The archeologists stared in awe as Daring displayed the High Priest’s ring to Twilight. “Incredible!” Doctor Record gasped.
“Sorry, we’ve got to borrow this for a while,” Daring said. “But we’ll give it to you as soon as we’re done, and there are a bunch more treasures in the chamber.” She gave them a brief overview of how to get into the chambers.
“A blood charm on the fountain?” Twilight asked as she placed the golden ring on her foreleg, studying the intricate jewel work, the eyes gently cut into the gem faces. “And it’s still working after all these centuries? Amazing! I wonder how they constructed it; they could’ve anchored it to—”
“Twilight. Focus,” Phillip interrupted.
“Right, sorry,” Twilight nodded. “Come on, I need someplace to write down the runes.”
She, Flash, Phillip, and Daring walked over to a patch of flat dirt. Taking three sharpened sticks from the ground, Twilight began to draw the magic circle from before in the dirt, scratching out a large central circle for her to stand in and connecting it to three other smaller circles, which Phillip, Daring, and Flash entered.
"Will this work even if he's behind a circle?" Phillip asked.
"It should, as long as it's just a basic circle," Twilight mused as she finished the details. "Even a bit of dirt and dust over a circle will degrade its effectiveness, and the link between the rings should be strong enough to focus the spell enough that it'll go through." Twilight closed her eyes and took a breath, her horn glowing. Purple light began to spread from her hooves, tracing across the trenches she had carved out until the entire circle glowed, shining out into the growing darkness of the encroaching eve.
Daring closed her eyes, picturing Professor Tome clearly in her mind, remembering the faint ghost image that they’d called earlier. She remembered the distress in his face, the fear in every movement. They were going to find him.
“Hic sumus, hic es,” Twilight murmured, her eyes glowing with power. “Te video, te video, te video…”
And suddenly, the entire magic circle flared with energy, blinding them all. Daring cried out, then opened her eyes.
But instead of a clearing in the Everfree Forest, she was pacing a bedroom, a single lamp on the plain bed stand providing a faint glow. A single window in the wall showed a gray sky; a lumpy bed covered in blue sheets was the only furniture in the room. Daring glanced down and realized that her forelegs were gray, the coat poorly groomed; a silver bracelet adorned her right foreleg, a faint unnatural glow running up and down the circumference.
“What the…?” she asked, and though part of her felt her mouth moving, her voice echoed in her mind rather than her ears. “What is this?”
“This...this is incredible!” she heard Twilight’s voice echoing inside her brain. “The Geminugus spell worked! We’re seeing through Professor Tome’s eyes!”
“Where are we?” Phillip’s voice said as the professor completed another turn of the room, passing by a shut door.
“Get him to look out the window,” Daring said, trying to squint out the window as he passed by.
“I can’t,” Twilight’s voice replied. “We can’t control his actions, we can just see what he sees, hear what he hears.”
“Shh,” Phillip whispered. “I hear voices.”
As the professor trotted past the door, they did indeed hear voices coming faintly through the door.
“—circle working?” a mare’s voice asked.
“I’m sure...myself,” a stallion snapped back. “Don’t get...geezer, not paid to foalsit--”
“—shit about Lazarus?” the mare spoke quietly.
“—stitous bullshit,” the stallion snorted.
“Lazarus?” Daring whispered as Doctor Tome walked past the window again.
“Hey, he’s passing the window again,” Flash pointed out. “I can almost...I think I see a sign.”
It was only visible for a brief second, but they all saw it. Across the street was the feebly flickering neon sign for a House of Tong’s restaurant, backlit by the setting sun. In the distance, a bell dinged lightly.
But it was only a glimpse before Professor Tome moved on. “Dammit, go back!” Flash grunted. “Look out the window again!”
“Somepony’s coming,” Phillip stated.
Hoofsteps sounded from behind the door, prompting Professor Tome to stop and face the doorway as floorboards creaked. A moment later, the door unlocked and unlatched with a pair of clicks before opening with a creak. A pony wearing a dark blue shirt and a ski mask over their head entered the room, holding a takeout bag.
“Okay, professor,” the pony declared. “Time for dinn—” His voice trailed off as his blue eyes focused upon the ring. “What is that? Why is it glowing?!” the guard snapped, dropping the bag and starting forward.
“No, wait!” Professor Tome cried, backing up, but the masked pony seized his foreleg, yanking the bracelet off. Instantly, the vision vanished in a flood of blinding light. Daring cried out, flinging the forelegs that she suddenly remembered she had before her eyes as she stumbled, falling onto soft grass and dirt, the scent of smoke filling her nostrils.
