//------------------------------// // Digging Deeper // Story: Newsworthy // by _Medicshy //------------------------------// “Ink Well, what are we looking at?” Twilight magicked two of the rejection letters in front of her, looking at each closely. Around the library the other ponies from the original story were each looking at other rejection letters, all in varying states of confusion. She put them down, frowning. “I don't know what you expect us to see.” Ink Well walked over, pushing the papers towards her again. “Don't give up. It's important.” Fluttershy walked over, bursting to tell her friend where to look, but Ink Well held up a hoof, silencing her. “No, they have to see it for themselves.” Rainbow Dash flew upside down, staring at the letter on the floor above her for a new angle on it. “There's nothing to see! It's just a letter.” Ink Well pulled her down, gently nudging her towards Applejack. “You two look at them together. Maybe seeing more than one will help.” Rainbow pushed back against his nudging. “I don't see why you're playing games with us!” Ink Well smiled slyly at her. “Just trust me. You will be amazed.” Applejack looked at her letter next to Rainbow's. “I reckon he's trying to mess with us. Show us how hard he's worked for us.” She looked up. “Look, I'm mighty appreciative, but you don't need to shove 'em in our faces.” Rarity had long abandoned reading the letter, simply staring confused at Ink Well. “I don't see why you have to be so coy about it. Just tell us what's going on.” Pinkie bounced over, keeping her letter afloat before her by blowing on it as it fluttered down. “Oh, silly, he's not being koi! He's not a fish.” She landed beside Ink Well, the paper floating down to cover her face. “So why did you give us six of the same letter?” Ink Well looked surprised for just a moment, staring at the pink pony, then smiling. “Good job Pinkie, somehow I thought it might be you.” Twilight looked at the two letters carefully, reading each line for line. “Hey, she's right! They say exactly the same thing!” She squinted at them, inspecting them carefully. “They even look like they were written by the same pony.” Ink Well jumped up happily, pointing at her. “Exactly! They're the same letter, written six times. Fluttershy, when did you see it?” Fluttershy looked at him, surprised to be called on like that. “Um, I was reading one, and I transferred to the one next to it by accident and the letter made sense, like not a word had been missed.” Ink Well pulled out another letter from his bag, tossing it in the middle of the other ponies. “This one is from 'The Times,' the only magazine I tossed an article to that wasn't a gossip rag. They of course rejected it, not their kind of story, but look at it.” He held it up for all to see. “The ink color's changed, the pen work is different, it has a different tone and different words. About the only thing they kept the same was the 'but' that signals the fate of all articles.” He held it up to a window, examining the paper in the late evening light. The paper turned a light peach color, stained by the sun's last light. “It also has no watermark.” The other ponies almost simultaneously held up their own papers to the windows, letting the light shine through them. In the bottom right corner of each, a deep orange in the light, appeared a small symbol, the letters 'NE' superimposed on a rectangular cloud. It perfectly matched the Equirer's logo. Ink Well smirked as a collective gasp came from the room. “Yeah, that's about my reaction too. Almost seems too easy to spot, doesn't it?” Applejack threw the letter to the ground. “Why those no good snakes in the grass! How'd they pull that one off? Goin' through the mail and rippin' out stories against 'em?” “I think they're all just the same company under different names!” Said Rarity. “Think of the money they could rake in with a set up like that!” Pinkie popped up in the middle of the group. “I think somepony stole all the articles up, making a big shrine collection! And they're the ones that sent these fake letters back to keep us off of their trail!” Rainbow reared up, blowing the letters away from the ponies with her wings and swirling them across the ground in a mini tornado. “I think we should break into the Equirer's office and make them tell us what's going on!” Ink Well put his hoof on her shoulder, calming her down. “Close Rainbow. Going in hooves kicking will just be asking for trouble. I was thinking something a bit more... subtle.” Twilight looked at him seriously. “Ink Well. What are you planning?” He shrugged at her. “Well writing didn't work, and you've tried being straight forward before.” He walked over to the door, looking into the early night sky. “I think we should take a more direct approach. Rainbow, how good are you at stealth?” --- Rainbow Dash and Ink Well glided quietly into Cloudsdale, the buildings shining coldly in the dim moonlight. They flew through the city, sole sources of motion in the chilly night air. The entire city was