//------------------------------//
// Chapter 15 - Swan Song 
// Story: A Dance With Death 
// by Dee Pad 
//------------------------------//

With the darkness surrounding her and unsettling noises creeping her out, Samba's first instinct within the pitch black basement was to find a light switch.  She just hoped that this place wasn't abandoned and still had power.  As she scanned the walls, she couldn't help but notice the peculiar, earthy scent that filled the basement.  It smelled like dirt and fresh vegetables.

She did eventually find a light switch and flicked it on.  With a deep sigh of relief, Samba finally let her muscles relax as light chased away the darkness, revealing that she was, in fact, alone in the basement.  Now that she had her bearings, she could take a better look around.

The basement was rather large and spacious, but more interesting was the many shelves lining the walls, full of bottled food and assorted vegetables—so many vegetables in fact that there were sacks of them just laying around on the floor.  That, along with the entirely unpainted, plywood walls, made this place feel more like a cellar than a basement; just a place to store preserved food.  In conjunction with that, along the right wall were two large, metal doors that Samba could only assume were freezers for storing the more perishable items.  She confirmed that theory by simply opening one and peering inside, finding nothing but more vegetables packed away on the shelves in the chilly room beyond.

While Samba felt safe that there was nopony around, that created a worrying conundrum: where was Pirouette?  There was nowhere down there that she could be.  Had her stalker simply lied in a desperate gamble to get away?  If so, what was she supposed to do now?  He was dead.  She had nothing else to go on but what he'd told them.  Her daughter could be anywhere.

Not really having any other option, Samba looked around the basement one more time, hoping desperately that maybe there was something she overlooked.  Behind the shelves, inside both freezers; there had to be some clue around here.

She looked over at the freezer doors one more time.  There was something that struck her as odd.  To the right of the freezers was another shelf, just like all the others that lined the walls of the basement.  The only difference was that it was completely bare.  Every other shelf was chock full of food and ingredients, so much so that there were bags of vegetables and bottles of preserves laying haphazardly around the floor.  The place was a total mess despite the fact that there was a perfectly good place to store all the excess supplies.

Now that she looked closer, Samba determined that the space occupied by the empty shelf was just the right size for a third freezer.  While most people might not pay heed to details so minute, Samba had learned a thing or two about observing one's surrounding acutely over the past few weeks.  So, out of curiosity, Samba pulled the shelf aside and examined the wall behind it.

There was definitely a single piece of plywood in the wall that was about the same shape and size as the freezer doors.  Perhaps there once was a third freezer here, but it was removed.  But why do that?  There seemed to be more food stuffs stored down there than they had shelf room for, even with one empty shelf and the freezers stuffed full.  Wouldn't having a third freezer be useful for keeping things a little more tidy and organized?

Samba glanced back at the other freezer doors.  Beside each one was a little digital display, no doubt the temperature controls.  Looking back to the suspicious space in the wall, she could also see a smaller piece of plywood covering the spot where there would be a panel if there was indeed a third freezer.  Upon closer inspection, this particular piece wasn't even nailed in, just fitted there naturally—imperceptible if nopony were looking for it.

Samba channeled her inner detective.  There had to be a reason as to why this "freezer" would be walled off.  Something was being concealed here, and she had a pretty good idea as to what that might be.

She looked around for something she could use to pry the little piece of plywood out of the wall, but found nothing.  With a sigh, she decided to take a shot in the dark once more, concentrating, clenching her eyes shut, and focusing as much magic as she could into her horn.  She could hear the magic sputtering uselessly, but she had to keep trying—she had to save her daughter.

After a few moments, Samba was startled by the sound of wooden clattering on the floor.  She looked down, finding the square of plywood laying at her hooves, and a hole in the wall now exposed.  She almost wanted to jump in the air to celebrate an accomplishment that any normal five year old unicorn could manage, but she had more important things to focus on.

Removing the plywood revealed a simple, black button.  Of course, she instinctively pushed it.  The moment she did, a mechanical hiss of pressurized air came from the wall, and the wall itself began to slowly swing open.

Samba was taken aback by what was inside, even if it was what she had been expecting and hoping to find.

Within the space behind the wall were fifteen mangy-looking people staring back at her, wide-eyed—twelve unicorns, two changelings, and a single kirin—each one with an inhibitor ring affixed to their horns, and each one of them vaguely familiar to Samba.  But it was one in particular that had really caught her attention.

"Mommy!"

The door hadn't even finished opening all the way before Pirouette came running, leaping into her mother's loving embrace.  Samba held her daughter tightly, tears of joyous relief immediately flowing down her cheeks.

"Pira!  Thank Celestia you're okay!  Mommy was so worried."

"Samba!"

The mare looked up to find Mandible rushing over to turn the embrace into a group hug, the changeling weeping more openly than Samba.  After a few moments, Mandible released Samba and wiped the tears from her eyes, but noticed the skeptical look she was giving her.

"It's really me, promise," Mandible assured her, knowing what was going through her mind.

Given the circumstances and the inhibitor ring on her horn, Samba saw no reason to not trust her, giving her a warm smile.  "I'm glad you're okay too, Mandi."

Samba then set her eyes on the other people inside the room, their coats and manes unkempt and dirty, and their faces full of cautious hope.  There was no doubt about it: these were all of the Ghost's victims.  Samba recognized them from the corkboard in Limbo's old apartment.  But one specific mare stood out to her more than the others.  Her coat was jet black, her mane and tail striped with red and purple, and she had a couple of studs in one of her ears.  Even without the heavy eyeliner from her photo, she still had a pretty dark, gothic, almost unsettling air about her, especially with her bright red irises.  Samba had already heard quite a lot about this mare.  She was also the only one who seemed to be perfectly calm, just a small grin on her face as she looked back at Samba, while the rest were wrestling between relief and skepticism.

The black mare began to approach Samba, but was cut off by the lone kirin in the group, his coat a pale white, mane a light purple, and scales ashy grey.  He brushed past everypony else with a haughty huff, staring down his nose at Samba.

"About time.  Took you long enough to rescue us, didn't it?" he complained.  He raised his hoof speaking in a dramatically exaggerated tone.  "Was not our plight motivating enough?  Was not your conviction strong enough that you would tarry as we inched ever closer to the great darkness beyond?"

Samba just quirked an eyebrow at the kirin.

The black mare trotted over with a disgruntled look on her face, prodding the kirin in the chest.  "Yo, Sizz?  Shutcha face for a minute.  You've been here for, what, a month?  You ain't got any room to be whinin' as much as you have been compared to most of us in here."  She pointed a hoof to Samba.  "This mare just saved our lives.  So, instead of actin' like a stuck-up prima donna, maybe try showin' a little appreciation, yeah?"

The kirin—whom Samba could safely assume at this point was Sizzle Conifer—lowered his head like a child scolded, casting a reluctant, apologetic look at Samba.  "Er, right, sorry...  Th-Thank you..."

"Uh, it's fine," Samba told him, though, truth be told, her attention was focused on the black mare and her... unexpected manner of speech.

The captives all exited the cramped room, finally breathing sighs of relief to taste freedom after such a long time.

"You're Samba, right?"

Samba turned back to the black mare.  It was almost kind of surreal to actually be meeting her face to face finally.  "Yeah.  And you're... Poe Ravensong, right?"

"You got it."  Poe noticed the way that Samba was staring at her; seemingly puzzled.  "You okay?"

"Oh, sorry.  I guess, in my head, I imagined you sounding a little different."

Poe cocked an eyebrow.  "What, didja expect me to sound like some kinda valley girl or somethin'?"

"Uh, not exactly.  Maybe... I'm just not used to hearing that accent around here."

Poe shrugged.  "Yeah, well, my dad's a mafioso, soooo..."

Samba took a step back in shock.  "What?!  B-But Limbo said there was no mafia in Baltimare!"

Poe laughed at her reaction.  "Relax, I'm just joshin' ya.  I'm from Manehattan, that's all.  My family moved here when I was just a tot.  Guess the accent just kinda stuck around."

Samba breathed a sigh of relief, smiling back at her, though a little awkwardly.  At least she now had an understanding of from where Limbo got some of her own mannerisms.  With that question answered, she now had another one.  "Wait, you know who I am?"

"Course I do, you kiddin'?"  Poe placed a hoof on Pirouette's head, tousling her curly mane playfully.  "The little squirt here never stopped talkin' 'bout you since she got here.  She's been goin' on and on about how her mommy and 'Lady Limbo' were gonna save all of us."

Samba stared at her daughter in disbelief, the filly just looking back at her with her signature cute grin.  "You really believed that I'd be able to rescue you, Pira?"

"Yeah!" Pirouette chirped.  "'Cause you're a de—de-tect-tive," she sounded out slowly, then smiled proudly up at her mother after having pronounced it correctly.

Samba felt her heart swell at her daughter's confidence in her.  Pirouette may have always looked up to her mother despite Samba's proclaimed shortcomings as a parent, but it still meant a lot to her to hear her daughter say that, and it added credence to Limbo's assertion that she was a better person than she gave herself credit for.

But her self-image wasn't important right now.  She was surrounded by people that had been locked up in that room for upwards to three years, but the person responsible was nowhere to be found.  It would be pertinent to gather some information while these people collected themselves.

"So, do any of you guys know who the Ghost is?" Samba asked the group.

Everycreature just shook their heads.

"Really?  None of you ever caught a glimpse of them?"  Samba recalled something that her stalker had said, and leaned down to Pirouette.  "Pira, the person who took you said he 'dropped you off' here.  So who brought you down to this room?"

"I dunno," the filly answered, looking rather ashamed of herself for not being able to answer the question.

"She was blindfolded when she was brought in here," Poe told her.  "And I'm guessin' the Ghost never said nothin' to her neither."

"Well, the Ghost has access to shapeshifting, right?  They could've just disguised their voice," Samba surmised.

"The other person didn't say anything to me," Pirouette confirmed.  "I only remember one person's voice."

"It's worth mentionin' that Pira's the first victim that didn't get teleported into the room with us since the Ghost copied Blink's spell to that...  What was that thing called again, Mandi?"

"The Spellmet, I think?" Mandible answered.

"Right, I knew it was somethin' stupid," Poe nodded.  "So, yeah, that was a little odd."

Samba tapped her chin in thought.  "Hmm...  I wonder if that means that they didn't actually have the Spellmet with them tonight."  Her eyes widened suddenly.  "Wait, none of you happened to get a look at them when they brought Pira in, did you?"

"If we did, we'd've mentioned it already," Poe reiterated.

A middle-aged mare with glasses chimed in from the group.  "Before they copied Blink's teleportation spell, they always wore a disguise when guiding us down here."

"But I thought they didn't get the shapeshifting spell until they kidnapped Pedipalp," Samba commented.  "Wasn't that only around a month ago?"

"No, like, an actual disguise," a stallion corrected her.  "Like a Nightmare Night costume they bought at the mall."

"Oh.  Well, what about you, Mandi?" Samba asked the female changeling.

Mandible tilted her head in confusion.  "Huh?  What about me?"

"What happened to you when you got kidnapped?  Anything could be helpful."

"Oh, uh..."  She played the night's events in her head again.  "Well, me and Leaf went out to a movie for our date, then we went out to dinner at a restaurant.  I went to the bathroom for a minute, and then somepony bonked me over the head and turned off my lamps.  And then I just woke up in here.  That's all I remember."

"Okay.  I just wanted to know because the guy who kidnapped Pira had your phone and hacked it apparently."