Slowly, her vision returned. She realized that she was lying on her side, the other ponies all sprawled across the ground, shaking their heads and blinking. Smoke that smelled of salt rose from the scorched ground that had once been the magic circle.
“Are you okay?” Bumblebee asked, helping Daring up. “All of you just went still for a minute. Your eyes were glowing, and then suddenly, the magic circle flared up and you all fell down.”
“We saw him,” Twilight gasped. “We saw the professor, but one of his captors took off the bracelet and the spell broke.” Her eyes widened. “Oh, no! What are they going to do to him?! Are they going to kill him?! If they knew what the Ring of H’eylr is for, and that we used it—!”
“Twilight, they’re not gonna kill him,” Phillip interrupted, retrieving his hat from the ground and putting it on. “They’re being paid to protect him. They’re taking care of him.”
Twilight let out a slow breath. “Right. Right.”
“But we don’t even know where he is,” Flash stated.
“Wrong,” Phillip stated. “There are clues there.”
“There are dozens of House of Tongs in this city,” Flash pointed out. “We can’t check all of them.”
“It was to the east of the Tongs,” Phillip stated. “Sun was behind the restaurant.”
“And they mentioned a magic circle,” Twilight recalled. “If they set one up around the house, that probably explains why Trace’s tracking spell didn’t work; the circle blocked his magic. It wasn’t strong enough for the High Priest’s ring, though.”
“And I heard a bell,” Daring added. “That means that a trolley stop is nearby.”
“Good, good,” Phillip nodded approvingly. “That pony that we saw before the bracelet was taken off. Describe him.”
“Male, earth pony, green coat, blue eyes,” Daring rattled off. “Some stubble around his chin, looked like. Darker green. Didn’t see the cutie mark.”
“Did he have a tattoo?” Flash asked, eyes closed in concentration. “I saw a tattoo on his foreleg, right beneath his sleeve.”
Daring closed her eyes and rewound the images in her mind, recalling the moment that the kidnapper entered through the doorway. She focused upon the left foreleg. There was a shape beneath the sleeve...was that a dog? A big black dog with three heads?
“Cerberus,” she growled.
“How are they even still active?” Flash groaned.
“You know what Cerberus’ legal team’s motto is,” Prowl stated, rolling her eyes. “‘If you can’t prove it, it didn’t happen.’”
“Could be an ex-member,” Phillip suggested. “Tat was faded, looked like he’d tried to remove it.”
“So, a house to the east of a House of Tongs, near a trolley stop, guarded by Cerberus with a magic circle around it,” Daring concluded. “Shouldn’t be too hard to find.”
“Don’t jinx it,” Flash stated.
“And I know who can help us,” Phillip stated grimly. “Daring, c’mon. Got work to do.”
“Right,” Daring nodded, spreading her wings and taking flight, scooping Phillip up.
“Good luck!” Twilight called as they flew westward towards the city.
As they soared over the flattened pathway, leaves rustling in Daring’s wake, Phillip shifted and looked up at his pilot. “Lazarus,” he repeated.
Daring scowled, the cursed brand itching beneath her skin. “That’s why they wanted the professor,” she grunted. “They need him to translate it.”
“And what is the Lazarus Ritual?” Phillip asked.
“Well, I did some research in the library a few moons ago,” Daring stated, breaking free from the surrounding trees and heading up the dirt roads towards the city proper. “Lazarus was a dark wizard who lived in the Crystal Empire in the ninth century, and apparently, he was so bad that after he was hanged, Empress Speranza ordered that all records of his research were destroyed so that nopony else could attempt it. But of course, some bits and pieces allegedly survived.”
“Can’t be good, then,” Phillip replied. “Faster, need to get to Night Waltz’s office quick.”
Night Waltz’s office was located in the Apex office building, which stood on the border of the Industrial and Financial Districts, just to the west of the center of Ponyville. The fifteen-story glass and steel edifice stretched imperiously over the other buildings, the setting sun reflecting off the windows in a burnished orange glow.
Daring set Phillip down on the concrete in front of the entrance and landed with a heavy flop, panting and rubbing her back. “Okay, I think I’m done flying for today,” she groaned, stretching out a kink in her spine with a chorus of pops and cracks.
“Good,” Phillip stated, proceeding through the revolving door. They entered a small but simple lobby, with a pale red carpet and matching couches, with a potted plant placed in the corner as an afterthought. A receptionist sat behind the desk, hidden behind a newspaper. A sign on the wall listed what offices and businesses were on each floor. Phillip ran a hoof down the list.
