Null-Magic Pegasus

by Scors

Chapter 6 - Advice

"Fifteen miles out of the city in just under an hour," Doc mused to himself, scratching his chin with his hoof. "That's impressive. Especially without wings."
"My parents had me doing thirty, Doc. It wasn't that hard," Silver replied dismissively. Doc wasn't about to let her finish this particular conversation, though.
"I have to admit," he continued, "While fifteen miles is impressive the fact that you returned was downright extraordinary. Especially after what you told me about your thoughts that night." Doc wasn't lying, either. He was trying his best to hide that sense of pride he had for this pegasus.
Silver had told Doc about everything that went through her head that night. All of it without filter on either end. She'd told Doc about every city she'd visited, every city she'd left and why she left. For a young filly this pegasus had quite the travel history. Probably rivaled the Wonderbolts, definitely rivaled Doc's own travels.
Her first city after escaping her parents and their undefined attitude towards Silver was Fillydelphia. According to Silver it was a nice city. Big for her tastes but she had stayed anyway. That escapade had ended on a sour note, though. Apparently she'd somehow gotten involved in a bar fight with some wealthy, loudmouth stallion that had picked on her size. Doc could pretty much guess that the colt's unwise choice of attention and his actions towards that target probably brought some painful memories from the depths of Silver's mind. She snapped and kicked him through the bar's wall and into the alleyway behind it. He hadn't been killed, which was evidenced by the authorities going after her the next day. She ran out of necessity, which Doc surmised started the pattern of the cities after.
The next city was Maneapolis, the city of lakes. Silver had stayed there for three months, especially impressive given she was a filly on her own. If any pony had figured it out she'd have been packed up and shipped back home, much like a lost bow tie. Doc mentally slapped himself. Focus. As much as you'd like a bow tie, that is not the task at hoof, he thought to himself. Maneapolis, like the city before, ended badly for Silver as well. She had been working in a bar helping fix up some problem they had. It was an innocent job, and the owner paid her well. Too bad the DJ also working at the bar had other plans for her, mostly of the mare-to-mare variety. Silver had turned down her advances, but she wasn't going to let it stay at that. The DJ tried a more forceful approach and had received a broken jaw. It wasn't even Silver's fault that time, but the memories of Fillydelphia drove her out of Maneapolis as well.
The several cities following had also stuck to that pattern. Some stallion or mare trying to take advantage of Silver or, for lack of a refined term, picking on her or forcing her into a fight. The thought of Silver fighting the four colts invaded Doc's mind. He suddenly realized that they had triggered what should have turned into another link in Silver's chain, but they didn't. Not entirely. In fact, those colts would have been hospitalized if Silver had allowed her past to dictate her actions. Instead she merely incapacitated them, then was willingly put behind bars to restrain herself. Doc figured the cell wouldn't have done much good if Silver really wanted to finish the job, but she had kept herself in. Silver wanted to change, and she was slowly succeeding.
Doc's mind returned to the series of cities before Manehattan. Fillydelphia, Maneapolis, San Horse, Horseton, Baltimare, and even New Buck. Silver really got around the last two years, and every city she went to, Silver found the worst kinds of ponies. She had even tangled with a couple of foalnappers that had been rightfully hung from trees like ornaments. Silver assured Doc that they weren't mortally injured. This pegasus has the worst luck when it comes to meeting ponies, Doc surmised. In a land of love and kindness, the one pony who could've really used them could not find them. Then again, she did hang around bars and clubs filled with the strangest ponies Doc knew of.
There had been one city, however, that Silver only mentioned without going into detail. Los Pegasus. It intrigued Doc why Silver wouldn't talk about the city that came before Manehattan. No matter what he asked about it Silver just looked at him and changed the subject. There wasn't even a "that's classified" or "I don't want to talk about it" from the pegasus. Just a complete and total silence beyond stating she was once there. I wonder what she's hiding, Doc thought. He knew he wasn't getting an answer from her, though.