"Really?  Weird."

"I guess it's possible that it was the Ghost who ambushed you, then maybe took your place for the rest of the date.  But I suppose it could've been the same guy who kidnapped Pira, since he had a Spellmet too."

"Yeah, they made us all copy our spells into the new one recently," added Poe.

Samba leaned forward, whispering discreetly.  "Even yours?"

Poe narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her before answering quietly.  "No."

That answer was interesting considering that the necromancy spell was presumably why Poe was kidnapped in the first place.  If it turned out that it was because the Ghost wanted to threaten Limbo, Poe would probably be dead by now.

But these were questions for later.  Samba looked around at all the disheveled and shaken people in the room.  All things considered, they were being surprisingly patient given their circumstances.  It would probably be for the best if they all got some fresh air for the first time in ages.  "Alright, we should probably get out of here.  You guys have families you want to get back to."

Not needing any further encouragement, the group of kidnapping victims made their way upstairs.  Samba was about to follow them, but Poe reached out and stopped her.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Samba looked toward the stairs, where Pirouette was standing, waiting for her.  "You go on, Pira.  Wait with Mandi, okay?"

Pirouette nodded and scurried off upstairs.

Samba turned back to Poe, the two of them all alone in the basement.  "What do you need to talk about?"

Poe hesitated for a moment, glancing up the staircase until she was sure everycreature was out of earshot.  "You and Limbo have been working this case together, yeah?"

Samba nodded.  It appeared Pirouette had told her a lot already.

Poe gazed at her rather seriously, belying her nonchalant attitude up until now.  "How much do you know about her exactly?"

Samba could already tell where this was going.  She was talking to the only other person in the world privy to Limbo's secret.  "I know she's a zombie, if that's what you're getting at."

The other mare narrowed her eyes almost threateningly.  "And have you told anypony about it?"

"No, of course not."

Poe observed the look on Samba's face.  After a few silent moments, her carefree smile returned.  "Guess she must really trust you, huh?"

"Uh, well, to be fair, I kinda accidentally stumbled upon it.  But I owe her my life, so the least I can do is keep my mouth shut about it."

"And help her with the case."

Samba blushed slightly, a sullen sigh escaping her lungs.  "Honestly, I only insisted on that because I wanted to do something meaningful and prove that I wasn't just a useless waste of oxygen..."

Poe just grinned.  "Looks like you did just that.  Man, Limbo must be pretty stoked right about now."  Having said that, Poe looked around.  "Speakin' o' which, where is Limbo anyway?  She's been on the Ghost's trail for three years and she ain't even here to see me when I'm rescued.  She go chasing the Ghost or somethin' while you helped us out?"

Samba blinked.  Now that she mentioned it, that was odd.  "Well, she was just going up to the roof to put her head back on.  I figured she'd be back by now."

Poe's expression once again shifted to seriousness.  "I think we need to head upstairs and find her.  I got a bad feeling."

The two unicorns hurried up to rejoin the group.  Everycreature was waiting outside on the sidewalk, getting their bearings.  Poe approached Mandible, while Samba searched around inside, using her phone as a flashlight.

"Hey, you see Limbo around at all?"

Mandible just shook her head.  "Nope.  It's kinda dark in there, but I probably would've noticed if she was here."

"Anypony else see anything?" Poe asked the others.

She just received a bunch of uncertain shrugs.

Samba stepped outside to join them.  "I just checked the roof, and she's not up there either."

"Is she chasing the bad guy?" Pirouette speculated.

"Maybe, but I feel like I would've heard some commotion if that were the case, like some yelling, or hurried hoofsteps, or something, you know?  What about you guys?"

Poe shook her head.  "The Ghost cast Treble's soundproofing spell on that room we was in.  Nopony'd be able to hear us, and we couldn't hear nothin' on the outside."

Samba sighed.  She was starting to get pretty worried about Limbo now.  Something could have happened.  But the primary objective was the rescue of these poor people.  Limbo would probably give her an earful if she ignored them in favor of searching for her.  Their safety right now was paramount.  With that in mind, she took out her spellphone once more.  "I'm gonna call the police and have them come escort you all home."

Poe watched as she made the call, informing the operator of the situation and giving them their approximate location before hanging up.

"Okay, they should be here any minute," Samba told the group, to which she received a chorus of relieved sighs.

"Well, I ain't stickin' around," Poe asserted as she started making her way down the street.

Samba was surprised to see that and made to go after her and stop her.  "Hey, where are you going?"

"To find Limbo, obviously."

"Shouldn't we wait for the police?  They can help."

Poe looked her dead in the eyes.  "Look, here's what's gonna happen when the cops get here: we ain't all gonna be brought home just like that.  The Ghost ain't here, so they're gonna want to question all of us about them.  And it's already...  What time is it?"

Samba checked her phone.  "Almost four a.m."

"Right, so that's pretty late.  They might even try and keep us overnight.  And the longer we're held up, the more likely somethin's gonna happen to Limbo.  I ain't lettin' her go through all o' this effort to save us, only for us not to be able to see each other again."

"But you don't know where to even start looking."

"No, but she probably ain't at the cop station, so I ain't startin' there."

Samba observed the resolve in Poe's eyes.  That was a look she was all too familiar with by now.  And she wasn't about to let all of Limbo's effort go to waste by having Poe put herself in danger immediately.  "Then I'm coming with you."

Poe cocked an eyebrow.  "You sure?"

Samba nodded resolutely.

The black mare cracked a small grin.  "I can see why she took you on.  Alright, but we gotta book it before the cops show up."

"Just a sec."  Samba rushed back over to the group, particularly to Pirouette.  She leaned down to her daughter.  "Pira, Mommy and Miss Ravensong have to go, so I want you to stay with Mandi and the others and go with the police when they get here, okay?"

Pirouette looked at her uncertainly.  "Um, okay.  Where are you going?"

"I... can't say.  I'm not even sure myself, to be honest.  But we have to go.  The police will get that ring off of you and bring you back home to Daddy soon.  I'll try and come back as soon as I can."  With that, Samba gave her daughter a hug and went to rejoin Poe.

"Hey."

Samba looked at Poe, who was smiling at her.

"You seem like a pretty good mom."

Samba rubbed her neck with some doubt.  "That's... up for debate..."

"So, you've been working this case with her for a bit, right?  Any suggestions on where we should start?"

Samba considered it for a moment.  "Not really.  I know that this maybe goes against what you said before, but maybe we should stop by my place for a bit to formulate a plan.  It's not too far from here.  Closer than the police station anyway."

Poe breathed a reluctant sigh, but gave in to the suggestion.  "Yeah, sure.  You might have to catch me up on some stuff anyway."


*****     *****     *****


Limbo's consciousness began to come back to her gradually, letting out a dizzied moan as her single eye cracked open.  Her vision was still a little cloudy, and the bright light only made keeping her eye open more difficult until she managed to adjust to it.  Eventually, though, she managed to collect her thoughts, her vision clearing up to allow her to get a handle on her surroundings.

She glanced around.  She was surrounded by knickknacks, electronics, and various tools stashed away haphazardly on several shelves and workbenches.  From her vantage point, she could identify a staircase to her right, though only barely since it was on the fringe of her blind spot.

The fact that she couldn't turn to see it better was another issue.  She was clearly in somepony's basement, that much was evident.  However, she was unable to explore her surroundings.  It didn't take long to figure out that she was merely a severed head sitting on a table right now.  As for where her body was, that was another story.  She could still feel her body, and she could still move, it was just a matter of figuring out where it was.  Thankfully, that wasn't too hard to determine.  Her body was submerged in water, that much was certain.  Her movements were sluggish, she was soaking wet, and her stomach and lungs were full of water.

There was little doubt as to what had transpired; the Ghost had ambushed her, taken her head back to their "lair," and dumped her body into Horseshoe Bay for old time's sake.  That was the logical assumption.

Limbo moved her body around to see if she could feel her way back to shore, but found her efforts stymied by something tugging on her leg.  Feeling around, it felt as though one of her hind legs had a rope wrapped around it, and the other end was tied to a rather large stone.  Even with the buoyancy of the water, Limbo was unable to lift it, and the knot was too intricate for her to untie with her hooves alone.  She blindly searched her surroundings with her hooves, hoping to find something with which to cut the rope; a sharp stone, a shard of glass, even the claw of a passing crab would suffice, but all she could find was sand and seaweed.  It was unfortunate that she had played her cards at the Magi-Tech Expo; now the Ghost knew that she could move her body independently and had taken that into consideration.

The real question, though, was: Why was she still "alive"?

Before she could ponder that, the sound of a door opening at the top of the stairs caught her attention.

This was it.  She was finally about to learn the identity of the Ghost, even if it wasn't the way she wanted it to happen, left decapitated and at their mercy.

Limbo listened as the hoofsteps descended the stairs, and eventually, a figure came clearly into view; the somewhat effeminate figure of a sky blue stallion possessing a white mane with a thin, red streak, and a smarmy smirk on his face.

Limbo's eye went wide, her pupil narrowing both in shock and aggravation.  "Leaf?!  Augh, I should've known!  Only psychopaths drink iced coffee!"

Loose Leaf just stared bemusedly at her.  "You're really willing to die on that hill, aren't you?  Or, well, I mean—"

"Don't you start," Limbo grumbled.  "I get enough of that crap from Samba."

"You're not exactly in much of a position to be getting snippy," he stated with a snide grin, tapping the table she was stuck upon.

Limbo just groaned quietly.  He had a point.  She was defenseless right now, but that only brought up her previous question.  "So, why am I here anyway?  You could've done away with me, but instead you brought me here?  What gives?"

"If I'm being honest, I just felt like I owed you at least an explanation.  We've known each other for a while now, and—if I'm being real—it's actually been kinda fun watching you run around trying to solve this case.  I'd even go so far as to call it 'thrilling.'"

Limbo furrowed her brow at him.  "So, what, this has all just been some big game to you?  Toying with people's lives just to get some sick kicks?"

"Obviously not.  I was already kidnapping people before we even met."

"Why, then?"

"You already figured that part out, didn't you?"  Leaf walked over to one of the shelves outside of Limbo's peripheral vision, returning with the Spellmet that had gone missing at the expo.  "It was all because of this thing."

"So you just wanted to expand your repertoire of spells?  Didn't that thing cure your funnel horn, though?  You can learn magic without it now, you know."

"Even so, my magic isn't exactly all that powerful—still a little below average if anything.  I couldn't hope to learn the kind of spells I wanted without the help of the Spellmet—which, might I add, is just the dumbest name my brother could've possibly come up with."

"At least that's one thing we can agree on," Limbo muttered.

Despite his distaste for the name, Leaf held up the Spellmet, gazing at it with reverence.  "The first time I put on the first prototype to test it out, I felt the magic flow through my body in a way that I can't accurately describe.  It was a sensation I had never had the privilege of experiencing growing up.  So, to feel it all flooding out at once like that was... exhilarating.  Casting a spell well beyond my natural capabilities was... well, to put it simply: intoxicating.  But even if it did cure my funnel horn, the amount of magic I could muster on my own was still meager compared to what could be accomplished with the Spellmet.  So, I wanted more.  I wanted to feel that sensation again, and have the ability to cast any spells I wanted.  But, obviously my brother would become concerned if I told him my intentions, so I had to resort to petty theft.  Easy enough considering I have free access to Mango Inc. headquarters, being the boss's little brother and all."

