//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Before You Leap // Story: Chaos Theory: Broken Phoenix // by Littlepony115 //------------------------------// Chapter One Nova found it strange that, of all the places to put a mirror, the captain had chosen to put his directly behind his chair. It meant that, instead of fiddling with a rune, or flicking through a book, her eyes lingered in those of her doppelganger. The red, swirling net of lines within the irises was mesmerising. It didn’t help that it was paired with pristine, sandy fur and a flowing, fiery-orange mane. I swear, I’m not a narcissist. She thought, smiling a little at the idea. It wouldn’t do to be self-absorbed in my position. Too many scars. Besides, she was meeting someone very important and really shouldn’t be troubling over her appearance now. Soon, her mind wandered to the clock on the wall, her eyes tracing the outline of each finger in boredom. 9-o-clock. He should be here by now. It was not very professional for someone of such a high position to be late. Especially when they were the one who asked you to show up. Although, with that being said, it was more a case of answered advertisement, as opposed to a private invitation. Turning her attention back to the mirror, she began examining just how much of her shattered horn could really be seen through her mane. Enough to intimidate anypony looking for it but not enough to cause a scene… Hopefully. A cough stole her attention and she started, straightening her back, self-consciously. Flicking her head, she gave a courteous smile. The captain, Shining Armour, had been very particular about his interview with her and she couldn’t help but feel like he held her in a rather low regard. It wouldn’t do to miss an opportunity to impress him; after all, she knew just how much such a person would adore obedience and conformity. We’re not all paid savages. “So, you’re the mare here to solve a problem for me, then?” He asked, raising an eyebrow and setting himself down opposite her. His snow-white fur shone in the light of the lazily-wandering sun as it rose through the windows before him. Nova couldn’t help but wonder why anyone would choose to have their desk facing the sun. It seemed pretty backwards. “Yes. You said you had a monster that you wanted hunting? I can do that for you,” She said, leaning forwards in her chair. Despite her application describing her as being open to all legal jobs, she’d had a recent flood of monster-hunting contracts that had long since proved her ability to exterminate the beasts. Beats guard-duty. Shining had to admit, he hadn’t been expecting someone so well-prepared. Many mercenaries he’d used in the past were underhanded and crudely-equipped; this mare’s armour was thick in all the places that wanted protecting, but thin and light where it needed to be. It was fairly high-quality plate – beyond, even, his own silver captain’s suit. Another thing to raise an eyebrow to was that she had two large swords strapped to her back, each one in its own hefty scabbard. “A monster indeed. One that has stolen something of great value from one of Equestria’s most… Fragile allies, during their visit. You may have seen in the papers, actually. Quite the catastrophe; tell me, have you heard about the ‘Jewel of Griffonia’?” Nova thought it over for a few seconds, trying to remember if she’d heard the name before. Truth be told, she couldn’t exactly be called a newspaper fanatic, having read many false prints before. Some even covers of her own actions. Eventually, she’d just stopped bothering. “No, I can’t say I have. Though, I presume it was an important jewel that was stolen from Griffonian representatives during a visit to Canterlot?” It’s incredible how easily rephrasing what somepony’s already told you can convince them you know what they mean. “Very perceptive of you, though they were no mere representatives. It was, in fact, the Prince of Griffonia himself, Revel. Griffons have rather short names, you understand. Either way, this jewel is a staple of Griffonia and its loss would not do well for the country’s morale,” Shining leaned back in his chair, idly balancing a quill between his fingertips, “Nor does this bode well for The Princess, as, despite Revel being largely to blame, it was her who had assigned those in charge of the jewel’s safety.” Shining stood up, wandering over to one of Canterlot Castle’s windows. Through the pane of glass, he could see lines of guards, training in the courtyards below. He always found it rather cathartic to watch them move. So synchronised. Such obedience. “So, you want me to find the monster that took the jewel and slay it before bringing the jewel back?” Nova questioned, raising an eyebrow at the tall order. “No. The jewel has long since passed hands from the thief. I just want you to bring said thief back to me so The Princess can reassure Revel of our alliance.” She nodded, tapping her fingers against her chair as she waited for him to continue. “Do you… Have any information that I could use to find it? Such as, what kind of mons-” “All the information you need,” He interjected, “Is in this.” He slid open a drawer of his desk and picked up a