sleeping, perfect for what was being planned. The pegasi made their way through the floating metropolis until they found the Equirer's headquarters. Rainbow and Ink Well landed on a small cloud floating nearby, scouting the place. The building was dark, lifeless, and foreboding. Outside the front door stood two guard pegasi, looking grim in their dark grey uniforms. Rainbow stood up, getting ready to charge them when Ink Well grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back onto the cloud. “No. We're not rushing the front. We aren't here to draw attention to ourselves.” He looked over at the rainbow mane of the pegasus beside him and shook his head. “No matter our color scheme. Follow me.” He took off from the cloud and circled the building high and wide. As he did, he spotted three more pegasi on the roof and lights moving within. Satisfied, Ink Well dove beneath the cloud holding the office, Rainbow Dash quickly joining him in the shadow of the building. She hovered next to him, crossing her front hooves before her chest. “Why are we just flying around? How are we going to get in from down here?” Ink Well gestured to the white fluffiness above them. “It's a cloud.” He moved grabbed a small bit of it, pulling it away and creating a small hole above him before waving the chunk away into wisps that dissipated around him. He then dug into the cloud, tunneling through the softness with Rainbow following close behind. After a few seconds, he ran into something he couldn't move. Rainbow bumped into him when he stopped, pushing him against the blockage. “What's the hold up?” He tapped his hoof against the solidified cloud above him. “I hit the floor. I can't get through.” Rainbow squeezed past him, pushing him into the cloud surrounding them. “Move aside scrawny! I got this.” She braced herself against the wall of the tunnel, winding up a kick. In one lightning-fast motion her hoof shot forward. The cloud dissipated, her hoof continuing through into wood, which split and showered splinters into the building above. She jumped back, surprised by the loud crack. “Geez, I thought it was just cloudstruction!” Ink Well shushed her, looking fearfully through the hole above him. Steps could be heard resounding off of the wood above, growing closer, then stopping. A light played over the wall above scanning from left to right just above floor level. A gruff voice filtered down. “Huh... must be hearing things.” After a few moments of breathless silence, the steps backed away, quieting until they could no longer be heard. Ink Well let out his held breath in a relieved sigh. He then tuned to Rainbow Dash, talking in a quiet whisper. “Looks like they don't know we're here yet. Lucky us.” He climbed up into the building, pushing aside debris and weakened paneling before holding down a hoof to help up Rainbow. “Come on up!” She grabbed his hoof, pulling herself up into a dark wood floored hallway. Ink Well held a hoof in front of his mouth, flapping his wings to hover just above the floor. Rainbow did the same, fluttering behind him and talking in a hoarse whisper. “What's with all the wood? Are they just trying to be fancy?” “No, they don't just have pegasi up here. I know they've got at least three unicorns and a couple earth ponies working here, and the wood lets them do so safely.” Ink Well took out a small candle from his bag, lighting it and listening carefully for hoof beats. Rainbow Dash stayed close to the tiny light balanced in Ink Well's hooves. “How do they even get the earth ponies up here? Seems like a lot of work for a magazine.” “Hey, gossip is a big business these days, it takes all that your can get. They've probably got a shuttle they keep up or something.” He moved the light from door to door along the green walls, holding up the light to see the signs next to them. “Printing... Reception... Offices... Stairs... Records!” He tried the door, the handle turning under hoof. He smiled and pushed the door open on well oiled hinges. He gestured to Rainbow, signaling her into the records room. Inside were rows upon rows of filing cabinets, no markings of any kind on them. Rainbow looked angrily at the room. “Oh great! This is going to take forever to search!” She glided across the room, landing gently next to a row of cabinets on the far wall, faint moon light filtering in from the windows. After a few moments her hushed voice floated from the pale light. “What are we even looking for?” “Anything suspicious, anything that connects them to the other magazines, anything they obviously don't want us to see.” He looked at the cabinets, pulling the top drawer of the nearest one open. “Just look around, call me over if you find anything.” He put down the candle, pulling papers out and looking at them. It was a list of facts and figures on stories and authors writing for the Equirer. Near the bottom he saw a line with 'Gala story' written on it. Next to it, his name was crossed off and replaced with 'Checkers'. He put the paper down, moving over to another