a shake, but maintained her aloofness; against somepony like Rarity it was hardly effective, as the latter was used to dealing with such ponies in the fashion industry. "Charmed. You are the couturier, if I am not mistaken?"

"I prefer 'seamstress' if we're using more complicated terms than 'dressmaker'," Rarity said with a grin. "But yes, you would be correct."

Dawn then greeted Fluttershy. "And this is Fluttershy, the reticent one?"

Fluttershy just tilted her head. "Um… hi. Yes, I'm Fluttershy. Pleased to meet you, Dawn. Twilight says you've been helping her with her research?"

"Indeed, and Twilight claims that my collaboration on her undertaking has been particularly serendipitous."

Pinkie put her hooves on her head. "Augh! So many big words!"

Dawn then addressed Rainbow. "And this must be Rainbow Dash. Twilight intimated that you were the most expeditious pegasus in all of Equestria?"

"Uh, if that means 'fast', then yeah, that's me," Rainbow said with a nod.

"Indeed. And quite a preternatural skyball athlete as well. I shall scrutinize your career with abundant interest."

"Huh?" She turned to Havoc. "What's up with your sister, dude? I can't understand a word she says."

Havoc shrugged. "What are you asking me for? I don't understand her any better than you do. She's a walking thesaurus."

"A 'walking thesaurus'?" Dawn snarled, eye twitching. "How dare you, you… you… scatalogical, diminutive ignoramus! You… absolutely contemptible pilgarlic! You… you… jerk!”

"Hey! Who're you calling a jerk?!”

Twilight wisely just watched the entire conversation from afar.

The "party", which was really underway now that a large enough group was here, started to move along at a relatively decent pace. Pinkie kept the music calm for now, serving as essentially just background noise. Most of the group was just partaking in a few snacks here and there, but not enough for anypony to spoil their appetites; Velvet had ordered pizza—real pizza—for dinner. Applejack was slated to arrive just before they were to be delivered, so everypony just had to be patient.

One thing Twilight noticed now that she was actually in Lockwood's apartment instead of just looking in from the outside as she would when picking up Winter every morning, is how large it was. The living room was big enough that when Gray had moved the couch, Teevee, and some other furniture aside—by herself—the floor space was such that it could contain a snack table, a drink table, a table for Pinkie's boombox, and a vinyl dance floor that had been rented so that everypony could dance without worrying about the carpet.

Pinkie and Velvet had also gone all-out on the decorations. There were streamers, banners, and balloons, just like any typical, patented Pinkie Pie party, and that made Twilight feel a bit nostalgic. She hadn't had a good Pinkie party in weeks, and if the intention of this get-together was to put everypony in a good mood, it certainly worked. It was the closest she'd felt to home since, well… since leaving.

For the most part, as with any party, most of the ponies present sort of divided themselves up into their tightest-knit groups of friends, though Twilight was surprised that her group of friends from home didn't naturally gravitate towards one another, at least not immediately.

She herself stuck with Winter as the party carried on, talking about magic that they'd yet to discuss, the party itself, how Winter was looking forward to Pinkie bringing out the "harder stuff" to drink later, and how the snacks—all made of real ingredients—were absolutely delightful. This had apparently been the first time Winter had ever been to a party, either, but she didn't treat it like a bizarre learning experience like Dawn did.

Speaking of Dawn, she seemed content to remain by the snack table the entire time just trying out different treats and appetizers, practicing a prim and proper etiquette that Twilight expected more from Rarity but not from her library companion. She'd always known Dawn was of a higher social class than most, but then she'd usually interacted with Dawn in a more casual environment.

"Hey Dawn, how are you enjoying the snacks?" Twilight asked at one point while she and Winter were grabbing some themselves—she liked the selection of cheeses and crackers, Winter liked the pretzel sticks.

Dawn carefully and elegantly dabbed her lips with a napkin. "I have found the chocolate chip cookies to be preferable to the other cookie varieties thus far, and am rather fond of these miniature avocado sandwiches. I would eschew the jalapeño poppers unless you are predisposed to spicier offerings, however, as they are quite potent."

"Have you tried the donuts yet?" asked Winter, gesturing at the miniature donuts that Pinkie had made—full donuts would be too much, and these were all bite-sized and actually quite adorable.

"I am making an attempt to sample one of each of the offerings, but have not yet arrived at that particular morsel, no."

Velvet, who had come over to put another set of various cookies on her plate, nudged Dawn gently in the side. "Ooh, you oughta give 'em a try. Pinkie makes some amazing donuts. Start with the classic glazed ones and work your way up."

Dawn huffed. "Doughnuts seem rather pedestrian, if I might be blunt." Twilight could literally hear her use the proper full spelling of donut; only Golden Dawn could do something like that. "But if you insist."

She grabbed up one of the simple glazed ones in her magic and took a perfectly etiquette-following bite rather than eating the whole thing as most ponies would. Her eyes widened almost immediately, and for half a second Twilight was certain that Dawn wasn't chewing with the proper etiquette at all. She took a second bite—bigger than the first—and chewed that one just as quickly so that she could take the third and final bite.

"Well?" Velvet asked.

Dawn, without dabbing her lips first, grabbed her sister by the shoulders. "Why has nopony informed me of how gratifyingly delectable these doughnuts were?! How dare you keep secrets from me!"

"Whoa, whoa, take it easy, Dawn," Winter chuckled, pulling the other unicorn off of Velvet. "You're gonna blow a bloody gasket, eh?"

Dawn took a deep breath and dabbed her mouth with her napkin. "I would never succumb to such barbaric tendencies. This was merely a… reflex."

Velvet's grin was positively immense as she leaned over and nudged Dawn in the side again. "Sooo? Did you like it? Huh? You like donuts, don't you sis? Not so ‘pedestrian’ now, huh?"

Dawn didn't respond, just gave her sister a hard look, added another donut—a maple bar—to her plate, stuck her nose in the air, and walked away. Then came back, levitated one more—chocolate sprinkles—and walked away again, all without a word.

Velvet nodded. "Yeah, she liked it."

And thus the party continued.

The hostesses, Pinkie and Velvet, occupied themselves by bouncing—literally, in Pinkie's case—around the partygoers to see how everypony was enjoying the party. They'd refill drinks, take empty plates, join in conversations, and just generally mingle. It was really, really nice to see Pinkie back to her old, energetic self again; after the attack, well, Twilight was worried that Pinkie would be a nervous wreck for the remainder of their stay here.

Fluttershy and Gray had sort of sequestered themselves over on the couch to watch the others, which was something Twilight could see either of them doing individually at a party. She was glad that the two of them had one another to share that with, because otherwise she'd feel bad that they were alone. Gray would occasionally get up to grab new snacks or drinks for the pair, and Twilight could swear that Fluttershy was always blushing when she did.

She was surprised that Flathoof had gravitated towards the pair after he arrived at the party, having apparently bonded somewhat with them fairly recently, though Twilight wasn't sure when. When Applejack arrived, she also joined them, forming a nice little quartet that wouldn't seem at all out of place at even a larger party.

"Say, when's dinner gonna be?" Applejack asked shortly after she'd arrived. "I'm starvin' after that bus ride over."

Almost on queue, there was a knock at the door, and outside there was a young unicorn stallion hauling a staggering tower of pizzas. "Pizza delivery for a… Red Velvet?"

Velvet walked over to deal with the payment while Twilight and Winter helped Pinkie bring the pizzas in and set them on the table.

"Oh dear, I can't seem to find my credit card," she said, putting her hooves on her cheeks in embarrassment. "Is there… another way that I can pay for all these hot…" She licked her lips and stepped towards the young stallion, who was sweating profusely. "Tasty—"

Insipid walked over and handed the delivery colt her own credit card. "Don't worry, sis! I've got you covered! Cha!"

The delivery colt scanned the card, got Insipid's signature, and left in only a few seconds, seeming to be in an awful hurry. Twilight wasn't even sure if he'd been given a proper tip.

Insipid reassuringly pat Velvet on the shoulder as she closed the door. "You, like, really oughta keep track of where your card is, sis! What if somepony else finds it?! They could totally steal your identity and junk! Major un-fresh?"

Velvet just slowly turned, glared at her sister for a moment, snorted loudly enough that everypony could hear, then walked off to grab some pizza without saying a word.

Twilight had no idea what that was all about, but hey, dinner was served!

Rarity naturally remained with Insipid throughout the party thus far, showing her how a lady properly enjoyed herself at such an event: how to use a napkin properly and how to dispose of the paper ones; how to take small bites of the snacks and especially how to neatly eat pizza; how to pay compliments to the host or hostess; and how to properly imbibe in a drink, alcoholic or not. She and Dawn would probably get along pretty well, Twilight figured.

As for Rainbow and Havoc, they seemed to be busy "talking shop" about an upcoming game and the things they wanted to try in their next practice. Twilight also caught a short snippet of their conversation pertaining to a certain event that had occurred the other day, and how it had been all over the news, and how the two pegasi were very naughty ponies that deserved to get a talking to about what they did because of how irresponsible it was. At least that was what Twilight hoped they were talking about, because it was true.

Once dinner had been served and some of the pizzas had been cleared out—Twilight found herself gravitating mostly to the olive and mushroom—Pinkie and Velvet brought out "the hard stuff", which basically amounted to a bowl of spiked punch, which they'd made sure was a different color from the regular punch so nopony grabbed the wrong drink, which was very thoughtful of them.

Twilight elected to stay away from the stuff, and to her surprise, so did Pinkie and Flathoof.

"Yeah, I'm not much of a social drinker," Pinkie said, waving her hoof when questioned about it. "When there's no alcohol involved, I have to be the wild and crazy one at a party. When there is alcohol involved, usually somepony else is the wild and crazy one. Sometimes it's more fun, sometimes less, but hey, at least it's not me wearing a lampshade for a hat for once."

Flathoof's explanation made much more sense. "I'm a teetotaller." Nopony seemed to mind or care, really.

Shortly after the drinks were brought out, Pinkie started playing different music on her boombox, music that was more upbeat and suitable for dancing to rather than the mood music that had been playing thus far. And, just to make sure everypony got the hint, she also grabbed Rainbow and started vigorously dancing across the dance floor; everypony moved out of the way so that they didn't get their food and drinks spilled by Pinkie's gyrating tush.

But not everypony was about to let Pinkie and Rainbow be the only ones dancing the night away. Velvet took to the floor soon after, but instead of dancing with anypony she seemed to be more focused on dancing by herself in the general vicinity of Flathoof, and Twilight was pretty sure those particular dance moves were considered rather… provocative. Definitely not something Twilight thought was appropriate for this sort of party.

Judging by the death glare that Gray was giving her sister, she didn't approve of it either. The poor cup she'd been using for her punch crumbled up like an accordion; luckily it seemed to be empty.

"So hey, you wanna dance with me, stud?" Velvet asked him, biting her lip and swishing her tail along his chin. "You're the hottest guy here.”

"I'm the only guy here," he pointed out.

She gyrated her flanks and flipped her mane. "Ipso facto."

Flathoof took a drink of his non-alcoholic punch; he seemed more nervous than Twilight had ever seen him. "I've, uh… never been much of a dancer, Miss Velvet."

"It's okay, you can just stand there and let me do allll the work," she said with a wink. "I don't mind."

"Er, nnnope, I think I'm good," Flathoof gulped as she gyrated closer.

Velvet took it in stride, though, and just sashayed away, flanks bobbing to and fro. "That's okay, maybe you'll change your mind later, big guy." The way she was practically flagging her tail made even Twilight blush.

Despite all that, the music was upbeat and exciting enough that Twilight was getting the urge to dance as well, and so she started her way onto the dance floor after finishing up her punch. She threw a quick glance at Winter while she was at it. "Hey, I feel like dancing for a bit. How about you?"

Winter tilted her head. "I've never really danced before to be honest with ya."

"Oh, then you've got to come try it! Since this is your first party and all, you really should try everything out at least once."

"I'm not even sure I know how."

Twilight grabbed Winter's hoof and pulled her onto the dance floor. "It's easy! This isn't like some kind of fancy ball or anything, so there's nothing to it. You just gotta listen to the music and move yourself around to the beat."

Winter sipped from her own punch—hers was spiked not just by Pinkie and Velvet but by a bit of her own stuff—then shrugged and set her cup down. "Sure, why not? First time for everythin', eh?"

Twilight smiled, brought Winter out to a spot where they'd have plenty of room, then stood and waited, listening to the music to try and figure out the beat so she could move along to it. Then, she started moving, shaking her legs and body about wildly to best match with the beat of the song, closing her eyes so she could focus for a moment.

When she opened her eyes after figuring out her groove, she saw that Winter was watching her with a cheeky grin. "What?"

Winter just shook her head and smiled. "Nothin'. You're just… a real party animal, Twilight. I never thought ya had it in ya."

Twilight giggled. "Well, come on! Don't just stand there, shake a leg!"

Winter just watched Twilight for a moment, then rolled her eyes and joined in the dancing, matching Twilight's moves with respectable accuracy. Twilight knew she looked a bit goofy while dancing, if only because she'd never really learned any proper moves or techniques while growing up, and in fact because she'd never really been to any parties either until she met Pinkie. Typically her friends gave her space when she decided to "bust a move".

So, it was kind of nice having somepony to dance with, even if neither of them knew what they were doing and they probably looked silly doing it. That part didn't matter; what mattered was that she was enjoying herself, and Winter seemed to be enjoying herself too, and they were enjoying it together.

Then, there was a knock on the door, which Twilight figured was Lockwood, since he'd said he'd be late to the party because of a charity event he'd needed to make an appearance at. Dawn, who was closest to the door—because it was closest to the snack table where she'd been steadily sampling more and more donuts—answered it, and sure enough, there was Lockwood, dressed in that snappy tux of his with the mask that Rarity had made him for the ball.

Lockwood had also brought two mares along with him. One was a blue-coated earth pony with a red mane that was impeccably styled, wearing a dress that Twilight figured could almost rival anything she'd seen Rarity put out before; like Lockwood, she was wearing a mask to obscure her face. The other was a pink unicorn mare with a red mane, also impeccably styled, wearing a white-and-green gown that was quite fetching, as well as a matching mask.

"Hello, everypony!" Lockwood greeted as he entered the room. He marveled at the sights he beheld. "Say, this is quite a little soiree you guys hooked up here." He turned to Velvet. "How'd you manage to rent a dance floor on such short notice?"

Velvet scuffed her hoof on her chest. "Oh, y'know, nothing special. I just had to ask the rental guy really nicely. And pay lots of bits, of course. Nice, huh?" She glanced at the two guests, and her eyes widened in shock. "Oh wow, no way. Curaçao? Is that you?"

The blue-coated mare—Curaçao, apparently—removed her mask, a broad smile on her face. "Bonjour, mes soeurs! It is so good to see you!" She approached Velvet first and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "My dear Velvet, it has been so long, non? Are you doing well?"

"Yeah, just fine, sis," Velvet replied, still in the midst of genuine surprise. "Uh, what are you doing here?"

Curaçao gestured towards Lockwood. "This wonderful gentlecolt invited me and my date to this party when the charity ball turned out not to be as fun as we would have liked, so to say."

"Your 'date'?" Dawn asked as she closed the door, raising an eyebrow, almost as if she recognized the other mare that had arrived with Curaçao and Lockwood.

"Oui, my date." Curaçao pulled the other mare closer and gestured to her. "This is Shroud. Shroud, these are mes soeurs, Golden Dawn, and Red Velvet." She pointed out into the room at her other sisters in turn, who all nodded or smiled in greeting. "As well as Gray Skies, Insipid, and Havoc."

Shroud gave a little wave. "Um, hello."

Twilight stepped forward as well and offered her hoof to Curaçao. "Hi there! I'm Twilight Sparkle. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Curaçao. So, you're Dawn's sister, huh? She's never mentioned you before."

Curaçao took Twilight's hoof and gave it a gentle shake. "Ah, the pleasure is mine, Mademoiselle Sparkle. And oui, I am Dawn's sister, though I am not surprised that she has never mentioned me before. Or that any of mes soeurs haven't, for that matter. We do not speak often as I am often wrapped up in my work."

Twilight couldn't help but smile. "Heh, I can't really blame them. I have an older brother myself, and I never mentioned him to my friends for an entire year. I guess I just sort of forgot about it," she added with a sheepish smile; it was still a sore spot for her that she'd completely forgotten to ever mention her BBBFF to her friends until that wedding invitation arrived.

More introductions went around the room and as far as Twilight could tell, this Curaçao was the sort of mare that definitely belonged at the ball where she'd met Lockwood. She was very beautiful, and she carried herself with an air of elegance and refinement that reminded her of Rarity, only a smidge more so if that were at all possible. She seemed glad to see her sisters, and likewise they were glad to see her, but it was an awkward sort of family reunion.

The sisters were mostly surprised by this Shroud that had arrived with her, who Twilight noticed was both anxious and excited to be here, or perhaps more accurately to be here with Curaçao. She could tell from looking at how Shroud carried herself that the mare wasn't used to social engagements—she could relate—but seemed eager to try; she still kept herself near her date to ease into the transition.

Eventually, the music started up again and ponies got back onto the dance floor to enjoy themselves as the party got back into full swing. Twilight noticed Lockwood greeting Rarity warmly, with the latter ensuring that his mask was on properly and that his tuxedo was straight. Other than Fluttershy, only Rarity had really gotten close with Lockwood over all this time, as far as Twilight knew; the two acted around one another like they were best friends, in fact, rather like how she herself and Winter got along.

Once Twilight was a little pooped out from dancing, she took a seat off to the side of the dance floor and took a big drink from her new cup of non-alcoholic punch. Winter joined her, bringing over some small treats to snack on, and the pair sat quietly and watched the party continue on. It was easier to do when not focused on swinging one's body around dancing.

Pinkie and Rainbow still grooved about together on the dance floor, though Twilight felt they were more dancing together than just dancing in proximity to one another; Velvet still made an attempt to coerce Flathoof into a dance, unsuccessfully, with Gray's fierce look visible across the room; Havoc at one point downed an entire cup of alcoholic punch in one go and walked over to Lockwood to ask him to dance, though he politely declined.

"Sorry, but dancing is a bit out of my comfort zone these days," Lockwood said with a little grin. "I'm so out of practice that I'm sure I'd probably just embarrass you."

Havoc brushed that off with a hoof; it was hard to tell in the lighting of the room and since Havoc was already red in color, but Twilight swore she saw a blush there. "Oh, hey, don't worry about it dude. Dancing isn't for everypony, y'know? I don't even dance. Heh."

Shortly after that, though, and after Pinkie and Rainbow took a short break from dancing to sit together—were they holding hooves?—Twilight noticed Lockwood approach them and whisper something to Pinkie, giving a little glance over towards Curaçao and Shroud, who had gathered near the catering table to have some snacks and drinks themselves.

Whatever had been whispered made Pinkie really excited, because she bounded across the room to the boombox and immediately changed the music. "This one is a special request, everypony," she announced. "So hold onto your butts, 'cause this party's about to get fancy!"

The new song that played was not more of the same upbeat party music that Pinkie typically provided and had been pumping into the room for the entirety of the party, but a legitimate waltz, and a rather pleasant one at that. Compared to what had been playing all night so far and what Twilight was used to from Pinkie, it came as a total shock. It seemed as though several others agreed, though they were less reserved about showing distaste.

"Yo, what the hell is this?" Havoc blurted, eyes wide and hooves over her ears as though the music was painful to her. "I thought this was a party, not a snoozefest ballet."

"Yeah, Pinks, what gives?" Rainbow asked, nudging the party pony gently.

"It's a special request, Dashie," Pinkie said, nuzzling Rainbow's cheek. "Some ponies didn't get to enjoy their date night earlier, and I'm fixing it! Look look look!"

She pointed towards Curaçao and Shroud, who had taken to the dance floor almost as soon as the music had started playing, with the former clearly leading the latter. Without hesitation, Curaçao took Shroud up in what Twilight recognized as a traditional sort of waltz position, and took the lead in moving Shroud through the steps, her eyes locked on Shroud while Shroud's were more carefully watching her own hooves so she didn't trip over them.

It took a few moments as the rest of the room watched the pair moving across the dance floor, all of them quiet, before anypony else moved to join them out there. It didn't surprise Twilight one bit that Rarity was one of those who took the floor next, dragging Insipid along with her and, like Curaçao was doing for Shroud, took the lead with a very clear instructional intent.

"Think of this just like learning your runway strut, darling," Rarity said as she slowly and carefully showed Insipid the waltz steps. "Whereas a model needs to know how to move on the runway and how to strike a pose, a lady must know how to properly dance with a partner."

"Okay," Insipid said, biting her tongue and carefully following along. "This is, like, a lot harder, though. The runway is just, like, one-two-three-four, straight lines, little twirls. I learned that! But we're moving a lot more than that right now, so it's, like super hard and junk? Cha!"

"It's alright, dear, it's just a little bit more complicated, but I know you can do it. Follow along with me, alright?" Rarity cleared her throat and started counting out the motions as she moved. "Left hoof one, right hoof two, left hoof three…"

It looked like it was going to be a slow learning process, but Rarity's determined look, as well as Insipid's, indicated that they were going to keep at it until the latter learned how to waltz like a proper lady. Lockwood gave the pair encouraging looks all the while, which Rarity returned with a little smile of her own.

Even Pinkie got into the act, dragging Rainbow onto the dance floor. "Come on, Dashie, let's tango!"

"Whoa!" Rainbow blurted as Pinkie drew her up into a surprisingly accurate proper waltz starting position. "P-Pinkie?"

"Er… mambo! Rumba? Cha cha?" Pinkie looked to Lockwood. "What kind of dance is this again?"

"A waltz," Lockwood said with a smile.

"Right! Let's waltz, Dashie!"

"Pinkie, you know I'm not good at frou-frou dancing," Rainbow stammered, red in the face as Pinkie's hoof slid down her back.

"Me neither, but when are we ever gonna get another chance to try?" Pinkie then pulled a rose with a long stem out of her mane, stuck it sideways between her teeth, and growled like a cat. "I know you usually lead, Dashie, but for now, let me do it."

Then, Pinkie twirled Rainbow around as they began their own little waltz, which Twilight had to admit wasn't all that bad considering that neither of them had a clue what they were doing.

Neither of the other two pairs, though, compared to the way that Curaçao and Shroud moved across the floor. Shroud seemed to have gotten the hang of waltzing relatively quickly, which was clearly because Curaçao wasn't just a good teacher, but practically a professional at the technique. She moved with a sort of serene grace that Twilight had never seen before, even back home when some of the stuffier parties involved this kind of dancing amongst practiced individuals.

It wasn't just the movement, either, but the look the two shared. Though it was hard to see their expressions clearly behind the masks they wore, it was clear that the two were looking right into one another's souls with what Twilight could only describe as a deep focus. It rather reminded her of the way that her brother and Cadence looked at one another when they'd danced at their wedding.

The waltzing music came to a triumphant close, and as it did so, Curaçao dipped Shroud close to the floor, but the two kept their eyes locked the entire way. Twilight leaned forward in her seat a little when she saw their faces pressing close. She felt her own face getting a little hot just watching the display, not sure what to expect next. It was like something right out of a movie.

Then, without warning, the two rose back into proper upright positions, though Shroud was breathing heavily. And as the music died down, the pair shuffled briefly off of the dance floor, shared a brief, impassioned, but mostly quiet exchange of words.

Curaçao then turned to the group, all smiles. "Pardonnez-moi, everypony, but Shroud and I are going to take our leave for the evening. This has been a wonderful soiree; merci beaucoup, for inviting us."

"No problem at all!" Pinkie said with a grin and a wave. "Thanks for coming. It was nice meeting you two."

"See you around, sis," Velvet said with a wide, toothy grin. "Enjoy the rest of your evening." She winked.

More goodbyes were said, and then the two departed out the door without looking back.

Then the upbeat music returned, and the party got back to the way it had been for the remainder of the evening.

Twilight sat content in her seat and looked out over the crowd again, glad to see that everypony—new friends and old—were having a good time. She knew that she and her older friends needed to get home, absolutely, and she wanted nothing more than to be able to return and put things right and get back to normalcy. But a part of her was glad that they were all here right now, and that they had all made such good friends with ponies despite their initial trepidations about this alien world.

Rarity, having finished teaching Insipid to dance, took up a seat next to Lockwood and chatted quietly with him, both of them smiling and laughing at whatever they were talking about like they had been friends for years rather than weeks.

Insipid, meanwhile, had grabbed Havoc and dragged her out onto the dance floor to attempt to show off her newfound waltz, despite the music not at all matching. Havoc, naturally, fought with Insipid to keep herself off the dance floor in the first place, then fought with her over who was going to be the lead, and now the two were aggressively waltzing against one another like it was a contest.

Pinkie and Rainbow joined in the fun, of course, this time dancing a tango—the music didn't match that either—with Rainbow in the lead. Where Pinkie had suddenly acquired a flamenco hat, Twilight didn't know, but she had learned not to question where Pinkie got things sometimes no matter how little sense it made. Twilight did blush, of course, when Rainbow rather brusquely took the rose out of Pinkie's teeth with her own, making full lip contact in the process. When did those two get together?

The quartet of Applejack, Flathoof, Gray, and Fluttershy observed the dancing and entertained themselves just by watching the others, whether it was laughing at the antics between Insipid and Havoc or applauding as Pinkie and Rainbow showed that they knew how to dance with the best of them, at least in their own special way.

And her good friend Dawn, who seemed content to stay by herself throughout the evening, was still at the snack table, and though she had slowed down considerably by this point she was still sneaking donuts onto her plate and eating them when she thought nopony would notice. But Twilight noticed. So did Velvet, actually, who came over and without a hint of snark, scooped all of the donuts into a box so that Dawn could take them home. Dawn seemed puzzled by the gesture.

And most of all, Twilight was able to sit content in her seat as she watched it all unfold with Winter at her side for company. The two shared a laugh together when Insipid nearly threw Havoc off the dance floor with an ambitious twirl; they tapped cups together before sharing a drink, though Twilight's was still non-alcoholic; they leaned against one another as the evening drew on. Twilight was content right where she was.

Of all the ideas Pinkie and Velvet had ever come up with together, Twilight felt that this one would be hard to top.

*****

The following morning was just another day at the CDH library for Twilight, as far as she was concerned. Just another day of helping assorted ponies with research projects, legal matters, documentation references, and other matters. By now she'd gotten quite good at using the computers here in the library, to the point that she could assist multiple patrons in rapid succession. As such, Archimedes had expanded her work area to cover more of the library floor, and even given her a raise; she was apparently the best librarian he'd had in years.

That didn't mean she was ignoring her friends, of course, which in this case meant just Winter and Dawn; her other friends were all busy doing their own things over the course of the day that she'd actually be astonished if any of them waltzed into the library for any reason. The pair of fellow unicorns were here working on Winter's goal of making contact with Nihila's Warden, as always, and they'd made substantial progress thus far.

The most important thing that they learned was that the Warden immediately after Blood Beryl, possibly in an attempt to better ingratiate themselves with Nihila, had unleashed a horrible plague known as the Red Death upon the griffin—this world spelled it "gryphon"—civilization that lived here in the north, and that it had apparently wiped them out to the last. Twilight was horrified to learn that she was looking to ask for help from a goddess that would condone—no, encourage—such an act, but at this point they were out of alternatives.

Other than that, thanks to Dawn's own information detailing the history of the city itself, they learned that the city's current government body, a council of ponies known as the Committee, had been formed hundreds of years ago and that it had a special seat known as the "Shadow Associate", which was somepony on said council that proposed bills but did not vote, and was not elected but rather chose its own successor. The identity of whomever was holding this seat was typically always considered a secret, but Winter considered it to be the most obvious candidate to be their Warden target.

"Think about it," Winter said as they looked over the information. "If Nihila's Warden is supposed to be manipulatin' ponies so that they give off the sort of energy that empowers her, then naturally they'd have to be in an influential position, eh?"

"And it makes sense that they'd keep their identities a secret and select their own successors," Twilight added. "We've already theorized that Nihila and her Warden operate from the shadows, and there's nothing more shadowy than somepony by the title 'Shadow Associate', right? It's just a little on the nose."

"Now it's just a question of how we even get in touch with the bloke, or shiela, or whatever," Winter said, scratching her chin. "Even the Committee members don't know this pony's identity, they just know what the position's responsible for. So we can't ask them, can we?"

"I suppose not. And I doubt we'd even be able to get in touch with them anyway," Twilight sighed. "Urgh! We're so close, I can feel it."

Dawn, who was conducting her own research separately—they'd felt it would be faster if they split duties and reviewed different documents—approached with a proud grin on her face. "Comrades, I have uncovered a potential solution to your issues."

Twilight smiled, her ears perking up in excitement. "Really? Well, don't let us stop you: go ahead."

They followed Dawn over to her computer, which was displaying pictures of Pandora Tower. Upon further investigation, it was apparent that the tower, which reached all the way up into the sky above the city, was generating some sort of fiery orange energy from its top that spread across the sky all the way to the horizon. Twilight had noticed it before, but it was a subtle effect from a long distance, and these images were taken from up close.

"I am certain that the two of you are cognizant of information regarding Pandora Tower, at least to some degree, yes?" Dawn asked, her eyes alight with excitement, the sort Twilight often got when she discovered something new. "I believe that we have discussed the tower's mysterious reputation?"

"Yup, nopony goes in, nopony comes out," Winter confirmed.

"Well, that is not the only enigmatic fact about the tower. Most ponies are conscious of the fact that Pandora Tower is the source of the magical aura that permeates the sky above, the one that obscures the sun and the moon from the northern skies. However, none are quite so informed of why that is the case."

Dawn flipped through the document to another picture, this one of a similar structure made of white metal that generated a white glow into the heavens. "This edifice stands on the world's southern polar cap, much as Pandora Tower resides on the world's northern polar cap. It was erected hundreds of years ago by the zebras of Zeb'ra'den, and they call it a 'Beacon'."

"A beacon for what?" asked Twilight.

"For Light magics," Dawn replied. "Upon its construction, the structure was infused with phenomenal magical power of the single-most prolific source of Light in the world: that of the southern goddess Harmonia. At least, according to chronicles that detail its construction."

Winter tapped a graph on the screen. "These measurements show that this Beacon emits Light energies that are completely off the bloody charts. I've heard about this structure before but I've never really taken the chance to examine it."

Twilight rubbed her chin. "So, what does this mean, exactly? That Harmonia lives inside the Beacon or something?"

"I mean, that's a possibility," Winter said with a shrug. "It'd be in a completely non-material form, of course, but I mean, it could be the case." She turned to Dawn. "I'm gonna assume that this city's Pandora Tower functions identically to this Beacon down south?"

Dawn nodded. "More than that. Pandora Tower was erected around another Beacon, a counterpart of sorts to the southern Beacon, and records indicate that they were constructed at approximately the same time. Furthermore, the northern Beacon generates Dark magical energy, to further the consideration of it being a counterpart."

"And that means that Nihila is related to Pandora Tower…" Winter mused. Her mouth curled into a big grin. "And that means I can track Nihila's energy."

Twilight's eyes widened. "You can? How?"

"I have a few theories on how to do it, but suffice to say, I think it'll work."

"And what, exactly, would this endeavor of yours accomplish?" Dawn asked.

"Nihila's Warden is a bridge between her and the mortal realm, yeah? At least accordin' to all of our research so far, most of which is also based on Harmonia's Wardens, who have all operated similarly."

"We haven't been given reason to doubt it yet," Twilight noted.

"So, if this Warden serves as a physical bridge, it necessarily follows that he or she would have… 'residue', let's call it, from the connection to Nihila. If I can track Nihila's magical energy signature by usin' the Beacon as a base, then I should be able to locate the Warden by findin' this residue."

Dawn blinked. "That… is actually quite ingenious. How long would it take you to locate this Warden?"

"One or two days, at most. Maybe three if they're not in the city itself, but given what we know about Pandora Tower, my bet is that there's some connection there as well."

Dawn seemed a bit perturbed by this. "That theory also has some modicum of merit."

"This is fantastic!" Twilight said, barely able to keep herself from bouncing in place like Pinkie would. "We're almost—" She paused, managing to contain herself before she revealed too much information to Dawn. "We're almost done with this project. It's taken us weeks of research, but we're so close to finishing it." She turned to Winter. "Are you as excited as I am?"

Winter smiled and nodded. "Yup. But not so excited that I'm goin' to miss my lunch break," she said, gesturing at the clock on the wall.

Twilight gasped, and hastily made her way to her station to punch out for lunch. When she returned to Winter and Dawn, she said, "Would you guys like to join me for coffee and lunch?"

"Always do," Winter said, rising from her seat.

"It has been an exorbitant period of time since I last shared lunchtime refreshments with you, Twilight, so I would very much enjoy being included," Dawn agreed.

*****

In the CDH's coffee shop, Twilight watched with eager anticipation as Dawn took a sip from her coffee cup, which Twilight had filled from her own thermos. "Well?" she asked.

Dawn's eyes widened as the coffee ran past her tongue, and she looked to Twilight as though she'd just been told that Hearth's Warming Eve had come early. "Twilight, this is the most exquisite coffee that I have ever tasted. Where did you say you procured this from?"

"This little coffee shop that's only a short trip from here, Café Estrella. This blend comes from the southern city of Seaside," Twilight explained. "It's easily in my top five coffees ever, and believe me, I've tried a lot of different types of coffee."

"I will take you at your word," Dawn said as she took another sip. "Would you estimate that this pairs well with… doughnuts? It has come to my attention that doughnuts and coffee are considered an ideal partnership."

"Hmm… I believe it should," Twilight said with a shrug. "I won't say that I'm familiar with Flamencian traditions regarding coffee."

"They'd advise churros," Winter noted, raising her own cup of coffee—no alcohol in it this time, to Twilight's surprise. "But ya don't always have to follow traditions, y'know? Sometimes ya just have to buck the trends a bit. Dunk donuts in your fancy coffee; eat cheese or chocolate with vodka instead of wine; put mustard on your pizza. Whatever!"

"I was with you until 'mustard on pizza', Winter," Twilight said, eyes half-lidded. "That sounds like it should be illegal."

"Oh, c'mon now, mate, live a little!" Winter chuckled. She glanced at Dawn. "How about you, Dawn? Mustard on pizza too crazy for ya?"

Dawn sipped her coffee again. "If it were my jurisdiction I would outlaw such a thing immediately, on pain of death. I will not claim to be an enthusiast of pizza, but it seems profane to taint the dish with such a contradictory condiment."

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Twilight agreed with a grin.

She and Dawn shared a brief laugh.

"Dawn, I want to thank you again for all the help you've given us over the past couple of weeks," Twilight said with a sincere smile. "I don't know if we would've been able to discover all of this information so quickly without your help."

"Surely not," Dawn said with a cocky grin. "I would estimate that approximately seventy percent of the information that has been uncovered in regards to this Warden project of yours has been due to my own inquiries."

"Hey, try not to sound too humble there," Winter scoffed. "It's not like ya did everything yourself, y'know?

"It's alright, Winter, she means well," Twilight chuckled, giving Dawn a look. "Dawn's just the sort of pony that feels a certain pride in her accomplishments and isn't afraid to let anypony else know about it, isn't that right?"

Dawn stuck her nose in the air. "Far be it from me to repudiate your perspicacity into my psyche."

Twilight set her hoof on Dawn's. "Listen, Dawn, I mean it. You've been a big help to Winter and me over the last couple of weeks, and I don't know if we could've done it without you, but that's beside the point. It's not just the help you've given us, it's… it's just you that I appreciate."

Dawn raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

"You've been a good friend to us beyond just being helpful. Winter and I enjoy your company, even when you put your… pretentiousness on display," Twilight said, carefully choosing her words. "I know somepony back home just like that, only she's not quite so willing to use the skills she does have to help others, not from what I've seen."

"I have endeavored to be of assistance in every way possible," Dawn said calmly. "And I do consider both of you close companions. However, I do not understand the purpose of this particular conversation—"

"Just come right out and say what you mean, Twilight," Winter said, nudging Twilight gently.

"Right." Twilight nodded, then smiled. "Dawn, you're like the sister I never had. I mean, I have a brother, sure, but he and I have had different interests all our lives, and until you and Winter came around, there was never anypony that I could have an honest discussion with about the things that interest me the most."

"I am capable of relating to this sensation," Dawn said matter-of-factly. "If it was not apparent at the soiree last night, my sisters and I do not engage much in familial conversations. I do not consider it arrogance to state that I possess a higher intelligence than all but perhaps Curaçao, and she and I rarely converse face-to-face either. You, on the other hoof…"

Twilight grinned. "See? So, I just wanted to say… thank you. Not just for being helpful to us for our little research project, but for being a good friend to us as well. I wish we could hang out more outside of the library, but I understand that you're busy. I'm glad you were able to make it to the party last night."

"As am I," Dawn said with a nod. With a slight bit of red in her cheeks, she added, "I… do not suppose that I could perchance requisition more doughnuts from Pinkie Pie? I seem to have devoured the contents of the leftovers that I was provided."

Twilight paused, glancing over at Winter, and the three of them shared a good laugh.

*****

About an hour or so after her shift was up, Twilight and Winter arrived at Lockwood's apartment. As promised, Twilight had agreed to celebrate with Winter following their discovery of the last bit of information they needed, and as such the pair had picked up some takeout for dinner—there was a sandwich place nearby that made fantastic real sandwiches, even if they were a bit expensive—and Winter had bought some light beers. The two were set to celebrate the evening, just the two of them.

They'd informed Pinkie and Fluttershy first, of course—the latter was always home and the former got home earlier than Twilight did—so that they could inform the others as well: within a couple of days, they'd be going home. It was so close they could almost taste it. They'd be using the next couple of days to make all the preparations they'd need to properly disengage from this world, which mostly meant quitting jobs, but more importantly saying goodbye to the new friends they'd made along the way.

Tonight, though, was just for Twilight and Winter; they'd earned this. Dawn had been invited as well, though she'd declined, claiming that she didn't enjoy drinking and that she had some work of her own to do tonight, but she'd offered to celebrate with them another time. Lockwood, meanwhile, had plans tonight with some associates and wouldn't be home until well after dinner, so Winter said they'd have the apartment to themselves.

The first thing Twilight and Winter did when they arrived at the apartment was to crack open their sandwiches and enjoy a celebratory dinner. Twilight had ordered the roasted eggplant and tomato sandwich; Winter had ordered a simple lettuce and tomato sandwich, but had a jar of spread that she kept at home that she slathered all over hers.

"What in the world is that stuff?" Twilight asked, giving the stuff a sniff; it smelled like some kind of broth, hard to really describe.

"It's a spread made from leftover brewers' yeast extract, mixed up with some veg and spice extracts," Winter said with a grin, putting on her best expository tone. "They make this stuff down in the south, specifically in Sunnydale. It's not what you'd call a delicacy, more like… a staple. Go on, try some."

Twilight took a little bit onto a butter knife and gave it a lick. It tasted salty and a little bitter, and was unlike anything she had ever tasted before. "Wow, that's got quite a flavor to it. And it's just made of yeast extract and spices?"

"Pretty much."

"Does it have a name?"

"Ponimite." Winter closed up her sandwich and took a big bite, moaning a little as she did. "Mhmm, that's the good stuff," she said with her mouth full.

