//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: The Photo // Story: Augmented Love // by Silentpegasus //------------------------------// Chapter 9 The Photo It was Hearths Warming’s Vacation and most of the students were busy doing things with their families. Crank heard his phone ringing and opened his eyes. He looked at the clock and saw that it was two in the afternoon. Last time I pull an all nighter. The man thought as he yawned. He rolled over to see Rarity laying next to him with nothing but the sheet covering her form. “Morning lover.” She giggled. Crank rolled his eyes and jabbed his fist at the girl. His hand went straight through her and her image started to flicker. “Awe, I thought I had you this time.” The woman’s form vanished and the AI appeared in the desk. “Very funny D.” He said as he cracked his back. He heard his phone ring and looked at the text and saw that it was from Rarity. Could you be a dear and meet me at my boutique? On my way. Crank rolled out of bed and quickly got dressed. He grabbed his coat and teleported into the center of town. He walked up to the shop and dusted his shoes off from the snow. There was only about six inches on the ground, but it was enough for the plows to start going. He made his way inside the shop and rubbed his hands together. “Coming~” A familiar voice chimed. Rarity came out wearing a nice white blouse and a purple skirt that ended at her knees. “Ah hello Crank.” She smiled. “Afternoon.” He said with a yawn. “Sorry about the urgency, but I need your help.” She said as she grabbed her coat and headed out the door. “I don’t know about you, but I could go for some coffee.” “Right behind you.” He said as he held the door open for the girl. The two then walked down the street to Sugar Cube Corner. They were greeted by Pinkie who sat them down in a booth. “So what’s up?” He asked as Pinkie poured them each a cup of coffee. “You know that spinning thing in shop class?” Crank bit his lip as he tried to narrow the search. “You mean the lathe?” “Yes, I know that Copper is going to fail me if I do poorly on it.” Crank raised an eyebrow as he looked at the girl who was pouting. “I’ll help you. I think I have one put away in my shop.” He said with a sigh. Rarity smiled at the words. “Oh thank you dear.” She chimed. “So I’ve noticed that you and Rainbow have been spending a lot of time together.” The seamstress said with a sly grin. “Yeah, I’m her tutor so that’s expected.” He said a he sipped his coffee. “Are you sure thats the only reason you spend so much time together?” She asked as she waggled her eyebrows. Crank sat back and thought of the pat few months that he had been tutoring the rainbow haired beaut- Girl! He had to admit that Dash was good looking and she looked adorable when she got flustered. He felt his cheeks turn a rose color, but blamed it on the beverage. “Yup, she needs help so I’m helping out a friend.” He said as he sipped his drink. Rarity face palmed and let out a sigh. “Honestly the two of you would make such a cute couple!” She whined. “Whatever you say Rarity. Whatever you say.” He said as he pulled out his wallet and paid for his drink. As he putting it back in his pocket, something fell out of the wallet. Rarity only saw it for a moment and saw that it looked like a torn photo. The man quickly grabbed it and put it back in his pocket. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go teach Dash about history.” “What about the lathe thing?” “You free tomorrow?” The fashionista nodded. “Cool, meet me at my place around noon.” The man then departed and felt his phone vibrating. Speak of the devil. He thought as he lifted the phone to his ear. “Yeah Dash?” “Hey I can’t meet you at the library today.” “Why?” “My parents grounded me.” Her tone dropped and the man heard an audible grunt of frustration over the phone. “For what?” “I may have accidentally had one of my stink bombs I was saving for Pinkie go off in their room.” Crank knew that Dash and Pinkie had this on going prank war between them since Nightmare Night. Sometimes he and the other girls were caught in the crossfire. He was still getting all that goo out of his green hoodie. “Fine so I’ll come to you.” “Um, how? You don’t have wings.” “I have a hover board.” “Oh...right. Let me just clean up first.” “I’ll be there in ten minutes.” He hung up his phone and teleported back to his home. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dash was frantically cramming all of her crap that was spread out on her floor into the nearest closet. Oh jeez, he’s coming here! She thought with a bead of sweat forming on her head. Wait, why do I care? Because he’s cute. He’s an egghead! A cute egghead. Dash frowned as she blushed. Hard. Sure she admitted that Crank was smart and funny. He just had this certain air about him that didn’t feel right. Like he was hiding something. That fact only added to his hot- “Gah! He’s my tutor damn it!” She said as she cleaned up the last of her things and shoved them inside the closet. She heard the doorbell ring and quickly made her way down the stairs. When she reached the midway point she panic’d when she saw her mother. The older woman opened the door to her home to see a tall Unicorn man with short brown hair, a grey horn and wearing a P-coat. “Can I help you?” She asked as her eyes scanned the man from head to toe. “Yes, this is Rainbow’s place right?” “Yes, but she can’t go hang out. She’s grounded.” She stated as Dash ran up behind her. Crank let out a chuckle. “Mom, this is Crank. He’s the tutor I’ve been seeing for the past few months.” The older flyer took a moment to process the information. She couldn’t believe that the tutor that her daughter was seeing was one so young. Her mind clicked when she repeated the name to herself. “Oh, so you’re the young man my daughter always talks about.” Crank looked at Dash in surprise who had a bright blush on her face. “Mom!” The older woman then extended her hand. “My name is Sunny Gale.” Crank gave it a shake and smiled. “Crank Shaft.” He said with a smile. Gale let the man inside and he took off his jacket. “Um, how did you get up here?” Gale asked. “A friend dropped me off.” He said as he looked at Dash who nodded to play along. “I’m not gonna have to worry about you falling through the floor am I?” Dash asked as she crossed her arms. “Nope.” He said as he pulled out a vial of small red pills. “Cloud walking pill. Good for twenty-four hours.” He said as he made the vial vanish. Dash shrugged and lead the man up to her room. “Have fun you two~” Gale chimed in a sweet tone. Dash blushed and face palmed. “Sorry about that. My mom is a bit weird.” “Believe me I know the feeling.” He said as he walked into her room. His jaw dropped. Wonderbolt posters nearly covered every inch of the wall space. The flyer’s bed was literally a cloud. A TV and Xbox One sat on a tale against the far wall. “Someone’s a Wonderbolt fan.” “Har-har.” Dash said as she stuck her tongue out. “Right lets get to business.” He said as he summoned a book. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An hour later, Gale was walking by her daughters room and she put her ear to the door. “Wow, they look really soft.” She heard the man’s voice say. “Don’t be a wuss. Give em a squeeze, they feel even better.” Gale’s jaw dropped and gulped. “No kidding. They’re really comfortable.” “Even better when you sleep on them.” Gale opened the door and looked inside. She saw the man sitting on Dash’s bed. Both of them were fully clothed and Crank had one of her cloud pillows in his hands. “Need something mom?” Dash asked. “N-no, I just thought...um...never mind.” She gulped and closed the door behind her. Crank looked at Dash who just gave a confused shrug. “What was that about?” Crank asked as he set the pillow down. “Like I said, my mom is weird.” She said as she sighed. The flyer reached over to her desk and pulled out a pair of rectangular glasses. The plastic was unsurprisingly colored in a rainbow finish. “You wear glasses?” Crank said as he looked at the girl. “Tell anyone and I’ll break you.” She said as she frowned and put her hair in a ponytail. Crank felt his face flare up as he looked at the rainbow haired flyer. “Whatever, lets just get back to work.” He said as he turned his attention back to the book. “Ugh! I still don’t get this stuff.” She groaned as she laid on her back. “Just think of it like Star Wars when the Rebellion was taking on the Death Star.” He sighed. “Um, I’ve never seen Star Wars.” Crank froze and looked at the flyer. “What?” He asked in confusion. “I’ve never seen any of those movies.” “Okay, I’m hearing words, but I can’t put them together.” Dash frowned. “I’ve never seen Star Wars!” She yelled into his ear. Crank closed the book and took off his glasses. He looked at the flyer and sighed. “Seriously? You’ve never seen the original Star Wars? That’s like saying, you’ve never had apple pie!” He leaned in close and raised an eyebrow. “You have had apple pie right?” “Of course I have. AJ is like my best friend. Besides Star Wars is for nerds.” She pouted. Crank snapped his