The private car thrummed with the anxious optimism of her cargo. Pastoral fields galloped by as far ahead, the train's engine drove them all on their winding southward path.
Which was why everypony was currently clustered in a loose circle around Cherry Berry; Lyra, Bon Bon and Thunderlane having joined the group for this expedition. The changeling, once again forgoing her disguise for her natural form, was resting a hoof against the lid of a case she had pulled from a trunk.
“So, we have three days before the grand opening.” She explained, “It’ll take us two days to get there, which means we’ll have to move fast and stay in touch with each other. Which is why I dug this out of my basement.”
With a flourish, she lifted the lid, revealing a small collection of amber colored ovals each one about the size of a pill.
“Unlike other changelings,” She continued, “We don’t have that hive mind they do. A side effect of being individuals I suppose.” She chuckled, “Anyway, being able to mentally communicate is still a neat trick, so Queen Magnolia tried to recreate the effect magically.”
She carefully balanced one of them on the tip of her hoof, sliding it into her ear, before tossing another to Twilight Sparkle. Twilight stared at the capsule for a moment before nervously sliding it into her ear.
Can you hear me now? Cherry Berry’s voice echoed in the unicorn’s head.
“Oh, wow.” Twilight blinked, her nervousness turning to a wide and curious grin, “That’s a very impressive feat of magical creation! How far can two users be away from each other?”
“About two hundred feet.” Cherry admitted with a frown, “Compared to the real thing, it’s pretty weak. But it’ll work for us inside of the theatre.”
“Our plan is still trick him into a confession right?” Skitch asked, tapping her hoof on the floor, “I kind of feel like we need some more.”
“What do you mean?” Lyra exclaimed, throwing her hooves up, “It’s Princess Celestia! She’ll totally shut him down.”
“Look, Equestria still has laws, right? A concept of ‘innocent until proven guilty’? All I’m saying is that if we’re smart, we’ll pad this as much as we can.”
“How?” Thunderlane challenged, jabbing a free hoof towards the unicorn, “I mean, I agree with you in theory…”
“Well, if we could get those magic items he’s stolen and smuggled there, or get the evidence from Thorn.” Skitch shrugged, leaning back slightly, “But I’m not really sure where where to begin there.”
Roseluck hummed, tapping her chin, staring at Skitch as she considered what had been said. The contemplative look then cracked into a wide smile, an idea forming within the ex-spy’s mind.
“Skitch...I noticed you brought your saddlebags of holding...did you give back everything The Collector brought?”
“I did keep a piece or two. Nothing that wasn’t somewhat mass produced in their home world.”
“Great! We’re going to use that!”
Motioning everypony closer, she began to explain her plan.
- - - -
Trixie flopped over in her sleeper bed, staring out the window, the sound of the train clattering over the tracks softly echoing in her ears. The dark of the night obscured the features of the countryside, but she was pretty sure that they were past the Hoofington by now.
With a sigh, she fumbled around under her pillow, and dragged the burnt remains of her family photo album from its hiding place. Most of the photos in it had been charred to a crisp, but a few pages towards the back the book, had survived. And there, some of her most cherished pictures were kept.
The first and closest to her heart remained the photo of her and her mother. She was young in the picture, no older than fourteen. Her mother, Crescent Starshine, had just placed the star studded hat and cape that would come to be her trademark on her. She had said that it marked Trixie’s graduation from an apprentice, to a performer on her own right.
The other, and perhaps more telling picture, was one of her and her grandfather. It was after some monster hunt, deep in the bayou. She honestly couldn’t remember which one, there had been so many, but this one was against a Rockadile. Her grandfather was resting a hoof against its great head, wearing the same dour expression that he always wore. Trixie was looking just as annoyed, but that was more from the black flies and horse flies and mosquitoes. Always the black flies, horse flies and mosquitoes.
You thought you could hide from the mess that you made.
All the promises broken, your best plans relayed.