Dinner moved along relatively quickly, the two briefly reasserting Winter's plan over the next couple of days to try and locate Nihila's Warden. Everything was pretty much in place, so far as Winter was concerned; she made the process sound easy to Twilight, despite how complicated it seemed it should be, but Twilight didn't have a device like Winter's Timekeeper to simplify the process.

"You're really sure this is going to work?" she asked as she helped Winter clean up the table from their food, except for the order of hay fries that they were still eating. "Let me rephrase that: you're sure this is going to work so quickly?"

"Yup," Winter said as she put dishes into the kitchen's dishwasher, another technological wonder that Twilight found fascinating but hadn't had a chance to study. "My Timekeeper's range is pretty wide, and unless the Warden is out of the city, locatin' them won't take long at all. Just a matter of pinpointin' the same signature that's comin' off of the Beacon."

"And I suppose with the measurements of the energy levels, you'd be able to tell even if they were near the Beacon as well, right?"

"Should be able to, unless the energy levels changed significantly since the last measurement was taken. Even then, it's fair to assume they'll be connected to Pandora Tower. I might ask Lockwood if he knows anypony that might be able to get me in."

"Just so long as you're careful, Winter," Twilight said as she retook her seat. "These Wardens sound dangerous. Remember all the stories we've already read? Genocide, war, slavery… these aren't exactly things that good ponies are known for."

"Maybe so, but I can handle myself," Winter said with a smile as she brought a couple of bottles of beer and glasses of water over. "You trust me, right?"

Twilight paused and watched Winter for a moment before nodding. "I do. With my life."

"Then trust me on this: I'll be fine." Winter set down a light beer in front of Twilight and popped off the cap, and took a darker beer for herself. "Alright then, so, ya said that you've had a lil' bit of alcohol before, eh?"

"Just a sip of wine at a party once, and a sip of champagne at my brother's wedding," Twilight said as she eyed her bottle of beer warily. "But I was told that they weren't particularly strong, so I'm a little nervous about trying anything else. The last thing I want is to get… what's the word, 'wasted'?"

"Relax, Twilight, I wouldn't do that to ya. That's just a light beer, eh? Lower alcohol content than an average beer and certainly much less than your run of the mill wines and champagnes. If ya could handle a sip of those, ya can handle a sip of that."

Twilight levitated the bottle in her magic and brought it to her lips, then took a brief swig. It tasted almost like bitter, flavored water, with a mild aftertaste that stung her tongue a little. She pulled it away and grimaced slightly. "Oof, ponies drink this stuff?"

"Only those that are on diets or are tryin' not to get drunk too fast, eh?" Winter said, taking a big swig from her darker beer. "I'm not a fan of the lighter stuff, myself. It's a bit like makin' love in a canoe."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "I'm afraid I don't get the metaphor."

"It's fuckin' close to water," Winter clarified with a cheeky grin.

Twilight's cheeks reddened. "Oh. W-well, it's not terrible, exactly. The beer, I mean. Now that the aftertaste is gone, I can still kind of feel this… warmth on my tongue, like when I tried the wine and the champagne before. It's not as strong as what I remember, though, you're right."

"Well, if you're feelin' brave, mate, take another sip. Ya don't have to if ya don't want—"

Twilight smiled and took another drink, more this time than before, smacking her lips a little as she did. "No, I want to give it a try. I'm just a little nervous, that's all. I know some of my friends drink, and I think it might be good for me to learn if I like it or not, so that I'm not so anxious about it if I'm ever offered alcohol at a party."

"So, you've really never been drinkin' with your friends, eh?" Winter asked, taking another swig. "None of them ever invited ya out for some coldies after a long day?"

"No," Twilight said, shaking her head. "I know that Rarity only drinks socially, or at least I think she does, and that's always wines. Pinkie's the opposite; she refuses to drink socially because she finds it more fun to watch other ponies drink when together."

"Ah yeah, she said that last night," Winter observed, finishing off her bottle and setting it aside before grabbing another. "Fluttershy barely touched anythin' last night either."

"I don't know if she really ever drinks or not, to be honest," Twilight said with a shrug. "But she seems like she's not the type to do so unless she has a good reason. I guess if it turns out it's not my thing, at least I can share that with her, right?"

"I suppose so."

"Rainbow and Applejack are the drinkers in the group from what I know, Applejack especially. I've heard that they go drinking together sometimes after a long day of work, just the two of them."

Winter nodded. "Yeah, Applejack seems like the sort that can really handle her booze, especially nowadays. I tell ya, I did not expect any of ya to change that much over the last couple of weeks, but your friend put on a shitload of muscle. And good for her, I say."

"She's said she's really looking forward to getting back on the farm," Twilight laughed. "I bet she can outhaul Big Macintosh by now."

"Yeah, I bet the whole lot of ya are lookin' forward to gettin' home, eh? Glad to be back to a bit of the ol' normalcy?" Winter shook her head and took a long swig. "I suppose we all are, right?"

"I'll just be glad that we're able to put things right back home, and keep our world safe," Twilight said, taking another sip of her own beer. "That's what I'm looking forward to more than anything. I've been so worried about my friends and family…"

"I can't even imagine what that's like," Winter sighed.

Twilight waved her hoof in front of her face. "Oh. S-sorry, I didn't mean—"

"Hey, I told ya, don't worry about it," Winter said with a sincere smile. "That's all behind me, alright? You've got a family and friends to return to. You all do. It's my job to make sure ya get back safe and sound, and that's what I'm gonna do."

Twilight paused, then smiled back. "Thanks, Winter. Really. I'm probably sounding like a broken record by now, but you've really done a lot for me and my friends, and we can never thank you enough."

Winter lifted her bottle a bit. "And you're very welcome, Twilight."

The evening rolled along, minute after minute, hour after hour, and Twilight and Winter whiled away the time talking about funny stories while they imbibed from their beers. By now, Twilight had finished two whole bottles and was working on her third, and starting to feel just a little bit fuzzy in the head because of it. It was a good kind of fuzzy, a happy kind. Winter, meanwhile, had finished her entire case of bottles and moved on to some more that were in the fridge.

Twilight, in a fit of laughter, took another drink from her beer. "And then, she got caught breaking into the hospital just so she could finish the last chapter! Can you believe it?"

Winter chuckled. "This is the same Rainbow Dash that's been spendin' the last couple of weeks bein' a world-class athlete, right?"

"I know! She couldn't believe it either!" Twilight set her now-empty bottle down. "I told her before that I owned every book in the series, y'know? She could've just come to me, but oh nooo, she couldn't let anypony know that she was an 'egghead'. Ha!"

"She was that desperate, huh?"

"Yeah! I mean, I know the Daring Do books are good, but I didn't think they could drive somepony to petty theft."

Winter took another drink of her beer, then shook her head. "Y'know, I've gotten to know you and all your friends over the past couple of weeks, and I have to say, ya really are an odd bunch."

Twilight brushed that off her hoof. "Pshaw. We're not that odd. Are we?"

"Compared to ponies around here? Yeah, a little." Winter grinned and leaned forward in her seat a bit. "But ya know what? It's not a bad thing. It's felt kind of… nice, knowin' you all and spendin' time with ya."

"I think I can speak for all of my friends when I say, 'likewise'," Twilight replied with a grin of her own.

"I'll be honest, Twilight… I think I'm actually gonna miss you guys," Winter admitted, hanging her head a little. "I've been at this job for years, but… I've never met anypony like you and your friends. I've never had anypony to really call a friend before… and now that I've got all of you, a part of me really doesn't want it to end."

Twilight frowned and put her hoof on Winter's. "I know what you mean. You've been a great friend to all of us, and we're gonna be sad to leave you."

Winter stared at Twilight's hoof for a moment. "To be more honest… I think I'll miss you the most. You're the best friend I've ever had…" She gulped.

"I think I'll miss you the most too, Winter," Twilight said with a smile. "I consider Lockwood and Flathoof and Dawn and her sisters all my friends now, but I definitely think I'll miss you most of all."

"Do you really mean that?"

"Of course I do. I really like spending time with you, and talking about magic and other things, and I've enjoyed learning so much from you about this world and the things in it that I don't understand. You're just… a lot of fun to be with."

"I've enjoyed it too, Twilight. I've enjoyed it a lot. I've never really felt so… at ease with anypony before. Like this: sharin' a drink, just the two of us. I can't imagine doin' this with anypony else…" Winter paused, took a little breath. "I definitely think of you as more than a friend…"

Twilight tilted her head. "You do? What, like a sister?"

"Not… not quite like that…" Winter said, shaking her head. She paused again, then gulped. "Let me show you what I mean."

Twilight was caught completely off guard when Winter leaned forward and kissed her, not on the cheek like Rarity sometimes did or like her parents, not on the forehead like her brother often did when they were younger, but right on the lips. Right on the lips, like her parents did with one another, or like her brother did with Cadence, or like she'd seen other couples do on Hearts and Hooves Day every year.

She didn't really know what to do. A part of her mind was panicking and telling her to do something, to say something, to ask a question or at least try to figure out what was happening. But another part told her to just stop, to relax, and to enjoy it, and it was this part that was winning because the kiss was not an unpleasant feeling in the least.

She didn't mind the feeling of Winter's lips on hers. Nor the feeling of Winter's hoof gently caressing her cheek, nor her other hoof upon her own. She didn't mind the slight taste and smell of Winter's darker beer that lingered on her breath. She didn't mind the thumping sensation in her chest, though she didn't really understand it, nor did she understand the warmth spreading through her.

She found that she did mind, a little, when Winter pulled back, and she subconsciously leaned forward to keep the separation from happening. She started to feel like she was having trouble breathing; her heart was pounding so fast that she could feel it in her chest; her stomach felt like it was tingling.

Whatever was happening, it was a new sensation for her, and altogether it was quite pleasant.

Twilight opened her eyes slowly, looked at Winter's face, and a part of her was practically screaming at her to lean forward and kiss Winter back. She didn't know if that was the sensation in her chest talking, or the one in her gut, or if maybe it was the alcohol, and so she just sat there, perfectly still, not sure how to react.

Winter leaned forward and pressed her nose against Twilight's, and Twilight hesitated for an instant, unsure what she was supposed to do here. Was she supposed to kiss Winter back? Let Winter continue? What? She felt Winter's lips just barely graze hers again, and she leaned forward just enough to keep the contact intimate, not really sure if that was right or not to do.

"We shouldn't do this…" Winter whispered, her breath right on Twilight's chin.

"Why not?" Twilight whispered back, not sure what else to say; the words just came out of her on their own, like she was speaking from some half-forgotten memory.

"We've both been drinkin'," Winter said, pulling back; Twilight leaned forward just enough to keep their noses together for a brief moment. "I'm sorry. We shouldn't…"

Twilight paused and pulled back slightly. "You… you're right, we shouldn't. I read once that it's not a good idea to make decisions while under the influence."

"Exactly." Winter then abruptly stood up. "I… I think you should head back up to your apartment. It's gettin' late."

"Y-yeah. I should." Twilight rose from her seat as well, slowly so that she didn't stumble; she wasn't sure if she was wobbly because of the alcohol or the kiss anymore.

She walked over to the door, and Winter opened it for her. "C'mon, I'll walk ya home," Winter said.

"Thanks."

"Don't… don't mention it…"

*****

When Winter returned to Lockwood's apartment a few minutes later after making sure Twilight made it back to her own apartment safely, the first thing she did was go to the kitchen's liquor cabinet, grab the big bottle of bourbon within, pop off the cap, and take a long swig straight from the bottle.

She didn't bother grabbing a glass whatsoever as she moved to the table and took a seat, feeling more sober now than she had hours ago despite all her drinking. She took another drink, then gently slapped her face right onto the table once, twice, three times, before burying her head in her hooves. She didn't cry, though. She wanted to, but she didn't.

"What the fuck is wrong with me…" she whispered to herself.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Conspiracy

Two Days Later

It was late in the afternoon when Silvertongue opened the door to his bedchambers, carrying along a large container with him which he set alongside his bed for the time being. He took a long breath as he looked out his bedroom window and out on the city beyond, at the towering skyscrapers, at the clouds of smog off in the distance, at the fiery orange sky above.

He often imagined what the northern sky might look like these days if the Beacon's magical aura didn't pour out and obstruct the view. The sun would surely be high overhead by this point. But would there be clouds to obscure it from view, to protect one's eyes from the glare? Would there be a pleasant breeze to kiss his face? If there were clouds, what would the weather be like? Would it be raining? Snowing? Would it be calm, or would it be stormy?

Sometimes his mind drifted to these things when he was alone, because these minor curiosities allowed him to distract his thoughts from things he'd rather not dwell upon. A welcome distraction ensured that he did not meticulously overthink a plan to the point of failure; the best plans were the simple ones, and the simplest plans simply required a little bit of patience and for all those involved to play their parts to the letter.

And now, this plan of his was finally coming to pass. Soon, all of the pieces of the puzzle would slide into their proper slots, and he was eagerly awaiting the results. Every actor had played their roles perfectly; every act of the play had proceeded smoothly along—well, mostly smoothly. He had not accounted for Nihila involving herself directly and introducing her cult into the mix, but with some effort of his own he managed to push things along at the speed that she desired and she'd drawn back.

Now, everything was coming to fruition even before the supposed three-week limit that had been imposed. She'd been pleased with this—the only reason why she hadn't recklessly thrown more of her dedicated secret followers at the issue—and left him to his work.

He let his essence waft about him, calling out to Nihila so that they may converse and coordinate the final act of the play.

She did not wait long to reply. "My Warden, I trust that you bring me good news this day?" she cooed, her voice like silk because she knew she was right.

"I do indeed, my lady," he said calmly, still gazing out upon the city outside. "Everything we have been working towards has come together at long last. Soon, we shall be able to gaze upon the fruits of our labors and rejoice in victory."

"Then it is time to make use of these accursed Elements at long last…" she hissed, her voice rippling with excitement. "Oh, I have waited thousands of years for this opportunity, my Warden. You have done well, if what you say is true."

"I have it in good authority that the Chronomancer has taken my bait," he said with a grin. "She will most assuredly make contact with me within the next few hours, upon which I shall present our offer. She and the Elements do not have the privilege of denying it given their time constraints. The Element Bearers will gladly accept the offer as well when my daughters, whom they trust, stand at my side."

"My pawns have done their job well, then. The Elements' trust in them will be used against them, as is expected of such pathetic insects." Nihila let out a sinister chuckle that made his blood run cold. "I trust that you have ensured that the next stage of the plan can continue as well, my Warden?"

He nodded. "Indeed I have, my lady. I have spent many hours over the past weeks researching the magic that would allow you to directly influence the minds of these Bearers. Once I have performed the ritual, their Light will not protect them from your power; their hearts and minds, their bodies and souls, will be yours to command."

"Exquisite. You do not disappoint, my Warden. At long last, Harmonia will fall and I can drown this world in my Darkness. I will devour every living soul that dares to defy me. I will rain down fire and blood until there is nothing left but ash. And then, my Warden… we shall use this Chronomancer to move on from this world and claim another."

"Of course, my Lady. Have you by chance decided on which world will be your next target?"

"Naturally. The homeworld of these Element Bearers is an ideal location to continue my grand ambitions. I will consume their world as I will soon consume this one. None will stand in my way…"

The elation she felt sent a sickening cold through his stomach, and yet he felt a warmth spread through his heart immediately afterwards. She was so eager for this that he could more than taste it now, like a thick wax on his tongue that numbed everything else.

"They would be fools to try." He bowed low to the ground. "I shall begin preparing the ritual at once, my lady, with your permission."

"Yes, proceed with your work, my Warden."

"It will be done." He paused briefly. "Though, I must inform you that the ritual has some rather strict requirements in order for it to succeed. These Elements are so suffused with Light magic that merely interacting with them in such a capacity may prove impossible for me, so I must take precautions to ensure that nothing befalls the ritual's success."

"Oh? Explain."

He smiled lightly. "If I am being frank, my lady, it is your connection with me that will likely cause our ritual to fail. Your Darkness within my essence will prevent me from establishing a proper connection with the Element Bearers. But fear not, for I have devised a method with which I may temporarily sever our connection, long enough that I can ensure that there is no resistance."

She paused at that. "My Warden, if your words be true, and our connection becomes even temporarily severed, I will be incapable of communicating with you. How long will this severance last?"

"Hours at most. I will proceed with the process immediately, such that it will be complete before the Chronomancer arrives to fall into our trap, for I will be unable to properly perform that portion of the process once I begin the ritual, lest I arouse suspicion. However, as soon as the ritual is completed and I have established the connection with the Bearers, you will know it."

"Hmm… good. Very good. Then I look forward to our next contact, my Warden, for it shall be when we are on the cusp of our victory. Proceed with the ritual as intended. I eagerly anticipate the results."

"Of course, my lady. I believe we are both looking forward to seeing our plans come to fruition at last."

With that, her essence left him, though as always he could still feel her in the very deepest recesses of his mind, where she often lurked such that she could pore over his surface thoughts and emotions at her leisure, as was her right with him as her Warden. It was invasive, but it came with the territory of being the personal avatar of a goddess of evil and misery.

He did not tarry. He opened the container that he had brought into the room with him and lifted from it a simple can that was about the size of his head; seven more such cans rested within the container, each of them sealed up tight. He set this one onto the dresser across from his bed, and gazed in the mirror there for a moment, studying his visage. He started growing accustomed to his new eye by now, to tell the truth.

Next, he stripped off his dress clothes and set them aside. He then pried the lid off of the can using his magic so as not to accidentally spill anything, revealing the contents: a strange blue paint that faintly glowed in the dim room, flecked with sparkling dust that caught what little light came in through the window.

Utilizing his magic rather than a brush, he scooped some of the paint from the can and drew it across his neck in a precise, deliberate manner such that it was perfectly shaped and portioned, such that none of it dripped onto the floor or elsewhere on his body, and such that it molded to the contours of his skin beneath his coat. The process had to be exact; there was absolutely no room for error, or it wouldn't work properly.

He did the same with his ears, his forehead, his legs and chest, his torso, his back; not every inch of his body was coated, but once he was done, he appeared more zebra than pony, which was not entirely inappropriate. The zebras had developed this paint long, long ago and rarely used it in modern days, from his understanding. This particular batch had been kept in Pandora Tower's vault for hundreds of years; nopony from the north traded with the zebras, so it was otherwise impossible to obtain.

And once the paint had been applied in full, Silvertongue was left with a sensation that he had not felt in a very long, long time: isolation. There was no familiar, lingering tingle in the recesses of his mind; his entire body seemed to feel a little lighter, as though a great weight had been lifted from the pit of his gut. As expected, the magical paints fulfilled their purpose exactly as advertised: they cut off his connection to the Darkness that permeated his body as the Warden of Nihila.

To test its effectiveness, however, Silvertongue allowed his essence to flow out around him, to call to Nihila as he had done just moments before.

There was no answer.

He did more than that, and added his own thoughts to his call. "My lady, can you hear me?"

There was no answer.

There was not even the slightest inkling of an answer.

Their connection had truly been severed.

Silvertongue allowed a small smile to creep across his face. With this, the ritual could indeed be completed, and his ingenious plan would finally come to fruition, as intended. There were only a scant few additional concerns left to address, but they wouldn't take long.

He sealed the can of paint that he'd used—less than half of the paint had been needed for a pony of his size—and placed it back within the container, which he then resealed as well. Then, with a flash of his horn, the crate disappeared; it would now be on the roof of Pandora Tower, where the Beacon was exposed, and where he would need to perform the rest of the ritual.

He then waited for the paint to fully dry then dressed himself again, but not in his dress clothes. He opened his wardrobe and drew out his old armor, which he had not worn for a great many years, simply out of a lack of necessity. It resembled his dress clothes greatly—black with a red trim—only the material was that of frostwolf leather, something only found in the far south, in zebra territories, where the hulking wolf-like creatures roamed free. Their hides were incredibly durable, requiring substantial effort to carve through.

Once he'd dressed, he ensured that his mane was straight and tidy and that his teeth were clean and white, and then he walked to the intercom and pressed the button. "Shroud."

"Yes, sir?" came his secretary's voice.

"I am expecting a visitor tonight. They will not arrive via our usual channels, and will likely attempt to breach the perimeter by force. Put security on high alert, but instruct them that I do not want my guest to be harmed."

"And the description of your guest, sir?"

"Female unicorn, icy blue coat, snow white mane, shorter than average height."

"Got it. Shall I contact you immediately when your guest arrives, or shall I go through proper outsider protocols?"

"Contact me immediately and have her taken to my office. Detain any other intruders otherwise, but keep me informed."

He didn't know if the Chronomancer would be reckless enough to try and bring all of the Element Bearers with her before making contact, and it was better not to risk it.

"Very well, sir. Will there be anything else?"

"No, Shroud, that will be all for now. Until my guest has arrived, however, I wish not to be disturbed."

"Of course, sir."

With that, Silvertongue shut off the intercom with a smile and made his way out of his bedchambers and into the hall. Instead of taking a right to head towards the main elevator, he took a left until he reached the end of the hall, where there was nothing more than a window that looked out upon the city. He lit up his horn and made a right turn directly into the wall, whereupon he passed straight through it; a simple spell, really, to create a tangible illusion.

The hallway beyond the illusion was not decorated as the hallway outside, nothing more than bare metal. It was short and ended at a shaft that led straight down, a rail on one side attached to a platform so that one may descend safely. Silvertongue boarded the platform, pulled a lever attached to it, and it sank down along the rail and descended into the tower.

Before long, the bare metal wall before him opened up, revealing an incredibly tall chamber that was otherwise fairly nondescript and empty, save for the single, large, obelisk-like structure that was barely contained within. The tower within a tower—the Beacon—was made of a gleaming black metal that was utterly smooth from top to bottom, emanating a dull orange glow that would filter up into the top of the tower and spread across the sky above until it covered the entire hemisphere.

The distance between the Beacon tower and the lift was only a scant few feet; he could easily leap between the two if he wanted. After all, Pandora Tower had been built expressly to contain the Beacon within it, and did so without frivolous waste of space and material.

When Silvertongue reached the bottom, he hopped off the lift and circled around the Beacon to the opposite side. Here, there was a panel that was easily spotted without much effort, which he then removed with even less effort.

The numerous instruments inside were incredibly complex technomagic apertures and apparatuses that were designed to configure the Beacon when it had first been built. All of their functions were appropriately locked in place; without a very particular tool—one that was unobtainable now—nopony could alter them, and the power needed to otherwise affect the tower was far beyond his scope.

There was, however, a secret panel located just below the set of instruments, one that only he knew about; not a single soul, living or dead or in between, was aware of its existence, including the architects of the Beacon itself. It had been a complicated process, but he'd managed it, and it held a very crucial purpose:

It held a small apparatus within it, which reacted instantly when his horn's magic—and only his magic—interfaced with it.

A layer of metal on the ground slid aside, revealing a small staircase that led beneath the Beacon. Silvertongue descended the staircase and came to a door, upon which were a number of technomagic apparatuses that resembled some pieces of modern technology that these days functioned entirely without magical energy; these still did, for they were from an era long gone, and yet they were still perfectly functional.

The one on the left of the door was used to scan his eyes utilizing some very basic identification magics, precise enough that it would only recognize his eyes; obviously certain types of magic could circumvent this measure, but that was why he had multiple devices. The device confirmed his identity, and the first of three locks opened.

The one on the right required that he provide but a single drop of blood, easy enough to do with a simple prick from a needle. A harder security measure to bypass, though still entirely possible with the right kinds of magic. The device confirmed his identity, and the second lock opened.

The first two locks were designed to give a potential intruder, if they somehow managed to get this far, a glimmer of hope, but their hopes would be dashed when they arrived at the third lock, which was little more than a keypad. It required a password to bypass, one complicated enough that few could hope to memorize it and would require that it be written down, which would be all for naught as it had never been written down or notarized in any capacity.

The technomagic within the device itself was also impervious to modern hacking protocols, which typically relied on attempting every possible combination available in sequence until the correct code was entered; this would fail, as an incorrect attempt would send a lethal shock of electricity through the area with a range that covered hundreds of feet.

Silvertongue had memorized the sequence and kept it locked away in the recesses of his mind so that it would be inaccessible to anypony but himself, and he had done so for a long, long time. But he still knew it by heart, and he entered it now:

One seven three four six seven three two one four seven six three two seven eight nine seven seven seven six four three seven three two seven three one one seven eight eight eight seven three two four seven six seven eight nine seven six four three seven six. Enter.

The device confirmed his identity, and the third and final lock opened, and the door along with it.

The chamber beyond the door was small, only large enough for a single pony to enter comfortably. A tall pedestal sat in the center, upon which was a glowing purple crystal with a golden spark in its center. The crystal was in turn protected by a small orb of magic, only large enough to keep the crystal enclosed within; it was a simple barrier spell, but one that Silvertongue himself had infused with such a complex and potent enchantment that it was unbreakable so long as he drew breath, even by beings as powerful as Nihila and Harmonia.

He stepped into the chamber—the door closed behind him—and circled around to the other side of the pedestal, where there was enough room that he could place his chin upon the edge and be at eye level with the crystal atop it.

"It has been… too long…" he said to the crystal, his voice mellow but quiet, his expression calm but somber. "Far too long. But I am close, now. I am so close… and I felt if anypony deserved to know it, it was you." He set his hoof upon the barrier spell—it wouldn't let him through unless he dismissed it, which he dare not do—and sighed. "Soon. Soon… it will all be over."

As his hoof touched the barrier, it sent a jolt through his body, and he felt a sensation flow through him that he hadn't felt since—

*****

Silvertongue woke from his sleep early, as he always did, and rose from the small bedroll within his tent. He went about his morning routine, grooming himself to perfection because even in the middle of nowhere, he had his standards. He dressed in his traveling clothes and grabbed his new sword—his proper one was far, far from here now, and deserved to be—and set about packing up his camp.

The fiery orange glow of the Beacon loomed overhead, though it had not yet finished permeating the sky entirely; he could still just barely see the light of the sun peeking through the veil of magic, like a light obscured by a bedsheet. In a few short months, the rest of the northern sky would be changed forever, and never again would he gaze upon the sun, the moon, or the stars.

Even now, the Darkness above was affecting the health of the land. The trees nearby were slowly dying, their leaves turning black rather than orange, and here in the middle of what should be the northern spring. The dirt beneath his hooves felt less soft and fertile, already growing hard and barren. He could barely hear the sounds of wildlife, not even so much as a buzzing insect or a distant bird.

But he was listening, so he heard the sound of crumbling rock nearby; someone—pony, gryphon, zebra, it didn't matter—was watching him.

"There is no need to hide," he called out, his horn aglow with its field gripped around his sword's hilt. "Save us both the time and effort."

He looked towards the source of the noise and waited.

A moment later, a unicorn mare emerged, her rich, golden brown coat contrasting with the light blue of her traveling cloak. She wore her long, cream-colored mane such that it curled at the sides to frame her face. She carried no weapons, and didn't need to; but that was not important. She was still the most beautiful mare he had ever known.

"Golden Heart…" he breathed, legitimately surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I think that a better question would be, what are you doing here?" she asked him, taking a step forward. "Are you aware of what they told me when I returned south to assist with the raising of the southern Beacon?"

He did not answer; she didn't let him.

"They told me that you were dead," she said, glaring at him. "They told me that infection had set in, and that those injuries you had sustained in battle had killed you." She glanced at his side, which was perfectly uninjured. "It would seem as though the tales were greatly exaggerated."

"You shouldn't be here," he said simply, keeping his voice calm. "I asked that you and all those most loyal to our mission depart from the north, to ensure that our mission succeeded. The Beacons are now lit; you should be in the south, beyond the Clashing Storm," he added, referring to the deadly storm that was forming along the equator once the Beacons had ignited and their energies clashed.

"Then you should blame your messenger for arriving too quickly," she retorted. "I alone knew that his message was a falsehood. If you were dead, Silver, I would have felt it in my very soul. So I came as soon as I could, to find you, and to find out why you were lying to everypony, to me." She stepped forward again. "What are you doing here?"

He looked upon her, still maintaining his calm demeanor. "That is not for you to know, my Heart—"

"Don't. Don't you lie to me," she said between clenched teeth. "You swore to me, Silver, that you would never lie to me. That you would always be honest and true with me, and that no matter what happened, we would never hide anything from one another. I will ask you again: what are you doing here?"

He closed his eyes and sighed, then turned towards the Beacon's light; it was impossible to see the Beacon itself beyond the horizon, but its light source was easy to see far beyond that. He gestured to it with a gran sweeping of his hoof.

"The Beacons we have built are intended to enshroud our world with the powers of Light and Darkness in equal measure," he said, keeping his back straight and tall. "The world will be in perfect balance. No action, no army, no single individual, will ever shift the scales. There will never again be a war that threatens our world's well-being."

"I have heard this all before, Silver," she said, stepping forward again. "That is why we built the Beacons in the first place. But why are you here? Why are you not in the south, with your friends? Your family? With me? Why are you here in the north?"

"Do you know what fuels the Beacons, Heart?" he asked, still looking off into the distance.

She paused, and shook her head. "No. You never told us the details, only that they would work. We placed our trust in you, as we always have."

"They are powered by the goddesses themselves," he continued. He looked to her now, at the confusion on her face. "I asked Harmonia to lend her power to the southern Beacon, and she agreed. It is her power that permeates through it now, fuels it with energy and keeps it alight. A simple process, though quite permanent now that it is done. Thus, the northern Beacon…"

She took a step forward, following along, but her face showed her disbelief. "No, that's impossible. What you suggest is impossible. How could Nihila have supplied her power to the northern Beacon? She would never agree to such a thing. She craves imbalance, she seeks only death and destruction. How could she possibly—"

She froze, then looked at him, eyes wide. "You didn't…"

"It was the only way," he said, looking back towards the Beacon's orange light. "I made a pact with her to become her Warden, and as part of that pact, she supplied the northern Beacon with her own essence so that it would ignite as well. The world is now perfectly balanced, as it should be. And it always will be."

"You… you betrayed Harmonia?" she whispered.

"Yes and no," he said, shaking his head. "I have betrayed the letter of her ideals, certainly, and must do so in order for Nihila to trust my intentions; but I have never betrayed the spirit of those ideals. I only seek one thing, Heart: balance. Balance between good and evil; life and death; Light and Dark.

"A true betrayal would suggest that I am working against Harmonia, and that is simply not the case. In fact it is impossible. Or at least, it will be. Within a few short weeks, the Clashing Storm will be impenetrable to all, and the south will know nothing but peace and prosperity. Harmonia's lands will be untouchable by Nihila's evil."

She seemed to chew that over in her mind a moment, then looked at him again with hard eyes. "You are avoiding my question, Silver. Why are you here? If you are to be the Warden of Nihila now, what task would she ask of you to prove your loyalty?"

He turned his gaze south, towards the golden mountains in the distance. "Nihila blames the gryphons for the defeat of Blood Beryl's armies. Though they did not take to the field themselves, the supplies and sanctuary they provided us in the war gave us the edge we needed to win." He turned to her again. "She wants revenge now that the southern armies have mostly returned home."

"What are you going to do?" she asked cautiously.

"She tasked me to develop a magical plague of her design. 'Red Death', she calls it. It will kill every living soul in Aeropolis within an hour and shred them down to dust. There will be nothing left of the gryphon empire but dust and echoes. Now that that is done, I am tasked with releasing it."

Her eyes widened. "What? No! Silver, you can't!"

"I must. If I do not, then Nihila will simply kill me and find some other loyal servant to do it, and then what?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. "The north will rise up, as it has done before, and though it may take a century, two centuries, a thousand years, they will rise up again, and there will be nopony to stop it. I must maintain the balance."

"They are our allies, Silver! You would betray—"

"I will do what I must," he said, his voice calm and low. "For the sake of the future, I must be prepared to do unspeakable things."

"There has to be some other way."

"There is no other way."

She approached him, getting close enough to put her hoof on his chest. "It's not too late. It's not too late, Silver. If we flee south, before the Clashing Storm forms, Harmonia can help put an end to this forever. We… we can reform the army, and ensure that Nihila never raises an army of her own again. The Beacon is up already, right? She can't do anything about that. You said so."

He shook his head. "The power that she sends through it now is merely a demonstration of trust within me. If I do not do this task she has demanded of me to prove my loyalty, she will withdraw her energy from the Beacon, and all will be lost."

She stepped back from him, disbelief all over her features, but she said nothing.

He approached her now, calmly. "Go back south, my Heart. Go home. Be with our friends and your family. Forget about me. Forget about the north. There is still time before the Storm becomes impossible to cross."

"Silver, please… you don't have to do this…" she said, tears in her eyes. "We were… we were supposed to—"

"I know…" he said, stepping forward again and embracing her. "If there were any other way, I would have taken it."

She shook her head, and gently pushed away from him before stepping back. "I know what I have to do, then…"

He paused. "Heart…"

She glared at him. "If this is what you must do to ensure your place by Nihila's side, then I will do what I must do as a servant of Harmonia to protect from harm those that Nihila wishes to destroy. I swore an oath, just as you once did."

He clenched his teeth. "Heart, I cannot let you interfere with this. This is too important. This is bigger than me, bigger than you."

She turned to him, standing tall. "Then you know what must be done."

He closed his eyes. "Do not make me do this, my Heart. Please."

"I will do what I must," she replied, taking a step towards him. "We both have our principles. I will stand by mine. Will you stand by yours?"

He hesitated for a brief moment, looking into her eyes after reopening his own.

Then, in a flash, his sword pierced straight into her heart, held aloft with his magic.

As he withdrew the blade, she collapsed forward, right into Silvertongue's hooves. He embraced her, holding her as closely as he possibly could, running his hoof softly through her mane. His horn was aglow, its light covering the wound; he could easily heal it, but he fought the desperate urge to do so and simply focused on dulling her pain.

She reached up to put her hoof on his cheek. "Now… nothing will hold you back…" she breathed.

"No. Nothing will." With his magic, he took from his satchel a large purple gemstone, which he then pressed gently against her chest. "I am sorry…"

She glanced down briefly at the gem, then back to him. "What…?"

"A soulstone. The only one left in all the north," he said, a weak smile on his face. "It was meant for myself, should I fail in my mission. But I will not let Nihila have you, my Heart. I promise."

She put her hoof over his, pressing the gem closer into his chest; her blood caked his hooves now. "Stay true… to your ideals… my beloved. Promise…" Her eyes lit up briefly, and her lips moved only just, but no further sound issued forth.

As her eyes dimmed, Silvertongue clutched her closer to himself. "I promise you, Golden Heart. My Heart."

Within the little purple gemstone, a golden light flickered into existence.

*****

Silvertongue gazed upon the soulstone as it sat there within the shield, a weak smile on his face.

"It will be over soon, my Heart. Everything that I have worked for, everything that I have sacrificed for, will all be realized. I have never forgotten my promise to you." He sighed. "I have done many unspeakable things over these great many years. But I have never looked back. The only thing I wish had been different… is what happened to you.

"You should have been able to lead a long, fulfilling life. A life of peace and happiness, surrounded by friends and loved ones." He smirked as old, vague memories came to him. "I remember a time when you and I had wanted to start a family together, even after Harmonia made me her Warden.

"In the end, I did adopt six wonderful mares that are now my daughters." He shook his head and laughed. "I know you would love them. You would love them as though they were your own flesh and blood, because you always had a big heart, with room enough for every creature.

"The youngest, Golden Dawn, she reminds me of you. She looks exactly like you, actually. Perhaps some part of my memory influenced that, knowing that there was a new light in the darkness. She's very intelligent, even if she can be a bit full of herself at times." He chuckled and stroked the barrier lovingly. "She brought a box of donuts to share with me the other morning, claiming they were the greatest thing in the entire—"

The intercom on the ceiling clicked, drawing his attention. "Sir, your guest has arrived."

Silvertongue rose up and straightened his armor, his face becoming hard again. "Very good, Shroud. Have her sent to my office; I will be there shortly."

"Of course, sir."

Silvertongue walked back around the pedestal and opened the door, but gave one glance back at the crystal therein. "Soon, my Heart. Soon, it will all be worth it."

For a brief moment, he was certain that he saw the golden light within the crystal flicker in acknowledgement.

*****

Silvertongue only had to wait in his office for a few minutes before the Chronomancer was shown in by one of the Tower's armed security guards. She looked exactly as he expected based on all of the information he'd been given thus far: a little on the short side, all the proper colorations, etc. The expression on her face told him all he needed to know otherwise: she wasn't exactly happy to be shoved around by a guard.

"Watch where you're puttin' those hooves, or I'll shove that gun right up your ass, mate!" she spat at the guard as the door closed.

Okay, so her language indicated that too. Everything he'd heard about her so far indicated that she was a feisty one, but it was still amusing in a way.

She turned to look at him behind his desk, where he sat calmly and watched her behind steepled hooves. "Alright, so, you must be the big boss of this here tower, eh?" she said as she straightened her turtleneck.

"That I am," he replied. He gestured towards the chair opposite him. "Have a seat."

"Thanks." She took the seat easily. He was impressed to see that she wasn't even remotely nervous, or at least that she was hiding it exceedingly well.

"My security team caught you snooping around outside the Tower. May I ask why?" he asked, probing to see her reaction.

"I'm lookin' for somepony," she said simply, meeting his eyes with her own. "I don't suppose you'd know 'em?"

"That depends entirely on who you're looking for, Miss… I don't believe I caught your name."

"Winter Glow," she said with a nod. "And you are?"

"Lord Silvertongue," he said with a nod of his own.

"'Lord', eh? Like this place is some kind of fuckin' castle?"

He smirked; he could appreciate a candid attitude, and admired her lack of being intimidated by him. It was so rare to speak with anypony that didn't immediately fear how he'd react to anything and everything they said. Even psychopaths like Shadowstep were—or had been—careful with their tones and choices of words. But not this one.

"Isn't it?" he replied, leaning back in his seat a little. "Apart from the modern technology that proliferates the building, I would say that Pandora Tower meets practically every definition of what a castle is."

She leaned back in her seat as well. "Fair point, my lord," she said with a cocky smile. "What's with all that paint all over your face? That part of bein' a lord or somethin'?"

"Not exactly. At the moment it is of no importance to you. What is important is why you're here, however." He got up from his seat and walked over to look out the window. "So, you say that you're looking for somepony? Who, exactly, might you be looking for?"

"The Warden of Nihila," she said without a hint of hesitation. Again, he found that to be an admirable trait; she was straightforward and didn't mince her words or hide her opinions or intentions.

"Ah, interesting. And you thought you could find this 'Warden of Nihila' here at Pandora Tower, I take it? Why is that?"

"I'll spare you the details—"

He grinned, wanting to test her knowledge. "No no, I'd rather like to hear the details, actually."

She paused, then shrugged. "Alright. I'm sure ya know that this Tower is built around somethin' called a Beacon, and that the Beacon generates the magical aura that covers the whole northern hemisphere, eh? Well, the goddess known as Nihila—who's real, by the way—is the source of that power. With me so far?"

He smiled so that she could see it in the reflection on the glass. "I believe so."

"Well, anyway, Nihila employs some mortal pony called a 'Warden' that serves as her avatar of sorts. I have it in good authority that this Warden possesses some of the same energy that Nihila does, so I tracked that energy here. There was enough of a discrepancy in energy readings that it was the only place the Warden could be."

