Romancing the Clouds

by KitsuneRisu

Episode 2-3 :: Poached

Oh, for Luna's sake, what the double hell is he doing? He's just standing there. They're both just standing there. Why are they standing there? He looks… what… what does he look like? I can't bloody tell! Is he sad or confused or what? I… I can't tell! Why won't he say anything? Why won't he respond? Oh crap oh crap oh crap…

The young punk shook his hind legs uncontrollably. He had been pushed into a chair inside this dirty, worn-down room with the bad lighting. He was still a bit groggy, and he had no idea how he got there nor where he was, but he awoke with his face on a table and his ass in a seat. When he came to, the first thing he noticed was those two ponies staring at him.

It was that guy who knew what he did. How the hell did he know? And it was that young filly who gave him…

Oh Luna, it was a trap. Wasn't it? It was a trap. They're some rival gang or something, and now they're going to kill me or pull my legs off or something. Oh, Luna. Why won't they say anything?

His hoof came down hard on the table, but he still couldn't stop shaking through his show of force. "Wh-what do you want with me!"

The stallion licked his lips, looking away, rubbing his chin. He deliberately – it was definitely deliberate! – opened his mouth and took in an incredibly slow breath before saying one single word.

"Name?"

The punk shut his eyes. He wouldn't answer that.

"Alright then. What were you doing at the site of the fire?"

"Nothing!"

"Surely you couldn't be doing nothing, could you?" the drab olive pony asked, blending into the shadows of the room. Why was it so dark in there, anyway?

"I was just looking at the wreck, man! Pony has a right to look at crap, right?"

"He's lying," whispered the girl at the back, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I'm not lying, I was just in the bloody neighbourhood minding my own-"

"He's lying," she repeated. Still whispering.

"I said I'm not-"

"He's lying."

The punk smashed his leg onto the table again, wincing. Whatever they'd used to drug him, it had some odd effects. Everything felt more. His muscles ached and his body tingled with sensitivity. His mind was trying to push through custard. Everything echoed as he thought out loud.

"I… I ain't… damnit, who the hell are you guys?"

"You don't need to know that," Egg said, keeping still. "What you need to know is this. We know what you did. We want to know why."

"I ain't gotta tell you crap, you ass."

Egg looked toward Champagne. She gave a sort of half-shrug, as if to say, yeah, he thinks he's telling the truth.

"He's scared, sir," Champagne added.

"I ain't scared. I ain't scared!" The punk flew into defense.

Egg turned back to the kid across the table.

"So, you're scared."

"I said I ain't-"

The stallion in drab rapped his hoof hard on the floor. The punk jumped. Even Champagne blinked as a bit of a reaction.

"It's okay to be scared. In fact, it's smart to know when to be scared when we need to be. Do you know what causes fear in the first place?"

Egg stepped towards the table.

"It's a defence mechanism. It's your mind telling you that you can't handle what's in front of you. It's your mind telling you to be careful because doing something wrong could cause you to get hurt, or even lose your life. Now, I know that you're scared of me."

The punk swallowed.

"Now ask me if I'm scared of you."

It was a show. It was all a show. It was just a show. Egg picked up this little tip from his friend back at the alley. It was a game. But it was the kind of game that everyone joined in and the point of it was to convince the other players that they weren't playing anything. And only then would you win.

"Don't hurt me, okay? Just… don't hurt me!" The punk pushed himself back from the table, leaping to his hooves and wobbling back up against the wall. "C'mon, man!"

Egg stretched his neck. "Wasn't going to."

"Then what do you want from me, man?" The pony cried.

"I want you to sit down."

The youth stared at the chair as if it were ready to bite him. It was lying flat on the ground; he had knocked it over when he jumped back.

"Pick up the chair and sit down," Egg repeated, stepping closer yet again.

He glared at Egg. This stallion… this old stallion who was just too calm about what was going on. Keeping his eyes trained on him, mind set between hate and fear, he scrabbled with the chair and set it back upright before sliding onto it. He placed both his forelegs on the tabletop, slouching down, sighing inwardly.

But even before he could open his mouth, that girl in the corner read his mind and with a resounding reflection of his upcoming action, she spoke.

"He's ready to talk, sir."

The punk would have been a little bit more upset if he wasn't so utterly defeated.

"Thank you," Egg said, turning around to face Champagne directly. "Could you do me a favour?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Could you please wait outside for the others to return? If they do before I'm done here, let them know what the situation is, and please make sure we're not disturbed before I come out."

Champagne nodded, swiftly moving to the door and leaving the pair in peace.

The punk winced as the door shut, the click of the handle making his head hurt.

"Alright," Egg said, casually strolling up to the table and standing across the young pony. "Go ahead."

"Look, I don't… you're gonna let me go if I tell you, right?"

"Depends on how happy I am with the information."

The punk sighed. It was worth a shot. "Alright, man. Listen. It… it was a test, okay? Just a test."

"A test?"

"Yeah, for initiation, alright? F' Cloudsdale Unity."

"I figured as much," Egg said. He'd never heard of Cloudsdale Unity before. The next few questions would have to be worded very carefully.

"So why this target? Why not any of the others?"

"Hail if I know, man." The punk sniffed, shrugging. He seemed affected by the randomness of it, and Egg didn't need Champagne to see that much. "I just followed instructions, you know? But there ain't too many gryphons up here."

