Banks were the centers of money and livelihood. They held up homes and businesses and provided a light in their darkest moments. That was if the banks could trust the ones they were servicing. Unfortunately for Saffron Masala, she wasn't one of those trusted anymore. Not after everything that had happened, not after the loss and turmoil that was hitting everypony.

She had made her way through each bank outside the crater under Canterlot. All of the banks turned her away for the same reason. It wasn't a selfish or cruel reason, but a very real one, emblazed on every corner in plain for all to see. She'd lost everything, even her home, but she was far from the only victim. Many had suffered during those final moments, nearly four months ago.

Canterlot's mountain had been destroyed. The city was imprisoned in a floating black crystal so high up nopony could ever reach it. All magic within the area was now nonexistent. Not even a spark remained, preventing any who escaped from going back in. They didn't know if anypony still inside was okay or in far worse shape than the survivors.

Saffron Masala was one of those survivors. Her family, customer base, friends, and distant allies, all gone, taken upward with the city. She felt a twinge in her heart as she recalled the last time she had seen them, panicking and screaming. Her father had shoved her into the last airship but was unable to join her. The last she saw of him was the smile on his face and the black crystal divided them. Her safety was all that mattered to him, but she hadn't felt safe since.

It was hard not to think of all that had been lost as she walked along the road. She had tried to keep her head high and find something productive to do. Relaying this message to any bank teller she could find proved fruitless. They understood her pain but could only help so many at a time. Another bank and another pushed her out. Leaving her in utter tears as she was refused again and again.

She wasn't trying to be selfish but needed money. Her old life was gone and all she could do now was find a new life. It didn't have to be big, but it needed to keep her afloat. Food, water, shelter, she needed it all to start. But her savings were fading fast. Nearly all of it had gone towards her escape. Now, she was looking into the black. She had no options, nowhere to go.

After another day of failure, she found herself at the end of a table. She was slumped over and covered in dried tears. Her body felt like it was made out of stone, and getting heavier by the second. Trying her best not to crumble into an utter mess of horror and shame. She barely kept her hands under her head. Keeping her chin up and her attention forward, even as her eyes drowned downward.

"Hello, Saffron..." A voice echoed in her ear. A stallion took a seat across from her. "You are Saffron Masala, right?"

"Who's asking?" She responded with a half-hearted growl. Her eyes leered up to see a tall blue stallion in orange robes and a turban.

"I thought so!" He cheered with a foreign accent. "Are you the cook here, too?" He dipped his head down to her height, trying to keep her attention.

"No..." She rolled her eyes. The mare hadn't been inside a kitchen since this whole thing started. Her father was the better chef and not having him beside her in that environment only harshened the memories of what happened. "I don't cook anymore."

"Shame. You and your father once gave me the greatest meal I ever had." He rubbed his stomach as he reminisced about the experience. "Such a course of delightful flavors."

She gave a soft sigh, turning her head away from him. "Like that matters anymore." The mare hoped he would leave, instead, he ordered two meals, one for himself and the other for her.

"I want to remember those tastes again!" He was much more chipper than she was, which only made her hate the world even more. She bit her lip and ignored his existence.

Saffron shivered away as the plates were put down. A bowl of some green, watered-down soup and a plate of steamed vegetables and rice. Both smelled okay at best and nothing on the level of her father's cooking. Not that she really expected it to. At first, she wasn't going to eat anything. But the food would help her survive. The aroma filled her nose, and she immediately, but regretfully dug into the food.

She was halfway done before she even acknowledged her dining companion once more. The stallion gave a soft hum as he chewed on his own food. His expression was unreadable, and he only seemed to be in his own world of utter delight. This only made her more miserable by the second. Saffron knew she would be stuck with him for a while. She could at least force herself to talk to him.

"So, do you like the food here?" Saffron posed, picking at the food.

He stopped and cleaned off his mouth. "No, I absolutely hate it with a burning urge."

"What?" She snapped back. "You were smiled with so much chirper."

"Obviously, I didn't want to insult the chef or the companion I'm eating with." He retorted back, rolling her eyes upon noticing she barely ate much at all. "You should be more kind about the ones you eat with."

"You're not with me." Saffron threw down her hands. "There is no friendship here."

"There doesn't have to be." His answer stopped her in her tracks. "I'm not after such things with you."

"Hold on!" She pointed at him with defiance. "I came in here to hide away and soak--"

"And I arrived here looking for a business partner." Again, his words stopped her instantly.

"Business partner?!" Saffron stuttered. "Why would you come here?"

"I came here looking for you?" He raised an eyebrow and repeated more clearly. "You will be my new business partner."

"Why me?!" She stood up and threw out her hands at him. "I don't even know you."

"I ate at your father's restaurant." He laughed as if she was just playfully mocking him.

Saffron wasn't doing any playing. She wanted answers and now, getting out of her chair and walking over to his side of the table. "Who are you? Some rich smock that had a fine meal one time and wants it again." The mare stuck her finger right in his face. "Listen here, I don't cook anymore!"

"But I'm not after a cook." His words continued to make no sense at all. He stood up and took both plates away and placed them on the table next to them. "I'm perfectly fine eating horrible meals every single day."

"Then what are you after," Saffron demanded. "You mention food and yet you don't want a chef, you say the food is terrible here, yet you don't want a good meal!" She practically screamed at this point. "What do you want with me?"

