//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Siblings // by Undermine //------------------------------// Siblings Chapter 5 Twilight woke up to the soft rays of sun that entered her room. She had fallen asleep quickly the night before after spending the entire day arranging meetings for the Royal Air Force and helping the detectives fill out paperwork. She got out of her bed and trotted downstairs. Upon entering the library she found Spike laying behind a stack of books. She always found it adorable to see her little helper sleeping after a long day of work. After all, he was responsible for getting all of the books they needed for this case. She walked over and gently rolled him towards her. That's when she noticed the note taped on Spike's head. She hadn't noticed it before she rolled him over. She levitated the note and read it to herself: Dear Twilight, We're off to find the fillies Don't come looking for us Just wanted to let you know. Signed, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity P.S. I didn't want this to be confused as evidence, so I put it here. Twilight rolled her eyes. Oh boy, she said to herself, not again. "You see anything, yet?" Applejack called out to Rainbow, who was hovering just over the treeline. "Nothin' yet." she replied. "Are you absolutely sure this was the right road?" said Rarity. "Of course. I pass over this road every time I go to Cloudsdale." "Then where in tarnation are we?" Rainbow descended from the trees. "Look, it takes me two hours to fly to Cloudsdale in this direction. It takes twice as long to get there on foot. And from looking at it in the distance, I'd say we're about two-thirds of the way there." "'Twice' as long?" Rarity retorted, "we've been walking for five hours! Based on your observations, we should already be there." "Rarity's right," said Applejack, "this is taking an awful long time." "Hey, I don't walk to places. I fly to places," said Rainbow, "I don't measure distances with my legs. Now, if you two will stop complaining we'll will more than likely get there a lot quicker. Comprende?" "Hmmf," scoffed Rarity, "fine. I guess we have no other option. Besides, I would rather trust the hunch of daredevil pegasus than that of one of the local squirrels." "Uggh. Just let's just keep moving." Rarity and Applejack began to walk again while Rainbow remained hovering right beside them. "Hey Rainbow," said Applejack, "you said that the offices are right under Cloudsdale. What else is under there?" "Oh, just a small town from what I've heard," she replied. "Good, 'cause I'm gettin' mighty hungry." "What? You had your breakfast, like, two hours ago!" "Breakfast? More like food rations if you ask me." "I have to say, those bread pieces weren't exactly what I would call 'filling'." Rarity added. "Alright, fine. We'll get some food when we get there. Happy?" "Yup. And that'll be in about two hours walking time, right?" Applejack chuckled. "Just shut up." "Look," said Twilight, "I'm not saying that we should add more ponies to the missing ponies list. It says right here that they are going to look for the fillies and told us not to go after them." "And you're saying we should go after them?" asked the detective. "Yes." "Then they'll be added to the missing ponies list." "No! That's not what I mean! What I mean is that," Twilight thinks of a way to put her thoughts into words. "there's a reason they went off on their own." "Your point?" "They found something, or, or something happened that made them go off." "I see. So you want us to find whatever it is that made them go off." "Precisely." "Ma'am, I'm afraid that's not in our department. You'll have to convince a judge to fill out a search warrant-" "That's not what I'm saying! I mean, your a detective! You should be able to search for clues and stuff, right? Isn't that what detectives are supposed to do?" "Not without abiding to the law." Twilight had about enough. "Ugh! Just forget I asked you anything in the first place!" She turned away from the detective and headed inside the library. I can see how Rainbow Dash can get ticked off by this, she said to herself. "I won't add them to the list," the detective called out to her, "but I'll make sure to tell the air force to keep an eye out for them." Twilight closed the door behind her. There has to be a reason, she thought, Rainbow wouldn't just go off on her own...wait, yeah she would. But both Applejack and Rarity? She was about to continue her thoughts when she nearly toppled over Spike, who was still sleeping in front of the books on the ground. Twilight let out an audible sigh as she levitated the books and walked over to the shelf. As she was placing them in, she noticed that the three ransom notes were neatly arranged on the table. Two were right to each other and the third was right below one of the two on top. It looked too clean to have been thrown down. She levitated the three notes and held them in front of her. Behind the ransom note on the paper, she could make out a faint watermark of an old cloud and a weather service company. "Well, this place doesn't seem so bad," Rainbow Dash remarked as they entered the town of Coltsdam. "Yes, well, it is a bit spooky, wouldn't you agree?" said Rarity. The massive city of Cloudsdale was looming right above them, its shadow blocking off all sunlight from the town. "Ah do have to say, it is a bit unsettling," said Applejack. Her stomach produced a low growl. "but that's not keeping me away from hunger." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Right. Now, let's find a place to have a quick bite to eat." The three walked through the darkened town. From what they could see of the town, mostly lit by the lamps hanging from the buildings, the town looked remarkably similar to Ponyville. The buildings, the streets, even some of the ponies walking about seemed like they came from home. The only difference being the giant city above them. After walking through town for some time, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but feel like she everyone was looking at her. Normally she would be accepting this form of attention, but it felt more so like she was being watched and analyzed. She would look at a group of ponies who in turn would quickly look the other way. She would see something dart from the corner of her eyes and disappear behind her. Whatever the case, this town was starting to creep Rainbow out. A sigh of relief swept across the three as they found what seemed like a friendly-looking restaurant. They went to the waitress and asked for their seats. They were brought inside and seated next to the window. "And what will I get you three girls to drink, this afternoon?" the waitress happily asked. "I'll have the house cider," said Applejack. "Iced tea, please," said Rarity. "Soda," said Rainbow Dash. The waitress went off to get their drinks. "Well, I have to admit it's not exactly like Ponyville," said Rainbow Dash. "I'll say," replied Rarity. "Well, how are we going to find the offices in a place where we can hardly see our two front hooves?" said Applejack. "We can ask the waitress when she gets back." "How in Equestria would she know?" "I'm certain she knows." "How's that?" "Well, like I said, it's not exactly like Ponyville, but there is a small towniness to it." "Small-townie-what?" "You know, like, a small town. Everypony knows one another. Everypony knows where everything is." "I see your point, but Ponyville isn't so much a small town. Even I don't know where everything is. And if yer sayin' that this place is somewhat like Ponyville, then I don't really see that small-townie-whatever in it." "Here's your drinks!" chimed the waitress as she levitated the three drinks down to the girls. "Thank you. Hey, can I ask you a question?" said Rainbow Dash. Applejack rolled her eyes. "Go for it." "I was wondering...see, we're tourists, we and are on a week-long sight-seeing expedition, and one of the stops we wanted to see was the old Cumulonimbus office building. Do you happen to know where that is?" Rainbow Dash finished with a goofy smile on her face. Both Applejack and Rarity had their hooves on their heads. "Yeah, I know where it is, but you can't go there," the waitress replied in a matter of fact tone. "Uh, why not?" "Because it's block off by Nimbo's men. He owns it." "What? Wait, who's Nimbo?" The waitress looked crookedly at them. "You don't know....oh right! You're passing through! I apologize. Nimbo and his men run a bunch of the outfits around this area. There almost like...land owners, in a way. Only, they aren't as 'laidback' as some of the land owners you folks are used to." "So wait," Rainbow was trying to process this information in her head, "do you mean that they're a-" "Whoops! I have to tend to some tables. In the meantime, please select your dishes. Thank you!" the waitress left the three, all with dumbfounded expressions. "Ah don't know about you two," said Applejack, "but I sure as heck didn't catch one thing that came out of that pony's mouth." "Hold on," said Rainbow Dash, "she said that this 'Nimbo' owns a lot of stuff around here, and that he's like a land owner but harsher. Girls," Rainbow hushed her voice into a whisper, "I think what that waitress I saying is that a mob is running this town." "Oh, Dash, darling," said Rarity, "don't be ridiculous. This town has too many homey aesthetics to be considered a haven for some brutish mob. Aside from the darkness outside, I'd hardly call this place-" Before Rarity could finish her sentence, a loud crash was heard from above. Before the three had a chance to look up, they saw an earth pony land ten feet away from the restaurant window. Rainbow's initial reaction was to go out and help the pony, but she soon halted when she saw a pegasus descend from the same window and land in front of the helpless earth pony. Through the glass they could hear him shouting; "This is your last warning, Trotter! Pay up now!" "P-please! I-I don't have AUGH the money! I-I-I can pay you later!" "You said the same thing two weeks ago, you piece of shit! No more waiting! Your time is up!" "N-no! Please! NO!" The pegasus was already hovering over him. Then all of a sudden, he dropped down right on top of the earth pony, hard, and proceeded to beat him senselessly. The three girls watched in horror as the pegasus pummeled repeatedly against the pony's face as he screamed in pain. After thirty seconds of this, the pony's screams were silenced and all that was left was the sound of the pegasus's thunks against his body. The pegasus eventually stopped. He took in a deep breath, got off the beaten pony, and let out a short whistle. Out of nowhere, a small carriage arrived and stopped in front of both the pegasus and the bloodied body of the earth pony. A unicorn hopped out of the back and levitated the limp body into the back of the carriage, while the pegasus hopped into the front. With a crack of a whip, the carriage set off and disappeared into the darkness. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity look at each other, each having the same look of bewilderment and horror. Before anypony could've spoken, the waitress came back to their table. "Have you all decided on your meals?" she asked cheerfully. "Um, n-no. N-not yet." said Rainbow Dash. "Ok! Just let me know when you're ready. Thanks!" When the waitress was no longer in earshot, Rainbow leaned forward and quietly said to the girls, "I take back w-what I said. I d-don't think this place is anything a-at all like Ponyville."