fingers and a DVD copy of ‘Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope’ appeared in his hand. “Wanna bet?” He asked with a grin. Dash cracked her neck and gave a nod. “I’ll get popcorn.” She said as he turned on the Xbox and put the disk in. Dash walked down stairs and grabbed a large bowl. “How goes the studying?” Dash almost jumped when she heard her mom’s voice. “Jeez mom, don’t sneak up on me like that.” She said as she set the microwave. “Yeah, we’re just gonna take a break.” Dash noticed that her mother was giving her a sly grin. “What?” “Oh he’s definitely a keeper hun.” Dash’s face went bright red. “Mom! He’s just a friend that’s a guy.” “A guy you’ve spent a lot of time with.” “He’s my tutor!” She said as her face grew redder. “Besides its not like dad would approve.” She grumbled. “I know that your father has his...opinions, but that shouldn’t stop you from doing what you want.” Gale then went back to her work and the microwave dinged. Dash poured the popcorn into a bowl and went back upstairs. “Ready?” Crank asked as Dash sat next to him. “Let’s get this over with.” She grumbles as the man pressed the play button. 121 Awesome minutes later. Dash sat awestruck as the credits rolled as Crank had a smug grin on his face. “That. Was. Awesome!” Rainbow yelled in delight. “Told you.” Crank chuckled. The man looked at the clock and groaned. “Crap, I gotta go.” The sound of thunder and a flash lighting then filled the room. “Buck.” He groaned. “What’s up?” Dash asked. “It’s a thunderstorm.” “So?” Crank looked at her with a dead pan expression. “Science 101. What happens when you hold something metal in an electrical storm?” Dash thought for a moment. “Can’t you just absorb it? Like you did with the battery.” “Lightning and electricity are two different things Dash. A single lightning bolt has over 50,000 volts in it. If I were to absorb that then I’d die. Since my board is metal it’ll attract it and I’ll get zapped.” That and also his metal arm. The man looked out the window and gulped. “Course I could always jump and pray I land in a deep snowbank.” “Or you could just stay here for the night.” Dash said in a calm tone. Crank felt his face blush and scratched the back of his head. “You sure? I don’t want to be a burden or anything.” “No problem. Let me just tell my mom.” The flyer said as she walked out of her room and went down into the kitchen to see the woman cooking burgers. “Hey mom, is it cool if Crank stays the night? It’s getting pretty bad out there.” She said as another flash of lightning. “Sure. No problem.” She said with a grin. “Your father called, he’s going to stay over at Tempest’s house anyway.” Dash gave her a nod and went back up to her room. A little while later, the two came down and started eating dinner with the woman. “So Crank, how has the tutoring going?” “Well, Dash’s grades have improved so they must be doing something.” He said with a smile. “I’ve noticed.” Gale smiled. “It’s nice to see that Rainy is finally taking her school work seriously.” Crank chuckled at the name. Dash blushed hard at the name her mother used to use when she was little. “Mom!” “Oh come now dear, I’m your mother.” “My mom says the same thing.” Crank chuckled. “What does your mother do?” Gale asked. “She’s Chief of Surgery down at Ponyville General.” “Oh Dr. Nova. She is just a gem.” “Thanks.” Crank smiled. “So your husband works for the weather factory?” “Yeah, he’s in charge of the storm cloud distribution.” The three finished up dinner and the two students returned to Dash’s room. “So now what?” Crank asked. “Are there anymore of those Star Wars movies?” “There are five more.” Dash’s eyes lit up like a Hearths Warming tree. Crank snapped his fingers and the next one in the series popped into his hand. The two sat back and started watching the flick. Three quarters of the way through, Dash rested her head against Cranks left arm and started dozing off. When the flick ended it was around midnight. The flyer stirred and immediately raised her head off his shoulder and hid her blush. “You okay Dash?” He asked. “Y-yeah.” She said as she collected herself. “Okay, I’ll hit the couch then.” He said as he started to walk out of the room. “You’d be more comfortable if you slept on a bed of nails. I got a spare mattress you can use.” She started to look around her room but couldn’t find it. Crank helped in the search and walked over to her closet. “No wait-” Her warning came too late as the man opened the closet and was immediately covered by the crap that had previously covered Dash’s