scroll, dropping it lightly onto the wooden top. “You’ll have access to a majority of our services and we have several leads on our hands. Those are all in the scroll. The jewel itself is being tracked down by one of our own agents, Fancy Pants, so you needn’t worry about that. If you do happen to find anything that could hint to its location, though, I’m sure he’d love the help.” With a nod, she picked up the scroll, taking a moment to look over the wax seal. It was all too much effort, considering she was going to break it the moment she left. But that was the way with royal endeavours. So many rules and regulations. “With all due respect, Shi- Captain, what kind of pay are we talking here?” Shining rolled his eyes, carefully making sure to be turned away when he did. Money. It’s all these mercenaries care about. No honour at all. “You’ll be paid enough. To be exact, the minimum shall be five-thousand bits, with extra available depending on how well you enact our orders. Of course, if you take too long, we shall open the contract publicly. You’ll have quite the competition for such an amount, so do take it seriously.” Nova’s eyes gleamed at the sum and she stood up, offering a gloved hand to Shining. He shook it and she cracked a smirk, satisfied at having brokered a new contract. “Pleasure doing business with you. Now, I’ll go trap a monster, shall I?” --------------------------------------------------❆-------------------------------------------------- The halls of Canterlot Castle were picturesque, to say the least. The light from the shining sun cast a kaleidoscope of coloured rays through the stained-glass windows, painting the tiled floors with the splattered shades of a thousand inks. She couldn’t help but feel as if the majestic place was unappreciated. Such a thing could easily be revealed to all as being a place of wonder and beauty, and yet it was so often closed off to the public. Truly, the only time it was inhabited by anyone other than the Princesses or guards themselves was either the Grand Galloping Gala or when a new royal was crowned. Which hadn’t happened since the birth of Prince Blueblood. With a sigh, Nova pulled out the scroll she’d been given and slid a nail along the wax that held it together. The ribbon unravelled and the scroll unfurled into a long sheet of parchment. Choosing one of the many cushioned benches that sat at odd intervals in the Castle halls, she relaxed to read the thing in its entirety. May as well get a good grip on the job. The first thing that caught her eye was that the monster had a name. A relatively normal name, as well. ‘Solar Eclipse’. In fact, the parchment seemed to describe the ‘monster’ rather well. “Female… Pegasus? Dark, grey fur. Two-toned, blue mane… Blue eyes. Lighter-grey wing tips… Wore dark leather and a half-mask,” She read aloud, muttering the words under her breath with an air of annoyance. Not a monster at all… She’d captured criminals before, generally under the orders of some batch of the Royal Guard, but she was still aggravated that Shining had deliberately lied to her about her target. Not to mention she wasn’t too fond of those jobs, anyway. Despite the scroll’s mentioning of the mare biting and incapacitating a guard captain, she’d been expecting something a little more… Concrete. A werewolf or manticore. That was the kind of thing she usually dealt with. It makes a little more sense that the jewel was stolen, then. She’d practically just been hired to play detective while the Guard bothered over other things. There was a sketch attached, too. One that showed Solar to be a fairly skinny mare around one and two-thirds of a meter tall. A little shorter than Nova herself. All things considered, she didn’t know whether or not to take the descriptions of ‘vampirism’ seriously or not. Chances were, the thief used some sort of magical item or syringe over her own teeth, even if the reports were from Shining Armour himself. In fact, doesn’t that mean… She chuckled slightly at the realisation that the ‘guard captain’ mentioned was Shining. That meant he’d had been in charge of protecting the jewel. No wonder he’d been so uptight about it. It also made some sense as to his insistence that Solar was a ‘monster’. Pride is always a guard’s downfall. Rolling up the scroll, she tucked it into her belt, biting her lip slightly as the centre was crushed down by the strap. It’s fine, it doesn’t need to be in good condition. Truth be told, she really needed a better storage system for herself. Pouches and belts were fine, but just weren’t cutting it for scrolls and larger items. Besides, she’d racked up enough bits over the past few months of work to pay for anything of that sort. With an elegant roll of her heel, Nova stood up and stretched. Waiting in that office for so long had really put her off – having gone from sprinting towards Canterlot and walking through the streets, carrying her heavy equipment, to just sitting and waiting in a sun-baked room. Her heeled greaves clicked as she followed the halls back to the Castle’s side-entrance. Apparently, a mercenary is too uncouth for the main hall. She thought, tutting under her breath. Or maybe it’s just because it’s guard