After Los Pegasus, Silver had wound up here in Manehattan. This city had been kinder to her, giving her a passion to follow and a chance to become somepony great. At least, that was what Silver felt when she first hit the turntables. Unfortunately, that dream had ended two nights ago in front of Spectrum Mane. The nicest bar in Equestria, my- ...hoof, Doc thought to himself. He had to watch the language filter even in his own head, lest it spill out in front of the filly before him.
Doc knew that Manehattan no longer had any hopes for Silver, but she still fought her instinct and came back to her friends. It was honestly impressive that, after so many cities and so much running, the pegasus had returned to Manehattan. Doc figured Clipper had something to do with that decision, given Silver's warm way of talking about him. There was something there that couldn't be seen yet. Not until the pain of the city, and the past, was gone.
Doc knew it was against his profession to recommend a patient continue a self-destructive trend, the repercussions alone could lose him his license and get him tossed in jail. And that was before his reputation started taking blows. But Doc knew that Silver couldn't stay in Manehattan. She had to go someplace where she had never gone before. A city that she had never visited, never mentioned.
"Thank you," Silver said after a small pause. She was looking at the floor again, her forelegs crossed beneath her head. It was that moment Doc decided to go for it. Screw his profession and screw his colleagues, his job was to help his patients and that was what he was going to do.
Doc took in a deep breath and held it a moment before plunging into the forbidden zone. "I think you should move to Canterlot." Well that was blunt, Doc scolded himself.
"Sorry, what?" Silver looked bewildered at the Doc's random advice.
Doc shook his head, now swimming down into the dimly-lit void he was in. "I think you should move to Canterlot," Doc repeated. "Take Clipper and move to Canterlot. I've heard that a new club was going up there and they'll be looking for a bright new DJ to tend to their stage." Doc's heart was thumping in his ears, but he kept his expression warm. Oh, I hope no one finds out I'm doing this, Doc thought with a nervous chuckle inside his head.
"Weren't you just saying--"
"I know what I said," Doc interrupted. He visibly winced at his tactless interruption. "Sorry," he tried, this time softer, "but I know I said that it was good you came back. You want to stick out this life, be it good or bad, and I'm honestly proud of that. I've only met you this morning but I'm proud of you. I also know that you will not get a chance to follow your passion if you stay in this city." Doc pointed his hoof to the window. The city of Manehattan was bathed in the golds and reds of a beautiful sunset. "That city is not your future. I don't know how I know, I don't know why I know, but you will make it in Canterlot. I have this gut feeling that you'd be better off there."
Silver shook her head, smiling. Doc was hoping the pegasus wasn't about to jump at him in a screaming rage. Contradictions like the one he'd just made tended to send even stable patients into a minor frenzy. He froze when Silver looked at him again, her silver irises looking at him lovingly.
"No reason beyond a gut feeling?" She asked, a bit of skepticism in her voice. Doc just nodded, unfreezing when Silver let out a sigh. "I've done more on less, I guess," Silver continued, her gaze not leaving Doc's. "I'll talk to Clipper. If he agrees -and I'm not saying he will- I'll consider it."
Doc released the breath he'd been holding. She wasn't going to buck him through the plaster walls and onto the street. That was good. Silver's smile didn't leave, though. It grew into a grin, the kind that a student gave a favorite teacher. If I could tell you the truth, I would gladly do it, Doc thought as he smiled back.

"Alright, watch the tweeter and set her down gently!"
"Aww, Vinyl. I didn't think you cared so much." Tweet had been hitting on Vinyl for the past two days since they'd met. It wasn't anything serious, Tweet had made sure Vinyl knew that right up front. That still didn't stop tweet from getting that schoolfilly grin every time Vinyl said something. Tweet had a way of twisting words that Vinyl couldn't help but admire.
"I always care!" Vinyl retorted, keeping her eyes on the small black speaker being attached to the metal frame. "Why would you think I didn't?"
