It was a perilous path if it was on the edge of a cliff. The fall down was long and far, the wind was strong and forceful, and the width of the path was not so large to fit a hearty group of ponies.
Upper Crust passed by several tourists flashing their cameras at the beautiful, awe-inspiring landscape of the towering mountains forested, of a valley cut by a fresh and flowing river, of yet another gigantic airship moving with grace and might—its yellow envelope with an open-air gondola where several passengers waved at those at the cliff while the operators, with their stoic faces, brought the airship to the station nearby.
A tap on her shoulder.
She turned around.
"You're back so soon!" she said.
Jet Set nodded, sporting a smile. "The sudden meeting turned out quite amiably. I have obtained a novel position in the antique-papers community."
Upper Crust nodded back, smiling, too. "That is good, dear. That way, we would look even more sophisticated—not everypony here in Canterlot will have as many historical documents as you will have if you maintain that...admittedly niche interest of yours."
Then, she eyed Jet Set's fancy saddlebag—a few diamonds were on it.
"I say," she said, "where did you get that?"
"Nitty Gritty hoofed it to me," Jet Set said, removing it and showing it to her, hanging from his hoof. "He told me to consider it as a token of appreciation since, according to him, I am one of the few who could leverage his society into royal importance and pertinence."
"Mm-hm." She touched the bag, taking a closer look. "I have never even heard of Nitty Gritty until today, but he is already proving himself to be quite the pony."
"Yes, he is quite the pony," Jet Set said—a glance over there.
"Do you have a schedule with that community?" Upper Crust asked. "It would be a shame to miss out on that opera next Friday. I've heard that a good number of fashionable ponies are going to be in attendance there. Perhaps we could leverage ourselves into royal importance and pertinence, hm?"
"Yes, I do agree with you, dear, but it is next Friday. Don't you have any other things in mind for today and tonight?"
"Haven't we talked about going on the Blue Horizon?"
"What Blue Horizon?" Jet Set asked. "I must've forgotten it so soon."
"The airship, dear!" Upper Crust said—louder than before. She pointed at the yellow airship that just landed at the station—now, ponies were up the long white ramp from the airship to the station from which they then walked down the short flight of white stairs on to solid ground.
"Why, yes, dear," Jet Set said. "I was overwhelmed by all the responsibilities and all the perks of being a member of such a community that I've forgotten what the Blue Horizon was for a moment!"
"Well, I understand."
Jet Set gulped. "So, I'll take you there, dear. I'll pay for all the expenses and we can see the sights."
"You only?" Upper Crust exclaimed—a whiff of surprise was in her voice. "I'd imagined that we would both pay together."
"We were?"
"Your genorisity is truly endearing," Upper Crust said, taking a few steps forward toward the airship.
Jet Set looked on for a few seconds. He sighed. "What did I get myself into?"
The Blue Horizon floated along between the mountain ranges, escaping them and into the colossal stretches of untapped rivered forests with their unending spaces of only trees and what other plants could be beyond.
The gondola, with its wooden floor and structure, hosted all the passengers in plain view of all who could see it—which was no one but those of other airships that happened to pass by. Whenever that happened throughout the trip, some of the ponies there waved at the ponies over here in the Blue Horizon, although most of the ponies refused to entertain such a "lowly form of interaction" with other ponies.
It was windy, moderately cold.
A lot of the passengers were wearing posh clothing—fancy suits, fancy ties, fancy gowns, fancy dresses. Necklaces, watches, earrings—ornaments to a dazzling display of ostentatious wealth and status. The diverse colognes and perfumes mixed with each other, creating, therefore, a smell that was unlike any other smell for it was a little bit of everything fragrant.
Jet Set and Upper Crust were leaning on the golden ledge, their faces sticking out of the airship, looking out into the orange sunset sky.
"I don't know what to say," Upper Crust uttered, slowly turning to her husband. "I was content with sharing all that must be paid for the cruise, but to hear you tell me that you would take in everything for me—it's...it's something you did not have to do, dear."
He smiled, facing her. "I did not have to do it—that is true. But, what is stopping me from showing to you that, through everything, I love you, dear?"
A hoof around her neck.