business. Either way, she stepped outside and sighed. Four armed and armoured ponies were gathered around a silent, brooding timber wolf, each with their weapons drawn and their eyes locked to the beast. He wasn’t dangerous, of course. Well, that wasn’t strictly true, he was, but he would never hurt them. Not when she’d so politely ordered him not to. Soft green eyes snapped open as she drew near, tracking her with a welcoming, yet expressionless, gaze; a small drone of delight reverbing from a twisted wooden muzzle. Each limb of his body moved in sync as he stood up, much to the horror of the guards, to shake himself awake. Small wood chips and leaves fluttered from his form and he padded along the grass before bounding across the cobbled paths towards her. Leaping to her side, he circled around her to stop at her right, sitting patiently beside her – happy that his mistress had returned. Truly, he didn’t understand why he wasn’t allowed into the big building himself. If anything, his training far exceeded that of those quivering idiots who’d surrounded him the second she’d left. Still, he’d been given orders to stay put and stay docile, so he had. “How’re you doing, boy?” Nova asked, kneeling down to run a hand along his smooth features. To call Spruce a wolf was an understatement. To call him a dog was an insult. Reaching almost a meter in height and bearing sharp wooden fangs that often dripped with a poisonous sap, he was more of the perfect killer than anything else. Powerful limbs let him tear along at incredible speeds and his tough body of stone, wood and vegetation was very resilient. It was all of these features, and more, that made timber wolves so formidable. True monsters. With all that in mind, it was astonishing to see one that didn’t attack everything on sight, let alone one that had been tamed. By a single unicorn, no less. I didn’t even have to use magic. She gave him one last pat before straightening up and whistling him to her heel. Nearby swooshes of grass turned to the clink of armour on brick as the group of guards walked past the two, a few throwing odd glances at Spruce. “Ma’am, that thing should have a… a leash, or somethin’, at least,” One light cyan guard criticised, a look of anger on his face, “I wouldn’t let that thing live, let alone wander free. Ponies like you are going to get us all killed, trustin’ a thing like that.” A little annoyed by his complaints, Nova gave him a glare from the corner of her eye. “I didn’t ask for you to watch him. I know that he wouldn’t do a damn thing I didn’t tell him to do, and I’m sure you know that, too. Otherwise you would’ve ran the second you were excused.” The guard narrowed his eyes, angrily. “Are you saying I wouldn’t look after my own kind? You sayin’ I’d run, are you?” There’s always one. One who just won’t let it go. “No, I’m not saying you would. I’m saying you should.” Reaching a hand back, she drew one of her two swords from its sheath, levelling the titanium blade to his eye-level with ease. It was the shorter of the two, being suited for both one-handed and two-handed combat, but it was far deadlier. Her two-handed silver sword was used for its wonders on certain monsters, not normal combat. She gave a mock smile, hoping that the guard would just back down. “There’s a fine line between bravery and stupidity, so don’t make this experience uncomfortable for the two of us, mon amie.” “Hmph,” He turned away, holding his hands up in surrender, “Fine. Only since you’ve done a deal with the captain, though.” With a shake of his head, he strolled away, stepping through the castle’s doors and out of sight. Good. Nova would’ve hated to have a fight with a guard in broad daylight. In Canterlot Castle, no less. “Still,” She supposed, aloud, “It should be reassuring that he didn’t back down immediately, I suppose.” The amount of ‘soldiers’ across her travels that had caved from her simply because of her equipment, companion, and unsettling appearance was ridiculous. Such virtuous protectors. Regardless, she had places to be. Specifically, another appointment – though, it was one she was less enthused about. Truthfully, she had no idea why Fleet Feel still insisted on her attending his ‘therapy sessions’. Originally, it had been mandatory; when she’d been a part of Celestia’s private guards such things were required so as to remove any excuse of poor performance. It helped that it was covered, financially, by Celestia herself. But now, Fleet simply kept telling her to come back and refused payment. It made no sense to her. Whistling Spruce to walk with her, she began to stroll down the paths of Canterlot Castle, stepping out into the main courtyard with the eyes of every guard nervously tracing her route. It would feel intense to anyone else, but Nova knew that they weren’t stares of suspicion. Rather, they were a mixture of respect, concern and awe. And it feels good. --------------------------------------------------❆-------------------------------------------------- A knock on the door made Fleet pause. Now he had a choice to make, continue writing up this letter or answer his visitor. If I continue the letter, I’ll keep them waiting; if I answer the door, I may