The sound of Tweet's soft laughter came from Vinyl's left, causing the white unicorn to smile. While she was taken, Vinyl had to admit hearing the other unicorn laugh was pretty cool. It made Vinyl smile, though she didn't show it.
"A little to the left," Vinyl spoke to the green unicorn. The small speaker moved an inch to Vinyl's left, the bright green aura shimmering around it. Tweet was head of Hardware and Sound, a title well earned, making her in charge of setting up the sound system in the large club. A club that had become far busier since the first time Vinyl had entered it.
That first day only had a hoofful of ponies working in the club, all of them dedicated to the mobile stage. Vinyl couldn't resist grinning when the stage had moved the first time. Tweet had leaned against it and somepony forgot to enable the brakes. The green unicorn had received a bruised knee, but shook it off pretty well.
Monday had been a kicker, though. When Vinyl had shown up again to work with Tweet there were fifty or so ponies all working on parts of the club. A dozen pegasi floated around the dome and the rings it held. The rest had been busy either lifting glass panes from the floor and going under or bringing in new equipment for the club's underside, the space under the floor of the dome, from the freight elevator into the main club area. The place had seemed impressive to begin with, but once Vinyl saw the lights being tested that night it had changed everything. It was going to change the scene of nightclubs everywhere!
"Look out below!" A gruff voice yelled from above.
Vinyl looked up, then immediately jumped into action as a large piece of pipe, a quarter section of the second dome ring, came right at her and Tweet. Vinyl pushed Tweet to one side, watching the massive pipe get closer and closer. It was large enough to crush Vinyl head to tail if it had landed on top of her. Vinyl leaped forward, hoping she could get far enough away from the falling pipe. It landed with a loud CLANG, the vibrations being sent up Vinyl's hooves from the glass. Vinyl was temporarily deaf from the impact, and felt like a maraca in Mareico.
Vinyl stood up slowly, her ears beginning to ring loudly. She shook her head to try to get rid of it. The ringing reminded her of when ponies blew out speakers, which also tended to rupture eardrums in her line of work.
"Vinyl! Vinyl!" Tweet's voice started to fade in as the ringing died.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." Vinyl waved her hoof dismissively as Tweet put a hoof on her shoulder. "Sadly the speaker isn't."
"Speakers can be replaced. You can't be," Tweet said with a smile.
"Everypony alright?" A bright yellow pegasus said as he alighted on the ground in front of Vinyl and Tweet.
"I'm fine," Vinyl replied.
"Surprisingly," Tweet said with a flow of ill-disguised anger. "What in the hay happened up there?!"
The pegasus had a scared expression. Tweet wasn't exactly a fan of stallions to begin with, something Vinyl had found out Monday. She bristled like a cat whenever one got close. Vinyl had never mentioned it nor asked about her apprehension of the opposite gender. Add on top of that the falling pipe, Tweet was not happy.
"We lost the master support cable from the winches. It must have snapped under the weight," the pegasus replied, his eyes darting between the two mares.
"Didn't Sterling ask you guys to use backups with the main support?" Vinyl asked before Tweet could jump on the opening. Vinyl counted the stallion lucky that she was there to intervene, given the expression on Tweet's face. The white mare imagined her new friend could, and would, probably put him in the hospital otherwise.
"They broke instantly," the pegasus said to Vinyl, obviously happy he didn't have to deal with the fuming green unicorn. "They were supposed to be able to take the weight, but this frame is a lot heavier than its predecessor."
Tweet took a deep breath and waved the pegasus off. He took back to the air quickly. Several other pegasi had begun wrapping more cables around the large hollow pipe that now sat behind the pair. It was much larger than Vinyl had thought initially. The interior could hold a pony with a bit of room to spare, though the entire space was supposedly going to be power conduits and heavy wiring. Apparently it and its fellows that were replacing the old rings had an extra job beyond just supporting the lights from the main dome structure: they also provided power for the club. Vinyl had been promised a full technical explanation of everything before opening night, though she was learning about a lot of things beforehoof.