floor. Crank’s head popped out of the mess and he gasped for air. Dash barreled over in laughter at the man. Crank looked in Dash’s mirror and saw that a rainbow colored bra was hanging around his horn. “You do realize that this is all your stuff right?” Dash’s laughter stopped and her face went bright red. She snatched the undergarment off his head and Crank dug his way out of the pile. “Pervert!” She yelled as she dug the spare mattress out of her closet. Crank rolled his eyes and felt his right eye acting up as he levitated the mass of clothes back into the closet. He went into the bathroom and pulled out his screwdriver. He made the object buzz and re-calibrated his eye. A sudden knock on the door snapped him out of it. “You done?” “Hang on a sec.” He said as he set his screwdriver down on the vanity and let himself out. Crank went back into Dash’s room and saw the cloud mattress next to her bed. The man removed his shirt and laid down on the bed. “What are you doing?” Crank raised his head to see Dash in a cyan tank top that cut off just above her navel and a a pair of short shorts of the same color. “Going to sleep.” He said as he hid his blush. “Why’s your shirt off?” “Its how I sleep.” He said as Dash walked over to her bed and laid down. She hit the light switch and pulled the covers over herself. “Night Crank.” “Night Dashie.” That comment earned him a pillow slap to the face. “Really Dash?” “Shut up and go to sleep.” Crank chuckled and laid back as he felt sleep take him. Crank awoke the next morning to the sound of chuckling. He looked over to his right to see Dash biting her lip and stifling laughter. Crank looked down at himself and his face went pale. He was pitching a full on eight and a half inch tent in his pants. The man immediately turned over and the flyer was clutching her sides in laughter. “Thinking on setting up a carnival Crank?” She said as her eyes started to tear up. “Planning to go for a morning flight Dashie?” He grinned. Dash then realized that both of her wings were standing on end. The flyer immediately blushed and grunted. Crank put his shirt back on and quickly stood up. “Lets just pretend that never happened.” “What never happened?” “Exactly.” The two then made their way downstairs to see a handwritten note. Had to go to a board meeting. Be back by supper. ~Love, mom. “Great. Now what about breakfast?” Dash grumbled. “Can’t you cook?” “I can make cereal.” Crank rolled his eyes and the two each had a bowl of sugar coated Celestia O’s. “Thanks for letting me stay Dash, but I gotta head back down.” He said as he made his way towards the door. “See ya.” She said as she flew back up stairs. Crank was about halfway home when he remembered that he left his screwdriver in Dash’s house. The man sighed and made his way back up the stairs and instinctively opened the bathroom door. As the door swung open, time seemed to slow. Standing in front of him was Rainbow Dash with wet hair and wearing nothing but a cyan towel to cover her midsection. Their eyes locked and they were both frozen on the spot. What happened next was inevitable. Pomf. Crank looked in surprise as he saw Dash’s wings pop out, causing the towel to fall to the floor in a heap. Crank’s face went completely red as he gazed upon the athlete’s well toned legs and stomach that was only accented by the remaining water from her hot shower. Her breasts were neither too small nor too large, ranging about a D cup. Dash snapped back to reality and grabbed the nearest thing in range of her right hand as she went to cover herself with her left. “Pervert!” She yelled as her hair dryer hit the man on the forehead. She threw another series of random objects before he shut the door. “Sorry!” He yelled. As he regained his composure he realized that he was packing a full hard on from the display. He noticed his screwdriver on the floor next to a curling iron. The man quickly teleported back outside and made his way down. As he approached his home he saw Rarity walking up his drive way. She waved him down and smiled as he landed. “Morning Crank where-” She then noticed the man’s pale face and dazed expression. “are you feeling all right dear?” “Y-yeah.” Course I’ll probably be dead the next time Dash catches me alone. He thought as he lead the girl inside his home. “Might I ask where you got that bump on your forehead?” She asked as they walked down into his workshop. “Work accident. Slipped and bumped my head on the desk.” He lied as Rarity’s sapphire eyes glared at him. The man walked to the back of his workshop and