“Waltz is on the twelfth floor,” he reported, heading for the elevator. The two entered the elevator and Daring hit the button for the twelfth floor with a wing. The doors slid shut and the box trundled upwards.
“You clear on the plan?” Phillip asked over the light jazz music playing over the speakers.
“Yeah,” Daring nodded, scowling. “We lay out what we know, then get hard if he still resists.” She took a breath. “I’m kinda hoping he does.”
“He probably will,” Phillip muttered as the elevator stopped at the twelfth floor.
The doors opened onto a long hallway with pale green carpet and doors on either side. Phillip trotted forward and knocked at the door on the left, labeled Night Waltz.
“C’mon in!” a voice called from inside. Exchanging scowls, Daring and Phillip entered.
Night Waltz’s office was surprisingly humble. Waltz himself was sitting behind a large oak desk, his hooves propped up on it as he smoked a cigar, eyes closed as he presumably pondered life’s persistent questions. Three largely cushioned couches stood in front of the desk for visitors, and a small but well-stocked liquor cabinet stood within easy reach. An expensive painting of a snowy mountain landscape was placed on the opposite wall.
“Well, well,” Waltz grinned broadly, sitting up straight and dropping his cigar into a crystal ashtray. “Look who’s here. And how can I help the great detectives?”
“Denarii,” Phillip stated, standing before the desk.
“What about ‘em?” Waltz asked.
“Earlier in the bar, you paid for those drinks with denarii from the North Griffon Empire,” Phillip stated. “Coins you got from Whitestone.”
Waltz just smirked. “You wanna prove that?”
“Because somehow, Whitestone’s crew knew about Professor Tome and what he’d been working on,” Daring cut in, glaring down at the smirking little worm. “They murdered good ponies, all because somepony was feeding them info.”
The other detective blinked and his eyes darted down to the side for a half second, but the crack in the mask quickly vanished. “I could’ve gotten those denarii from somewhere else. What makes you think it was me?” Waltz asked.
“Because your car was spotted outside Professor Tome’s house,” Phillip stated. “A dark blue Custom Coupe 1939, license plate CD3 68A.”
Waltz scoffed. “You’ve seen my car. It’s a Pontifact. I wouldn’t be--”
“You rented it,” Phillip interrupted, voice dropping slowly lower. “I called the rental agency that owns it. An earth pony with a mustache rented it a few days ago.”
Waltz faltered for a moment, then grunted, his smirk fading. “And if I did? It’s not a crime to watch somepony; in fact, it’s kinda my job. I can show you my PI license if you show me yours.”
“Who hired you?” Phillip asked.
“Ah-ah,” Waltz said, scoldingly wagging a hoof at them. “Client privilege.” His smirk returned and he leaned back in his chair again. “What do you have? Nothing. Nothing that can be pushed on. So what are you here for?”
Daring’s stomach turned, heat and tension spreading across her chest. The images of the corpses in the temple flashed across her mind, the scent of blood, the disgusting, slimy sounds of the griffon swallowing the young pony’s entrails echoing in her ears. She nearly launched herself at the smirking snake and seized him about his scrawny neck, but forced herself to stay back. Not yet. Not yet.
“We have enough to get ponies to take a closer look at you,” Phillip answered coolly. “It’d make your job a lot harder. Make you less useful to the ponies who’re paying you.” He glanced at the cigar and the liquor cabinet. “None of this comes cheap, I note.”
Waltz’s eyes glanced at the cabinet, his lips thinning. There, a crack. Now to push on it harder.
“There’s something I don’t get,” Phillip continued, his voice like the low rumbling of distant thunder. “You were following the professor, but Whitestone’s crew needed the High Priest’s ring for something. Whitestone doesn’t know where he is, but she hired you to follow him.” He paused, then raised an eyebrow. “Playing both sides is a dangerous game, mate.”
Beads of sweat trickled down Waltz’s forehead and he swallowed.
“Especially if both sides don’t think that they can trust you,” Daring cut in with a smirk, placing her forehooves on the table and leaning in. “Because we could always put the word out that we got our next lead from you. Wonder how much Whitestone would like to know that you’re a stool pigeon.”
“You wouldn’t,” Waltz breathed, leaning back, eyes going wide.
“Better yet,” Phillip growled, reaching up for the pocket that he carried his baton in. “Daring, lock the door. There are other ways to get what we want.”