Trixie blinked. Somepony was singing. Very softly, but she could hear it all the same. Peeking past the edge of the bed, and softly lighting her horn, she glanced up and down the length of the car, spying Skitch-Sketch sitting in the lower bunk, catty-corner to her own. She was staring out her own window, softly singing to herself.
So you travel in circles, and that much is fine.
But trouble will follow ya, into the brine.
And sooner or later, a ship comes ashore.
It’s here I can bet ya just wanted more.
And you find there’s nothing left to begin.
And you can’t go home again.
“You sure know how to lighten the mood.” Trixie snarked, eliciting a started jerk from the unicorn.
“Can’t sleep either, can you?” She asked, once she composed herself.
“Nope. Though, I know what’s eating me. What’s got your coat on end?”
“I’m just...thinking.”
“Oh, well that’s clear.” Trixie smirked, “What about?”
“Life, the universe, and everything.”
“That-”
“I’m being serious Trixie.” She turned, cutting Trixie off, “I’ve just found myself thinking about where my life’s gone since you showed up.”
“Since I showed up? Am I special or something?”
“Kinda.” Skitch shuffled nervously in place, “As much as I’ve been trying to get away from it, I still have a whole mess of pre-conceptions about this world. And you’re...not what I expected for Trixie. And your life situation got me thinking about my life situation, which got me thinking about what could have been and if the current direction of my life was destined or something.”
Trixie blinked a few times, tilting her head to stare at the unicorn. A moment of confusion ticked by before she shook her head and trotted over to Skitch’s bunk, plopping down next to the unicorn.
“Explain.” She curtly demanded, waving her hoof for Skitch to continue, “I’m not letting that pass without details.”
“You mean aside, from the obvious bit about how we both had normal lives and families before a random jerk with power decided to wreck everything?”
“No, I worked that out already. But if that was all that was on your mind, I doubt you’d look so agitated. So, what’s really going on?”
Skitch didn’t answer at first, instead looking out the window again and towards the star studded night sky. “The stars, Trixie. What are they in your world?”
“A manifestation of Luna’s magic. At least the ones that we can see.”
“See, in my universe, they’re massive, luminous spheres of burning hot plasma, thousands of times bigger than the planets that orbit them.” She explained, ignoring the shocked look on Trixie’s face at the comment that the planets orbited the stars, “And for as long as I’ve been alive, there has been one very large question that has dominated the minds of human astronomers. Are we alone in the universe?”
“Okay, but I’m not-”
“Earth isn’t like Equis, Trixie. We don’t have a bunch of sapient species on the planet. Its just humans. And so, we look at the stars and dream. We send probes to study and scan space with powerful telescopes. But now?” She shook her head, “It feels...irrelevant.”
“I’m sitting in a train, on another planet, in another universe, as it travels towards a city whose name is one word off from a city on my home world. Even if my universe has no other intelligent life in it, just hop one universe over and find one that does, and there’s so, so many questions to ask!” She beamed.
But then she slumped, Skitch’s head hanging. “And I feel totally unqualified to be here. I’m not a scientist, or a historian. I’m not qualified to comment on the cultural similarities, or the scientific implications of this world’s very existence. Seven billion people on the planet earth, and I’m the one The Collector grabbed?”
“And then I think about the original Skitch-Sketch. The pony whose body I’m now wearing. What would have happened if she had never died? Would she have been where I am now? The seventh pony of the band? Or would she, with her pulling Twilight out of her shell, cause the doom of the world? If Twilight had friends before she went to Ponyville, would she have never made friends with the other Element Bearers? I just….” She sighed, slumping even lower, “It feels so overwhelming.”
“Tell me.” Trixie raised an eyebrow, “Are all humans this neurotic, or is it just you?”
“Just my subgroup.” Skitch half smirked, half frowned back, “I can also do your taxes and tell you what a nine percent tip on a two hundred bit bill is.”
“Look, Skitch.” Trixie sighed, shifting in place herself, “I’ve never been much of a deep thinker, so I’m probably not the mare to try and address those questions. But if you focus on those questions too much….”
The showmare drifted off into silence for a moment, staring up at the star filled sky herself.