started to sift through the piles of metal crap until he levitated the large machine out in front of himself and the seamstress. “Why do you have this here?” She asked as she looked at the large machine. “Some guys down at the lab broke it and ordered a new one. It seemed like a waste so I brought it back here and fixed it up.” He said as he turned the machine on and it started to hum. He handed Rarity a pair of safety goggles. “So what do you need help with?” “I need to learn the controls and how to use it properly.” “So essentially everything?” Rarity gave a guilty smile at the words. “Okay, and put your hair up.” Rarity pouted and put her hair in a ponytail. Crank walked her through the basic instructions and started her off on a piece of aluminum. “So you just took this from work?” She asked. “They weren’t gonna use it. Besides I take stuff all the time and no one cares. Just flash the badge and no one asks questions.” “Badge?” “My ID badge.” He said as he reached into his pant pocket. He blinked and checked the others. “Damn it!” “Something wrong dear?” “Must have left my wallet at Dash’s house.” The man realized what he said and shut his mouth. He felt Rarity’s gaze on him like white on rice and a smile that could give discord a run for his money in the sly department. “What were you doing at Rainbow’s home hmm?” She asked as she faced the man. “N-nothing!” He said as he blushed. The girls’ blue eyes cut through his feeble defense like a sharpened katana blade through wet paper. “Okay fine! Just stop with the look it burns!” “Always works.” She chimed. “Okay so I went to go tutor Dash at her house yesterday because she got grounded and we have a history test coming up.” Rarity nodded. “Long story short I lost track of time and I had to spend the night. My wallet probably fell out of my pocket while I was sleeping.” “That’s it?” She asked as she folded her arms under her breasts. Crank thought about the incidents that occurred a few hours prior and gulped. “Yup. Nothing else.” He said as he returned to his work. The seamstress rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the machine. Crank watched her work and gave her tips on the different speeds. Rarity was using all of her focus to make sure she didn’t mess up. She didn’t even noticed the loosening hair clip that was holding her hair back by a thread. The next few seconds felt like time had slowed. Rarity’s eyes shrank as she felt her violet locks break free from the clip get grabbed by the machine. The seamstress saw her life flash before her eyes as her head was pulled towards the spinning cylinder of death. She thought it was over until the pulling stopped and something cut her free. The girl jumped forward and grabbed her head to make sure it was still attached to her body. She looked in the nearest shiny object, which was a bowl to see that a good bit of hair had been cut. The girl calmed down and took a few deep breaths as she slumped to the ground and saw the man kill the machine and hurry over to her. “You hurt?” He asked as he knelt down. “A little startled, but no I-” She stopped talking when she saw a large red stain on the machine and a few drops of red liquid leading over to the man’s right side. Crank instinctively hid his arm. “Crank! You’re hurt.” “I’m fine. I-” Rarity then got to her feet and her horn flared. Crank then felt a sensation ripping his arm towards her. “Oh stop being foolish and-” Rarity’s eyes shrank as she saw the exposed metal frame and wiring. She did what any normal person would do. She screamed. Crank hung his head and turned way as he grabbed his arm and sat down in his chair. Rarity quickly regained her senses and looked at the man, who proceeded to take off the rest of the false skin. “Oh my god.” She said as she put her hand to her mouth. “Not a pretty sight is it?” He said with a sigh. “Oh darling I’m so sorry! I was just startled and-”
