//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Veil of the City // by BlueyWaifu //------------------------------// The impulsive decision to sleep on the floor was the first thought to hit Faltic's mind as he woke up. The hindsight of that choice being stupid was the next thought that came to mind. It was nothing but grunting and soreness in his limbs as he pried himself off from the floor, a few stray pillows sliding off of him as he did so. Rubbing his eyes and taking in his surroundings, he saw only one other changeling in bed, leaving the other one vacant. Restel was quietly snoozing on the bed he occupied. Klaven, however, was nowhere in the room. Most likely already at his shift at the front counter. The gradually waning discomfort of sleeping on the floor was pleasant, at least. Though, seeing Restel sleep, it reminded Faltic that he'd forgotten to properly scheme up a way of getting back at him for the two-to-zero score yesterday produced. Oh well. That could come later. For now, Faltic had mechanically started to get ready to leave for the corner store. Whimsy would be there, and this will be another nice day where- -where Whimsy wouldn't be there. Right. She's 'busy.' Faltic stood at the window of their room, looking at the outside view. The eighth floor provided a blend of the perfect height to look over the immediate area. Whimsy was busy today. But what with, wasn't brought up. Faltic peered down at the bustling morning street, seeing the various colors of ponies flow like a river on the sidewalks below him. The gradient blue of his eyes narrowed, focusing in and hoping that one of them would miraculously be the pony that he wouldn't be with today, but to no avail. The subtle sound of magic being used caused Faltic's ear to twitch, just a second before a blanket draped over his head and body. "Night time." An unseen voice called out, but Faltic already knew it was Restel. The voice sounded close, as if Restel was standing next to him. With some trust, Faltic took a chance on the assumption that Restel was standing just next to him. "I guess I should go to sleep then," Faltic said, before rocking to the side, and trust falling. On the way down, Faltic's blanketed body collided with something, and took that something down with him. The unseen voice returned, and grunted as Faltic landed on top of it. One of the few times the amazing sense of hearing was appreciated. Faltic felt a shove as he started to laugh from underneath his blanket. "Damn Faltic, you weigh too much to be doing that." After freeing himself from his cloak, and tossing the blanket back to the bed, Faltic stood with a mock look of shock. "Are you saying I'm fat?" Restel, who was slower to pick himself up, had a hard time containing his smile. "You've got a fat head." "Yours has nothing in it." Faltic playfully shot back. "I've half a mind to beat you senseless," Restel said as he pushed past Faltic's shoulder and walked away. "So your mind is either half empty, or half full?" Faltic pondered aloud. Restel engulfed himself in a brief swirl of green flame, and emerged as his usual green pony, gray maned disguise. He flicked his mane into place as he responded. "My mind is full of confirmation that you are stupid." Faltic blew a raspberry at Restel. "Whatever. Where are you going so soon?" "Well, I've got time to kill before going out later, so I'm going to eavesdrop on Klaven." Faltic knew that Restel had helped Klaven adjust to becoming a scout, so naturally he was closer to Klaven than he was. But eavesdropping for fun? "Count me in?" Faltic finished his thought aloud. Restel nodded. "Only if you're up to messing with Klaven." Faltic mimicked Restel from a moment prior, and emerged from his own swirl of green flame as his light blue earth pony self, Enthrall, as he's become known as. "Messing with Klaven is my second favorite pastime." ***** The front lobby of the hotel looked the same as it ever had. About the nicest front entrance to any place that Faltic and Restel had seen. Somehow, the scent of new furniture and clean carpet never left the place. The duo immediately scanned the front desk for Klaven. Rather, a garnet unicorn with a black mane. Initially, there was none. It wasn't until Faltic and Restel took a seat in the corner chairs when a pony of that description appeared behind the front desk. Hastily, the inconspicuous pair both nabbed a magazine from a nearby table, using them to conceal their faces. "I still have mixed feelings about the dark red and black color scheme. Kind of uncomfortable to the eye," Faltic mentioned quietly to Restel as they observed from afar. "As if his face wasn't already uncomfortable to the eyes," Restel murmured back, eliciting some hushed giggling. Along with Klaven, out came another pony. A taffy pink unicorn with dark turquoise hair, presumably where Klaven was getting his food. Faltic and Restel watched with half of their faces concealed behind their respective magazines. Their subjects of observation chatted among themselves as they left the counter, heading to the front door. Faltic leaned over slightly to Restel, whispering to