Sterling was apparently a technological master, designing and building electrical marvels that surpassed anything Equestria had ever seen. Everything she'd built was being used in this club as a place to show it all off to the world. The rave that Vinyl was going to DJ for was Sterling's way of presenting her greatest works and achievements. Even stuff she'd come up with on the fly was in here, like Sterling's latest brainchild.
The newest idea Sterling had was a redesign of the club's dome. She wanted the dome to be able to open to the world outside, which was a major feat of engineering. The upper rings that had originally been installed were being removed and replaced with versions that could accommodate the new design. Even Vinyl understood how massive this undertaking was, especially given the three dozen or so ponies that were making it happen. The dome was sectioned into four quarters, each one folding outwards like a giant flower. Way outside of normal technological means, just like Sterling herself. Whether it would work or not was up in the air.
Tweet groaned and Vinyl could see her visibly relax. It had been a long day for both of them, Celestia's sun having left the sky an hour ago. The two had been putting up tweeters everywhere in the club that wasn't being renovated. While the tweeters were about the size of Vinyl's hoof they were a lot heavier than they looked and took a lot of magic to keep aloft as they were positioned. Tweet had mentioned that the internal wiring absorbed any magic used on the speakers, meaning more energy was needed to manipulate and move them. Add to that the sound some of them without filters made when they absorbed the magic, it was a really difficult job. The two had taken turns at it so the other could recover a bit while they worked.
"Give me a minute," Tweet said as she walked over to the busted speaker box. "I'll have this fixed in no time."
Vinyl just followed. She hoped that Tweet could quickly repair the small speaker and keep the two of them on schedule for opening. Vinyl didn't want to fall behind for her biggest gig ever.
Tweet knelt down and looked at the speaker itself, holding it in her hooves to preserve what magic she had left. "Well, the wiring's undamaged. Looks like it was just the casing that took a beating," Tweet stated as her horn lit. The other parts of the casing hovered over to the unicorn as she melded them back together. "We'll have to keep an eye on this one, though. In case I missed something." Tweet's horn went out as she took another deep breath. "I haven't used this much magic since I set up Sterling's parents' sound system. A pair of real nitpickers, those two."
Vinyl focused on the speaker, her pale blue aura surrounding it and floating it out of Tweet's hooves. "Last one, right? Might as well get it done." Vinyl wasn't sure if she could hold it for long but she wanted this finished. The sub woofers were tomorrow's agenda and then Vinyl and Tweet could test the most powerful sound system in Equestria. That was Vinyl's number one goal, and she wasn't about to be delayed.
Tweet nodded as she stood up. Her own horn lit in its bright green and the pair guided the speaker back to its mark. The combination of blue and green auras pulsed as the speaker was slowly lowered onto the thin metal frame. The hook in the back bent outwards before snapping into place, signaling that the speaker was now ready for bolting.
Both auras simultaneously expired as the two unicorns fell onto the floor, exhausted from the long day. Tweet's voice conveyed the exhaustion that the pair felt in full.
"You know, Vinyl, as much as I love this job I have to say that it is a pain when something this big comes along. I'd never be able to do it on time by myself, so thank you for helping."
"Yeah, it is a bit tiring. But look at the bright side," Vinyl said, keeping the optimistic view she'd gained the past couple of days. "When this is done we can have a party of our own!" Vinyl tried to raise her hoof into the air, making it halfway before falling flat. "Okay, victory party after a good rest."
This elicited a laugh from Tweet. "Hey, you know this place has its own overnight rooms?"
"We're not sharing a room, Tweet," Vinyl stated plainly.
"Aw, killjoy," Tweet giggled. Vinyl just glared at her, though it was ineffective due to her shades. "Are you trying to glare at me? Because the shades aren't really helping your case." Tweet's voice held some feigned indignation this time.
"Yes, I am," Vinyl stated simply.
