“The Prowse Shop?” A pony’s face scrunched up from where he struggled to unpack a crate full of zeppelin parts inside his ship. “Heck, that burned down months ago!”
Rainbow Dash sighed from where she hovered above Bellesmith and Pilate. “Look, we know that! Everypony in the Bronze District has said the same thing!”
Belle leaned forward. “We were hoping, sir, that you or somepony else might be able to fill us in on what happened to Mr. Prowse himself.”
“Oh?” The pony smirked as he heaved, lifted an exhaust manifold out, and slapped it over a table. “Why didn’t you say so?”
“Then…” Pilate stammered. “You know something about him?”
“I would hope so. The three legged fart and I exchanged lots of engine parts. Good stallion… even if a little crazy. When his factory burned down, nopony was really surprised, honestly. He only ever did well cuz he had his even crazier niece to keep him in check. Heh… the two of them somehow canceled each other out, if you can believe it.”
“Well, she’s back now,” Belle said. “And she’s extremely worried for her uncle.”
“Well, the thing to know about Prowse is that he tried selling his business several times before the crud went up in flames.”
“Really?” Pilate asked. “And nopony around here was willing to own that piece of real estate? It’s rather cramped around here. I figured… uh… ‘Sooters’ would be desperate.”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong. He’s got a nice little niche and all, but his warehouse was never a very pretty place. I’d been in there a few times,” the pony said. “Heh. I think the fire actually improved it.”
“We don’t get you,” Rainbow Dash said, squinting from above.
“Prowse’s place was crappy. And he always got crappy parts too. Still, someway, somehow, that stallion had the magic touch. He could take a hunk of junk and turn it into gold…. gold that worked. Only he knew the secret to that. If he tried selling his house and possessions to another pony, though, it would just be a heap of crap to the pony who didn’t have his gift, Sooter or Whitewashed or whatever.”
“So, when he couldn’t sell his property,” Belle muttered, “What then?”
“Well, that’s when the fire happened,” the pony said with a shrug. “We all figured it was a lame attempt at insurance fraud. The Upper Roost has been pretty generous with provisions lately, so it was just the right season to try and cash in on that. Only…”
“Only what?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Well, it simply wasn’t like Prowse, y’know? The stallion was brilliant in engine work, but not exactly conniving in doing… er… shady stuff, if you catch my drift.”
“Trying to,” Rainbow said with a nod. “So, you think another pony set it on fire?”
“Could be possible. I mean, the guy was scoring it pretty big for a while.”
“Huh?”
The pony sighed and gestured with his forelimb. “The dude bought himself a new leg. He had a prosthetic, in case you didn’t know. But the crap was wearing out, and he didn’t have his niece around to tinker on it and make it all better. So he bought something from the Gold District of all places. Top notch quality. Heck, I bet he could fire lightning bolts out of that thing if he wanted. Anyways, last time I saw him, he was trotting around with that shiny thing, looking pretty healthy… if not a bit anxious.”
“Anxious?”
“He was always in a hurry, galloping instead of trotting, y’know? For a moment, we all thought he was just exercising with his new leg. But, if you asked me, it felt as though he was in a hurry to get somewhere and he was preparing at the last second.”
“Go where, exactly?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Beats the heck out of me,” the pony remarked. “All I know is that this place is a lot less exciting with the guy gone. I hope he’s doing well for himself, wherever he is. As for myself, I gotta get this stuff prepared for a client by sundown! So, if you’ll excuse me…” He waved the three ponies off.
Rainbow Dash sighed as she followed Pilate and Bellesmith into the open street. Ponies milled about all around them as they made for the far end of the widely stretching bazaar.
“Well, that was helpful,” Belle said.
“Was it really?” Rainbow frowned. “That’s the fourth pony we’ve chatted with and I don’t feel like we’ve gotten any further.”
“We know that Prowse was in a good place when the shop burned down,” Pilate said.
“Yeah, and?”
“It means that he couldn’t have had motivation to burn it down himself.”
“You don’t say…”
“Or…” Pilate thought aloud as he trotted beside Belle. “It could mean that ponies were envious of his talents and burned it down in order to ruin his business.”
“Unngh… Then I think we’re talking to the wrong ponies!” Rainbow Dash frowned. “We should be talking to ponies in a less… uhm… bright district.”
“How do you mean?” Belle asked.
Pilate jumped in. “I do believe that is what Roarke is doing at the moment in the Rusted District.” He smirked slightly. “She does seem to have the skills necessary for conversing with equines in… less savory parts of this city.”
“Unnnngh…” Rainbow Dash slumped in her flight.
“What is it, Rainbow?” Belle asked.
“I just really, really, really, really, really don’t like the idea of us splitting up like this.”
Belle smirked. “Even you can’t talk Roarke out of something when she puts her mind and metal to it.”
“I know, it’s just that she’s smarter than that. Heck, we’re smarter than that! We shouldn’t have let her go into the lion’s den! We shouldn’t have abandoned Props and Ebon and EE at the shop! Heck, I almost wish we didn’t leave Floydien’s ship with Josho, Kera, and the elk to begin with!”
“Rainbow, darling, your concern is endearing,” Belle said. “But, please, don’t destroy yourself with stress.”
“But--”
“It’s Props whom we should be concerned about at the moment!” Belle exclaimed. “We’re doing the right thing for her right now.”
“Besides,” Pilate asked with a smirk. “You of all ponies should know that a high spot in the sky is the absolute safest place to be.” Just then, a cloaked figure darted out of the crowd, hopped over Bellesmith, and snatched the zebra with a color-banded forelimb. “Gaaaah!”
