Meanwhile...
* * *
Life had continued as normal, or as close to normal as it could be, for Paver. Colten Island, made up of the merger of small market towns, sleepy suburbs and just the odd lashings of more built up developments, was never a terribly busy part of Manehatten, and as such, was a poor representation of the city as a whole. The stories on the TV and the radio were far more revealing of the state of the city, and their broadcasts, ever more jingoistic and aggressive language being used by the mayor and his supporters.
As for Otto himself, he'd not written to Paver since their first correspondence. She'd sent him letters, of course, but rumour had it that Otto had left Manehatten for Canterlot, either hoping to strike some deal or another, or to visit family. Either way, he'd been and returned, and still he refused to talk to her. What in the world was going on over at City Hall?
Tila had tried her best to keep her daughter in good spirits throughout all of this, but it would take more than takeouts and movies to distract Paver from her worrying. The more she thought on it, the worse her fear became: This was growing to be a bigger problem than the former mayor had first expected; the things Otto was saying, and the way ponies were talking, all of it was getting very scary indeed.
"The things Otto's saying are practically rebellious now." She spoke to her mother over breakfast the following morning. "Why are the princesses not stepping in to try to calm down the bloody tension? This is getting insane..."
"This is why I don't try to get into politics." Tila frowned. "I did when you were in there, but otherwise it's just nasty stuff. I've never liked it."
"But, just ignoring it isn't going to make it go away." Paver retorted. "That's how folks like him get to do whatever it is they want to do. But, what good is it for me to keep writing to him if he's just going to ignore me?"
Tila didn't have an answer for that. Thankfully, she never had the chance to give one in the first place: A rattle at the door, followed by a light thud, signified the arrival of the morning post. "I'd best get that." She quickly said with a nervous smile. A few moments later, she'd returned: Bills for her, school report card for Forger, and three things for Paver.
The first as a flier, from the the Zealots of the Solar Empire: It looked like it was a fairly simple, hastily made and amateur piece of printing. It read, quite simply:
"Mayor Otto has recruited a cult leader as his deputy, and has been seen meeting with weapon manufacturers in Canterlot! He is LYING TO YOU AND PREPARING FOR A WAR! Protect yourselves! Protect your family! Protect the honour of Princess Celestia! Join the Zealots, and ensure Celestia's sun continues to shine over us all!"
She frowned, folding up the flier and setting it aside. She didn't care for violence, and these zealots would only serve to give Otto the ammunition he'd need to set his hoof down harder on those he didn't like: If these rumours were true (as Paver had heard of the fairly infamously pro-war attitude of Pluto Cratic), it would only make sense for Otto to go to his father for weapons.
"I do hope these ponies are wrong." Tila spoke as she read the Zealots' flier.
"It would explain the change in language Otto has been making lately." The young unicorn snorted. "I've known Otto for ten years, and he knows his history. You can't start a war without something to fight for, and..." Paver trailed off, she was distracted by a roll of parchment, stamped with a purple wax seal, baring a symbol of a star: Princess Twilight. Quickly, she floated the letter over and opened it, reading it.
Dear Paver,
So far, I'm sorry to say that my efforts to find a counter-curse for you has been fruitless. 20,000 books are in my library here in Ponyville, and not one of them have anything to help us get around your Binding Curse. I'm not willing to give up, however, and so after being persuaded by my friends, I wrote to Princess Celestia herself to ask for her help. Rather than trying to find a way to remove the curse itself, she suggested instead I try to find the one who cursed you in the first place. She directed me towards studying means to identify the casters of spells. Apparently, there are means to trace the magic placed upon things to the original caster.
Which brings me on to the images of the logos on your shoes. At first, we were stumped. Rarity was indeed curious about it, but it was actually my friend Applejack who was able to identify the logo itself: Although they go by many names, it is actually one of the many brands that the Flim Flam Brothers use. It appears to be a brand new one, but AJ has had more than her fair share of run-ins with those two, and she knows well enough the dirty dealings and dishonest practices they employ. If you choose to try to pursue this, I warn you to be careful. They're both very tricky sorts.