"And these instructions… are they the same as usual?"

"I don't know, man! This was my first time, okay? They don't really talk about these kinds of things, do they?"

"Maybe not to you, it seems."

"I…"

The key was to keep throwing questions to cause him to lose focus. It wouldn't be hard with this one. He was young, inexperienced with basic business negotiation tactics, and, well, he'd been drugged. And although this wasn't exactly a job interview to test his resolve and his concentration, it sure worked well in adaptation.

"You're wasting my time."

"Listen, man, I don't-"

Egg rapped the table. "Come on!"

"I don't know! I don't know, okay?" The punk yelled back, scrunching up his face through gritted teeth. "They just told me to get the stuff from the address and throw it at the bakery! Look!"

He swept into a band on his leg and withdrew a small, torn scrap of paper. The ink had been smudged from the sweat dripping from his body, but certain letters were clear. Egg slid it over to himself. The only thing left upon it that wasn't a smear of blue were the words 'essor Polyc'. Egg's face shot back up.

"It's my contact, okay? He was the one who gave me the stuff, man."

"That's it?" Egg held it up like a wet noodle. "That's all you have? Couldn't even take care of a piece of paper?"

"I don't know man! Please! Just… please!" The kid buried his face in his hooves, gasping for air. "I'm telling you all I know, okay? Please!"

"Who gave you this contact?"

"I don't know! They wore masks!"

"Where did you meet them?"

"I don't know! I was blindfolded when I was brought to the meeting place, man!"

"And this pony? Who was he?" Egg waved the paper around.

"I never saw him either! They don't trust outsiders, man! That's what the… the initiation is for!"

Don't stop. Keep going with the momentum. He's panicking now. Just like in an interview – once unsettled, you start to ask questions that make them admit the things they don't want to say, and hopefully you catch something that you could chase. It's about how to ask the questions that make them fill in the blanks themselves.

"And your initiation, then. How do you think you've done? Huh? You think Unity's happy with your results?"

"I couldn't do it, man!" Small drops of water started to fall from behind his hooves, hitting the table. "I couldn't do it, okay? I know I failed! Crap! They're gonna… they're gonna kill me, aren't they? They're gonna kill me, man!"

Couldn't do it?

Writing flew up into the walls of Egg's mind. He felt himself surrounded by the facts, and he had to work this one out quick. He clearly burnt the bakery down, so he was successful in that. And he kept coming back, right? Champagne had said he was different because he wanted to be there. But why? And why did he leave the second he saw the three of them fly off? Was he scared of seeing Cookie? Or was he there for…

Wait. He postulated earlier that it was a stroke of luck that Cookie escaped. But what if…

"Why couldn't you kill her?" Egg asked.

"Because I couldn't! I don't… I didn't wanna go that far! A building's just a building, man! But I can't… I ain't got nothin' against gryphons! I'm not like them, okay?"

"You waited for her to leave before you burnt the place down."

"Yeah… yeah, man." The kid wiped his face, his eyes burning red.

"And you went back to check that she was okay."

"Yeah. And I saw her being flown away by…"

The punk's head shot up suddenly, staring through blurry eyes at Egg.

"Yeah." Egg nodded. "It was."

"W- who are you, man?"

"Kid, what are you doing with your life?" Egg asked. "Why are you doing things you don't want to do? Look where you are right now. Why don't you just go home?"

"I don't got no home, man!" The youth burst into tears again. "You think it's so colt damn easy? I don't got any choices! I don't got no chances! I don't got no home!"

"And now thanks to you, an innocent gryphon baker doesn't have one either."

There was no response to that. As much as the kid would have liked to rant and rave and scream, there was just no response. He wasn't so far gone to have pulled the excuse of self-preservation out, and all that was left was a skin rapidly losing a soul.

Egg placed a hoof over his mouth while he thought.

"Just kill me now," the child croaked out.

"No," Egg declared. "We're not done yet."

"I've told you everything, man. Everything."

"Not yet you haven't. There's one other thing I need to know."

"What?"

"Tell me about your skills and talents," Egg asked.

"This is your plan? Really?" Brilliant Cut yelled downward. "Really? Really really?"

"Yes! Really! Jeez!" Ember yelled back, cradling his black, grouchy trump card."This is gonna work! Trust me!"

The head-strong young stallion lined the tiny stormcloud up with the rock. It was already at maximum thunder capacity, and all it would take was just a little nudge to get it bolting.

Cookie hovered by the side, playing with her hands nervously.

"I would have to hit the area quite soon after the lightning strikes, yes?" Cookie reconfirmed with Cut.

"Yeah, like… seconds. So… um… yeah. Sounds dangerous. Dangerous, dangerous plan. Why are you doing this again?"

"I just think it is nice to help others out." Cookie shrugged. "I don't think I will be hurt. Timing is rather important in my line of work, yes? And, ah… I have natural resistance to… hot things, yes?"

"Not this hot," Cut mumbled.

"Just about… there! Got it!" Ember yelled up to the pair. He had set the cloud up just next to the entrance. With the criminals barring themselves in, there was no longer any way for them to take pot shots without moving that big stone out of the way, and it didn't seem like they were going to do that anytime soon.

It was a bit disconcerting that their current actions were unknown, though, being hidden behind brick and rock.