“When my grandpapa told me that my mom was murdered, I was...furious. He had been hiding the truth from me. To protect me. All I wanted to do was make Bayou Runner pay.”
“Why’d Bayou Runner do it?”
“My mom was a firebrand and a community organizer. She was basically interfering with his business back when he was just starting to make a name for himself. She was a threat….”
She trailed off, misery settling deep on her features as she kicked at the bedspread.
“I’m sorry.” Skitch winced, “My dad told me stories about things like that happening, but I never met someone who had it happen to them.”
“I imagine that gaining control of the family theatre is the final crowning moment for him.” Trixie sighed, her voice hitching slightly, “Anyway. The point of all of this, is that, when I think back on it, I was too obsessed. I didn’t have friends, I didn’t visit my extended family. I just chased Bayou Runner. And when I do look back on it all, there’s plenty that I missed in my life. You...and I...need to focus on what will make us happy.” She waved a hoof at the stars, “So forget everything else for a moment, and tell me, what’s the dream for Skitch-Sketch.”
Skitch considered that for a moment, rubbing her chin with the back of her hoof.
“I want to matter.” She admitted, after some careful thought, “I want to have a job, a home, and people I care about and who care about me in my life.”
Trixie laughed, quickly stifling her giggles when some of the other sleeping ponies began to stir. “Screw you.” She lightly punched one of Skitch’s forelegs.
“Screw me?”
“Yeah.” She nodded, “Screw you. Skitch...you’re already living the dream.” She pointed to the sleeping forms of Twilight and the others, “They care about you, you try to help them with whatever they do, and you’re willing to come and help me. You matter.”
Skitch’s ears flicked back as she followed Trixie’s outstretched leg.
“But I stole them. I stole this life. We met over at attempt to destroy the world and then bonded so fast. I don’t deserve-”
“To tartarus with that!” Trixie hissed, “ Worry about you...and me of course. This is my journey of revenge after all.”
A smirk crossed Skitch’s muzzle, the unicorn giving her own good natured punch back. “Now that’s what I expect to hear from the Great and Powerful Trixie.”
“Oh, get some sleep. Tomorrow I’m going to teach you some of my tricks.”
- - - -
The next day, the train car was full of the bustle of preparation. At least, what preparation could be done before they arrived in Neigh Orleans. Trixie and Skitch sat in one corner, the former teaching the latter what she knew about auditory based illusions.
“It’s about projecting the memory of the sound.” Trixie explained, “You focus in on it, hold it tightly in your mind and then push it out into the world. Picture, focus, push.”
“Okay. Picture, focus, push.”
Roseluck was running over the plan again, going from pony to pony and having them repeat their role back to her. Most of the group would be taking the place of ushers and either making sure that stray ponies didn’t walk into the line of fire when things went down, or waiting for their individual parts to play out.
And Twilight Sparkle watched all of this from her bed, unable to keep the slight frown off of her muzzle or to shake the twist of anxiety and fear that squirmed its way through her body. Because there was one realization that she just couldn’t shake.
What they were doing was dangerous.
That, in and of itself, was hardly a new thing. Going into the Everfree to stop Nightmare Moon was dangerous. Fighting The Collector was dangerous. The nature of being an Element Bearer seemed to make danger a factor in their lives now.
But so far, she was the only one who had dealt with the reality of death.
The recollection of being in Skitch’s mindscape, of sitting next to the spirit of the original Skitch-Sketch, while she slowly faded on to the afterlife….Well, she wasn’t sure that memory would ever leave her own mind.
“Never again.” She muttered under her breath.
“What was that Twilight?” Spike asked from his position next to her.
“It’s nothing Spike.” She smiled, “Just thinking.”
They still had a long way to go. She turned her attention back to the two books that were spread out before her hooves, a tome on Equestrian law on her right, and one of her spell filled books on her left. She needed to be ready.