More concerning, however, is what I was told when I asked the princess about your friend... I was told that the current mayor of Manehatten has never written to her since being voted into office as mayor. If he said he was going to work with the princesses to help find the one who cursed you, either he has been slow to get in contact with them, or he simply isn't going to.
Yours sincerely,
Twilight Sparkle.
Paver stared blankly at the letter. Somehow, deep down, she knew. Why would Otto give up his position for Paver, now she'd been quietly pushed into the shadows and allowed him to unroll whatever insane plan he was trying to push? She cursed aloud, causing Tila to cover Forger's ears and give her dagger eyes: HOW could she be so naive!?!
She quickly abandoned breakfast and went to fetch some paper and a quill, there was a newfound sense of anger deep within, forged into purpose by a sense of betrayal: She was going to get to the bottom of this mess, if it was the last thing she ever did. It went beyond being snubbed, magic shoes, or even her mayorship: All these things coming her way at once, it was building a horrible hunch in her head. She just hoped she was wrong...
Dear Princes Twilight,
I would like to meet with these Flim Flim Brothers, as soon as possible. I want to speak to them about their role in me getting cursed, and who bought these shoes from them. If I can find out who bought them, I'll know who cursed me. You have my home address, if you can get hold of them, send them to me.
Yours sincerely,
Paver.
After all of this, Paver found herself far more sympathetic to the cause of the Zealots, although she could accredit some of that sympathy to her anger at this present moment. Still, it was perhaps important to keep her options open if Otto truly was plotting something horrible: She wasn't going to stay hiding like a frightened filly for much longer, and all the evidence so far, she feared, pointed to Otto himself having at least some involvement in this affair: He certainly profited from it.
To the Zealots of the Solar Empire, and your respective leaders,
I understand you have been arranging protests and demonstrations against the mayor's anti-Celestia campaign, and your fears that he is preparing for a war.
I'm afraid to say, but I think you might be right.
I have been in contact with Princess Twilight Sparkle since I returned to Manehatten, and I have evidence enough to suspect that Otto has been lying to me, and if my worst fears are true, actually had a hoof in trying to kill me. It all makes sense! He wanted to get rid of me so he could become mayor himself, since he was the most popular candidate at the time. If it was a changeling who had tried to kill me, that changeling would surely have tried to impersonate me so it could feed off the love of my family: It wouldn't have needed to use magic shoes to make it look like I'd died.
I intend to go public with my evidence and openly denounce Otto for his increasingly dangerous behaviour. However, if he has tried to kill me, I fear he might try again if he realizes I'm on to him. Therefore, I would like work with, or join, your organization to try to help you in your cause. I will offer whatever I can to help your cause, but what I want in return is protection, since I fear what will happen in the coming days. Things are very turbulent right now.
Yours sincerely,
Paver Goldstreets.
She finished up her letters, ready to be sent off ASAP. She didn't like having to ask for help like this, but having the safety net would definitely be nice. She wanted more concrete proof that Otto was involved, however: Once she found out exactly if he had cursed her or not, that was when she was going to go public with her information information. Regardless though, the idea of Changelings going to so much trouble to kill her, only to then not try to impersonate her? That didn't make any sense. Once again, signs of her own nativity that she fell for it in the first place: No more...
She'd wait on Twilight's letter if she had to, but in the meantime, she explained her plan to her mother, and set about getting the house nice and ready for if they ever showed up.
They had a pretty nice, albeit small living room, where she'd corral and grill them until they told her what she wanted. She knew that she could force the information out of them: She could get them locked up for selling cursed objects just by waving her shoes in front of a judge, they were stupid enough to put their own branding on them after all.
Still, she wanted it all to look nice. With that in mind, she quietly slipped out to go pick up some flowers from her mother's store. She'd pay for what she took later, but she just wanted some flowers to help decorate the room, or failing that, nibbles. The shop was expecting a fresh shipment for flowers today, so she knew she was going to have a good range to choose from.