"A perfectly logical conclusion." Silvertongue turned, his smile still on his face. "Well, I believe congratulations are in order, Miss Glow—you've located the Warden of Nihila. Quite the job well done, if I might say."

She smirked. "Yeah, I sort of figured that. You just look like the kind of guy I'd expect to be a Warden of Nihila, actually. Is that getup like a uniform or somethin'?"

"I suppose it is, in a way. Nihila expects certain things from her Wardens, and it is of utmost importance that I remain in her good graces." He retook his seat and steepled his hooves before him again. "So, Miss Glow, now that you've found me, what exactly can I do for you? You're the first pony in hundreds of years to speak with a Warden of Nihila directly and acknowledge them as such. Quite an accomplishment."

"I've come to ask you a favor, on that only you and Nihila can help with."

"Oh? Do tell."

"Do you know what a Chronomancer is, by any chance?"

He did, naturally, but needed to play the role of being relatively uninformed. "I am familiar with the title, but please," he said with a gesture of his hoof, "enlighten me. It does not crop up often."

"Well, the short version is, we're agents deployed on multiple worlds that protect those worlds from destruction by an outside force called 'Void'," she explained; he appreciated her humoring him while also keeping her explanations brief, since it led him to assume that she assumed that he was smart enough to follow along.

"Other worlds, you say?"

"Yeah, and that's all I can say on the matter, because it's supposed to be a secret. The fact that I'm speakin' with ya is due to a serious emergency situation, and I'm required to bend protocol to fix the problem."

"And what is this 'problem'?"

"Six mares from another world accidentally ended up travelin' to this one, and it's my job as Chronomancer to send them back. Normally, I would wait for a natural means of doin' so, but these mares are important to their world for reasons I'm not at liberty to explain, and I have to have them back home… soon. Within the next few days, ideally."

"I see. And where do Nihila and I come into the picture?"

"Nihila and Harmonia are the only creatures on this world powerful enough to create an artificial means of sendin' these mares home. I did not have the time or the confidence that I could safely get them to Harmonia in the time frame I was given, so I've spent the last couple of weeks tryin' to find you so that we could ask Nihila instead."

"And what makes you think Nihila, a goddess with dominion over disparity, evil, and suffering, would deign to help you?"

She smirked; she'd clearly awaited this question and had a practiced response. "Because if she doesn't and these mares stay in this world, then this world's balance is set to shift in Harmonia's favor, and in fact it already has. It's in Nihila's best interests to see to it that these mares are sent home."

"That is certainly a fair point." He leaned back in his chair, making a show of considering her words. "I think we might be able to help each other, Miss Glow."

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? Just like that?"

"Oh, no, not 'just like that', not at all," he said with a smile. "You make a good point that it is Nihila's interest to help, and I agree with it, and Nihila will as well, I assure you. However, Nihila is not Harmonia; she is not generous or kind, and cares not for the well-being of others. She will agree to help you, yes." He then leaned forward in his seat. "But she will want something in return."

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Culmination

Everypony had gathered in Lockwood's apartment for the last time. It was late in the evening, several hours after dinner time in fact, but the late hour was of no importance to anypony present.

Twilight and her friends had collected together all of the stuff that they'd be bringing along with them—clothes for the trip through the city, clothes they wanted to keep, assorted knick-knacks, etcetera—and were just making themselves ready for the big moment. It was so close that Twilight could almost smell the dried ink on the pages of every book in her library.

"So, this is it, huh?" Flathoof said once everypony had gathered together and finished packing up their things. "The big day, here at last. I can't imagine that any of you aren't excited as all get-out right now."

Though he had a smile on his face, Twilight could tell that it was a mixed emotion. He wasn't the only one feeling happy that she and her friends were finally going home, but he also wasn't the only one feeling just a little bit sad that they were as well. Though she and Flathoof hadn't known each other as well as he did Applejack or even Fluttershy, she still remembered the effort he'd gone through on the very first day they'd met. If not for his goodwill—his sense of duty to protect those in need—she and her friends would've never gotten this far.

"We've been lookin' forward to this for a long time," Applejack said, adjusting her stetson over her eyes a bit. "We're all excited. I can't wait to get back home and hug mah brother 'n' sister 'n' granny. To get a chance to buck a real tree again and eat a big ol' juicy apple. To smell all of the fresh air out by the orchard…"

She then just walked up and threw her hooves around him in a big hug. "But I'm gonna miss ya, ya big lug. You 'n' all your family, who've been as much a family to me over these past few weeks as my own."

He returned the hug earnestly. "They're all gonna miss you too, AJ. I'm gonna miss you. You really have been like a member of the family, and it always hurts to see your family have to go, no matter the reason."

After Applejack broke the hug and stepped back, Fluttershy approached Flathoof as well, not quite anxious as much as she was just slightly nervous. "Thank you for everything, Flathoof," she said with a small smile.

"Of course, Fluttershy," he replied with a grin. "It was my pleasure."

"Take care of Lockwood, okay? I know you will whether I ask or not, but… I just wanted to say it anyway."

"I will."

"And… take care of Gray, too," she added with a small bit of red in her cheeks. "Please? Take care of her for me?"

Flathoof arched an eyebrow slightly. "I… will? I don't think she's the sort of mare that needs anypony to take care of her. Seems like she's perfectly capable on her own."

Fluttershy hid her face behind her mane, a little redder still, but just nodded and said nothing more.

The door to the apartment opened, and Lockwood entered. He was alone.

"Nothing?" Twilight asked, disappointed.

He shook his head, a confused frown on his face. "No, nothing. They're not in their apartment, or at least they're not answering the door or the phone." He gave an apologetic look to the gathered mares. "Apologies, everypony. I tried my best, even tried calling around to a few friends to see if they knew anything. No dice."

"It's alright," Twilight sighed. "I wasn't able to get in contact with Dawn, either. She didn't even show up at the library today, at least according to Archimedes."

"Yeah, same thing with Havoc," Rainbow added, scratching her head. "There was supposed to be a practice session today to make sure the new seeker gets folded into the team dynamic and everything, but Rainslick said that Havoc left early and didn't even say where she was going. Must be some kind of emergency?"

Pinkie drooped, plopping down onto her rear. "Awww… so we're not gonna get to say goodbye to all of our other friends?" she asked, a large frown spreading across her face.

"It seems that way, darling," Rarity said, patting Pinkie's shoulder and seeming just as disappointed. "I did so want to see my darling Insipid one last time, if only to make certain that she understood why I was leaving. The poor dear doesn't really understand why we're going 'home'; this is home, as far as she's concerned. I wish I could tell her the truth…"

"Not to sound pessimistic, but it could be a family emergency," Twilight suggested. "They're all sisters, so… maybe something happened? They don't talk often about their father, but from everything I've heard they all love him dearly." She shook her head. "I hope everything's alright…"

"I think we have enough of a melancholy vibe going around the room at the moment," Lockwood said with a slight smile. "I'm sure everything will be fine. But you girls, you should be in higher spirits. You're going home! This should be a red-letter day for all of you. The entire past few weeks have been leading up to this very moment."

"You're right, darling," Rarity said, stepping towards him. "While it might be sad to think of our friends being in trouble, I know they wouldn't want us to bring ourselves down on such a joyous occasion. If they didn't tell anypony about what's happening, they clearly don't want anypony involved, and we should respect that and focus on our own circumstances."

"That's right," Lockwood agreed. "And don't any of you worry, I'll be sure to keep in touch with them and make sure that they're all okay. If there's anything I can do to help them out, then you know I'll take care of it, I promise."

"I wouldn't expect anything less of such a wonderful gentlecolt, darling." Rarity leaned forward and kissed Lockwood on the cheek; Twilight wasn't quite sure but it seemed a little friendlier than one of her normal cheek pecks. "You're been a good friend to me, Lockwood. To all of my friends. I will miss you dearly, and I want you to know that I cherish the time that I've gotten to know you."

Lockwood gave her a small, sad smile, and took her hoof in his. "I hope nothing but the best for you and your friends when you return home, Rarity. It certainly has been a pleasure knowing you. Knowing all of you," he added, glancing at the others.

Fluttershy approached Lockwood and wrapped her hooves around him in a hug very suddenly.

"Oh! Especially you, my number one assistant," Lockwood chuckled, returning the hug and patting her back.

"Please, Lockwood, take care of yourself," she said softly. "Stay safe, okay? Stay safe for me? I don't want to go home and worry about if anything is going to happen to you. I will anyway of course, but please… just let me know that you'll be careful? I just need to hear it."

"I will, Fluttershy, I promise. I've got a feeling that my days of brazenly putting myself in harm's way are drawing to a close," he said with a laugh.

Winter cleared her throat from the doorway, having just arrived. "Sorry to interrupt, everypony, but we have to get goin'. We're expected to be at Pandora Tower at midnight sharp, and we'll just make it if we leave within the next couple of minutes."

Twilight, who found it a little difficult to look at Winter for some reason, simply gave her a little nod. She wasn't sure if it was because she was nervous, angry, or sad, really; this was an entirely new emotion to her, a new experience that she didn't understand and had never read about before or even taken an interest in. There weren't any essays or books or articles on what to do if your best friend kissed you and you liked it and then she barely talked to you for two days.

She'd checked.

"Well, everypony, this is it," Twilight said, turning to her friends with a smile. "Let's go home."

*****

The little group arrived in the vicinity of Pandora Tower at exactly two minutes before midnight. Winter led them over to an area outside the tower's perimeter, in a spot that was otherwise fairly inconspicuous but that she seemed to think was important, at least from what Twilight could tell. She had everypony gather around her in the spot that she'd designated, and then had them all just stand there and… wait.

Not one of them said a word, not until the stroke of midnight when without warning, the ground around them glowed bright blue, forming a circle made up of strange markings.

"Whoa!" Rainbow blurted. "What the hay?"

"What's goin' on?" Applejack asked, looking to Twilight and Winter for an answer.

"This is an advanced teleportation matrix," Twilight breathed as she glanced at the symbols and markings.

"Correct," Winter said with a nod. "Hold on, everypony, and maybe clench up a bit. If you've never been teleported before, this sometimes gets—"

The entire group vanished with a bright flash.

*****

Silvertongue stood on a raised section of the roof of Pandora Tower, high above the city, so far above that he could see the smog cover that coated the air like a blanket. The smog was drastically thinner around the Inner Districts bordering the Tower's perimeter, and entirely absent around the Tower itself. A pillar of fiery orange light cascaded up into the sky through a cavity in the rooftop, pulsing from its source within the Beacon.

At his side, standing at dutiful attention, were his six daughters, who each remained silent and stood tall and proud. They were dressed not in their usual clothing but in simple robes of black silk with red trim, and nothing more; the robes had been tailored to loosely fit their forms so that even the larger Gray Skies did not strain against tight clothing. He wanted them all to be comfortable for what was to come.

His black-and-gold eye pulsed at the sudden influx of magic sparkling behind him; he'd gotten used to it reacting to things at this point. His mouth curled in a grin, and he watched as the seven mares he was so eagerly expecting warped into existence before him.

"—nasty," uttered Winter, clearly having been caught mid-sentence.

He watched as a small number of the Element Bearers heaved slightly and staggered about as though dizzy or ill; the effects of sudden teleportation, especially if one wasn't used to the sensation, could induce nausea, disorientation, and in fringe cases even temporary loss of certain sensations such as hearing or smell.

"Ugh, why does everything taste blue?" blurted Rainbow as she tried to scrape the alien sensation off of her tongue.

"I think I'm going to be ill," complained Rarity, clutching her stomach as if ready to vomit at any moment.

It took a moment—only a few seconds, really—for the group to reorient themselves and realize not only where they were, but that they were not alone. He did not pity them for the utter confusion that rackled their features, for not only were they still dizzy or nauseous from the teleportation, but they were now on the roof of Pandora Tower, and they were beholden not only to the sight of himself, but of his daughters—their friends—in what likely seemed to be outlandish attire compared to what they were used to.

His daughters remained at attention, though it was clear some of them more than others wanted to say something reassuring to their friends. Insipid was barely able to stop glancing in Rarity's direction, for example, and Velvet and Havoc were each nervously tapping their hooves as if they were resisting the urge to wave at Pinkie and Rainbow, respectively; Havoc in particular was sweating and biting her lip.

As expected, only Gray and Dawn maintained their composure; Curaçao did as well, but that was to be expected since she had no deeper connection with the others.

"Dawn?" muttered Twilight, taking a step forward; she was least affected by the teleportation sickness, it seemed, likely because she was skilled in teleportation herself. "What is this? What's going on? Why are you here?" She turned to Winter, narrowing her eyes. "You didn't say anything about Dawn being here."

"I didn't know she was gonna be here, either," said Winter, turning her gaze to Silvertongue. "Ya failed to mention that part."

"Because at the time, it was irrelevant to the situation at hoof," he replied. "It is relevant now, of course, but what would prematurely informing you of their presence here have accomplished, I wonder?"

"Probably would've saved a bit of confusion," Winter grunted. She turned to the others and gestured towards him. "Ladies, introducin' Lord Silvertongue, the Warden of Nihila in the flesh. He's agreed to get us in touch with Nihila so that I can finally send ya back home to your friends and families, eh?"

"So this is the guy you and Twi have been trying to get in touch with all this time?" Rainbow asked, eyeing him up and down.

"Indeed I am," Silvertongue said with a slight bow. "A pleasure to meet your acquaintances. Though our meeting is to be a rather short one, I think we can all agree that there is something to look forward to in the course of tonight's events."

"Dawn, what's going on?" Twilight asked again, stepping towards her friend—her counterpart—with genuine concern. "Do you know him?"

Dawn looked to her father for approval; he nodded. So, she turned to Twilight, her smile slight but genuine. "Our father has tasked us with an important undertaking, Twilight: we are to assist with tonight's endeavors. I was admittedly oblivious to the fact that you and your companions originated from an alien world, but Father has informed me that we are to transport you home."

Twilight stepped back, utterly confused. "Wait… this is your father? Your father is the Warden of Nihila?"

Dawn nodded, slightly embarrassed, or perhaps disappointed that she hadn't been told. "I was only apprised of that fact in more recent hours. Had I been aware of this at an earlier point in time, I would have presented you with such information, I promise."

"You're sayin' ya really didn't know?" Winter scoffed. "You'll forgive me if I find that hard to believe, Dawn."

"It is not a fabrication, I assure you," Dawn said, a genuine expression of worry on her face, clearly afraid that her friends doubted her. "I swear, had I known, I would not have hesitated to inform you or Twilight. I was just as bewildered as you when I learned of it. I did not know."

"What about the rest of you?" Rainbow asked, narrowing her eyes at Havoc. "Did you know?"

Havoc quickly shook her head. "No! I swear, dude, I had no idea! I don't even know what the hell's going on! Pops just told us all to be here, explained a couple things like that my best friend is an alien, apparently, and said that we're supposed to help you guys get back to your planet or whatever! I don't know what a 'Warden' is, or what a 'Nihila' is, or anything!"

"None of us did," Gray said simply, looking towards Fluttershy, who was just giving her a soft look as though unsure if she should feel hurt or not.

"My only knowledge on the subject of Nihila is what we discovered in the midst of our research," Dawn explained.

"So then you at least know that your father, as her Warden, is a servant of a goddess of evil, right?" Twilight asked, eyes narrowed. "I'm beginning to think that there's more to this situation that you're telling us. Tell me the truth, Dawn."

Dawn raised an eyebrow. "I do not know what you—"

"You didn't just walk into the library that morning by happenstance, did you?" Twilight asked, stepping toward Dawn, a hard look in her eyes. "You were sent there by your father, I take it? To do what? To lure me and my friends here into some kind of trap? To pretend to be my friend?"

"No!" Dawn blurted, looking hurt. "I mean… yes, I was assigned to interact with you by my father. That much is a legitimate fact. But there was no malevolent intent! I swear to you, it was never my intention to bring harm to you or your companions. I swear—"

"How am I supposed to believe that?" Twilight asked, shaking her head. "You lied to me, all this time. I thought we were friends—"

"We are friends, Twilight—"

"You lied to me!" Twilight turned to look at Dawn's sisters, leveling her glare at them now. "You all lied to all of us!"

"Hey," Havoc huffed, "just because our dad sent us to find you, doesn't mean that—"

"Oh, shut up, Havoc," Rainbow grunted. "Twi's right, you straight up lied to me. I thought we were friends, but now you're telling me that the only reason we met at all was because you were sent to find me? So what, that I would trust you enough to fall into this little trap? Well, way to go, it worked. Are you happy?"

"Do I look happy to you?!" Havoc snapped, gesturing at her herself. "I'd be just fine if I didn't have to listen to you accuse me of lying or not being your friend, because I am your friend."

"I can't believe I told you all those things about me!" Rainbow sputtered. "I told you things I haven't told anypony else for years, things I haven't even talked to Pinkie about. I trusted you."

"I swear, Dash, I didn't know!"

Silvertongue cleared his throat. "If everypony here wants to have somepony to throw the blame at for all of these misunderstandings, then direct your blame towards me," he said, giving everypony present a hard look. He turned to Twilight and Rainbow. "Yes, my daughters did indeed come to you and your friends under false pretenses. But that is my doing, not theirs. They were doing only what I asked of them."

"'Just following orders' is hardly a good excuse—" Twilight started.

"Tell me, Miss Sparkle, were you or any of your companions harmed in the process of this grand deception? Did my daughters ever attack you, or direct you into a situation that caused you pain or misery? Did they mock you, insult you, belittle you? Did they give you any reason to think that they were anything but trustworthy?"

"Well, no, but—"

"In fact, I have been led to believe that it is by my daughters' very presence in your lives that one amongst you is still healthy in body and mind," he continued, looking briefly towards Pinkie. "Were my daughters at fault for that situation? No, they were not. If anything they attempted to rectify it."

"Well, yes, but—"

"I gave them one task, Miss Sparkle, and one task only: to find you and your friends, to gain your trust and confidence, and to provide you with aid in any way that they could during your brief time here in my world until you could be returned home. They were unaware of your alien nature, only that you needed help, and I believe they have done just that."

"Then they still befriended us on false pretenses—"

"And yet the friendships are real," he said, his tone hard. "My daughters have been quite forthcoming with how they all feel about each of you, and despite the admittedly false pretenses that led to your initial contacts, I did not provide them any additional guidance, I did not instruct them to manipulate or deceive you further, and I did not advise them to do anything but to be of help."

He turned to Rainbow, specifically. "Whatever it is that you and my daughter spoke of in private, I assure you, she never revealed it to anypony, least of all myself. Your outburst earlier is the first I'm hearing of anything of the sort."

Rainbow snorted. "And I'm supposed to believe that just because you said it?"

"It's true, dammit!" Havoc shouted, practically on the verge of tears. "I never told anypony, I swear! I would never do that to you, Dash!"

"We are your friends, Twilight," Dawn said with a sad smile, putting her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Please… believe me. Everything between us, all of us, was genuine."

Twilight paused to glance at Dawn's hoof, then looked to her friends. "Girls… what do you think?"

Pinkie spoke first. "I always thought it was kind of convenient that Velvet and I met the way we did, but I never really questioned it, y'know? And now that I know why that happened… I'm not mad." She looked to Velvet with a smile. "Velvet… she's been a good friend to me, Twilight. She saved my life! If she was out to do something bad to me, why would she do something like that?"

Rainbow crossed her hooves. "I'm still kind of pissed that Havoc lied to me," she said, looking straight at Havoc. "But you know what? Pinkie's right: if Havoc was going to try and do something bad to me, she could've done it when we were outside the city. None of you would've known what happened or who did it."

"I trust Gray," Fluttershy said, coming out from behind her mane and looking right at the larger pegasus. "I know that she'd never hurt me, or any of my friends."

Applejack shrugged when Twilight looked in her direction. "Y'know, I can't really say much on the whole thing. Yeah, alright, they were dishonest goin' about first meetin' y'all, but I ain't seen 'em be anythin' but decent ponies. I mean, yeah, part of me says that this could all still be a trap, but… I figure we should give 'em the benefit of the doubt for now, right?"

"I'll be honest, this doesn't really bother me at all," Rarity admitted with a little shrug. "Think of it, Twilight: didn't Princess Celestia do something just like this to you? Sending you to Ponyville with the express instructions to meet with all of us in turn so that we could all become friends? Rather like an arranged marriage, in a sense."

Twilight paused, then gave a slow nod. "You're right, Rarity… Princess Celestia did pretty much the same thing with me." She shook her head. "But… but that was because she had a secret motivation that I didn't know about at the time. What if that's the same thing happening here?" She turned to Silvertongue and narrowed her eyes. "Why did you send your daughters to befriend us?"

Winter crossed her hooves over her chest. "I'd like to know that as well. I thought that ya didn't know anythin' about the situation until I told ya what was goin' on."

Silvertongue gave Winter a brief grin. "As the Warden of Nihila, it is my duty to be informed of the goings on within this grand city, to seek out discrepancies and curiosities and investigate them thoroughly. Naturally, the sudden arrival of six mares claiming to be from a place that doesn't exist was quite the curiosity.

"I investigated them. And, over the course of this investigation, I came to the only logical conclusion: these mares weren't from this world at all, but from another." He gestured towards Winter briefly. "I did tell you that I had heard the term 'Chronomancer' before, and that was no lie. It certainly helped to piece together the puzzle, even if my knowledge of your order is rather limited."

"So, wait… you knew all along that these six were from another world, and that they needed to get home?" Winter asked, scratching her head. "But… if that's the case, why didn't ya contact me sooner? We could've gotten them home weeks ago!"

"Would you have trusted me if I came to you then?" he asked.

"I don't trust you now," she retorted.

"Touché," he chuckled. "You will know the reason soon enough, I assure you. For now, I think it might be best if we go through with what we all came here to do."

"Just so that we're all on the same page, that would be contacting Nihila so that I can send these girls home?"

"Exactly," Silvertongue said with a nod. "I fully intend to fulfill my promise to you, Miss Glow, for helping you is entirely within my best interests, as you were keen to point out in our earlier discussion."

"Yeah, and you also said that Nihila was gonna want somethin' in return for goin' through with it. You still haven't told me what that is."

"You will know shortly," he said with a nod. "The first order of business, of course, is contacting her, and for that, I require some assistance. She wishes to speak with all of you directly, and she cannot do that through my connection with her alone." He gestured towards the wide space between himself and the Beacon's light. "So, shall we proceed?"

Winter looked to Twilight, who looked to her friends, who all nodded in agreement. "What do we have to do?" she asked.

"The process is complicated, and will best be accomplished if everypony works together," he explained as he stepped over to the sealed container he had placed nearby, upon which was a small datapad that he had brought along. "Dawn, Miss Sparkle, and Velvet, first I have a task for you."

The trio shared a brief look between themselves, then stepped forward, upon which Silvertongue passed the datapad over to Dawn. She activated it, displaying an image of a circle decorated with bizarre markings that looked similar to the ones etched across his face and neck. Dawn and Twilight both eyed the image with curious glances, sharing brief looks at one another; Velvet was at a loss.

"A runic circle," he explained so that they wouldn't need to ask for clarification. "One of the many wondrous fields of study that the gryphons perfected, though it has its basis primarily in zebra culture, usually for religious purposes. The patterns of runes in this circle are very, very precise, and I only trust unicorns with a certain practiced skill to create it."

"If it's so delicate, why aren't you doing it yourself?" Twilight asked.

"A fair question, but I'm afraid I need to save what magic I have for the final phase of this task, otherwise I would at the very least assist. I believe I can trust the two of you with this, yes?"

"I assure you, Father, your confidence is not misplaced," Dawn said with a grin. "Twilight and I am up to the task."

"This runic circle requires more than just magic, though," Twilight noted. "It would require a sort of paint, and… oh." She paled. "It specifically requires… b-blood to operate. A lot of blood. I don't know if I'm comfortable with—"

"Fear not, Miss Sparkle, I assure you that there will be no need to obtain blood from any sort of victim." He gestured to Velvet with a grin. "My daughter Velvet will be of assistance to you in that regard."

Velvet's eyes widened and she pointed at herself. "Me? B-but, I thought—"

"The task we are undertaking tonight, my dear, countermands my previous wishes that you hide your abilities."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Abilities?"

Silvertongue nodded at Velvet and passed her a dagger from a sleeve on his armor. She hesitantly nodded back, giving a nervous look to Twilight, then pressed the dagger against her chest.

"No, wait!" Twilight blurted.

Velvet drew the blade across her skin, spilling just a little bit of blood before passing the dagger back to her father. Then, using her special powers, she willed the blood to flow out of herself and form a tendril of sorts in front of her face, which twitched and waved at her command.

Twilight's jaw dropped. "You… but… h-how—"

"All of my daughters possess certain magical traits that are unique to them," Silvertongue explained. "I will not delve further into the hows and whys, but suffice to say that some are crucial for performing this ritual tonight. Do you recognize the magic Velvet possesses, Miss Sparkle?"

She nodded slowly. "Hemomancy. Blood magic. B-but… she's not a unicorn—"

"And yet she possesses the ability all the same. Again, I will not delve into it any further. Just know that it is with these gifts that my daughters are helping you return home, Miss Sparkle. And fear not, Velvet is in no pain," he added, turning to his daughter. "Are you, my dear?"

She shook her head. "No, Daddy."

"Good. So, Velvet, you are to provide the 'paint' for Dawn and Twilight's 'brushes', as it were. As said, these runic markings need to be drawn in blood, and your abilities provide an inexhaustible, nonviolent source that will not require the deaths of any innocent lives, plus, your control over your blood should allow you to correct mistakes easily."

"You got it, Daddy!" She turned to Dawn and Twilight. "C'mon, let's paint the town red. Ha ha!"

Twilight just shook her head. "This… is very uncomfortable…"

The trio of them stepped over to where Silvertongue directed them and immediately set to work on their assigned task. Silvertongue then turned towards his daughters again. "Havoc, I have a task for you as well. Come here."

Havoc trotted over, a smile on her face as she ignited one of her hooves. "Sure thing, Pops. What do you need me to do?"

Rainbow's eyes widened. "Oh, snap! You've got powers too, dude?"

Havoc gave Rainbow a little grin. "Hell yeah I do!" She demonstrated by shooting a little fireball up into the air, where it exploded with a tiny pop. "Neat, huh?"

"'Neat'? Dude, you can shoot fire out of your hooves! That's awesome!"

"I mean, it's not as awesome as flying at supersonic speeds," Havoc said with a little shrug.

"I mean, yeah, obviously, but it's almost as awesome," Rainbow added with a smirk.

Silvertongue cleared his throat to get Havoc's attention back to him.

"Oh. Right. Sorry, Pops," she said with a nervous chuckle. "So, what've got for me?"

"Once Dawn, Twilight, and Velvet have finished their work on the runic circle, I require it to be properly encircled with flames of a very specific intensity," he explained. "Four thousand degrees Fahrenheit, to be precise. You will need to maintain the flames until the ritual has been completed, which will take several minutes. Can you do that?"

"Hell yeah I can!" Havocwing boasted. "That's no problem for a pro like me! You just watch, I'll make you proud!"

He turned to Rarity next. "Miss Rarity, I have a task for you as well."

Rarity pointed at herself. "For me?"

"Indeed."

He took another datapad off of the container and passed it over to her, turning it on so that it displayed a three-dimensional image of a pony covered in the same markings Silvertongue himself was. He then opened the container itself and gestured at the cans of paint within, which he lifted out and then opened with his magic to avoid spillage.

"This paint has been enchanted for a very specific purpose, that being to protect individuals that are involved in a later step in this ritual's process. Yourself and your friends will be unaffected and do not require any application as such, but myself and my daughters all do." He gestured at the paint markings on his face. "As you can see, I have already applied it to myself."

"Ah, yes, so you have," she said as she looked over the image. Her cheeks reddened slightly. "Hmm, this paint seems to require application to several areas across the body, it would seem. Are your daughters comfortable with this?"

"I do not think they would be with me being the one applying it, no," he said, shaking his head. "Which is why I am asking you. Not only are you more familiar with the female form in your capacity as a dressmaker, but you are also a mare yourself, and my daughters would feel more comfortable around you." With a look to Insipid, he added, "Or at the very least, Insipid will be, and she will vouch for your decorum."

She arched an eyebrow. "And I assume that there is another reason you're tasking me with this in particular?"

"The paint needs to be applied precisely, with the utmost accuracy. Even the slightest deviation from the instructions could potentially have grave consequences for my daughters, and I have full confidence that a mare of your talents will ensure that that doesn't come to pass. Can you do it?"

Rarity eyed the paint for a moment, then glanced at the image she'd been provided, then gave a confident nod. "Yes, I know I can do it. After two weeks of keeping myself in practice with designing and producing dresses for your daughter to model, I'm absolutely certain of it."

He nodded. "Good. Thank you, Miss Rarity."

She took the first of the cans over to Insipid first, set it down, and coughed briefly. "Insipid, darling, I'm going to need you to strip down, please?"

Insipid didn't even hesitate to throw off her robe. "I'm ready, Rarity!" she declared, striking a pose that was quite tasteful, actually. "Like, paint me like one of those Romantique mares! Cha!"

Curaçao chuckled and glanced at her father. "So this is why we were wearing these robes, oui?"

"Yes. It will make for easy disrobing for the application process, and then redressing afterwards once the paint has dried. The drying process is short, and the robe's material is light enough that it will not disturb the paint."

Silvertongue turned briefly towards Rarity's friends to see that everypony had politely averted their gazes in one way or another. He appreciated that nopony was trying to catch a peek, even if some of them might likely want to. They were still his daughters, and he found himself feeling more than a little protective of them.

He then turned to Gray, who didn't even need him to say anything before she stepped forward. "Gray, you will be helping me with the final portion of the process. The magical energies from the blood runes and the flames will coalesce in the air, and your control over gravity will create a well which will draw these magics into a single point."

She nodded. "I understand, Dad. You can count on me."

Almost an hour of constant work followed, and finally Dawn, Twilight, and Velvet completed the runic circle. Silvertongue looked over it painstakingly to ensure it was accurate, then called Havoc over to surround it with flames as the next step. Dawn and Velvet had their own paints applied by Rarity—she'd had to wait for them to finish their work—and soon, everything was prepped and ready for the final stage of the ritual.

"And so it begins," he said, turning to the group of collected mares. "Now, everypony, you shall all bear witness to something entirely beyond your mortal comprehension, something that even I have a hard time believing is about to be done for it has never been done before. This is history in the making. You should all feel proud to be a part of it."

"You're makin' this sound like a bigger deal than it is," Winter noted, arching an eyebrow. "You talk with Nihila all the time, don't you? And so does Harmonia's Warden for her, for that matter. Supposedly she can communicate directly with regular ponies through her Warden. Does it work differently for Nihila?"

"Not exactly, but you are mostly correct. However, there is much more to what is about to be done than simply speaking with Nihila, my dear Chronomancer," he said with a smile. "Trust me, you will find what happens to be very interesting."

He beckoned Gray over to the runic circle, and she did as she was asked. Once she was in the indicated position, she flared her wings out to full wingspan and held them there. The other mares all took a half step back as they felt an intense burst of gravity radiate from the center of the circle, strong enough that it started to suck the flames into it to create a very bizarre pyramid shape.

"She has magic too?" Twilight asked, looking to Silvertongue.

"Yes. She can control gravitational forces with the movement of her wings," he explained briefly. "But you may satiate your curiosity later, Miss Sparkle. For now, I must proceed with the ritual."

Silvertongue cleared his throat, and recited aloud from memory the incantation; he noticed Curaçao listening intently, silently repeating the words to herself, for she was fluent in the language used.

"Le sang est l'essence de notre vie

La magie, notre raison d'exister

Leur réunion libérera des conflits

Notre monde qui en a tant enduré

Par la Lumière, nous aidons ceux que nous aimons

Par les Ténèbres, nous vainquons toute appréhension

Ensemble, elles sont un pouvoir sans fin

Qui changera un mal en un bien!

Apparais, Alicorne, et réponds de tes péchés!"

The runic circle glowed brighter than even the Beacon's light, and the painted markings along his and his daughters' coats shimmered bright and clear. Suddenly, there was a brilliant flash, and a colossal explosion rocked the entire building, shattering windows all the way down. Everypony apart from himself were knocked off balance as the roof itself shuddered and cracked, starting from the center of the runic circle and spreading outwards.

The Beacon's light waned ever so slightly.

The area where the circle had been became shrouded in a faint cloud of purple magic that glittered like diamonds in sand. Only Silvertongue was left standing tall and unwavered, his face alight with excitement as the smoke slowly cleared until there were only traces of sparkly magic left. A silhouette appeared within the smoke as it thinned, slowly trying to stand and doing a rather poor job of it.

And once the last of the smoke and magic had ebbed away, the eyes of all those present—save for Silvertongue—widened in surprise, and each let out a little gasp in awe.

The mare that appeared was tall, taller even than Silvertongue. She was thin and elegant, built with a graceful posture. Her coat was a ghastly color, not quite purple but not quite black, and shimmered with cleanliness and luster. Her mane and tail gleamed a brilliant, metallic silver, their shape and rigidity resembling blades. She was nude, making it easy to see her that her body's tone was incredibly lithe, leanly muscled and physically intimidating. Her long, sharp horn was longer than any unicorn's, and her great, long wings were of a greater wingspan than any pegasus.

Nihila, the alicorn goddess herself, in the flesh for the first time in an eternity.

She stood tall and looked at Silvertongue with something that was likely truly alien to her: confusion. Complete and utter confusion. When she spoke, her voice was like ice, rapidly cooling the air and sending a chill down his spine.

"My Warden, what is the meaning of this?" she demanded, her teeth clenched tightly. "What have you done?" Her gaze shifted and caught the sight of Twilight Sparkle and her friends, and suddenly the confusion gave way to excitement. "Ah, I see. Then this unorthodox circumstance is what was necessary for me to proceed with our plans?"

"Indeed it is, my lady," Silvertongue said, keeping his tone calm and collected. "Everything has come to pass exactly as we had envisioned it."

"Excellent. Excellent indeed. I have been anticipating this moment for many days now, and at last, victory is within my grasp." She lifted her hooves up to glance at her new form. "Hmm, so this is how it feels to possess flesh and bone, is it? Hmph, how pathetic. This mortal form feels so weak and insignificant."

"A temporary inconvenience, my lady," Silvertongue said with a grin. "It will all be over soon enough. For now, as you can see, we have guests, and time is of the essence. Perhaps you should proceed with your plans for them?"

"That sounds wonderful, yes, I think that I will do just that." She licked her lips and stared right at Twilight. "Hmm, I believe I shall start with you, the leader of this pitiful band."

Twilight took half a step back, her eyes darting between Nihila and Silvertongue. "Wh-what is she talking about? What's going on?"

"You wish to return to your precious home, little worm? I will grant you that boon, certainly," Nihila chuckled. "But surely my Warden told you that I expect something in return, did he not?"

"He did," Winter said, placing herself between Twilight and Nihila. "So what, exactly, do you want from us?"

She grinned wide. "Everything."

She ignited her horn, and a ferocious blast of rippling dark magic screeched towards Twilight. Both Winter and Twilight raised barriers to defend themselves.

Instead, the blast impacted a shield that Dawn had erected, cascading about before dissipating entirely.

"I will not permit you to bring harm to my friends!" Dawn snarled, stepping between Winter and Nihila now.

Nihila's confusion returned, this time tinged with rage. "You dare to defy me, you miserable little pawn?!" she hissed, anger flaring in her voice that was hot enough to warm the air around them. "Know your place! Stand aside!"

"I will do no such thing," Dawn retorted.

Nihila paused, then just let out a sinister chuckle and turned to Silvertongue briefly. "Your daughters have grown too independent, my Warden. Her impudence amuses me. But I have no need for insubordinate minions." She turned back to Dawn and let her smile widen. "And so now I shall do what I should have done in the first place, and assume direct control."

Her horn glowed black for a few moments.

But nothing happened.

Nihila's confusion returned again. "What is this?" She turned back to Silvertongue. "Why can I not control her?"

"Control me?" Dawn asked, arching an eyebrow but standing firm, shield still as strong as ever. "I am no pawn to be controlled."

Nihila looked at her for a long moment, then turned towards her other sisters, horn glowing black. Most of the mares all flinched slightly; they'd clearly seen the kind of power Nihila wielded. Only Gray and Havoc, likely expecting or perhaps eager for a fight, remained steadfast.

But nothing happened.

"What is this?" she seethed, turning her gaze back to Silvertongue. "Warden! What did you do to them such that I cannot take what is rightfully mine? Answer me!" she snapped, her horn glowing red.

Silvertongue clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Tsk tsk, my lady, such a harsh tone. Whatever seems to be the matter? Can't you read my mind?" he added with a smirk as he tapped his temple, where the blue runic markings still glowed fiercely.

She attempted to step towards him, but immediately found her movements greatly restricted. She looked about herself and at the glowing circle of runic markings she was in; the runes of blood glowed with increased intensity whenever she attempted to move more than an inch or so.

She glared at him with even more ferocity than before, as if she was attempting to set him on fire with her gaze alone. "What is this? What have you done?"

Silvertongue turned to Twilight for a moment and gave her a polite smile. "Miss Sparkle, I am afraid I have indeed been quite dishonest with you all this time. Your original assessment was correct: this is a trap." He then turned back to Nihila. "But it was not for you."

"None can resist my might! None! I am Nihila, Darkess incarnate! I cannot be contained!" She tried to move again, but found herself nearly collapsing to the ground, held in place by the runic magic. "How is this possible?!"

"I must say I regret that I'll never be able to thank Galdorhoff for his marvelous work, A Treatise on Alicorns. There's a tremendous amount of ancient Dark magic in the spells I've used here, you see. The other gryphons didn't exactly see eye to eye with him, naturally, and exiled him years before you and I even met."

Then, Silvertongue grinned; it was time to play the hand that he'd carefully crafted over centuries. "But I learned of him and his theories, and I sought him out. I ensured his greatest achievement would not be lost to time. And now, after all these years, his efforts have finally been allowed to shine. A pity he never had the chance to see it."

Nihila snapped. "You traitorous whelp! I will destroy you!"

Her horn flared with the brightness of a small star, its color a bright, sinister orange. He stiffened for an instant as she unleashed the blast of magic at him from nearly point-blank range.

The blast careened off with a resounding explosive blast that shook the entire tower once again. As the blast ricocheted away, it circled the Beacon's light like liquid caught in a drain.

Silvertongue's smug grin widened as he pat Dawn proudly on the shoulder; she had stepped to his side the instant Nihila's horn had started to glow, as she had done for Twilight before him. Only this time, she'd deflected not a simple mind alteration spell, but a fully-lethal energy blast.

"You shall not harm my father so long as I am standing," Dawn spat, her words wavering slightly. She'd clearly come to the unsettling realization that the blast she'd just reflected had carried more force in it than anything she'd ever seen before

"Well done my dearest Dawn," Silvertongue said, eliciting a proud smile from his daughter, her face alight with confidence. "Your barrier is strong enough to resist even the strength of an alicorn's magic. Outstanding. Absolutely outstanding."

"You…" Nihila hissed, her words dripping with poisonous bile that made Dawn take another step back as if she was suddenly very, very ill. There was no physical harm, but the venom that oozed from the word must have stung as if it did. "You miserable, insignificant little wretch. I gave you life! You soul belongs to me! You would betray me as well?!"