"Allow me," Sterling's voice came from right behind Vinyl. Tweet's face fell into a fake frown in response to Sterling's glare, which Vinyl sadly couldn't see. The three of them shared a chuckle after a few seconds. "I trust things are... Going... Why is my new power condenser sitting on my nice, unscratched floor?" Silver's voice was calm, though the hint of annoyance was evident.
Vinyl tried standing on her hooves again, barely making it. Man, I feel like I downed a bottle of pure cider, Vinyl thought to herself as she attempted to stay balance.
"Whoever is in charge of the 'Beam Team,' please come down and see me. Now," Sterling emphasized the last word in her usually kind way. The kind of way that tells you that she's not a happy mare. Even more emphasized by the few working speakers that projected her voice.
Sterling was wearing one of her 'microphones.' It wasn't exactly a microphone so much as a headset capable of sending and receiving sounds via magically enchanted crystals. Vinyl had gotten the chance to coordinate with Tweet using a pair on Sunday and she was pretty impressed. The sound it received was clean and clear, much like her wired headphones she used for gigs. The device was really easy to use, too. Just flick your ear in one direction and it changes the channel up a color and the other direction for down. The headset Vinyl got to use was especially made for the DJ, having a full headset rather than just a single ear piece, when the club was finally open so she really tried to absorb everything Tweet had told her about it.
There were only a small number of these headsets so Vinyl couldn't reclaim hers once Monday approached. Each one was devoted to team leaders working on the construction project, one to Sweets to coordinate the entire operation, and the prototype that Sterling used. Sterling's headset was the smallest, most complex piece of the entire bunch. They were all a small metal disc, about the width of a beer bottle, with a set of metallic clamps that softly hooked onto an ear. A large red button took up the bottom side of the disc to allow anypony to control the clamps. A small silver bar came from just above this button and curved down to in front of the user's mouth. It had a series of specially-enchanted crystals a small distance up from the end, just within the pony's field of view, that could change color depending on the channel the headset was connected to. It was impressive technology, even if it was half run by powerful enchantments.
The yellow pegasus from earlier hesitantly floated down from above, alighting between Sterling and the frame. Her face showed no anger, though this did not stop the stallion from being uneasy about being called down by the sole owner of the club he was helping prepare.
Tweet walked over to Vinyl, who could feel the muscles beneath the pale green coat tense up again. "This is going to be good," Tweet whispered to Vinyl. Vinyl suppressed a grin.
"May I ask why my power condenser is currently lying on the floor?" Sterling began, pointing her hoof at the not-at-all-small target.
"The winches you are having us use lost their strength and the cables--" The yellow stallion was interrupted by Sterling raising a hoof.
"The motors I told you to run only while the sun was out?" Sterling's voice held more annoyance this time. Her eyes, however, were cold. Deep voids of electric blue with not a single emotion written in them. The stallion, however, was on the verge of quivering in his imaginary boots.
"Um, I guess so. I honestly--"
"And you ran them for an hour after the sun went down? Do you not get that this facility is currently dependent on the small number of solar cells that lace the entire framework of this dome? And now, thanks to you and your crew draining my capacitors I cannot test the Lux? Which, by the way, also drains us of what precious little time remains until opening night when the Lux is required to work?" Each rhetorical question came with more and more force behind Sterling's voice. She kept perfect composure, though, only narrowing her eyes to emphasize her tone.
After a moment, Sterling let out a sigh, letting her body relax a touch. "Tell your team to pack up. I expect the condenser up first thing tomorrow morning after the sun is up. Do I make myself clear?"
The pegasus nodded, uttering a "yes, ma'am" before shooting back up, his wings beating furiously.
"Awww," Tweet's disappointed voice came from Vinyl's left, "I wanted to see his feathers get ruffled." Vinyl turned in time to see Tweet's pouting face again. She was such a foal.
"If these pegasi are the best crew for this job out there, I would hate to meet the worst." Sterling looked at Tweet with a soft smile. "Much as I would love to satiate your desires, Tweet, I cannot afford to lose this team with the opening night so close. There is still a lot of work to be done, but in the end it will all be worth it."