Limbo let out a groan.  "Great.  And here I thought I was chasing after a potential super villain looking to conquer Equestria.  Instead, he turns out to just be an ether junkie.  That doesn't sound nearly as impressive."

"It's not like the thought hasn't occurred to me, but conquering Equestria would be a daunting task.  The Spellmet only has so much storage space, which is why I needed this upgrade.  I'm hoping to be able to modify it to expand its storage capacity and override any security features to—"

"Yeah, yeah, more techie gobbledygook, I don't care," Limbo grumbled.  "The 'how' is not exactly my concern, it's the 'why.'"

"And now you know.  Sorry you didn't get to figure it out on your own, but desperate times, you know?  I had two choices: I could go after Samba and stop her from freeing my victims, but then I'd run the risk of you getting the jump on me, and I know I couldn't take you in a head-to-head fight.  To me, the better option was to ambush you, even it meant letting Samba undo my work."

"I'd've thought the Spellmet would have evened the odds for you a little."

"If I had it with me, sure," Leaf grumbled.  "But I didn't.  I wasn't sure exactly what that weirdo would've done if he knew there was a second Spellmet.  He might not have trusted me.  So I had to play it safe once he spilled the beans.  Dragging your body down to the harbor was kind of a chore, though, but I was feeling nostalgic.  And it wasn't like the first time I killed you.  You got lucky back then, which is why I had to resort to murder."

"But this time you had nowhere left to hide," Limbo stated triumphantly.  "You started getting sloppy and left behind too many clues in your desperation."

"I blame that moron, personally," Leaf sneered.  "I specifically told him to kill Samba, but of course he couldn't muster up the courage to actually go through with it."

"Guess you weren't anticipating him knuckling under, huh?"

"Actually, I kinda was.  Samba told me he frequents the bar she works at, but he didn't exactly seem reliable when I met him.  So I rigged that old Spellmet to short out, just in case I needed to do away with him.  I was listening in from my spellphone, but was a little slow on the trigger when he started blabbing.  I also rigged Mandi's phone, just in case."

"A lot of good it did you in the end.  Doesn't change the fact that you messed up."

Her assertion didn't do much to wipe the smirk off his face.  "You're acting awfully cocky for a disembodied head."  Leaf picked up a kitchen knife that had been laying on the table out of Limbo's view.  "All it would take is to drive this through your skull and your snark will be silenced forever."

Limbo didn't flinch, giving him a steadfast glare.  "Then go ahead and do it."

Leaf arched an eyebrow at her goading.  "You think I won't?  I've already killed you once.  After our scrape at the expo, I've pretty much deduced that I've gotta hit the brain if I want to put you down for good.  Am I wrong?"

"No, but you think I care whether or not you kill me again?  At this point, I could go either way."

"And why's that?" he asked curiously.

Limbo grinned victoriously.  "Because you've already lost.  By now, Samba has probably already freed your victims and alerted the cops.  My job is done, so you can do whatever the hay you want to me now, I don't care."

Leaf sighed in defeat.  "Alright, fine.  You got me.  But that doesn't mean I'm just gonna roll over and accept it.  I was actually in the process of making arrangements."

"What kind of arrangements?"

"I've got a contact in Vanhoover who's getting me set up.  I'm hopping on an airship in just a few hours to head over there.  Gonna start over using changeling shapeshifting to assume a new identity, then pick up where I left off."

Limbo growled at that news.  After everything she'd been through, he was just going to up and leave and she'd be back at square one.  Except she probably wasn't going to be leaving this house with her undeath intact.  There had to be something she could do to stop this.

Leaf started back toward the stairs.  "I'm gonna get a drink and take care of something.  Back in a minute.  You need anything?  I could get you an iced coffee," he chuckled.

"Bite me."

Leaf paused for a moment, thinking something over.  "Hey, on that note, I've been meaning to ask: if you bit somepony, would they become a zombie too?"

"Why don't you put your hoof right here and we'll find out?" Limbo threatened.

Leaf rolled his eyes.  "No, thanks, I'm good."

With that, Leaf disappeared up the stairs.  Once Limbo heard the door shut, she wasted no time devising a plan of action.  Leaf might have known a lot more about her than she had thought, but there was one little thing she was pretty sure he was still unaware of.

"Hey, Webber.  You still in there, buddy?" she said quietly.

After a moment, she felt the arachnid wriggle his way out of her eye and onto the table, looking back at her in anticipation.

Limbo smiled with relief.  "Thank Celestia.  I was worried that blow to the head might've done you in."

Webber lifted a leg to dispel her concern.

"Okay, so, you've been listening in, right?  I need you to do me a huge favor.  You gotta find a way to sneak out of here, find Samba, and lead her down to the harbor to find my body.  Leaf didn't have the Spellmet with him when he dumped off my body, so it can't be too far from the wharf.  After that, bring her here.  I know we only have a few hours to pull this off, but it's the best shot we have."

Webber immediately scurried off, up the steps, and clung to the corner of the ceiling to wait until Leaf opened the door again.

After a few minutes, Limbo could hear Leaf returning.  She assumed that Webber took his opportunity to slip out of the basement as Leaf came back down the stairs with an iced coffee in his magical grasp.  He took a long, loud swig to deliberately annoy Limbo before placing the cup on the table next to her head, further disgruntling her.

"So, you just plan on hanging out down here until your flight?" Limbo grumbled.

"Figured you could use the company since you're kinda stuck here," Leaf responded with a friendly grin.

"Such an accommodating host..." Limbo mumbled sarcastically.

That being said, it would behoove Limbo to keep Leaf occupied for a bit while Webber sought a way out of the house—a vent, or an open window, or something.  He seemed to be in a talkative mood, and it wasn't hard for her to come up with a few topics of conversation.

Leaf observed the intense look in Limbo's eye.  "What's up?  You look like you're thinking about something."

"Of course I am.  Not exactly much else a severed head can do."

"So what's on your mind?  I got time to kill."

"I've just been thinking about the order of operations here."

"Like all the places where it should now be obvious that I was the Ghost?"

Limbo groaned, hissing through her teeth.  "Yeah, that.  So, first question: you were the one who enlisted Wick Nimble, right?"

"Obviously.  I actually know Wick.  We worked at the same Mango store before he got fired, so I knew all about his money woes.  Figured it'd be easy to manipulate him into helping me."

"And I assume you weren't necessarily using him as a scapegoat."

"If it had worked out that way, that would've been a bonus, but I didn't think you guys would be dumb enough to believe he was the Ghost."

"So you anticipated him giving us the info, and that in turn was meant to misdirect us about what species the Ghost was."

"Pretty much."

"Why, though?  Even giving us that much info is bad for you."

"Because I knew kidnapping Sizzle Conifer was a risk.  Nirik fire is too useful to pass up, but targeting a kirin was definitely going to raise some questions.  I had to try and throw you off the scent."

"But the inhibitor ring pointed us in the right direction."

"Yeah, I hadn't anticipated that," Leaf admitted.  "I figured you guys would just assume it was acquired off the black market.  But it's not like that was a terribly big deal.  After all, I don't work for Mango Inc., I just worked at one of their stores for a while.  The help I gave my brother early on was voluntary on my part."

"And you quit that job to work at town hall, which I'm now realizing was all because you wanted access to the citizen records to figure out who in this city knew the spells you wanted."

"Right, but I was just an assistant there.  I didn't exactly have the authority to freely look through those files."

Limbo turned her eye away as she realized something.  "But then we gave some of those files directly to you, and then I gave you directions straight to my apartment."

"To be fair, you advertise your agency in the newspaper.  It wouldn't have been hard for me to find your place on my own, but it gave me an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.  Burning those files would only fuel your theory that the Ghost was a changeling while also dealing a blow to you personally.  Samba mentioned how down in the dumps you were after losing your apartment and your leads."

"I wasn't that bad..." she muttered.

Leaf then grimaced.  "But then she had to show up."

Limbo quirked an eyebrow.  "Who?"

"Mandible," he sneered.  "She was a major wrench in the plan."

"Ah, right, because she was the proof we needed to figure out that the Ghost wasn't a changeling after all."

"Exactly.  Honestly, I wasn't expecting Samba to put that together so quickly, so I had to act fast.  The records I burned weren't enough anymore, so I had to be a little more thorough."

Limbo gave him a puzzled look.  "Wait, so you were the one who stole the files that night?  But you showed us your security footage and—"

"Oh, please," he responded with a condescending smirk.  "How hard do you think it is to change a timestamp on a video?  You're just so tech illiterate that you didn't question it, and Samba's just a little too trusting."

Limbo looked away, suddenly feeling a little ashamed of herself for letting something so obvious slip past her.  But she went right back to glaring judgmentally at Leaf.  "So that also makes you Gust's murderer."

"Look, I didn't want to kill her," he argued defensively, his face showing genuine remorse.  "I didn't have a choice.  I had had the past couple of days off from work, so I had no idea she was working late that night.  She must've been in the bathroom when I broke in.  She came back to the office to find me rifling through the filing cabinets.  I was disguised as a random pony at the time in case somepony saw me, but when she caught me, I panicked and changed back to show her it was just me.  My hope was that she'd be willing to turn the other cheek and let me go, considering our, uh... 'relationship.'  It seemed like she was going to go along with it too, but she'd seen me with the Spellmet, and I just couldn't take the risk.  So, when she let her guard down, I..."

"Converted her into a breezie bookmark."

He scratched his head with a sigh.  "Yeah...  It's regrettable, I did like her—not in the same way she liked me, of course—but I was in yet another desperate situation that was most easily solved by taking a person's life."

"Any reason you didn't dispose of the body?"

Leaf shrugged.  "Admittedly, I was taking a gamble on that.  Like I said, I was kinda in a panic.  My thought process was that, by leaving the body, maybe you guys wouldn't think it had anything to do with the Ghost, or you'd be too preoccupied with the murder to realize the files were missing.  I guess I lost that gamble."

"Speaking of, why only take the Mango Inc. files?  I feel like that only points us in the right direction.  Wouldn't it have been easier to just destroy all the citizen records?"

"That goes back to what I just said.  I was hoping you wouldn't notice they were missing.  Taking all of them would've been too noticeable.  Again, guess it didn't help me in the end, but that's what was going through my head."

"Guess your first heist went a little more smoothly, huh?" Limbo commented.  "Though, why go through the trouble of stealing the Spellmet at the expo?  Wouldn't it have been easier to just, you know... go to Mango Inc. H.Q. and walk out with it like the first one?"

"It's not as simple as that.  At least not anymore," he answered quietly.  "You know how rocky my relationship with my brother is.  He used to ask me to come over and help with the Spellmet regularly when it first started development.  Then he decided to run for mayor, the phone calls got less frequent, and next thing I know, I'm completely out of the loop."

"If you're looking for sympathy, you ain't getting it from me," Limbo deadpanned apathetically.  "But this does appear to give you some motivation to frame him as the Ghost."

"I never intended to frame him, you guys just kinda took it in that direction.  Not gonna lie, though, when I heard he'd been arrested, my first thought was, 'Serves him right.'  Honestly, I feel a little bad for thinking like that.  As upset with him as I was, he's still my brother."

"You really have a selective conscience, don't you?" Limbo quipped judgmentally.

Leaf narrowed his eyes at her.  "I don't expect you to understand.  You're an only child.  You don't know what it's like to be the younger sibling, especially when your older brother is so much more successful than you."

"So go see a family therapist or something.  It ain't my job to sit here and listen to you vent."