be distracted to the point of forgetting the letter. With a sigh, he potted his quill and span his chair, getting up to open the door with a beam on his face. Be positive. Opening the door, he was met with his favourite little case-study, the tall, broken unicorn he’d been asked to keep an eye on so long ago. She gave him a tight-lipped smile and he stepped aside to lead her in. With each of them settling into a chair, her wolf began to settle down on the carpeted floor – laying its head between its paws and closing its eyes to laze. Dragging that filthy thing through my office again. Dropping bits of twig and moss everywhere. “Miss Épeler, it’s a pleasure to see you again. Did my recommendations last time help at all?” He asked, eying her casually. All things considered; she was a fairly intimidating mare when she wanted to be. Tall and fit enough to be respected. But he’d seen her out of her armour, when she wasn’t working, and she wasn’t noticeably bulky. If anything, she was quite attractive. In the tight, plated armour, though, with leather joints and war-torn scratches… It was a wonder she wasn’t pulled aside by guards at all times of the day. Perks of being a mercenary, I suppose. Nova thought on the question, briefly wondering if anything had improved. “If you mean the ‘relaxation therapy’, I wouldn’t say so… With that being said, I’m not sure what I’m looking for in the first place.” Her Prench accent was subtle, but audible – hinting at her origin – and her voice was young. It was interesting that she’d ended up in this part of Equestria, doing this kind of job, all things considered. In any other situation, she’d just be another mare baking cakes or learning spells. It was part of what made her so interesting, and Fleet was infatuated with figuring her out. “Well, perhaps it would be best to put that on hold for now. Instead, how about we take the time you have left – taking into consideration your tardiness – to talk about improving. Have you managed to make any relationships recently? Neighbours, friends, anything like that?” While he was less interested in her recovery, Fleet was desperate to know why she was this way. So uptight about trusting people, so closed-off and solitary. He knew that, by promising her a happier life, she would open up eventually. “No. And I still don’t see why it’s a problem. I don’t need anypony else beside me, it’s unnecessary. A liability that hangs around thinking it’s helping just isn’t a good idea, because, even if I did grow to like it, the whole thing would end in despair. You know what I do, it’s too dangerous for…” She stopped, mulling her sentence over. “Yes?” A look of resignation passed over her face and she leant back in her chair. “I was going to say it’s too dangerous for anypony.” He nodded understandingly, hoping to set her at ease. “And yet, you do it yourself? If it’s that dangerous, why do so? There are other professions for someone of your calibre.” “Because if I don’t then either somepony else will, or ponies will start dying in bigger amounts than they already are. Somepony tells tall tales of monsters under the bed and I have to drag it out, that’s the way it is. I’m not having whatever filly sleeps above dying just because I’m too absorbed in protecting myself.” Her logic was selfless, but concerning. Over Fleet’s career, he’d seen plenty of people with this sort of outlook. A complete lack of self-worth. They always succumb to one of three things; suicide, complete devotion or recovery. The latter was rare, but possible. The former was, sadly, the most common. As for the middle… That seemed the most likely candidate for now. Nova was a mare so utterly devoted to eliminating killers that she would likely fight until her final breath. “Why, exactly, do you think that it should be you?” A look of annoyance flashed across her features and she folded her arms in defiance. “Were you even listening? I said that if I don’t, somepony else will have to and, from what I can see, nopony else should. This…” She sighed, exasperated as she searched for the words she wanted so badly to say. “Thi- I don’t want this for anypony. They’ve no reason to do it.” “But wh-” “Putain d'enfer, what more do you want me to say?” She snapped, cutting him off mid-sentence, “Nopony else deserves this, can we move on? It’s not helpful to rehash the same maudite topic over and over.” Fleet sucked on his lip for a second, unsure if it would be a good idea to let something like this go, but soon resolved to simply sigh. “Well, I think it’s very helpful for you to get this out there. After all, is that not why you were here in the first place? Because your fellow bodyguards were concerned that you were bottling yourself up? It’s not often The Princess herself pays for therapy.” “They aren’t my ‘fellow bodyguards’. Not anymore, and you know that. Besides, don’t you feel like there are more pressing things that would cause this ‘problem’?” There might be, if you would just tell me. “While a lot of psychological problems are, generally, found in the subconscious, you may be right. Tell me, then, what parts of your past would cause this sort of behaviour? Enlighten me.” She hesitated, seemingly taken-aback