Dawn arched an eyebrow and glanced at her father briefly, but he did not meet her gaze; this was not the time to explain things.

"I think you are forgetting, Nihila, one very important aspect of betrayal," Silvertongue said as he straightened his mane with a hoof. "Betrayal implies that one was loyal to you to begin with, and then broke that trust. The thing about me is… I was never loyal to you," he added with a smile. "So how could I betray you?"

Nihila's eyes narrowed and she hissed again, her words so filled with hate and anger that everypony present save for him took a step back. "You lie. I've seen your every thought, I've seen your every action! You have dedicated your entire being to serving me for hundreds of years!"

"I know," Silvertongue said with a knowing smile. "But that was all a part of the plan."

"You betrayed Harmonia to serve me! You say that you are still loyal to her? Ha!" She laughed, her mouth curling in a sneer. "You have committed acts that she would never forgive, regardless of your intentions. Harmonia's Light would tear you apart were you so much as to enter her presence ever again."

Silvertongue hummed. "I can see how that might be an issue. After all, I eradicated a peace-loving race of scholars after goading them into helping me build the Beacons. The plague that devoured them still taints the very land itself with undead horrors. I order murders on a frankly disturbingly frequent basis. I have ensured that a city of millions is so fraught with strife and disorganization that it spreads disparity like a virus in a self-perpetuating cycle. Oh yes, that definitely sounds like somepony allied with Harmonia."

Nihila angrily flared her horn again and attempted to attack him out of pure, unadulterated rage from being taunted. The blast of magic was, again, reflected haphazardly away by Dawn's protective shield, but the force of the blast knocked Dawn off balance and she stumbled for a moment before recovering.

Silvertongue laughed. "I have waited centuries for this opportunity, Nihila. Year after year, decade after decade, waiting for you to finally drop your guard and to allow me but a few brief moments of privacy that I may at long last complete the mission that I set out upon all those years ago. And that's where these wonderful little ponies came in."

He gestured out towards both his daughters and Twilight and her friends, all of whom had played their parts in this. "Ah, you were so easily distracted by the prospect of destroying your counterpart that you ignored me to watch as your plan came to fruition."

Dawn blinked, confused. "What 'plan', Father? What are you talking about?"

"I will spare you most of the details, but suffice to say, Nihila was under the impression that the assignments I gave to you and your sisters were meant to lure your new friends into trusting you, only so that she could attempt to corrupt their minds and turn them against Harmonia."

"So there was a plan there to get us to trust them," Twilight said, clenching her teeth. "I thought you said that everything they'd done was with good intentions!"

"Oh, it was," Silvertongue said with a grin. "The best of intentions, in fact. Thanks to the friendship developed between yourselves and my daughters, the bonds of trust forged between all of you, you were able to work together here at the final hour to make this," he added, gesturing at Nihila's struggling form, "possible."

Dawn shook her head. "I do not understand, Father. I was led to believe we were to be of assistance to them? Was it all… just to do this? To distract this Nihila creature so that you could enact a plot to destroy her?"

Silvertongue sighed. "That is not entirely inaccurate, my dear. But it is more complicated than that."

Nihila snorted, barely managing to rise to her hooves. "Why do you make false attempts to comfort your 'daughter', worm? Why not tell her that I am her 'mother' if you are so concerned with being her 'father'? I am at least as much responsible for her existence as you are."

"M-mother?" Dawn sputtered.

Silvertongue frowned in Nihila's direction. "For shame, Nihila. I am her father. I have given her and her sisters all of my heart. A piece of me resides within them all. Your contributions to their lives have been practically immaterial, and perhaps even detrimental. At best you could be considered a distant aunt."

"You miserable…" Nihila seethed, flaring her horn again and firing another powerful burst of magic at Silvertongue.

Again, it was reflected away by Dawn's shield and sent careening off into the Beacon's funnel, though this time the blast had been strong enough that Dawn winced and fell to her knees. Twilight approached briefly, but Dawn turned and held up her hoof in a gesture to stop her.

"No, Twilight, stay back," Dawn said as she stood back up. "This 'alicorn' wishes to bring harm to my father. It is my duty to protect him, not yours."

"But—" Twilight started.

"No," Dawn interjected. "I will not risk your well-being as well. Stay back."

Silvertongue clapped Dawn on the shoulder proudly. "You are performing admirably, my dear. Do not worry, it will be over soon."

He turned to Nihila and smiled again; he needed only a little more energy to make this last part of the process work, and so he needed to keep Nihila angry so that she would bring that energy to bear. Dawn would only need to last a little while longer.

"It was nice to see you in the flesh for the first time, Nihila," he said with a cocky smirk. "My apologies that it won't be for much longer. How does it feel, I wonder? Honestly, I wish to know. You have fallen for my deception and waltzed merrily into my trap. How does it feel to be the goddess of lies and yet be deceived?"

"Your precious daughter cannot stand against me for much longer, cur," Nihila said with a sneer. "Even like this, I am more powerful than any living mortal. Nor will these runes hold me forever. I will savor your soul when I devour it, traitor! You will regret ever being born!"

"You can continue to struggle if you'd like, my lady," he replied. "But my trap for you is more than a simple circle of runic magic. I have accounted for everything."

He then pointed at the Beacon, which was now glowing incredibly bright and had grown in thickness to the point that it had expanded beyond the hole in the center of the roof and was slowly eating away at the concrete and metal around it, as if it had been supercharged.

"The Beacon is more than just a magical font of energy that coats the heavens with the powers of Darkness. It is also a magnet for those same Dark energies, which you have been funneling into it steadily since your arrival here. That power will be turned against you, and you will be powerless to stop it. Your very own power will destroy you."

Nihila laughed, a chilling sound that seemed to freeze the air around them. "You bluff. What do you think you can do, hmm? If you destroy me, your precious world will be thrown out of balance permanently. It will never recover. You would destroy your world, just to stroke your precious ego?"

"On the contrary," Silvertongue said, his grin widening. "Destroying you is exactly what I'm going to do, and I know exactly what the consequences are. What's the matter? Don't you trust me?"

Nihila angrily flared up her horn again, and once more Dawn was ready with another barrier. This time, however, Nihila did not merely fire a single blast but a continuous, roiling stream, slowly forcing the bubble of magic to deflate inwards, like a needle pressing against a balloon; and soon, it would pop.

Dawn strained to maintain the shield, her teeth clenched, her face caked with sweat.

Twilight took another step forward. "Dawn!"

Dawn turned to her. "No! He is my father, and I will protect him!"

"No, we will!" Havoc shouted, stepping up beside Dawn and helping her to her hooves. "He's our dad too, Dawn! Let us help!"

"We're with you, sis!" Insipid cheered as she came around to Dawn's other side to help Havoc help Dawn. "Let's, like, show this weird-looking mare who's boss!"

"Nopony hurts our dad," Gray said, stepping behind Dawn and keeping her steady. "We've got your back."

Curaçao joined them, stepping beside Dawn and locking hooves with her. "Whatever we can do, we will do it."

"Yeah!" cheered Velvet, patting Dawn on the shoulder. "Let's kick some butt!"

Dawn looked between her sisters, grinned, and lit up her horn brighter than before, enveloping the six of them in a white glow. The barrier suddenly reinforced itself and expanded twice over.

Nihila sneered and focused more power into her blast, forcing back the empowered shield slowly. "I am Nihila! Darkness incarnate! I will not be denied!"

Her maddened glare and enraged snarl did not deter Silvertongue, though he could see that the other mares present were not so unaffected, and in fact some looked positively frightened.

But now, it was time.

Silvertongue ignited his horn with a red glow, and as he did, the Beacon's massive energy stream flowed towards him in tiny spark-like orbs, floating through the air like fireflies and collecting around his horn. The power coursing through him now was incredible; it made his entire body shiver. And then, from memory, he recited:

"Alicorne, voici ton heure dernière

Face à ma force, tu finiras par fléchir

J'entends à présent l'ultime Lumière

Dans les Ténèbres, je t'enverrai dépérir

Ton enveloppe physique, pour l'éternité

De sang et de magie sera dépossédée!"

As the incantation completed, Silvertongue's horn glowed a brilliant gold and pierced through Dawn's barrier like lightning, striking Nihila in the chest.

She screamed in pain, and her head snapped away, causing her energy blast to wildly screech through the air, igniting smog off in the distance. She collapsed to her knees, her horn firing the spell downwards towards the city, slicing through a large chunk of the Pandora Tower as she did so.

Twilight, in what was clearly an act of quick thinking, raised a barrier spell of her own to prevent Nihila's rampaging magic from doing any damage to the rest of the city nearby, and potentially innocent lives. The sheer force of the blasts, taken entirely by Twilight's magic alone, was enough to wear her down quickly; she very nearly collapsed.

Then, in an instant, Nihila's frenzied discharge ceased, and she writhed in agony.

Her screams were haunting, causing the air around them to blacken in horror at what was passing through it. Her eyes rapidly flashed between normal and a shining white, and with a final cry, her body exploded in a shower of golden sparks that rocketed out and up from the circle like fireworks.

Everypony present watched in awe as the sparks slowly began to coalesce.

Then, without warning, the energy raced towards Silvertongue himself and impacted his chest, knocking him flying back and slamming into the metal railing with enough force to tear through it.

*****

In that brief instant, Silvertongue saw nothing but a field of gold and orange in equal measure.

He felt no pain. He felt no cold. He felt nothing at all, really.

As he looked down at himself, he saw that he barely had a physical form at all.

Adding onto the curiosity, a spark of purplish energy had manifested nearby, and just as quickly disappeared, whisked away by some unseen force.

But before he could try to discern what had happened, he felt something. Like a tug, but not on his sleeve or his tail, but on his very soul.

And just as quickly as it had appeared, the field of gold and orange vanished into darkness.

*****

Twilight could feel the ringing in her ears still pounding away after trying to block Nihila's destructive spellcasting from hurting anypony out in the city. It took her a moment to rise back up to her hooves, just in time to see Silvertongue struck in the chest by a golden light that had once been Nihila's form.

"Father!" Dawn cried, frantically flaring up her horn brighter than ever and catching Silvertongue with her magic before he flew off the roof.

She safely pulled him back onto the tower and set him down next to her and her sisters. They hastily gathered around to see if he was okay.

He did not get up.

Twilight was unsure if she should say anything, or if she should even approach. Everything that had just happened was far beyond her. Not just the magical feats on display that she'd never seen before, but the emotional ordeal currently unfolding before her eyes.

"Father? Father, no…" Dawn said in horror.

"Dad, c'mon… get up…" Gray worriedly added.

"Daddy…" Insipid sniffed.

Then, to everypony's surprise, his body began to glow with the same golden light that his horn had before. Dawn and her sisters all stepped back in shock, not just because of the glow, but because he was moving.

He staggered to his hooves, obviously in colossal pain judging from his awkward steps alone, but more from his anguished screams.

Dawn reached out with a hoof, obviously desperate to lend him aid, but Curaçao stopped her and beckoned for her just to watch. She visibly ached, watching him in the throes of agony; Twilight's heart ached for her as well, unsure what she could do to help.

Silvertongue clutched his head and screamed some more, and his horn began to grow, a full few inches until it was longer than any unicorn's. There came a loud ripping sound and a flash of light, and suddenly wings burst out of the sides of his armor. His whole body grew slightly in turn, legs lengthening and figure elongating, muscles strengthening and pressing against his armor.

Then the glow gradually dimmed and died, and Silvertongue lay there for a long time before moving again. He warily rose to his hooves, the paint that once graced his coat melting away into the air without a trace.

Dawn rushed over to him and anxiously helped him stand. "Father, are you alright?" she asked worriedly. "Please, Father, speak to me."

His breathing was ragged and short, his eyes closed. Dawn brought her head under his chin to try and help him raise his head up. Her sisters came over as well and helped where they could to get him over to what was left of the railing so that he could lean against it.

His breathing slowly returned to normal, and he blinked his eyes open.

Until this point, Twilight had seen that one of Silvertongue's eyes was very different from the other, a black void with a tiny speck of gold within it that moved like any proper pupil should. It was a little disconcerting, but also intriguing in its own way; what magical injury had he sustained to have his eye heal like that?

Now, though, his eye was completely gold, shining with a brilliance rivaling a distant star. There was no longer any trace of the black void there, and without it, there was no indication of where that eye of his was looking whatsoever. Twilight wasn't sure if this was an improvement or not.

"Wow, Pops, you look…" Havoc muttered, awe in her voice as she hesitantly reached out to touch one of his wings; Dawn swat her hoof away. "Hey!"

"Pretty…" Insipid cooed, stars in her eyes. "You look pretty, Daddy."

"Imposing," Dawn corrected, likely in an attempt to return some sense of masculinity to the praise. "What has happened to you, Father? Your anatomy has shifted to resemble Nihila's."

Silvertongue smiled broadly and shook off his stupor, then flicked his new wings gingerly, eying them with curiosity and awe.

"Well now, that is something, isn't it?" he chuckled. "How intriguing. They feel almost natural, as if they've always been there. Flight was almost a dwindling curiosity to me, but now that it is so easily within my grasp, it feels as though I've always known."

"Father, what does this all mean?" Dawn asked, tilting her head as she eyed his longer horn. "Everything has transpired so quickly that I do not understand the ramifications of it."

"It's simple, my dear," he said with a smile. "With this ritual, I have finally vanquished Nihila from our world; her evil will not darken the hearts and minds of others ever again. And, by absorbing her power, I can ensure that the Beacon's light is maintained, and that the world retains its balanced state."

He then turned towards Twilight and the others. "So, with that done, I suppose it's finally time to deal with all of you."

"So, all of this was to make you into the alicorn god of darkness and evil," Winter stated, stepping defensively in front of Twilight her friends. "I can't believe we fell for this shit." She turned to Twilight briefly. "Stay behind me, Twilight."

"No offense, Winter, but not only do I doubt you can hold him off alone, but I'm not about to let you attempt to do it alone." Twilight lit up her horn defensively. "I'm with you, all the way."

"Us, too!" Applejack said, stepping forward. "We're used to dealin' with evil folks back home. We might be at a disadvantage, but you'll find that we're a hard-headed bunch."

Silvertongue chuckled and shook his head. "I think there has been a misunderstanding here. A poor choice of words on my part, it seems. Do you really think that after everything that's happened, I would now betray our agreement? With all that's at stake?"

Rainbow, hooves up as if the fight would come to physical blows, arched an eyebrow. "Uh… yeah? I mean, you just got done bragging about lying to some goddess of lies, so why would we trust you?"

Havoc grunted. "Hey! Watch what you're saying about my dad, Rainbow Dork!"

"After everything that's been said, do you all still really trust him?" Rarity asked, looking at Insipid. "He practically admitted to using all of you in this scheme of his. That's not something fathers do to their daughters."

Insipid frowned and shook her head. "But… but if it wasn't for him, like, I'd have never met you, Rarity. You're my best friend. Why does it matter why?"

Rarity blinked. "That's… a rather profound way of looking at it."

Fluttershy nodded. "I agree. Just because he did… whatever it is he just did, that doesn't necessarily make him evil, right?"

"He admitted to committing genocide!" Twilight blurted. "He's obviously evil!"

Fluttershy gulped, then nodded. "I... I mean... I suppose you have a point..."

"Twilight—" Dawn started.

Silvertongue held her back with his hoof. "She's right, Dawn. I have committed acts over the great many years that I have been Nihila's Warden which are unspeakable and unforgivable. But they were necessary evils. I had to do what needed to be done.

"Nihila is gone," he continued. "It was by her command that I even needed to perform such atrocities, but they needed to be done, or Nihila would just continue to raise army after army until one day she won, and the entire world would then be bathed in fire and blood. I did what needed to be done to finally put an end to her evil. So yes, Miss Sparkle, I am certainly not a virtuous sort. But I am not the villain of your story."

"So you have no intention of harming us? You're just going to send us home?" Twilight asked, very much doubting every word he said, but willing to hear him out if only for Dawn's sake.

"Of course. What benefit do I gain from doing otherwise?"

"I don't know, but given all that's happened, you'll forgive me if I don't exactly find you trustworthy."

He shook his head. "Miss Sparkle, you are absolutely welcome to explore other avenues if you wish not to accept my help, but I believe it would be fair to point out that you're running out of time. Are you planning on finding your own way south to meet with Harmonia? I can assure you, that your friend Lockwood would need to move the moon and stars above to make that happen within a respectable timeframe for seven ponies.

And once you do arrive in the south, you will then need to contact Harmonia herself. Not an easy task, as she is not expecting your arrival and is not nearly as proactive as I was in finding you. And then there are other particulars to sending you home that will not be entirely within her reach, assuming the southern continent is as I last remember it, and I trust my sources are accurate on the matter."

Twilight frowned. "So basically, either we accept help from you, or else we're on our own?" With a sigh, she added. "I don't like those odds... but I don't like any of this, either."

"You agreed to this weeks ago, Twilight," Winter huffed. "Don't go gettin' cold hooves on me now that we're so close."

"Just because I agreed to it then doesn't mean I like it. I haven't liked the thought of taking help from Nihila or her Warden since the start, but staring the situation right in the face is... it's different."

Rainbow grunted. "Can't say I disagree with ya, Twi. No offense, Havoc, but your dad's not exactly earning brownie points with us considering what we've heard about him."

Havoc grumbled. "He's just trying to help you, Dash, can't you see that?"

Silvertongue nodded. "I understand your trepidation, all of you, but you must also understand that there is nothing to gain from betraying you given the circumstances. My world's balance benefits from your safe departure, and I have no desire to do harm to a world that is not even my own. While the existence of other worlds at all is intriguing to me, it is my world that concerns me the most. So long as nothing threatens its sovereignty, of course."

Winter gulped. "Yeah, of course." Twilight found her tone odd; did she know something he didn't?

"So… assumin' we agree with ya, what now?" Applejack asked. "Do ya just cast a spell or somethin' and send us back?"

Winter sighed and shook her head. "I need to work with him on the specifics of a portal that will meet the requirements. It has to work only one way so we don't accidentally draw anypony else over here, it has to be stable so that you all survive the trip, and it has to be temporary so that I can close it up again afterwards. We just need to gather the materials—"

Silvertongue smirked. "I have already procured them for you, Miss Glow."

She blinked. "Huh? How do you even know what I need?"

"Gryphons experimented with portal technomagic a long, long time ago, my dear. An attempt to circumvent the difficulty of teleportation magic via their own means, and they were quite successful, if a bit short-sighted. This portal you're constructing would naturally require similar means, only with stricter requirements."

He gestured to the Beacon. "Proximity to the Beacon allows me to funnel the maximum amount of energy into the portal's aperture, which will need to be constructed of a particular type of metal, obidium, which will prevent the magical energies from surging out of control, containing them in a tighter area. A magical gem conduit will serve as a focus, and a powerful one at that. Am I missing anything?"

Winter blinked. "Uh... no, that's all... exactly it." She scratched her head. "Huh. Here I was worried it might take some time to get these things together, but it sounds like should only take us a few hours tops to assemble things."

Applejack adjusted her hat. "Shucks, that don't sound so bad."

"So we can go home in just a few hours, huh?" Rainbow asked, scratching her head. "I mean, I was expecting to come here and get going right away, but I guess knowing how close we are is kind of nice. Feels good, y'know? Like knowing what time you've gotta catch a train."

"Well, if we're really doing this... is there anything we can do to help?" Twilight asked.

Silvertongue laughed. "My dear Miss Sparkle, you and your companions have already done more than enough for me. It would be rude of me to ask for further assistance from any of you." He shook his head. "No, I think you can take the time to rest and relax however you wish. If you would prefer, you may utilize Pandora Tower and all of its facilities for the time being."

Twilight nodded. "I suppose that would be the best option, since it'll keep us close by for whenever you're finished working." She turned to Dawn. "Not to mention that I think a few of us would like to have an opportunity to have a… conversation."

Dawn returned the nod. "I concur."

Fluttershy, of all ponies, made a peep to draw everypony's attention. "Um… if it's alright, we have some… other friends that would probably like to join in that conversation. Would it be alright if we invite them along?"

Silvertongue smiled. "Please, be my guests. After all, I owe you and your companions a great deal for today's success, and I would very much like to show my appreciation however possible."

PInkie gasped and smiled. "Guys! You know what this means?! A—"

Rainbow put her hoof over Pinkie's mouth. "It does not mean a party."

"Aww…"

"If there's nothing else, then I suppose we should be going, to leave you and Winter to do your work," Twilight said. She glanced around at the ruined roof of the tower. "Um… h-how do we get down from here?"

Dawn smiled and stepped forward. "Allow me, Twilight." She turned to her sisters. "Gather around, all of you."

Curaçao cleared her throat. "If it is all the same to you, Dawn, I would prefer to spend my time elsewhere." She glanced at Twilight and her friends briefly. "I do not know Mademoiselle Sparkle and her comrades as well as you all do, and I feel I would be intruding."

"Aww, you don't have to feel like that," Pinkie said with a smile. "We're all friends here! You can be our friend too!"

Curaçao shook her head. "Ah, I appreciate the offer, but I must decline. I have somepony else I would rather spend my time with, no offense. The events up here have damaged the tower, and she is likely worried or frightened."

Velvet gave a knowing smile and nodded. "Hey, that's cool, no hard feelings, sis. Have fun!"

Dawn nodded as well. "Very well, sister, I will leave you to your own business." Then she turned back to Twilight. "With that, let us proceed."

She ignited her horn, encasing herself and everypony else that was going with her in a white glow, and in an instant, they all disappeared in a flash.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Chronicle

Shadows and streaks of light played together across the massive expanse of the dining room floor. The room appeared like it should typically be completely dark, its tinted window preventing any light from coming in, but a thick crack through the glass had ruined some of the tinting. A solid black tablecloth covered the table, sprinkled with dust from the fractured ceiling. The table had not been set properly for a meal, but rather just had a few plates of varying types of donuts available for everypony to take at their leisure.

Twilight was not in the least bit surprised at Dawn's selection.

The table and the room in general reminded her of the dining room in the royal palace at Canterlot. It was a bit smaller, true, clearly not meant to accommodate more than ten ponies at a time for a proper dinner setting, but the table was large enough that some extra chairs made it comfortable enough for thirteen. It also wasn't as bright or friendly, but she didn't really expect it to be.

She and her friends all sat on one side of the table, with Dawn and her sisters on the other. Flathoof and Lockwood—who Dawn had collected a few minutes ago—sat at the heads of the table, which meant that Lockwood was currently seated in what was clearly Lord Silvertongue's chair. Twilight found herself wondering what Lockwood would be like if he were a lord or a prince, but couldn't really imagine it; he just didn't seem very regal.

"So, let me get this straight," Lockwood said, slouching in his seat. "Dawn and her sisters are daughters of this Silvertongue fellow, who was the Warden of Nihila this entire time. He was aware that our friends were from another world, his daughters were not. He sent his daughters on a mission to befriend Twilight and company, because he needed their help laying a trap for Nihila, who he's been deceiving for centuries, but his daughters didn't know that either. He has now destroyed Nihila and taken her power, making him a god, and as we speak is preparing to send our friends home." He took a breath. "Did I miss anything?"

Dawn shook her head. "No, that synopsis of our immediate situation was quite accurate, and succinct as well. Well done."

Lockwood paused a moment, then shrugged and took a bite from the donut off his plate. "Y'know, a part of me wants to be upset, but that'd be pretty hypocritical of me, wouldn't it? After all, I introduced some of these mares to friends of mine under false pretenses as well, did I not?"

"Darling, those circumstances were quite different, and you know that as well as any of us," Rarity noted; she hadn't partaken in any donuts, just a cup of coffee with extra cream. "If anything, I'm more perplexed that you seem to be taking this surprisingly well."

"I mean, it wouldn't be the first time something like this has happened to me," he said with a grin. "The way I see it, nopony got hurt as a direct result of this whole rigmarole, and I'll say it again, I'm not exactly sure what would have happened if Gray hadn't been there that day." He tilted his head towards Velvet. "Or Velvet, in Pinkie's case."

"Did we ever find out the reason those ponies were after my friends? Or who they even were?" Twilight asked, looking at Dawn for an answer. "Now that I know the whole situation involving you and your sisters, I'm not sure what to think about that attack any more. It seems related somehow."

Rainbow slapped her hoof on the table. "Hey, yeah! How do we know that your dad didn't put those goons up to that—"

Havoc practically leaped out of her seat. "Our dad would never pull that shit! He loves us, and he knows how much we care about you guys! I don't know who it was that put those assholes up to hurting you guys, but it wasn't him!"

Dawn cleared her throat. "Curaçao has been investigating the situation, but from all appearances thus far it would seem the assailants were working for some other entity, not our father. He was similarly vexed as we were, perhaps more so."

She sighed and shook her head. "I investigated the lead that Gray provided, but arrived at an impasse: the location proved to be a dead end. I remain optimistic that we will uncover more clues, but regret that we have not thus far."

"I don't suppose they were working for Nihila?" Twilight suggested, tapping her chin. "If she was looking to control us somehow, then isolating us from one another would be the ideal way to go about it."

"Perhaps, but there is the matter that they sought not only to abduct Fluttershy and Applejack, but to inflict far worse to Pinkie. Since Nihila was seeking to control you six, why would she desire lethal harm for her?"

"A fair point," Twilight admitted, glancing over at Pinkie.

Pinkie, to her credit, was just stuffing her face with donuts and either oblivious to the conversation or well past what happened to the point that it didn't bother her anymore. Twilight wasn't sure if she was more impressed or concerned.

"Well, alright, I guess if you guys aren't sure yet…" Rainbow muttered. She gave an apologetic look to Havoc. "Sorry for suggesting that it was your dad. That just sort of came out. This has been a really stressful couple of hours, y'know?"

"Nah, it's cool, I get it," Havoc said with a small grin. "Hey, we learned some weird shit too, y'know? Like how our friends are aliens? Which, by the way, is badass." She offered Rainbow a hoofbump.

Rainbow hoofbumped. "Yeah, I guess that is kinda cool. Sorry we couldn't tell ya, but we were supposed to be keeping it a secret."

"Eh, it's cool, secrets all around, right? Like, we didn't know our dad was the… what was it, Nihila's secretary or some shit? Whatever, we didn't know he worked for some dumb goddess, and we definitely didn't know he was gonna kill her and go all god-mode on everypony. I mean, hell yeah, my dad's a god, but still, kind of a shocker."

Applejack adjusted her hat. "Psh, if y'all think that's somethin', back where we're from, Twilight's been the student of Princess Celestia for most of her life, and she's got wings and a horn just like your pa does."

"I don't like to brag," Twilight hastily added, looking at Dawn.

"Her foalsitter also had horns 'n' wings and married her brother," Applejack added. "Would that technically make her royalty?"

Twilight looked at Applejack with a pleading look, trying to get her to stop. "Still not bragging. All very normal. I'm certainly not royalty, and likely never will be. I think I'd have to marry a prince for that to happen."

"And believe me, you're better off not marrying the one that's available," Rarity said as she sipped her coffee.

"Speaking of wings and horns, I totally like Daddy's new look!" Insipid piped in through a mouthful of donut. "I want wings now too! Can I get wings next? That would be major fresh. Then I wouldn't have to walk everywhere and junk!"

Rarity tittered, levitating a napkin over to dab Insipid's lip of crumbs. "Well, if you're interested, one of my designs in the catalogue is intended to evoke wings. It was intended for pegasi as a wedding dress of sorts—the wings of the dress would overlay upon the mare's to draw attention—but I'm certain that Chantilly can tweak it so that you'd have a lovely pair of faux wings."

Insipid's eyes filled with wondrous awe. "Really? Oh. My. Stars. I can't wait! That's gonna be great! Then I can fly wherever I want, and—"

"You won't be able to fly, darling," Rarity noted. "They'd just be for show."

"Oh. Still, yay! Pretty wings!"

Applejack nudged Flathoof gently; she was seated closest to him. "Hey, big guy, you've been real quiet through all of this. Somethin' on your mind?"

Flathoof stayed quiet a moment longer, his gaze transfixed on Dawn and her sisters, then he leaned forward, hooves on the table. "I'll be perfectly honest, this entire situation leaves a bad taste in my mouth." He looked specifically at Gray, now, confused and a little angry. "I let you into my home. I introduced you to my family. I treated you like a friend. I trusted you, and now you're telling me that it was all a lie?"

"No, not all a lie," Gray said, her expression calm but sad. "Only how I met Fluttershy. That's the least important part, I think."

"It's beside the point," he said, shaking his head. "The point is that you tricked me. You tricked all of us into believing your story. How am I supposed to trust you, to trust any of you, ever again?"

"Because despite the false pretenses, everything else about our friendships was real," Gray said, rising from her seat and hardening her gaze. "You have no right to act as though you're without fault either. I'm aware of the truths you had to bend and break to help these girls, same as we did. The difference is that we didn't know why we were doing it; we were being manipulated all the same."

Havoc turned to Gray. "Hey, c'mon, Pops was just—"

"I know, Havoc," Gray interrupted. "He was doing it for the good of the world. That doesn't change the fact that he…" She paused, clearly in deep thought over her words. "He manipulated us." She looked back at Flathoof. "And that doesn't mean that everything was a lie. Our friendships are real. How I feel about you is real."

Velvet nearly dropped her donut. "I knew it!"

Flathoof paused, then gave a slow nod. "I hear what you're saying, and I understand it all, but…" He sighed and shook his head. "I just need some time to come to terms with all of this. This is an entirely new situation for me, and I don't think I can just let it go like Lockwood can, or like the others can."

Gray slowly sunk back down into her seat. "Take all the time you need."

The room remained quiet for a moment before there was a flash and a rush of air as Silvertongue teleported into the room. Twilight could practically taste the magical power radiating off of him now, as he seemed to possess significantly more control over his new body and the power therin than he had been a few hours ago.

She was used to being in the presence of Princess Celestia and knew the kind of power she wielded, but there was something vastly different about Silvertongue that just made her nervous. Likely because the source of that power was dark, terrible magics that he was now supposedly using for good.

A part of her wondered what he would do with this world once she and her friends left it behind. Winter had explained that this world's balance was based on Light and Darkness, but that was supposedly different from Good and Evil. Could somepony so suffused with dark magics be considered good? No, he'd already admitted that he wasn't good, but… did that necessarily mean that he was evil?

"The process is complete," Silvertongue said, glancing out amongst the gathered group. "Miss Glow and I have established the portal that will send you all home, and are ready to do so immediately." He turned to Twilight in particular. "Unless there is anything else you need, Miss Sparkle, I think it would be best if we move this along sooner rather than later. Say your farewells if you haven't done so."

Twilight nodded. "Yes, I agree. We've been waiting a long time for this." She looked to Dawn and her sisters. "So, I suppose this is goodbye, huh?"

Dawn nodded. "Yes, I suppose it is." She sat up straight, nose in the air. "You have been a magnificent companion in these past few weeks, Twilight Sparkle, and though it pains me to see you depart… I wish you and your compatriots nothing but the best in your future endeavors."

Twilight smiled, and set her hoof on Dawn's. "Thank you. It's been wonderful knowing you and your sisters as well, and I wish you the best in your future endeavors as well, whatever those might me."

Rarity glanced over at Insipid and smiled. "I know you'll do just wonderfully, darling, even without me here to guide you. I have taught you everything I could, and—"

Insipid leapt across the table, knocking over plates and cups, and wrapped Rarity in a hug. "I'm gonna totally miss you!" she sobbed. "It's not gonna be the same without you here! You're, like, the best friend I've ever had!"

Rarity returned the hug, gently patting Insipid's back. "There there, my dear, it'll all be alright, I promise. Chantilly and Lapel will take good care of you, and you know that if you ever need help with anything," she added, looking to Lockwood with a grin, "Lockwood will be there for you just as I would be."

Lockwood nodded and gave Insipid a smile. "I will do the best that I can to live up to such lofty expectations."

Rainbow and Havoc shared a look from across the table. "So, I guess this is it?" Rainbow said.

"Yup. This is it," Havoc replied.

Rainbow nodded, then offered out her hoof. "Take care of yourself, shortstack."

Havoc bumped Rainbow's hoof. "You take care of yourself too, doofus."

"You'd better win that championship, or I'm gonna have to kick your butt."

"Psh, we both know I was carrying the team anyway."

Pinkie and Velvet both leapt across the table at the same time to hug one another, bumping into each other in the middle and landing right on a plate of donuts; Dawn barely managed to save a few of them.

"I'm gonna miss you, Best Long-Lost Sister From Another World!" Pinkie cried as they wrapped each other up in the hug.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Best Long-Lost Sister From Another World!" Velvet cried back, pressing their cheeks together.

Gray and Fluttershy met each other's gaze across the table, and Gray just nodded. "Shy. Stay safe."

Fluttershy nodded back. "You too, Gray." She then briefly shifted her eyes towards Flathoof, then back to Gray. "It'll all work out. I know it will."

Gray's cheeks reddened. "Yeah, thanks."

Applejack, without one of the sisters in particular to say goodbyes to, just turned to Flathoof. "Take care of the family, y'hear?" she said with a small smile.

Flathoof nodded. "Eyyup, I will."

She pointed at Lockwood. "Especially that one," she said; Lockwood's expression turned innocent, as though he had no idea what she meant. "Make sure he stays outta trouble."

"Oh, I'll try," Flathoof replied with a grin.

Twilight then stood from the table and made sure that she and her friends had all gathered their things. "Okay, everypony… it's time." She turned to Silvertongue and nodded. "Let's go home."

*****

At the top of Pandora Tower, Twilight saw that Silvertongue's claims had been utterly genuine. A portal had opened, one that resembled the one she'd seen back in Everfree Forest all those weeks ago: a vast expanse of star-like dots spread against a void of ethereal darkness, with ribbons of colorful magic spreading outwards into the world around them.

She took one last look over New Pandemonium City. From up here, the city seemed bigger, but in a different sense. Rather than intimidating and sometimes frightening as it was from the ground level with all of the imposing buildings and noisy crowds, the city looked quiet and almost peaceful, spreading out as far as the eye could see like a field of wheat.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Silvertongue asked, stepping alongside her. "Centuries of work put together the largest civilization known to ponykind. Millions of lives over the years, beginning and ending all in service of a single unifying principle."

"Defeating Nihila," Twilight finished.

"No. Though that was my personal endgame, true, the prevailing purpose of this city was to prove the value of strength through adversity. Not just to survive in the harshest conditions, but to thrive. Many have failed along the way, yes, but many more have succeeded." He smiled. "My daughters will ensure that that mission carries on, greater than ever before. They will usher in a new age. A better age."

"What will you do with Lockwood and Flathoof once we're gone?" she asked, though not turning to face him.

"Nothing," he replied, as if it were obvious. "They played their roles the same as the rest of you in this final hour, and they will be rewarded in turn, though I will leave that decision to my daughters. This city isn't mine anymore; it's theirs."

Twilight stood silent a moment, then nodded. "I trust them to do better for the ponies of this city than you did." She looked right at him. "Just because you're doing this for us, doesn't mean that I think you should be forgiven for all that you've done. The amount of atoning you need to do is just… astronomical."

He looked right back at her. "And I do not ask for or expect forgiveness, Twilight Sparkle. I have done terrible things to accomplish my goal, some of which are absolutely unforgiveable. So I do not consider this power within me to be a reward for a job well done, but yet another burden to bear. With it I will bring peace and balance where once there was none, even before my time." He took a light breath. "I have always stood by my principles, and will now do so for the rest of eternity."

"I hope you're right."

There was really nothing more to say.

She and her friends approached the portal now, where Winter was waiting for them, her pocket watch—her Timekeeper—in her hoof and glowing green. "Alright, ladies, in you go," she said, gesturing into the portal as she kept her eyes on the watch. "We made good time but there's no sense in wastin' any more of it. Stay on the path, don't dawdle, and take care of yourselves, eh?"

Twilight's friends thanked Winter for everything she had done as they walked through the portal first, one by one, as if they were just walking through a doorway, without so much as a yelp of surprise.

When it was Twilight's turn, she paused a moment to look at Winter, whose focus was still on the Timekeeper. "Winter, I—"

"You should get goin', Twilight," Winter said without looking up. "Your world needs ya."

Twilight stood still a moment, then swiftly moved to hug Winter. "Thank you. For everything."

Winter took a moment to return it, though Twilight could feel the hesitation. "Yeah. You're welcome…"

After breaking the hug, Twilight and Winter shared a brief look between each other; she could see in Winter's eyes that there was a sense of… anxiousness? Confusion? Worry? Regret? She couldn't really tell; she'd never been terribly good at reading ponies. She wanted to say something, to maybe try one last time to figure out what had happened between them, whether it had been an accident or mistake, or if it had actually meant something.

More than anything she just wanted to kiss her again.

"Winter..." She paused, and sighed. "Goodbye…"

It was all she could manage.

She then simply turned to the portal as her friends had done, took a deep breath, and then stepped inside without another word.

The experience of going from that other world back to her own home was a rather different one, Twilight found. Rather than being swept along rivulets of magical energy that twisted and bent every which way, unable to control the direction in which she moved or even keep track of where she was, there was just a long, narrow path leading from the portal off into the distance.

The portal sealed itself up behind her most of the way, until there was only a hole the size of an apple remaining; enough to keep the portal open, but not enough to let anypony through. She couldn't even tell what was on the other side anymore.

She caught up to her friends relatively quickly, and they proceeded to walk along the path forward, until another window came into view. Twilight gasped in delight when she saw the slightly blurry image of what was surely the throne room at Canterlot's royal palace. With a destination in sight, she and her friends ceased their simple walking pace, and broke into a gallop.

The sensation of moving through the other side was like leaping into the pool on a sweltering hot day, the sudden rush of a completely different environment. No longer were her nostrils plagued with the stench of smog and stuffy air; no longer did the chill of a metropolitan winter nip at her coat; no longer did the sounds of gathered crowds lash at her ears.

The throne room at the royal palace in Canterlot was exactly as she remembered it, right down to the tiniest detail. Morning was still at least an hour away, so she could see the nighttime sky and stars outside the nearest window, with Luna's moon just getting ready to move beyond the horizon.

Princess Luna herself sat on the throne ahead of her, two royal guards at her side; all three were stunned at the sudden appearance of Twilight and her friends, though the former was more ecstatic than surprised.

They were back. They were home.

The portal sealed up behind them immediately. "And there we have it!" exclaimed a nearby pegasus mare, holding a pocket watch identical to Winter's; this had to be Summer Rains, Winter's counterpart in this world. "Six mares, as ordered, and ahead of schedule as well by my count. I knew Winter could do it."

Princess Luna gestured towards one of the two guards. "Go and fetch our sister immediately."

The guard saluted. "Yes, Your Highness." And off he went.

Luna then nodded appreciatively at Summer, and rose from the throne. "We did not doubt thee or thy friend's capabilities, Miss Rains, and we thank thee for thine assistance in these matters. We shall see to it that thou art rewarded for thine efforts in returning our missing ponies to us."

"Psh, just part of the job there, doncha know," Summer said, waving the praise off with a hoof. She turned to Twilight and her friends and held up her Timekeeper briefly, tapping the screen a few times. "Now then, let me just make sure there weren't any cross-dimensional complications there, and you girls can move right on with your business."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Cross-dimensional complications?"

Summer nodded but stayed focused on her Timekeeper. "Oh yeah, can never be too careful when Void magic gets involved with things. You don't want to end up with some Void-related illness or somethin', believe you me. It's all just part of the procedure, sweetie, nothin' to worry about."