"You wanted to know why I had to plan the heist, right?  Well, there you go.  It was obvious that Mango wasn't interested in my input anymore."  Leaf frowned slightly.  "But that's also why it surprised me when he called me up out of the blue to join him at the Magi-Tech Expo.  I thought it was his attempt to try and patch things up at first."  He furrowed his brow in frustration.  "But, apparently, he just wanted me to help with the setup."

"Hey, you got to help him present it, didn't you?"

"Oh, yeah, such an honor," he griped sarcastically.  "Bring me up on stage only to not get any credit even though the thing was my idea in the first place.  I definitely didn't feel bad about stealing it after that."

"So obviously that was you I tussled with in the bathroom, then.  Gotta say, you didn't put up much of a fight.  To be clear, I let you decapitate me for a laugh."

"What do you expect?  You have police training and I was struggling with the similo duplexis spell."

"Is that spell really that complex?" asked Limbo curiously.

"Well, the version I had was different from the one that Princess Twilight used.  You know that librarian I kidnapped?"

"Page Turner?  Yeah, she was the one who knew that spell, right?  But according to the princess, that version had some shortcomings."

"Right.  In order to make the spell easy to manage, some of the copy's functions are removed.  The copy I made couldn't speak or hear."

"Ah, so that's why you didn't engage in any witty banter with me."

"It was hard enough to control two bodies at once.  I've tried practicing the spell at home, but it's tough to get used to.  That's why I locked myself in that pitch black janitor's closet.  Made focusing on what the copy saw much easier.  Although, I still ended up inadvertently banging myself up on the shelves and stuff in that room.  But that actually ended up working in my favor.  All I had to do was hide the two Spellmets, slap on the inhibitor ring, and you guys just assumed that all the bumps and bruises were from the Ghost assaulting me."  He flashed her a grin of mock appreciation.  "It was nice of you all to show such sympathy that you let me go without even bothering to search my bags.  You know, you rag on the cops a lot, but you've made your fair share of boneheaded moves too."

Limbo just groaned, again, mentally kicking herself.

"You should thank Mango, though," Leaf continued.  "He's the one who's been keeping my victims alive."

Limbo quirked an eyebrow.  "How's that?"

Leaf looked at her, puzzled by her confusion.  "What?  Why do you think I bothered volunteering at that soup kitchen?  You think I care that much about the homeless?"

Limbo's eye widened when she made the realization.  "Ooooh, that's what that building was.  I thought it smelled like soup and desperation.  Career mentioned that he was the one paying for the food there."

"The ironic thing is that Mango can't cook to save his own life," Leaf laughed.  "But I bet they all got pretty tired of vegetable soup after a while."

"Yeah, laugh it up.  At least they're free now.  You better hope your flight is ready before the cops get here."

"Assuming they can figure it out in time.  Plus, they gotta take care of the poor victims, question them, escort them home, etcetera.  I think I have plenty of time," Leaf stated confidently.

At that moment, the ding dong of the doorbell could be heard.  Limbo gave Leaf a smarmy smirk, but the stallion just shot back one of his own.

"Don't get your hopes up.  I'm expecting a delivery.  That would be my fake I.D. waiting for me."

"So, what, you just have a guy for everything?"

"I mod spellphones for people.  The sort of people looking to have that kind of thing done don't exactly have scruples.  So, yeah, I've made some connections.  Just sit tight for a minute."  He started toward the stairs, but paused to look back.  "Oh, and don't bother shouting for help.  I've already soundproofed the basement.  Had to install a second doorbell ringer down here, though, since I figured I'd be spending the next few hours hanging with you."

With that, he disappeared up the steps once more.  But, if anything, this delivery was a boon for her.  If Webber was half as smart as she knew he was, no doubt he'd made a beeline for the door as soon as he heard the doorbell, and that was his ticket out.  Now she just had to hope he could find Samba before it was too late.


***** ***** *****


There was definitely a bit of unease in Samba's apartment.  It was her own suggestion to come back here to make preparations, but her mind was racing the whole time.  She was terribly worried about Limbo.  The Ghost had done something to her, but whether she was alive or dead—in the truest sense of the latter word—was up in the air.

But here she was, back at home in the dead of night making a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches for herself and her guest.  Of course, she was equally concerned about Poe after what she and the other kidnapping victims had been through, and couldn't just let her run off by herself and possibly get herself killed trying to save Limbo.  Currently, Poe was in the shower, bathing for the first time in nearly three years.  Honestly, Samba couldn't figure out how those people survived in that room for so long considering how bad it must've smelled in there.

As the sandwiches were reaching that perfect hue of golden brown, Samba heard the shower shut off.  A minute later, Poe stepped out of the bathroom, drying her short mane with a towel while the rest of her dripped all over the carpet.

"Man, I actually feel lighter without all the grime in my coat.  Never figured showers were something I'd been takin' for granted all these years."

"I've got some makeup in there if you wanna use it.  I noticed from some photos that you wear some," Samba offered.

Poe shook her head.  "No thanks.  'Sides, I'm guessin' you don't have anything dark enough for my tastes."  She sniffed the air, sighing blissfully.  "It's a breath of fresh air to smell somethin' that ain't stress sweat or vegetable soup for once.  Wuzzat, grilled cheese?"

"Yeah.  I bet you probably would've liked something with a little more substance, but we're kinda pressed for time, and I'm not that great a cook."

Poe shrugged.  "Nah, a grilled cheese sounds like the fanciest meal in the world to me right now.  I'm so sick of vegetables by now that I've seriously considered becoming a carnivore."

Samba plated the two sandwiches, passing one off to Poe while sitting herself down at the table.  Poe didn't bother to sit, just wandering around the apartment as she ate.

"You're not gonna sit down?" Samba questioned.

"I've been sitting down for, like, three years now.  My butt is sore and I need to stretch my legs."

"Fair enough.  But, uh, I have a question.  Maybe it's a bit... invasive, but where did you guys... you know... 'do your business'?  I didn't see a toilet or anything in that room."

"There was a bathroom through the back wall.  Well, it was less of a bathroom and more of a hole in the floor that connected to the sewer system.  Thankfully, the Ghost was courteous enough to install a door for that, both for privacy and the rank smell."

"Yeck, sounds unpleasant," Samba blanched.  "Maybe not an appealing idea, but had you guys considered using that hole to escape?"

"Obviously, but it was too small, and the floor was concrete, so it wasn't like we could pry it open.  Your kid probably coulda done it, but I wasn't gonna subject a sweet filly like her to somethin' like that when she'd been in there for less than a day."

"I appreciate that," Samba said with a grin.  "And I appreciate you keeping her spirits up."

"You kiddin'?  She was the one keepin' our spirits up," Poe chuckled.  "Little ball of optimism, that one.  You raised a good kid."

Samba shied away.  "Well...  My ex raised a good kid..."

Poe observed the shameful and dejected look on her face.  "I dunno, sounded like she had a lotta respect for her mommy too."

Normally, Samba would turn away outside attempts at building her self-esteem.  But, for Poe's sake, she managed a grateful smile.  "Probably not as much respect as Limbo has for you, though."

Poe cocked an eyebrow.  "Yeah?"

"Yeah.  After everything I've heard about you, I can tell you and Limbo are really close.  She's been pouring her all into finding you and catching the Ghost."  Samba's expression fell slightly, showing some concern.  "So much so that she hasn't really been focusing on much else.  She's been so dedicated to saving you that she doesn't really care about what happens to herself."

Poe was somewhat bothered by this information.  "Uh-huh...  She say that to you?"

Samba nodded.  "She outright told me that once she saves you, she doesn't care what happens to her, like her life means nothing to her anymore so long as she can see that you're okay."

Poe let out a breath through her nostrils before shrugging it off.  "Me and her need to have a long talk after all this, but we'll cross that bridge later.  You ready to go?"

Samba took the last bite of her grilled cheese.  "Sure.  I just have to use the bathroom real quick," she said as she made for the toilet.

While she waited, Poe wandered around the apartment as she finished off her own sandwich.  She happened to glance toward the window in the living room overlooking the street below.  But it wasn't the view of the streetlight-illuminated roads that caught her attention.

"Yo, Samba, there's a big honkin' spider on your windowsill," Poe called out.

"What?!"

Poe could hear the toilet flush, followed by some clattering and hasty fumbling with the doorknob.  Samba stumbled out of the bathroom in a hurry, nearly tripping over herself.

"Did you say a spider?!" she asked in near hysterics.

"Yeah.  A big boy too."  Poe grabbed a newspaper off of the coffee table and rolled it up.  "Want I should squash it for ya?"

Samba rushed over to the window to confirm for herself.  Just as Poe said, there was a large, brown spider sitting just outside her window as though waiting to be invited in.  "Webber!"  Without hesitation, Samba opened the window, extending her hoof for the spider to climb on.  A huge, hopeful smile dimpled her cheeks.  "You have no idea how happy I am to see you."

Poe just stared, a little bewildered by what she was seeing.  "Huh.  Never took you for the type to be into spiders.  You came off as kinda dainty, no offense."

Samba glanced between Webber and Poe.  "Oh, right, I guess you two haven't met, huh?"  She held out her hoof to Poe so she could see eye to many eyes with Webber.  "This is Webber.  He's been Limbo's partner for a while, helping her with cases.  She met him sometime after you were kidnapped."

Webber lifted a leg in greeting, no doubt already well familiar with the unicorn.

"That so?  Well, nice to meet ya, Webber.  Name's Poe," she greeted back.

Samba blinked.  "Uh, you accepted that awfully quick.  I know it took me a while to get used to having him around."

"I've seen my best friend talk to me as just a disembodied head.  This ain't the weirdest thing I've ever seen, trust me."

"Fair enough."

"So, what's this mean exactly?  How's this little guy gonna help us?" Poe questioned, receiving a look from Webber that could perhaps indicate indignation towards her doubtfulness.

"Webber was with Limbo when we went to save you guys—inside her skull to be precise.  So if the Ghost took her somewhere, Webber might know where she is!"

Poe's dark face lit up hopefully.  "You think?"

Samba let Webber down on the coffee table.  "Webber, is Limbo okay?  One tap for no, two for yes."

Webber tapped his leg twice.

"Awesome," said Poe.  "So, you can take us to her, right?"

Another two taps.

"This is great!" Samba exclaimed excitedly.  "This'll save us a ton of time!  You're a literal life saver, Webber.  Er, well, 'life saver' might not be the right term, but 'undeath saver' doesn't sound..."  She paused, noticing the bemused grimace Poe was shooting her.

"She's told you off about that kinda thing before, hasn't she?"

Samba blushed, grinning awkwardly.  "A couple times just tonight actually."

Poe shrugged.  "Well, we got our navigator now.  We shouldn't waste any more time.  The Ghost might not have killed her again, but who knows how long it's gonna stay that way."

Samba nodded, but hesitated slightly.  "Yeah, but, listen...  I'm gonna make a suggestion, and I don't think you're gonna like it, but I think it might be a good idea to—"

Before she could finish her thought, a knock on the door interrupted them.  Samba and Poe exchanged uncertain glances.  It was nearly five in the morning, and there was only one person aside from Limbo that would have a reason to show up at this hour.

"I know you're in there, Samba, I can see the light under the door," came the voice of Night Owl.

Samba hesitated, taking a moment to observe the disgruntled look on Poe's face.  Poe may not have liked it, but there was no getting out of this.  So, Samba answered the door, welcomed by the slight reprimanding scowl on Owl's face.