"Because—let me tell you, Upper Crust—I want to see you happy. If flying through the air on an airship without worrying about the cost would make you happy, I would see to it that we would fly. If eating at the fanciest restaurant in all of Canterlot without you worrying about losing money would make you happy, I would endeavor to see you eat and to eat with you. If..."
He glanced up for a second.
"If letting you talk to the Princesses and giving ourselves clout and fame would make you happy, then I will do everything that I can to let you see that day, to let ourselves be there."
And a hoof stretching toward the sky.
"Dear," Jet Set said, "I'm sorry if I ignored you or just treated you without the love that I should have had. I promise you, dear, that all the days we'll spend together will indeed be spent together."
"Why..." Upper Crust placed a hoof on her mouth. "I...I knew you were a brilliant stallion, but I did not expect that you would be so lovely with your declarations of love!"
"Probably because I love you, Upper Crust."
"Well, I love you, too."
And the two hugged each other under the orange sky.
"Hey, Jet Set!"
Jet Set let go of his wife and turned to see Nitty Gritty and his entourage of two unicorns. "What is it now? Don't you see—"
"You're on the Blue Horizon, too?" Upper Crust asked.
"Of course, I am!" Nitty Gritty said. "I was hoping to relax, but to see you two on the same airship—that is something great, isn't it?"
"Sir, I—"
"You don't need to speak anymore, Jet Set!" Nitty Gritty yelled, still happy in his tone—close to jumping, even. "Come, there has been some good news that have just arrived. Some ponies over in Ponyville have uncovered a hidden cache of letters from a hundred years ago!"
Jet Set glanced nervously at Upper Crust.
"You've done more than enough for me," she said—a big smile on her face, her eyes open in optimism. "Go! Make me even prouder of you!"
He smiled back. "Thank you. You're welcome."
And he trotted to Nitty Grip and his retinue.
The airship floated on, moving at its slow yet graceful speed.
Behind a wall, the four ponies got together.
Jet Set looked here and there. "Coast is clear."
"What are you doing, Blue Alarm?" Neon Guard—still disguised as a unicorn—whispered.
"Upper Crust is not the easiest to trick," Blue Alarm—still disguised as Jet Set—said. "What I mean is, she is easy to trick into thinking that I'm Jet Set, but it's not so easy to trick her into actually loving me. I don't know if she knows—in all likelihood, she doesn't know, though; all the signs are pointing to that. However, that does not matter because I have enough love—no more trying to distract her anymore."
"May I ask why we have to let you steal more love than we do?" Red Noise asked, scratching his mane while showing an annoyed face.
"All of us are going to steal more love than usual," Blue Alarm said. "Don't you remember? Chrysalis is going to launch a massive infiltration mission soon."
"I do remember," Red Noise said. "You don't have to remind me."
"Before you ask," Humerus—in the form of Nitty Gritty—spoke, "I already stole enough love including the friendship love. I didn't know this Nitty Gritty had so many friends! There was even this pony who wanted to paint the entire library white—I never thought he was a friend of him—but, he is and I don't know why."
"It turns out whoever this pony is," Red Noise said, pointing to himself, "he must be famous, too. Or semi-famous, at least."
"His name?" Blue Alarm asked.
"Creative Skill," he answered. "Didn't even have to say his name. Everyone was calling me 'buddy' or 'friend.' I was safe for the most part."
"Have you stolen enough?" Neon Guard asked. "We have Jet Set inside that crate over there."
Blue Alarm looked behind him and saw the crate. "That's not part of the plan."
"Leading him over to the airship wasn't a viable option," Neon Guard said. "So, I improvised."
Blue Alarm sighed. "It's better than him not being here for the switch." He looked at his companions. "You have a blunt weapon?"
"Knocking them on the head with a hoof will do!" Red Noise said, raising a balled up hoof.
Blue Alarm sighed again. "Fine. Next time, though, we're not going without a blunt weapon again. You know what happened last time over in Dodge Junction. Don't want the sheriff to have any more ideas that we're there, right?"
"Alright," Red Noise responded with a disdaining groan.
"So, how long do we have to wait for?" Humerus asked. "Can we go now?"
"We'll wait for the airship to land at the station," Neon Guard said. "Then, we can go back to hive." He looked at Blue Alarm. "You have a second disguise ready?"