"No, I also mentioned the business you used to have." With that, he pulled out his card. "Let's break the ice entirely and be as blunt as possible. My name is Hoo'far Von Draco Lester Rexieon Simion the Third." He bowed in a perfect posture that clearly had been mastered since childhood.

"Wait..." Her mind flashed back to the past. A quick clip of images featuring a dinner between him, a con artist named Trixie, and a flower shop owner. It seemed nice at first until ending abruptly with both of them slapping him in the face. He left a massive tip that day and never dropped his smile. His business was... "Oh, no, no, no!!" Saffron jumped to the other table and was far away from him. The mare held up her hands in defense as he stepped closer. "I am not getting involved in your kind of business."

"My kind of business?" He tilted his head. "You do remember me."

"Yes, you owned that whore house down the street from us!!" She stomped her foot down. "I will not be involved in such a vulgar business."

"Whorehouse?" He scuffed out loud. "I co-owned one of the most prestigious brothels in Canterlot! Mare Faux."

"Was?" Her eyes widened at what he meant.

"Exactly, and just like you, once Canterlot was imprisoned in crystal, I was separated from my business and former business partner." Hoo'far snapped back with equal intensity before quickly retracting to a softer voice. "I watched in horror as my mares and stallions were viciously ripped from me by that violent event." His eyes glared at her with all the rage he was keeping tempted. "Really, did you think you were the only one suffering!"

"You're a pimp, they thrive off the suffering of mares!" Rage grew in her eyes. "How dare you compare my suffering to you?!" Slowly she realized the entire room was covered in fear, not of him but of her. The eyes of so many who had lost just as much if not more than her. Ponies who had lost family and friends. Ones whose businesses or homes were destroyed and now faced the same uncertain future she was facing. All of them were suffering, not just these two.

Her eyelids dropped and her voice softened to a whisper. "Why are you here?"

"I said. I'm searching for a new business partner. My previous one, Birch Bucket got trapped on the other side of the event." He pulled out a file full of names. "But before that happened, he gave me this strange file. I didn't know the purpose of it until that random opening last month." He looked up to Canterlot's shadow over the dinner.

"Last month is when more escapees happened!" She answered, remembering that day very well.

"Exactly, the file said every month a new event will happen involving the black crystal." He moved the file in front of her. "I thought Birch Bucket was crazy until that happened. So, I looked into it, and sure enough, there were other incidents. Like a large storm in the west mountains during the first month. And a strange tsunami in the Celestial Ocean in the east during the second month."

"What does this file have to do with those events..." She lifted her head and demanded a question. "And what does it have to do with me?"

"I need to get information from each of these stallions. In order to do so, I need a mare's touch--" He was stopped by a slap to the face. "Wrong answer!" With that, he pressed his staff into her and bounced her against the wall.

"No!" She tried to fight. "I won't be your whore!"

"Not mine." He laughed at her assumptions. "I've never slept with the mares." He flipped open the folders and showed names of stallions, mares, and other choices. "Most of these match clients I had outside of Canterlot. I want you to... as you said whoring for them!"

"You sick bastard!!" She tried to fight him off. Screaming to the rest of the room, but they were either too scared or too weak to fight back.

"Stop struggling and listen!" He leaned in and whispered several details so silently to ensure nopony else was listening before speaking out loud. "I want to hire a new business partner to run my newest brothel. Think of it as more open this time around where both mares and stallions can come to have fun with any sexual orientation they wish." Saffron kept pushing him off, trying her best to kick him. "Just think of the media presentation!!" he spoke even louder than before as if he was making sure they all heard him.

"I wouldn't agree to such a deranged idea." Saffron found herself being dropped back down as all threats vanished.

"Oh, you will agree." He pressed his staff right on top of her neck. "Play the part with any hesitation."

"And why would I--" She was stopped as he flipped her back onto the table and shoved the file right in her face.

"Because..." He rolled his eyes and decided to be the clearest yet as to why he chose her. "I stated some of them were my clients, but others have almost no connection to me or my business at all... Including the top name."

Her eyes widened at the sight of the top name. Her jaw dropped, and the world was frozen for her. This was why he was so insistent on talking to her. The answer was as clear as day. "My... My father is on this list."

Hoo'Far finally let go of her once it fully sank in. "Exactly, and since he is currently missing much like Birch Bucket, you can understand why I came to you." He gave a bow of his head and took a step away from her. "I am sorry for my rage... but Birch Bucket once meant everything to me as much as your father once did... He was like a brother to me. I can't leave him alone in that dark place."

Saffron slowly calmed down and stepped off the table, reading the list of names over carefully. You think these names know a way to free my father and your friend."

"That is too much assumption to make right now." He ripped the file out of her hand. "That is why I want you to help me find out. In exchange, you will get to keep all sales made during the hunt." With that final word, he took his leave. Just like before, leaving a pricey tip on the table for the dinner.

With him gone, Saffron shoved herself up and into a stance. His words echoed words in her head, but it was the part he whispered into her ear before the shouting that changed everything. She couldn't trust such an evil stallion or his business endeavors. However, she trained her eyes upon the shadow of Canterlot's black crystal prison in the sky. She could hear her father's voice in her head, encouraging her to find answers. Even if it meant following down such a dank and horrid plan, the truth was out there. She couldn't deny her hope any longer. "These fools are connected to Canterlot's disappearance."

******

Author's Note

Another layer of connection, some of you might not know yet, is we will be seeing Birch Bucket in the next chapter of mainline SWWC.