Before he even said anything, he glanced over Samba's shoulder at Poe.  "I figured you were here as well," he said as he entered the apartment.  His expression softened, but only barely.  "Good to see you're alright."

Poe did not react positively to his words, instead casting him a glower.

Owl sighed with a roll of his eyes.  "I see you're as abrasive as ever."

"We don't have time for you right now, Owl," Poe told him bluntly.

"You're looking for Limbo, right?" he presumed.

"How'd you know?" asked Samba.

"Your kid said so.  She said she didn't know where you were going, but mentioned that Limbo wasn't with you at the time.  And considering Poe was gone too, I just put two and two together."

"And yet you came to slow us down anyway," Poe snipped.  "I ain't letting you drag me down to the precinct.  You'll have to knock me out first," she challenged, taking up a fighting stance.

"I just want to ask a few questions.  Is that too much?" he shot back.

Poe narrowed her eyes defiantly.

Samba stepped in to mediate, holding a hoof out to Poe to diffuse her.  After Poe backed down, Samba looked to Owl.  "What do you want to ask?"

"First off, was Limbo with you tonight?"

Samba nodded.  "She came with me to help rescue my daughter.  But we think the Ghost might've gotten her."

"I see.  So, if the Ghost is still out there, how do you explain the dead body we found in a nearby warehouse.  And don't try and tell me it's unrelated.  He was wearing a Spellmet and had Mandible's spellphone."

"W-We didn't kill him if that's what you're assuming," Samba told him defensively.

"I wasn't accusing you.  A quick analysis revealed magical and electrical burns around his head, consistent with the shape of the Spellmet.  I assume the thing malfunctioned and fried his brain.  Guess Limbo was right to be wary of those things.  There was also a bruise on his head, so I assume you two at least tried to fight him."

"Uh, well, that was an accident.  But that guy wasn't the Ghost, obviously.  That was my stalker that I told you about.  He was the one who kidnapped my daughter, but we think he must've been working with the Ghost since Pira was with the other victims."

"Sounds logical.  So now you two are throwing yourselves into the lion's den to save Limbo," Owl said in a judgmental tone.

"Got a problem with that?" Poe sneered again.  "She's my best friend.  Ain't no way I'm gonna just sit back and let you goons muck up her rescue."

"And how exactly do you plan to save her?  Do you have a plan?"

Poe got up in his face.  "You doubtin' me, 'Sarge'?"

Owl didn't flinch, but there was a hint of concern behind his stern expression.  "I just don't want anypony else getting hurt unnecessarily.  You've been through a lot already."

"Such a gentleman," Poe deadpanned sarcastically.  "Now, you wanna get out the way and let us rescue Limbo?  Cuz you ain't stoppin' me."

Samba once again pulled Poe back away from Owl before she started going for his jugular.  She pulled her into the kitchen, whispering quietly to her.  "Poe, listen, I think we should ask Owl to help us."

Poe was vexed by the suggestion, practically offended.  "What?!  Nuh-uh, no way, no how.  The Ghost knows what Limbo is," she stated in a hushed tone.  "Ain't no guarantee he won't find out when we get there."

"That's just the thing.  Owl knows something is up with you and Limbo.  He's had suspicions since you got kidnapped, he just doesn't know what exactly it is you did.  And..."  Samba hesitated, looking away ashamedly.  "...I may have inadvertently made him more suspicious.  So, at this point, it's only a matter of time before he figures out the truth.  Besides, I know he has more respect for Limbo than you two might think.  I think we can trust him."

Poe was silent for a moment, glancing reluctantly over Samba's shoulder at Owl.

"You want to see her again, right?" said Samba compassionately.

Poe just sighed, walking back over to Owl with firm hoofsteps and prodding him in the chest.  "If you wanna come with, then fine.  But I have a couple of conditions."

"I don't have to heed your orders, civilian," he hissed.

"First, it's just you," Poe insisted, ignoring his authority.  "I don't want any other cops gettin' involved with this.  It's bad enough that you're probably gonna learn the truth, so we don't need nopony else catching wind of it."

That piqued Owl's interest, his posture relaxing.  "Alright.  And your second condition?"

She narrowed her eyes fiercely at him.  "You'll keep your pie hole shut about what you learn.  You can do what you want with me afterward, but just leave Limbo alone."

Samba listened quietly, Poe's words sounding familiar to her.  Those two really were as thick as thieves.

"We'll see," was all Owl said in response.

Poe grimaced at that response, but didn't want to argue any further and waste more time.  "Good.  Then let's get going."

"One more question for Samba real quick."  Owl glanced at the coffee table.  "You are aware that there's a big spider on your coffee table, right?"

Samba blinked, having completely forgotten that Webber was there.  She glanced between the spider and the bat pony, trying to figure out how to handle this, but eventually sighed.  If Owl was going to learn the truth about Limbo, then he may as well learn about Webber too, especially considering they were supposed to be following his lead.  "Um, actually, I know this spider.  His name's Webber, and he knows where Limbo is."

Owl just stared uncomprehendingly.  "Excuse me?"

"Look, it's complicated," Samba told him.  She held out her hoof, letting Webber climb up and placing him on her back, eliciting a surprised wince from Owl at how she had just casually allowed a spider to crawl on her body.  "Just... trust me on this.  He's gonna lead us to Limbo and the Ghost."

Owl wasn't sure how to react, so he turned to Poe.

Poe simply shrugged.  "I only just met 'im too, but it ain't like we got any better leads to go off of."

The stallion just sighed with a shake of his head.  "I knew you and Limbo were weird, but I didn't think it was contagious.  Whatever.  Let's just get moving.  But before we go..."  Owl reached into a pouch on the belt of his uniform, removing a small, key-like object with a red jewel in its handle.  "Let's get that inhibitor ring off your horn.  I figured you had one, so I brought this along with me.  Your magic might be helpful."

Owl held the key up to the small, red jewel embedded in the ring, and both it and the key's began to glow.  After a moment, the ring clicked, unclasping and falling to the floor.  Owl then picked it up and put it and the key back into his belt.

Like stretching one's muscles after laying down for a long time, Poe flashed her magic, her horn glowing a bright red as she reacclimated to the feeling of magic flowing through her horn for the first time in ages.  "Hm, thanks," she said halfheartedly, clearly not wanting to give him more credit than she felt he deserved, though unable to completely hide the relief in her crimson eyes.  "Now let's stop wastin' time and get out there."

With that, Samba took up the lead as the three exited the apartment.  "Alright, Webber.  Point the way."

"I can't believe we're taking directions from a spider..." Owl muttered under his breath.

"Trust me, that probably ain't the weirdest thing you're gonna see tonight," Poe assured him.


***** ***** *****


Samba let out a long yawn as the three ponies made their way further downtown as per Webber's directions.  It wasn't surprising that she was so tired; it was nearly five a.m.  Even for her and her night job at the pub, she'd usually be in bed before three.  She honestly felt a little pathetic walking alongside Poe and Night Owl.  They didn't appear to be exhausted at all, despite how late it was.  Owl made sense, since he was a bat pony and naturally nocturnal.  In Poe's case, she hadn't really had a decent sense of the time being stuck in that basement for the past couple of years, so maybe she was already rested for the day.

On top of that, Samba was starting to feel the day's events taking their toll on her, running around looking for Pirouette.  But she had to take the lead because their navigator was on her back.  Still, she felt the need to voice her displeasure.  "Do you guys mind if we stop for a minute.  My legs are basically jelly at this point."

Poe arched an eyebrow at the complaint.  "Your kid said you was a dancer.  How are your legs tired from just walkin' around?"

"I only tend to dance for a few minutes at a time, and usually only twice a night.  Admittedly, my passion for dancing has kinda dwindled since the divorce, so my stamina's a little lacking nowadays," she said with a weary sigh.

"Well, as grateful as I am for what you done, we ain't got time to rest," Poe told her with a little sympathy.  "Yo, Webber, how much further we gotta go?"

Webber stuck a leg out, pointing the way forward.

Poe knit her brow, vexed.  "Wuzzat mean?  Close, not close?  I don't speak spider."

Webber just continued to frantically point forward.

"I think he's trying to say we're almost there," Samba interpreted.  She took a deep breath.  "I guess I can stick it out for another few minutes, but you guys might have to deal with the Ghost on your own.  I'll cheer from the sidelines."

Within a few minutes, the group had arrived at a familiar locale: the harbor.  It became evident where they were going based purely on the smell of the salty seawater and dead fish.  At the very least, the darkness of the night was fought off by the ever-present lights around the wharf, even if it was getting pretty close to sunrise by now.

Owl walked around the empty wharf, his eyes shifting from the warehouses, to the shipping containers, to the boats, before finally landing on Samba with a disgruntled grimace.  "Please don't tell me your eight-legged friend lead us here simply because the rotten fish attracts flies."

"He must've brought us here for a reason," Samba assumed.  "Maybe the Ghost is using this place as a temporary hideaway, like Wick Nimble."

"Possibly."  Owl sighed reluctantly.  "Alright, whatever, I guess we should look around."

Instead of following Owl's suggestion, Poe walked over to the edge of the wharf, looking out over the calm water.  She narrowed her eyes as she stared into the harbor.

Samba noticed how intently she was gazing.  "Poe?  What's up?"

There was a moment of silence, but Poe didn't respond.  Instead, she just leapt into the salt water without hesitation, catching Samba off guard and the loud splash grabbing Owl's attention.

"The hay is she doing?!" Owl asked.

"How should I know?  You've known her longer than I have, right?"

The two of them could only watch as Poe swam out a short distance before eventually diving under the water with her horn aglow.  After a few moments, she resurfaced, swam a little further out, then dove down again.  She repeated this process several times, until, during one attempt, she stayed under considerably longer—long enough for Samba to start getting worried.

Thankfully, the red glow of Poe's magic under the water signaled that she was about to reemerge.  However, she wasn't alone.  There was a hoof draped over her shoulder as she swam back toward the wharf.

Owl's eyes widened as a horrific thought came to him.  "Is that... a body?!  Wait, don't tell me..."

Poe began to climb up the ladder on the side of the wharf, and Samba and Owl backed up to give her room.  But when she got back up, she was alone once more, carrying nothing with her.  However, she turned back, leaning down toward the ladder and pulling somepony up from behind her.

Owl staggered backward in shock and disbelief.

Climbing onto the wharf with Poe was another mare, but not any ordinary mare.  She had no head.  Where her head should have been was just her open esophagus and trachea and severed spinal column.  The headless mare gained her footing on dry land, shaking the seawater from her coat like a wet dog.

A gleeful smile spread across Samba's face.  "Limbo!  You're okay!" she exclaimed in deep relief.  She wasted no time giving the walking corpse a big hug, the force of which caused the water in Limbo's lungs and stomach to gush up and splash Samba in the face.  The dancer's face suddenly turned green, and she scrambled over to the edge of the wharf to deposit her earlier grilled cheese sandwich into the harbor.

Poe walked up to Limbo's body with a soft smile.  Obviously Limbo couldn't see her, so she needed another way to relay to her that she was there.  Poe slowly traced her name against the damp fur of Limbo's coat.  It took a moment, but once Limbo was able to decipher the message, she perked up, swinging her hooves around blindly until she eventually grabbed Poe and embraced her.  Poe tenderly hugged her back, managing to fight back her tears—or perhaps they were simply disguised by the water soaking her coat.

"Good to see you again too, pal," she said softly, even if Limbo couldn't actually hear her.