him. "What's it with him and pink ones?" Restel didn't move much as he replied, giving off a quick scoff. "Don't know. Haven't seen that much pink on one pony since Canterlot." The concealed duo idly watched as their unaware friend left the building with his partner. Perhaps Faltic exaggerated when he said that messing with Klaven was his second favorite pastime. It seemed to be high up on Restel's list if he truly knew Klaven's work schedule and tendencies. "C'mon," Restel motioned, setting his magazine down and heading out the same door Klaven had a moment earlier. Once outside, Faltic fell in step beside Restel, with Klaven nowhere to be seen. "So, where does he go?" Faltic asked as they walked along the sidewalk. It was chilly outside, as per Manehattan usual. "Klaven and that chick typically go to a sub place for lunch. It's quick, nearby, and good subs actually," Restel answered, leading Faltic around a corner. Faltic stayed quiet for a moment, idly wondering if Whimsy liked subs. That, and if there were perhaps any other places Restel knew of that he didn't. For future reference. "What're you scheming?" Faltic asked. "Just follow my lead. Wherever it goes,” Restel answered. It was concise enough for Faltic not to ask any more. Despite Restel mentioning that the food place was nearby, it was growing on Faltic that they were walking for a considerably longer time than what is considered 'nearby.' So far, they'd passed a few walls of glass that would give a glance into a food spot or something else, had it not been for the sun's glare. Finally, Restel had taken them off course from the sidewalk for the first time. They crept down a narrow, empty, and surprisingly dark alley away from the flow of ponies. Restel halted Faltic at the first door, and with a wisp of green flame, transformed into a different pony: a brown pegasus with a short, slightly more brown mane and tail. "Now you. You can look like whoever you want." Faltic, without hesitation, transformed into the first pony that came to mind: Whimsy. "Oh my- someone Klaven wouldn't know!" Restel nudged Faltic's shoulder as Faltic chuckled. "Right, right." With another swirl of green flames, Faltic conjured up a very average pony design: a gray earth pony with a white mane and tail, similar to Restel's hairdo. "Always with the earth ponies." Restel poked at Faltic for his disguise choice. First Enthrall, now this. "What can I say? I'm a simple changeling." Faltic casually replied as he propped himself against the wall with his leg, offering a charming smile to Restel. Restel, however, didn't look at Faltic with any amusement in return. "Whatever." Restel put a hoof to the door he'd stopped them at. "The two in here know me. Well... this me, and since Klaven and her take their lunch breaks early in the day, they're usually the only ones in here until the time where normal ponies take their lunch." Faltic nodded his understanding. "So what do I do?" "So here's the rundown..." ***** Klaven had known forever that physical food could never satiate the actual sustenance needs of a changeling. It was love he craved, sought, and received. Love only really came from one source: other ponies. Being a scout in such a densely populated city like Manehattan, it was akin to living at a buffet with full access. Except, the food had to be taken care of to be received. It had... feelings. Ugh. Though, that didn't hamper Klaven's outlook on it. It was as if he was cooking, preparing his meal of love to be tender, juicy, and filling. Chrysalis knows he couldn't cook physical food. There was that one occurrence in Canterlot, but with how it turned out, he appreciated the taste of love even more. His current love subject couldn't be more convenient. A taffy colored, dark turquoise maned unicorn named Candy. She worked behind the same counter as he did, and regularly had the same shift. That, and he was keeping himself and two others housed in a nice room together. The bits that he earned from his job held meager value, since food came free, but they helped him blend in, and have some entertainment. Klaven was unsure what Faltic was up to today, but he knew Restel had some time planned with his love subject later. Klaven and his love subject had left the hotel lobby a few minutes ago, and were headed for her go-to lunch spot. "Always love beating the lunch rush," Klaven mentioned to his partner as they strolled the sidewalk. At this time of day, not many others meandered through the roads of Manehattan, especially on a weekday. The work duo stopped at a pair of glass doors, and Klaven held one door open for Candy, stepping in after. The inside had a constant pungent aroma filling the air, that of the fresh vegetables that lined up just behind the counter. The walls had several pictures of said vegetables, as redundant as that was. Up at the front counter station that spanned nearly wall to wall, there was already some pony getting their own food. Behind the counter was only one worker, a brown pegasus with an even darker brown mane, wearing a green apron. Usually, Klaven and Candy were the first, sometimes only ones here so