Daring shot Waltz an evil grin and turned, striding towards the door.
“What—no, wait! Okay, I’ll talk!” Waltz cried out.
Daring paused and turned back, a small, sour flavor of disappointment curdling in her stomach. They hadn’t ever planned on actually hurting him—the ramifications were far too deep for either of them—but a part of her was hoping that he’d call their bluff...
But Phillip was still glaring down at Night Waltz, chest heaving with slow, heavy breaths like the winds of an oncoming cold front. His hoof hovered over the pocket of his baton, refusing to lower.
“Phil?” Daring called, trotting towards him.
The knees, the jaw, the ribs, the dark voice whispered in Phillip’s ear. Knock the teeth out, one at a time...break him, smell his blood, teach him fear, show the scum what he deserves…
“Earth to Phil! Hey!” Daring shouted, shaking his shoulder. He blinked and started slightly, the dark glow that had enveloped his eyes disappearing to be replaced with a faint glimmer of shock. He shook himself and glared at Night Waltz.
“Talk. Who hired you?” he grunted, lowering his hoof.
“I don’t know,” Waltz replied, dusting off his coat. “Honestly. I just got a note telling me to investigate Professor Tome, a phone number to report back everything I learned, and payment in advance. And I’ll tell you this,” he added, stabbing the air with a hoof. “When you get a note from Whitestone, you don’t ask questions, you say ‘aye, captain.’”
He paused to take a brief drag on the cigar, filling the room with more foul-smelling smoke. Daring fought down a cough. Why do ponies pay so much for that shit?
“Anyway, I started following him, doing research on him and the kid he lived with, and then another group started paying me to check into him too, and I mentioned that to my first employer,” Waltz stated. “That was the day before he was kidnapped. I don’t know who took him.”
“What do you know about Cerberus operations?” Phillip asked.
Waltz shrugged. “I could find out…”
“Cerberus is guarding a two-story house in Ponyville,” Phillip said. “It’s to the east of a House of Tongs, near a trolley stop. One of the guards there is a green earth pony with blue eyes, Cerberus tattoo on left foreleg.”
Waltz glared at him for a moment, then sighed. “I guess I could find out what you want,” he muttered. “But you didn’t hear it from me.”
“Appreciate the help,” Phillip growled, turning around. Daring followed him out, giving Night Waltz the Flying Feather over her shoulder as they left, slamming the door shut behind them.
As they entered the elevator, Daring glanced down at her revolver. “You think he’ll pull through?” she asked.
“He will,” Phillip stated, staring straight ahead as the elevator trundled down.
Daring was silent for a few seconds, watching the hand of the display ticking down past six. “So, what was that in the office?” she asked. “You were out of it for a couple seconds.”
Phillip shifted a bit. “Lost focus for a moment,” he muttered in a tone that made it clear that they weren’t going to discuss it further.
Daring watched him out of the corner of her eye for a moment, standing and staring stonily at the door, then let out a breath and continued to watch the display. The elevator shuddered as they stopped at the ground floor and the doors opened with a ding, allowing them to exit the lobby.
The sun was dipping lower and lower to the western horizon, a few clouds still stubbornly clinging to what territory they had claimed. “Apple Pie?” Phillip offered as they started walking down the sidewalk. “Been a while since I played a set.”
“Sounds good to me,” Daring replied.
They hailed a trolley that carried them to the northeast district of the city, dropping them off at a twisted four-way intersection with a fountain. Fewer ponies were left on the streets as darkness approached, most of the remaining ponies roaming with their heads down or loitering on street corners and against buildings, smoking cigarettes and speaking in low voices. Phillip and Daring walked briskly towards Honeybee Bakery Street.
“Psst,” a voice called. Both ponies paused and turned around to see Blue Rose trotting up behind them, eyes darting around.
“You’re still looking for that professor, right?” they asked in a low whisper. “I...I’ve got some more info, I can help you. Come with me.” They beckoned into a nearby alleyway.
Phillip and Daring exchanged glances. “This feels fishy,” Daring growled, hackles rising.
“Need info,” Phillip replied, already following the changeling into the alleyway. Daring sighed and followed him.
The alley was close and narrow, smelling of garbage. Trash cans stood in rows along one wall, opposite a brick section with graffiti splashed over it in bright, gaudy colors. Blue Rose was trotting further down the alley, proceeding towards the dead-end wall. Phillip proceeded forward, with Daring following, glancing at every shadow and behind every obstacle.
“What is it?” Phillip asked as he approached Rose. Rose frowned and looked around, eyebrows creased in confusion.