Owl could only stand there, trying to comprehend what he was seeing.  A body without a head standing before him, and Samba and Poe acting as though there was nothing unusual about this.  If they hadn't said her name, Owl may have doubted the identity of this headless pony.  But even then, there was no denying her forest green coat and familiar cutie mark.

And that's when it clicked.

"So...  This is it, isn't it?"

Poe turned to Owl with an expectant glare, awaiting his response to this discovery, and Samba lifted her head from the edge of the wharf to do the same, though more worried about his reaction.

"This is what the three of you have been hiding from me.  Necromancy," Owl presumed, some modicum of disbelief still sitting upon his face despite the clear evidence before him.

Poe took a challenging step toward him.  "And what're you gonna do about it?"

Owl continued to stare, still unsure exactly how to react to this.  He just ended up voicing the first thing that came to his mind.  "So Limbo's... dead?"

Poe noted an unusual amount of concern and sympathy in Owl's voice.  Of course, he and Limbo used to be colleagues, so this was probably pretty shocking news to learn all of a sudden.  Still, she couldn't help but needle him a little.  "Don't get all teary-eyed on us now."

He knit his brow at her.  "Sorry if I don't take somepony's death as lightly as you."

Poe's lips curled into a barely restrained scowl, glaring daggers at Owl.  "You think I took her death lightly?"  She took a forceful step toward him.  "You think I wasn't worried when she didn't come home that night?  You think I wasn't devastated when I found her corpse floatin' in the water out here?  You think it was easy for me to carry her carcass on my back all the way to my place in the middle of the night?  You think I wasn't desperate when I stuffed her body in my freezer and dedicated the next two weeks to learnin' a forbidden spell to bring my best friend back to life?!  You think that's takin' it lightly?!"

Owl was silent.  The fire in Poe's eyes was more intense than he'd ever seen in her.  She never struck him as the type to cry, but it was pretty evident that Limbo's death had hit her pretty hard.  He offered an apologetic frown.  "Sorry, I'm still just trying to process this.  I'm sure it was rough for you."

Poe backed off, quietly accepting his apology and letting her temper cool down.

The stallion once more glanced at Limbo's body, which was just standing there casually.  "So, how long has this been a thing?"

"A little over two years, just a couple of weeks before I was kidnapped."

"Which explains why the Ghost targeted you.  I guess that all makes sense now."  Owl sighed as he let that info sink in.  "She's really been dead for that long?  What happened?"

"Whaddaya think?  The Ghost got her while she was investigatin'.  Knocked her out and dumped her off in this very harbor.  I had a hunch as to why Webber lead us here.  Turned out I was right.  Her body was tied to a big rock down there."

"What about her head?" asked Samba.

Poe shrugged.  "Didn't see it down there, but I'm guessin' the Ghost's got it."

Owl ran a hoof through his mane with an exasperated breath.  "I have a lot of questions about this..."

"What are you going to do now that you know about this?" Samba asked with worry.

"How am I supposed to know?!" Owl snapped, his confusion and frustration getting the better of him.  "You think I can formulate a cohesive plan of action with the reanimated, headless corpse of my former colleague standing in front of me?!"

"Then we can probably focus on what's important and iron out those details later, yeah?" Poe suggested.

Limbo's body tapped her hoof on the ground impatiently.  She obviously couldn't see or hear what was happening, so she was most certainly wondering what the hold up was.

"Oh, we should probably let Limbo know that Owl's here," said Samba.

Doing the same thing that Poe had done, Samba traced Owl's name against Limbo's coat.  After a moment, her wet fur bristled and her muscles tensed up.  In a panic, Limbo made to leap off the wharf to conceal herself in the water again, but came up about three feet short and bellyflopped on the concrete.

Samba helped her back up, noticing that she'd gone a little limp in defeat.  "Sorry," Samba apologized despite Limbo being unable to hear her.  "I just figured we could use his help."  She turned to Owl.  "And I know we can trust him."

Owl just grimaced slightly, still feeling confused and conflicted.  But, as Poe said, it may be better to focus on the task at hoof and save the questions for later.  Still, this did bring up one concern.  "So, does this mean the Ghost now knows necromancy?" he asked Poe.

Poe shook her head.  "Nah.  Necromancy is runic magic.  It ain't somethin' that can be replicated with just normal magic, and I burned the book I learned it from in case you guys ever got too suspicious.  Fat lotta good it did me in the end though, I guess.  But it wasn't like the Ghost could just let me go, so I had to stay holed up with the rest of 'em."

"Locked up in the basement of that soup kitchen...  I'm surprised you were all still alive."

Samba blinked.  "Soup kitchen?"

"Yeah, the building you found them in.  What, you couldn't tell from all the food in there?"

Samba just stood there, staring blankly at nothing.  Her brain suddenly kicked into overdrive, running a mile a minute.  The Spellmet, the soup kitchen, the modded spellphones, Mandible...  It was like a puzzle piecing itself together in her mind's eye, and the last pieces had finally fallen into place.

Owl shrugged.  "Well, nevertheless, the Ghost has some dangerous spells at their disposal.  If we're gonna apprehend them, we need to be on guard.  I'd tell you two to let me handle this, but I doubt you'd listen."

"You know me pretty well, Sarge," Poe smirked.

"Then let's not waste anymore time.  If the Ghost has Limbo's head like you think they do, then that probably means she knows their identity by now.  We should find a way to get her to tell us who it is, or, failing that, just have the spider lead us there.  Uh, it does know where Limbo is, right?"

Samba snapped from her thoughts when Owl asked her the question.  "Huh?  Oh, um..."  She turned her gaze downward, feeling rather conflicted.  She knew now what it was they had to do, and she wasn't entirely pleased about it.  "Actually, I don't think that'll be necessary."

"How's that?"

Samba looked Owl in the eye, her expression exuding both assuredness and regret.  "I'm pretty sure I know who the Ghost is."


***** ***** *****


Limbo could do nothing but sit on that table, idly waiting, her patience reaching its limit.  It certainly didn't help that there was a clock on the wall somewhere in Leaf's basement, but the fact that she couldn't see it was particularly aggravating, especially considering that it was ticking incessantly.  For a while, counting each tick and tock was, appropriately, all she had to do to pass the time, because at this point, there was no need to try and formulate a plan of action.

After exactly forty-six minutes and twenty-four seconds—give or take a few ticks and tocks—Leaf finally returned to the basement, carrying a duffle bag with him.

"Sorry that took so long.  I know it's poor hospitality to leave your guest by themselves," he quipped.

"Don't put yourself out for my sake..." Limbo deadpanned.  "Least you could've done is turn me around or something, though I suspect the reverse view is much like this one."

"Unless you think looking at my freezer is somehow more entertaining."

Limbo watched as Leaf began to look over the myriad bits and bobs laying around the cluttered basement.  He began selectively placing various objects inside the duffle bag.  The last thing he grabbed was the Spellmet.

"Packing for your trip?" Limbo presumed.

"Yep.  Airship leaves in a little over an hour.  Just seeing what I want to take with me to my new life."  He twirled the Spellmet on his hoof.  "This thing's a given."

"And you expect to be able to sneak that past security?"

"I'll be wearing it.  The shapeshifting spell can hide clothes and accessories, so I'm not worried.  So obviously I'm not getting aboard as Loose Leaf, but rather Circuit Hardwire, single, twenty-four years old, born in Las Pegasus, spent the past two years in Baltimare as a freelance engineer before deciding to try and settle down in Vanhoover, maybe find a nice mare, start a lovely, wholesome family..."

"'Circuit Hardwire' sounds like a real putz if you ask me.  But then again, I know the 'real' Circuit Hardwire."

"And I don't care what you think, so stuff it."

Limbo didn't really have a retort for that, but she felt like she needed to keep talking.  Right now, she needed to stall him.  If Leaf decided he wanted to leave early, it could be game over.  She already knew backup was on the way.  Samba had found her body and they were currently making their way down the street.  Her hoof was placed upon somepony's back in order to guide her, but she couldn't tell whose.  She was also rather ecstatic to finally know that Poe was alive and well, so that was a major load off her mind.  Though she was a little disgruntled to know that Owl was with them as well, and he now knew their secret, but it appeared as though he was willing to help her out for the time being.  And, honestly, it just felt good to not have her guts stuffed with saltwater.  If felt weird to be able to talk without gargling up all that water.  She'd felt like she needed to cough or burp it up the whole time she had been talking to Leaf, but obviously couldn't.  But now that she didn't have to worry about any of that anymore, she could concentrate on keeping Leaf occupied until they arrived, however long that might take.

"So...  I guess my time is soon up, huh?" Limbo surmised, trying to sound dismal and hopeless to fool Leaf.

Leaf quirked an eyebrow.  "Hm?  Oh, right, I guess I have to do away with the evidence, don't I?"  He walked over to her, picking up the knife that was on the table and looking it over with a conflicted expression.  "I want you to know that I never wanted to kill you—or anycreature for that matter—and I don't want to have to kill you again."

"Yeah?  Well, honestly, I was a little surprised you didn't keep my body around to have fun cutting me up or something."

Leaf grimaced at her, insulted.  "Hey, I'm not some bloodthirsty maniac who kills and tortures for fun.  I fed my victims legitimately good, healthy food because I don't want to needlessly kill somecreature."

"But I'm not one of those 'needless' kills, am I?"

He shrugged regretfully.  "Unfortunately.  I guess I could've just chucked your head in the harbor with your body instead of revealing myself to you, but I was feeling sentimental.  Actually, I was briefly considering keeping you alive and bringing your head with me to Vanhoover.  You know, to keep me company and maintain something from my old life."

"You know full well I'd just scream all night to prevent you from sleeping and sing the most annoying songs I can think of when you're awake.  And I'm totally tone deaf."

"Well, there's that, and getting a severed head past security would be much more difficult than the Spellmet, I'd reckon."

"So, I suppose that means it's back to the grave for me, then?"

"Yup.  I don't really have much choice in the matter."

Limbo would shrug acceptingly if she were attached to her shoulders.  "Well, that's fine, I guess.  My job is done anyway."

"So you keep assuming."

"Hey, you're the one who said you weren't going to needlessly kill anycreature, so I'm pretty confident your victims are alive, and Samba's definitely freed them by now."  She cast a menacing smirk at him.  "And if you think you'll be safe in Vanhoover, you're a fool."

Leaf tilted his head, puzzled by her assertion.  "How do you figure that?"

"Because I know Poe.  She went so far as to learn an illegal spell to bring me back to life, even though I was a member of law enforcement myself.  If you kill me again, I know she'll hunt you down.  It might take some time, but I'm giving you fair warning, she's just as stubborn as me, if not more so.  So maybe sleep with one eye open."

Leaf just challenged her smirk with a haughty one of his own.  "Oh?  And what makes you think she's still alive?"

Limbo knew for a fact she was, but she wasn't about to reveal her cards just yet.  "Didn't we just talk about this?"

Leaf held up the Spellmet.  "Well, it might interest you to know that I couldn't copy the necromancy spell to the Spellmet."

"Yeah, no doi.  It's runic magic.  Once Career unveiled that gizmo, I had a feeling that was the case.  I figured that's why you kidnapped her, but info on magic like that isn't exactly common knowledge, so I didn't expect you to know that."

"I tried to force her to show me how to draw the runes, but she said she couldn't remember after casting the spell only once, and she apparently burned the book she learned it from.  Where'd she get a book like that anyway?"