Luna approached Twilight; Twilight immediately bowed, as did the rest of her friends. "Princess Luna, it's so good to see a familiar face again after all these weeks."

Luna smiled and gestured for Twilight and her friends to rise. "There is no need for such cordial displays, Twilight Sparkle. We hath all been plagued with worry since thy departure, and 'tis a wondrous occasion to have thee and thy friends home. We will not have thee bowing in our presence."

"Well, we're just glad to be home, Princess," Twilight replied with a grin. "So I'm guessing that if we're not bothering with etiquette, we should all be putting aside the other pleasantries for now too, right? I bet we've got work to do!"

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Work?"

Twilight blinked. "Yeah, work. Wasn't Discord in danger of being released because we were gone? We have to reseal him, right?"

"Oh no, nothing like that," Summer chimed in. "Since you and your friends got back in time, the Elements of Harmony will have immediately reestablished their connection to you and the seal won't be weakenin' anymore. It might need a bit of a touch-up or somethin' at best, but there's no rush to do anythin' like that, doncha know."

"So, wait, that's it?" Rainbow asked, scratching her head. "We just showed up back home in time and… and Discord's seal is back to normal?"

"She is correct," Luna said with a nod. "Once we were informed of the situation, my sister and I ensured that Discord's statue was placed somewhere safe, such that he could not harrow the seal and more hastily break free. We have also been sharing duties in hindering the influence of his Chaos magic."

"Really? Well, that seems a bit anticlimactic if you ask me," Pinkie said, tapping her chin. "This doesn't sound like the final chapter to the story at all!"

"Yeah! I was ready for some sort of big, epic showdown!" Rainbow agreed.

"Right? Where's the explosions? Where's the villainous monologue?"

Rarity rolled her eyes. "I believe that we've already had enough excitement for one morning, don't you think? Frankly, I'm glad if this was all so easy. I'd rather not have to deal with Discord's shenanigans right now, not after everything we've been through with our friends and that ghastly Nihila creature."

Pinkie blinked. "Oh. Hey, yeah, we already did get that with her, didn't we? I mean, technically we didn't do much…" She tapped her chin again. "Oh, wait, I get it. I totally get it."

"Get what?" Rainbow asked. "What're you talking about, Pinks?"

Pinkie shook her head and giggled. "Nothing, Dashie. You'll see. Besides, this wasn't supposed to be like some grand, epic adventure. We spent all our time in the big city hanging out with friends and learning lessons and stuff. Completely different genre."

"Speaking of our friends, I hope that everypony is going to be okay…" Fluttershy murmured, glancing back at where the portal had been. "Everything just happened so fast that… that I'm worried about leaving them like that."

"I'm sure they'll be just fine, Fluttershy," Twilight said with a small smile. "No, I know they will."

The doors to the throne room then popped open, and Twilight saw Princess Celestia enter through, unaccompanied by any guards.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed, rushing forward to greet her mentor. "It's so good to see you again! I have so many things to tell you and ask about, and friendship lessons to write, and—"

"Calm yourself, my faithful student," Celestia said with a glowing smile. "There will be time for all of that later. What's important now is that you're home, and that you're safe." She threw one hoof around Twilight to pull her in for a hug. "I was so worried when I learned of what happened."

"I've missed you so much," Twilight said with a wide smile, returning the hug. "I'm so glad that we're home. You wouldn't believe the things we've seen and learned while we were gone."

"And there will be time enough to hear it. For now, though, I think you and your friends all need a good rest, perhaps some breakfast, and to get back to Ponyville as soon as possible to be with your friends and families after all this time. I'm certain Luna has already informed you that Discord will not be a problem now that you've returned?"

"She did." Twilight nodded eagerly. "But yes, you're right, we need to get home home. I know we got some updates and all, but I'm still worried about how Spike and Owlowiscious are doing, and—"

"Not to worry, everypony, I made sure Ponyville stayed in good shape while you guys were gone," Summer said as she used her Timekeeper to examine Pinkie. "Things might be a bit different when you get home there, but it'll be easy to get back to normal, hopefully. Everypony's safe and sound, and they're all gonna be glad to have you back, believe you me."

"That's good to hear," Rarity said with a sigh. "I'll be glad to get the boutique reopened, and to be with my lovely Opalescence, and of course to see my dear Sweetie Belle again." She turned briefly to Applejack. "And I'll have to give so much thanks to your family for taking her in, darling."

"And Spike, too," Twilight added.

"I'm just looking forward to seeing all of my animal friends again…" Fluttershy said with a wistful sigh. "Angel Bunny must be absolutely heartbroken that I've been gone so long." She turned to Summer. "Thank you so much for making sure everything was taken care of for us while we were gone."

"Yes, I think plenty of due thanks should go to Miss Rains as well for all that she's done," Rarity added.

"Indeed. We really can't thank Miss Rains enough for the help she's given us," Celestia said with a wink to the Chronomancer. "With her timely advice and her dedicated actions to keeping things calm and contained, we were able to prevent Discord from growing stronger. The worst it got was a few random pranks around the palace, and a few… colorful words directed at my sister and I."

Summer blushed. "Oh, c'mon now, everypony, you really don't need to thank me for just doin' my job. I'm sure any Chronomancer worth their salt would've done the same as me and my counterpart and gotten this all done just as easily, doncha know."

"Though I will say, the fact that this happened at all has made me quite worried about the potential for similar occurrences in the future," Celestia noted, giving Twilight a serious look. "Until this whole situation, I had never considered what might transpire if… if something were to happen to you, or to any of your friends."

"What do you mean, Princess?" Twilight asked.

"What I mean is, your connection with the Elements of Harmony makes you and your friends critically important to the safety of Equestria, even in ways we don't yet know or expect. Over the past few weeks in my interactions with Discord, I have begun thinking on potential solutions to such events should… should something terrible happen."

Twilight frowned. "I really am sorry that we worried you, Princess."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Twilight," Celestia said with a soft smile. "But rest assured, I will be speaking with my sister on some potential avenues we may want to pursue so that something like this never happens again, or at least not to this degree. We may require the aid of you and your friends, as well."

"And we'll be happy to help!" Twilight said, turning to her friends. "Right girls?"

"Right!" they all said in unison.

Celestia smiled. "Well then, now that we've all gotten this settled, why don't you girls head over to the dining room and I'll have some breakfast sent your way, hmm? A little bite to eat before we get you all back to Ponyville should do you some good."

"Sounds great, Princess," Twilight said with a bow.

Celestia bowed to her briefly in turn. "It's good to have you and your friends home, Twilight."

With a sigh of relief, Twilight replied, "It's good to be home, Princess."

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Confession

Silvertongue watched as Winter closed the portal after Twilight departed through it. She seemed particularly melancholy as she did so; her body language and the expression on her face were little more than books to him.

He understood all too well the sort of emotions she must be feeling, to have somepony she cared for be taken from her because she had her duties. To what extent she cared for Twilight, he did not know, but he had a sense that it was far more than friendly. The feeling was definitely shared, too, judging from Twilight's own looks and body language. A pity, really.

As he watched her put that magnificent little pocket watch away, he felt a fleeting sense of curiosity in the back of his mind. The device was clearly powerful, capable of tearing open paths to other worlds with a potent energy source behind it—such as himself—and likely capable of much more. A part of him wanted to look at it and see what sorts of wonders the device held within it. All he had to do was take it.

She sighed and shook her head, wiping her brow of sweat. "Well, that's it. It's all done." She looked up at the sky. "I'll be honest, up until this exact moment I've been waitin' for ya to try somethin' fishy. Ya don't exactly inspire a lot of trust, do ya?"

But he had more important things to do, and so little time to do them in.

"No," he said with a small grin. "I suppose I don't. If the circumstances that led us all to this exact moment were even slightly different, you might just be right about me. I understand that sometimes my mission required me to commit atrocities of the highest caliber. There may very well have been a situation just like this one wherein I was the villain."

"Yeah, maybe," she muttered. "So, you've got no intention on gettin' me out of the picture, then? I know all about what happened here today. So do those stallions downstairs. You're not afraid of what might happen because we know too much?"

He laughed. "You're just trying to goad me at this point, aren't you? Do you have a death wish and hope to ignite some misbegotten fury in me?"

"I dunno. Maybe I'm just curious as to why you're being so… cooperative."

"What would you do with such information about today, hmm? Resist the coming changes? You know as well as I do what Nihila was capable of, the things she had her servants do before I was even a glimmer in my father's eye." He shook his head. "No, I see no reason to do anything but ensure that my daughters continue with the next stage of my mission: making the north a better place, and repairing the damage that I have done."

She turned to face him. "And how do you plan to do that?"

"That isn't important for you to concern yourself with. If my daughters choose to involve you in any capacity, that is their prerogative. All that should matter to you now, Miss Glow… is taking a moment to rest and reflect after a job well done. You have certainly earned it."

She paused a moment and nodded. "Yeah… I suppose I have…"

"Come, let us collect your other companions."

He didn't wait for a response, just lit his horn and teleported her and himself back into the dining room, where his daughters still waited, as well as the stallions Lockwood and Flathoof. He could tell that he hadn't interrupted anything important; at worst maybe he'd interrupted an awkward silence.

"Winter!" Lockwood said, rising from his seat. "Is it done? Are they safe?"

She nodded. "Yup, they made it to the other side, and now the portal's all sealed up. It's done; they're home."

He breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back in his seat briefly; Silvertongue couldn't help but notice it was his seat the stallion was in, but he hadn't the time of the inclination to care or say anything about it earlier. Things were moving fast and there was still much to do, so what did he care, really? He'd never sit in that seat again anyway.

"So, you must be Lord Silvertongue then?" Lockwood asked, standing from the seat and offering his hoof; the poor stallion was absolutely dwarfed by Silvertongue's size, enough that he looked a little comical with the offer, cordial though it was. "I suppose some thanks are in order, sir. I'm at a loss for everything that's happened here, but you helped my friends."

Silvertongue smirked, and declined the hoofshake. "No thanks are necessary, my good stallion. Your role in all of this was as much a help to me as anything I did might have been for you. If you wish to thank me for everything that has transpired, you may do so by returning to your homes, and to your lives, families, and friends."

"Great idea, I couldn't agree more," said Flathoof, also rising from his seat; the stallion was so eager to leave that he apparently didn't care if he seemed rude or not, and Silvertongue couldn't blame him.

Silvertongue turned to Dawn. "Dawn, dear, please ensure that our guests arrive home safely, if you would?"

Dawn rose from her seat and nodded. "Yes, Father." She turned to the three guests and gestured for them to gather around. "This will only take a moment."

Lockwood nodded at Dawn. "I, uh… I don't suppose given everything that's happened that any of us will ever see each other again? I know that I consider some of you friends," he said, looking amongst the mares. "I'd hate to think we'd lose that connection just because Twilight and her friends are gone."

"It is certainly within the realm of possibility," Dawn replied, though she kept her expression flat. "But I would estimate that that would be up to my sisters individual discretions. They are aware of methods with which to contact you."

"I certainly hope so; you all know where I live," he chuckled.

Dawn lit up her horn and, without teleporting away herself, sent Lockwood, Winter, and Flathoof away in a flash. She then turned to Silvertongue and nodded, a small smile on her face. "What is our next objective, Father? Now that our task is complete regarding Twilight and her companions, and now that you have become… your new self, I am at a loss as to what new direction we are taking."

Silvertongue nodded. "I do indeed have something more for you," he said. He turned to the others. "For all of you. If I have not yet made it clear, this city will be within your hooves soon enough. But time is short, and there is still yet much to do before—"

He paused, as that strange pulling sensation tugged at his very existence again. It had happened more than once while he was assisting Winter with the portal; it had happened while he was sharing a final conversation with Twilight. But now it was getting stronger, and he knew just what it was: the Dreaming was calling to him, drawing him from this plane of existence so that he could take his rightful place.

If he did not have a few more tasks to accomplish, he would allow the pull to take him and say his goodbyes now. But he resisted it, because there was still much to do and now little time to do it in, and to leave his daughters in such a fashion was… well, it was rude.

"Father? Is something troubling you?" Dawn asked.

He would be honest with her. It was time to start being honest with her, and with her sisters. "Yes, my dear: I will soon transition off of this mortal plane and into an immaterial one known as 'the Dreaming', a realm that I couldn't possibly give an accurate description to, as my experience with it is brief. This physical form of mine will be no more."

"You're leaving us?" Velvet asked, eyes wide, lips trembling.

"No, my dear, I am not. Not exactly," he said, shaking his head. "It is difficult to explain it in succinct terms, but once I have made the transition, we will no longer be able to speak to one another face-to-face. However, like Nihila before me, I will require a Warden of my own in order to communicate and interact with the material plane. I will let you decide amongst yourselves who you feel that should be.

"In the meantime, however, there is much to do before I can leave you. There are things I must tell you, and things I must show you." He turned to Dawn. "If you would, dearest, fetch Curaçao as soon as possible. You and your sisters are all to meet me at the main elevator on my floor of the tower in one hour."

Dawn looked to her sisters, nodded, then back to her father. "We will rendezvous with you there, Father."

*****

Silvertongue looked himself over in the mirror of his personal bedchambers for what he knew would be the last time. He'd always taken pride in his appearance, not just because Nihila had expected him to maintain it, but because that was how he'd been raised; he suspected Nihila forced him to keep up the appearances because she felt amusement in the fact that somepony so pristine would taint themselves with her essence.

She did a lot of things like that, actually, things that amused her at his expense.

In all his years, he'd known that Harmonia was a pillar of immeasurable beauty and absolute perfection, and the inability to put her purity into words, especially for somepony like him, had led him to believe that it was simply impossible to do. Nihila had been much the same, only he found it impossible to describe her terrifying allure and irresistible sensuality.

Seeing himself here and now, just standing in this mirror like a perfectly normal pony apart from the anatomy, helped put things into perspective. The sensation of perfection that came with interacting with alicorns was likely just due to the alien, unknowable nature of their immaterial forms. Having a physical body to look upon, regardless of how pleasant it was to see, was not nearly the same.

He'd removed his armor by this stage—the seared hole in the chest where he'd been struck was unacceptable to his eyes—and dressed not in his normal day-to-day dress clothes, but in a simple robe, much as his daughters had dressed in before: black silk with a red trim. He rarely wore it before now despite always finding it comfortable, and here he truly noticed that he couldn't feel the comfort at all.

For that matter, all other sensations—biological needs, really—had faded away within minutes of his transformation. He'd been feeling peckish while he waited on the roof for Twilight Sparkle and her friends to arrive, but now he didn't feel hungry in the least. He felt no urge to drink; he felt no urge to rest; he felt no urge to do anything, really, except resist that damned pull that was trying to draw him away.

Once he'd dressed, he glanced at the soulstone that he'd brought with him from the bowels of the Beacon, which he had since attached to a pendant that hung around his neck. The golden light contained within it was definitely flickering, like a firefly stuck in a bottle. "Soon, my Heart," he whispered, stroking the crystal slowly as he tucked it into his robes. "Soon."

He moved from his bedchambers out into the hallway, then towards the main elevator. It had been precisely one hour to the second, so he was not at all surprised to find his daughters waiting for him. They'd used the past hour wisely, grooming and dressing in more comfortable clothing, as well as removing the enchanted paints. He still didn't approve of Velvet's choice in clothes, but she was an adult and could dress as she pleased.

"Father," greeted Dawn with a brief curtsey. "We are prepared to proceed with whatever responsibilities you might have for us."

"Excellent," he replied. "Have you all by chance discussed the matter that we last left off with? The selection of the Warden amongst you?"

Dawn nodded, and though he knew she would normally bear a sense of pride in her next words, he could clearly see the sorrow in her eyes because she knew what it meant. "Yes, Father. We have come to the conclusion that I would be best suited for the station."

He didn't really expect anypony else, but he wanted them to know that they had the right to choose. "Wonderful." He then gestured for them to follow him into the elevator. "But first, we have some final business to attend to. Come."

They entered the elevator with him, and he closed the doors once the elevator was full. With his larger size, it was a tight fit within the elevator car, but it was not uncomfortable.

He removed a small panel below the normal push buttons that the elevator used to travel between floors, revealing a slot for a key, whereupon he removed the matching key from his robe's pocket, inserted it, and gave it a turn.

The elevator shook briefly, then made its way down.

"Only three ponies on my staff have access to what I am about to show you all," he said, looking upon their confused faces. "Myself, Doctor Blutsauger, and Overseer Pedigree; the latter two are the sole staff members of the project that have access to the main facility, which lies beneath Pandora Tower. Even Shroud is unaware of the details."

"What sort of facility, Father?" Dawn asked.

"You will see shortly, my dear, just be patient."

They rode the elevator down in complete silence, not even with a bit of music to help set the mood or calm the nerves; the damage to Pandora Tower as part of the ritual had not been slight, and though the elevator worked, the speaker system had been broken. An easy fix, but hardly a priority.

He could still feel that pull on the entirety of his being the entire ride down, and knew that he did not have long before it would likely be impossible to resist it, a couple of hours at most. A curious thought came to mind: was this what dying felt like? He'd heard many conflicting accounts on the subject, so the sudden thought amused him.

When the elevator reached the bottom floor, the doors opened to reveal a pristine white metal hallway, which ended in a matching door. No decorations lined the hall, and no signs or posters designated any specific points of interest. There weren't even any additional colors to see apart from plain, pure white, save for the bits of exposed silver that made up the framing of the hall and the door.

Silvertongue led his daughters out of the elevator and into the hall, and then stopped them all just before they arrived at the door. "Within the chamber beyond lies a special facility designed for a project that I considered crucial for a great many years," he explained. "It took centuries for technology and technomagic to coincide enough to make it possible, and the road has not been as successful as I would have liked.

"As you are aware, the ritual that was required to summon Nihila into our mortal plane was a precise process that required magic that is rare to find amongst unicorns, especially in some particular classifications." He turned briefly to Velvet. "Hemomancy, for example, rarely manifests in unicorns, and rarer still in the manner that it does for you, my dear."

Velvet raised an eyebrow. "You mean that I'm better at using my powers than unicorns are?"

"Precisely, to a point. It was all a part of the infusion process that granted you that gift, a process of which you are all aware of, as it has gifted you all with extraordinary abilities that non-unicorns are utterly incapable of."

Curaçao stepped forward. "Papa, what is on the other side of this door? What is it really?"

He could tell that she already knew the answer based on her tone, or at least had guessed closely enough, and was only asking for her sisters' benefit. She was the most intelligent among them, wiser and sharper than even Dawn, but did not seem to have the same need to flaunt it. It was why he trusted her with the most important tasks ahead of them all.

Silvertongue looked at her and gave her a sad smile. "The culmination of centuries of work meant to create ponies that could help me destroy Nihila."

"I do not understand," Dawn said. "What do you mean by 'create' ponies?"

"I mean exactly that. Artificially-created ponies, born not from a mother's womb but from a machine, and then infused with magic from the Beacon itself to grant them extraordinary powers."

"Extraordinary powers… like ours," Gray said, giving him a hard look.

"Correct."

Dawn scoffed. "Why would you require such ponies when you have us? Are we not the superior option, Father?"

Silvertongue sighed, and gently put his hoof on Dawn's shoulder. "Because… you are the end results of this project."

Dawn took a step back. "'The end results'? Wh-what are you saying? That we— no, that cannot be true. Father, that cannot be true."

"Of course it is," Gray said, still staring right at him. "It makes sense now, when you think about it. Haven't you ever wondered why we can't remember certain things properly?"

He felt a rush of pride in his daughter's intuition. He wished now more than ever that he had had the time to spend with each of them, to learn how they had developed themselves and what they'd grown to be. Gray gave off an air of indifference and apathy to the point of laziness, but he could see clearly that there was an observant, clever mare hidden behind that aloof exterior.

Velvet scratched her head. "Hey… you're right. There's all sorts of things I can't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure that they happened. Like, I could never remember my first kiss, but I know I've been kissed before." She looked at her father, confused and hurt. "You mean… those memories aren't real?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "They are implanted and modified to resemble past experiences that would help to shape your personalities down to the tiniest detail. I needed you all for a purpose, and I molded you to fit that purpose to the letter."

"So, what, we're fake ponies?" Havoc asked, clearly anxious. "We're… we're not real?"

Silvertongue shook his head decisively. "No, my dear, you are not fake; you are very real, as real as myself, as real as the friends you have made over the recent weeks. All of that is real, and don't you ever doubt that." He sighed. "Your personalities are crafted from implanted memories, true, but you are just as real as any other pony."

"Why… why are you telling us this?" Dawn asked, shaking her head in disbelief. "Are you even our father? Are we even... sisters?"

"Biologically… no," he admitted. "But a part of me resides within each and every one of you, and you all share an unbreakable bond because of it. I played a crucial part of your creation. I was the one who molded your memories to turn you into the mares you are today; is that not akin to a father raising a foal?"

"It's not the same, Dad," Gray snorted.

"I understand completely that this news troubles you." He looked to Dawn. "I am telling you all this because you deserve to know. I could not tell you sooner because the success of my plans for Nihila depended on your not knowing, and I am deeply sorry that I have lied to you all this time—"

"All our lives, you mean," Curaçao interjected, giving him a hard look. "Papa, there is something more you are hiding from us. I do not know what it is, exactly… but I can tell that there is more."

He gave her a grin. "You were always the most astute amongst your sisters, Curaçao. Yes, there is more, but I am not hiding it; I was merely breaking the news to you slowly, for I feel that doing so all at once would be less pleasant."

"And this isn't less pleasant?" Velvet asked, gesturing at the situation around them like it had a physical being. "What else could there possibly be to tell us?"

He gestured towards the door. "The ponies beyond this door are young, only… three years of age, if I recall correctly. They were artificially created using the same process that other ponies are born with, utilizing genetic material provided by anonymous donors. The foals grow to maturity as anypony would, and age normally as anypony would.

"You, however… are very different," he continued. "You were not born here in these tanks, built from a combination of random donors and grown to maturity. You are the result of a different process which built upon templates that already had 'results', and so it was possible to bring you in line with the molds from which you were crafted."

"What the hell does any of that even mean? What the hell is a 'template'?" Havoc asked, growing increasingly agitated.

"It means we're clones of somepony else," Gray said simply. "He had somepony to base us off of, so he was able to recreate us the way he wanted."

"Is this true, Father?" Dawn asked, looking quite side indeed. "Are we… are we mere duplicates of somepony else?"

"I don't wanna be a clone!" Insipid cried, grabbing hold of Velvet. "I don't even know what that is, but it sounds bad and I don't want it!"

"After everything else that we've heard today, I'll be honest in saying I'm not even fazed anymore," Gray said with a shrug. "Our dad is centuries old, he falsely served as the personal assistant to Nihila for all that time, plotted to usurp her, and now we're finding out that he literally made us in order to make it happen."

"When you put it like that… it really doesn't seem so bad, does it?" Velvet asked, tapping her chin.

"What?" Havoc blurted. "C'mon, don't tell me this doesn't bother you at least a little bit, 'cause it's bugging me a lot."

"I mean… yeah, okay, my whole life has been a lie, but… it's been a pretty good life, hasn't it? We all got a chance to make some really good friends, and to thoroughly enjoy ourselves, and we helped daddy do something amazing. That's… that's all pretty neat, right?"

Curaçao chuckled and shook her head. "I am sure if circumstances were different, we would not likely be so happy with this information. But… I have found somepony who loves me," she said, looking Silvertongue straight in the eye. "So I know that even if I was not 'born', I am still real. These feelings I have for her, and her for me, are real."

Gray nodded, a sad smile on her face. "Yeah, well said."

Havoc let her hooves fall. "That… makes a lot of sense, actually."

Insipid sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve. "So, like, we're okay with this, or whatever? You guys really don't mind? 'Cause, if you guys are okay, I'm okay."

Dawn snorted. "I certainly do not find this truth particularly ideal, but… yes, I am in agreement with Velvet. The fact that I was not properly born into this world should make no difference to who I am." She looked at Silvertongue, more perplexed than anything. "Though I am still uncertain if 'father' is the proper terminology to represent you."

"If you wish not to consider me your father any longer… I will accept that," Silvertongue said with another sad smile, trying to hide the pang in his heart from hearing her question it at all. "But I do consider you my daughters. The part of my soul that I put in you when you were created still resides within each of you, like any father's would with his daughter."

Velvet nodded sagely. "Yeah, I'm fine with you still being Daddy to me. I mean, sure, you didn't make me the traditional way—boring—but you still made me." She tapped her chin. "Come to think of, though… what does that mean when it comes to having a mom?"

"The truth of that matter is that Nihila actually assisted me in creating you," Silvertongue admitted. "I could not funnel the Beacon's magic into each of you to grant you your abilities without her, and it was her magic that also allowed me to grant you all life. So, for all intents and purposes…"

Dawn laughed. "So, what she said was no fabrication."

"In a manner of speaking. But as I said to her, her contribution to your births was akin to nothing more than that of a distant aunt gifting bits to foals on their birthdays. She did not love any of you; you were nothing more than tools."

"And we're really not just tools to you?" Gray asked; a sincere question.

"You served a purpose, yes, and when I first decided to create you, I will admit that that was all I saw in you: a useful purpose, nothing more than a hammer with which to strike at the nail that was Nihila." He smiled, the kind of proud smile only a father could have. "But then you were born, and that part of me within you drew us closer the longer we were together. I care for you as I would any natural-born foal of mine."

Havoc put up her hooves to halt the conversation. "So, wait a second, moving back to the whole 'clone' business, you mean that there's another Havoc out there somewhere that I'm a copy of?" She crossed her hooves over her chest. "Well, wherever she is, I bet I could kick her ass!"

"Only you would brag about being able to kick your own ass," Velvet snickered.

Silvertongue shook his head. "No, I'm afraid the truth is far more complicated than that." He took a breath. "I implanted a codeword in your heads that, when activated, would alert you all to the whole truth. I am hoping that coming to terms with what I have told you thus far will help ease the remaining piece of information you are to receive. You are collectively what I have dubbed the Elements of Discord."

Instantly, all six mares' eyes went blank, and they cried out as visions raced through their heads all at once. He knew that the process would not be easy and in fact might even be painful; having one's head flooded with visions and truths often was. The process took only a few seconds, but once it was all over, the mares began breathing hard as they tried to process the information that they'd just been given; Havoc and Dawn fell to their rears, clearly more floored by the revelation than the others.

It would be easier now, because he'd told them the hardest part himself. At least that's what he hoped.

Dawn was the first to react, looking to Silvertongue with utter confusion, searching for answers in his face. "Father, I… I am a clone of Twilight Sparkle?" She didn't even seem like she believed her own question. He was relieved that she still considered him "Father" after all of that.

"Yes," he answered, looking over the group as a whole. "Each of you is a clone of one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, as they are known as in their world. Nihila's magic allowed me to breathe life into you and infuse you with your abilities, even adjust your body structures, and then I molded your memories and personalities to be reflections of those you were copied from."

"But… why?" Gray asked, shaking her head. "Why not just leave us as we were, but with the powers we were given? Why change us so… so thoroughly?"

"Because Nihila wanted it that way, and I needed to contort myself to her whims in order to lure her into a false sense of security," he said simply.

"These changes, they are so… precise," Curaçao said, running a hoof through her mane, a troubled look upon her face. "You developed these personalities for us for such a specific purpose."

"Indeed. Had other circumstances come into play, the degree to which you would have been changed might have been substantially different." Silvertongue briefly stroked his chin. "I have often considered what might have changed had any number of events been slightly divergent. It always pays to consider all of the alternatives, no matter how unlikely."

"Wait a second though, hold up," Havoc said, raising her hooves. "I want to make sure I've got this straight, because I was noticing a pattern for a little bit then I lost it."

He nodded. "Please, ask away. Anything I can do to ease this influx of truths."

"So, Dawn is a clone of Twilight, got it, and that's why she was assigned to her?"

"A masterful decision," Dawn said, tapping her chin. "She and I are so alike in personality that it was… natural that we would develop a bond of camaraderie." She nodded in total acceptance of this fact, though perhaps not approval. "I understand that our companionship was genuine, and now I see that it is because I was designed that way. Does that make it less so?"

"That friendship was still real, my dear," Silvertongue said gently. "And you did not merely befriend Miss Sparkle because of how I altered your memories; you did it because of how you were raised, as any pony with your exact memories would most certainly have been. You are not Twilight Sparkle; you are Golden Dawn."

"Though I do obviously share her genetic material," Dawn noted. "I would find this more disconcerting if I… if I did not also find it incredibly intriguing. I require time to research the possible ramifications of our physical similarities."

Havoc rolled her eyes. "Okay, so, back to what I was saying, I get that Dawn is Twilight's clone, and that Insipid and Velvet are of Rarity and Pinkie—"

Insipid suddenly gasped, as though struck with a happy thought. "Wait! If I'm, like, a clone of Rarity that means… I'm just like her! She was so confident in me and junk, and I always wondered why because, like, I'm not as pretty as she is or as smart or creative, but like, she looked after me anyways. She was confident in me no matter what."

"Yeah? So?"

"So, that means that I should, like, have confidence in myself!" Insipid said, beaming. "Because, like, if Rarity had confidence in me, and I'm, like, Rarity Two, or whatever—I don't know how this works—then that means I should have confidence in myself, because Rarity did, and I'm Rarity, so—"

Curaçao chuckled. "You are going around in circles, ma sœur."

Velvet, also with a smile, chimed in. "I always loved how Pink and I got along so well, and now it all makes sense. We're not just Long-Lost Twin Sisters From Another World, I'm her, but different. That's pretty much the same thing, right? I'm not just some copy, I'm me, and that's great."

"Urgh! I'm trying to talk here!" Havoc shouted.

Everypony's attention switched to her.

"I get all of that shit! What I don't get is that I'm not a clone of Rainbow Dash. I'm a clone of Fluttershy. What the fuck is up with that? We're total opposites!"

"Same with Dash and me," Gray noted, scratching her head. "What gives, Dad?"

"As I noted, modifying all of you to cater to Nihila's whims required that I make tweaks and changes to your personalities that best fit with her desires, to a degree," Silvertongue explained.

"I still don't get it," Havoc said, scratching her head.

"Well, some of the Elements were easier to modify without changing much about you, which is why Dawn and Velvet are so similar to their originals. Some needed a little more input, which is why Insipid possesses a... youthful mind compared to Rarity, or why Gray is simply a different kind of 'cool', athletic mare compared to Rainbow Dash."

Gray nodded thoughtfully. "Okay… that makes a lot of sense, when you put it that way. Dash and I could probably be good friends, if we wanted to be, I guess."

"As for yourself and Curaçao, Havoc, you are the oldest amongst your sisters; you were the first two created, and as such were the first ones that Nihila had her eyes upon fully. So, the changes needed to be more drastic."

"Oui, I understand," Curaçao agreed. "Applejack, elle est honnête and she has a deep connection with her family, enough that even in this world, she forged a bond with a family much like her own." She shook her head. "But I am not like this. I keep secrets and deceive others like I was born to do it… because I was."

Silvertongue set a hoof on her shoulder. "But that does not make you a bad pony, my dear. You know that you love your sisters, and they love you. You know that your deceptions and secrets have all been for a purpose, and you do so with good intentions and an honest motivation."

She nodded. "Oui, Papa. I know another pony that keeps too many secrets and is well-regarded by others." Silvertongue knew it wasn't him she was referring to, necessarily; her reports on Lockwood certainly fit the description.

Havoc flung her hooves in the air. "What about me?! Why the fuck am I so fucking different from Fluttershy?"

"Because she is a shy individual with little ambition to change her station in life, content to go along with the flow of things if it makes others happy," Silvertongue said. "That is not to disparage her, of course, for her kind heart makes it easy for her to make friends and for others to care about her. However, all of these traits needed to be changed to appease Nihila's whims, and so… I made you.

"You are brash and loud, and your desire to improve and do better applies not just to yourself, but to others. You are not one to shy away from telling others what you think, even if it upsets them, because sometimes one has to be cruel to be kind." He grinned. "So really, you are just like her, deep down. That's the genius of my designs, really, and why Nihila never suspected a thing."

Havoc blinked, then sat back on her rear again to process all that. "Huh. Wow, yeah… that makes a lot of sense." She looked at him, eyebrow raised. "But why did Gray and I get assigned to each other's opposites? Why didn't Curaçao get assigned to Applejack?"

"Nihila wanted exactly that, but I convinced her otherwise. You are right insofar as you are too different from Fluttershy to make easy friends, but you and Rainbow made ideal companions. Gray might have been able to befriend Rainbow, certainly, but she would be more suited to befriending Fluttershy."

"Come to think of it, weren't Shy and Dash good friends in flight school?" Gray asked, nudging Havoc. "Maybe that's why we clicked so well?"

Havoc blinked. "Shit, yeah, that's right. Like a… whatever, in the back of our heads or something? Huh…"

"As for Curaçao," Silvertongue continued. "I could see that Applejack had no need for another companion beyond Captain Flathoof. I anticipated the pair bonding together, though I will be honest, I was not expecting their relationship to progress the way that it did."

He turned to Curaçao and set his hoof on her shoulder again. "So I assigned you to observe and learn everything you could about everything else, and to use your knowledge to assist your sisters now and in the future, because that is what you are best at."

Dawn nodded, still deep in thought. "This is all a lot of information to digest, Father, but… I think that I can learn to accept this. Your assessment is correct: I still feel… real. Even knowing that I was crafted, not born, and knowing that I forged my friendship with Twilight on a false pretense… I cannot claim that our friendship was anything less than genuine."

"Yeah!" Velvet said, wrapping Dawn up in a hug. "We made friends and stuff just like any real pony would! Who cares if we didn't get made 'cause Daddy got busy with some mare? That doesn't make us any less awesome!"

"And you're telling us all this not just because you wanted to be honest with us, but because of the facility behind that door?" Gray asked, gesturing towards said door. "Why?"

Silvertongue smiled. "Because the ponies beyond here are much like you, only they are young, and they did not have the advantages you all had. Now that Nihila has been defeated, these ponies realistically have no purpose. I figure that if anypony can help to give them a new purpose… it would be all of you. Shall we?"

The mares all looked amongst themselves then gave him a nod.

He opened the door and showed them into the facility beyond, which was no small chamber by any stretch. The central floor was large enough for a dozen or so ponies as well as numerous computers and other monitoring devices. Beyond that was a large, open arena similar to the one that Silvertongue had originally used to test his daughters' combat capabilities, only much smaller and more pristine.

To the left and the right were long hallways, along which were numerous small chambers each with little more than an economically-designed bed, a small locker, and a light fixture. There were a total of thirty-four such chambers, and in each of these was a young pony some three years of age.

There were fillies and colts alike, of course, of all three of the different pony tribes, though not in a neat division. There were more unicorns than pegasi, and more pegasi than earth ponies, that much was easy to tell. They all appeared healthy as far as Silvertongue could see, and he could definitely sense the magical energies that had been infused within each of them, same as with his daughters.

In the center floor were two stallions, one of whom was Doctor Blutsauger. Silvertongue had Shroud summon him to the facility the night before with instructions to remain here until he himself arrived; he'd been confident in his success with Nihila and in sending Twilight Sparkle and her friends home.

The other stallion was also a unicorn. He had a rich, light gray coat and a dark gray mane that he kept short, but styled neatly. Like Blutsauger, he wore a simple lab coat, though his was black rather than white.

Both stallions heard Silvertongue and his daughters enter the room, and both acknowledged his presence with a bow; both were also quite transfixed by the sight of his new height and wings, for they'd been unaware of his transformation and he surely looked incredibly fascinating in their eyes, if only from a scientific perspective.

"Guten morgen, Herr Silvertongue," said Blutsauger first, remaining bowed. "I arrived here as soon as you called for me."

Silvertongue bid them both to rise. "And a good morning to you as well, Doctor Blutsauger." He nodded at the other stallion. "Overseer Pedigree. It has been some time since I last visited. How are things?"

Pedigree nodded as well, but was dumbfounded by the question. "Lord Silvertongue, good morning. I am… well, sir. A bit tired from the early rise."

Silvertongue glanced between the two briefly, then grinned. "I will spare you two a detailed explanation on my current appearance, so let us just say that it has been quite an eventful morning." He shook his head and chuckled. "Hmm… I just realized that it isn't even noon, yet. So many years of effort and it's all over in a matter of hours. Amusing."

He cleared his throat, then gestured towards his daughters. "Blutsauger, I believe you already know my daughters?"

Blutsauger nodded, raising an eyebrow. "Ja, Herr Silvertongue. I see that they are all doing quite well. Very healthy, of course." Silently he applauded the good doctor's decorum in avoiding staring at Velvet's provacative choice in outfit.

Dawn nodded politely. "We are indeed, Doctor. Although, given the circumstances—" She suddenly paused, then turned to Silvertongue, arching an eyebrow. "He played a significant role in our creation as well, did he not, Father?"

"He did," Silvertongue replied.

"What would that make him in relation to us?"

Silvertongue laughed, then glanced at Blutsauger. "I suppose that if you wish to consider him anything more than 'Doctor', then an appropriate approximation might be… Uncle." He smiled at the doctor. "How would that sound to you, Doctor? 'Uncle' Blutsauger?"

Blutsauger blinked, taking the goggles from his eyes. "If that is what they wish to call me, then I will not object. I have never had any nieces before. No brothers or sisters, you see."

Pedigree's eyes widened. "Wait a moment, Doctor… are these the resulting mares you spoke of in regards to the project?"

Blutsauger nodded. "Ja."

Silvertongue smiled. "Then Blutsauger has already informed you of my daughters' creation and circumstances?"

"Yes, sir," Pedigree said with a nod. "I had been discussing with Blutsauger for months on whether or not we could utilize a new rapid-aging procedure on the candidates. We determined that the process would be unstable and dangerous because we would be unable to predict proper growth patterns, especially not if we attempted the process so late in their life cycles.

"But a few weeks ago, he told me that there had been a breakthrough. By utilizing cloned genetic samples rather than engineered ones, we would have a template to work off of for the aging process and could make corrections along the way to prevent abnormalities and defects." He gestured at the mares, a look of disbelief on his face. "And here they are, standing right in front us. Proof of our success."

Dawn snorted. "I would surmise that my sisters and I would appreciate not being referred to in such a fashion that we resemble mere science experiments, Overseer."

Pedigree paused, then nodded. "Ah, er… f-forgive me, I was just—"

"Pedigree tends to get engrossed in his vork, ja?" Blutsauger interjected, giving a hard look to the other stallion. "He has an absolutely brilliant mind for technomagics and genetic engineering, but he has trouble sometimes with social cues." He turned to Silvertongue, all smiles again. "So, Herr Silvertongue, to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit, hmm?"

Silvertongue gestured to his daughters. "I have informed my daughters of the truth of their origins, and expressed a desire for them to see the work that went into making them into who they are today. Were they traditionally born, I would think it only proper that they have the opportunity to meet their birth parents, so I am of the opinion that this would be a suitable equivalent."

He then gestured towards some of the young ponies in the hallways. "Plus, this may serve as an opportunity to meet their… hmm. Their cousins, I suppose, in keeping with the familial terminologies. Though I will leave that to my daughters to decide upon."