soon, but it would be fine. Lunch break just started, after all. Since having come here more regularly recently, Klaven already knew what he wanted, and was correct to assume that his partner knew as well, so they took their standing spots behind the other pony who had gotten there first. "Uhhhh..." Klaven watched with a side-eye as he eavesdropped in on the pony in front of him. Some gray earth pony with a white mane, probably does not, or has not been here. He was peering through the glass intently, no doubt overwhelmed by so many choices. The poor worker behind the counter didn't look at all deterred from any patience. "Um... lettuce." Klaven idly leaned his head over slightly to peek at whatever the earth pony was getting. It couldn't be too complic- Klaven's eyes widened slightly as he saw nothing but lettuce on the bread. The hell...? "Can I get some lettuce?" It had to be a joke. But when the brown pegasus behind the counter added just a touch more of the greens, Klaven was reaffirmed on his belief that ponies are weird. Klaven leaned his head back the other way to get a little closer to Candy's ear, and whispered. "You seeing that?" Candy smiled in response and nodded sagely, speaking softly. "Yup." The earth pony still looked to be pondering another decision. As if it could be anything other than lettuce. He didn't notice it until it came out, but a sigh of impatience left Klaven's mouth as the earth pony dragged on. From the edge of his vision, he could see the smile and raised eyebrow of Candy looking at him. Sure, seeing the oddball behavior of ponies was entertaining, the two were looking at it from very different perspectives. Klaven was giving it a chance with Faltic and Whimsy, but damned if he still didn't understand the pony folk. Klaven felt a nudge on his shoulder. It was Candy, who then motioned for him to move up. The earth pony had moved on to being rung up, so once that was over, it was their turn. Klaven killed time by idly browsing the selections behind the glass. "What can I get y'all two?" Klaven was taken out of his mind space when the pegasus behind the counter asked his order. "Uhh-" Candy held back a smile as he opened up with 'uh.' "Veggie delight for me," Klaven said. Candy jumped in on his answer. "Make it two, and a cookie." The worker pegasus was quick to respond. "Yes'm." Klaven quickly looked to Candy, who, as expected, had a small triumphant smile on her lips. "You made me go first." Klaven started off defending himself. "Easiest way to get you to go 'uhh.' Now you get to pay." Candy smirked as she sealed the deal. "Next time, I make the bet for who pays," Klaven said sternly, with just the slightest hint of a smile on his face. Behind the counter, the pegasus had laid out the bread, but had stopped after that. He'd retreated beyond and around a door that was just behind him, leaving the lunch breakers by themselves for a moment. Klaven blew a raspberry into the quiet atmosphere. "Weird today." Candy nodded in agreement. The pegasus returned from around the corner, tagged along by another pony with him. This was one he hadn't seen before, some blue earth pony with a brown mane that almost matched his pegasus buddy behind the counter. At the very least, one of them had to be new. Klaven had never seen them here before. No wonder service was slow... and weird. But, Klaven was a polite changeling, despite urges to just... do something, so he waited quietly in front of the counter with Candy, whose mirth he'd never seen slip. Klaven's ear twitched forward as he listened in. It's not eavesdropping if who you're listening to is standing right in front of you. "You said veggie delight?" The earth pony asked, which the pegasus nodded. "Yup." It seemed they were going to make one each. Whatever makes this go quicker. I want out. Klaven thought. "Condiments for you?" The blue earth pony asked Klaven. With not a moment's thought, Klaven already had his answer. "Mustard." The earth pony grabbed a yellow condiment bottle, and... attempted to pour some onto his sub, but nothing came out. Attempt might've been too strong of a word to describe it. The earth pony held up the bottle, peering down the nozzle of it with one eye, before looking to Klaven. "Hey, do you see any Mustard in here?" Before Klaven had time to answer, the earth pony extended his leg over the counter, pointing the condiment bottle directly at Klaven's face. With a sudden jerk of the bottle, Klaven flinched, recoiling a little bit as he thought he saw a string of mustard hurl towards him before he shut his eyes. His ears heard laughter, and as he opened his eyes, he saw both ponies behind the counter confirming what he heard. Even Candy's laughter beside him blended into whatever it was. Klaven snapped his head to Candy. "What?!" Candy motioned her hoof to her snout. Taking the hint, Klaven's eyes moved inward as it spotted a yellow thread laid across his nose. The chuckling behind the counter had died down as the earth pony spoke. "That was good. I've been saving that one." "You jumped pretty hard," Candy remarked, smirking at Klaven. The yellow thread that still lay