But it was all rather quiet. Who knows how they were reacting right now, knowing that there was a gryphon after them? Well, not like she was, really, but still. It was all a matter of perspective.

"Alright," Cookie said, pumping her arm softly, in a mild show of force. "That is my cue, as they say. I shall go for it, yes?"

A hoof lay itself on her arm.

"Really, though," Cut said, looking down at the setup worriedly. "This actually isn't safe. We should think of another way."

"No, it is fine. I am glad to help."

"But… why?" Cut shook her head, not at all understanding the logic.

Perhaps the logic was never meant to be understood.

"They are helping me, with my own problems. You have lost a shop, and I too have lost a shop today. Yours was stolen, and mine had been boiled in some sticky wet goop. Perhaps we could say that… both our stores were… poached?" Cookie giggled inanely.

"What?"

"Well, poaching is both… the act of stealing, and also boiling so-"

"No, no. I mean… why are you so casual about it? You… you really lost your store today?"

Cookie nodded. "Well, actually it melted, but… it was a good joke, yes?"

"Why are you so happy?"

Cookie looked upward, facing the skies above. Most of the clouds were around their altitude, and so all that was left was the undisturbed blues of the rest of the universe. It was past first sunset by now, and the orange rays of Celestia's brilliance crawled through space from below.

She took in a bracing, life-affirming breath, shutting her eyes and steeling herself for what was about to come.

"Because there is no room to be sad," Cookie said, lowering altitude and flying to her ready position a few hundred meters away.

Both Ember and Cut watched her fly, an odd look on Cut's face.

"What were you guys talking about up there?" Ember yelled.

"Nothing! She's ready!" Cut yelled back. "You better get this right, you hear? Don't hurt her!"

"I'm not gonna hurt her! Trust me!" Ember laughed with confidence. Alright. Here we go.

The points had been arranged, and the actions had been discussed. With Brilliant Cut's help, the precise area to strike the rock had been determined, the plan was devised, prepared for, and now all that was left was timing.

Timing. Ember was good at that.

His heart skipped a beat.

Eternia the gryphon was already racing toward the shop at her full speed. She would pass a certain point, and then Ember would start counting down from three. As he reached one, he would raise a hoof, shaky, unstable in his denied fear, and strike the cloud just there. And if all went well, then…

There wasn't even enough time for Ember to replay the scenario one last time in his head.

A bolt ripped the sky apart, something that should never be experienced so close, and a roaring crack of thunder tore through everyone's ears a fraction of a fraction of a second later. That gap in time was also the difference between Cookie surviving and instantly turning to dust.

The light and sound blinded the group, a crucial flaw in the plan that Ember hadn't considered. That wasn't good. He couldn't see, couldn't feel anything except for the cloud spinning under his hooves, and all he heard was a deep buzzing whine in his ears.

While the world turned over and over, the only thought flooding his head was a single word that summed everything up in this situation. A single word that reflected what might have happened, what had happened, and all his hopes and wishes and desperation that Cookie wasn't harmed. It was a word that represented his guilt in not thinking this through.

Crap, he thought. Crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap-

Maybe it was his chanting that helped, but the buzzing died down, only to be replaced by the sounds of tinkling. It was a bit like rain, but a bit more metallic.

Ember rubbed his eyes. The world came back.

The large rock had a chasm running down its middle now, pieces of this shimmering, rainbow-like substance cracking off and crumbling to the floor of the shop. A few pieces fell off here and there, but it seemed most of them were sent inwards.

There was no time to appreciate the beauty of the sight of rainbow bismuth – oddly sharp and angular pieces with a iridescent shine – being cast about the place much like the sprinkling of salt as thrown by a god.

Burn marks around the crack showed that the bolt of lightning struck true, and with that alone, Ember's heart slowed by half. But where was Cookie?

Shaking his head, he looked up. The taxi driver was still disoriented and all that was left of Brilliant Cut was an arm hanging loosely over the edge. The rest of her must have been on the floor of the cart itself.

So where was Cookie?

The shop rocked unsteadily, the impact tilting it off-center. It was now sinking much too fast at one of the corners, and it threatened to fall through the clouds.

"Oh crap," Ember wheezed, pushing himself off the cloud and darting for the shop. He felt like a beetle that accidentally flew into a tree; he certainly was flying like one right now. Wobbling left and right, moving far slower than he was used to, the spinning in his head making it hard for him to even stay upright – his only consolation was that the pegasi inside the building may be just as out of it as he was.

He reached the door and peered in, into the darkness, into the gloom, through the curtain of rock and crumbling frame. It was extremely poorly lit; all electricity halting the moment the shop lifted off the ground. There was, however, only one smudge against the otherwise perfect painting of the interior of the shop.

At the rear, just across from the door, something had crashed through the counter, breaking it in half entirely, glass and metal and shreds of wood scattered all around the point of impact. But what had caused the damage was gone.

"Stop there." Came a gruff voice, from Ember's right.

He turned.

And there they were.

The three thieves, donning cloth kerchiefs over their faces, had the gryphon on the floor, where she lay, on her side, propped up on bleeding arms. There was a small patch on her chest that was remarkably darker than the rest of her feathers, but in the darkness, it was hard to make out what it was.

"Stay there, in the light," the first thief said. He was standing in front of Cookie. She wasn't making any attempt to move either.