“Hey Trixie.” Bon Bon asked her, peeking around Roseluck, “Where are we going to stay once we hit the city? I’ve heard that Neigh Orleans has nice hotels. Though,” She glanced towards Fluttershy. "I don't want to keep draining your bits. You already covered this car."
"Oh, its no problem." Fluttershy smiled back. "I don't really use it."
"Well, its still very nice of you."
“Either way." Trixie interrupted. "It's no good.” She shook her head, “Bayou Runner tends to keep eye on them. We’ll stay with a friend of the family. It’ll be safer.”
“Who’s this friend?” Twilight frowned.
“His name is Jambalaya. Owns a restaurant down in The Quarter. Not quite the place that it used to be, but the food is still fantastic!” Trixie licked her lips, “Fried mushroom Po’Colt sandwiches with a poison joke spread on top! Fantastic!”
“I’ll take your word on that one.” Twilight shrugged. “I still can’t believe you eat poison joke.”
“Hmph.” Trixie sniffed, “Perhaps someday you’ll understand true culinary genius, Sparkle.”
Rolling her eyes, Twilight looked back to her books.
- - - -
Jambalaya sighed, his old bones creaking in protest, as he shuffled past the rows of empty tables. Another long day of serving ponies was coming to an end, and all that was left to do was to close up for the night.
Pausing at the door he stared out at The Quarter, Neigh Orleans’ tourist district; at least in name. But for a section of the city that logically should thrive on nightlife and large crowds, the streets were mostly empty.
As usual.
Neigh Orleans was turning increasingly inward in recent years. Ponies and creatures from other lands visiting less and less as the nobility and Bayou Runner’s little crime family tightened control. Jambalaya sighed and shook his head. It was enough to drive a pony to madness. Perhaps it was time to move to Canterlot or Manehattern, or some other city that wasn’t dealing with the grip of corrupt.
“Dad!” His son, Rare Find, shouted from the kitchen, “We all got company back here.”
With a roll of his eyes, he flipped his sign over to closed, and trotted back towards the kitchen.
“Tell ‘em we’re closed!” He growled, even as he stomped right past his son and over to the door. “Ah don’t know who’d be wandering over here-”
“Oh, drop the fuss Jambalaya.” A familiar sounding mare chided, tilting her distinctive star studded hat back. “Or would you really turn me away?”
Jambalaya blinked, rubbing his eyes to make sure that he wasn’t somehow hallucinating.
“Trixie?” He frowned. The last time he had seen the mare, she was running off to Canterlot after grabbing some food from him, “I thought you left.”
“I did.” She nodded, “But now I’m back, to finish things.” She motioned a hoof back down the alley, “And I brought friends.”
Glancing towards the gaggle of ponies behind her, Jambalaya blinked again, but then sighed.
“All right. Come on in. Rare, fire up the flat top again. We got company.”
The large group of ponies, and one dragon, shuffled into the restaurant and then to the dining room. Jambalaya followed after, fixing Trixie with a questioning gaze that said all it needed to. For her part, Trixie coughed, motioning from her group to Jambalaya and back again.
“Everypony, this is Jambalaya, old friend of the family. Jambalaya, this is Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, the Element Bearers. The dragon is Spike, assistant to Twilight Sparkle. And then we have Skitch-Sketch, former human. And Lyra, Bon Bon, Thunderlane, Roseluck and Cherry Berry of Ponyville.”
Jambalaya looked from pony to pony blinking, before turning his gaze back to Trixie.
“Just how many ponies are you going to drag into this?”
“Jam-”
“Trixie, I don’t want you to get hurt. I don’t want these other ponies to get hurt. Maybe it’s time to admit that Bayou Runner-”
“Mister Jambalaya?”
Twilight stepped forward, her own expression serious.
“Bayou Runner can’t be allowed to continue. He hurts this city, he almost hurt Ponyville. The girls and I have faced danger before. And the rest of us from Ponyville? They’re willing to stand up and help. So don’t be hard on Trixie.”
The aging restaurant owner stared right back into Twilight’s eyes. Twilight didn’t flinch away, glaring right back at him.