The flowers had been delivered in on a selection of small shipping pallets, and left around the back of the store, as per usual, save for one, which was left slightly further back from the doors; upon it was a note, which read: "Sorry Mrs. G, this pack was unusually heavy, so we had real trouble getting it her. We had to give up after Special Delivery threw out his back trying to lift this damn thing. Sorry for the inconvenience. Signed, Special Order."
Paver frowned. She'd heard about the Special Family: They were the ones who were in charge of delivering her stock to the shop on a regular basis. Theirs was a busy family business of logistics, based a little way out of Manehatten, but delivered all over the city. They were Earth Ponies, so didn't have the luxury of telekinesis to help them carry things, but that had never been a problem for them before... Just what had Paver's mum ordered for the shop?
Her horn glowed, and she set about the doubtlessly difficult task of trying to lift the pallet by herself. Her horn's glow intensified, becoming hot, and sweat beaded from her brow, her muscles clenged and her teeth ground in her mouth, but with all her strength, she could only move the delivery a short distance before her magic gave out entirely, and it hit the ground with a loud thud.
"Argh!" A muffled shout suddenly emerged from the box! Naturally, this took Paver by quite some surprise, and she trotted over to it. grabbing a crowbar with her magic, both to open the box, and to bludgeon a would-be attacker if things turned nasty.
The box was lined with holes and slats to allow air and light inside (a necessary feature when trying to deliver fresh flowers), and as she approached, she noticed a large, dark lump inside the box, where flowers should have been. She was a little scared, of course, as she drove the crowbar between the lid and the box, and with a flick of her magic, quickly shoved it open.
"Fyaah!" The creature inside the box yelped in surprise as the light flooded inside.
"Ah!" Paver jumped back as she saw it: A hippgriff, hiding among a holly bush. Her magic zapped off as she lurched back, and the crowbar dropped from the air, hitting the hippogriff in the head with a THUD!
"Oof!" He groaned, pulling himself up and flopping out of the box.
"What, what in Tartarus!?" Paver cried. "What are you doing in our delivery!?!"
The hippogriff, looking rather disheveled and, actually, rather starved. "Oh, oh sweet Celestia... It's all true..." He stammered, quivering. "It's really you... You're, you're alive..." With that, the hippogriff passed out, collapsing on the floor with a limp thump...
* * *
Paver sat in her mother's living room, watching the strange hippogriff lie on the sofa, unconscious and wrapped in blankets, which also helpfully concealed that his wings were tied up and he himself was tied by a forelimb to the sofa itself in case he turned nasty or had another attack of panic; on the coffee table lay his steel security baton, folded up and kept out of talon's reach.
...Her mother had been very shocked when Paver rung up to say that a hippogriff had been hiding in her holly delivery, and was very keen to find out just what he'd been doing in there. She was less keen, however, to help Paver bring him home and tie him up in her living room. Since then, he'd blurted awake, rambling wildly and without much sense, before dozing off again: Since then, he'd stabilized somewhat, and would probably be well enough to talk the next time he woke up.
For now, Paver was quite content to leave him there. If he was some kind of assassin sent by her attackers, or a fugitive fleeing from them: He'd make good leverage against the Flim Flam brothers in any case, and she was definitely going to twist their hooves over it when they got here.
"It's a good thing Forger went to a friend's house today." Tila mentioned as she approached her daughter. "I don't want to have to try and explain why we've got a knocked out hippogriff lying in our living room. Shouldn't we just call the police?"
"I, I don't know. I just have a bad feeling. I want to hear this hippogriff's side first. If I'm not convinced, I'll call the police. But... If Otto's involved in all of this, he'll have the police on his payroll, just look at his uniform!" She sighed. "I want to know who did this. I'm going to find out what they're doing, and why. Then I'm going to find them, and I'm to put a stop to it, and I'm going to MAKE them take these shoes off me. I NEED this."
Tila sighed, there was a knock on the door: She wasn't going to be able to talk her daughter out of this one. "...Ok, Paver. Just please, be careful. Hippogriffs in mercenary uniforms? Shady businessponies? Zunbil Zoor? You're messing with dangerous folk. Promise me you'll be careful."