Vinyl silently agreed. The news of the grand opening of Sterling's greatest accomplishments was everywhere in the city, from gossip columns to newspapers and everything in between. They all wanted to know what Sterling had planned for her 'biggest project ever,' as Octy's magazines had called it. No pony outside even knew what Sterling's project was called, but Vinyl guessed it was the 'Lux' that the big boss unicorn had devoted her attention to for the past few days. Only Sweets, Sterling, and the odd yellow unicorn that worked under the floor knew exactly what it was, and they weren't going to share. Vinyl was just looking forward to being on that mobile stage come Saturday night.
"You two look really beat," Sterling said with another small smile. "What do you say to dinner on me?"
"Oh, yes! And I know exactly where we can go!" Tweet replied in her normally giddy way.
Sterling smiled, already knowing which restaurant the pale green unicorn had in mind.. Vinyl just nodded, giving up on an attempt to keep her smile. She was completely beat, as Sterling had said, but a free dinner was too good an offer to pass up.

"And here we are. 'La Pouliche Rose.' I have a friend who works here, though he'll probably be off now. He works the lunch shift," Sterling stated to Vinyl and Tweet as they stood in front of the restaurant.
It was a single restaurant in a string of them along the road. The double doors set into the brick building before them were ornately carved redwood, a golden handle adorning each one. On either side of the doors were frosted windows, glowing golden from the lights inside. It had no real discerning features besides the sign of a cute pink filly in a chef's hat that hung over the sidewalk.
Silver pushed open the door into a hallway bathed in golden light. The other two followed closely, glad to be out of the cold night air and into a very warm building. The hallway was short, but had on its walls at least a dozen pictures of royals and rich ponies. At the end was a single pony sitting at a podium in front of a pair of redwood doors, these ones with silver handles. Vinyl's hooves sank into the lush red carpet as she took each step, looking around nervously. She had been in here before, but wasn't quite sure why she remembered.
"Oh, you again." The voice of a high class mare reminded Vinyl of her last visit. She had gotten herself and Octy thrown out of the restaurant, though still wasn't sure how or why. Vinyl was sure she'd been on her best behavior, though that wasn't saying a lot. "I'm sorry, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. We don't serve DJ's or their company," the mare continued. She was a bright blue unicorn who stood behind an equally bright, golden colored podium at the end of the hallway.
Sterling just ignored the comment and raised herself onto the podium, resting her forelegs across the top. She looked at the mare calmly as she spoke, "I'm sorry about that. However, I have a persistent reservation here, and seeing as you have no line out here I can definitely say you have some tables available."
"I'm sorry, but I cannot allow you or your guests in, ma'am," the mare replied with a small upturn of her nose. She obviously had no idea who she was dealing with. The orange-yellow earth stallion in a chef's hat and apron that had slipped into the hallway directly behind the bright blue mare apparently did, however. He raised his forehooves in greeting.
"Sterling!" The stallion's voice held a very heavy Prance accent, "It is so good to see you! It feels like it 'as been such a long time since you 'ave entered my restaurant!" Silver turned to greet the stallion just as Tweet tensed up next to Vinyl again. She was like a cat eying a dog, waiting for it to attack.
"Hey, Chef," Sterling said with a smile. She still rested on the podium where the blue mare now had a surprised look. Vinyl grinned at the mare's apparent blunder. "I was in here last week for lunch, remember? I had a nice talk with you and your nephew."
"Ah, oui! I remember, zough it still feels like many monzs since zen!" Chef suddenly turned to the mare at the podium, "Why are you not seeking out a table for zis lovely mare?" He demanded.
"Her company is not--"
"I do not care if Equestria's most wanted criminal gang, Discord, Nightmare Moon, and zat changeling queen all came in wiz 'er! If zey are guests of Sterling Silver zen zey will be seated wizout any question! Am I understood?" Chef's voice grew stronger by the word, even as Sterling tried to suppress her giggles, which she was utterly failing to do.