The other two kept watch as well, one standing off to the side, the gun on his back loaded and ready. The other had pulled it back, and the tension off the elastic bands vibrated, silvery strings of a plucked violin, reflecting what little sun was in the room.

And that was why Cookie wasn't moving.

"Alright, enough is enough," said the thief. "I don't know who you guys are, eh? But we're going to give you one chance to turn around and piss off."

And that was exactly what Ember needed to hear.

He kept rubbing the furious daze out of his head, but his mood was improving at a faster rate than his senses were.

He'd been through all this before, talking with punks on the boardwalk. They all had the same kinds of reactions, and he had them all boiled down to three general types of pony.

The first was the guy who ran instantly. Didn't bother with words. Just ran. He knew what he wanted, and what he wanted was to get away.

The second kind was the sort of fella who gave up instantly. You needn't have to worry much about those kinds either, because they knew when they were beat. Of course, the second sort of fella usually eventually turned into the first sort of fella, so there was that.

But the third kind were the guys who bargained. And that was always a bad decision for them. To Ember, the first two were far more respectable, because you picked a side and you stuck with it. This kind of pony, the ones who hemmed and hawed and delayed, they were the ones who weren't sure.

If they had wanted to shoot him or Cookie, they'd have done it already. If they had wanted to get away badly enough, they wouldn't have had any problems whatsoever making sure that they did. But they didn't. They bargained. They pleaded. They knew that the option of running away was entirely lost to them, and they were trying a different sort of method to leave.

It meant that Ember could have his fun.

Ember strengthened his buckling knees and put on the cockiest smile he could. He laughed, once, stepping forward over the rubble.

"Yeah, okay. One chance." He swaggered towards the head thief, who took a step back, his eyes widening. "I don't really like the deal though."

"Are… are you insane?" the thief yelled, reaching back and pushing his friend, the one with the gun. "Don't you see this? Do you know what I'm going to do?"

"Um…" Ember ducked his head, peering forward. "I don't know. I can't really… see very well. It's kinda dark in here."

"Are you playing with us, man?" the thief shrieked, shuddering in his horseshoes.

He wasn't. He was staring at Cookie. Right at her face. He hoped she understood. He hoped this mockery of the situation was enough for the thieves to let him do this for just a few more moments.

All he saw was that Cookie had the calmest, most serene smile on her face, ever.

Ember leaned over to pick nothing off the ground.

"Stop! Hey!" The thief jumped. "What are you doing?"

The screaming was upsetting his friends. The pony with the gun turned, as well, to face Ember instead of Cookie. The gunner almost didn't catch up, and had only himself started to move a moment after the gun had begun to swivel.

Ember stopped in his tracks, peered up through his mane, and stood back up to full height.

"Nothing. Wasn't doing nothing."

"Get out of here!" The thief yelled. "Don't make me come over there and make you!"

"Oh, or what? Huh? What?" Ember threw his front leg up, waving it rudely at the thief. "You gonna shoot me? With that thing?"

"Yeah, I will! Don't push it, kid, I'm in a good mood today, and I don't wanna-"

Ember cut him off with another bold, brazen move, swinging along the wall and walking slowly across the floor to the thief's left.

He kept his distance, but now, he was a little bit further in, and the robbers had turned enough to place Cookie directly behind them.

"Yeah, well, I ain't! You know how you guys were taking pot-shots at me earlier? Wasn't very nice!" Ember pointed a hoof straight at the thieves. "You could have hurt me! Then what?"

"They were warning shots, kid! Alright? But you're really testing my patience now! I didn't wanna hurt you before, but-"

Ember burst out with a laugh. "Wh… is this your first time or something? This is your first time, isn't it?"

"What…"

Ember kept walking. "Why would you even tell me that? Now I know that you aren't being serious! I actually thought you were trying to kill us back then, you know that? Why would you tell me that you weren't?"

And now, this was it. Even Emberkite hadn't noticed until he took a sneaky glance at her, but Cookie had already propped herself up on her arms and had risen to the classic gryphon 'perch' stance. Maybe it was the fact that she was half eagle and half lion, but by Celestia was she ever a silent mover.

And all that was left was to wait for it. Already, he could see the thief's eyes rotating wildly in his skull. Another mistake of a rookie – he wasn't covering his eyes up. Ember could see exactly where they were and what they were doing, and as they darted back and forth, he could see the uncertainty behind them, and it was just about waiting for that one second… that one second when he turned his head to check with his friends what he should do next…

Ember leapt. He burst from zero to a hundred within the space of the store, and didn't stop when he connected with the other pony's neck, as they both were flung out of the way and into the walls behind.

The gunner started yelling. Something… something with claws and talons and sharp bits was holding him by the rear legs.

Pandemonium and panic struck as the third, the gun himself, started running, headed for the door. All that screaming behind him wasn't helping his mental state any bit.

In the dark and dust, the first thief flew overhead as he, too, attempted to get away, but a bolt from the shadows caught him and slammed him against the ceiling.

The gun realised he wasn't getting anywhere. The elastic was still being pulled taut. The gunner was still holding on for dear life, having released the bullet but hooking onto the rubber with his legs.

The gryphon sat there, a firm grasp on the rear ankles of the pony, his back popping as he too was being stretched out.