Paver nodded "I promise." She replied, before heading off to get ready, since Paver had had a thought: She did not expect the Flim Flam Brothers to stay long if they knew they were going to see the very pony they'd ended up cursing, so she'd disguise herself for their arrival. She finished prepping herself with use of a sleeved hoodie and a long skirt, before there was a knock on the front door: They were here.
The very second she lay eyes on the Flim Flam brothers, Paver knew they were shady sorts: They looked to her like the kind of ponies who'd go door to door in an area full of OAPs, forcing anypony who let them inside into buying whatever shoddy goods they were playing the hard sell with through hours of aggressive sales pitches. As far as she could tell, you could identify which brother was which by their cutie mark: Flim had a slice of an apple, while Flam had the rest of the apple; altneratively, Flam had a mustache, while Flim didn't. At least, that was the theory Paver was operating under...
"Forgive me for saying, but I thought we were expecting somepony else." Flim said as he was invited inside.
"Yes. I know." Paver replied, disguising her voice and hiding beneath the hood. "...Paver can't make it just yet. She had an allergic reaction to something at her mother's store, so me and Tila are here instead. We're going to sort this, today."
"I'm sure we will."
Paver led them into the living room, where Tila invited them to sit down: She stood near the doorway to the hallway while Paver took a seat opposite the salesponies.
"Please forgive the hippogriff." She spoke. "We found him unconscious earlier today. We're keeping an eye on him until he's well enough to leave."
"I see." Flam nodded, looking around. "Oooh, boy, this is a real nice place you got here." he added, with particular emphasis towards Paver's mother, making Paver want to shove her hoof through his throat.
"Indeed brother, a real nice place." the other brother added. "A fine filly who owns a place like this must surely keep up with latest home fashions? No? Well, what a surprise! I'm sure we could help you keep up with the latest trends?"
"Both of you, we're not here for you to sell your rubbish. I think you know that, so I want answers." Paver barked and the pair fell silent. "I'm here about a pair of shoes." She spoke. "Which you sold to somepony?"
"Ah, well, we're businessponies." The mustachioed unicorn spoke with a smirk. "My dear, we sell shoes to lots of ponies! Very nice shoes! Perhaps we could tempt you to try out a pair?"
Paver felt a spark of anger inside her at the notion, it made her chuckle. "Oh, no, I already have a pair of your shoes. Care to take a look?"
She lifted a hoof to show the brother one of the red shoes which clung to her hooves. Flim smiled, taking the shoe in his horn's magic and taking a closer look, pulling Paver forward slightly. "Huh, tight fit, hm?"
She wrenched back her hoof. "I suppose you could say that..." She spat, pulling back her hood and revealing herself.
"Oh, hello!" He reeled back. "Well isn't this a surprise!? I'd heard you were dead!"
"Indeed we had!" Flam added. "And we toast to your good health!"
"Toast indeed! But we've no drink to toast with! We'd better go fetch some cider for you, huh brother?"
"I agree, brother. Let's got fetch it now." They both turn to try and leave, but Tila quickly stepped in the way. "Nope. Not going to happen. Now you sit down and help my daughter or so help me, a thousand years on the moon will look lenient."
They gulped, and slowly returned to their seats. "Well, I suppose we can always toast later. How about we talk about those pretty shoes of yours?"
"Lets." Paver snorted. "Whoever bought these things cursed them, making me dance against my will, which nearly killed me, twice. They also made them stuck to my hooves. Only the person who cursed them can get them off. So who bought them from you?!"
"Ah, now normally we'd have customer confidentiality to deal with here." Flam replied with a nervous smile. "But, but in this case, I'm sure we can make an exception!"
"Oh, but of course!" Flim added. "We wouldn't want to allow whoever did this to get away! We'll happily help you in your investigation! But we're both busy ponies, and if we can avoid being dragged into any legal distractions, you can chase the villains who did this awful thing, and we can go back to trade! Everypony wins!"
"Fine, fine, whatever." Paver agreed. "Now tell me."
The pair looked at each other, the omnipresent smirk wavered, betraying them their anxiety of their situation. Eventually, the left brother spoke. "Ah, well, that's just it my dear. The shocking, sorry news was that, while our shoes did make you dance, it was never meant to be as bad as trying to kill you. No sir! It was a prank spell!"