set of cabinets and pulling open a drawer. This one contained payrolls for the last few months. He examined the paperwork, looking for anything odd. As he kept going, there was one section that caught his eye with its rapid increases. The guard payroll for the latest month had almost a hundred names on it, while the next largest section was distribution at fourteen. Ink Well looked it over, frowning. “Why isn't distribution larger? This big a magazine, it should be by far the largest section, but it's tiny. And why are there so many guards? There's not even ten around tonight.” Rainbow's voice drifted to his ears through the darkness. “Ink Well! There's a locked drawer over here! Only one on this side of the room.” Ink Well put the latest payroll page in his bag, then moved hurriedly to the other side of the room. Every single filing cabinet was wide open, papers flung around the area. Ink Well looked at the scene, despairing slightly. “No way they aren't going to know somepony's been here... So much for stealth.” In the far corner stood Rainbow Dash wrestling with the top drawer of the last filing cabinet, which remained firmly shut despite her efforts. Ink Well examined it, a key hole in the front. “Interesting...” He looked around, seeing every other cabinet drawer with no lock even built in to them. “Huh. Let me help.” Rainbow looked at him, impressed. “What? You gonna pick the lock?” “Me? No. No good at that sort of thing. Grab it, I'll pull too.” Rainbow bit hard on the handle of the cabinet, then Ink Well bit down onto Rainbow's tail. “Awigh'. On the 'oun of 'ee'. Un. Foo. Ee!” Ink Well and Rainbow Dash both pulled with all their strength, the drawer refusing to budge. They jerked and yanked, causing the cabinet to slowly rock back and forth. Ink Well let go, looking worriedly at the wavering cabinet. “Rainbow, careful!” Rainbow gave a final tug, causing the handle to fly off in her mouth and the cabinet to tip forward with an ominous creak. Rainbow skidded backwards into the cabinets behind her. The rocking one continued forward under its own weight creating a horrid noise. With a hideous tearing crunch that echoed around the room, it smashed into the ground, splitting the wood beneath it. The top drawer popped open, flying out of the cabinet and rending out of shape. A single folder flew out, spilling papers that spread across the floor. From the floor above came the sound of angered voices and running hooves. Rainbow hopped up, racing out the door. “Hurry up! We have to get out of here!” Ink Well scrambled after the papers on the floor, hurriedly pulling them back together in the folder and placing it in his bag. He then sprinted from the room and into the hallway. Rainbow Dash was already in the entrance tunnel, her head popping out and her hoof urging him over. “Come on!” He ran down the hall, home free. A door was flung open in front of him, a burly guard in uniform stepping into the hallway. The guard stood between Ink Well and his exit raising a hoof in alarm. “Hey! You! Stop!” Ink Well vaulted the guard, kicking the colt to force him back down the hall as he did. “Like that ever works!” He flapped his wings once, giving him just enough of a boost to land in the hole. He popped his head out and turned back around, tipping his hat to the guard. The guard glared at him furiously, recovering his balance. Ink Well shot down the hole, running into Rainbow Dash at the bottom. “Did you get what you need?” “No clue, but I was definitely a little too cocky there.” He looked back to see the guard looking down the hole at them. His ears flattened against his head, worry hitting his face like a bag of bricks. “We should fly.” He and Dash flew off, moving as fast as they could away from the building and into the bulk of Cloudsdale. As they exited from under the building, two guards jumped from the roof to join the initial guard in pursuit. Ink Well looked back at the trio chasing them, then to Rainbow Dash. He flashed a nervous smile at her. “A chase! Hope you like to fly fast!” Rainbow smiled back, not worried at all. “They don't call me Dash for nothing! Try to keep up!” Ink Well nodded, almost missing Rainbow bank, cutting around a cloud and over a shop. Ink Well followed, pounding his wings to keep up but slowly falling behind. Behind him the three guards gave chase; strong, fast fliers that were quickly picking up ground. The five figures twirled through the Cloudsdale night, avoiding buildings, weaving and spiraling in what would have been a spectacular air show were the lighting better. Eventually, Rainbow slowed her pace to match Ink Well. “They're right on us! You've got to speed up!” He shook his head, sweat flying into the breeze as he kept up the pace. “I'm not that fast! I can't outrun them, I can't even hold this up much longer...” He sighed, his wings burning from the effort. “Split up! I'll try to outmaneuver them and meet you in Ponyville!” Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “You sure?” Ink Well just glanced worriedly at her, his look radiating 'No, but do it anyway.' She read his eyes and nodded. “Whatever you say. See you there! And you better not keep me waiting!” The pair rounded a corner, Ink Well sharply gaining altitude while Rainbow sped off in a straight line, accelerating much faster than they'd been going. Two guards chased the rainbow trail while the third banked up, following Ink Well. Ink Well slowed his pace to something he could keep up, trying instead to weave through narrow alleys and tricky dives to lose his tail. The guard followed relentlessly, muscling his way through buildings and clouds alike to match Ink Well's every bank and roll. Ink Well quickly grew desperate, ducking under buildings and around statues, weaving between columns of the fancier structures, and pulling out every turn and trick he knew to stay ahead of the guard. “I should have stuck with flight camp!” he said, looking back at the pursuit now almost within reach. He kicked his wings into overdrive, managing just to inch his tail away from the grasping teeth behind him. In a final desperation measure he closed his wings, tumbling suddenly from the sky and into a building-less cloud, leaving a pony shaped hole. The guard swerved, diving to follow, and spotted Ink Well's hat pop up on the far side of the cloud, sitting near the edge. Just before the colt entered the mist, he pulled up, diving through the fluff longways as he thought Ink Well must have done. He burst out of the cloud under Ink Well's hat, looking around frantically for his chase. Ink Well was nowhere to be seen. The guard flew above the cloud, circling it and searching the night sky both above and below for his prey. When he saw nothing, he flew to where the hat sat, kicking the cloud into small pieces to make sure Ink Well wasn't there. The cloud was empty, floating apart in many tiny wisps and a few small chunks. The guard followed the piece with the hat, landing on it and scanning the skies for any sign of movement. He picked up the tattered brown fedora from his perch, spinning it around and examining it carefully. After a few minutes he tossed it aside and took off, flying back to report to the Equirer. The fedora fluttered and spun in the night air, tumbling with the breeze. It danced, swirling through the sky until an updraft brought it next to the bit of cloud it had originated from. Ink Well rapidly unfurled, dissipating the thin cocoon of mist he had wrapped around himself to snatch the hat's brim in his teeth. He flapped his wings, stopping his free fall before it could start, and looked around for his pursuer. Relieved to see no movement, he smirked, standing on a tiny bit of fluff hanging around and placing his hat back on his head. He then hopped from the cloud, disappearing into the shadow of Cloudsdale. --- Ink Well flew with the sinking moon, landing at the library in the early morning light. He walked quietly to the door, smiling. “My, won't they be happy to see their returning hero.” He pulled it open, slipping inside with hardly a noise. He turned to the bulk of the library, smiling widely. Nopony was there. His smile wavered. “Huh, not the welcome I expected...” He padded softly around the building, listening for some sort of noise. A loud snoring came from a back part of the library, assaulting his ears. Following the noise, he came upon the prone figure of Rainbow Dash, snoring with a smile on her face. He snorted, kicking the pillow she was laying on. She started, rolling over and onto her hooves defensively. When she saw it was Ink Well, she frowned at him. “What was that for?” Ink Well looked indignant. “What, couldn't even wait for me to get back? Where is everypony?” She waved a hoof dismissively. “They left hours ago. We told them not to wait up or anything. Owlowiscious was the only one up when I got back, but I figured I'd wait for your slow flank to get here. And it's about time!” “Well I'm sorry I'm not as fast as you Miss Dash, but I'm not a racer.” His face screwed up as he went over what she said in his head. “Who's Owlowiscious?” “You don't know him? He's Twilight's night assistant.” She pointed to the side of the room, where a perch held a sleeping horned owl, his light grey feathered chest gently rising and falling with his breathing. “He's a cool guy. Not much for conversation though.” Ink Well looked envious. “She has a dragon AND an owl assistant? That's just too cool.” It was at this time that a bleary eyes Twilight walked down the stairs from her room. “Ugh, what's going on down here?” She saw Rainbow and Ink Well looking at her and frowned. “Do you have to be so noisy? My door is wide open.” Rainbow rubbed her mane. “Sorry Twi, didn't think you could hear us. Ink Well's back and he brought the info.” She looked at him. “You did bring it, right?” Ink Well pulled out the folder and the payroll sheet, throwing them onto a nearby table. “Of course! Got it right here. I wouldn't go through all that flying for nothing.” He watched Twilight walk down the stairs slowly, giving her a