The first thief wiped the blood off his lip and staggered to the entrance. All the wind had left his lungs, and he was simply crawling to the light out of instinct. He'd managed to get an elbow in during the last attack, and had shaken off his assailant, if only momentarily.

The gun struggled, feeling himself being dragged back.

"Let… go!" he yelled, back, over his shoulder.

"Okay!" Cookie replied.

The gunner barrelled into the back of the first thief, the two spilling out of the door accompanied by the sound of an awfully crunchy thud.

Now free, the gun ran for the exit as well, diving through. He struggled, the horns of the gun catching on the sides of the rock; the entryway now too narrow for it to pass through. The more he pulled, the more the gun got lodged, until he leaned over and released himself from his constraints and flew off into the distance.

"No!" Ember yelled, scrabbling over the floor and rushing to the doorway. "They're getting away!"

He threw his body against the contraption blocking his path, but it wouldn't give. Again and again he rammed into it, and only until he felt Cookie brush up beside him did he stand aside.

She reached over and pulled, the gun popping out with little resistance.

Ember threw himself out, scanning the city.

They were already gone.

"Thank you… thank you so much, mister Egg. I will… I'll never forget this," the punk said, breathing deeply, face awash with tears.

"Just remember, his name is Survey. Head to the offices, ask to see him, just mention me and he'll take care of the rest. Off you go." Egg nodded at the child, as he smiled and took off down the street.

Egg and Champagne, both standing outside the base, watched him go.

"Was he…?" Egg asked.

"Yes, sir. He wasn't lying. At least, not right now," Champagne asserted. "What did you say to him?"

"Not everypony's going to be as easy to get through to as he was," Egg responded, off topic. "A… facility. Where ponies can be kept…"

"Mister Egg, sir?" Champagne asked.

"Pardon me. Just thinking." Egg cleared his throat. "So, have they returned yet?"

"They're just… coming in now, sir," Champagne said, pointing up at a floating building that was being lowered to the base.

"Ah. We saw that on the way back, didn't we?"

"Yes, sir."

"I thought it was them, you know. I just didn't think it was actually what I thought I saw…turns out I was right about that too, hmm?"

"Yes sir," Champagne echoed, weakly.

"You've been watching them all this while, have you?"

"Yes sir."

"And you didn't go up to join them?"

Champagne responded this time with a very slow shake of her head, eyes a bit wider than normal.

"Fair enough."

The shop was finally lowered to reasonable levels, with the help of Ember and Cookie who assisted with its descent. Despite all the ruckus and the fighting, it, luckily, hadn't fallen through, and was now puffing away in front of Egg's face upon the two generators. It had been tied, rather crudely, to the back of the taxi cart. Due to the fact that the clouds kept it reasonably weightless, it wasn't that hard to move around even for just one pony, although it did take a while to get it started.

"Ember."

"Hey, old stallion." Ember grinned. He was all smiles.

"I thought I told you to take care of our guest, not… whatever this is."

"I was! I did! I mean, but… um… long story. I'll fill you in later, alright? But it was amazing. They got away though, but we managed to get the shop back, at least."

"It was…"

"… stolen. Yeah. That's Brilliant Cut. In the cart. She's the owner."

Ember landed, stretching his back, Cookie touching down beside him.

"Miss Eternia," Egg asked, raising his eyebrows at the blood, "are you alright?"

"Oh, yes, very, very fine, yes?" Cookie hastened to put Egg's worries to rest. "It is just a very small scratch. Feathers… they soak up the blood, yes? It looks much worse than it really is, I assure you. I am in no discomfort, but I would probably need to have a shower."

"Ember, would you show Miss Eternia to the bathroom?" Egg asked. "I trust what she's saying is the truth?"

"Yeah, old stallion," Ember said, dropping a bit of his swagger. "It was… long story. Really. Promise I'll tell you later, alright? But let me go take care of this for her. Everything worked out just fine, old stallion, and you know why? Because I planned crap!"

Egg gave a quizzical look. "Of course. I'll see you later."

The two of them disappeared into the building as Egg turned his attention to the taxi and its passenger.

"So, you're the big boss, huh?" Brilliant Cut waved, a tired smile on her face.

"Yes. Oh, and you are…" He turned to the taxi driver.

"Friend," the taxi driver said, gruffly, in monotone, "I realised a long time ago I ain't a part of all this business right here. I'm just getting' paid to park, alright? Leave me out of it."

"Um… yeah," Brilliant Cut cut back in. "So that's my store. Sort of. I mean, I just work there. But you know. Happened on my shift, so."

"It looks Earth-borne."

"It looks what?"

"Sorry, it looks like it's from ground-side. From earth, that is."

"Oh yeah! Yeah. It's from Filly. Um… some guys found a way to pluck it right outta the ground and get it up here. I hop in a cab and give chase, and I just happened to be passing by here and…"

Champagne stepped closer to the shop while Brilliant Cut filled in the details with Egg. She was listening, sort of, but something else had caught her eye and had drawn her to the middle of the store.

It was nearly obscured by the clouds, but she lifted off and hovered in for an inspection of the edges of the pavement that had been torn in two. There was a rather odd red substance that was left on the underside of the cracks, a strange discolouration that she had seen before.

She prodded it. It didn't feel like anything. It didn't even feel like it was there at all. Even paint left something behind. This didn't.

"And then your friends saved me, I guess," Brilliant Cut concluded.

