Steamed
Despite the soft look in his eyes and the dulcet tone of voice he used, the words he said did not go unnoticed by anypony in the lobby. Fluttershy herself tried moving, but was simply in too much pain to move much on her own. All she could do was stammer weakly as her eyes showed several emotions: fatigue, pain, and now, fear. “P… Potential… C-Cli…”
“Fluttershy would NEVER ask for the help of somepony as shady as you!” Rainbow Dash didn’t like how her friend was legitimately terrified at the idea of Vanish seeing her as little more than a business opportunity and a ‘mission objective’. Fluttershy was one of Rainbow Dash’s best friends, given how both of them were Pegasi, even if they had very different personalities and lifestyles. Vanish answered the irate mare’s glare with one of his own as he saw her take steps towards him. Assuming that she would charge into him, he lowered his head and braced himself with his hooves on the floor.
Rainbow tried to push the unicorn stallion away from where he was, head-to-head, but he remained firm with his defensive stance. “She is exactly the kind of individual who hires somepony like me!” As fear seemed to sink further into Fluttershy, Rainbow became more aggressive, trying to push the stallion away from her friend, which wasn’t easy given the presence of Vanish’s horn blocking her ability to shove him properly. “… Her personality is that of one who is helpless and weak. She lacks confidence in herself, but knows what she wants.” Vanish saw Rainbow’s stance falter, and launched her with a mighty shove by using the table for leverage, sending her careening into some of her friends, who caught her before she could crash into the bookshelves.
Vanish stood still for a moment, before continuing his reasoning. “… But she has several friends.” Vanish frowned at Fluttershy, who seemed confused by the sudden change in the stallion's tone of voice and expression: from commanding and fierce, to seemingly disappointed in how it sounded. “She has ponies who she can rely on, should problems arise, and I suppose…” Vanish turned his attention to the group of ponies who had gathered around Rainbow Dash. “… Most of you are quite reliable friends, regardless of how I feel about certain ones... on a strictly personal level, of course.”
Surprising everyone in the room, Vanish turned his attention once again, towards an unexpected source. “You. Dragon. Must I address you directly before you commit to obvious, essential tasks!? Get some medical supplies, and make haste in doing so; Fluttershy won’t be able to make the trip to Canterlot without some form of either magical support or medicinal aid!” Spike had been off to the side, trying to follow what Vanish was saying in case he could salvage anything for a letter to the princess, but his mind froze once the menace said ‘Dragon’. Twilight saw Spike’s paralyzed expression and walked over to him, standing between him and Vanish’s line of sight. “Spike, please get some medical supplies from upstairs. We’ll watch Vanish and Fluttershy.”
Spike snapped out of his trance, and nodded in affirmation, running upstairs swiftly in order to grab medical supplies. The other ponies took their eyes off of Vanish, but heard the sound of magic being used, prompting them to turn back around in fear of him having cloaked himself. To their surprise, the dark blue stallion had used his unicorn magic of levitation for the first time since they saw him, in order to grab one of the two scrolls that Spike had left on the table, choosing to read it. It was the letter from the princess for Spitfire and Soarin’. Vanish looked at it briefly, before smirking at something. Placing it down, he looked at the second scroll, as well as at a large, white drawing board in the room, with a curious look in his eyes.
Twilight was about to say something, but Vanish’s sudden, cold stare caught her with her mouth open. “If you want to help your dear Princess Celestia…” He used his magic to close the scroll before tossing it down to Twilight’s hooves. “… Tell her to seek the aid of the ‘Prisoner Transfer Squad’ in Baltimare.” Vanish reached into his saddlebag with his hoof. “But I answered your questions. So without further ado, I’ve got something to get off my chest, and out of my bag.”
Vanish’s gaze shifted towards Rarity, going from cold and calculating to furious with anger as he struggled to pull out the unknown item from his saddlebag. “You! You worthless excuse of a mare! How dare you earn my trust…” Vanish finally pulled out the object; It was his fedora. “… Only to produce a shoddy attempt at repairs! Oh, it’s good, but are you prone to allowing rats to sneak into your custom-made gowns!?” Vanish’s question what rhetorical, but the clear fury in his voice prompted some of the ponies to back away from Rarity, while others moved closer in a failed attempt to intercept the stallion. “You don’t? Then how, might I ask, did you allow baubles to… pollute the interior of this fedora!?”