"A prank spell?!" Paver glared. "This is NOT just a prank spell!"
"Oh, but we never put the binding curse on those shoes of yours. The spell which made you dance would've worn off eventually. Everything WE did was all above board. No, as you rightly guessed, the one who bought them added the other curse which has them clinging to you tighter than a toddler around their mother's leg on their first day of school." He faltered, and his twin finished what he started.
"...The truth of it is this. The one who bought the shoes was the mayor. Mr. Cratic himself..."
Before Paver, who's look of anger had turned into a look of horror and disbelief, could react, the hippogriff had jerked awake with a sharp yelp, having heard the name 'Otto' had somehow jarred him in consciousness.
"Gaah!!!" He cried. "Otto?! Where!? What?! What's going on!?!?" He then started coughing, his throat dry and coarse, and sudden shouting didn't help. The others turned in surprise at the hippogriff's sudden waking.
"My my..." Flim smirked. "That's unexpected..."
"Save it, you two." Paver scowled, quickly trotting over to the panicking hippogriff. She was still angry at her dove-white guest, and the temptation to have a go at him for hiding in the holly package was overwhelming. Luckily, Tila knew all the signs of her daughter in a mood, and quietly stepped in before she reach him.
"I don't think shouting at him is going to work Paver." She offered. "Speak softly, and carry a big stick."
Paver froze: She hadn't realized how fiery she was getting, and she didn't like it. "Quoting Teddy Bear, are we?" She sighed. "...Alright, I'll try."
Tila nodded, turning to the Flim Flam brothers with a cold face to bare down on them. "I think it's time you left." She softly spoke to them: The twins were only too happy to agree, and ran from the living room and out the front door. After that, Tila herself left Paver to it, on hoof if her daughter needed her.
"Hey, hey, calm down. It's fine." Paver tried to sooth him. "Just try and relax..." She magicked over a large jug of water and a cup, pouring him something to drink. "Here, you look like you need a drink."
That helped, a lot: He quickly took the glass and downed its contents, looking up at Paver gratefully. "Thank you." He spoke, his tone still strained; at least he wasn't screaming and thrashing around. "Where, where am I? Why did you tie me to this sofa?"
"You're in my mother's living room. We brought you here after you passed out in the back yard of my mother's florist shop. You're tied up because you're clearly dressed in the uniform of one of Otto's soldiers. I couldn't be certain you wouldn't try and attack me."
He winced. "Oh no. No no! You don't understand! This was the last place I wanted to be." He tried to sit up, wincing as he remembered the pain in his head, and the many scratches, cuts and small scars on his face and body from the holly. "I, I was trying to escape Manehatten. I was in this shipping place on the outskirts of town. I hopped into the first open box I found, hoping it would ship me off somewhere far away. The LAST place I wanted to be was here! Oh Celestia, whatever is the mayor going to think now I've been seen being helped by the very pony who's causing him so much trouble?!"
"What? You were trying to flee? I'm putting you in danger?! Please, one thing at a time."
"Okay, I'm sorry!" He fought to maintain control of his breathing. "Yes, I'm a part of Captain Ashfeather's Night Guard, a Ravenclaw... It was quite an achievement, since... I used to be an Earth pony." He saw Paver's disbelieving look and quickly added. "I was cursed! I was ordered by Captain Ashfeather to..." He paused, his beak quivering slightly. "...To find something for the mayor. It was buried, in a large patch of Poison Joke. I ended up wading in those horrible blue plants for ages, trying to find what we were looking for. But, the day after, we were called to Mr Cratic's office, since he wasn't happy with the captain. Then, then I turned into this! Cursed by a damn plant!"
Paver fell quiet: She'd heard about Posion Joke curses in her studies. "I see..." She spoke. "I'm sorry to hear that. You're not the only one to have to deal with a curse." She casually shook a hoof his way. "Mine's thanks to the mayor too, if what I've heard is to be believed."
"I'm sorry too." The hippogriff fugitive nodded sadly. "My, my name's Scopes, by the way, Scopes Sight."
