//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: A Welcoming Gesture 
// Story: A Piece of the Puzzle 
// by DraconaFlare 
//------------------------------//

	"What, what was that?" Horseshoe panted while glaring daggers at Cardinal. "We almost died!"
"Y-yeah, Cardinal," Twinkletoes stuttered, but not from exhaustion. Even though the trio had been galloping full speed for almost ten minutes now, Twinkletoes hadn't broken a sweat, not even shown any signs of fatigue. Even though he was small for his age, the earth pony could outrun any other stallion Cardinal ever knew. No wonder his cutie mark was wisps of wind.
"I didn't know that would happen," the pegasus countered, "It was supposed to be for laughs!"
Horseshoe raised an eyebrow. "Supposed?"
Cardinal huffed, and slowed down into a trot. Observing him, the other two also curiously slowed down. 
"Look, guys," the red foal said, "I know it might have been a bit dangerous-"
"A bit?!" Horseshoe yelled. His normally light brown-beige face turned bright red, and his purple eyes shrunk into pinpricks in rage. "What would have happened if we were caught? WHAT WOULD WE TELL OUR PARENTS?! You would risk your and our lives, just because you're the only one in our class without a cutie mar-"
Horseshoe had struck a nerve. Twinkletoes looked down at his hooves, and Cardinal stopped pacing around. The pegasus turned slowly to face the brown earth pony.
Realizing his mistake, Horseshoe sputtered, "Look, I'm sorry, I wasn't-"
Cardinal raised a hoof, silencing him. Deafening silence covered them like a heavy blanket.
"I understand," he whispered. Cardinal flew away slowly, his flapping wings the only sound.
Twinkletoes looked up at Horseshoe. 
"You know, you should think a bit more and say a bit less."
Horseshoe looked at Twinkletoes in astonishment. The neon yellow pony's permanent look of worry seemed to be replaced with raw intellect, as if he was an old stallion that had seen much. Twinkletoes was anything but old, but had certainly seen things he wasn't supposed to.
The small foal galloped away, leaving the ashamed one behind, all to himself. 
He too started to trot over to Manehattan. His dad would be waiting for him at the repair shop.

"Ow..."
Inferno pulled a burned stick out of her mane. A strange scent was wafting from it to her nostrils. Her willpower not strong enough, the unicorn bit into the stick, a sickly crunch coming out of her mouth.
She spat it out immediately, trying to clean out her tongue with her hooves. The tongue swelled up to twice it's size, throbbing with a dark pink color.
"Well, thith ith dutht perfect," she muttered. Holding her tongue with one hoof, Inferno winced as another stick came out of her mane.
Why hadn't she been able to tell that the branch was poisonous? The dark purple coloring as well as the strange aroma should have made it obvious. Yet, the unicorn still seemed to be in shock from the fire, and she hadn't eaten in hours. Her stomach complained so, grumbling loudly. Another stick came out of her mane.
Inferno gazed to the horizon, and was startled to see a city clad in bright lights nearby the clearing she was standing in. She had never been out of the Everfree, much less to that city, but she immediately knew that it was Manehattan. Lighting up her horn, she took out her book, flipped to a random page, and read the first paragraph, her horn casting an orange-yellow glow:

Manehattan is one of the major metropolises in Equestria. The city is bombarded with over 50 million visitors every year, and is one of the major industries of entertainment and is the home of many skyscrapers, bridges, and parks. It is very populated and seems to be a starting point of many major businesses.

Well, that didn't seem too bad, though Inferno remembered her dad talking about the confusion of city-life. There was crime, like expected anywhere, really, and deafening noise could be heard from where she was standing.
The only way to find out was to go and see it herself.
Her tongue throbbing slightly less, the pale brown pony adjusted her satchel, and started to walk towards the lure of the bright lights of Manehattan.