large smile when she looked at him. “Late night studying?” Twilight nodded. “I got engrossed in a text about the ancient gryphon civilizations, it wasn't the best thing to read before going to bed. Much too exciting.” She yawned, shaking the sleep from her head before perking up a bit. As she walked to the folder, flipping it open and inspecting its contents, the yawn spread across the room, infecting Ink Well and causing him to yawn in return, his wings drooping at his sides. She ignored him, reading through the papers quickly, amazed by the words before her. “Ink Well, did you read any of this?” “No, didn't really have a time to what with the chase and all.” Twilight shot him a serious look. “You got chased?” Rainbow tapped her on the back. “Yeah, just a couple guards, nothing huge.” Twilight shook her head. “Wait, wait. You got chased by guards? What did you two do?” “Nothing! We didn't do anything.” Twilight glared at her, staring her down. In the face of that, Rainbow backed down, ears folding against her head. “Okay, we might've broken in.” “What?!” Twilight dropped the folder, backing away from it. “I can't read this! It was gotten illegally! We need to give this back! Oh no, no, no, no, NO! I read it already. I need to forget it.” Twilight ran over to the shelves, pulling out books with her magic and tossing them aside after a quick glance at the cover. Ink Well followed her, shocked at her reaction. “I asked Rainbow if she was good at stealth! What did you think we were going to do?” “I thought you were going to find ponies to listen to or something. I didn't think you'd break the law!” She pulled out a dusty tome, blowing off its veneer and reading the title. “Ah, memory erasure spells! Perfect!” She flipped it open, hurriedly scanning the pages within. Ink Well stopped her, pushing the book away from her eyes to attempt to reason with her. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Look, the Equirer did horrible things to pry into the lives of you, your friends, and your Princess. They have been spreading lies and slander, and nopony has been calling them out on it. The most that they could do was open the front door and complain, which did nothing. Yes, this folder was taken under illegal means, but far less than anything they have done to others.” Twilight looked at him, worried. “That is not an excuse to break the law! That just means that we're stooping to their level. That's even worse!” “No, WE aren't. I am stooping to their level, and I was one of their own people. They're the one to teach me to do stuff like this, so...” Twilight lifted up the book again, scanning through the pages. Ink Well stood next to it at the edge of her vision. “Twilight, this is our one chance to stop them from hurting anypony else. If you could do one bad thing to stop a hundred more from happening, wouldn't you do it?” Twilight looked doubtful. “If it worries you that much, we'll just find out what it says, and then we'll decide whether to give them back the folder. Your spell will work just as well before the reading as after. Is that acceptable?” After a few moments of hesitation, Twilight nodded. “Alright. But we're going to give it right back after. We read it, then zap, no more memory, got it?” “We'll see.” Ink Well walked over to the folder, scanning the papers it contained. “What did you read?” Twilight put down the book, daring to show interest once again in the folder's contents. “It looked like the Equirer was in charge of the other magazines. The first page is the minutes of a meeting between the heads of them, and the Equirer spokespony was definitely taking the lead.” Ink Well looked at the first page suspiciously. “Well, isn't that convenient? It's even got the names of the ponies there noted at the top. We've got the executives of Ponies, Solar, The Inquisitor... and about a half dozen more gossip magazines all fully represented, indeed with the Equirer at the head.” Ink Well put down the paper slowly, mulling it over. Twilight had floating in front of her multiple papers from the file, switching between them excitedly, her doubt having disappeared. “Look at all of this! Records on which stories to run and silence, staging of inter-magazine fighting, detailed records of money transfers for the past ten years.” She put the papers down, turning bright eyes to Ink Well. “This is everything we could ever hope for to take them down, in story or in court!” Ink Well frowned at all of this. “And it was all in the only folder in the only locked filing cabinet of the records room, sitting far in the back in a failed attempt to be innocuous.” He held up his hooves, shrugging. “This is either the work of an idiot, an obvious trap, or somepony who followed all of the rules in the Super Villain How-to Guide. Either way, I don't like it.” Rainbow pushed him on the shoulder. “Lighten up, slow poke! Even if it's all lies, you'll totally be able to ruin all of these magazines! You've seen how their readers react to lies, it'll be fine!” Ink Well wasn't