"I have it ready," Blue Alarm said.
Neon Guard nodded. "If Upper Crust comes here too early, we do the switch now. You know what to do." He faced Red Noise. "You know?"
"I already know!" Red Noise whined.
"It was a magnificent trip, dear," Upper Crust said as Jet Set—laboring hard to keep a steady pace as he wobbled up the long white ramp to the station, the airship standing still just off the cliff. "It was wonderful to experience such a journey with you without me stressing myself over how much I had to pay."
"It was a cheap flight," Jet Set answered.
Now, they were walking down the stairs. Then, they were on solid ground with the rest of the passengers.
"What took you so long back there, anyway?" Upper Crust asked.
Jet Set rubbed his head. "Somepony told me that I had a few papers to send or something of a similar nature. He was going so fast that I did not catch all that he said."
"You mean that Nitty Gritty fellow?" Upper Crust asked.
"Nitty Gritty?"
"Yes, that was his name." She looked at him, narrowing her eyes. "Have you forgotten again?"
The three ponies—with a fourth new one, a purple pegasus—were running up the path back to Canterlot proper, back to the clean stone streets and sidewalks with their slow carriages, their fancy ponies, their haute establishments, and their royal atmosphere.
"You think it's enough?" Humerus asked between gasps for breath as they ran.
"More than enough!" Neon Guard yelled. "So, stop asking questions!"
And they ran on, catching the attention of some ponies on the way but they never followed the curious four ponies just running down the street.
Back to the present
"So, you're telling me you scammed two wealthy unicorns from Canterlot, the rest of your group did their job by stealing love from other ponies, and you ran away without anypony being suspicious of you at all?" A pause. "Actually, I'm impressed. Or, maybe I shouldn't be—the guards in Canterlot aren't the brightest when it comes to, uh, guarding."
"That was our last mission before Chrysalis set out to take over Equestria a second time," Blue Alarm said before he took yet another sip of his softdrink. "You know that we had many more before that one."
"As much as I want to hear the rest of your accomplishments," House Style said, "I'm not so sure if it's something we could talk about in public."
"I understand," Blue Alarm said. "I don't want to unnecessarily remind ponies of our past."
"At least you're trying to be nice. You're a changeling who also understands others. And, I guess a lot of other changelings are like you. You're not constantly asking for one of the Princesses to take a picture with you."
"I don't."
"That's good to know," House Style said. Then, he finished his oatburger. "I would like to stay here and talk some more, but I have some business myself to do."
"The history book?" Blue Alarm asked.
The pegasus nodded. "Hope you visit Manehattan some time soon. You'll be able to find me—somehow."
With that, he left the diner, flying to the air and out of view.
Blue Alarm looked at the food and drink in front of him.
His oatburger was half-eaten and his softdrink was half full.
"Looks like I'll be here for a while more," he muttered.
Blue Alarm stood near the corner of the sidewalk.
The large intersection in front of him had lines of carriages flowing forward in both directions. Some broke off to another road. Ponies on another part of the junction hurried their way through to the other side—brisk walking, running, galloping. The pegasi, of course, had the great advantage of flying over the intersections without having to wait for the pedestrian light to go green, causing some ponies to be upset at the flying ponies.
Stands and carts of all kinds stood outside the buildings knit close together. There were carrotdog stands, there were newsstands, there were souvenir stands, there were candy stands—more than half of the stands and carts that Blue Alarm could see were selling some sort of food. The smells that emanated from them were enticing—a savory flavor in the air. He sniffed at it.
He hovered over to a carrotdog stand.
There was a line there—a long line of ponies waiting for a carrotdog.
The vendor—a bored unicorn mare—levitated several carrots rolling over a heater and placed them inside carrotdog buns. Then, the completed orders were floated to the customers at the front—"Thanks!" "Thank you, miss!"
The vendor did not say anything—just the same bored look.
Blue Alarm hovered in line and waited.
A few minutes passed by and the line moved along.
Finally, Blue Alarm was at the front, face-to-face with the bored vendor.
"What would your order be, sir?" she said in deadpan speech.
"One carrotdog, please," he said, raising a hoof and smiling at her—"plain."