“All right.” He sighed eventually, “You all can stay here for now. I do owe Trixie’s family plenty. I just hope that you know what you’re doing. Rare!” He called, turning towards the kitchen, “Let’s rustle up some grub!”
“Relax. We have it under control.”
“Don’t jinx us Trixie.” Skitch sighed.
- - - -
You ready for this Skitch? Cherry Berry’s voice echoed in her mind. I can always take your place if you want.
No. Skitch thought, sparing the barest of backwards glances towards the changeling’s hiding spot, I can do this.
It was the only choice, really.
The plan depended on Bayou Runner being willing to engage in illicit business and if there was any pony in the group who would have been the most likely to do it, it was her. Being an outsider lent plausibility that she had items to sell, and her ongoing feuds with certain members of the Canterlot nobility would be easy for Runner to verify. A disgruntled alien, isolated from home, willing to sell whatever she could for comfort was the front.
There was a certain amount of verisimilitude in that story. And so, the morning after their arrival, Skitch would play her part.
The neighborhood that contained Bayou Runner’s place- the Garden District, according to Trixie- was right out of some period movie, with rows of gentile looking two story manors, surrounded by lawns and gardens that appeared to be maintained by ponies with OCD. The rows and hedges were that neat and exactingly edged.
The manor house of the crime lord rose in the distance, continuing Skitch’s opinion that she was walking through a set from Gone With the Wind. She wore a cloak, the hood currently pulled over her head, the cape part hiding her saddlebags, along with a metal sphere, decked out in blinking lights.
Okay Skitch. It’s just like being a game master. She gulped. You’ve played villains before. Just slide into the role.
The grounds were growing close now.
You’ve been screwed with by nobles...which is pretty true. You’re angry, you want revenge.
Walking right up to the front door, she knocked as loudly as she could.
Just channel your inner Ben Browder.
She let an angry frown fall across her muzzle, pulling the edge of the hood a little lower. The door swung open a minute later, a confused looking servant blinking at Skitch’s presence.
“I’m here to see Bayou Runner.”
“I’m sorry, but he’s having breakfast-”
Skitch pushed right past her, trotting for the dining room, based on what Trixie had told her of the layout. The servant chased after her, raising objections all the way.
“You can’t just-”
“Quiet.” She growled, continuing onwards. Approaching the dining room, she could begin to hear the sound of ponies talking.
“With this little shindig, I’ll be finally start to be taken seriously by the nobles outside of Neigh Orleans.” A pony that Skitch assumed was Bayou Runner said, “Class. That’s what I’ll finally have. And that’s good for all of us.”
“Heh, heh, heh. And I thought my jokes were bad.” Skitch snarked, striding into the lavish looking dining room.
Bayou Runner twisted in his seat at the head of a very long table, a plate of eggs and english muffins (equestrian muffins? Something to ask Twilight later.), before him. The two thugs from the exchange, sat in some of the side chairs, looking just as confused as their boss. A nervous looking unicorn stood beside Runner, while the rest of the seats were full of other noble looking types; easily another dozen ponies.
“My, my, my.” Skitch grinned, flipping her hood back, “Isn’t this a charming little meeting.”
“You!” One of the thugs blinked, “You were helping out Lulamoon in Ponyville.”
“You neglected to mention the human was involved.” Runner growled, an incensed expression erupting on his features. “I don’t know how ya’ll do things where you come from,” He snarled, slamming his hoof on the table, “But around here ponies mind their own business! Take her outside and show her some manners!”
“At-ta-ta-ta.” Skitch tisked, pulling up the edge of her cloak to reveal the blinking sphere, “Let’s not blow this out of proportion.”
The thugs froze, shooting nervous glances between the sphere and Bayou Runner.
“I’m sure you’re wondering what this is.” Skitch said, idly twirling a hoof as launched into an explanation, “This little guy is called a thermal detonator. It packs enough explosive force to reduce this building to a crater. I’ve hooked it up to every dead man switch I know and some I don’t know.”