satisfied. “I dunno... let me look it over for a bit. I might be more excited when I've gone over it all.” He grabbed the papers from Twilight, taking the folder into a quiet corner of the library to look through its contents. He went over each page with a fine tooth comb, his writer's mind thinking about the best way to present them in a story, but... It just didn't make sense. This was all too... easy. It was like it was being given to them on a silver platter. Heck, every single paper was typed on Equirer letterhead, watermark included. All it was missing was a notarized statement from the pony in charge and a pre-addressed envelope to send it to the Royal Guard. Ink Well kept focused on the facts, taking in as much as he cared to before throwing down the folder and rubbing his tired eyes. He shook his head, trying to clear it, and walked into the main part of the library. “Alright, I need to take a break. Too much time spent up in a row's gotten me paranoid. I'm gonna... I dunno, clear my head outside.” He looked around, noticing a change in the lighting and a lack of cyan ponies. “Where'd Rainbow go?” Twilight looked up from the book on psychology in front of her and shrugged. “She went out about an hour ago. Said she was getting bored waiting for you.” She flipped over the page, continuing her reading. “Probably for the best. She was getting late for her patrol.” “An hour?” Ink Well looked outside, seeing the morning sun bright and strong. “Huh... Losing track of time. I didn't think I'd taken that long.” He walked to the door, opening it and blinking back the bright light. “Feel free to go over the folder on your own. I'm just gonna go out. I might be back later... I dunno.” He yawned as he left, heading towards the center of town. --- Ink Well walked contemplatively through the marketplace, wings dragging on the ground as he tried to let the sun's energy reinvigorate him to little effect. He moved deep in thought past the flower shop, waving absentmindedly at Lily when she called out a 'Hello' to him. After taking a few more distracted steps, he stomped down a hoof. “Oh! Shoot, Rose wanted to talk to me, didn't she?” He walked over to the perfume shop, pushing the door open and entering the almost physical wall of scent that hung within. Among the flower and citrus smells sitting in the air a couple of ponies were perusing the store. There was a small queue in front of the counter, with Rose smiling and talking business with the pink furred pony at the front. As she rang up her customer, she looked over and noticed Ink Well standing at the door. She waved him over as the customer walked off, holding up the line for a moment. “Hey there! Did you get my letter?” “Yeah.” Ink Well looked at the queue of impatient ponies angrily eying him and hung a few feet back from the counter. “Are you busy? Because I can come back later.” Rose shook her head. “No need to leave. Once I clear out the shop I'm going on my lunch break. We can talk then.” She saw him nervously look around the shop and smiled at him. “You can wait in the back if you want. It'll only be a few minutes.” Ink Well nodded, relieved. “Thank you.” He moved quickly behind the counter and into the back room, trying to deflect the attention of the shopping ponies as Rose greeted her next customer. In the back room the scents were much more potent, mixing with the various woods and herbs awaiting extraction to create a strong but soothing aroma. Ink Well walked next to one of the bubbling distilleries, taking a seat at the work table set up there. His eyes meandered over the meticulously detailed brass stills, while his mind fell back into the file at the Library and the work that went into obtaining it. Apart from the chase, even the break in had been so simple. It was a plan any moron should have guarded for, so why would they just leave all that laying out practically begging to be taken? Put it in the one locked cabinet in the entire place? It almost had the air of a challenge, a dare to anypony brave enough to just try to take the information. His eyelids drew together as he thought, the light from the fires beneath the still creating shadows on his closed eyes. He tried to picture the papers in the folder, going over every detail to see if something didn't fit. Yet despite the obvious collection of damning evidence, nothing seemed out of place. Maybe it was planted. Somepony was trying to frame the Equirer, and they'd planted the folder there. And intercepted all of his letters... and wrote back with the letterhead... Or maybe the Equirer just has a fastidious secretary that just noted everything down. But you don't let a secretary in on a master plan... maybe it was... --- Ink Well awoke with a start as the extractor next to him buzzed loudly, signaling the completion of its run. He got up from the work table, looking around to try to find out what time it was in the windowless distillery. As he moved, a soft burgundy blanket slid from his shoulders, landing with a gentle noise on the ground. He