on Klaven's snout was swatted off with his own hoof, causing his muzzle to scrunch up. "Whatever," He said dismissively. Thankfully by then, their meals were done being made, and Klaven was more than happy to get out of there at the earliest possible time. As their bet had gone, Klaven had to pay, which wasn't a big deal. With their subs wrapped, bagged and paid for, Klaven was happy to finally be leaving. Today was being weird. ***** Both Faltic and Restel watched as Klaven left, and saw him disappear beyond the glass walls. "You did remember the cookie, right?" Faltic asked as he turned to Restel. Both of the fake employees had a contagious smile on their faces. "As if I would forget. Customer service is my specialty." Restel puffed his chest with mock pride, holding a hoof to his chest. "Uh... why is there tape on your hoof?" Faltic observed. Restel had a strip or two of tape leftover on his hoof, and held it out a little bit as he stared at it. "Ah, well, I wrapped up Restel's sandwich really well, is all I'll say." "Psh." Faltic huffed. Just then, the door up front swiveled open as some pony entered. Both Faltic and Restel shared a look at each other before scurrying away behind the door, dropping off their aprons and exiting back into the small alley just outside the side door. Once outside, both employee impersonators quickly donned their regular respective disguises. Faltic with Enthrall, and Restel with his unnamed green coated earth pony. "So we're just going to leave the place unmanned?" Faltic asked. Restel shrugged. "Eh, well, the two in there we took over for should be coming back from their break soon." Faltic shrugged. That was a fair enough reason. As the two reintegrated back into the sunny, midday Manehattan sidewalks, Faltic seemed a little confused. The proposition of 'messing with Klaven' sounded, and was fun, but it majorly came across as petty acts of inconvenience. Which was perfect for messing with Klaven. The slight feeling of warmth from the sun reminded Faltic that he was back in the real world for a moment. The real world being that Whimsy still existed, and that he was to see her tomorrow afternoon. The remembrance of her problems, and Faltic's hidden true self still lingered, not enough to slow him down, but enough to keep his mind occupied with trying to think of solutions. Faltic was brought out of his headspace when Restel nudged his shoulder. "Hey, you hear me?" "Huh? Sorry, what'd you say?" Faltic shook his head a little bit as he came back down to Earth. "I asked if you were good. You've been silent and you look out of it. Was being inconvenient to Klaven not fun?" Faltic shook his head. "Oh, no I enjoyed that. Just thinking about Whimsy again, and how I want to help." Restel wasn't exactly on board with the idea of this in the beginning, so his eye-roll wasn't an unexpected response. "Still thinking about it? What could you even do to help? She seems just fine how she is." "I was thinking... are there vacancies in our building?" Faltic asked. He knew that Klaven was probably the one to ask, since he worked the place, but Restel was the nearest changeling. The question didn't seem to land well, as Restel put a hoof to the bridge of his nose. "Oh my... Did sleeping on the floor mess you up? You know what I said." A part of Faltic felt like he was defending Whimsy, so maintaining a level tone almost slipped from his tongue. "I know, I know, don't let this go too far or get out of control and whatever. You agreed to see where it'll go, and this is me trying to make it go somewhere." Faltic defended his point, trying his best to not make it sound like he was arguing. Restel looked to cave in on that, and after a brief moment of looking at Faltic, he responded. "Then I wouldn't know if there were vacancies. You'd have to ask Klaven." Figures. Restel wasn't opposing, but he also wasn't helping. The majority of the walk back to the hotel was silent, aside from a few joking remarks about the way some ponies looked. Once back in the lobby, the first pony Faltic caught sight of was a particular garnet unicorn exiting from behind the lobby's front desk. That pink unicorn that had accompanied him earlier had yet to be seen. "Work over?" Faltic asked as he approached disguised Klaven. "Yup. Work day is done," Klaven answered. Restel was silent, idly observing the lobby around him. "Do tell," Faltic said, casually making conversation. He didn't want to quite dive into the main question he'd been holding onto since earlier. As Klaven started to speak, Faltic jerked his head onward, signaling them to walk. Faltic took lead up the stairs, absentmindedly leading them back to their room. "-Then I couldn't get the dang wrapping off the sub, and ugh. Today was weird." Klaven had wrapped up his story as the trio arrived back inside their room. The cherry on top at the end of the story broke Restel out of his unusual stoic demeanor, laughing with Faltic at Klaven's misfortunes that they brought upon him. "That does sound weird. These ponies, man," Faltic said, closing their rooms door behind him and nudging Restel as he did, flashing back to his natural changeling self. Klaven followed suit, and instantaneously reverted back to his original changeling self, taking his seat at the edge of the bed. "Hey Restel, you alright?" Klaven had observed that Restel was being quiet. Restel nodded in response, stretching his shoulders a little. "Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Don't have any time to chill really, got a date night and all, you know." Faltic knew what was up, and didn't know if he should tell Klaven or not. "Ah I see. Well, have fun out there you crazy kids," Klaven said with mirth. Restel's head pointed up as he sighed. "You speak with the tongue of an old changeling." Klaven only stuck out his forked tongue at Restel in response. "Oh wait!