She let the cloak fall back into place, slowly walking around the edge of the table, scooping up a bunch of scrambled eggs and two english muffins with her magic. Waving her impromptu breakfast sandwich towards Bayou Runner, she continued.
“My heart stops? It detonates. My heart beats too fast? It detonates. Too hot, too cold, too acid, too base, or if I just don’t like what I hear, the bomb detonates. Boom, boom, boom. We’re all pushing up daisies. Does everypony understand?”
Taking a full bite of her sandwich, she counted off a few beats in her head to let the implications of her statement sink in.
“What do you want?” Bayou Runner grimaced through clenched teeth, eyes blazing, “You storm into my house-”
“What do I want? What do I want.” She shook her head, continuing to pace around the table, “I’m not the one who sent assassins after anypony. I’m not the one who played around with horribly dangerous magic items. You want something!” She shouted, clambering up onto the table and advancing on Bayou Runner, kicking dishes out of the way as she went. Runner’s guests recoiled, shock and outrage playing across their faces, “You want power and influence and magical toys the likes of which pony kind has never seen! After all...why else would you go through so much of this bullshit otherwise?”
“Well then...why are you here?”
“Because, in the end, despite my pony body I...am an American.” She beamed, beginning to pace the length of the table, eyes sweeping across all in the room as they stared up at her with a mixture of horror and confusion. And so, she kept going, “And what does an American want? Democracy? Capitalism! I want to sell out, and settle down! For one day only its a blue light special on aisle three! Any haul of technology or magic that I can bring down from the multiverse, for what you are willing to pay.”
“Pay? You want me to pay? For what?”
“For toys like this!”
With a flourish she drew a weapon from her saddle bags, made of brass and glass shaped like a gun. Before anyone could object, Skitch leveled it at the white coated unicorn. A blast of lightning leapt from the tip, slamming into his body and dropping him to the floor with a chorus of shocked shouts from the room’s occupants.
“Don’t worry, he’s not dead.” She explained as Bayou Runner’s boys rushed to check on him, “He’ll wake up with a headache and a slight hole in his memory, the Tesla isn’t designed to be lethal...usually. And this? Just the tip of the iceberg.”
With the proposal and demonstration made, Skitch lowered herself to her haunches, looking around at the assembled ponies again.
“So, what am I offered for all the powers of the multiverse?”
“How about you tell us, what you want?” One of the other nobles, a peach colored mare, spoke up.
“Fine.” Skitch nodded, “First of all, I want bits. Buckets of em. Two, Ponyville and the Element Bearers are off limits. Your boneheaded attempts to kill Lulamoon almost hurt ponies I care about. And I’m not going to let that happen again.”
“Oh, sure, anything else?” Bayou Runner growled.
“Yeah, actually. There’s a pony by the name of Nouveau Riche who lives in Canterlot. I want him dead.”
“You complain about what I did, and you want me to assassinate a pony who lives in Canterlot? Right under the muzzles of the princesses?” Runner glowered. “Are you insane?”
“Quite possibly.” Skitch admitted, wolfing down the last of her sandwich. “Mmm. Not the same as McDonalds, but it’ll do.”
“I’m not willing to risk my organization by doing something so blatant.”
“Not my damn problem. You want what I’m selling, this is my cost.”
“Well, your cost is too damn high.” He snarled back, angrily pointing a hoof towards the door, “Now get off my property before I decide to take the risk on that bomb of yours!”
Cherry! Skitch mentally screamed, the chill of sweat beads beginning to form on her forehead, He’s balking! What the hell do I do?
Stay with me Skitch, deep breath. Play it cool. Get up and start to leave, but tell him that you have another buyer lined up. Tell him that you’ll sell to the government. That should play on his fears and shake him up.
“Fine.” Skitch shrugged, jumping down from the table and making for the way out, “Plenty of other ponies I can sell to. Maybe Princess Celestia will get all that I can offer….”
“Wait.”
She paused, slowly turning to face the crime lord again. “Yes?”
The question had just a hint of mocking amusement to it. Hopefully it would be enough to reel him the rest of the way back in.