"Some occult thrift store in Manehattan.  Paid a pretty penny for it too.  We didn't know the spells in that book were legit though, but that's just how desperate she was to bring me back.  She was willing to try anything, but figured it might be for the best to get rid of it so stuff like that didn't fall into the wrong hooves.  A.K.A., yours."

"Well, the point I was trying to make was that since I couldn't learn the spell, there wasn't really a reason for me to keep her around.  I needed everycreature else alive in case I needed to upgrade to a new Spellmet.  But Poe was useless to me.  She'd just be another mouth to feed, and her connection to you just made her a bit of a liability."

"So, you're saying she's dead, then?"

"That would be the logical assumption, yes."

"Uh-huh."

Leaf quirked an eyebrow at her nonchalant response.  "You don't seem too bothered by that news.  I thought she meant the world to you."

"She does, absolutely.  Which is also why I'm not too concerned about dying again because I know she'll avenge me."

"You really don't believe me?" Leaf goaded with a grin.  "And what exactly makes you so confident that she's still alive?"

Before Limbo could answer, the sound of the doorbell rang out in the basement.  Leaf suddenly looked stunned, falling silent.

Limbo just smirked triumphantly.  "Expecting another package?"

Leaf didn't respond.  He just stared at her, bewildered.  "You...  You're bluffing."

"How exactly am I bluffing?  Somepony had to ring your doorbell.  How could I do that when my body is in the harbor?" she mocked condescendingly.  "And that look on your face betrays the lie you've been trying to tell me.  Poe's alive, loser.  Not only is she alive, she's here."

Leaf glared at her, clearly panicked.  "And how do you know that for certain?"

Limbo just rolled her eye.  "Need proof?  Ding dong ding dong."

The doorbell then immediately rung twice in quick succession, mimicking Limbo's impression of the sound.  Leaf looked as though he were about to faint.

"So go ahead and kill me.  It's already game over for you, punk," Limbo proclaimed.

Leaf scowled at her, gritting his teeth.  He was cornered, and he knew it.  But he wasn't about to roll over and accept defeat.  The cornered rat was ready to bite the cat.

Meanwhile, outside Leaf's house, Samba, Poe, and Owl were giving Limbo's body quizzical looks after she'd just randomly pressed the doorbell a couple of times.

"What's she doing?" asked Owl.

"No idea, but it could mean I was right."  Samba stared at the door, feeling conflicted once more.  "As much as I hate to say it, Leaf is the Ghost.  Everything seems to point to him."

"In any case, he's not answering."  Owl tried to peer through the window on the door, but the drapes were shut.  "I doubt he's out at this hour, so either he's a real heavy sleeper, or he suspects who's at the door."  He jiggled the door handle, but found it to be locked, unsurprisingly.

"Well, I ain't standin' around waitin' for 'im."  Poe stepped down from the porch, grabbed a decently sized rock from off the ground, and aimed it at the door's window.

Owl glared at her sternly.  "The hay are you doing?!  That's breaking and entering!"

Poe just met his glare with one of her own, not breaking eye contact as she chucked the rock through the window with a loud crash.

Owl rolled his eyes.  "How brazen do you need to be?  We don't even know if he actually is the Ghost yet."

"You think I care about doing things 'by the book'?  My best friend is in there.  'Sides, I've done worse than breaking and entering by this point, right?"

Owl grumbled under his breath.  The deed was done now, so he just begrudgingly let Poe reach through the broken window and open the door.  Owl took the lead, cautiously entering Leaf's house and keeping his guard up.  It didn't appear as though anypony was on the first floor.

"You know him better than me, Samba.  Any ideas?" asked Owl.

Samba carefully walked in, staying behind Owl and Poe.  "Well, he probably already knows we're here.  He's got cameras set up in every room.  He could be upstairs watching the feeds."

"That the only place he could be?"

Samba glanced across the living room to a door near the hall to the kitchen.  "I think he has a basement.  I'm guessing it's that door there."

Seeing as it was right there, Owl choose to investigate the supposed basement first.  He approached the door, slowly opening it.  All he could see was the staircase leading down; definitely the basement.  He turned back to Samba and Poe, gesturing for them to stay put.  He then carefully made his way downstairs, keeping an eye out for Leaf.

"Owl!  Your six!"

Owl barely had a chance to register Limbo's voice, but instinctively heeded her warning just it time, flapping his leathery wings to take to the air as a large yak barreled through the staircase from behind, shattering and splintering the wood.  Without much room to fly in the basement, Owl opted to land, keeping his eye on the yak, whom he assumed was Leaf under the effects of the changeling shapeshifting spell.

The disguised Leaf snarled viscously and desperately at Owl, scraping his hoof on the floor before charging at the cop again.

With another quick flap of his wings, Owl effortlessly leapt over the rampaging yak, landing next to the table where Limbo's head was sitting.  Leaf smashed into the far wall, destroying the shelves and most of his belongings upon them.  Leaf shook the impact off, once more glaring at Owl.

"Loose Leaf, you're under arrest under multiple charges," Owl stated authoritatively in an attempt to get him to calm down and leave quietly.  "Larceny, arson, several counts of kidnapping, three counts of murder, and now assaulting an officer."

"Don't forget illegal modification of spellphones," Limbo added.

Owl stared at her for a moment, just coming to grips with the fact that she was a talking head.

Limbo's eye shifted awkwardly.  "So, uh...  We've got a lot to talk about."

"I think that can wait for now."

Leaf stomped a hoof furiously.  "I'm not gonna let all my work fall apart!" he bellowed in the yak's lower, booming voice.  "I don't want to have to do this, but if I have to kill all of you to get out of this, then that's the way it's gonna be!"

Leaf began another charge toward Owl, but as he got halfway across the basement, Poe leapt from the top of the broken staircase and landed on his back.  Leaf started to thrash wildly in an attempt to throw her off, but she clung tightly to his long, coarse yak hair.

After tackling the wall a few times proved unfruitful, Leaf opted for a different tactic.  In a flash of green light, he transformed back to his normal body, then used the Spellmet to teleport away, causing Poe to drop to the floor.

Leaf reappeared on the other side of the basement.  He could just teleport out of the house and escape, but he'd end up spending the rest of his life being hunted by the police, assuming he could manage to get out of the city before Owl called for backup.  Not only that, but his spellphone and fake credentials were upstairs.  If the cops got hold of those, even his contacts would be outed.  His best plan of action was simply to kill the witnesses and proceed with his plan as normal, though that was easier said than done.

"Remove the device and come quietly, Leaf," Owl ordered.

"You're wastin' your breath," said Poe.  "We oughta just knock 'im senseless."

"A desperate criminal is dangerous, Poe.  We can't take him lightly, especially when he has the Spellmet."

"He ain't the only one with magic."

Poe wasted little time firing off a quick burst of red magic from her horn; not particularly powerful, but enough to warrant Leaf ducking out of the way to avoid a faceful of magic.  Both Owl and Poe used the opportunity as Leaf staggered to rush him down, but he quickly teleported again, reappearing next to Limbo.  He glanced quickly to the table, grabbing the knife he'd left there with his golden magic and brandishing it against his two attackers.  The Spellmet was mostly filled with various utility spells, unsuited for combat, so a secondary weapon was preferable, especially in close quarters like this.

"Poe, stay back," Owl instructed.

"You ain't my dad."

"Just shut up and listen to me for once."

Owl cautiously approached Leaf, the other stallion pointing the tip of the knife at him threateningly.

"If you think I won't use this, you're sorely mistaken," Leaf warned adamantly.

Without warning, Poe loosed another shot of magic.  Leaf ducked in time to dodge it, but, as before, Owl capitalized by rushing forward to attack.  However, Leaf managed to recover in time and haphazardly swung the knife as the bat pony got close.  Owl stopped, raising a hoof to shield his face, but that resulted in him receiving a large gash in his fetlock, a spray of blood splashing onto the floor.  He staggered backward with a painful hiss through his teeth, gripping his bleeding fetlock.

"You okay?" Poe asked rather nonchalantly.

"You mind running your little gambles by me next time?" he growled in response.

"Like we got time for that.  Ain't you cops supposed to be good at 'on-the-fly' reactions?"

"You wanna shut your cake hole for a few minutes?"

Poe rolled her eyes as she stepped forward.  "Just sit there and lick your wound, Sarge.  I'll handle this."

"You're gonna get yourself killed."

She ignored him as she usually did and stared down Leaf.

Leaf narrowed his eyes at her.  "You think I won't hurt a lady?"

"I would not describe her as a lady," Owl quipped.

"Go stuff a duck," Poe snipped back.

"Point proven."

With a somewhat aggravated sigh, Poe chose to continue ignoring Owl and focus on Leaf.  Poe feinted towards Leaf by taking a single step to keep him on edge.

"Leaf!  Behind you!"

"Huh?"  Leaf glanced back at Limbo with a puzzled look.

Poe used the opportunity to grab his knife with her own magic, managing to overpower his magic in his moment of distraction and brandishing it against him.

Leaf shot a scowl at Limbo when she started laughing.

"Holy crap, I can't believe you fell for that," she chortled amusedly.  "And to think, I almost called you my nemesis.  What a schmuk!"

Leaf said nothing to her, not wanting to dignify her childish joke—though more so not wanting to acknowledge that she got him with it.  He turned his attention back to Poe, glaring threateningly.  "Whatever.  It's not like that was my only weapon."

His horn started to glow, and the Spellmet did likewise.  However, the aura around his horn was not golden and shimmering like his normal magic, but a mixture of red and blue, flickering like flames.  A white glow filled his eyes as he prepared to unleash the fury of nirik fire upon Poe.

"Let's see if you can bring yourself back to life," he growled.

"Leaf!  Head's up!"

Leaf rolled his eyes—though obscured by the white glow of the spell.  "How dumb do you think I am?  I'm not falling for that a second ti—"

He suddenly felt something land in his mane.  Then, a set of long, spindly legs crawled into his vision.

"Gyah!"

Leaf swatted the spider off his face in a panic.  Webber hit the ground, uninjured, righted himself, and stared down Leaf, raising his front legs aggressively.

"What the hay?!  How long has that thing been in my house?!"

"Get 'im, Webber!" Limbo instructed.

Webber feinted toward Leaf, the stallion reacting with a frightened wince as he took a step back.  "It has a name?!"

"Dang right he does.  And one chomp from him and you'll be totally paralyzed," she bluffed.

"Who trains attack spiders?!  You're a loon!"

Webber continued to antagonize him, but Leaf flared the fiery aura of his horn once more.

"Guess this is one of those 'kill it with fire' moments."

But before he could attempt to incinerate Webber, Poe blindsided him with a punch while his attention was diverted, then grabbed him while he was reeling and forcibly removed the Spellmet from his head.

"Samba, catch!"

Poe chucked the Spellmet up to Samba, who was still standing at the top of the broken staircase, nervously watching the altercation unfold alongside Limbo's body.  Samba caught the Spellmet, holding onto it tightly in case Leaf tried to wrench it from her with his magic.  With his job done, Webber scurried off underneath a shelf to avoid getting stepped on during the kerfuffle.

Even without a proper weapon, Leaf's desperation wouldn't let him give up.  He returned Poe's punch with one of his own, then wrestled the knife back from her and shoved her to the ground.

With this whole situation having gotten so out of hoof, Leaf was reaching the end of his rope.  He had already killed three people, and he didn't want to kill any more, but there was really no other way out of this situation that didn't result in him going to jail.  He had gotten a taste of what power felt like, and he wasn't about to let that slip from his grasp after going through so much trouble and ruining other people's lives.