Paver relaxed a little as she sat on the floor next to Scopes. "So you disobeyed the mayor and was turned into a hippogriff by Poison Joke?"
"Yes. He tried to have me arrested, even though we found what he'd been looking for. I got away though, and really, it could've been much worse..." He forced a smile. "I mean, I can fly. Do you know how many Earth Ponies would kill for the chance to be able to fly? Or use Magic?" He paused... "Actually, not very many. We're very proud ponies. But I was always jealous of pegasi and unicorns. You lot have it so damn easy!"
Paver smirked. "You think? Magical migraines can knock a unicorn filly out for days if they overexert themselves too much. And in school?" She snorted. "A lot of people in school expect a lot from unicorns because of the magic. I did quite good for myself, but I've known plenty who really struggled in school. As for Pegasi..." she winced. "If you can't fly as a pegasus, you're screwed."
Scopes shrugged. "And Earth Ponies? Everyone just thinks we're farmers and soldier grunts. I'd always been friends with the other ponies in my squad, and Jarhead definitely didn't help the 'all Earth Ponies are simple' image. But Fleming? He's an Earth Pony, but I've never seen a better field medic in all my days!" He suddenly went quiet, a look of grief-filled guilt creeping over him like a shadow. "...I should've never gone with Captain Ashfeather. I should've stayed with Fleming and Jarhead. This never would've happened if I'd just stood by my friends."
Paver raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"
Scopes' face drained of any joy which might have once been there: Clearly, he'd been thinking on things for a while, and he didn't like the conclusions he'd reached. "...I'm a coward." He finally managed to say, though it looks as though every word hurt to speak. "Jarhead was, well, a jarhead, but he was a pony with principles. A brave pony with a good heart... ...Ashfeather was hunting a zebra, she lived alone in the Everfree Forest. She was alone and defenseless, and Ashfeather ordered us to siege her hut and attack her. Jarhead refused, and Ashfeather struck him around the head so hard I could've sworn she'd killed him. Somehow the tough bastard survived, but Fleming stayed with him to make sure he was okay... I..." Words failed him, he started shaking. "...I didn't. I went with Ashfeather, and I watched as she beat the zebra down, she tortured her, shoving a spearhead into a dislocated shoulder until she told her where the thing we were after was hidden. The zebra had already fought back, she'd nearly headbutted my into a concussion, so I sat there and did nothing." He looked away. "And so, Ashfeather forced out the information she sought, and now... Now Mayor Otto has some evil amulet thing, and he's seriously talking about trying to turn himself into an alicorn."
This revelation left Paver rather taken aback: It was a lot to take on board.
"I... I..." She stammered. "He wants to become an alicorn?! And the zebra?"
"I, I was going to attack her, but she was so fast. She whirled around and hit me and knocked me out completely. But we had metal batons and the griffins had claws and sharp beaks. She had a stick. It was, unfair."
"Hmmm..." She pondered. "It's bad, yeah... But you didn't actually manage to hit her yourself?"
"I guess not, she had me out of the fight before I even had the chance."
"So, you didn't ACTUALLY torture her yourself?"
"It doesn't matter!" He cried. "I didn't DO anything to stop it!"
"I know, I know." Paver replied. "So what ARE you going to do about it?" she asked, leaving Scopes silent. "Look, what you and this Captain Ashfeather did was horrible, it's good that you didn't hurt her yourself, but you're right, it's not excuseable. So, we have to make up for what you did. The way I see it, you can sit and wallow, or you can try to make amends. I want to stop Otto before he goes to far. If you help me, we can bring down a power hungry unicorn, and clear your name in the process." She takes a breath, and cuts Scope's bonds with her magic. "Will you help me?"
Scopes fell silent, looking down at his relatively new talons, before looking up, meeting Paver's blue eyes with his own gray. With newfound resolve, he nods. "I will... I know Otto is out to get you. He's out to get the pair of us it seems. I'm still not used to this body yet, but if we stick together, we'll definitely be safe than if we're alone... If you'll have me."
Paver smiled: Having a trained hippogriff soldier as a bodyguard sounded like a pretty good idea to her...