Cherry was not having a good day.
Not only did her renown shop, Swirl Coiffure, had barely any customers today, but her hairdo was ruffled from an argument with an angry stallion whom wasn't satisfied with his mullet. 
Even though not trying to point hooves, she was still angry with Cardinal. Her young brother had been giving her a hard time lately, what with his school starting soon. She still remembered their conversation before he left earlier this afternoon, running away rashly with his two friends Horseshoe and Twinkletoes. She didn't favor Horseshoe very much, what with his obsession with 2 Yokez, a rapper that seemed way too inappropriate for their age, and his intimidating looks. He was, however, a nice young pony. 
Although Cardinal's other friend, Twinkletoes, seemed shy and had a slight stuttering problem. He was quite polite, however, always saying "please" and "thank you" and never raising his voice or acting rude. As her younger brother told her, Twinkletoes had a problem with the bullies, Celestia help him. He was also the most reluctant to go on their adventures, mostly to help Cardinal find his cutie mark.
Cardinal was sore from still not receiving a cutie mark, though. When Horseshoe had gotten his cutie mark, the first in his class, the red pegasus had been excited beyond words, assuming he would get his cutie mark soon. Twinkletoes got his cutie mark soon after, but Cardinal had still not given up. He still was trying, even after everypony his age had theirs. He was still convinced that he would do a "great deed," whatever that meant. Even though he was rambunctious, Cherry still loved Cardinal like, well, a brother.
As she was sweeping up her shop, the bell ringed as the door opened, then closed.
Cherry cleared her throat. "I'm sorry, but the sign says we're-"
She turned around to address the pony, but was startled to see Cardinal. "Closed," she finished. "Where have you been?"
Cardinal shrugged. "Places," he replied curtly.
The mare narrowed her eyes. "Like where?"
"The clearing. You know, near the Everfree Forest," he whispered.
Cherry's usual sugar pink coat turned into a beet red. "The Ever-Everfree? Come on, I taught you better than that!" she yelled. 
Cardinal's ears fell down. "I know," he muttered, making circles in the dust with his hooves. He suddenly perked up and said, "But we found something!"
"What?"
"The Boogeymare!"
Cherry snorted. "Aw, come on, Nal, that's a fillytale! I thought you stopped believing in that years ago!"
The red pegasus complained. "It was supposed to be a joke, but then something came running out of the bushes!"
The pink pegasus's smile suddenly froze, and she felt dread settling in. "What?" she slowly asked again.
"It was a unicorn, with a red mane and dark brown coat, with yellow eyes. But get this! She had a blank flank! No ordinary pony would have one!"
Cherry was rooted down to the spot. "A pony?" she said.
"Yeah! But we ran away."
"What have I told you about strangers?"
Cardinal was taken aback. "To never talk to them, unless you said so. But we're fine, it never even said anything."
"A stranger is a stranger," she said sternly. "Never do that again, do you hear me?"
"But-"
She pointed upstairs. The shop was their home as well. "It's late as it is already. Please go to sleep," Cherry said exasperatedly.
Cardinal opened his mouth to argue, then closed it and harrumphed. He slowly trotted towards the stairs.
"Better catch up, or the Boogeymare will get you," she joked.
Instead of smiling, Cardinal lowered his head and ran upstairs. The slamming of a door echoed through the empty interior of the shop.
Cherry sighed, and looked outside the window. It was a perfect summer night, just the right temperature, with a full moon. The streets were crowded and spilling with mares and stallions of every age, some shouting vulgarities, others just looking tired, a few looking full with energy. The lights shone in every color possible, shifting and morphing into each other. 
She had never liked the dirtiness or loudness of Manehattan, but at night, it was spectacular, and wonders came to life. The city never really slept; it was alive even through the night, in a different way.
Desperately needing fresh air, she flicked the off switch for the lights with her left wing, too tired to reach up for it. Maybe a little walk would clear her head. Locking up the shop, she walked towards the right.