So, with the final obstacles in his path before him, he lifted the knife, ready to bring it down on Poe.  However, she was a tenacious and fearless mare, and tried to kick him in the chest.  Leaf sidestepped the kick and retaliated by stabbing her leg through the calf.

"Poe!" Limbo cried out in concern.

Limbo willed her body to move to help Poe, but after just one step, stumbled down the broken staircase and landed amongst the wooden debris at the bottom, impaled on multiple nails and left struggling just to stand up with all the splintered planks of wood now stuck to her.

Leaf ignored Limbo's fruitless flailing and removed the knife from Poe's leg, letting the wound bleed openly as he glared at the injured mare with manic eyes.

Poe pulled away from him, clenching her teeth in pain, but not letting her ferocious glower soften.  "I'm fine..." she hissed, clearly not fine as she was unable to stand up and fighting back tears.

Samba could only watch helplessly as both Poe and Owl were left injured and bleeding as Leaf prepared to end their lives.  She shouldn't even be there right now.  She couldn't do anything to help.  She should have just left to get help after they found Limbo's body and let Owl handle it.  But now it was too late.  They were now on death's door, and the reaper was standing in front of them.  Any attempts to fight back in their current state would likely just result in a quicker death.

And she could do nothing to stop it.  Just like she'd always told herself, she was useless.  Even Limbo, who was currently a headless corpse, was at least trying to help.  But when people really needed her, she could only stand there in an emotional tizzy.  What could she even do?  She couldn't fight, she no longer had time to call for help, she couldn't even use magic...

With that final thought, Samba looked down to the device held in her hooves.

Leaf approached Poe and Owl, the latter standing up to guard the former, even though his own leg was bleeding pretty profusely.  Leaf just stared him down, his desperate need to survive and escape fueling his adrenaline.  No fear or panic remained in his mind.  He was going to kill these people, and he wasn't going to feel bad about it.

"Stop!"

Leaf turned to see Samba hop down from the first floor, avoiding the debris and Limbo's incapacitated body.  She staggered slightly from the large drop, but kept her balance.  With the Spellmet on her own head, she confronted Leaf, mustering up as much courage as she could, though the fear and apprehension were still visible from her shakiness.

A slight look of remorse came over Leaf.  "Please don't get in the way, Samba.  I really don't want to have to kill you too."

"I'm..."  Samba swallowed her pensiveness.  "I'm not gonna let you hurt anypony else."

She didn't know what she was doing.  She barely knew how to use what little magic she had naturally, let alone the more complex spells recorded in the Spellmet.  All she knew is that she couldn't let Leaf get away with his crimes, and she couldn't let him hurt her friends.  She just had to do something.

Her horn and the Spellmet began to glow the same fiery red and blue that Leaf's had a few minutes ago, her eyes glowing white hot as well.

Leaf suddenly felt a heat surrounding him.  He looked down to find a ring of flames encircling him.  He and Samba just stared at one another, a pleading look in Leaf's eyes as he realized that she was actually going to do it.

Samba clenched her eyes shut, the aura burning around her horn flaring up.  At the same time, the flames surrounding Leaf erupted, engulfing him, the basement filled with the sound of crackling fire and agonized screams.

Leaf began to flail and stagger around the room in a panic, knocking things over in a desperate bid to snuff out the flames.  But as long as Samba kept applying the magic, the fire continued to burn.  The knife flew out of his grip and just so happened to embed itself into Limbo's good eye.

"Eeyow-uh!"

Owl didn't like what was happening.  Leaf was likely to catch the whole house on fire if he kept this up, but for some reason, the fire continued to rage.  He looked to Samba.  Her horn burned brightly, flickering intensely with red and blue light.  Her face was contorted in pain.  He leapt into action, pulling the Spellmet off her head, throwing it to the ground, and stepping on it, breaking the device beyond repair.

Samba immediately loosened up, falling back on her haunches and panting as the light left her horn.  With the magic dissipated, the flames burning Leaf quickly vanished, as well as the ones he'd started in his panic.  Leaf suddenly collapsed to the floor, his fur and skin charred nearly black, his thick mane and tail no longer present.  And he just lay there, motionless, leaving the basement smelling a little like burnt hair.

"Limbo!  You good?!" Poe called to her friend in worry.

Limbo groaned in pain, the knife still lodged in her eye.  "Ugh, yeah...  Didn't reach my brain, but I'm a little blind here.  You guys okay?"

Poe struggled to stand, keeping the weight off her right hind leg.  "Could be worse," she moaned.

Webber crawled out from his hiding place, still cautious in case there were lingering flames, and climbed up on the table alongside Limbo's head.

Owl helped an exhausted Samba back to her hooves.  "You alright?"

Samba took a deep breath, shaking slightly.  "Y-Yeah, I think so.  That felt... weird.  I've never used magic like that before.  I-I didn't know how to stop it.  Thank you, Owl."

"Don't mention it.  I should be thanking you.  We were in a tough spot there."

Samba didn't say anything else.  She was just glad it was over.  It was a little disturbing to see Leaf's burned body just laying there, though.  However, she did recall hearing a shout from Limbo, looking to her to find her head with Leaf's knife stuck in her eyeball.  "Um, is she okay?"

"She's fine," Poe said dismissively.  She pulled the knife out, but Limbo's eye popped out with it, skewered like a kebab.  Poe grimaced with a sharp inhale.  "Uh, well..."

"We...  We can fix that, right?" asked Owl.

"Fix what?  What happened?" Limbo inquired with a touch of worry.

Poe plucked the eyeball off the tip of the knife and tossed the knife aside.  The necromancy spell repaired the gash, allowing Limbo see again, and the first thing within her range of vision was Poe's smiling face.

"Man, Poe, you're a sight for sore eyes," Limbo said with a relieved grin, able to finally enjoy the feeling of having her best friend back now that things had calmed down.

"'Sore' sounds like an understatement in your condition," Owl commented.

"You ain't kidding.  Okay, pop me back in.  I need to blink."

Poe jammed the eyeball back into its socket, and after a moment and the squelching sound of sinew fusing itself back together, Limbo blinked rapidly, rolling her eye around to make sure she was all fixed up.

"That's better.  Now, can you give me a hoof over there while we're at it?"

They all turned to Limbo's body, still struggling to stand with all the boards nailed into her skin.

Samba, Owl, and Poe all pitched in to help her out, removing boards and plucking out loose nails and tossing aside all the debris.

While they were doing that, Limbo spotted Webber skittering around her head frantically.  From the corner of her eye she spotted something else moving, and her eye widened in panic.  Leaf's scorched form had somehow gotten back up, having grabbed the knife off the floor and now staggering toward her with an almost psychotic grin.  Either his adrenaline had peaked, or the burns he'd received had killed his nerves and numbed him to the pain.  But either way, he powered through, clearly having thrown away all semblance of sanity and unable to accept defeat without taking at least one of them with him.

"Problem!" Limbo cried out.

The other three ponies turned in time to see Leaf raise the knife, ready to drive it through Limbo's skull and finish what he'd started all that time ago.  With their legs injured, Owl and Poe couldn't sprint to her aid.

Whether it was the remnants of her desire to save her friends, or just a reflex at this point, Samba instinctively jumped into action without thinking.

Samba tackled Leaf to the ground before he could strike, the two rolling across the floor.  Mustering up all the strength he had left in his body, Leaf managed to overpower her, pinning her down.  Samba saw the glint of the knife and the look of sheer mania and desperation in Leaf's eyes before the blade plunged into her chest.

"Samba!"

Limbo's cry of shock and horror was drowned out by Samba's shriek of pain and agony.

Owl fought through the pain inflicted by his wound to grab Leaf and pull him off of Samba, pinning him to the ground.  He heard Leaf's labored breaths as he struggled weakly beneath him, but eventually Leaf went limp, his injuries finally taking their toll as his breathing stopped.

Mostly free from the planks and nails, Limbo's body rushed over to grab her head, reattaching it and scrambling to Samba's side in a panic.  The knife was still in her chest, and removing it would only cause her to bleed out faster.  If Limbo had to hazard a guess based on the exact location of the wound, it must've been near her heart—a punctured lung for sure.  She was alive, but only barely, whimpering in pain, and coughing up blood.  Obviously it was pointless to ask if she was okay, but Limbo didn't know what else to say.  Only one thing managed to come to mind.

"Why?" Limbo asked, her voice barely above a whisper.  If she could cry, no doubt tears would be running down her cheeks at this moment.  "Why would you do that?  I'm just a corpse.  You didn't need to sacrifice yourself for me.  You still have a life left to lose.  I don't."

Samba stared up at her.  Through the unrelenting pain in her chest—the worst pain she'd ever experienced—somehow, Samba managed to smile, even with a mouthful of her own blood.  "You still don't get it, do you?" she wheezed.

"Get what?"

"Life is not about whether you can breathe, or if your heart beats.  Your life is the choices you make, the things you do.  If you can feel, if you can make a difference, then you're alive."

Limbo said nothing.  She could only stare as her dying friend lectured her.

"Don't throw away the gift Poe gave you just because you accomplished one goal.  The people of this city need somepony like you around to protect them.  You're a tough nut, Limbo, but you've still got a heart, even if it is a little rotten," Samba giggled, though the laughter turned to aggressive coughs quickly.  Her smile then fell, and she broke eye contact.  "You've done a lot to help people throughout your life, and you can do so much more.  I've done basically nothing...  I made life harder for my ex-husband, I let my daughter get kidnapped...  You might be a zombie, but your life—or whatever you want to call it—is still worth more than mine."  Her weak smile returned as she looked into Limbo's devastated, silver eye.  "I'm just glad I could do one meaningful thing with my life by saving yours."

"But you...  You can't...  I..."

Limbo wanted to argue with her, but couldn't find the words.  She was too panicked and overwhelmed by the situation to think straight.

Samba went quiet, her eyes seeming to glaze over, unfocused.

"Samba?  Samba!"  Limbo placed a hoof against the side of her head, forcing her to look into her eye.

Samba blinked as though snapped from a trance.  "Huh?  Oh, sorry.  I was trying to think of a cheesy one-liner to go out on.  But it's kinda hard to concentrate with a knife in my chest," she said with a wheezy chuckle.

"You're making jokes at a time like this?!" Limbo chastised.  "Look, just stop talking, we'll call the hospital and—"

But as she was in the middle of saying that, a slow breath escaped from Samba's wounded lungs, and her eyes drifted shut.

The basement was silent.  Poe, Owl, and Webber could only watch as Limbo sat there, quietly holding her now dead friend.  There was a surprisingly peaceful look on Samba's face despite her mortal wound, as though she were only sleeping.

Poe had only known Samba for a couple of hours, but she saw the way her best friend was mourning her death.  Poe never considered herself somepony who let her emotions get the better of her, but she found herself empathizing with Limbo's feelings.  She imagined there may have been a similar look on her own face after she had dragged Limbo's corpse home on that fateful night.  And given how important Samba appeared to be to Limbo—not to mention the fact that Samba had saved her and Leaf's other victims—she felt like a debt was owed to her.

Owl would be the one to break the silence with a somber tone.  As disheartening as the scene was, he still had a job to do.  Mourning could come later.  "I'll... call for backup."

He took out his spellphone, preparing to contact his colleagues.  However, Poe held out her hoof to stop him.  He observed the steadfast look in her eyes.

"I'm gonna need you to hold off on that a bit longer."