The store lurched, sending a light sprinkle of assorted stones out the main door.

"Um… keep that. Payment," Cut continued. "You guys really helped me out. So… thanks, or, you know. Stuff."

"Will you be able to make it back yourself?"

"Yeah, I think so. Taxi driver says he's done worse before. And I promised him even more pay, so…"

"Alright. Take care then. If you ever find your shop being stolen again, we'll always be glad to help."

"No problem!"

"Wait!" a voice yelled.

Egg remained silent, stepping aside to let the frantic Champagne fly through.

"Sorry… I'm ever so sorry, but… ma'am, you are a jeweller, correct?" Champagne asked.

"Yeah, I guess I am. What about it?" replied Cut.

"Could you tell me what this is, please?"

Champagne pulled a red gem out of her leg-pouch, showing it to Brilliant Cut. It was a small, processed piece, a sphere with equal cuts etched into its face. It was about the size of a precious, little marble, and it was painted with a strange light, as if the colour was surrounding it rather than being part of the crystal itself.

"I… I don't know," Cut muttered, snatching it up and staring at it quite furiously. "I have never seen something like this before. That glow isn't natural, I can tell you that much. This kind of colour doesn't exist in nature. Not in my years of research and mining and processing have I ever come across this before. Where did you get it?"

"I… um… picked it up somewhere. May I have it back now, please?"

"Can I keep this? I'll pay you for it," Cut offered.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid it's quite important to me," Champagne replied, still holding her hoof out.

Reluctantly, and staring at it curiously for the last time, Brilliant Cut returned the gem back to the little salmon pegasus. "Well, if you ever want to part with it…"

"I promise I'll think of you first, ma'am." Champagne bowed.

"So polite. She's so polite. Isn't she?" Cut smiled, rubbing her head suddenly.

Champagne squeaked, backing off.

"Anyway, I better get going. It's nearly six. So, thanks again, uh… what do you guys call yourselves?"

"I… don't know yet," Egg replied.

"O…kay. Well, thank you, strange group of ponies and one gryphon. Maybe we'll see each other again in the future!"

Goodbyes were said, some more repeatedly than others, but eventually the shop lifted into the sky once again and floated towards the sunset.

It was a sight, indeed, the shop coursing away, against the dark backdrop of the early night. Ember and Cookie had rejoined them by that point, having cleaned as much of Cookie's chest tuft as they could.

It was still seeping slightly, but nowhere as bad as it was before. Cookie was not even giving it any attention, preferring much more to watch the building fly away like some sort of mystical trader out of a fairy tale.

"It's been a long day," Egg said, blinking into the stars, as they winked back at the four of them standing there in the street. "What say we go get some pie?"

The time, according to the clock, was 9:42.

They'd taken their time to rest and talk before heading over, and besides, Egg didn't want to fight with the crowd. Quite conveniently, the last customer for the evening had just left before they arrived.

Egg had insisted that they didn't discuss the details of anything until they had got there to the diner, but didn't give the reasons why.

Emberkite threw the newspaper aside, rolling his eyes. "How is she getting this information so damn quickly?"

"It's a mystery," Egg said. "Or perhaps she's really as invested in this as we are."

"Um… I hear the Cloudsdale Gazette is very efficient," Champagne added.

"In any case, Champagne, if you would?" Egg invited her to begin.

Plates and cups littered the table in front of them, each of them sporting a different dessert. Banoffee Pie for Egg, Cinnamon Apple for Ember, half a Madeline for Champagne, and a lemon tart for Cookie, who pronounced it 'limon tert' in that accent of hers.

They'd made introductions and gone through their stories, explained things in order, and everything fit together in the puzzle that was this one very long day. But having heard it all, Egg had a few final things to cover.

Champagne slid the jewel to the center of the table.

"Pretty," Mocha said, refilling their cups and leaning in from outside of the booth.

"What happened today wasn't a coincidence," Egg said, to the surprised looks of all of them save for himself and Mocha. "Both crimes are tied together."

"What." Ember intoned.

"The only coincidence is that they both happened on the same day. Champagne and I pulled a young… sorry to use the term, but a young punk from the scene of the bakery. He revealed to me a name. Cloudsdale Unity. Anyone ever heard of that?"

Silence met him.

Mocha took a sip from the jug of coffee.

"While we were at the bakery, Champagne found this item." Egg motioned to the jewel, which was still glowing strangely. "And she also noticed, rather spectacularly, a set of red streaks that led away from the item."

"I found it on the floor of the bakery," Champagne said, taking over for a while. "It was… um… like as if somepony had painted streaks of red paint away from it, and the ground was softer where the red was. But it wasn't paint. It was… it was as if the clouds themselves turned red. But only parts of it."

"Thank you, Champagne," Egg said. "Very good work."

Champagne smiled, a small flush upon her cheeks.

"Now, she had also noticed the same sort of thing on the base of the shop from Fillydelphia, where the cracks in the pavement were," Egg continued.

"It was a gem store," Ember pointed out. "Ya thinkin' there's a connection?"

"If it were money they were after, they could have just stolen bits," Egg postulated. "Bits would be a lot easier to carry around than a store-full of gems. So what if they needed the gems for a different purpose?"

"Like what?" Ember asked.

Mocha pointed to the gem on the table, and everyone else looked at him.

"Oh. Yeah. Right." Ember scratched his neck.