The mare behind the podium now had a look of terror on her face while Chef's was turning red. She decided, and rightly so, to just give into the now bright red stallion and disappeared behind the pair of doors. She moved really fast for a high society pony.
"You know, Chef, I could have done that," Sterling said as she returned her hooves to the ground.
"I know, but it is more fun for moi zan for you," Chef replied with a small bow. "I 'ave been meaning to bring my niece out of her uptight attitude. Zough, I must admit I remember zis one well," he walked up to Vinyl, looking her over as he did so. Vinyl just stood there, silently hoping she wasn't about to get her boss and new friend tossed out.
"I remember you told me about that," Sterling said from behind the stallion who was now nose-to-nose with the DJ. His dark amber eyes seemed to pierce the shades that Vinyl wore, making her all the more nervous.
A hoof wrapped around vinyl's foreleg and pulled her out from under the intimidating Prance pony's stare. Tweet smiled as the white unicorn fell into her foreleg, which she then wrapped around Vinyl's shoulder, holding her upright. "She's totally fine, Chef! Not nearly as bad as I am, that's for sure," Tweet said in her filly voice. Vinyl could feel Tweet's muscles were still taught, though she didn't show it.
"I 'ope so," Chef said slowly as the blue mare returned, "because I would 'ate to lose customers because I let in two unstable little fillies."
"Your table is ready for you all," the blue pony stated before disappearing through the door.
Sterling motioned for Tweet and Vinyl to follow. "Go on ahead, I'll be with you in a bit," she said. Tweet pulled Vinyl down the hallway, past Sterling and through the doorway. Sterling and Chef were now the only two in that golden-lit hallway. Several minutes passed before Chef spoke, making sure no pony was nearby to hear.
"'Ave you 'eard from your sister yet?" Chef asked as he walked up to the silver mare.
She shook her head. "No, nothing yet. It's not like her to not send me a postcard or something letting me know she's alright." Sterling sat on the red carpet, looking down at her hooves. The sounds of ponies enjoying their dinner wafted through the partially cracked double-doors. "I miss her, you know. I wish she had stayed a little longer, maybe then I wouldn't have to worry if she's alright, where she is, how she's doing. It's hard, Chef, caring for somepony your whole life then having her suddenly disappear. She didn't even say goodbye."
Sterling forced herself to hold her emotions at bay, keeping them out of her speech and appearance. Her deception grew harder to maintain by the day, though. Sterling's entire career had been built from the need to hide her emotional break, and a lot of good came out of it. She just hoped that fate would throw her the proverbial golden apple.
"I know it is 'ard Sterling, but you must 'ave faith," Chef said as he wrapped a foreleg around Sterling's shoulder. "She is a strong pony, one of ze smartest I've ever 'ad the honor of meeting, and dangerous to boot. You will see 'er again, of zat I 'ave no doubt."
"I know I'll see her again, Chef. It's just that she's always at the back of my mind, no matter what I'm focusing on. I can't stop thinking about her, and I can't shake that empty feeling of not having her around."
"You two share a special bond, stronger zan any siblings I 'ave met. She is on your mind because you spent your fillyhood protecting 'er and caring for 'er when even your parents would not. That kind of devotion does not just go away, and neizer does your sister. You will see 'er again, but it will be when she is ready. Come on, Sterling. You 'ave to try zis new dish zat little protégé you sent my way came up with. I say it is magnifique, but I want your opinion."
Sterling took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts once again. She was, after all, raised in a family that did not outwardly show emotion. It wasn't something Sterling was proud of, but she had to maintain her appearance if she wanted to keep her current ranking in society. Maybe after the club opened Sterling could let go of all her family taught her, but for now she was stuck with those lessons. Someday, I'll just be me. One day we'll both be free, Sterling thought as she followed Chef through the door into the restaurant.