that he expected her to tell him everything. Her whole life had been full of trials and tribulations that would scar most. But she couldn’t tell him any of that. Still, she had suggested the idea… I have to say something. “I… I suppose that I feel guilty about several things…” What an awful liar. “What sort of things are you referring to?” “Some clients demand I play the role of the ‘bogey-mare’ when I take on their jobs. They pretend the things which terrorized their peers were solved by an even greater threat, just so they can lie for control. Other times I think about some of the bounties on less… Twisted things, that go poorly,” She admitted, carefully trying to convince him that it was that which caused her problems. Why did it feel so good to tell somepony…? It wasn’t quite a bold-faced lie, either. She did feel guilty. Nobles would hire her to kill a manticore and then claim an ‘ursa major’ had wiped out the beast. Or they’d paint her to be something that needed fearing. Seeing crowds on mares, stallions and foals rejoicing at good news, only to shrink in fear when she was brought forward was… Demoralising. As for the latter… Fleet nodded again, urging her to continue. Okay, more interesting, but still not what I want. “Less twisted things?” Her eyes flicked down to stare at the floor, her demeanour suddenly very uncertain. “Sometimes I take bounties on criminals. I’m sure you know that. I’m on one now, actually, though I didn’t know I was going to be. Either way, some of my past contracts have held a heftier penalty than… Imprisonment. And, I can’t say I enjoy it. Generally, they’re killers themselves, so I justify it with a promise to myself that it’s more lives saved in the long run, but some… Some beg.” The words hung in the air, their syllables having left a bitter taste on Nova’s tongue and a surprised expression on Fleet’s face. “What kind of things do they say, Miss Épeler?” This is definitely more interesting. Not the past, but interesting nonetheless. “I don’t- I don’t think this is helping.” Just tell me, for Celestia’s sake. “It would really benefit us both if you told me, Nova.” She was surprised he’d used her first name. It wasn’t like him. “They promise not to continue. Say that they regret what they’ve done, or that they didn’t do it in the first place. Some of them are lying, and I can tell, but others… Others I’m sure aren’t…” She trailed off, her eyes glinting slightly in the light of the office windows as she blinked away anything that dared stir within them. “Well,” Fleet said, fracturing the silence and reaching out a comforting hand to her arm. He felt a slight pang of remorse when she flinched to his touch. No. We’re collecting information. That’s all. “I think that’ll do it for today, alright? It’s good to get that kind of thing out in the open.” She kept her eyes down, not wanting to face any judgement that he would undoubtably be making on her. Truly, she didn’t understand why anyone would want to pay for this kind of thing, rather than simply letting themselves figure it out. “I think I have another solution to try while you’re gone,” He continued, picking up a small notebook from the table between them. “This was meant for my next client, but I have a lot of them. It’s a diary. I know you are a busy mare, but I have found that ponies can feel better after writing their story out. Please, give it a go.” With a nod, she stood up from the chair and took the book from his outstretched hand, along with a small, silver pen, before pausing. “Are you going to take payment this time?” “Of course not.” Allez au diable, you old stallion. “What if a pile of bits happened to appear on your desk, for no reason?” “I would return them to whoever I found responsible, or I would take them to the bank as a mistaken payment,” He replied, watching her as she walked to the door, only to stop by his desk, her eyes lingering on the letter he’d been writing. That’s ridiculous. Any sane pony would think they were their own. Quickly, she waved a hand over a corner of the desk, her horn briefly stuttering with a glow as it tried desperately to perform a basic fire spell. As per usual, it was nowhere near to perfection, but a dark rune was now softly seared into the wood. It had taken several years, but Nova had eventually found that her horn was not totally useless. Her magic – being mostly heat based – could still cause small flames, or heat up the air around her significantly, but did little else. Runes, however, let her skip both the channelling and specification sections of casting a spell, as, once one had been made, she could simply pump it with magic remotely and it would cast the spell for her. It was the main reason her swords held their etchings in the first place, each one being a different effect she could activate at any time. This specific rune, however, would teleport around twelve bits from her Canterlot account to pile up above it. Each rune she made was specific to her, of course, making it impossible for anyone else to activate it without a hell of a lot of precise tinkering. That’s foregoing the fact that she’d know, too. Not that she entirely distrusted Fleet. If he realised, he’d probably try and