"I would deem 'cousin' somewhat appropriate," Dawn agreed. "Though the age gap presented would make 'aunt' just as appropriate a title for us, I suppose."

Silvertongue looked out amongst the ponies with a slight frown. "I fear that I have not been so involved with the project as of late. I was under the impression that there were more than these few."

Blutsauger nodded sadly. "Ja, we originally began with one hundred potential candidates before we attempted the infusion process. While we only lost ten or so initially, I was hopeful that more would survive. I am told that we lost many more within days, und that the ones here are the only ones to survive through the whole month."

"There were more of these ponies?" Velvet asked with a frown. "And they died? Why? How?"

Pedigree pulled out a datapad and started scrolling through it. "The process of infusing them with the Beacon's magical energies is not exactly safe. Ten of the subjects died immediately after the infusion began; their bodies couldn't handle the energy. The remaining fifty-six succumbed to the harmful effects over the coming days, and about six weeks ago, we lost the last of them."

Silvertongue noted that his daughters were giving Pedigree some rather harsh looks—even Insipid—because of his rather clinical description of events. He personally understood and didn't disapprove of the Overseer's methods and technique—he had been hired for a reason—but he felt that was something that would likely be changing sooner rather than later.

"The thirty-four candidates present here are the only ones that have made it this far," Pedigree continued, gesturing into the rooms. "They are, however, stable; there is no threat of death from the infusion process any longer, at least not directly."

"Part of the problem is that we cannot infuse them in the embryonic stages, as the magics would just tear them apart immediately," said Blutsauger. "But we cannot wait until they are older than a few years, either, because then their bodies will reject it. The ones that would survive such a process would suffer severe physical trauma, and potentially develop psychological disorders, as Shadowstep did."

"Who's Shadowstep?" Dawn asked.

"He is of no importance," Silvertongue snorted, giving a hard look to Blutsauger; the deceased assassin's records had been expunged and Silvertongue would rather he not be brought to light. "What matters is that Blutsauger was able to adjust the process when we worked on all of you, so that you would not only be physically sound, but mentally as well."

"Ja," Blutsauger confirmed.

"So, these other ponies all have powers like we do?" Gray asked.

"Can we see?" asked Havoc.

"I think that shouldn't be too much trouble," Silvertongue said, looking between Pedigree and Blutsauger.

Pedigree nodded. "Not at all, sir. Let me summon one of the candidates onto the demonstration floor, and you will be able to see the fruit of our efforts." He pressed a number of buttons on the nearby panels; a door inside the testing chamber opened, as did one of the hallway doors further down the line, out of sight. "Two-Eighteen to the White Room."

After about a minute, a young earth pony colt entered into the testing area. He had a caramel brown coat and a chocolate brown mane, with a bit of charcoal gray at the end of his muzzle. He wore only a simple white shirt, nothing more, just enough to provide him with a modicum of dignity.

Everypony present gathered by the window to observe what was to come.

"He's just a little colt…" Velvet muttered, the sympathy in her voice palpable.

"Correct," Pedigree said matter-of-factly. "He's also one of the few candidates that have developed magical abilities that are safe to practice at such a young age. There are some who have been identified as possessing magic from schools such as Pyromancy, Electromancy, Cryomancy, and so on."

Velvet was incredulous. "You'd have a little colt or filly throwing around fire, like Havoc does? Or other dangerous things?"

He shook his head. "No, ma'am, not until they're old enough to safely practice." He gestured towards the colt in the testing room. "Two-Eighteen's ability is a variation of Umbramancy and is of no risk of bringing harm to himself or others because of lack of practice. Shall I demonstrate?"

Velvet looked to Dawn, who gave Pedigree a nod.

Pedigree pressed another button on the console. "Two-Eighteen, show us your powers." He then turned a dial on the console, and the lights in the room fluctuated such that there were wide patches of darkness. He turned to the others briefly. "I have to use smaller words at this stage of development; he's too young to understand more complex instructions."

The little colt looked up at the glass of the room; if the glass wasn't one-way only, he'd be able to see a collection of ponies eagerly watching him. He then took a deep breath and moved into one of the dark patches, then, to the surprise of the mares, he simply melted away into them. A moment later, the colt then appeared in a completely different patch of shadow on the other side of the room without any trace of movement.

Silvertongue nodded in approval, impressed to see another pony developing powers like Shadowstep's, and seeming at least to be mentally stable, if Pedigree was correct.

"That is quite impressive," Dawn stated, tilting her head. "He simply moves through the shadows, akin to teleportation?"

"Not exactly, but the appearance would seem remarkably similar in a heated combat situation. Watch again, and you'll see that it's not quite as you might think." He announced into the room again: "Another, Two-eighteen."

The little colt shivered a little, but nodded, then tried again to shift into the shadows. To Silvertongue's surprise, he could not do so. He looked to be struggling, in fact, and after only a short moment, he fell to his knees and started breathing heavily.

"What's wrong with him?" Silvertongue asked.

Pedigree harrumphed. "He usually has enough in him for two demonstrations at the least. Forgive me, everypony, I was hoping for a better display. One moment." He called into the intercom: "Two-Eighteen, get up and show us again."

The little colt looked up and nodded fearfully, then rushed towards the nearby shadow-covered wall. However, instead of simply melding into it, he slammed into it face-first and fell back to the floor and started shivering and crying, curling up into a ball as though trying to keep warm.

Velvet gasped. "He's hurt!"

"Dammit," Pedigree muttered, turning to the group. "Apologies for this failed display—"

"Why are you pushing him like that?!" she belted. "He's just a little colt!"

Pedigree blinked. "I—"

Velvet turned to Dawn. "Get me in there, sis."

Dawn raised an eyebrow, but seemed to understand the determined look on Velvet's face, and with a flash of her horn she teleported Velvet into the testing floor.

Velvet immediately rushed over to the little colt and wrapped him in a warm, motherly embrace. "There there, little guy… you don't have to cry," she said, barely loud enough for anypony to hear. "Velvet's here for you…"

Pedigree scratched his head. "Um… so, moving on." He turned to Silvertongue and nodded slightly. "Apologies, sir, I was hoping for a more impressive showing—"

"There's no need for apologies, Overseer," Silvertongue said with a hard look. "However, I will remind you that after today, my daughters will be overseeing any and all projects and undertakings within Pandora Tower, including this one, and we clearly have very different priorities. It might be wise to consider that."

"Ah… y-yes, sir." Pedigree turned to Dawn. "My apologies, ma'am, for…" He glanced into the testing floor at Velvet and Two-Eighteen. "For pushing Two-Eighteen too hard. I will temper that mentality in the future."

Dawn, also giving him a hard look, gave him a small nod if only to barely acknowledge him. "That would be wise, Overseer. After this display, I have little doubt that my sister will endeavor to ensure that the remainder of these candidates are cared for properly. We share a kinship with them, you understand."

He gulped. "Of course, how could I forget?"

Dawn then looked into the arena and asked, "Why was he affected in such a fashion? His first display of his capabilities was flawless."

"As has already been noted, the infusion process resulted in complications with the candidates that caused a number of them to expire prematurely," Pedigree said, tugging his collar. "For the survivors, the process was not universally successful, either. Some of them, like Two-Eighteen, have displayed various side effects when utilizing their abilities."

"And what is the byproduct of Two-Eighteen's abilities?"

"Utilization of his powers has shown to cause a drastic drop in his body temperature, sometimes to near-freezing levels. With practice, the effect might be lessened, though I have been considering other options, such as a temperature-regulating bodysuit."

"Then I suggest that you ensure that he receives one posthaste, Overseer," Dawn replied. "I will not tolerate anything less."

"Of course, ma'am, I'll see to that right away." Pedigree nervously looked amongst the mares. "W-well, I imagine that we're done with demonstrations for the day, but I don't suppose you would like to meet the other candidates, would you?"

Dawn nodded. "That would be appurtenant to the intentions of the visit, yes."

It took a few minutes, but eventually all of the remaining candidates were corralled into the testing floor; Silvertongue's daughters joined them, as did Pedigree, leaving Silvertongue and Blutsauger to watch from the one-way glass above. As he watched the young ponies gather together into a sort of presentation line, like a military unit, Silvertongue briefly turned to Blutsauger.

"You've done well with your work, Doctor," he said. "Not just with the Shadow Candidate program, but with my daughters as well. You should be very proud of your accomplishments."

Blutsauger turned to Silvertongue with a surprised smile. "Danke, Herr Silvertongue. Your praise warms my heart."

"I feel it might be pertinent to inform you of some of the upcoming changes around here. The others within my fold will find out soon enough, but considering the circumstances, I may as well tell you face-to-face."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Soon, I will be leaving New Pandemonium City forever," Silvertongue said matter-of-factly. "And when I leave, my daughters are being placed in charge. I have already instructed them to figure out amongst themselves how best to divide their duties or if they want any duties at all, but I am certain that at the very least, Dawn and Curaçao will be leading everypony in my stead."

Blutsauger paused, but nodded after a moment. "I see. They are the logical choices, of course."

"I have left instructions with Shroud on how to make the transition as smooth as possible, starting with appointing Dawn as the Committee's Shadow Associate. I know that between Shroud and yourself, there should be minimal struggles as the transition takes place." He set his hoof on Blutsauger's shoulder. "See to it that my work is continued."

"I will, Herr Silvertongue. You have my word."

"Thank you, Doctor. It has been a pleasure working with you."

Blutsauger smiled. "Ja… likewise, sir."

Silvertongue then turned his attention back to the testing chamber, where his daughters were overlooking the candidates of the project; Velvet, of course, was keeping the little Two-Eighteen at her side, though he looked a bit confused as to why she was doing so, as did the other youngsters. There was no malice or jealousy in their faces, though, just confusion.

Some of the young ponies possessed some physical qualities that made them stand out even amongst their own unique crowd, all of which were easy to see even from up here through the glass. These were all rather tame, such as odd coat patterns, or benign mutations like heterochromia, but also worth noting was that they were all physically fit.

"So, as you can see," Pedigree explained, going over the last of the candidates with Dawn, his datapad levitated in his magic, "all of these candidates are physically and mentally sound as of this moment—some side-effects and mutations notwithstanding—and I have been carefully monitoring them for signs of decay or potential complications."

"And they all possess magical abilities, even those who are not unicorns," Dawn repeated, apparently getting more and more used to the idea that her sisters were not entirely unique. "And what appellation did you bequeath upon this project again?"

"It was designated as the 'Shadow Candidate' project, for the operatives were to serve in Lord Silvertongue's employ as covert operatives that would operate outside of the parameters of the military. The potential to which they would be of use would be determined by a number of factors, most importantly as their infused magical abilities."

"Such as?"

"Well, I could not guess as to what your father might have utilized them for precisely, but… well, take Two-Eighteen for example. His Umbramancy manifestation would make him an ideal spy or wetworks operative. As for the others… hmm… "

Pedigree tapped through his datapad some more. "Let's see… Two-Oh-Seven does not possess a specific school of magic, but his ability to 'see' magical signatures would make him an ideal tracker or investigator. Or perhaps Two-Twenty-One's Mesmermancy would make her an ideal agent to manipulate individuals, such as politicians or business executives. Most of them are untested, so this is just speculation, of course."

"Your assessments will be taken into consideration," Dawn said. "Once Pandora Tower has been repaired, however, I wish to have these 'Shadows' moved into the tower proper and provided with adequate housing and meals."

Pedigree raised an eyebrow. "Ma'am?"

"I will not have our 'kin' be stationed in such ill accommodations and without the necessary accoutrements. They will be provided for and raised to join our ranks as equals, not slaves." She turned to him, arching an eyebrow. "I assume there is no objection?"

"No, ma'am, why would there be?"

"Because you keep referring to these ponies by numbers like some kind of asshole!" Velvet chimed in, stepping over to join in the conversation. "They're ponies just like you and me, buddy. So what if they were born in a lab, huh? You gonna start calling me a number, too?"

Pedigree hastily shook his head. "No, ma'am, I would never—"

"Then why don't these poor colts and fillies have names, huh?"

"B-because… well, we never really got that far; we didn't even know how many would live this long. Not only that, but it's not exactly an easy process. Typically, ponies are named at birth by their parents, and those names typically follow a sort of… theme, of sorts. My father's name was High Class, for example, and—"

"So, what, you just didn't want to try and get creative or something?"

Pedigree glanced up towards the glass. "I think Doctor Blutsauger and I expected your father to name the candidates properly when they came into his service. That would be years off from now, given their age."

Silvertongue sympathized, since that was likely how things would have happened if circumstances were different. He almost felt a little guilty that he'd technically robbed these ponies of that benefit when his daughters were born, but the fact that his daughters were taking such a keen interest in them was relieving.

"Well, we're gonna give them names," Velvet said with a sneer. "I'm not gonna go around calling ponies by some damn number. Ponies might think they're robots!" She turned first immediately to the young Two-Eighteen, and knelt down so they were face to face. "How about it, huh? Would you like a new name, little guy?"

The little colt looked briefly at Pedigree.

Velvet just turned his head back to her, like a concerned mother; Silvertongue was proud to see it happen. "Don't look at him, he's not important right now. Look at me, okay? I want to give you a name. Would you like me to give you a name?"

The little colt paused for a moment, then nodded.

Velvet smiled. "Good." She brushed his mane out of his face with a hoof. "You've got a pretty coat color, like caramel. I think that's what I'll call you, okay? Caramel… Rye. Your name is Caramel Rye. Does that sound good to you?"

The little colt nodded again; though it was hard to see from here, Silvertongue saw a small smile on his face.

"Good," Velvet said with another, bigger smile. She pulled him in for a hug. "It's wonderful to meet you, Caramel Rye. My name is Red Velvet."

Caramel slowly returned the hug.

*****

Though it took some time for his daughters to get things arranged with Pedigree, Silvertongue didn't mind at all. However, the pull was getting stronger by the minute, and by the time he and his daughters were leaving the facility and making their way back to the elevator, he felt the strongest tug yet, and could not help himself from stopping dead in his tracks to collect his wits.

His daughters noticed, of course. "Father?" Dawn asked.

He shook his head. "I… cannot resist the pull much longer," he said; he wasn't so much out of breath—he didn't need to breathe anymore in this form—as he was just feeling it hard to even maintain his mental focus. "My daughters… it is time."

Dawn's eyes widened. "So soon? No, Father, there is still so much left to do, and—"

"No, there is nothing more for me to do. I have done everything that was necessary. It is time for me to ascend properly into the Dreaming, and take my proper place in our world's hierarchy. It is time for me to bid you all farewell."

Insipid leapt at him first, latching onto one of his legs. "Daddy, no! You can't go! You never got to see any of my shows!"

Silvertongue pulled her in for a hug. "Insipid, my dear, you have grown into a beautiful, proper mare. I know that I have Miss Rarity to thank for putting you on this path, but a great deal of your success is through your own efforts. I know that you will be happy as you continue along this path of yours." With a smirk, he added, "Though I think you needn't be so racy with your poses."

"I love you, Daddy…" Insipid cried.

Silvertongue looked to Havoc next, as she was closest, and gestured for her to come to him. "Havoc, I meant what I said earlier: despite your crude attitude and brutal honesty, you have a kind heart deep down. You make me proud with how you inspire the best in others, and I hope to see you triumph over anything that stands in your way."

Havoc maintained a tough expression for all of a moment, then broke down in tears and rushed in to hug his chest. "Pops… Dad… I'm gonna miss you…"

"Dad," Gray said, stepping forward to wrap her hooves around his neck and taking care not to shove Havoc aside. "I know we didn't talk much, but… you know I love you, right?"

"Of course, my dear. Gray, you are stronger even than you look," he said, putting his wing around her. "I know your sisters appreciate the love and care you have for them, even if you have trouble showing it. Stay strong, though, my dear. I know that things might look hard for you in the coming days, but you are a rock that your sisters can rely on. Stay strong for them, and for yourself."

"I will…"

Silvertongue turned to Curaçao next, and she walked over so that he could run his hoof through her mane. "Curaçao, I'm so very happy for you, you know that? Not everypony out there is lucky enough to meet their soulmate," he said, looking down towards the soulstone hanging from his neck. "And even fewer manage to live happily ever with them. But you, my dear… I see nothing but love and happiness in your future. She makes you happy, doesn't she?"

Curaçao nodded. "Oui, Papa… she makes me very happy, and I do the same for her."

"Then that is all that is needed. Be happy together."

Velvet approached next and wrapped herself around his barrel. "Daddy, are you going to be okay?" she sniffed.

"I will be just fine, my dear," he replied with a smile. "The Dreaming is a place where there is no pain or suffering or sorrow. I will be safe there, and I will be watching over you and sisters, always. Do not lose that smile of yours, my dear, not on my account." With a smile, he added. "Though, might I suggest that you think about settling down with just one stallion?"

Velvet snorted. "Nice try, Daddy."

"A father can dream."

The sisters then all broke off of him so that Dawn could approach, leaping up to hug him around the neck. "Father… I am not ready for this…"

"I know, my dearest, I know," he said, returning the hug. "Nopony ever is. But remember, this is not the end of me." He pulled back and touched his hoof to her heart. "It will not be cliché for me to say that I will be right here for you. As my Warden, it is your duty to be my bridge between this realm and the Dreaming. Whenever you need me, Dawn… you need only to call for me…"

He could feel her tears staining his coat. "I love you, Father…"

"And I you, Dawn." To the others, he said, "All of you. I cannot imagine a world in which I did anything but love you all with all of my heart. I imagine it would be a very dark world indeed."

Dawn pulled back from him, and with a loud sniff, she lit up her horn and teleported a glazed donut out of thin air, almost certainly from her room. She levitated it up to him, a small smile on her face. "For you, Father. I could not think of another possibility for a parting gift, and—"

Silvertongue took it from her with his own magic, giving her a wide grin. "You know, I never imagined that my last meal would be something so simple as a donut."

He took a bite; even though he didn't need to eat, it wasn't as though he couldn't, and the simple pastry was positively delectable. The texture was just the right amount of soft on the inside, gooey on the outside. The glaze was perfectly sweet and not messy whatsoever. It was just the absolute perfect glazed donut.

He laughed. "It's actually rather humbling, when you think about—"

Then, he vanished into nothing.

The donut, along with everything else that wasn't him, fell to the floor; the soulstone no longer possessed an inner golden glow.

*****

Silvertongue gazed out upon a field of gold and orange that stretched out for as far as his eyes could see, an endless expanse of color and light. There were no sensations about his being, no cold or warmth, no wind of which to speak, no smells in the air nor the feeling of solid ground beneath his hooves, and the light surrounding him did not strain his eyes in the slightest. All there was was nothing, and yet everything.

He looked upon himself to find that he still had some facsimile of a corporeal form, which he immediately realized was his mind's way of rationalizing things for him, so accustomed was he to having such a body. He was nude, of course; clothing was of no consequence here for it protected him from nothing, be it from the elements or the scornful eyes of others.

He absently placed his hoof to his chest, to feel for the crystal that had been hanging there, only to find it gone. For a moment he panicked, wondering if something had gone wrong, but almost as quickly he realized that no, nothing had gone wrong whatsoever. He just knew it, and yet he didn't know why he knew it. It was utterly perplexing.

After a moment's thought, he supposed he just wasn't used to this new existence beyond the material world, where he was as much alive as he was dead, or rather, something that was both, yet neither. He couldn't quite explain what he was anymore. What exactly was a deity?

But he knew he had an eternity to think of such things now. All that mattered to him in this very moment was her.

And the instant he thought of her, she was there.

She was not as he remembered her, not exactly. Her form was that of a pony half his size, with a golden coat and those beautiful lavender eyes. She had no mane or tail, nor a mouth or horn, nor any other features that would identify her as who she was, but he needed none of those to know who he was seeing.

Even like this, though, she was more beautiful than anything he'd ever seen.

"My Heart…" he said, not so much a whisper as a thought.

"Silver…" she said, her voice coming from her form and yet not at all. "It has been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Too long. Far too long."

"So, did you do it? Did we win, in the end?"

"We did. Though it cost me everything that mattered to me, I did what needed to be done. The only thing that I regret… is that you were not here to see it happen."

"You stood by your principles through everything, Silver," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "That's why I always loved you. Even after what happened… I still do."

"Can you forgive me, my Heart?"

"Can you forgive yourself?"

He paused, then shook his head. "It will take time… hundreds of years were not enough, for here we are and it still hurts to know what I did, no matter how I might justify it."

"Well, you have a lot of time now, don't you?"

"Yes, I suppose I do." He paused again. "Now that it is all said and done, do you think I made the right decision?"

"No. I think you made the decision that you thought was right at the time. Only the future will tell if it was the right one or not."

"And, as you said, I have plenty of time now."

He moved to embrace her and instead found himself intertwined with her very soul; since there were no sensations in this realm, he couldn't rationalize the feeling as warm or tender, or anything of the sort, really.

But his mind was telling him other sensations, putting together emotions to try and describe the way she felt, the way he felt to have his beloved back with him for the rest of time, knowing that she would be with him to watch over those he'd left behind. And after parsing through it all, the good and the bad, the highs and the lows, he was able to settle on just a single word:

Content.

Epilogue: Conclusion

Two Weeks Later

Dear Princess Celestia,

As per your last letter, my friends and I are doing wonderfully. We're all glad to be home again and to get back to our normal lives. We're still getting reacquainted with things here and there—sometimes I forget that I don't have to wear clothes outside—but from my observations I think that the experiences we had might have changed us for the better.

Applejack says she beat every record in Apple Family history in speed-bucking an orchard the other day, no doubt because she's got all those big muscles now. She even surprised Big Macintosh, and he's the biggest pony I know. Also, I've never seen a pony eat so many apples so fast before! I might have to get Applejack a book on table manners.

Fluttershy has gotten back to taking care of her animal friends, and I haven't noticed anything terribly different. I do know that her pet Angel Bunny was sometimes a bit of a jerk a tad abusive disrespectful before, but I haven't seen anything like that from him lately. I don't know what it is that Fluttershy did to make that happen.

Rarity's gotten back into form extremely quickly, and seems to be glad to be going back to her personal style instead of more "risqué" designs. The funny thing is that I think she actually didn't mind wearing outfits daily, and so she's still doing that now. She says it's giving her a chance to try out more ideas, so that's a good thing, right?

Rainbow Dash has been practicing every day on her Wonderbolts training exercises, more dedicated than I've ever seen her before, and that's saying something. I haven't caught her lounging about quite as much as she used to; she's always on the move and flies everywhere she goes! I guess not being able to fly freely for so long can really make a pegasus feel cooped up, huh?

Pinkie Pie… well, nothing's really changed there, funnily enough. Pinkie is Pinkie and always had been, and I've got the feeling that nothing could possibly change that for long. I've heard that she's been asking for more responsibilities around Sugarcube Corner, though. I guess all that hard work at that other bakery made Pinkie realize she can handle more.

As for me, well, I'm just glad to have a good book to read—a real book, with real paper and real ink. Even writing this letter right now is cathartic. It's really hard to put into words the sensation of losing something you enjoy and then getting it back, you know? The library here is much slower than it was over in the other world, so I've been having more time to think on things, and I'm getting a little restless anticipating whatever ideas you might have to help prevent a disaster in the future.

All in all, I think that even though we were frightened at first, my friends and I grew from our experiences in that other world in ways we never could have predicted. We made lots of good friends over there, and I have you to thank for putting me on this path to friendship in the first place. I can't even imagine what it would've been like to try and do all that we did alone.

I do miss our new friends, though. We all do. I hadn't intended this letter to become a report on friendship when I started it, but I think I did come to learn a lesson from all of this: even when you're separated from your friends, that friendship always remains within you. Sometimes it makes you happy to think of the friends you left behind, and sometimes it makes you sad. But no matter what, you're better for having made those friends than not, and you should treasure those friendships, always.

Even when it hurts to say goodbye.

Your faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

*****

Winter sighed as she put the last little bit of supplies into her saddlebags that she'd need for her trip. So far she'd packed enough Dolor tubes of various flavors to last her for a month, a change of clothes, a sleeping bag, a few canteens of water, and her simple, foldable, vinyl map. She also made sure she had her identification with her, since it served as a passport to leave the city via the Gate.

She checked her Timekeeper for a moment just to get some confirmation on her last readings. A broad map—more of a radar, really—of the northern continent without much in the way of details displayed a few small green dots far to the south of the city. These incoming Void tears would require her attention soon so that they didn't damage anything when they opened. The nearest one was two days away; the furthest was fourteen.

She'd already planned her route, and as such she wasn't particularly concerned with the trip; it was back to business as usual here in Equestria-V. She'd almost forgotten what it was like to need to venture out into the wastes to seal up errant portals that didn't pop up in the city, where at least it was quick and easy to handle things. After two weeks with literally no work to do apart from checking in with HQ on the status of repairs to her pocket dimensional office, she was getting horribly restless.

It wouldn't be so bad if she didn't constantly remind herself that the three weeks before that had been… good. Sure, she'd been working the entire time, but she'd had plenty of opportunities to rest and relax, to enjoy her time to herself, and most importantly to enjoy time with new… friends. Was it really considered work to be sitting in a library with Twilight—

She shut that thought down right quick, shaking her head to get rid of it as quickly as it had come. There was no sense in dwelling on the past.

With everything set and ready, she headed out of her room in Lockwood's apartment—she was baffled that he was still letting her stay there while she tried to arrange a new apartment elsewhere—grabbed her keys, headed out the door, and locked it behind her.

She had work to do.

Because a Chronomancer's work was never done.

*****

Flathoof sat alone at a table at the back of L'Artisan's Ristorante Baroque, a fancy restaurant in Mid-South's Central Plaza that served up authentic Baroque cuisine and was well known for having a very particular atmosphere. The tablecloth was checkered, red and white; the candles were long and thin and flickered gently; there was some fake ivy on the nearby wall to give it a genuine "rural" look.

Other nearby diners dug into plates of various pastas and other delicacies. The smell was almost overwhelming. Flathoof had never considered himself a connoisseur of fine dining—he was fine with plain Dolor paste and loved his mom's home cooking—but he had to admit that the scents of real cheese and tomato sauces was enticing. Expensive, sure, but enticing nonetheless.

He adjusted the navy blue suit he was wearing, his old dress uniform from the academy, which sadly was just a little tight after only a few years. He didn't think he'd grown that much since graduation day. It wasn't so tight that it was horribly restrictive, luckily. It was just tight enough that he couldn't get an absolute free range of movement; turning his head more than ninety degrees was impossible without twisting his shoulders.

He glanced at his watch again, starting to get a little worried, then looked up from the table briefly, and just in time that he caught sight of who he was waiting for.

Gray looked… different in a dress. It was a slate gray number made of satin, he thought—he'd never been good with fabrics—that had these little slits in the back that showed off her well-toned legs. The whole thing fit snugly against her well-built frame, to the point that he could see muscles just peeking through. She'd even done up her mane a bit and was wearing mascara, and of all things she was carrying a small change purse.

She sat at the table in a bit of a huff. "Sorry I'm late. I needed help with my mane." With a glance around the restaurant, she gave a curious nod. "So, this is the place Lockwood recommended? Yeah, I can buy that. Seems like the kind of place he'd like."

His lips twitched in a little smile; it was hard taking his eyes off her. "Uh… eyyup, he did. Said it was the best Baroque restaurant in all the Mid Districts. But uh, don't worry about the time. You did a great job with… everything really, so I'd say it was worth it. You look—"

"If you say I look 'beautiful', I'm gonna pound you into the floor, and not in a good way," she threatened, putting one hoof on the table.

"Fair enough," he said, putting up his hooves in a jovial show of defense. "What about… stunning? Is that okay?"

Gray blinked, her cheeks a bit redder than before. "Yeah… that's fine." She ran her hoof through her mane briefly. "You look really… uncomfortable, actually."

He adjusted his collar. "Yeah, it's my old dress uniform from my academy days. I haven't worn it since graduation, so it's a bit tight." He flexed his foreleg briefly so that his muscles tensed against the fabric. "See? I'm worried it's gonna tear."

"Still… you look good." She just stared a little at his flexing; was she biting her lip? She then suddenly cleared her throat. "So, uh… how've you been these last two weeks?"

"About as good as I can be," he said with a shrug. "The Chief's been talking about tossing a few promotions around. Word around the water cooler is he's actually considering me for Commander now that ol' Matchstick retired. Can't say I'm looking forward to it if he does."

"That sounds like it'd be a good pay increase, though."

"Yeah, it would be… but if I'm made Commander, I'm literally just doing paperwork all day, every day. I'll be in charge of assignments, budgets, dealing with vacation requests, etc. Just a glorified bureaucrat in a police uniform, not getting out there doing what I want to do." He shook his head. "Sorry, just getting pessimistic again. How about you? How're things?"

She shrugged. "Can't complain. It's kind of nice having the apartment all to myself, actually. Insipid and Velvet moved back to the Tower last week so they could be closer to work and family. I kind of like it out here, though, at least for a little while."

"Are you ever moving back?"

"Probably in a few weeks, yeah," she said with a nod. "I want to be there to help my sisters out more while we're all working through things after… Dad and everything. They gave me some time, though, y'know? To, uh… let you have some time."

He smiled a little at that. "Thank you. For not trying to force the issue or anything. I needed some time to think, and to talk things over a bit with my family, but I think I'm good now."

"That's good. What made it all click?"

"Well, I figured that even if you did sort of drop into our lives because of some big grand plan or whatever that was all about, you made it… better." He felt his cheeks get a little hot. "So, uh… thanks for coming tonight to meet with me and all—"

"Is that all this is?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "A 'meeting'?"

He paused, then rubbed the back of his neck; it was the suit, that's all. "Well, I mean… I don't know if you'd be comfortable with calling it a date, so I just figured—"

"That's exactly what this is, and you know it," she said flatly, eye's half-lidded. "I didn't dress up like an idiot to come to a 'meeting', and neither did you. This is a date. We're on a…" She paused, leaning back in her seat a bit. "We're on a date. Wow."

"Is that okay?"

She smirked and nodded. "You know what? Yeah. It kinda is." She paused again, then clapped her hooves together briefly. "So, how do we get some food around here? You're buying, right?"

He smiled, nodded, and pushed the menu over to her.

*****

Lockwood sat by himself at a small table at Café Estrella, a lovely little coffee shop that he'd never heard of before Twilight and Winter had recommended it. He'd always been quite fond of the coffee blend that he kept at home, but he had to admit, this place made a mean cup of joe.

He shifted his copy of today's New Pandemonium Times, glancing briefly at a report about how a recent attack against Hope's Point had, as always, met with no results whatsoever; only the Times dared report it with such candor. Admiral Hotstreak still boasted confidently that he'd "shown those pirates that the NPAF means business", or whatever other hogwash he was throwing out there.

The fact that they kept trying even after all these years of failure just baffled him; it was as if Hotstreak didn't want to destroy Hope's Point at the rate things were going.

When he set the paper down to take a sip of coffee, he nearly leapt out of his seat; Curaçao was seated across from him. "Holy hell!" he blurted, hoof to his heart. "I didn't even hear you sit down or say anything. Somepony oughta put a bell on you."

Curaçao, dressed casually in a black turtleneck and a red beret—the perfect coffee shop outfit—just smiled and took a sip of her own coffee. "Peut-être. I am good at being quiet when I want to be." She gestured to the newspaper. "You seemed rather engrossed in that article, actually. No wonder you did not notice me, Monsieur Lockwood. You must have quite an interest in the NPAF, oui?"

"Oh, no, not really, I just like keeping up with the times in the Times, that's all. I know the news can get depressing some days, but it pays to stay informed," he said with a smile. "Besides, you know I try to support Mint and Matcha wherever I can. A bit a day certainly doesn't hurt."

"Ah, oui, and it is always important to have all of the information possible, so that you can make the most informed decisions."

Wise words, he thought.

"So, how's the family?" he asked; other than Gray, who still lived at Southeast Point, he didn't see or talk to any of the sisters often nowadays.

Curaçao shrugged lightly. “They are doing well, at least as well as can be given what has transpired over these last weeks, oui? Dawn is studying up on the city's political structure so that she can be better informed when she eventually becomes involved; Havoc and her team are still on a winning streak; and Insipid is enjoying her new career and all the attention that goes with it."

"And Velvet?”

“Well, let us just say that about a week ago, I noticed that she was making an… excursion." She took a sip of her coffee again. "I understand that she spoke with you shortly before?"

"Oh, yeah, she asked me about this bar up in Mid-North. The Salted Rim, I think? She said she was going to meet some friends for a party and needed directions. Did she have a good time?"

"I would assume so, oui. Elle ne pouvait pas marcher droit quand elle est rentrée à la maison."

He blinked. "Huh? Sorry, I don't speak Romantique fluently, remember?"

“Ce n'est rien—it is nothing. Oui, she had a good time, and that is all that I will say on the subject."

"Okay…" He leaned forward in his seat a little, and took a sip of his own coffee. "So, not to sound like I'm rushing things along, but you called me up to arrange this a little meeting over coffee—and I appreciate letting me pick the spot—and I'm still not sure what this is all about. Not that I don't appreciate the company."

As he was taking another sip, Curaçao gave him a smile, leaned forward as well, and said softly, "I am very curious about your connection with Thunderbolt of Crown Spectrum."

He very nearly spit out a perfectly good mouthful of coffee, but managed to choke it down instead. "How do you mean?" he asked, keeping his voice calm.

"I am curious about your business relationship. Her company was quite the rising star some years ago, and while it is still doing good business, there have been no new inventions coming from them in some time. In roughly five years, as a point of fact."

"Oh, well, I mean, you can't expect a company to be putting out new tech every single year, can you?"

She blinked, as if baffled by the question. "Actually, oui, you can. In fact, that is the business model of every tech development company in the city. Except Crown Spectrum, of course."

"Oh, oh, I see the problem," he said with a grin. "It's not a tech development company anymore, hasn't been for years. It's purely focused on tech distribution nowadays. They make roughly the same in profits, but it's not nearly as much work."

"Ah, I see."

"What's with the questions about Crown Spectrum, though? I mean, if it's alright to pry? I'm not really involved much with them."

She leaned further forward in her seat. "You do realize that you have the Power of Attorney with the company, oui?"

He brushed that off with a hoof. "Oh, yeah, I know that, but that's just for legal stuff. I don't have anything to do with their distributions, their developments—which they don't do anymore—or anything else, really. Just a favor for a friend, like you do. The company mostly runs itself."

"Oui, a friend." Curaçao's grin widened. "A friend that has participated in multiple charity events with you."

Lockwood paused, then nodded, returning the grin. "Of course, a lot of my friends and business contacts attend the charity events I get involved with."

"Including a particular ball that was held several years ago," she added

She produced a photograph that Lockwood knew all too well, of him and "Thunderbolt" participating in an aerial dance at the very ball Curaçao had mentioned. A pang in his heart made him just as quickly look away from the photograph; seeing her again, even in a monochrome photo, was a bit too much.

He hadn't forgotten that dance at all, not one bit, nor its aftermath. He hadn't forgotten that there had been photos taken, either, but that wasn't a problem, not really; the problem was that he didn't have any himself, and had been avoiding them for a reason. The memories weren't bad, but it hurt thinking about them and how long it had been.

But he'd practiced for this. He knew how to play it off.

"Yes, of course, she was there as well," he replied. "And yeah, we shared a dance between friends. It's just what's expected of me at these charity things sometimes. It's good to promote the events and it gives folks something to talk about afterwards."

She nodded in understanding and withdrew the photograph. "Ah, that makes sense. Still, didn't you tell ma sœur that you were terribly out of practice?" She glanced at the photo and shook her head. "I know it is difficult to tell from just a photograph, but you have very fine form, almost professional-level."

Lockwood caught himself from gulping; these questions were starting to get a little too suspicious. "Well, yeah, but that was years ago, I haven't danced since then."

"Ah, so the last dance that you shared with anypony was with Mademoiselle Thunderbolt?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, that's right. There wasn't a real opportunity to keep in practice for about a year or so, so I just kind of stopped. I appreciate the compliments about my technique, though."

"Hmm…" She looked at the photograph again and smiled. "You know, when I waltzed with Shroud that evening of the party… I looked into her eyes, and she into mine, and that was when we realized that we were meant to be."

He smiled. "Oh. Wow, that's lovely to hear. I'm glad that everything worked out with you two that night. I know it was kind of a rough start, but—"

"You are looking at Thunderbolt in this picture the same way, Lockwood," she said, putting the picture back down for him to see and tapping it; he still purposefully avoided looking at it, knowing full well what look she was referring to. "And she is doing the same."

Now he gulped. "I, uh… I think you might be misreading things—"

"Lockwood. Don't." She said simply, leaning back in her seat and taking a sip of her coffee. "I can read lies like books, oui? And you are very bookish right now."

He paused, then leaned back in his own seat. There was a finality in her voice that just told him that she'd been stringing him along this entire time; that she already knew, and she just wanted to catch him in her net to make sure he couldn't get out of it. He only knew one mare that could masterfully spring up a trap like that; he'd fallen into a few.

"Okay. So, where do we go from here?" he asked calmly. "Why do you want to know about me and Thunderbolt?"

"She is the owner of a leading tech company here in New Pandemonium City," Curaçao said, steepling her hooves. "And yet one day, she just… vanished. C'est très étrange, oui?"

"She moved back home, to the south," he replied, keeping the answers short and sweet, like he'd practiced.

Curaçao shook her head. "You are being vague, which means that you are hiding something. And you would not be hiding it if it wasn't important." She took another sip of coffee. "She moved home to Hope's Point, oui?"

Lockwood tried to divert course, to play off the suggestion like it was ridiculous. "You're suggesting that one of the most successful business owners in all of New Pandemonium is secretly some sort of pirate from Hope's Point?"

She gave him a simple look, like he's asked a silly question. "Oui, that is exactly what I'm suggesting."

"Well, fine, as far-fetched as that sounds," he said, still trying to divert, deflect, and distract as best he could, "let's say then, for the sake of argument, that she was. Why do you want to know?"

"I wish to speak with her," Curaçao said matter-of-factly.

Lockwood blinked. "You want to talk to her?"

"Oui."

"Why?"

Curaçao finished off her coffee and set it down on the table. "A mare that can come into this city from Hope's Point and start a business as successful as Crown Spectrum is a mare I want to know. Surely a mare like that has connections here in New Pandemonium, and in the 'Pirate City', oui?"

He cautiously nodded. "If your assumption is true, then yeah, I suppose that would naturally follow."

"Well, mes soeurs et moi are taking things in a… new direction," she said simply, almost slouching in her seat. "Dawn and I want to see if we can broker peace with Hope's Point, to put a stop to the troubles that plague both cities. And we need an 'in' to do it."

He blinked, stunned by that declaration. "You're serious?"

"Oui. Quite serious."

He paused again, then finished off his own coffee. "And what do you want from me?"

"Just information," Curaçao stated with a shrug. "I would venture a guess that you know her better than anypony in the city, oui?" She then leaned forward, gently pushing the photograph back over to him again. "So… tell me the story of how you two came together…"

Lockwood glanced back at the photograph of him and "Thunderbolt", tracing his hoof over her form—she looked beautiful in that dress—and letting memories come flooding back. He let a sad smile play across his face; five years of being apart would do that to anypony.

He then looked back to Curaçao. "Well, it all started at an innocuous little party hosted by a proud father celebrating his daughter's cuteceñara."