Phillip and Daring should’ve anticipated the attack, but it was still a shock to them both when two orange spheres suddenly crashed into their heads. Daring staggered, blinded with pain, ears ringing and head spinning.
Hooves seized her forelegs and tossed her to the ground; the taste of blood and concrete filled her mouth. A heavy blow rammed into her stomach and knocked the wind from her lungs. She gasped and gulped like a fish, trying to shout, to scream, something, but all in vain. A rough cloth was secured over her mouth and tied tightly; she tried to struggle, but the hooves holding her forelegs closed down like a vise and she was rendered immobile.
Her vision returned through a haze of pain and she found that she was laying on her chest on the ground; looking up, she could see the very faint outlines of the ponies holding her down. Phillip was laying a few feet away from her, similarly gagged and pinned by ghostly silhouettes, shaking his head as he tried to refocus.
One by one, each of their attackers faded back into visibility, the dog tags they wore glowing faintly with orange power. Daring glared up at the mare who was currently holding onto her right foreleg. Bright Sparks, her trench coat flapping slightly in the cold wind. The Licorice twins, Sledgehammer, and Dusty Tail were with her, pinning Phillip and Daring down.
“Thanks, Rose,” Sparks grunted at the changeling, not taking her eyes off of Daring. Daring glanced up to see Rose stepping back, head hung low and face turned away.
“Don’t struggle,” Sparks growled to Daring, her horn sparking. “We’re not here to hurt you; we just want to talk.”
“Speak for yourself,” Daring heard Sledgehammer growl as he held Phillip’s foreleg down. Bright Sparks shot him a brief glare before turning back to Daring.
“Listen, we know you’re looking for Professor Tome,” Bright Sparks said. “We’re gonna warn you once: don’t. You don’t want him found.”
Daring let out a muffled growl.
“Yes, we have him,” Sparks continued. “We only kidnapped him because Whitestone was going to get her claws on him first.” She paused for a beat, then leaned closer. “She wants him because she needs somepony to translate the Lazarus Ritual. Roaring stole it for her last week from Zugzwang; he told us about it.”
“Sparks, you sure we should be telling them?” Dusty Tail asked, one eyebrow cocked as he held down Daring’s other foreleg. “This is—”
“They need to understand what’s at risk here,” Sparks replied. Turning back to Daring, she continued.
“You remember Lazarus, Daring?” she asked. Daring glared but nodded. “Zugzwang told us what it was,” Sparks explained. “It’s a ritual to…” She paused and licked her lips, then sighed. “It’s a ritual to raise the dead and turn them into an army.”
Silence fell over the alleyway as everypony stared at Bright Sparks. Daring blinked up at the orange mare for a few seconds of silence, then let out a series of muffled exhalations, quivering in the grip of her captors. It took the ponies a few seconds to realize that she was laughing behind her gag.
“This is serious!” Sparks shouted. “I don’t care if you think it’s something out of a dimestore novel, this is real, and it’s serious.”
Daring stopped laughing and mumbled a question, cocking an eyebrow up at Sparks. Sparks stared down at her for a moment, then lit up her horn and undid Daring’s gag.
“Sparks!” Sledgehammer shouted.
“She won’t try anything,” Sparks snapped at him.
Sledgehammer just growled. “If she does, I’m ripping her coltfriend’s arm out,” he grunted, glaring at Daring.
Daring spat and licked her lips before speaking. “You know, you could’ve just told us,” she commented, rolling her eyes at Sparks.
“You wouldn’t have been able to stop her,” Sparks replied. “While we’re holding him, we’re trying to negotiate with Whitestone to get her to stand down. But you…”
“What, you’re gonna kill us if we don’t back off?” Daring snarled. “If you were going to, you would have already.”
Sparks’ green eyes met hers for a moment, wide and faintly shimmering, then closed. “No,” she replied. “We just want to make a deal with you.” Her eyes reopened and she gazed down at Daring with a cold intensity in her irides. “You back off, we give you Zugzwang,” she said.
Daring’s eyebrows rose. Sparks lifted a small brown paper envelope out of her trench coat pocket and held it up in front of her, bait before a fish.
“This is one of Zugzwang’s packets of cigarettes,” Sparks explained. “Freshly made. He left this tin at our headquarters some time ago; I swapped it out with a magical duplicate while his back was turned.” She smirked proudly. “We figured maybe you could do something with it.”
“You figured,” Sledgehammer muttered.