 “It’s okay Rarity.” He said as he raised up his left hand. “That’s how most people react to seeing my...condition.” The seamstress walked over to him and looked at the metal appendage. She looked over at the lathe machine and saw where the arm had grabbed the spinning machine to halt its motions. The seamstress then looked back at the sleek piece of technology that was attached to the man's body. “What happened?” “I was in an explosion. Lost my arm and right eye.” Crank pointed at the green iris. Rarity gasped at the words and wrapped him in a hug. “Please don’t tell any-” “I swear on my life I won’t.” She said as she sniffled. Crank broke the hug and walked over to the skin machine. He stuck his arm inside and activated it. Rarity watched in amazement as the metal arm was coated in the substance. Rarity then noticed that the grease from the man’s prosthetic limb had gotten on her white blouse. “Relax, you can use my washer. I’ve got a special soap that’ll remove the stain.” Rarity smiled and followed the man out of his workshop and over towards a washer and dryer. He summoned one of his mother’s shirts for Rarity to change into. Not wanting to repeat what happened earlier he left before she removed her shirt. He waited in the living room for the girl to change as the AI appeared on his knee. “I take it she saw?” “Yup.” “So now what?” “If she keeps quiet, nothing.” He said as he sat back. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dash was in her room and was trying to take her mind off the incident between her and Crank with some Dead Rising 3. No matter how many zombies she decapitated, the scene kept playing back in her head. Damn it! Wonder if he liked the view? Shut up! Oh come on. You know you liked it. He’s probably not interested in a girl like me. The look on his face said otherwise. Dash grunted and shut off the game before falling onto her bed. She buried her head into her pillow and let out a muffled scream. She rolled onto her back and hung her head off the edge of her bed. She looked over towards the cloud mattress that the man slept on and sighed. Something laid beside the mattress. It was jet black and looked like leather. She walked over and picked it up. Idiot left his wallet. She thought as she opened it. Only about twenty bucks were inside along with an ID badge. Something in the second pocket caught her eye. The girl pulled out the piece of torn paper and looked at it. It was a photographed torn in half. The image of a teenage girl with dark red, shoulder length hair. She looked about sixteen, what caught Dash’s attention the most were here eyes. The right was a dark hazel while the other was an electric green. Dash gritted her teeth and grunted. I knew he had a girlfriend. She thought in a defeated tone. Maybe they broke up? Why hold onto her picture then? Ask him and find out. You should return his wallet anyway. Dash sighed and grabbed her coat before flying out of her room towards the man’s house. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rarity’s shirt had just finished in the dryer and she quickly put it back on her body. She heard the man walk down the steps as she looked in a nearby mirror at her damaged hair. “Oh I look awful.” She said as she ran a hand through her hair. “You can use my mom’s bathroom. She has a lot of hair care stuff.” “Thank you for the offer dear, but I should be fine until I reach my boutique.” She said as the two walked up to the main floor. “So how long has your arm been like that?” “Almost two years.” He said as he sat down on the couch. Rarity hung her head and sighed. “Who else knows?” “Celestia, Luna, my folks, most of the employees have at least heard about it and Twilight knows too.” Rarity looked at him in surprise. “Celestia told her.” “I see.” The two then heard a knock at the door. Crank answered it and immediately yelped. Standing before him was the cyan flyer with a raised eyebrow. “Dash if you want to kill me then at least do it in a painless way.” He said with a gulp. “Oh calm down you big wuss. I need you to help me pass my finals. Then I’ll kill you for being a perv.” She said as she walked inside. “It was an accident!” He said as he closed the door behind her. “I just forgot to knock!” “Whatever.” The flyer then noticed her friend on the couch and felt a small bit of rage forming in her gut. “What’s Rarity doing here?” Her eyes shrank as she noticed her friend’s hair. “And what in the name of Celestia happened to your hair?” Dash said as she walked over to her. “Ah yes, Crank was showing me how to use the lathe machine and my hair got caught.” Dash gasped. “Thankfully Crank shut down the machine in time, but he had to cut my hair to free me.” Rarity said as she ran a hand through her short purple hair.”Enough abut that, what are you doing here?” “Just dropping off the perv’s wallet.” She said as she held up the leather object. “Perv?” She asked as she looked at Crank. “It was a freaking accident!” Crank yelled as his face blushed. “Seriously though, peeping on a chick when you have a girlfriend? Kinda creepy.” Dash stated. “Girlfriend? I don’t have a girlfriend.” Crank said in confusion. Dash dove her hand into his wallet and pulled out the picture. “Then