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// Chapter 4 
// Story: The Syndicate 
// by kalikitty52 
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	About thirty minutes later I got out of the shower. I walked into the guest room with a towel around me and the stuff I took off in my hands. Desani and Psychro were in the living room talking. I dried my body and got dressed into a pair of dark blue pre-ripped skinny jeans and a purple V-neck. As I walked into the living room I put my earrings and collar on. “Hey guys,” I said to Desani and Psychro. 
“Take long enough?” Psychro said, “I do have to pay for my water.” 
I sat on the couch and said, “I’m not going to pay you so I can shower.” Psychro rolled her eyes and got off the couch, she headed to the bathroom. “I would wait if I were you, there isn’t much hot water left,” she glared at me.
“Of course there isn’t,” she sighed and said, “What time does this rave thing start?” 
Desani squinted his eyes trying to remember, “I think at six or seven, I’m not to sure.” Psychro walked into the kitchen and looked through her fridge then her cabinets. 
“Do you two want to go to the shopping center with me?” Psychro said. 
Desani nodded and I said, “Yeah, it could be interesting.” She walked into her room and got dressed. My sister had only lived in Canterlot for a few years now, so she didn’t dress like a long time Canterlot citizen. She came out wearing a semi-short yellow dress that was tight and lacey in the chest area and frilly in the skirt area.
“Okay let’s go,” Psychro said in a sort of perky tone. I grabbed my jacket and walked out the door. Psychro locked the door behind her and we headed to the shopping area.
Me, Psychro, and Desani split up to look for things. Desani got a bag and a list of things psychro needed. I got a mission to look for out-of-the-ordinary things. As I strolled through the shopping area the only odd thing I noticed was a few of the royal guards seemed to be looking for someone. I walked up to a jewelry vendor, to act like I was shopping, when I spotted a small collar with a blue crystal attached to it. The owner of the cart saw me admiring it and said, “Beautiful, isn’t it?” 
I jumped and looked up to see a fairly old unicorn women, “Huh? Oh, yeah. It sure is,” I said smiling as I looked at it. “How much for it?” I asked looking at her, ready to get out the amount of bits. 
“For you, it’s free of charge,” the woman smiled, making her faint orange coat and greying red mane look radiant. 
“Oh no, I couldn’t.”
“Oh I insist darling, it used to be mine and giving it to you would make me happy. Are you going to refuse and make an old women sad?” She levitated it up with her magic and placed it in my hand.
“You don’t look old, and I bet it made your light blue eyes pop. Probably still would,” I said looking at the crystal and slightly smiling as I pictured the women wearing it. 
She smiled and said, “I’m flattered that you would say something like that, but I am far too old to wear that anymore.” 
I reached into my pocket and pulled out two bits, I placed them on the cart in front of her and said, “Thank you.” I walked away before she could protest and went to go find my sister.
As I was looking for her I looked down at the blue crystal. It reminds me of her cutie mark and that crystal from her entrance exam, I thought this as I walked. I bumped into the back of someone, not paying attention to where I was walking again. “I’m so s-” I cut myself off when I realized who it was. Clank, the pony from last night. I gripped the collar in my hand and backed up as I looked around to find a royal guard. 
He turned around and I saw a look of panic in his eyes, “No wait! Don’t run,” he said in his thick accent. 
“And why should I?” I said stopping and taking a step towards him. 
“Magic isn’t with meh and ah would like ta explain some things to y’all,” his eyes pleaded for me to say that we could talk. 
So I said, “Fine, but we’re going over there,” I pointed to a sweet shop, “and you’re buying me a cupcake, deal?” He smiled and nodded. We walked over to the shop and he went in while I sat down at a small, round table outside. I wanted this conversation to be as public as possible. He came out with a pink frosted cupcake and sat down across from me. 
“Ya don’t look very girly so I got ya the girliest one,” he smiled and handed it to me. 
“Jokes on you, I like girly cupcakes,” I said, then licked the frosting. 
“What ah wanted ta talk about was what happened last night,” he paused and looked at me. 
“Go on,” I said. 
He nodded, “Right, anyways. Ah wanted ta apologize fer me and mah brothers actions.” I coughed, choking on the rest of the cupcake, “are y’all okay?” He said about to get up and help me. 
“I’m fine, just wasn’t expecting you to say that. You two are related?” I said. 
He eased back into his chair and said, “Eyup, ah know it seems weird but we were born and raised together. He never did much on the farm, that’s why he’s small, and fer some reason he never developed an accent like mine.”
“Well I would have never guessed it.”
He rubbed the back of his neck and said, “Yeah, well any who. Magic got involved in this evil group called Syndicate and he dragged me into it to.”
“Hold on, I think you mean the group is a syndicate, not called syndicate.”
“Oh yeah, sorry.”
“Do you know the name of it?”
He scratched his head and said, “nope can’t seem tah recall ever learning it. But he did something bad and they took his magic away. This Syndicate knows about y’all good powerful ponies and they keep track of most of ya.”
“That is fucking creepy…Why are you telling me all this?” 
He sighed and said, “mah brother is fond of y’all, in order to get his magic back he has to kill someone he likes. Thats why he, uhm, wanted ta have fun with ya first.” Clanks cheeks flushed and so did mine.
“Who else is in this syndicate?” I asked, sitting up straight in my chair. 
He looked behind me quickly, his eyes widened and he whispered, “rave tonight,” then got out of his chair and walked in the opposite direction of where he looked. I turned around but saw no one looking this way. I got up and went to look for Psychro again.