//------------------------------// // NEXT TIME // Story: ... And I was having such a nice day // by Preda //------------------------------// Ditzy’s vision blurred as the two mares tumbled through the sky. Maintaining any sort of lift was next to impossible. She heard Décor shouting at her through the sound of the wind, rushing past her: “I can’t believe you left him to die!” . “He told me to do it. We can’t afford to second-guess him, not when there’s so much at stake.” *** “Don’t move, in the name of the Order!” came the command from one of the masked ponies. By the time the pair could get their bearings, an entire brigade of constables had them surrounded, with more than a dozen pickelhaubes threatening them. “Now, then, ladies,” said the… officer? “I’d like to know what brings you to our city.” *** “I think we should be careful around that one,” whispered Ditzy. “The Doctor seemed to have a thing against ponies with eyepatches." She smiled bitterly, tears threatening to well up in her eyes. "I remember we went to a masquerade ball once, and he didn’t even want to get close to the pirates.” “That’s positively silly,” answered her companion. “Everypony knows there’s no such thing as pirates.” “Like I said, it’s the patches he doesn’t trust…” *** “You know,” the stranger began, looking up from the papers on the desk, “Gorgonism isn’t the only way to turn something to stone…” *** “You could never have survived out here, all alone. Not even you, for all your power and skill…” said the stranger, before he broke off coughing. Still, he seemed determined to make a point: “What are you really hiding out here?” The old stallion sighed. There was no fooling his uninvited guest. “Not what,” he said, in the end. “Who.” *** Author's Note: should I do this for each new chapter?