"Brilliant Cut said that this colouring wasn't natural. Could it be possible that someone's putting something into these gems and using them to… do something? From the evidence it seems that whatever made the clouds catch fire started from this gem. That same something was strong enough to cut an earth-borne house from its foundation. It's something quite terrible. And quite ferocious."

"Oh!" Ember smacked his hoof against the other. "Oh! I got it!"

"Yes, Ember?"

"I was wondering, right? Why those crooks – the ones that got away? Why didn't they just like, cut a hole in the wall and escape? I mean, it was pretty obvious that they managed to cut the whole house out pretty easily, right? Why couldn't they also just use the same thing to make a break for it?"

"And what conclusion have you come up with, Ember?" Mocha asked, sweetly.

"Because they was scared, yo!" Ember smacked the table, his fork flying off the side and clattering on the floor.

"I'll… get you a new one," Mocha added, swinging away for a moment.

"Scared?"

"Yeah, this thing? If this is the same thing? Made her shop, like that." Ember pointed to Cookie. "If they used this thing in that other shop? What if it made that shop, also like that?"

"Very… eloquent," Egg agreed.

"Look, I'm just sayin', they was scared to use it, alright? There's a reason for that."

"Maybe because the effects of the jewel cannot be contained in a small enclosed space, and they ran the risk of hurting themselves if they had set it off?" Mocha offered, placing a fork in front of Ember.

"Wh- I just said that, lady!"

"Yes, but I said it better." Mocha smiled.

"What it comes down to," Egg said, looking down for a while, "is that there is an organized group, somewhere in Cloudsdale, called Unity, who is, for some unknown intent, making... bombs."

"You say that very calmly, Egg," Mocha said, a tone of seriousness creeping into her voice.

"I am anything but calm," Egg assured her. "Something is happening in Cloudsdale. Something a lot bigger than I thought."

"Which brings me to this rather sordid point." Egg motioned to his companions, who sported rather serious looks themselves.

"Miss Eternia. Something has come to my attention. Where were you going to go after this?"

"I was going to return back home, to my parents."

"Miss Eternia, with all due respect, but you will not."

The gryphon didn't frown. She rarely did. But she settled on a very plain, serious look, which already made her look more intense than most others who carried that same expression.

"May I ask why?"

"The youth I interviewed had also mentioned that this… Cloudsdale Unity is specifically targeting gryphons. I apologize for not mentioning this before, but… I believe now is the best time to approach this subject."

Champagne opened her mouth. She was about to comment on the sudden subtle change in Cookie's attitude. But there came a huge sweeping wave of aura from the gryphon's direction that, when it hit her, was enough to stun her into silence. Suddenly she felt very scared, and she didn't know why.

"I see," Cookie said, softly.

"They already know you. And know where you work and live. If you returned home…"

Cookie blinked, extremely deliberately.

"I am offering you a place to stay, Miss Eternia. With us, until we can get this sorted out and we can assure you and your parent's sa-"

The red patch on her chest spread again, crawling across her feathers like an expanding shadow over the ridges of a chasm.

"Oh my goodness, Miss Eternia!" Mocha yelped.

"O- oh," Cookie muttered, suddenly snapping out of whatever it was she was in. She reached down, prodding the area with a talon. "Oh dear, that… how most unfortunate. I am so, so sorry for the trouble, Miss Leche… how terribly bad mannered…"

"Don't be silly! Let's get you cleaned up!" Mocha said, pulling the gryphon out of her seat and toward the counter.

"What." Ember said again.

"Hm," Egg muttered.

Champagne just kept her mouth agape.

"Well… she's staying with us. No problems, Ember?"

"Naw, man. She's cool. She's got the business. Besides, she's like, super freaking strong. I think she could help us."

"Ember, she's staying as a guest. Please try to remember that. You've already asked her for too much today."

"But she offered!"

"And until she offers to join, we are to treat her as a guest. Understood?"

Ember sighed, shoving his hoof into his cheek as he slumped down. "Yeah, fine. Fine."

"Um…" Champagne muttered. "Maybe I should go. This does not seem like something I am…"

"Champagne, are you interested in this line of work or not?"

"I… am… but…"

"Ember, any objections?"

"Well… I mean, I trust you, old stallion, but still. She appears out of nowhere, suddenly, and comes down and we're just acceptin' her? What about where she's from? Who're your parents?" Ember turned to the child, peering at her through narrow eyelids. "What are you hiding?"

"Ember, perhaps you would like to tell us a bit about your parents?" Egg smiled.

"Yeah, she's cool. No objections." Ember looked away, suddenly.

"I… I passed the test?" Champagne said, too stunned to show excitement.

"What test?" Egg asked, taking a sip of coffee.

"Egg!" Mocha called, from across the diner. "Could use a hoof here!"

"Please excuse me," Egg said, shuffling past and away.

Champagne scratched her head.

It was the rush of the day, the whole journey from start to end, but she sat there, and she had achieved what she had wanted. She was now part of a small, unknown group that found criminals and brought them to justice. But still, sitting around and eating pie and discussing about how the world was going to hell over coffee wasn't really what she had envisioned. But then again, she had no idea what she was supposed to envision otherwise.

She'd have hoped that maybe there was some kind of initiation ceremony or something.

"Not what you expected?" Ember asked, grinning wildly.