“P-Pilate!” Belle gasped.
“Whoah!” Rainbow Dash went wide-eyed.
Pilate wheezed, the breath being forced out of his lungs as he was dragged with extraordinary speed towards the far end of the bazaar by the banshee figure. The attacker glided like smoke beneath its rippling cloak; the zebra couldn’t even make contact with the floor to drag his hooves.
“Somepony! Anypony!” Belle yelled and pointed. “Stop him!”
“I’m on it!” Rainbow Dash blurred her wings, only for them to be ensnared in a tense net. “Wh-what?!” She slammed into the ground with a rattle of her pendant. Opening her eyes, she looked through a dizzying glance to see three more figures darting out of the crowd, their bodies clad tightly in brown cloaks. A mess of limbs reached for her. There were colors… colors…
“Nnnngh!” Rainbow Dash reverse somersaulted, uppercutting two shadowed muzzles with her lower hooves. As two bodies flew back, a third advanced on her. Rainbow Dash spun, tripped the figure with her tail, and spread her wings. “Gaaaaaugh!” With intense concentration, she was able to snap the net binding her feathers. She gave the appendages one heavy flap, knocking the attacker off its hooves.
“Rainbow! Look out!” Belle shouted as two more attackers jumped down from a nearby roof. The shoppers and workers in the street gasped and scrambled for cover. The air filled with sweat and thundering hooves as the strangers converged on Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow snarled, rolling to the side and kicking a market stand full of metal parts towards the pair. The floor spilled all over with nuts and bolts, causing the first attacker to trip awkwardly. The second cloaked figure hopped over its partner and dove at Rainbow with a thunderous kick.
Rainbow took it hard to the muzzle. “Ooof!” She flew back into a metal stand, causing the entire shop to collapse. The figure stood its ground, then spun around to face Belle.
Belle gritted her teeth, looked left and right, and grabbed a fallen metal pole in the crooks of her hooves.
The figure dashed towards her, outstretching a forelimb with three flashing colors.
Belle’s eyes latched onto it. She snapped swiftly to reality, spun, and slammed the pole against the back of the figure’s head.
“Ghhhkkt!” The pony stumbled forward.
With a growl, Belle spun and uppercutted the figure viciously.
The pony fell back, landing painfully on the metal floor of the Bronze District. Its hood fell back, revealing a stallion with a braided, multicolored mane. What was more, a small cluster of multicolored feathers dangled from an earring in his left ear.
Belle’s face twisted in confusion. She heard a stirring sound, and spun with her metal bludgeon.
The other four figures were getting up. Adjusting their cloaks, they stood before their fallen comrade, dragged their hooves against the floor, and advanced on Belle.
Belle gulped and held her weapon forward, gritting her teeth.
Just then… “Rnnnn-gaaaaugh!” The store behind them exploded, and a blue blur surged out. Rainbow tackled three of the ponies at once, knocking them into a mess of storefronts. Wooden splinters and metal knick-knacks went flying everywhere. Rainbow Dash hovered away from the mess, snarling through a bruised muzzle. She spun towards Bellesmith. “Did you see where Pilate went--” A lasso wrapped around her neck from below. “Snkkkt!”
The stallion with a braided mane held the rope in a pair of tight jaws. He yanked and pulled with his thick neck muscles, pulling the pegasus back down to street level. Right at that moment, a glossy metal shield with golden bands slammed across his head. The stallion’s eyes rolled back, and he fell in an unconscious heap at Eagle Eye’s hooves.
“EE!” Belle gasped.
Ebon Mane and Props watched, wide-eyed, as Eagle Eye galloped into the fray, engaging the other four ponies as they came out of the collapsed storefronts. “I’ve got things here, Rainbow!” the petite unicorn shouted, blurring heroically into the fray as the enemies unsheathed daggers and gripped them in their teeth. “Go get him! Go get Pilate!” He deflected the metal blades and knocked several of the ponies back, dominating the fight.
Rainbow Dash finally yanked the rope free from her neck, nodded, and rocketed down the road where the first figure had stolen her zebra friend.
As the sounds of the fight grew distant in her ears, they were replaced by the bass heartbeats throbbing in Rainbow’s ears. She gnashed her teeth, panting as she looked left and right down each available avenue. At last, she detected a spark of mana in the corner of her eyes.
“O.A.S.I.S.!” she gasped.
Rainbow looked right.
The cloaked figure had Pilate in its grasp and was galloping to the very edge of the Bronze District. Blue skies and the black shadows of Gray Smoke’s other floating districts lingered in the distance beyond the artificial horizon.
“You!” Rainbow Dash snarled, diving down towards the scene. “End of the line! Pick on a blind zebra, will ya?! I’m gonna rip out your kidneys and sew them shut beneath your eyelids, punk!”
The figure galloped, undeterred, towards the edge of the platform. Pilate’s breath left him as he felt the gust of cold winds.
Rainbow’s eyes bugged. “Whoah! Whoah there! Stop! Wh-what are you--?”
The figure plunged clear over the edge with Pilate in tow. Five seconds later, the cloak parted on either side. A pair of leather wings shot out, fastened together by metal beams. Gusts of steam shot out from where the pony’s tail should have been. The cloak billowed, and Rainbow saw patches of metal and leather. Powered by the glider, the abductor carried Pilate in a wide arc, angling towards the adjacent districts beyond.
Rainbow had very little time to gawk at the scene. Gritting her teeth, she angled her wings tight and dove at the target like a blue torpedo.