buff the thing out first. All she had to do now was wait a little while, then activate the rune – it would then drop some bits onto his desk and he would come back to assume they were his. He’s bluffing about turning them in. He must be. Clearing his throat, Fleet spoke up. “That’s a letter for a client of mine. It just prescribes some medicine,” Fleet explained, “Nothing all that exciting. Have a good day.” She nodded slowly, giving a short whistle to Spruce as she twirled to leave. --------------------------------------------------❆-------------------------------------------------- Leaning against the hard, wooden oak of the counter, Nova considered her options. The list Shining had given her said that there had been a lead recently found through Fancy’s ‘jewel recovery’ project. Quite simply, it was an address used by the thief’s business partner as a centre of operations. Supposedly, Fancy had visited the address himself, under the guise of a client looking for a referral. It wasn’t much, but Nova had utilised less for more before. The obvious choice would be to go to the house directly, to stroll in and demand the thief’s location from the partner, provided they were still there. But that wasn’t guaranteed to work. In all likelihood, they’re long gone by now. No, the better choice would be the bank. To find the owner of the account and to find any and all transactions that were surprisingly large, either on the day, or after, the robbery. The only issue was, that she’d come to this conclusion a little while ago now and had, true to form, walked into the bank with the sole intention of getting information and leaving. As per usual, ponies had jumped at the sight of Spruce and moved aside to let her through, realising her business was probably more important than theirs. Yet, despite this, the stallion behind the desk itself was simply… Incompetent. Tapping a finger against the wood, Nova’s eyes flicked up to the clock on the wall – her teeth biting her lip lightly as the seconds ticked by. Still, she supposed, it’s a good opportunity to sync up my watch. With a sigh that she hoped would hurry the clerk, she fished the old timepiece from a pouch on her belt and clicked the cover open, revealing the ornate clock-face inside. Gears clicked around behind the glass, moving each hand along in perfect time. Or at least, it would be perfect, if the watch hadn’t been neglected. All she’d had to do was take a few seconds every day to wind it up, and she’d failed. Granted, it was during a particularly intense hunt, but it certainly didn’t excuse the fact she’d waited so long to correctly set it again. Popping each dial and twisting it, she matched the watch’s hands up with those of the clock and gave the thing a good wind, smiling contentedly as the hands sped up to match their correct timing. There was something oddly satisfying about the old mechanism getting up to speed. Perhaps it was the delightful whirring it’d made as she’d twisted the key. “Ma’am, this is the file you wanted,” The clerk piped up, finally pulling a folder from one of the many filing cabinets that were stacked along the wall. “The building is labelled under the name ‘Syndicate’. Does that help you?” She nodded, wondering briefly about the times she’d heard the name before. “It does, thank you. May I see the file?” A good portion of my Canterlot targets always seemed to mention him… The stallion fumbled for a second, flicking through the folder to pull out a few sheets of paper. “These just contain some very private details, pins and the like that even investigators are not allowed to see; you understand,” He explained, tersely handing the remaining papers off to her. With a raised eyebrow, Nova read over the documents – running a finger down the transaction list to the date of the robbery. Eight-hundred bits had been transferred to an account under the name ‘Moonlight Sabre’, along with a referral of home ownership. One Ponyville house labelled as ‘Mahogany Hollows’. Not necessarily her… Flipping the page, she checked the description of the account holder. Various blues, stallion, unicorn. Right. “I hate to be a nuisance, but would you have this account’s files on hand as well?” She asked, flipping the page with her finger pinned to Moonlight’s name. With a sigh that irrationally annoyed her, he squinted at the name before turning away to rummage through more papers. The cabinets seemed too full for the amount there were, considering that the ‘S’ cabinet he was searching through for ‘Sabre’ wasn’t even halfway down the room. Customers waited impatiently behind her as he clawed through paper after paper, caught between voicing their grievances and keeping quiet in front of such a figure. “This is it, minus the usual,” He drawled, holding up an extraordinarily thin wad of parchment. Eagerly, she took it from his outstretched hand, reading over the document’s information quickly. “Thank you…” It was just as she’d thought, the account had been created a little over a year ago, with multiple payments from Syndicate’s account alone. There had only ever been one registered address, the Ponyville house, and never a registered job. Not to mention the eight-hundred bit