"Not really, no," Champagne admitted.

"Yeah, but you got that cool skill, don't you? Like, reading ponies? So tell me, tell me, what am I thinking… right now?" Ember bounced around in his seat.

Champagne looked at him for all of two seconds. "You're thinking that I'm never going to guess what you're thinking."

"Th- wha… tha… impossible!"

Champagne sniffed. It was a good guess.

"Hey, try it on him. C'mon. I've been dying to know," Ember continued, leaning in closer to Champagne and pointing stealthily at Egg. "Him and Mocha. There's something there, right? Right?"

"I… I can't," Champagne said, turning away.

"Aww, c'mon, Champy! Do it for me, aight? New member… sort of deal?"

"I can't," Champagne repeated, looking down at her hooves.

"Why not? Just 'cause he's the boss?"

"Because I can't," Champagne said, looking up and staring Ember right in the eye. "From the first moment I saw him… I haven't been able to tell a single thing outside of what he wants us to know. The things that he deliberately shows us."

"You…"

"Mister Egg…" The two of them turned to watch him as he helped Mocha to hold the soft cotton in place over Cookie's wound, as Champagne whispered, half in reverence and half in fear, "… is unreadable."

Egg blinked.

Cookie blinked back.

"There we go." Mocha pulled back, tapping the floor with a hoof. "That's a proper bandage job, that is. Not the things you keep slapping on Emberkite."

Egg shrugged. "It's suited us well so far."

"Thank you, both of you, for the help, yes," Cookie said, grasping Mocha's hoof gently with her hands and giving it a shake.

"No problem. You know, Egg…"

"No, Mocha. I told you. You stay here and you do what you do. We don't… need a medic."

"I just thought I'd ask. Again."

"I appreciate it, Mocha, but I couldn't. You might get h-"

"So could you," Mocha cut in.

Cookie looked back and forth between the two. Clearly, she was missing something here.

"Miss Eternia, please don't strain yourself for a day or two, alright? And that includes thinking of bad things," Mocha told her.

"I will. It was a simple lapse in judgement. I assure you, it will not happen again, yes?"

"Better go back to your table, Egg. I'll just finish up here and be right over. The children are… staring."

"Yes, I know." Egg nodded, trotting back. "Well then, see you in a bit."

"Miss Leche?" Cookie asked, looking at her bandage. "Could I maybe, ask you for a favour, yes?"

"Of course, Miss Eternia." Mocha lifted her to her feet. "What can I do for you?"

"I have… lost my business. I am a baker, of course, as you know. And I see that you are… alone, here? Would you be, perhaps… hiring?"

Mocha smiled. Her eyes travelled to the clock on the wall. 10:18.

"I would, Miss Eternia," Mocha said, "but Egg needs you more than I do."

"Egg, it's like, one in the morning! What do you want?" Survey yelled.

"Were you… asleep?"

"No?" Survey said, as if that were the stupidest question in the world.

Egg tapped his hoof against the floor. "Right. So."

"Come in." his friend sighed, leaving the door open. "Want a biscuit or a… thing or whatever or something?"

"No, Survey. Thank you though," Egg said, as he strolled into Survey's dark, cold house. It was a tad hard to see, but it was just as Egg always knew it from the multiple times he'd been there. Family photos on the walls, weird odd pieces of furniture lying around… It was as if Survey were some kind of burrowing animal that collected things and left them in piles.

"So, what can I help you with?"

"'Essor polyc'," Egg said. "What do you know?"

"What? Is that… is that Saddle Arabian or something?"

The piece of paper came out. Survey read it, eyes adapted to looking at things in the dark.

"That… this…" Survey said, staring at the paper.

"Found it on a kid who burnt down a bakery today."

"Wait… I just read about that in the papers," Survey said. "You caught the guy who did it?"

"Yes."

"What did you do with him?"

"Ah… he might be contacting you tomorrow," Egg said.

"Wait, y- you… did… what now?"

"I sent him to you. Told him you'd give him a job. Guess he hasn't worked up the nerve to approach you yet. But it should be soon."

"You… you sent… an arsonist to me, to give him a job?"

"Yeah. He's a nice guy."

"Egg…"

"What can you tell me about the paper?"

"I don't know, Egg. Nothing rings a bell. But tell me, this kid, right…"

"Okay. I'll leave this with you. Let me know if you find anything." Egg turned to leave.

"Wait, Egg… this kid. This kid, right?"

"Thanks, Survey. I'll see you soon." Egg closed the door.

Survey stood there, making funny faces at the darkness.

"Egg!" he screamed. "What about the kid?"

Well.

Better have a look at the paper then.

'essor Polyc', it said, the only thing that was readable. The rest had been wiped away, smudged by moisture. There seemed to be quite a fair bit more, too, more than just these two words. In fact, these two words headlined the top of the slip, suggesting that it was some sort of title, or…

Why were these two words so familiar?

Something was nudging Survey at the back of his head. Something a bit itchy.

He wished he had the means to scratch.

But he flapped the paper around in his hoof, thinking, thinking… when his eyes fell upon the other side.

There, etched into the other face of the paper, was something far worse, far more frightening. It was even inscribed in indelible ink, and hadn't rubbed off with the rest of the message.

It was a little drawing of a feather.

Through which someone had drawn a thick red line.

"Ah, crap," Survey said.