*****

Deep within the bowels of New Pandemonium City, there are places where no light touches. Secret places that so few know about that they may as well not exist. Places where signals both magical and technological didn't function properly, not unless one was particularly powerful or innovative.

One such place had old-fashioned stone walls, the sort that hadn't been used for construction for hundreds of years, long since outdated by concrete and steel. The walls should have been in total disrepair, and yet they still stood strong. The chamber was dark, save for a single candle with a red flame that barely even flickered in the stagnant air. Incense kept the room smelling heavily of sandalwood.

At the back of the room, near where the candle and incense were lit, was an altar, consisting of a flat stone slab stained with blood that had dried over several days, and an odd statue that depicted not a creature but more of a concept, a twisting mass of chaos and destruction.

A pair of ponies rested by the altar. One was upon the slab itself, nude and locked in a deep sleep; incense sticks sat in a holder on his chest, and the candle just beside his head. The other, wearing a black robe, dutifully stood at his side, watching over him and softly muttering words as he sprinkled powder over the other's body. The two were identical, both thin-framed unicorns with dull yellow coats and red manes with a white stripe. The one on the altar had a thick mustache; the other had a little goatee.

Suddenly, the mustached stallion's eyes opened.

The goateed stallion ceased muttering words and sprinkling powder. "Welcome back, dear brother, to the land of the living," he said, pulling back his hood and giving the other stallion a smile.

"How long have I been out?" asked the mustached brother.

"Five hours." The clean brother leaned forward, his smile widening as he offered his brother a robe. "Was the vision clear?"

"No, brother mine, still quite muddied." The mustached brother rose from the altar and donned the robe. "I saw little more than just flashes of images, but also… there were whispers."

The clean brother's expression became awed. "Whispers?"

"Yes indeed. Whispers." The mustached brother clapped his hoof on his brother's shoulder. "But I could tell our Dark Lady is filled with incomparable rage, brother mine, and that rage has given me clarity."

"Do tell, old chum, do tell."

The mustached brother looked off into the darkness of the room, a smile creeping onto his face. "We have been given a grand new undertaking, a glorious purpose." He turned to his brother. "Reduce this city to ashes."

The clean brother returned the smile. "Burn them all…"

Author's Note

The cast of CRISIS: Equestria - Divergence will return! These little ponies have a lot more in store for them as the timeline continues to divert from the original in ways that should continue to surprise you. Hopefully!

The second book of this planned trilogy is already in the works, and should be finished and begin uploading no later than Spring of this year. It will focus almost exclusively on Golden Dawn and her sisters as they make their way in the world that's been left to them, a tale that they deserved but never got in the original timeline. The cover art is ready, too, so how about a taste?

A third book will follow after that one, and depending on the upload schedule, should be finished and begin uploading by no later Winter of this year, if not sooner. It will essentially fill the role that New World Order did for the original timeline, and that's all I'll say on the subject, but hopefully that's enough to give you folks an idea of what to look forward to.

Foreword

A mysterious portal opens up in the middle of the Everfree forest. Six familiar mares, charged by the Princess of the Sun, investigate the strange, frightening world that awaits just beyond that swirling vortex of power. You may have read about such a story before.

But what if a single decision, a single action, could create a butterfly effect that rippled throughout that story you once knew. An anomaly—a sense of déjà vu—yet, there is something altogether different about it all.

Once more we invite you to witness the world of Equestria-V through the eyes of characters you might be familiar with. Watch as they explore new avenues and make new discoveries all due to the effects created by one isolated incident.

For the faithful readers who have stuck with us through the past nine years, when CRISIS: Equestria first got its ambitious beginning, the opening chapters of this new tale might sing a familiar tune. But new notes are played throughout each of them, and the melody is not quite the same as you may remember it,

And for newer readers, we hope you will enjoy the ride.

Welcome to CRISIS: Divergence.

Chapter Thirteen: Convention

Dinnertime was fast approaching, and Fluttershy hadn't been expecting to do very much in the long run besides just putting chairs around their dining table and picking out Dolor flavors for everypony. Nopony had really picked favorite flavors yet and so they'd mostly just settled on trying everything tonight to try to narrow it down a bit; it wasn't quite as classy as those wine tastings that Rarity went to sometimes, but it sounded similar.

But then Pinkie came home from work, and brought with her a pretty reasonable amount of knowledge on how to properly cook the stuff, and more importantly mix them, and that's when everything changed. None of them had known that they could mix these pastes together to make all sorts of other unique flavors; apparently, Lockwood, Flathoof, and Winter had all forgotten to mention it. Pinkie had at least mentioned that it was a complicated process, so maybe that was why.

Fluttershy knew she still needed to get some recipes from Twilight and was actually looking forward to it now, but Pinkie's know-how would suffice for the time being to at least make tonight's dinner a little bit unique compared to what they'd gotten used to so far.

Pinkie had also brought with her a new friend, Red Velvet, who made Fluttershy do a double-take to make sure she wasn't seeing double. Thankfully this new mare looked and acted differently enough that Fluttershy was able to eliminate the idea that there was a Mirror Pool in this world, too. It was probably the clothes that helped the most, which for some reason made Fluttershy's face feel hot.

Apparently the pair also had stopped at Velvet's apartment on the way up—she lived in the same complex—to grab her sister to bring over for dinner to meet everypony. Fluttershy recognized the name from earlier in the day and so wasn't surprised when said sister turned out to be Gray Skies, who she was actually happy to see. She wouldn't mind getting to know Gray a little better while around all of her other friends; she'd be less intimidated that way.

So the table was now set for more than Fluttershy was expecting, which meant that everypony would be crowded together. It would thus be herself, Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Twilight—Lockwood said that Applejack would almost assuredly not be joining them—as well as Velvet, Gray, and their other sister, Insipid; Velvet and Gray had left a note for her in the apartment, since she hadn't come home yet.

"So, this is your place?" Gray asked Fluttershy as she helped set the table—Pinkie and Velvet were busy in the kitchen making some concoctions that Fluttershy just hoped were edible.

Fluttershy smiled and nodded. "It is. Home… sweet home," she said, hoping she hid her disappointment well enough; this apartment was home for now, but it was far from the home she was used to and was hardly sweet.

"Hmm. It's cozy," Gray noted, nodding in what Fluttershy was sure was approval, though she didn't know why.

"So, um… Red Velvet's your sister, huh?" Fluttershy asked, tilting her head towards the kitchen. "She seems… nice."

Gray grunted and shrugged. "I guess. My sisters are too active for my tastes. That's why they usually just leave me home alone."

Fluttershy didn't really question that. She knew well enough that siblings could be drastically different from one another, just like friends could be. Her brother Zephyr was as different from her as possible, a constant source of frustration whenever she visited her parents and found that again he had moved back in after giving up on whatever job he'd been getting into. How she ended up with such a lazy mooch for a brother, she didn't know.

Twilight was the next pony to arrive home, and she seemed in rather high spirits. "Hey, everypony! I'm home!" She noticed Gray and Fluttershy standing together near the dining table. "Oh! Hello. I didn't know we were having company. I would have insisted Winter join us instead of going out by herself."

Fluttershy smiled and gestured meekly at Gray. "This is… my new… um…" She hesitated, not wanting to assume that she and Gray were friends just yet. "This is Gray Skies. She… lives a few floors down from us. I met her earlier today while helping Lockwood with some work."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Miss Skies," Twilight said with a smile of her own. "I'm Twilight Sparkle."

"It's just Gray," Gray said. "Nopony calls me Miss Skies."

Twilight chuckled. "Alright then, it's nice to meet you, Gray. You're joining us for dinner, I take it?"

"Yeah. Pinkie invited me."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Pinkie did? Not Fluttershy?" she asked, looking at the latter for confirmation.

Fluttershy nodded. "Pinkie invited her new friend over for dinner, and when she found out that she lived with her sisters here, she… well, she invited them all. Gray here is one of her sisters, so…"

"Oh, that's wonderful! The more the merrier, right? It might get a little cramped in here, but I'm sure we'll make due." Twilight glanced around. "Where is Pinkie anyway?"

"I'm in here, Twilight!" called Pinkie from the kitchen. "Just whipping up some dinner! Everything should be ready pretty soon! You're gonna love it!"

"Okay!" Twilight called back as she made for the dinner table to take a seat. She paused midway into her chair. "Wait, she's whipping up dinner? I thought we just had those packets to eat?"

"Oh, Pinkie found out that you can cook and mix them in certain ways to make them taste different," Fluttershy said. "I mean, um… we already sort of knew that first part, but Pinkie found out some actual recipes that require mixing the colors." She paused. "Speaking of which, could you maybe find some recipes tomorrow to bring home for me?"

"Sure, I'd love to! Looking forward to trying out some yourself, huh?"

"Yes. I don't want Pinkie to have to cook for us after spending the day working. I'm here… alone… all day anyway, so I should be the one handling it." If Twilight noticed the pauses, she didn't show it.

There was a knock at the window. Fluttershy got up and headed over, first lifting up the protective air filter screen then the window itself to reveal Rainbow just outside. "Oh, hello Rainbow. Welcome home."

"Hey, Shy," Rainbow said as she squeezed in; the window wasn't exactly made for a pony to fit through, but Rainbow was nimble enough to do it. "Sorry I came in this way, but I didn't feel like taking the stairs. I've already got my workout in for the day, y'know?"

Rainbow turned and saw Gray sitting at the dinner table. "Oh. Hey." She looked at Fluttershy. "We've got guests?"

"This is Gray Skies," Fluttershy said, gesturing towards the towering pegasus. "She lives a few floors down from us. I met her earlier today, and Pinkie invited her to dinner, along with her sisters."

Rainbow tilted her head up. "'Sup. I'm Rainbow Dash."

Gray did the same. "'Sup."

Rainbow nodded. "Yeah, she's cool. She can stay."

As Fluttershy looked between the two briefly, she couldn't help but notice that their eye colors were remarkably similar. Normally that wouldn't be something anypony would find odd—she and Pinkie had similar eye colors, after all—but it just seemed so… uncannily exact. But it didn't bother anypony else and Fluttershy just considered it an odd thing to notice, so she didn't think anything further of it.

"Welcome home, Rainbow," Twilight said with a little wave. "How was your tryout, or whatever it was you were doing? Sorry, I'm not quite up on how these sports things work. My brother's the sports buff in the family."

Rainbow's grin turned particularly smug as she took a seat at the table. "Oh, you know, nothing special. I just got offered a spot in the striker position on a semi-pro skyball team, so hey, whatever, no biggie."

Fluttershy smiled. "Wow, way to go, Rainbow. I'm very happy for you."

"Thanks, Shy."

"Woohoo," said Gray, though she wasn't really looking anywhere in Rainbow's direction and seemed oddly univested in the conversation.

"You know, I don't really understand much about skyball," Twilight said, tapping her chin. "It's not a popular sport among non-pegasi, really. So I do understand that's great you got onto a semi-professional team, but is being a striker a good thing?"

"It's just one of the positions, like a linebacker or a quarterback."

Twilight's expression remained blank.

"First base? Shortstop?"

No change.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Strikers are the team's offensive players whose job is to get possession of the ball and bring it to the goal to score. Simple stuff." She cockily put her hooves behind her head. "It's only the most prestigious position on the team. I mean, I know there are three on the team, but like, those three players are usually the most popular ones with fans."

"Fans love seeing the strikers fly," Fluttershy added with a proud little grin. They have to be very quick and agile, so they're usually the most interesting to watch."

"You know about skyball, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked, seemingly surprised.

"Oh, yes. I've never played it myself, but I always liked to watch it back at flight school." She gave Rainbow a smile. "Rainbow was on the team, and I came to every game so… so that I could support my friend."

She wouldn't tell anypony that she went because she had a crush on one of the team's other strikers, a cute colt named Bumbershoot. Even Rainbow didn't know, and Fluttershy would keep it that way.

"You ever play skyball, Gray?" Rainbow asked, sizing the huge mare up. "You look like you'd be an ace blocker. You're built like a house."

Gray shrugged. "Nah. Too active for me. I watch sometimes, though."

"Oh yeah! Speaking of watching, if you guys want to watch any games, I hear they… uh, 'broadcast' them, or something like that? They'll be showing them on that Teevee thingy. If you guys can't make it to the games in person, you can at least watch from home!"

Twilight's eyes widened. "Really? Wow! I'd love to have a chance to watch you in action, Rainbow. Let me know the schedule of games when you can, and I'll try and watch them whenever I'm not at work."

"Will do, Twi. Say, how was work, anyway? Did you and Winter find anything… interesting?"

Twilight nodded. "Yes, Winter and I collected a bunch of reading materials to go over, mostly historical stuff for that project she's working on. I'm going to meet her in the lounge after dinner so that we can start reading through some of it together."

"I hope you find something that'll help her," Fluttershy said.

She knew about the cover story Winter and Twilight had cooked up if anypony asked, and it was certainly believable enough in Fluttershy's mind. She didn't know how Gray would react if the truth came out, and was steadily finding herself worried that she would. Would Gray even want to be friends if she found out that Fluttershy was an… alien?

Then, the door opened and drew Fluttershy away from those thoughts, and Rarity made her grand entrance. "Helloooo, I'm hoooome, darlings!"

As she walked into the room, Fluttershy noticed that Rarity had on a new dress, and a lovely one as well; Fluttershy was the only other pony in their group of friends with an eye for fashion, so she knew what qualified as "lovely", and that dress definitely qualified.

It was made of black lace that hugged the unicorn's figure, dark enough across most of it that her white coat just barely peeked through. It was long enough to trail down her hindquarters in what Rarity would call an "alluring, yet appropriate" way, as in it left just enough to the imagination to attract attention. It wasn't decorated with Rarity's trademark gemstones, though, so Fluttershy knew it wasn't one of Rarity's dresses.

Still, it made Rarity look lovely.

Rarity had also come in with another unicorn, this one with a charcoal-colored coat and a bright yellow—not blonde—mane. She wore a dress practically identical to Rarity's, only hers was purple to properly contrast with her coat and mane colors; her figure was much like Rarity's was and so the contours of the dress hugged her close. The two could almost pass for sisters, especially since this new unicorn's eyes were an uncanny match for Rarity's own.

This other mare would also look lovely, if not for the fact that her mane was a mess.

"I brought along a guest!" Rarity announced as she gestured proudly to the other unicorn. "Everypony, this is Insipid—"

The other unicorn gasped and waved at Gray, with the kind of enthusiasm Fluttershy didn't see in adult ponies besides Pinkie. "Hey, sis! Like, what're you doing here? Oh, did we move again? 'Cause, that would be, like, major unfresh. I was just getting used to the new place!"

Fluttershy recognized the name immediately; Lockwood's paperwork had mentioned Gray's other sister as Insipid, which meant that she must have gotten the note that Gray and Velvet said they'd left for her. Wait, no, that couldn't be right; Rarity said she brought Insipid as a guest. What was going on?

Gray gave a half-hearted wave. "Hey. Got invited to dinner."

"Me too!" Insipid said with a bubbly, airy tone. She pulled Rarity in for a side hug. "My new friend Rarity, like, asked me to come along! We're totally besties now. Cha!"

"She and I are the inaugural members of Lovers' Lane's new fashion line, Rising Star," Rarity explained with a proud grin. "I'll be designing and fashioning the dresses, and Insipid here will be modeling them. It's all part of an attempt by the established fashion companies to highlight new talent. Isn't that wonderful?"

"She's gonna be your new dress model?" Rainbow asked. She briefly gave Insipid a once-over; Fluttershy could see her eyes lingering a bit around the other mare's rear, which was perfectly understandable. "Yeah, I can see her shaking it down the runway. Good pick, Rares."

Rarity ignored—wisely—Rainbow's not-too-subtle half-flirt. "I invited her so that once we're all done with dinner, I can give her a little make-over. So if anypony needs to use the bathroom for getting cleaned up, fair warning that I'm calling dibs on it right now."

"Yeah!" Insipid cheered, apparently not noticing or acknowledging Rainbow either. "She's gonna do up my mane, and like, give me a hooficure, and, um… some eyeliner and… uh…" She looked to Rarity desperately for help finishing her thought.

"And dye your mane as well, dear," Rarity said, pawing at the other mare's locks. "Your color is generally fine, but I believe you might have used too much dye; it's horribly oversaturated."

"Yeah! That! And like, when she's all done, I'm gonna look…" She paused, holding her hooves together like she was in a play, staring off-stage at an unseen sunset. "Beautiful…"

Fluttershy watched the display with awe. Pinkie was a bit flighty at times, but this mare put Pinkie to shame. But if anypony could take her under their metaphorical wing and bring out the best in them, it was Rarity.

Rarity smiled sweetly at her new friend, then turned to Gray. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry, dear, I didn't mean to ignore you. My manners are just all over the place today, it seems. Did I hear correctly that you're Insipid's sister?"

Gray nodded. "Yeah. Name's Gray Skies. Just Gray will do."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Rarity, by the way. I take it you were invited to dinner as well? By whom, if I might ask?"

"Pinkie. She and my sister Red made friends, I guess. They invited me over. Normally I'd say no, but hey." Gray shrugged, looking lazily towards Fluttershy. "Free meal."

Fluttershy wondered if Gray would've said no if she'd been the one to ask her. After all, Gray had offered to spend time together, right?

Rarity and Insipid each took seats as well, and it wasn't long after that that Pinkie and Velvet came bounding in from the kitchen and loaded the crowded table with food. Fluttershy was impressed to see that Pinkie had made such a presentation; none of it looked like anything she'd ever seen before, but it all definitely looked different, in a good way. The little plate of treats, though, looked particularly authentic, but Pinkie assured them they were just as "fakey-fake" as the rest.

"Okay, so, I put together a few things based on what I've learned so far about this Dolor stuff," Pinkie said as she took her own seat. "I've gotta work on my presentation when it comes to healthier foods, though. It just doesn't work the same as it does for the sweet treats!"

"It still looks rather appetizing, doesn't it?" Rarity said as she eyed a dish full of the watery Red stuff that looked like it had been mashed up into liquid and topped with bits of Green. "What's this one supposed to be?"

"Tomato soup! Just take some frozen Red, heat it up in a pan with water, and boom! Tomato soup!"

She then leaned over and carefully stage-whispered so that everypony could hear, "The Green bits on top are supposed to be parsley, but I don't know if they worked right or not. Green's kind of picky. So y'know… eat those at your own risk. Might be broccoli, might be cabbage, I dunno."

With that, everypony served themselves and dug in, sharing stories about their days around the table as they ate. Fluttershy noticed that Rainbow's attention was consistently shooting towards Velvet, then back to Pinkie, to whom she would whisper something that Fluttershy couldn't hear, but based on Rainbow's wings Fluttershy was pretty sure what the conversation was about.

And as Fluttershy sat there and listened attentively to the conversations she could hear, sharing occasional looks at Gray who was also sitting quietly and attentively, she had the strangest feeling that things were going to be okay.

*****

Shadows played across the expanse of Silvertongue's private dining room, the ambience kept pleasantly dim by a series of flickering wax candles. A solid black tablecloth covered the large dining table, which with the rest of the dimmed atmosphere made the candles seem as though they were floating. Plates, bowls, glasses, forks and spoons; the table was set for ten, as always.

At present, it seated just three. Dawn sat on one of the long ends of the table, Havoc directly across from her, with Silvertongue seated at the head of the table between the two, as was appropriate for the head of the family.

A veritable smorgasbord of foods—real foods, because Pandora Tower was far too good for those inferior Dolor synthetics—lay spread out across the table within reach, all of it respectable and healthy, essential for providing the key nutrients needed as part of perfectly balanced diets. The spread was absolutely lavish: dishes of fully-loaded green salads, a broth-based vegetable soup, fluffy, buttery rolls, little sandwiches with various fillings, and for desert, sliced fruits and berries in syrup.

Dawn possessed the sort of perfectly-practiced etiquette that was expected of somepony of her bearing, much like her father did, and so she followed his example as the meal was served by Pandora Tower's chef, Crème Brûlée.

When Havoc attempted to reach for a roll too soon, Dawn was quick to silently chastise her with just a look of clear incredulous contempt, and she continued with these looks towards Havoc throughout dinner, sometimes adding a clearing of her throat for extra emphasis.

When Havoc started to unfold her napkin before their father did? Look.

When she went to grab her fork and start eating before their father did? Look.

When she wiped with her napkin instead of dabbed? Look.

When she chewed with her mouth open? When she put her hooves or elbows on the table? When she used her napkin to pick her nose? Look, look, look.

Dawn couldn't but wonder that there was no way the two were related. She couldn't possibly have a sister this uncultured. Even Insipid knew how to follow instructions, and Insipid was an idiot.

"You don't need to castigate your sister's manners on my account, Dawn," Silvertongue said as he served himself a second helping of salad, a little grin on his face.

"But Father, her table etiquette is atrocious," Dawn said, condemningly eyeing Havoc, who had started to reach across the table to grab the pepper shaker, giving her another look. "It is absolutely unacceptable for a pony to dine in such a fashion."

"What's the big deal, sis?" Havoc asked as she grabbed the pepper anyway; Dawn didn't dare grasp it away, as that would be just as rude. "This ain't some fancy-schmancy dinner party. This is a family dinner." She glanced at all the empty seats. "Just, y'know, without most of the family here."

"That is utterly opposed to the intention of my denunciation."

Havoc blinked. "Huh?"

"That is not the point!"

"Psh. Yeah, whatever. Kinda sucks that Gray, Red, and Insipid gotta chow down on that fake Dolor crap while we get the good eats, huh? Sucks to be them, I mean, ha! Up top!" Havoc held her hoof over the table expecting a high hoof that definitely wasn't coming.

Dawn's eye twitched angrily. "It is most unfortunate for them, yes, but I do not think they would appreciate your jocularity regarding the issue."

"On that, I agree," Silvertongue said with a disapproving look of his own towards Havoc. "With the situation as it is, I required some of you to house yourselves in a standard city residence. It makes contact more believable and convenient for both parties. You, Dawn, and Curaçao were permitted to stay here because of the space allotted. However, I would be happy to send you to live with your other sisters if you find their situation so amusing."

Havoc frowned. "No, that's okay, I, uh… I like it here in the Tower. Sorry Pops, I didn't mean nothing by it, won't happen again." She looked at Dawn. "Say, where is Curaçao, anyway? I thought she'd be joining us for dinner? It's rude to be late. Where's all your huffing and puffing towards her?"

Dawn stuck her nose in the air. "Curaçao has already informed me that she would be dining elsewhere for dinner this evening, as her assignment required an additional period of time for her to accomplish, which she did not account for prior to this morning's deployment."

"She contacted you?" Silvertongue asked, briefly pausing his fork and raising an eyebrow. "How? None of you were provided with communication equipment. Such devices would draw suspicion, as they are not exactly common."

At this, Dawn gave her father a proud smile. "It is a rather elementary spell I developed, Father. Curaçao was assisting me in assessing its efficacy, so that I might expand its influence to the remainder of my sisters once the evaluation is complete."

Silvertongue set his fork down on his plate; proper etiquette, Dawn noted, not letting it touch the table. "And are you satisfied with your results thus far?"

"Thus far, my expectations have been met, which is to say that the spell is flawless. Curaçao and I can communicate across nearly the entire city's area, assuming I am here in Pandora Tower, and either one of us may initiate the connection. It is a vast improvement over the prevailing telepathy spells utilized in other circles."

"It certainly is. The most practiced of those have a range of only one hundred feet."

Her proud grin grew wider. "With additional effort, I surmise that I can amplify the range further, perhaps as far as the continent's edge, if not further."

"Fascinating." Silvertongue leaned back in his chair, then gestured briefly to Havoc. "Demonstrate, if you would?"

Dawn tilted her head. "You wish me to demonstrate the spell? Now?"

"I would. Such a spell would drastically increase the efficiency and effectiveness of you and your sisters on this assignment, as you could communicate issues as they crop up rather than hours after the fact. This is a tactical boon, so I wish to see how well it works."

Dawn nodded, then lit up her horn briefly to extend the spell's influence over Havoc as well. It was rather simple, and technically Havoc didn't even need to be in the room with her, since they shared a sisterly bond that made them familiar with one another; she couldn't use it on a stranger, for example. The process was also undetectable apart from Dawn's initial casting, and would last indefinitely, unless she purposefully dispelled it.

Havoc tilted her head. "So, uh… did it work? Can I talk in your head now, sis?"

Dawn nodded, and communicated directly with Havoc without words. "Affirmative, Havoc, you can. Simply 'think' your words aloud and—"

"Whoooaa! I can hear you in my head! This is awesome! Can you hear me? Helloooo! Echo!"

"Affirmative again, I can hear you," Dawn thought disdainfully. She turned to her father. "The connection has been established, Father. How would you prefer I demonstrate it?"

Silvertongue tilted his head, then leaned over his seat to whisper in Dawn's ear, "Tell her to touch her nose with her left hoof, and raise her right hoof straight up."

Dawn nodded, waited for Silvertongue to return to a comfortable seating position, then mentally communicated the thought to Havoc: "Touch your nose with your left hoof, and raise your right hoof straight up."

Havoc nodded, and followed the instructions precisely.

Silvertongue hummed. "A wonderful proof of concept thus far. As a further demonstration, this time of the distance and ability to communicate with those outside the room, can you tell me where Curaçao might currently be?"

"Certainly, Father. One moment." She took a short breath. "Curaçao, where are you currently located? Father wishes for an update on your position."

Curaçao's voice came through the connection loud and clear. "Ah, Bonsoir, ma sœur. I am in the middle of something at the moment, oui? I will likely be returning home within the next hour or so. Do not wait up for me."

"I did not inquire as to your scheduling conflicts, sister, I inquired as to your location. Where are you?"

"Ma sœur, pardonne-moi, but I cannot divulge where I am at the moment, because that is part of my assignment, oui? If Papa is asking you about this, then he will understand. Now, if that is all, please, do not distract me any further. Au revoir!"

Dawn grumbled, then turned to her father. "She is refusing to divulge her location, Father."

Silvertongue smiled. "Good, that is precisely what I was hoping for."

"It… it is?" Dawn asked, eyebrow up.

"Your sister's assignment plays on her natural talents for subterfuge, deception, and investigation. Wherever she is at the moment and whatever she is doing, I am certain that she is performing amiably. Her assignment is far different from any of yours, you understand, and she will achieve better results without meticulous oversight."

"But she can still tell us when she's gonna miss dinner?" Havoc asked through a mouthful of sandwich, earning another look from Dawn.

"If something causes a deviation in her schedule, yes, I would expect her to at least keep you and your sisters informed," Silvertongue said with a grin. "Just as I also expect her to deliver information to any of you that may be of use in your own tasks. But as to where she is or what exactly she's doing? Those are unimportant to any of you."

Silvertongue then glanced at the clock on the wall. "Ah, but it is getting late, and I have some additional business to attend to. I'll take my leave shortly, if you two wish to dine any further."

He poured himself a cup of coffee, which Dawn understood as the proper signal etiquette-wise that dinner was concluded, and she and Havoc could leave whenever they wished. Given his recent statement, though, she knew he meant that they should leave sooner rather than later and was just being polite; she wouldn't expect anything less of him.

"I believe that it might be best if we retire for the evening instead," Dawn said with a nod. She turned to Havoc. "Come along, sister. Leave Father to his business."

Though Dawn rose from her seat—and Silvertongue politely rose as well—Havoc did not just yet. "What? But I'm still—"

"Havoc. Now," Dawn communicated via the new telepathic bond, giving Havoc yet another look.

Havoc rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. I guess it might be cool to check out my new room." She waved farewell to Silvertongue. "Later, Pops! See you tomorrow!"

Before she left, she grabbed a few rolls, even stuffing one in her mouth. Dawn could practically hear her sister cackling as she did it.

"Havoc!" Dawn hissed.

Through the telepathy, Havoc said: "Fuck you, sis!"

But Havoc was already sipping out of the room faster than Dawn could blink, leaving Dawn seething.

"Don't worry about her, Dawn," Silvertongue chuckled, taking a sip of his evening coffee. "Your sister isn't cut from the same cloth as you. None of your sisters are; you're all unique in your own ways, and have your own strengths and weaknesses. Remember that. Remember that even you likely have some quality that your sisters may view as a negative."

Dawn put her nose in the air. "I cannot fathom a single attribute of my character that anypony could judge as anything less than exemplary." She made her way for the door. "Good night, Father."

Silvertongue smiled, surely proud of her confidence. "Good night, Dawn. Rest well."

*****

It was rather late at night when Curaçao arrived back at Pandora Tower, heading for a hidden entrance near the perimeter that required special keycards that only residents of the Tower possessed. They were meant to be used when Tower workers needed to get to and from their "day jobs", though mostly it was so they could entertain themselves out in the city during their free time.

For Curaçao it was much easier to get in than the average Tower resident, since she could morph her appearance so precisely that her entire body became transparent, utterly invisible to the naked eye. Others usually used disguises and had to be extremely aware of their surroundings; some, like her sister Dawn, could just teleport inside. Pegasi like her sister Havoc couldn't fly in, naturally, so she'd have had to do this too.

She'd missed her first chance at having dinner with her family since the infusion process that gave her these strange new powers, and she was rather sad that she had to. But that was just the nature of her work; she had to ensure that every piece of the puzzle that was in front of her was carefully placed in its proper spot, and that often meant long nights alone more often than not.

Once she'd entered into the secret tunnel that led into the Tower, she readjusted her appearance to her natural, blue-coated, red-maned self. She was glad her new abilities also applied to her clothing, which was the same silver jumpsuit she'd worn during the morning's test. If it wasn't, things would be complicated and awkward if she needed to take on the forms of others. She'd have to wander around nude to maintain her invisibility, for one, and need to find other ponies' clothes for another.

She shifted it now into a dark gray moto jacket and an olive green beret. Simple, fashionable, comfortable.

After making her way through the tunnel, she ascended the elevator up to the fiftieth floor, which was used mostly for data storage and a single office/apartment combination that belonged to her father's secretary, Shroud. Curaçao had important business to attend to, and Shroud had key access to all of the data in her office and was the only pony in the Tower, including her father, that did.

When she quietly entered said office, however, she was expecting to be alone, considering the late hour. Instead, she found herself looking right at the office's lone occupant, a pink-coated unicorn mare with a red mane not unlike Curaçao's own, a thick pair of horn-rimmed glasses over her nose. She was wearing a set of blue, fuzzy pajamas that Curaçao found quite cute; they had what looked like little yellow stars on them.

"Hello? Can I help you?" the mare asked; Curaçao already knew this was Shroud, but they'd never been properly introduced. None of her sisters knew Shroud either, come to think of it. An odd circumstance, all things considered.

"Oh, bonjour," Curaçao said, a small smile on her face. "Pardonne-moi, I thought you would be asleep by now."

Shroud raised an eyebrow. "So… you were gonna sneak into my office?"

"Oui, I was," Curaçao said, unfazed. "I needed some important information, and your office has access to the Tower's entire database, non?"

"It does. Usually the ponies around here just buzz me on the intercom if they need something, though, at any hour of the day or night. Nopony comes up personally."

"Ah, I think that is what I was told, but I did not want to disturb you in case you were sleeping." Curaçao shrugged. "But you are awake, non? Perhaps you can help me then."

"That's why I'm here." Shroud paused, then raised an eyebrow. "Hold on, I don't recognize your voice. Are you new in the Tower?"

Curaçao tilted her head. "Non? I have been here for a long time. Ah, pardonne-moi, I have never spoken with you before tonight though. Je m'appelle Curaçao. Et tu es?"

"Nice to meet you. I'm Shroud," the unicorn said, offering her pajama-clad hoof.

Curaçao took the hoof and smiled. "Enchanté. I must say, your pajamas are adorable."

Shroud blushed, but did not take her hoof from Curaçao's. "Um, thanks. Wait, you said your name is Curaçao? I recognize that name. Mister Silvertongue told me that I was supposed to get you anything you needed. You've got Master-Level security clearance, so, uh… you must be pretty important."

"Bien sûr. Mon père has trusted me with some very important work, and that requires as few restrictions as possible, non?"

"Right. So, what can I help you with?"

Curaçao smiled. "I need a complete file on one Captain Flathoof of the NPPD. Everything you can give me: school records, tax records, the works. J'ai besoin de tout."

Shroud tapped her screen a few times, her hooves moving so fast that Curaçao could barely keep track of them. A look at the mare's eyes—which Curaçao noted were a lovely blue—showed them zipping just as quickly across the screen. It took less than thirty seconds before Shroud dramatically clicked the screen again, and announced—

"Done. Every single public record—and some not public—of one NPPD Captain Flathoof." She reached under the desk and pulled out one of those fancy little data drives and handed it over. "Anything else?"

Curaçao nodded, and pushed the drive back towards Shroud. "Oui. I need another complete file for one 'Lockwood'. He is just a civilian, but I need all of the same information on him that you can provide me, s'il vous plaît."

Shroud nodded, reinserted the drive under her desk, then did the same process that she'd done with Flathoof. Curaçao was rather surprised that it took much longer for her to take care of his file; was there that much more information?

"Okay, got a little snag here: you said 'Lockwood', right?"

Curaçao raised an eyebrow. "Oui?"

"Which one? I've got two on here."

"Quoi? Deux? What do you mean?"

"Yeah, I've got one older, one younger. They even look a lot alike, except the eyes."

"Hmm. Intéressant. Get me the files for both of them. You never can be too thorough, oui?"

Shroud nodded. "Sure thing." After nearly three minutes, Shroud removed the drive and passed it back over to Curaçao. "Anything else, Miss Curaçao?"

"Mademoiselle Curaçao, if you wish to be formal," Curaçao said with a smile. "But there is no need to be formal with me, mon amie. We are working together in a way, non? Just Curaçao will do. And no, that will be all. You have been très utile. Merci beaucoup."

"I'm glad I could be of help. That's my job. Just remember, you don't need to come here in person next time; just buzz me on the intercom. I'm on call twenty-four-seven."

Curaçao frowned. "Oh non non non, I could not do that! Périsse la pensée! It would be so rude to wake you when you are sleeping, and so impersonal even when you are awake."

Shroud dismissed that thought with her hoof. "Psh, it's okay. That's what everypony does, anyway. Most folks in the Tower don't usually even bother with that, actually, just Mister Silvertongue. Apart from him I don't even talk to anypony outside of a few random reports, and never really hold a conversation."

Curaçao's frown deepened. "C'est terrible! You must be so lonely." She shook her head. "Non, I will not do this. If I need something, I will come to you en personne."

"Uh… I mean, sure, okay? You don't have to do that—"

"Tut tut. I do, mon amie, I do." Curaçao placed the drive under her beret. "But for now, I will bid you adieu, so that you may get some sleep, oui? It is very late, after all." She headed for the door, giving a little wave as she did so. "Au revoir, et bonne nuit!"

"Uh… bye?" Shroud said, waving back with a yawn. "See you around, I guess."

Curaçao smiled once she was out of the room, mostly to herself, and headed down the hall towards the elevator. It might be late, but she still had plenty of time to do some research. After all, a mare with her responsibilities never rested.

C'est la vie.

*****

It was nearly midnight, and Silvertongue had yet to retire for the evening to his bed, though he had readied himself for the journey: he took his nightly shower to ensure he was clean of sweat, dressed in his evening wear—a black silk robe with a red collar—and everything else that a pony of his caliber should reasonably be expected to do before tucking in for the evening.

He settled into his huge bed that was big enough to comfortably fit ten ponies, pulled up the silk sheets, and settled himself in and prepared for sleep.

Just before he managed to drift off, however, he felt a familiar presence probing his mind. "My Warden, how is our grand design progressing?" came Nihila's voice, smooth as the silk on his bed.

Silvertongue fought hard not to let his mild aggravation bleed through into his thoughts; he hadn't been expecting her to contact him until morning. "From my assessment thus far, I'd say that it is too early to make any manner of judgement on the matter," came his terse reply.

"A ridiculous concession," she hissed, making his blood run cold. "You have spoken with some of our tools already, have you not? Surely they presented you with some measure of success thus far?"

"Due to the circumstances of our plan, my lady, I have only spoken personally with Golden Dawn and Havoc, and I asked that they keep their reports brief such that I do not steer them improperly along their path. They have been left to their own devices, as we agreed, for they will benefit more from these 'bonds' forging naturally."

Nihila's essence wafted about inside him, a simmering heat; she was not satisfied with that answer. "This plan of yours is progressing far too slowly."

"It has only been a single day since we put the plan into effect."

"Excuses!" she snapped; he felt like he'd been punched in the gut, and was almost mildly concerned with her impatience.

"It is far too early to expect them to have made any progress beyond an initial introduction and perhaps, in some cases, the beginnings of a new bond of friendship. Forging relationships like this takes time, my lady, and we have the benefit of nearly a month's worth."

"Why do my pawns not simply offer them what they want?" she asked with a low growl. "You led me to believe those foolish worms would gladly accept help when offered."

"I did, my lady, but it will take time for these otherworldly mares to trust their new friends enough to consider it. If we offer it too soon, they will become suspicious. Otherwise, I would simply offer them the solution myself. And we both know they would not accept our terms."

Nihila paused for a long moment. "I am this close to finally wiping Harmonia's luster from this world, my Warden. I can taste victory in the air for the first time in hundreds of years. I will not be denied my due."

Silvertongue sighed, again forcing down the feelings of frustration. "Our plan will work. I assure you of that. But we must give it time. Your pawns will waste away the precious weeks these mares have before they bring them to me, to us, and then they will have no recourse but to accept your terms. Everything is in motion. I have never given you reason to doubt me."

"No… no, I suppose you have not. But I am still hesitant on the pace at which these… 'bonds' are forged. There must be some method that you can implement that will hasten the process."

"I will devise a plan to help strengthen their bonds, then, my lady, if that will alleviate your concerns," Silvertongue said with a nod. "Your every command is mine to obey."

"Good. Do not disappoint me, my Warden."

"I won't."

With that, he felt her essence leave his mind.

In the brief moment of clarity, he knew that he needed to ensure that this grand scheme went off properly, and that meant that Nihila had a point: he couldn't afford to wait for the opportune moment to strike. He'd wanted to gauge the results of his daughters for a few days before he proceeded with anything else, but Nihila wanted results and wasn't listening to reason; she was forcing his hoof.

So be it.

Silvertongue rose from his bed and pushed an intercom button on his nightstand. "Shroud."

It took a few seconds—it was late, so he knew she'd be sleeping—but eventually her somewhat-groggy voice came from the other end: "Sir?"

"I need you to look into Project Four-One-C-N, first thing in the morning."

There was a pause on the other end. "Yes, sir, Project Four-One-C-N, first thing in the morning. I'll contact you with results as soon as I have them."

"Very good, Shroud. And don't worry if it takes time; it is a top-secret project and has several protocols that might make your search… rather protracted."

"Very well. Anything else, sir?"

"No, Shroud, that will be all."

"Have a good night, sir."

With that, he clicked off the intercom and settled back into bed, staring at the ceiling.

His mind was racing. Moving this early could cause any number of snags or fumbles in the plan. There were too many variables, too many possibilities. Just one mistake and the whole thing would be for naught, a beautiful wasted effort with no positive outcome and potentially several negative ones.