Rarity knew exactly what Vanish was mad about: He found out about the jewels she had placed in the fedora in order to track him down. Vanish pushed Rarity with his head, backing her into the door of the library, causing her flank to be forcibly pressed against it before the stallion stopped to calm himself. “If you thought I wouldn’t notice, it’s true; my client was generous enough to point it out to me. Back in the Cloudosseum, he stated that it was dropped through my impacts with the cage, and so he grabbed it, choosing to wear it while I was unconscious. Without his horn, he easily felt something between its layers.”
Rarity was a bit surprised: Vanish might have never noticed the jewels, if not for Gather using his hat for a moment. “Well!? Have you nothing to say for yourself, seamstress?” The white unicorn mare was being given a chance to explain herself. She had a choice: Tell the truth, or lie. Regardless of the nature of the element she proudly represented, she did what she did for her friends, and felt no need to lie on their behalf, let alone her own as she proceeded to justify her actions. “Would you be so kind as to allow me to explain myself?” Vanish cast his furious stare to the floor behind him, pacing, seemingly beside himself with rage. “Speak!”
Rarity believed that the shortest answer would be the best one to provide. “I did it because I wanted to help my friends.” Vanish stopped his pacing, facing Fluttershy, before perking his ears up, and lowering his head, his body trembling as he struggled to contain his fury. His shuddering voice sounded surprised, but absolutely enraged. “You mean… Y-You did this on PURPOSE!?” His shout startled everypony in the room, but Rarity remained calm, with a regal look about her. “Yes. I planted some jewels in the inner… I suppose you might call it a ‘pocket’ of sorts, of your fedora. I had my reasons.”
Vanish turned around, teeth gritted in anger, but trying not to look directly at the target of his aggression as he struggled desperately to control his emotions instead. “… Why? Why did you do this…?” Rarity motioned for her friends to back away from her. She was preparing for the worst, and did not want them to get hurt because of her words. “My own magic allows me to locate gemstones, whether they’re in the ground, in walls, or even above me. I placed some in your hat while under the impression that you would wear it, so I could find you.”
Vanish’s voice was calm, but he spoke in a low tone to make sure he could still subdue his anger while keeping himself aimed directly at the pony in front of him. “I see… and why did you want to find me?” Rarity stepped towards the shuddering stallion, explaining her actions. “I detest fighting, but I’ll do what I can to help my friends, and if ‘being able to track you down’ is how I can help, then I’ll do just that, for their sake.” Rarity stopped, standing precariously close to the dark blue pony. “I apologize for tricking you when you trusted me to repair your fedora of the damages it had withstood at the hospital, but if you want me to apologize for using it to find you, I won’t; it was because of my actions that we were able to quickly locate you and encounter your client. I’m glad I could help my friends, and furthermore, feel neither shame nor regret in the actions I chose to undertake as an individual.”
Vanish stopped shuddering, but still wouldn’t look at Rarity. The hat was on the floor in front of him, and with a slight nudge with his hoof, he slid it in front of the majestic mare. “… You have one hour to take the gems out. That’s all I’m giving you. Is that understood?” Rarity paused for a moment before using her magic to grab the fedora that lay before her. “… Girls, I’ll be back in a moment. I need to return to my boutique in order to acquire the necessary tools to cut and seal his hat. Everyone stay here; I’ll be back soon…” Raising nothing but his voice in order to do so, Vanish quickly protested. “NO. I will escort you back. All things considered, I’m not letting a demon like you out of my sight.”
Sweetie Belle couldn’t stand hearing her sister being insulted any further. With a mighty whack, the side room door collided with the wall, startling everypony in the room with the exception of Vanish, who seemed to be too focused on Rarity to even acknowledge the sharp crack that caused the other ponies to flinch. Sweetie Belle ran out, furious at the pony who had accosted her sister. “You leave her alone, you big bully!”