The sight of Pharynx’s sickly smile sent a shiver of unease through Tirek and Chrysalis. It was the same smile from their days in a gang. Whenever some terrible thought entered his mind, he smiled that way. Just before he committed some atrocity, that smile crossed his face. It was the same smile as when he sent Sombra to prison, and the others would have no part of whatever he was planning.
“Chrysalis. Tirek. It's good to see you came on such short notice. In all honesty, I didn’t expect you to come at all,” said the man in black looking at his two companions, with a twisted smile.
“Forget it. After what happened with Sombra, I’m not getting involved with you,” Tirek said.
“You’re lucky I don’t cut that smile from your face after what you did,” Chrysalis hissed.
Any threat made by Chrysalis was made good. Dozens of unfortunates living and dead were testament to that. Pharynx, however, walked right up to face her.
“Here’s the knife,” he said, holding up a small stiletto between himself and Chrysalis. “Go on. Take it.”
Chrysalis eyed the knife warily, knowing that any move she made may be met with a severed digit or a slashed throat. As long as Pharynx was smiling the way he was, she didn’t dare try anything.
“No?” Pharynx said. “How about you?” he said, as he turned around and placed the knife against Tirek’s chest, just before the man-mountain could attack him from behind. “You’ve crushed a lot of people in your time. Why don’t you finish what your friend started, and plunge this from the top of my skull to my pelvis?”
Tirek said nothing, but leaned back slightly as the tip of the blade was moved forward a half inch. He had accumulated many scars over the years, but any cut from Pharynx was to be the deepest of them all.
“Amateurs. Both of you,” Pharynx said, as he stepped away from the two of them. “This is why you two are lost without me. You’ve forgotten your killer instincts, and how to take action. That’s where I come in. I have a plan brewing. And I’m going to need both of your help.”
“Not interested,” Tirek said.
He and Chrysalis both turned heel and walked away, leaving Pharynx alone. They knew that this would not be the end of it. Nobody could walk away so easily from Pharynx. It would only be a matter of time, until he reached them again.
____________________________________________
Spike sat patiently on the front step of the boutique, awaiting Sweetie Belle’s return. For hours now, he had been hoping she would appear around the corner and the two could stay together, along with all the others he had met on the way.
Time had lost meaning to him. He hardly even noticed when the sky darkened slowly, and the moon and stars had come out. The only moment he became aware of the time was when he started drifting off to sleep, only to be abruptly awoken by a sharp pain in his stomach.
“Aw...Son of a…” Spike groaned. It occurred to him in that moment that he hadn’t eaten anything all day. Not even before he boarded the metro.
His will to stay on the porch until Sweetie Belle returned clashed with his aching stomach. For as long as Sweetie was gone, she surely wouldn’t return by the time he returned from getting a nosh, the boy reasoned.
Slowly, Spike rose to his feet, and walked to the direction of the nearest 24 hour restaurant.
Not a minute after Spike left the front step and rounded the nearest corner, did a car park on the curb outside.
After dropping off the others, Rarity and Sweetie Belle departed their vehicle, tired and let down at once.
The remainder of tears shed stained Sweetie Belle’s face. If she had the time and the resources, she would have searched the whole of Canterlot for her friend. But, it was not to be. She knew Spike had left her behind. Her, and all the others who had rallied together to find him.
With a heavy heart, she and her sister both entered the boutique.
“He didn’t even say goodbye…” Sweetie thought to herself.
The door of the boutique closed, and the girls prepared for bed. Whatever problems they had would be waiting in the morning, but they would face them together.
____________________________________________
The streets were eerily bare and bereft of life. The only figure that walked the streets for miles was the black-clad figure of Pharynx. His shadow reached far down the street as he plodded across a pedestrian crossing.
As it always was, his mind was whorling with ideas for mayhem and destruction. So fast was his mind working did it give him a slight headache. He was working on something truly impressive. A plan that would bring Canterlot to its knees.
Reaching into his pocket, he produced a black phone. With the same malicious grin as before, he dialed each number as if he was performing for an invisible crowd. He sent the call and leaned his back against a street lamp.
The phone rang once. Twice. Thrice.
There was a connection on the line.
“Who is it?” asked Tirek’s voice.
“You know who it is,” Pharynx answered. “Is Chrysalis still with you?”
There was no immediate answer.
“Before you hang up, I want to tell you that I’m planning on getting Sombra out of jail,” Pharynx quickly said.
There was no answer, but Pharynx knew that he had intrigued the man-mountain. Over the line, he heard Tirek’s voice talking to someone else nearby.
“What’s your plan?” asked Chrysalis’s voice over the phone.
“You know I don’t really like details. I’ll give you the rundown when we meet up. But, I’ll just say that we’ll need to wait for a friend of Spike’s.”
“Can you at least say who Spike is?” Chrysalis asked, not wanting to get involved with any unpleasant surprises Pharynx had in store.
“You mean you don’t know? Spike is Sombra’s boy,” Pharynx said, with his same devious smile.
There was another hushed voice on the other end of the phone. Pharynx smiled wider when he heard Chrysalis was conveying the information to Tirek.
“Since when is Sombra anyone’s dad?” Tirek asked over the phone.
“There’s a lot you don’t know about Sombra. But, right now, we need to focus on his friend. She’s going to be instrumental in getting our friend out of jail.”