“Sledge, shut it,” Sparks snapped at him. Sledgehammer glared at her but fell silent.
“So here’s the deal,” Sparks explained. “You back off from Professor Tome, and we let you have that.”
“Why d’you want us to go after Zugzwang?” Daring asked.
“You know what he did when Scarlet yelled at him over Roaring stealing the Lazarus Ritual?” Dusty Tail growled. “Laughed. The son of a bitch just laughed. Like it was the funniest thing in the world.” He snorted. “Working with him was about as smart as trying to pet a rattlesnake.”
“We need him gone,” Sparks added. “But we don’t know where he lives. But this,” she added, shaking the envelope and producing a soft rattling from its contents. “He’s having these delivered. We’re not sure where, but if anypony can figure it out, it’s you two.”
Sledgehammer snorted and rolled his eyes.
“And…” Sparks paused, and Daring took the opportunity to overlook her former sister. It was then that she noticed something she should have already noticed: the lump in Sparks’ belly was gone.
“He’s threatening your kid,” she concluded.
Flames flashed in Sparks’ eyes. “As long as that fuck is out there, my son is in danger,” she spat, pocketing the envelope. “He’s an insane self-obsessed lunatic and a threat to all of us.”
“Took you that long to figure it out?” Daring snarked. “Ow!” she added a moment later when Dusty gave her a harsh kick in the ribs. She took in a breath, then added, "And if you could take his cigs, why not just poison them?"
"We tried that already," Scarlet replied. "He tasted the poison and spat it out. Then he chuckled. Seemed to think it was funny. And then he..."
She looked up at Red Licorice. Daring looked up at Red, who frowned, then lowered his head. His right ear was gone, the remaining flesh jagged and torn, a bright, ugly red. Daring drew in a breath in a hiss.
“We can’t move against him directly ourselves,” Sparks continued. “But you…” She glanced at Phillip. “For some reason, he’s obsessed with you. We figure it’s less likely that he’ll hurt you.”
“Which is the only reason you’re still alive,” Sledgehammer grumbled.
“Sledge, take a breather,” Black Licorice scolded him.
“This is not the time,” her brother agreed. Sledge frowned but fell silent.
“So here’s the deal,” Sparks stated. “You back off from Professor Tome until we can return him unharmed, and we’ll give you this clue to find Zugzwang and take him out. Deal?”
Daring stared up at Bright Sparks for a few moments in silent contemplation, then asked, “How’s the foal?”
She blinked, green irides shining, and for a brief moment, Daring knew that Bright Sparks was not looking down at her enemy, but at her little sister, the one that she’d taken in, mentored, shared her life with.
Then the eyes hardened, and the moment passed. “He’s fine,” Sparks said quietly, looking away. “Healthy.” She paused. “He looks like his father,” she added in a whisper.
“I’m…” Daring swallowed. “I’m sorry, Sparks.”
Sparks just growled. “We’re done here,” she announced, releasing Daring’s foreleg. The others holding Daring followed suit and Daring stood up, stumbling against Sparks as she hauled herself to her hooves; Sparks shoved her back with a grunt, causing Daring to stumble onto her hindquarters.
The others released Phillip and quickly gathered around Sparks as she lifted a small glass tube containing a crystal out of an inner pocket. Breaking the glass with her magic, she tossed the crystal up into the air, where it hovered, sparking and flashing. A moment later, there was a blinding flash of light, and the crew disappeared.
Daring got to her hooves and rushed over to Phillip, ignoring the pain spreading across her abdomen from where she’d been struck. She helped him to his hooves as he pulled the gag out of his mouth.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Fine. You?” he nodded.
“I’m all right,” she lied, though most of the pain she felt was not physical.
“I’m sorry,” Blue Rose apologized, hovering from behind them. “They paid me and let me have a large serving of love to lure you in...they just told me they wanted to talk to you, but…”
“Go,” Phillip growled at her, refusing to even look at her. Blue Rose flinched as though struck, then retreated. A brief flash of flame and she swapped her horn for a pair of wings, flying off into the evening.
“Right,” Phillip muttered. “We’re obviously not backing off from Tome. If we knew where they were, we could get those cigs…”
A crinkling noise interrupted him. He looked up to see Daring smirking broadly, holding up a brown paper envelope.
“You were saying?” she grinned.
A broad grin spread across Phillip’s face. “Have I ever told you that I love you?”
“Maybe once or twice,” Daring replied, pocketing the stolen envelope and turning, drawing her tail across his chin as she did so. “Let’s get home; we’ve got work to do.”