who’s this?” Crank looked at the photo and his face went completely pale. He clenched his fists and glared at the athlete. “Give that back. Now.” He said in an icy tone. “Not until you tell me who-” She was cut off as a grey lightning bolt shot over her head. The two looked at the man who was sporting an expression that would make even Princess Luna gulp in fear. “Dash either you drop that photo or I’ll drop you.” He said as he charged another bolt in his hand. Dash looked into the man’s eyes and was shaking in fear. For a brief second she thought that she saw a tear form in his left eye. “Please.” He said in a shaky tone. Dash nodded and put the photo in his wallet before tossing it to him. He cut the magic flow and put the wallet in his pocket. “Thank you.” Rarity put a hand on Dash’s shoulder. “I think it’s time that we took our leave Rainbow.” Dash gave her a slow nod and quickly followed her friend out of the man’s home. Crank closed the door behind them and returned to his work shop. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Outside the man’s home two cloaked figures were watching from afar with binoculars. They zoomed in on the two girls leaving the house and looked at one another. “What do you think Archer?” “I think that we’re wasting our time.” One of the men took off his hood to show his dirty blonde hair and brown horn coming from his forehead. “I mean, we’ve been tailing this guy for what, over a year now? Why?” “Because that’s what we get paid to do.” The other removed his hood to show his dark blue hair. The man cracked his back and took off the cloak to show his dark blue wings. “That and the last guys ended up in the hospital for six months.” “What?” The Unicorn yelled in surprise. “Yeah, kid sure doesn’t look it, but he can fight. Not to mention all the spells and gadgets that kid has on his side.” “So how do we get him Sleek?” The Pegasus let out a sigh. “Our ‘genius employer’ suggested that we ‘send him a message.’” The Unicorn looked at him in shock. “Whoa, whoa, whoa man. I didn’t sign up for that.” The Unicorn sputtered. “I don’t mind all the spying, but I ain’t gonna kill anyone just so-” The Pegasus then forced him up against the a tree. “Don’t you think I know that?” Sleek yelled. “We’re in too deep! If we try to bail then he’ll find us, crush us, grind us up into tiny pieces and blast us into oblivion!” Archer gulped. “So unless you want to become one of those unidentified victims then we gotta suck it up and think about this carefully.” The Pegasus released his grip and sat down on a nearby rock. “So who do you think? The Unicorn?” “Nah, the two don’t seem that close.” He said as he looked up at the sky. “He seems to spend more time with the Pegasus than anyone else in this fricken town.” The Unicorn hung his head and grunted. “How the hell did it ever come to this?” Archer said with a sigh. “No idea.” Sleek then came up with a small idea and grinned. “Hey, keep an eye on things here will ya?” “Where are you going?” He asked as his companion took off. “To get a little leverage.” He said as he zoomed off towards the vast city of Manhattan. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The blue winged man ducked behind a building to see a familiar grey winged man walk into his empty home. The blue haired stalker pulled out his binoculars and a pen and paper pad. He saw the man log onto his laptop and quickly wrote down the password. Two hours later the man left his home and locked the door behind him. Sleek waited until the man had pulled away in his Malibu before trying to pick the lock. The stalker quietly walked over to the man’s laptop and entered the password. “C’mon there’s gotta be some dirt I can use on this guy.” He said as he started searching through the files. Nothing but work reports and useless data. The man shut down the laptop and wiped his fingerprints off the keys before putting the laptop back in it’s exact place. He lightly slammed the bookshelf in frustration. The vibrations caused a nearby picture to come off its hangar and fall. The flyer jumped in mid air and caught the picture a few inches before it hit the ground. The sighed in relief and looked at the picture. His ‘employer’ standing next to the Chairman of Blackhawk industries. As he went to hang the photo back on the wall he felt something in the back of the frame. He ran his hand along the side and found a small computer chip in the back. He was out of time so he made a gut decision and took the chip before hanging it back on the wall and vanishing into the night.