Everypony stared at Inferno.
At one point, she found this perfectly normal, as her mane must have been a bird's nest. It was, literally, at one time. The pecks had hurt, too.
But after a while, she found it rather odd that they weren't staring at her mane or her tail, but sizing up all of her. Some grimaced and looked away, while others exchanged horrified glances. One mother even reflexively shielded her filly's eyes. 
Surely she didn't look that bad. She had even checked her reflection recently, and nothing had seemed wrong.
After a while, she sensed a pattern. Even though some were trying not to stare, some were staring right at her flank, as if something was wrong with it. A bit of heat rushed up her cheeks, and she herself checked her flank. It was as normal, clean and smooth and nothing on it. 
Suddenly she found herself looking at other ponies' flanks. Except for the younger ones, they all had simple pictures on them. One had a briefcase, while a young mare had a howling wolf. 
She was the only grown mare without one.
What did it mean? So she was supposed to have one of those. what did they call it, a kot- no, wait, cut, cutie mark! Yeah, that was it. She had never found this a problem, since there didn't seem to be a need for it, although she did find it odd that her dad had one and she didn't. Whenever Inferno had asked her dad about it, he had said her mother, also a unicorn, also didn't have it, and that it didn't matter so much as to who you really were.
Apparently, that wasn't common with these ponies, as they gaped at the unicorn, gossiping and murmuring. Her cheeks going even redder, sudden anger washed over her. She could teach them, with one spell-
"Oof!"
Not looking in front of her, she collided heads with another mare her age, a pegasus with a dark red mane and a sugar pink coat. Her forest green eyes looked at Inferno curiously, and shrinking slightly when looking at her flank.
The unicorn looked at her hooves. "Uh, didn't see you there."
The pink mare smiled emphatically. "No problem at all, dear! I wasn't looking either, lost in thoughts..." She stared up for a few moments. Then, her head snapped back, and her smile widened.
"So, I'm Cherry. And you are?"
"Inferno."
"Inferno?" Cherry questioned. "Sounds more like a name for a stallion, no offense. Fireflame or Firestorm would sound a teensy bit better, but I guess it's too late to change that."
"Meh," Inferno replied. "I've heard worse."
The pegasus giggled, and held out a hoof. "Well then, nice to meet you. Are you new around these parts? You look pretty confused. Here, I'll show you around."
Cherry dragged the brown unicorn without another word. As she went babbling on about the shops and places, Inferno zoned out and just looked at the reactions of the other ponies. Even though some didn't seem to care anymore, the others cared less since she was with the pegasus. For the first time she at least seemed to fit in with the crowd. 
"...and that's how I opened my shop!" she heard Cherry say. "It's actually my home too, along with my brother Cardinal-"
"Home?" Inferno asked. 
The pegasus looked at her strangely. "Well, yes. I have been talking for the last 10 minutes,  we're you listening-"
"Yeah, I was just wondering if I could stay over? For a few days?"
Cherry's look turned even stranger, and her eyes narrowed. "Well, you seem like a good pony enough," she said slowly.  "Just try not to interrupt, please".
"OK, " Inferno said happily. "Where?"
" Here, it's around the corner," the pegasus replied. They slowly walked towards the right.
"So, who's Cardinal?" Inferno asked.
"I told you, he's my little brother."
"No, I mean what does he look like?"
"Oh, he's a pegasus, too. About to start 3rd grade. He has a black man and tail, with ice blue eyes and a coat a bit lighter than my mane." She motioned a her slightly dark yet brilliant shade of red that was her mane. 
"Hmm..." That description seemed familiar.  Maybe from a picture in her book? She wasn't sure.
They reached the front of her shop. It had curled letters that spelled out Swirl Coiffure. The inside was dark at the moment,  but there seemed to be a large interior with mirrors and tables with hairstyling equipment on them. Cherry brought out a silver colored key and unlocked the door.
A bell chimed as they went inside. Inferno turned on the lights, and an aroma of lavender and poppies hit her as the blinding lights came on instantly.
"Make yourself at home," the pegasus said.
"From what I see, you will have to stay here for a couple of days."