Runner’s expression was a curious mix of anger, fear and curiosity as he stared at the unicorn.
“If you were going to do that, you would have done it already.”
“Not true.” Skitch corrected, throwing herself back into it. “First rule of American capitalism, the private sector always pays more than the government. And while I was more than happy to play nice for Celestia, that was before I had a noble who decided to make me his pet project. Libelous pieces in the papers, stealing my home from me? Making it so that every damn day I wake up and wonder why I bothered to help save your species miserable hide?”
She shook her head, letting her voice rise, tapping into the well of anger and frustration that simmered beneath the surface.
“So...somepony is going to pay! They’re going to pay so that every morning I can drown those feelings with all the luxury and avarice money can buy! And, you know what, John Trotti? I’m really starting to not care who’s on the other end of the check! So, do you want my stuff or not?”
The silence hung in the air for a good few minutes, before Bayou Runner spoke up again.
“Alright.” He smirked. “I’ll pay. You get the best things in life and I'll get some tools to deal with problems.”
“Good. I’ll bring a selection of pieces with me tomorrow. We’ll make the exchange at your little grand opening. That way you won’t be stupid enough to double cross me. Make sure you have the money on hand...or hoof, whatever the right term is. Tata.”
Marching out the front door, she quickly wrapped herself in an invisibility charm. Picking her way through the the backyards of Bayou Runner’s neighbors, she worked her way a few blocks over, where Cherry Berry was waiting.
Legs shaking like leaves, she collapsed to her haunches next to the changeling, the spell vanishing in a puff of amber smoke.
“He’s on the hook.” She shuddered, “He’s on the hook.”
“Skitch,” Cherry frowned, resting a hoof on the unicorn’s side, “Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine.” She smiled, wiping the beginnings of tears from her eyes. Plucking the "thermal detonator" from her saddlebag, she let the illusion fade and took a calming bite of apple. “Just tapped that emotional well a little too deeply. But it’ll be worth it to take this bastard down. I just hope that Rarity’s group is having as much luck on their end.”
- - - -
Pencil Pusher frowned as he checked the figures for the third time. Years of legal wrangling had left the financials of the theatre in complete disarray. There had literally been no money in the coffers to hire acts and pay the ushers. But Bayou Runner’s people had hired him, bringing him all the way in from Canterlot, to bring everything back up to speed.
The earth pony had torn into the task with gusto. Some pulled strings had arranged for the Canterlot Royal Orchestra to be the event, which, seemed to have garnered the attention of the princesses. At this rate, this was going to be a night that Neigh Orleans would never forget.
The door to the theatre’s small office clicked open, one of the new ushers he had hired nervously poking her head into the room.
“Umm. Sir? There’s some ponies here that want to speak to you? Something about a rental opportunity.”
“Rental?”
It was a slightly odd request, but not unheard of for those of means to rent out a building such as this for a private event.
“Very well. Send them in.”
Two ponies trotted into the room, a unicorn, and a pegasus. The unicorn, with her striking white coat, was in the lead while the shy looking butter yellow pegasus had a chest balanced on her back.
“Hello Miss…?”
“Glittering Diamond.” She smiled, batting her deep blue eyes. “And you are?”
“Pencil Pusher.” He beamed back.
“Charmed, darling! Now, as I am a very busy pony, I shall cut straight to the chase. My group wishes to rent out your theatre for tomorrow.”
“Well, I only run the building for the actual owner. And there is already a large event planned for tomorrow.”
“Oh, my dear,” She smiled nodding to her companion. “Perhaps I’m not exactly making things clear.”
Motioning to the desk with a hoof, she took a step back, the pegasus dumping the contents onto its surface. Bags heavy with coin tumbled end over end, piling up into an impressive looking stack. Carefully tugging one of the bags open, Pencil Pusher’s jaw dropped at the golden bits contained within.
“So, will there be a problem with you and your employees taking a much deserved break?”
Pencil Pusher bit the coin to check how real it was.
“No. No problem at all.”