He wouldn't be able to sleep properly until he was assured that everything was according to plan.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Catering

Velvet sat at one of the many available tables at The Sweet Spot, slurping away at a "hot chocolate"—nothing more than pan-heated Dolor Black mixed with a little water—and watching the crowd come and go. It was a somewhat slow day today; there weren't a lot of customers coming in and out and very few actually stuck around to eat the treats that they'd purchased. The orders were big, however, at least from what Velvet could see; an earth pony had just walked away with his saddlebags stuffed full of boxed treats.

But through it all, Velvet just kept her eyes mostly on Pinkie, but she wasn't exactly pleased with what she saw.

Her friend had made a full recovery from her injuries, with nary a scar in sight. Velvet was frankly impressed by that. She knew that she could heal herself from any injury or illness, but that the process was often slow and sometimes impossible for others without powerful magic. That ancient earth pony had fixed up a bullet wound with just some paste and a bandage, and it only took a couple of days. This "Miracle" lived up to his name.

At least, Pinkie had no physical scars, but she was certainly not the same mare that she was a week ago. Gone was the bouncy, overeager, excitable mare that would crack jokes with the customers, always gave them a wide, toothy smile, and waved them off enthusiastically as they purchased sweets. Sure, Pinkie was smiling and being polite and friendly, but it was just a front, a fake grin to hide the anxiety she clearly felt. Velvet couldn't imagine what that even felt like.

And so it had been for the past several days, ever since the attack. There were a few lapses in the façade here in there in either direction: sometimes Pinkie would break down in nervous jitters and whoever was near—typically Velvet or Rainbow—would need to pull her in for a hug to calm her down; other times, Pinkie would legitimately smile and laugh and be back to her normal self, only to settle back down and go about her business.

Rainbow's skyball game last night had been the closest Pinkie had been to "normal", but even that didn't last. And Velvet hated it.

Today, Velvet had a mission. So as she sat there at her table and drank her drink and watched her friend work, she kept her gaze just enough on the door of the establishment to watch for a very particular pair of ponies that would help her put her plan in action.

They arrived just before Pinkie was scheduled to take her lunch break. One was a white-coated earth pony stallion with a short, curly black mane and a short, trimmed beard and mustache, wearing a warm winter coat. The other was a pegasus mare with a peach-colored coat and a striking red mane, also in a warm winter coat. Some ponies were just affected differently by the winter temperatures, Velvet figured.

She'd met the pair here at this very establishment just two days ago, when they tried to get The Sweet Spot to cater a little party they were putting together. Unfortunately, The Sweet Spot was already booked with catering orders and didn't have the time or the staff to handle their request.

But Velvet had heard everything, and she told the couple to come here today if they were still looking for a caterer. Her entire mission depended on this, so she felt a rush of excitement when they walked into the room; it was a good sign.

She waved the pair over with a little shake of her drink cup. The pair grinned, headed over to her table, and squeezed into the seats.

"Hello, Miss Velvet," said the stallion, Snowglobe. "A fine afternoon today, isn't it?"

"Yeah, just dandy," Velvet replied, taking a sip of her chocolate. "A bit chilly, but not too bad."

"Well, winter is here, after all," he replied with a smile. "And it'll pass soon enough."

"Aye, and it's a right nippy one, too," added the mare, Scarlet Band. "But let's cut the crap, eh? I hear ye got somethin' figured out for us, Velvet."

Velvet leaned back in her seat and grinned. "Yup, sure do. Assuming you guys are still having trouble getting things together for tomorrow?"

"O' course we are," Scarlet said, rolling her eyes. "Do ye have any idea how hard it is to get a holiday party catered on such short notice? Every bloody caterer in the city is swamped, even this one." She gave Snowglobe a hard look. "We wouldn't be in this mess if ye just listened to me in the first place and booked in advance."

"I didn't know it was going to be so difficult," Snowglobe said with a sheepish frown. "It's just a small party, I figured it'd be easy."

"Ye know nothin', Snowglobe, that's what I always tell ye." Scarlet looked back to Velvet. "So, can ye help us or not?"

"Oh, I think I can," Velvet said, her grin widening. She tilted her head towards Pinkie at the counter. "She's your ticket to paradise, kids."

Snowglobe raised an eyebrow. "Her? Pardon my saying, Miss Velvet, but we've already asked The Sweet Spot to cater us, and Miss Swirl said they're swamped with orders and events. They can't take us."

"Yeah, The Sweet Spot is, but I'm not suggesting you ask the shop again or anything like that. What I'm suggesting is that you two give my pal Pinkie the catering job."

"She's your friend?"

Velvet nodded. "My bestie. And she's been in a real funk lately, y'know, so I figure that the best way to get her out of it is to help her get her groove back." She gestured at the pair. "That's where you two lovebirds come in. I'd like to offer my friend's catering services for your party. Pro bono, of course."

Scarlet rubbed her chin. "The 'pro bono' bit makes it sound more than worthwhile. We can afford to take a risk on quality if we're not payin' for it." She leveled Velvet with a look. "And she's gonna provide all o' her own food for the party? And do it for free? What's the catch?"

"Yup, that's right, and there's no catch, I assure you. All the payment she needs is to see a bunch of ponies having a good time," Velvet said with a smile. "So? What do you say?"

The couple shared a look, then Scarlet gave a nod. "Aye, we'll do it."

"Fantastic," Velvet said, leaning forward. "So, let's talk some details, shall we?"

*****

Pinkie wasn't really sure of what to make of the situation she found herself in right now. Velvet had invited her over after work claiming to have a big surprise for her. She'd somehow convinced Lockwood to let them borrow his apartment for a few hours. Pinkie was expecting… well, she didn't know what to expect from Velvet, actually. Knowing her, it could be anything from some sweet treats to a naughty toy she'd picked up to loan to Pinkie and Rainbow for the evening, if she could even get in the mood to be intimate with Rainbow right now.

The apartment was rather, well, big. Pinkie hadn't actually been in it yet, but some of the others had for one reason or another, and they'd all pretty much said the same thing. His living room alone was as big as their whole apartment, and his kitchen was twice the size of theirs. She didn't go into the bedroom or washroom—she didn't need to and wasn't that curious—but guessed they were just as large.

She was not expecting to come into Lockwood's kitchen and see a bunch of cooking supplies and ingredients. Real ingredients, it was worth mentioning. There were real strawberries, cherries, and blueberries; there was a real sack of flour and a real sack of sugar; there were real batches of salt, vanilla, and chocolate; Velvet even opened the fridge to show off the real eggs, milk, and butter. There was more than that, but Pinkie was just lost in awe and only took stock of a few.

"Ta-da!" Velvet said with a wide grin and flourish of hooves. "So, what do you think, Pink?"

Pinkie blinked and looked around at all the materials, still stunned by the sight of it all. "How… how did you get all of this?"

Velvet scuffed a hoof on her chest. "As I'm sure you know by now, money's not hard to come by for my sisters and me. It still took some doing, but I managed to track down a shipment of real stuff coming into the city and bought a big batch of it, enough to make a whooole bunch of cupcakes. Real cupcakes, with real ingredients; just the right thing to knock somepony's socks clean off.

"As for the apartment, well, I figured Lockwood's pad had more room than mine, so I paid him a little visit this morning. I thought I'd have to do a little 'favor' to get him to agree to it, but hey, he handed me a spare key as soon as I asked him! Nice guy, right?"

Pinkie walked over to the selection and started browsing through it all. There was enough of a supply here that Pinkie could easily bake up a dozen cupcakes each of several different varieties. There were plenty of baking pans—all of them brand new—as well as cupcake wrappers and boxes to put them all in. It all felt just like home, actually.

"But… why? What's all this for?" she asked anxiously.

"For you, silly," Velvet said, pulling her in for a side-hug. "You and I are gonna whip up a bunch of patented Pinkie Pie cupcakes tonight, enough for a decently-sized party. And do you know what we're gonna do with them after that?"

Pinkie shook her head.

"We're gonna take advantage of your day off tomorrow, and we're gonna take all these cupcakes to the penthouse apartment of some nice ponies I met, and we're gonna cater their little shindig and have a grand ol' time. Sound fun?"

Pinkie raised an eyebrow. "What? We're catering a party?"

"That's right. I spoke with them earlier today, and they hired you and me—well, I say 'hired', but we're not getting paid—to help them put together a private party for them and some friends. Just a little get-together, that's all."

"You did that without asking me?" Pinkie asked, confused. "Why would you do that?"

Velvet shifted Pinkie so that they were nose-to-nose. "Because you've been unhappy for days now, and I don't like seeing you unhappy. You are my friend, my best friend, and I knew there was no way I could leave you like that." She gestured out at the kitchen and the ingredients therein. "And the only thing I could think of to do the trick was this."

Pinkie shook her head. "I don't know, Red… I don't know if I can…"

"Sure you can! You're Pinkie Pie! You're the partying-est mare I know! You always talk about how much you like parties and baking and making other ponies smile, and so that's what I knew I needed to do for you."

"But—"

Velvet pulled Pinkie in for a real hug now. "Look, Pink, I won't force you to do it, okay? I know it's a lot to ask, but… but I know you can't stay like this forever. I know what happened was awful, and I wish there was something I could say or do to fix it so that you never got hurt or anything. But it happened… and all I want is the old Pinkie back…"

Pinkie curled up into the hug, enjoying her friend's warmth. "You really did this all for me?"

"Of course I did. You're my best friend." Velvet put her hoof over her heart. "I don't know what it is about you, but... I feel this, like, connection with you that I don't feel about anypony else. I know I've only known you for a couple of weeks, but it feels like I've known you my whole life. I love you like a sister, but like..." She rubbed the back of her neck. "But like, more than my own sisters, y'know? Don't tell them I said that. I don't know if they'd understand."

Pinkie nodded and smiled at her friend, putting her hoof over her own heart. "I know what you mean, Red. I felt it the moment we met."

"See? So you get why I'm willing to do anything to help you. And not just me, but Rainbow too."

Pinkie's ears perked up. "Dashie helped?"

"Yeah, in a sense. I asked her if there was anything I could do to help you, because neither of us like seeing you like this, and she knows she can only do so much. She has obligations too, and she can't be there for you every minute of the day… so I'm more than happy to fill in the gaps where I can.

"She told me about something that happened to you once a long time ago," Velvet said, stroking Pinkie's back. "Something about you feeling down one day because you thought everypony forgot your birthday? And how it just turned out everypony was planning a surprise party for you? I didn't get all the details, just the important facts."

Pinkie nodded, a faint smile on her face. "Yeah… I remember that. That was a really bad day, until it wasn't."

"Well, I know this isn't exactly the same situation, obviously, but I figured I'd give my idea a shot anyway. What you need is a shot of pure joy right into your bloodstream, and I'm willing to bet helping put together a party would do the trick."

"I mean… I guess it couldn't hurt…" Pinkie murmured. "I still have memories about that day, y'know? Good ones, sure… but bad ones too. Sometimes, when I'm not feeling good, I think about that day and I wonder… what would've happened if Dashie hadn't come to get me for the party? What if she just… left?"

"You started dating Rainbow after that, right?"

Pinkie smiled warmly. "Yeah. I dunno, there was just a part of me that felt really warm when it was all said and done. I guess I saw that Dashie pulled me out of that really dark place, even though I didn't want to leave, and… I wanted to thank her for not giving up on me. I wasn't expecting it to turn into what it did… but I'm glad it did…"

Velvet returned the smile. "You love her, don't you?”

"Very, very much.”

"And from what I've seen, she loves you, too." Velvet pat Pinkie on the shoulder. "So, do you think you can do this? For her? For me?"

Pinkie broke out of the hug and nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Let's do it." She put on her apron, tying it tight with force. "Let's bake some cupcakes."

She and Velvet immediately set to work, separating things out and setting things up so that they could get started: pre-heating the oven, opening all of the tins and bags, washing the utensils and baking pans, etc. Velvet had bought herself an apron as well—she joked that she'd like to have a stallion over one day and wear just the apron—and was enthusiastically helping with every step of the process.

Eventually, as they started putting together the first batch, Pinkie heard Velvet humming a strikingly familiar tune to herself and singing a bit under her breath, just loud enough for Pinkie to hear if she was being quiet.

"♫All you have to do is take a cup of flour.

Add it to the mix."

Pinkie raised an eyebrow, and while she continued putting her set of ingredients together, she sang along with Velvet, only a little bit louder.

"♫Now just take a little something sweet, not sour.

A bit of salt, just a pinch."

Velvet looked at Pinkie with surprise, but kept singing, louder than she had been before; she didn't stop putting together her assigned ingredients into the bowl, which were matching up with the lyrics just perfectly.

"♫Baking these treats is such a cinch!

Add a teaspoon of vanilla!"

Pinkie smiled brightly and shoved a ready-to-bake batch of cupcakes into the oven, slamming the door closed—gently, this wasn't her kitchen, y'know?

"♫Add a little more, and you count to four,

And you never get your fill of…"

Then, Velvet joined in, and the two sang in perfect unison:

"♫Cupcakes! So sweet and tasty!

Cupcakes! Don't be too hasty!

Cupcakes! Cupcakes, cupcakes, CUPCAKES!"

They then broke down into giggles as they started putting together the next batch of batter.

"That was great! Where'd you learn that song from, Red?" Pinkie asked with a grin. "I thought only I knew it."

Velvet shook her head, a little smile on her face. "I dunno. It just sort of… came to me. Like a… a dream, or something. It's weird, 'cause I was just putting things together and all of a sudden I felt like singing. Is that weird? That's weird, right?"

Pinkie licked some batter off her spoon. "I like to sing sometimes, too. A lot, actually. Singing makes me happy, and I know it makes other ponies happy too, so sometimes I just break into song at a moment's notice."

She tapped her chin with the spoon, getting some batter stuck there. "Y'know, sometimes when I start singing, a bunch of other ponies will join in, like it's a weirdly choreographed musical number right out of a movie. I wonder when they find the time to practice? Is it like some kind of compulsion? Hypnotism, maybe?"

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about," Velvet said, taking her hoof and wiping the batter off Pinkie's chin with a paper towel. "This isn't a movie, y'know? Ponies around here don't just break into song, especially not in public, and they certainly don't break into flamboyant, choreographed musical numbers. I think the city's got a law against that sort of thing."

"But Red, of course this is a movie! We just had the touching drama sequence where I talked about an important moment from my past and everything! Total award bait!" She stopped, and scratched her head. "Come to think of it, there's been a lot of that going on with everypony lately. Weird, right?"

Velvet rolled her eyes. "Let's just focus on the cupcakes, okay? We've got a lot of batches to do."

"Right, yeah. Let's focus on those."

And so they did.

The pair baked up ten batches of cupcakes, a dozen of each flavor: vanilla, chocolate, blueberry, strawberry, cherry, lemon, carrot, raspberry, and of course, red velvet, because it just wasn't a party if red velvet wasn't invited, which Red Velvet was quick to quip with a waggle of eyebrows and a nudge.

The tenth flavor was a new one, though, one Pinkie had never tried before. She had decided to make them after only a brief interaction with an ingredient that was totally alien to her, something they simply didn't have back home.

"Okay, so, this… is a magmaberry," Velvet said as she passed one over to Pinkie from out of the jar they were contained in, being very careful and treating it like she was handling a bomb. "It's a delicacy up here in the north. Very expensive, but extremely popular with certain crowds."

Pinkie held the little berry and studied it with awe. It was a reddish-orange color with little specks of black, like cooling molten lava. It was cool to the touch, though, despite looking like it had every right to be melting straight through her hoof and into the floor below. When she gave it a teensy squeeze to test the strength of the berry's skin, she found it deceptively tough.

"Neat," she said, holding it up to her nose to sniff it. It smelled like burnt coals. "And you're supposed to eat this? It's not poisonous, is it?"

"Perfectly safe," Velvet said with a nod. "Er… relatively speaking. They're really, really spicy, so be careful."

Pinkie smiled wide. "Ooh, nice. I love spicy stuff. Dashie got me a bottle of this super hard-to-find hot sauce for my last birthday and I put it on everything I eat."

"Except Dash, I hope?" Velvet snickered.

Pinkie popped the berry into her mouth and bit into it, chewing and rolling it around in her mouth a few times before swallowing. It wasn't spicy at all, but a rather pleasantly sweet and savory flavor, like strawberry fused with coconut. The texture wasn't watery, but thick and syrupy, coating her tongue almost like wax.

But it wasn't spicy. At all.

"Psh, you call that spicy?" Pinkie scoffed, grabbing the jar from Velvet and sticking out her tongue. "That was nothing! Pretty sweet and tasty though." She reached into the jar and grabbed a few more and ate them down all at once. "Down the hatch!"

"Pinkie, no!" Velvet blurted.

"Oh, relax, Red. Sheesh, you must not be able to handle your spicy stuff if you think these are hot." She scarfed down a few more as Velvet watched on in abject horror. "What?"

Velvet just shook her head, her hooves over her mouth with worry. "You're not supposed to eat more than one until you build up a tolerance to them."

"A tolerance to what? These aren't—"

Pinkie froze up, her eyes widening in shock as an incredible burning sensation ripped across her tongue. Her taste buds were melting, as though somepony had poured molten lava right into her mouth and just wouldn't stop pouring. She began shaking uncontrollably in place, like a kettle of popcorn. Her entire face turned red, followed by the rest of her body; smoke began spewing out of her ears; when she opened her mouth to talk, actual fire belched out, like a dragon's breath.

"Whoa!" Velvet exclaimed, taking a step back. "See? Told you."

Pinkie was at the kitchen sink faster than anypony could possibly move, leaving a trail of Pinkie-shaped smoke in her place. She placed her mouth right onto the faucet and turned on the cold stream to full blast. A vicious cloud of steam poured out of her mouth, filling the entire kitchen like a sauna.

When Pinkie could finally feel her tongue again and the burning sensation was gone, she turned off the faucet and collapsed to the tiled floor like a sack of potatoes, taking deep breaths like her life depended on it.

Velvet cautiously walked over. "You alright there, Pink?"

Pinkie bounced up, a smile on her face, as if nothing had happened. "We have got to make cupcakes out of those."

Velvet smirked. "You read my mind."

*****

Snowglobe and Scarlet Band lived together in a penthouse apartment in the inner city, specifically within the Sherwood District. Though the sector of the city wasn't as wealthy or influential as the Romantique or Baroque Districts were these days, it was still well-respected for its rich cultural history, and famous for its high-quality teas. Everything had a sort of old-world charm as far as aesthetics were concerned—cobblestone roads, brick-and-mortar buildings—but it was still very much a modern city neighborhood.

The couple lived on the twentieth floor of a complex called Windsor Tower, which wasn't as tall as some of the larger high rises in the other Inner District sectors, but that was because the Sherwood ponies preferred larger numbers of smaller structures to the fewer-but-taller gleaming skyscrapers that the other influential districts seemed to like so much.

The penthouse itself was of a respectable size, outrageously big for even a couple, but it made it ideal for holding parties like this one. There were only about a dozen or so ponies in attendance, none of whom Velvet knew apart from the hosts until she'd arrived, but she assumed that they were all influential sorts with big pocketbooks. The mares were lovely and came dressed in the latest fashions—Velvet recognized that one was wearing a Rarity Original—and the stallions were mostly handsome and wore crisp suits.

Velvet and Pinkie had taken up a spot behind a serving table, which they'd loaded up with all of the cupcakes they'd made the night before; they arranged the treats in such a way that one's eye would be drawn to everything at once. The guests at these sorts of events were likely not used to self-service catering, but it was a small party and the display would hopefully entice folks to try some cupcakes.

Pinkie, though, seemed exceedingly anxious; the social portion of this party had only just officially started—the hosts provided dinner to the guests first while the dessert caterers got ready—but nopony had come over to try a treat yet. They were all too busy schmoozing with one another at the moment, drinking wine and just generally being a bit stuffy.

"Oh… this isn't working, Red," Pinkie murmured, deflated. She looked over her display of treats and shook her head. "Aren't they even going to try any?"

"Hey, just give them some time, Pink," Velvet assured her. "They just finished dinner, alright? Let them make some room for dessert. Not everypony's like you and me, y'know?"

The pair wore a matching set of crisp uniforms and aprons so that they'd look the part of high-class caterers. Velvet didn't much like being in such stuffy clothes, but she'd manage just fine for tonight, if only to make sure that this evening went just right for Pinkie. They'd even had their manes done up with some assistance from Rarity, so the two looked every bit as prim and proper as the rest of the guests.

It took several minutes before anypony came over to try any of the sweet treats, and the first one who did was a rather wild-looking earth pony stallion with a cool blue coat and fiery red mane and full beard. In the tight-fitting suit he looked somewhat out of place, really, but he was a guest so obviously he belonged. Velvet was certain she'd heard his name was Icebreaker; the coincidence that he was the first one over was not lost on her.

Icebreaker strode up to the table and gazed across the display, his hard eyes looking over every single treat like he was looking over the scene of a crime. He gestured at one of the blueberry cupcakes. "What flavor is this one?"

Velvet nudged Pinkie so that she'd take charge.

"Blueberry," Pinkie said with a grin.

"Hmm." He took the treat up in his large hoof and scarfed a huge bite without even putting it on a plate first, almost eating the wrapper with it. His eyes widened as he chewed, and he nodded appreciatively as he gulped it down. "This is… really good. Ye say ye made these yourself?"

Pinkie tilted her head towards Velvet slightly. "She helped—"

"I just followed directions," Velvet cut in. "It's her recipe, and she did most of the work. Yup, all her."

The huge stallion took another bite, nodded at Pinkie, and smiled; he had a bizarrely jovial smile for such an intimidating pony. "It's good. I like it." And with that, he walked away, though he had a little more pep in his step than before.

Soon after that, the other guests eventually started flocking over and taking cupcakes as well before heading back to schmooze and flirt and carouse with one another. They would often come back to grab another treat, of course, because the night was young and there was plenty to do.

Snowglobe and Scarlet provided plenty of entertainment for their guests, which Velvet and Pinkie were mostly limited to watching: playing charades with one another; dancing to music, none of it upbeat sorts of tunes that Velvet personally enjoyed, but still pleasant to the ear.

She and Pinkie weren't there to do anything but cater the desserts, and that was fine by her. Pinkie seemed to get a bit of enjoyment out of the deal, seeing the other ponies happy and enjoying their provided snacks, though there was probably a part of her that wanted to join in, if her jittery bouncing during charades was any indication.

Every now and then, when the guests would wander back over to the catering table to grab a cupcake, they would be quick with a compliment to the pair, and Velvet was equally quick to push all the credit onto Pinkie, whose smile was growing bigger every minute.

"I'd always considered myself a connoisseur of the finer things in life," said a short, gold-coated unicorn stallion with a black mane and a clever look in his eyes, who introduced himself as Hyperion Gold. He seemed partial to the raspberries. "But these, my dear, are positively scrumptious."

An older earth pony stallion who was gray in coat and getting gray in mane, and who called himself Seaweed Vinegar, took a big bite from one of the lemon cupcakes. "I've never really had much of a sweet tooth, but there's something about these that just keeps me coming back." He winked at Pinkie. "You've got yourself a real talent there, lass. You should be proud."

All-in-all, the evening was shaping up fairly well, and it seemed that it was mostly Pinkie's cupcakes' doing if Velvet were to be the judge. Okay, sure, maybe she was a little biased, but if the guests ever stopped coming back for more then maybe she'd be willing to grant that they weren't that important to everypony's enjoyment.

As the party started winding down, Pinkie and Velvet started putting the remaining cupcakes—there were very few—into little boxes so that the guests could bring some home with them; a larger box with one of each flavor was made up for the hosts, as was polite and proper. Any leftovers—if there even were any—would go with the caterers themselves to do with as they pleased.

Now, Snowglobe and Scarlet stood before their friends and guests to bid them farewell; this really was a prim and proper party, it seemed, since nopony even left early.

"Thank you all for coming," Snowglobe said, his face an odd mixture of anxious and excited that Velvet hadn't seen all evening. "This wonderful evening wouldn't have been the same without you all here, and I'm very glad that everypony could make it."

"And a hearty thanks to Pinkie Pie and Red Velvet," said Scarlet, gesturing over towards the pair, "for caterin' for us tonight. Give them a round of applause, eh?"

A little round of clapping went through the group. Not exactly rousing, but polite and friendly, and most of all, sincere.

"So, I suppose we can call it an evenin' now—"

"Before everypony leaves, I have another announcement to make," Snowglobe said, his voice nearly cracking.

Scarlet paused. "Huh?"

Snowglobe took her hoof in his. "Scarlet, we have shared so many experiences together, both good and bad. We have struggled and fought, but we have also laughed and cried. There isn't a single pony in the world that I would rather spend my life with."

He knelt down before her. The room went quieter than ever.

Scarlet's face went bright red. "Bloody hell you're not—"

"Scarlet Band… will you marry me?"

She put her hoof to her mouth and said nothing for a long moment, then, tears in her eyes, she rapidly nodded. When he rose up, she pulled him in for a kiss that even Velvet found to be aggressively passionate. The guests all applauded; Velvet applauded; Pinkie, though, she cheered.

*****

After the party, Pinkie and Velvet made their way home in a pegasi-drawn chariot, eating the single cupcake each that they'd brought along—Pinkie with a strawberry, Velvet with, of course, a red velvet. The two smiled and laughed, pointing out things as they flew by them, like the tall buildings of the other city districts they passed by, the billboards, restaurants, and stores that they flew over, and the crowds of pegasi that constrained themselves to skylanes that the chariot wasn't bound to.

"Y'know, Red… this was a really good idea…" Pinkie said, sighing and looking up towards the fiery orange sky. As she took another bite of her cupcake, she noticed that Velvet had some frosting on her nose. "You got something on ya."

Velvet crossed her eyes to look at her nose, then licked the frosting off without much effort. "Thanks. And hey, I'm just glad you had a good time. Feeling any better?"

Pinkie nodded. "Yeah, lots. I really needed this… so, thanks. Thanks for doing this for me." She leaned her head on Velvet's shoulder. "You're a really good friend, Red."

"Yeah, well, with how busy everypony else is all the time, I figured I'd take advantage of being unemployed," Velvet said with a shrug. "I mean, since I've got all this free time, I should use some of it to make you happy, right? I'm glad it worked."

"Me too. Even if it was just for tonight, I felt really happy. Almost like things were back to normal for me… for all of my friends. Things have been kind of tough these past few weeks, y'know? I know we get a chance to have fun every now and then, but usually all we do is work and worry. I think we all need… a break…?"

Pinkie then sat up straight and gasped. "That's it!"

"Huh?"

Pinkie grabbed Velvet by the shoulders and shook her. "A party! I need to throw a party for everypony!"

"Hey, yeah! That sounds like a great idea!" Velvet paused suddenly, tilting her head. "Oof, but your apartment's kind of small for that many ponies. I don't think it'd be comfortable at my place, either. I mean, depends on how many ponies you're inviting?"

"Hmm…" Pinkie pulled a notepad and a pen out of her mane, then started marking off names. "Let's see. There's me, you, Dashie, Shy, Twi, AJ, Rarity, Insipid, Gray, Havoc, Flathoof, Lockwood, and Winter makes thirteen, and I usually always account for a few randos showing up. Let's say, for the sake of argument, sixteen. That number just makes perfect sense for some reason."

"Oof, yeah, that's gonna be a rough fit even at my place, especially if we've got food and activities set up. Hmm… ah, we could always rent a place?" Velvet suggested. "I'd be happy to chip in."

"I appreciate that, but no, I don't want to make you do all that for me again. You've already done so much—"

Velvet pulled Pinkie in for a side-hug. "Hey, it's no big deal. What are friends for, right?"

"No, that's not the point," Pinkie said, though she did return the hug so that Velvet didn't feel left out. "That point is, I want to do this myself. You can absolutely help, of course," she added with a wink, "but I need to be able to do this without going totally overboard."

She paused, tapping her hoof to her chin, and she thought. "Think, think, think. C'mon, Pinkie, what are you gonna do about a location? Your apartment's too small, Red's isn't big enough either, so, where else could we—"

Pinkie gasped again, and to her surprise, Velvet did too.

"Lockwood's apartment!" they said in unison.

"Yeah!" Pinkie continued. "He's got a biiig apartment, with plenty of space for food and games and whatever! I can ask him! I bet he'd be more than happy to let us hold the party at his place, just like he did for baking last night!"

Velvet nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that guy's always helping you guys out with little things here and there, so why wouldn't he agree to this? I mean, he's on the guest list and everything so it's not like we're gonna do anything to mess the place up."

"Exactly! Ooh, this is gonna be great!" Pinkie flipped the page of her notebook to a blank sheet. "Okay, Red, you're my assistant for this party planning adventure, got it?"

Velvet gave a brisk salute. "Got it."

"So, we've got a guest list—not that I'd turn anypony away if they wanted to join in—and I figure if we make it late enough at night, everypony will be able to make it no matter how late they get off work. But the next thing on the agenda is planning out snacks and activities! I know my friends, and you know your sisters, so let's start planning!"

If there was one thing Pinkie knew would bring a smile to everypony's faces, it was putting on a patented Pinkie Pie party, and so that was exactly what she was going to do.

*****

It was mid evening, and Havoc sat in a chair in her father's office directly across from him. Silvertongue's expression was hard to read, like it always was, but she could at least guess that he wasn't exactly pleased with her. Or maybe she was reading it wrong and he wasn't upset, but was just curious? It was an odd expression, and it didn't help that one of his eyes was different from the other and that he liked to keep the room dark.

"I want to make sure that we're perfectly clear on what happened, Havoc," he said, tapping his hoof on his desk. "You're telling me that you took Rainbow Dash to the city wall and accessed one of the undisclosed backdoors in place there, the ones that are only supposed to be used for emergencies and clandestine operations, so that you and her could 'go flying'?"

Havoc gulped, and nodded. "That's right. Dash was talking about how much she hated having to be constrained while flying around here, and so I… I figured that if I showed her this cool secret, she'd get a real kick out of it and we'd have a good time together. Y'know, like friends do?"

"That might be true, but the Wastelands are not an appropriate place to be taking your friend when you're supposed to be keeping her safe. I know that the larger Gargantuans don't make their way this far north, but the smaller ones still do. What would you have done if those creatures decided to attack either of you?"

"Psh, it was no big deal, Pops," Havoc replied, dismissing the thought with her hoof. "We were in the air the entire time. Those freaky bugs couldn't possibly get us that high. I made sure that the only place we landed was in the mountains, 'cause you said that they don't ever go there."

Silvertongue leaned back in his seat, still tapping his hoof on the desk. "Well, then I am at least glad you took as many precautions as you could. However, I am still disappointed that you risked it at all. This situation is progressing quickly now, my dear, more quickly than ever, and soon it will be time to give your friend and her companions the aid they seek."

Havoc nodded; she still wasn't clear entirely on what her dad was going to be offering her friend, but she hadn't questioned it so far and wouldn't start now. "Right… sorry, Pops."

"It's alright, Havoc. Just be more cautious in the future." Silvertongue then leaned forward. "Now, tell me more about this 'Sonic Rainboom'. You say that Rainbow was able to achieve supersonic speeds just by 'flying fast', and that it created this visible phenomenon when she broke the sound barrier?"

"I don't really understand it any better than that," Havoc said with a shrug. "Dash doesn't know how she does it either, just that she can fly really fast and do that whenever she does. I didn't know a pegasus could even fly that fast in the first place, and I guess it's just something she can do, even back where she's from."

"Interesting…"

"She said that maybe I could do something like it if I practiced hard enough. Do you think I could?"

"It is within the realm of possibility," he replied, steepling his hooves. "A most curious concept, though. I wouldn't know how such an ability might manifest if you or your sister Gray attempted such a feat, what with your other abilities, but the very consideration of such a fact is most intriguing. Something for me to ponder…"

Havoc scratched her chin. "Well, okay. Uh, so… you're not mad?"

"As I said, I am disappointed that you left the city without permission and put your charge at risk, even if it was minimal. However, I consider this information on the 'Sonic Rainboom' to be interesting enough that I'm willing to overlook it for now. No harm came to you or Rainbow in the event, so I consider the data worth the effort."

"Phew. Thanks, Pops…"

Silvertongue leaned back in his seat again. "Go on. It's getting late. Your sisters are likely expecting you to join them for dinner."

She raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you coming?"

"No. I have much work to do and will have a meal delivered to me later."

"Well, okay then. See you later, Pops." Havoc got up from the chair and headed towards the door.

"Enjoy your evening, Havoc," Silvertongue said.

Havoc left her father's office and made her way to the elevator, which she set to the floor housing the Tower's dining hall. She was feeling more than a little hungry, since she and Rainbow had skipped lunch to help do some drills with the team's new striker, Gilded Match, who would be replacing Rainbow when she had to drop off the team. The guy wasn't quite as fast or skilled as Rainbow, natch, but he had a passion for the sport and had blended into the team dynamic fairly well.

When she arrived in the dining hall, she saw that Dawn and Curaçao had already taken their seats, but hadn't started eating yet. Dinner had already been served and looked like a good selection, with a big salad, what looked like some sort of cold soup, breadsticks, and a large, tomato-based pasta. It looked like a pretty fancy Baroque spread; Havoc always found she liked Baroque cuisine, even the fancy stuff, not because it was romantic or anything but because it was just good.

Curaçao greeted her first with a polite wave. "Bonsoir, Havoc. Did you enjoy your talk with Papa?"

Havoc grunted and took her seat; she noticed that Dawn was staring at her with no small amount of disdain. "Yeah, it was fine. He seemed less upset than Dawn was making him out to be. I think he was more interested in that Sonic Rainboom thing that Dash did, like he asked me how she did it and stuff? I dunno, he thinks maybe if I work at it, I might be able to take a shot."

"Ah, c'est merveilleux! I would certainly like to see something like that from you, ma sœur."

Curaçao served herself some salad without Dawn's say-so, and Dawn didn't argue it. Havoc thought it was both unfair since she'd always gotten shit from Dawn if she didn't follow etiquette, but also cool, because Dawn had argued it at one point with Curaçao, and the latter had shut it down by lecturing Dawn on all of the etiquette rules she was expected to follow if she wanted to "be the host", all of which she wasn't.

So, Dawn didn't give Curaçao any guff for anything anymore. And, when Havoc was serving herself some pasta and clearly going against etiquette in how she did it—hooves on the table, reaching, and so on—Dawn didn't say a thing then, either, even though she clearly wanted to. Not even telepathically, because she'd tried that too, and Curaçao picked up on it and scolded Dawn for having private conversations at the dinner table.

Havoc had never really realized it before, but it was cool having her older sister at the table lately. It wasn't often, but she much preferred it when Curaçao was present instead of just sharing meals with her brat of a youngest sister.

However, since proper etiquette was no longer to be the subject of debate, Dawn took that as an open invitation to broach other subjects. "I am of the opinion that your punishment was far too lenient," she said as she daintily served herself some soup. "You should have been consigned to your quarters for the remainder of the evening without a meal."

"Pops didn't have a problem with what happened," Havoc snorted, taking a big bite of tasty pasta. "Yeah, sure, I feel bad that he's disappointed in me for going outside the city with Dash. If he wanted to actually punish me, like ground me or whatever, fine, fuck it, I'd accept that, but he didn't. Tough shit for you that you couldn't get me in bigger trouble."

"Oh, does it exasperate you that I informed Father of your excursion outside the city?" Dawn asked, eyes narrowed. "How unfortunate for you, then, that I discovered that you were responsible for the occurrences there only because of Twilight's information. You failed to deliver anything relating to this 'Rainboom' in your report to me, nor did you inform me that you had departed the city."

"Look, it wasn't a big deal," Havoc huffed, sinking into her seat. "I was gonna tell Pops myself…"

Curaçao cleared her throat. "Je suis d'accord. I think that perhaps it might have been better if Havoc had broached the subject to Papa herself, Dawn."

Dawn snapped her head towards Curaçao. "Her flagrant disregard for safety protocols reflects negatively on me in Father's eyes. Am I not in charge of our operations and thus responsible for my subordinates?"

"Fuck you, calling me 'subordinate'," Havoc spat, not caring that she got flecks of sauce on the table. "So that's what this is about? You don't give a shit about what happened or could've happened to me or Dash, do you? You just care that it might have made you look bad?"

"Not just myself, but all of our sisters!" Dawn retorted, rising in her seat. "Father has not been required to reprimand anypony but yourself since our assignment was initiated. This is our first noteworthy undertaking since… since ever! We should function flawlessly as a unit!"

Havoc snapped up from her seat, slamming her hooves on the table. "Suck my unit! Pops didn't give me any shit for it, so neither should you! If you care so much about being like our dad, then maybe you should start acting like him, you stuck-up—"

"Calme-toi," Curaçao interjected before taking a long sip of tea. "She already does just fine at that. That is why she cares so much about pleasing him. This is Dawn's chance to prove herself to Papa, oui? You do not need to be so sévère with her."

"Oh don't you start taking her side," Havoc huffed.

"I am not 'taking sides', ma sœur, I am merely trying to be objective."

"Do not exhaust yourself with explanations to this uneducated lout, Curaçao," Dawn snorted. "She clearly does not appreciate Father as I do. He is an exemplary pony, a paragon of virtue, and we should all strive to emulate him." She turned on Havoc. "That you and some of our sisters prefer to debase yourselves with barbaric, lascivious, and inutile interests is just… despicable."

Havoc rolled her eyes. "Dawn, you are such a fucking brown-noser. All you care about is being Daddy's Little Filly, but even Pops would tell you that he's not perfect. Nopony is!"

"Rescind that comment immediately!" Dawn hissed.

"If our dad was so perfect, then why don't we have a mom, huh?"

"He has no need for another mare! He has me!"

A pregnant pause filled the room.

Havoc blinked, sitting back down in her seat. "Uh… you wanna rephrase that last one there, maybe? Or am I gonna need to get some bleach for my brain?"

"What? What absurdities are you spewing now?"

Curaçao coughed gently into her hoof, then took another sip of tea. "Your last comment, ma sœur, could be... misinterpreted."

"As what?"

"Insinuating that Papa needs no other mares because 'he has you'? Take a moment, réfléchir—think it over."

Dawn paused, as if repeating the statement in her head, then her eyes widened and face reddened in shock.

"Oh. I… n-no, that was not my intent— I was just— I do not—" She then looked between her sisters briefly. "Perhaps I misspoke. I meant… he does not require the love of a romantic partner, because he has the love of myself… of all of us. Perhaps not… in that particular sense, obviously. A familial love, n-not... romantic or sex—"

"No! You're good! I got it!" Havoc said quickly. A pause. "You don't really have… that kind of feeling for our dad, right?"

Dawn gulped and nodded. "Correct. I do not."

"You're sure? No thoughts about, like... hugging him a little too tight, or like, 'accidentally' kissing him a little too close to the lips?"

"Uh... correct? No such thoughts."

"You're positive? No thought about maybe walking in on him in the shower—"

Dawn glared at her. "I am positive that I have had no such thoughts. Maybe we should inquire as to why such situations entered your train of thought—"

Havoc shook her thought. "Nope, nice try, but Pops ain't my type. I just needed to see your reaction, used a few cliché ideas to work it out. You're clean. No dirty thoughts about our dad." Havoc turned to Curaçao. "Right?"

Curaçao nodded. "Oui."

Dawn huffed. "Well, I am pleased that my responses satisfied your curiosity." And she sat back down and started eating again, barely paying much attention to anypony's etiquette at all anymore.

The rest of the meal proceeded in silence, without so much as anypony asking to pass the salt.