-" Klaven exclaimed. It caught the attention of both the other changelings in the room. Klaven produced and held out a piece of paper with text and images of ponies on it. "-I just remembered seeing this today. Don't know if you two would be interested, but it looks cool." Restel leaned in and read the big text at the top. "Manehattan eighth annual cosplay convention. Uhh..." Restel's eyes poked up from the paper to look at Klaven with a deadpan face. "We're literally changelings. Look, keep reading," Klaven egged on. Restel played along, his eyes returning to the paper. "Cosplay competition. Prizes. Vendor hall. Klaven..." Klaven was smiling expectantly at Restel, flicking his gaze between him and Faltic. "I think it'd be fun. We go cosplaying as changelings." Restel turned and looked at Faltic, who shared a look before Faltic broke his flat countenance with a smile. "I say yes." "Alright alright," Restel began. "When is it?" "Tomorrow," Klaven answered, setting the flier down on the bedside table. "Works for me," Restel said, looking at Faltic, who put a hoof to his chin for a moment. “Tomorrow is another day with Whimsy. When is it starting?” Faltic looked up at Klaven at the end of his question. “Uhh-” Klaven peered to the side at the flier on the bedside, then back up at Faltic. “-about when the sun sets.” Faltic’s countenance lit up slightly. “Oh, well, yeah that works. We’ll have wrapped things up before then.” Klaven pumped a hoof in the air. "Yess." That caused Restel and Faltic to chuckle with each other briefly before Restel made a break for the door. "Alright well, I'm outta here." Just as Restel made it to the door, he swiveled his head back toward Klaven. "Oh, and Faltic has something to ask you." With that, Restel shifted into his green earth pony disguise and made his leave, closing the door behind him. Klaven turned his attention to Faltic. "What is it?" If that was Restel's way of helping Faltic out, it was getting straight to the point, and something Faltic needed. But... Why did this all suddenly start feeling so difficult? "Oh, uh, do you know if there's any vacancies in this place? Figure I ask you since you work here." Klaven scrunched his brow for a moment, either piecing together why he was asking, or trying to find an answer to the question. "Is this about Whimsy?" Faltic nodded, taking confidence in his answer. "Yes." "Then yes, there are." "Do you think you could sway whatever power you have to get her a room here? I want to do something nice to help Whimsy out and make a good impression. You know, show I care and all that." Klaven was silent for a moment. Faltic was mentally bracing for a sudden change of attitude to be akin to Restel's demeanor to the situation. "Restel's right. You are a big sap," Klaven said, muffling a small chuckle behind his hoof. "You shut up. I'm just trying to be nice," Faltic said. Faltic now sat on the floor before Klaven. "I wouldn't be telling the changeling you're asking for help to shut up," Klaven said smugly, shaking his head as he did so. Faltic mumbled something underneath his breath. "Will you see what you could do... please." "There's the magic word," Klaven began. "I'll see what I can do to get Whimsy in here. To be that much closer to her little love bug." As Klaven was finishing his sentence, he couldn't help but break into a small fit of laughs, to Faltic's expense. "Yeah, laugh it up. Just wait and see." Faltic stood up, making his way to the window. It was the afternoon, and the sun was nearing setting, the sky changing colors with its descent. Faltic turned back to Klaven, who was now propped up on the head of the bed. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know where Restel's going tonight, do you?" Klaven swiveled his head towards Faltic. "Yeah, why?" Faltic started making his way towards the door to the room. "Want to go see what's up? I've got somewhere I'd like us to go afterwards."  Klaven sat up, sliding off the bed onto all fours. "I'm down. Where's it you want to go?" Both changelings returned to their usual disguises. Klaven with his garnet unicorn and black mane, Faltic with his light blue earth pony and blonde mane. "You'll see." The moment Klaven shut the door to their room behind them, a thought popped into Faltic's mind. "Hold on. Did you say there were only vacancies if this was about Whimsy? Do you mean if I said no there wouldn't be any?"