payment was on this account too. Seems we’ve found our mare. “You’ve been a great help, merci beaucoup,” She thanked, handing back the final documents to the confused stallion and bidding him a goodbye. What a great find. It was rare that such mistakes were made so carelessly. She might even be able to find, and turn in, this ‘Syndicate’ figure. Granted, if it wasn’t for Fancy’s tip, she’d never have bothered to check Syndicate’s account to find the odd payments – but it still seemed a little lazy to have all the transactions from the same account. --------------------------------------------------❆-------------------------------------------------- Of all the places to be hiding out, Nova wouldn’t have really thought that Ponyville would be the best place for a thief. Sure, it was a fairly quiet town with little guard-control, but it was also a tightly-knit community. Having been there several times with the Princess before her departure, she’d seen just how much the neighbourhood watch enjoyed itself. One rarely needed guards in a community that would gang up on a spider in a bathtub. Now she simply had to get there. While it would generally be easy, since a train ran back and forth between the town and Canterlot at regular intervals, it just so happened that said train was not too fond of timber wolf pets. Annoyingly, Nova’s runes couldn’t teleport her there, either – not without having both one at her destination, one beside her and a good amount of time. Teleportation relied almost entirely on channelling and specification – for the direction and location of magic. Runes just couldn’t channel magic fast enough for such a large object; she wasn’t too fond of the idea of trying it on herself, either. Perhaps she was getting ahead of herself, though. Going straight after the target could be a bit foolhardy, considering she knew so little about her. Probably a better bet to check out that house… Turning on her heel, she began to make her way along the cobbled streets of Canterlot towards the middle-class section of the city. The house itself was fairly close to the park – a delightful section of nature that was slapped into the centre of the capital. Green grass wavered bashfully in the presence of the wind and water beamed in warm delight as it clashed with the golden sun. Bridges held themselves above the twinkling liquid, keeping their posture to a strict curve for those who crossed them; such like dutiful soldiers, holding their position so resolutely. Various ponies stood or sat along each, chatting and watching the sights and sounds in a harmonic scene of surprising serenity. In the middle of such a bustling city, one wouldn’t expect it to be so peaceful. Of course, that changed a little with Nova’s arrival. Heads turned to her, only to snap back to face their front and cheerful conversations faded into tense whispers. She sighed as she walked, knowing that this would be the way everything always was while she was on duty. It was the way things had always been, in fact. Even off-duty there was enough about her to cause those who paid attention a sense of discomfort. Be it the runic patterns in her eyes, or the broken horn – one would always cause judgement. Generally, it’s the former. Spruce padded along beside her, throwing each pony they passed a low glare. He didn’t like so many of these things being around them at once, much less with the stares some were giving. It set off far too many alarm bells for him. Stepping out of the park, Nova strode towards Syndicate’s homestead, taking note of the well-maintained path. Somepony’s still here, then. As she came to a stop before the door, she paused. This was exactly what she’d been avoiding by going to the bank. If she went in now, it could alert her target that she was after her… All it would take was whoever was inside to send a message. Still, that couldn’t happen if she was fast enough. Taking a breath, she reached a hand back to check her swords could easily slide in and out of their sheaths. Check. Looking down to her palm, she ran an eye over the burnt scar of a particular rune. With a stutter of her horn, her hand burst into flames that licked around her limb with a fierce, determined hunger. They didn’t harm her, which was nice, but it had been incredibly useful in the past. Especially when it came to hand-to-hand combat. Check. She doused the fire and sighed. Nothing else I’d need for something like this. While she technically had a warrant under the crown, she hadn’t been asked to arrest anyone here. To do so without permission would be a bit of a crude practise. Raising a hand to knock on the door, she briefly thought about the terms of her contract. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she thought she should just knock it on the head in favour of going straight to Ponyville. This could end too badly, it’s not wo- The door swung open and a blue unicorn stopped in his tracks, staring at her closed fist as it hovered over the empty space between them. A look of pure panic surged into his eyes for a brief moment before he chuckled in a strained tone. “Can I help you?” He asked, his voice threatening to break as he did so. A pleasure to meet you, Syndicate.