looked at it, then at an apple that was sitting unobtrusively next to where his head had been. He picked it up, turning it over and around in his hoof. As he did so, Rose walked in from the shop to check on the still. “Oh! Ink Well, you're up. And I see you found the apple.” Ink Well looked at her sidelong. “Yeah... is it for me?” Rose threw him a playful look. “No, it's for the still. The brass looked hungry. Yes it's for you, you slept right through lunch time, so I thought I'd leave you something for when you got up.” Ink Well turned on her, disgruntled. “You just let me sleep? Why would you do that?” She stepped away, taken aback by his reaction. “You'd looked tired when you walked in. And seeing you sitting there, I just couldn't bring myself to waking you up.” She walked over to the still, turning a valve to stop the bubbling inside before she moved to a tap on the side. She placed a container beneath the tap, then ran the contents of the still into it. The room exploded with the scent of roses. “I guess the still did, though...” Ink Well shook his head to clear away the fog that entered with the rose smell. “No. Well, yeah, but...” He placed down the apple, angered. “I shouldn't have snapped, but I really shouldn't have fallen asleep like that. I have too much work to do... Darn all night flight.” Rose looked at him, worry touching the edges of her face. “All night flight? No wonder you were tired. What were you doing?” Ink Well sat at the table. “Just getting a little information. I was trying to send corrections, but none of the magazines were accepting. I went out to Cloudsdale to find out why, and things got a little... interesting.” Rose tilted her head. “Corrections? But I thought you'd gotten fired.” Ink Well looked surprised. “Really? How'd you hear about that?” Rose smiled slyly. “I guessed. Doesn't take a lot to realize something was up with you. And after that reaction with the last article, I kind of connected the dots.” Ink Well frowned, annoyed at having been played so easily. “Huh, good deduction then.” He shrugged. “Yeah, I got fired after I didn't come through on the Gala article. I was trying to correct their previous stuff and stop that mess they printed from happening, they didn't like that, I got canned...” He sighed a tired sigh. “Spent the last week trying to send corrections to the other mags to lower the interest on Fluttershy's friends, but that fell through.” Rose looked disheartened. “Oh... I'm sorry to hear that. I've been trying to shoo off interest in them myself, but the draw to see the 'Ponyville Six' really has been amazingly good for business.” She backed down slightly, trying to duck away from Ink Well's possible anger. He just gave her a tired smile. “Hey, you've got to work with what you've got.” The smile dropped from his face as he leaned back on the table, staring at the ceiling. “Things have just been so complicated since I started writing journalistically... I miss the good old days of fiction, back when all the great plots and hurt ponies were simply words on a page.” Rose perked up when he said this. “Yeah, well you'd know a thing or two about that, wouldn't you?” Ink Well's head bobbed back up, confusion on his face. She just smiled at him. “Don't give me that look, I borrowed your book from the Library.” Ink Well raised an eyebrow. “Oh?” “Yeah. It's very well written. Beautiful compared to your Equirer stuff. I don't understand how it didn't sell.” She looked him in the eyes, excitement sparking in hers. “Something in the way you write made me wish I could experience it. The way you described North Wind's first flight, that exhilarating joy, I could feel it radiating off of the page. And the way that Southern Storm's tower rose from the ground, rending it apart and into the air with its magic, I could see it all in vivid detail! And I haven't actually gotten very far in the book, but what I read was so fantastic!” She took a step back, blushing softly. “But you probably hear that kind of thing all the time.” Ink Well smiled kindly at her. “Oddly enough it has been coming up a lot more recently. Then again, anything looks like a huge increase when previously there was nothing.” “See, that's the thing. You said something similar when you first mentioned the book, and while I was reading, all I could think of was that I knew the pony that wrote this. I had met and talked to a creator of such wonder and he was, well...” She looked at him sadly. Ink Well looked at her, confused. “Well... what?” “Never mind. It's not important.” She looked away from him and through the door into the main shop. Seeing nopony within, she closed the door. “What I'd really wanted to talk about was the whole magazine thing. I didn't realize how stressing we must have been on the others, hounding them like that, and ever since I've been trying to keep others from following them too much. And I'm sorry that I said you wrote that piece. You're not like that and even implying you were was an insult.” Ink Well shrugged. “Eh, I've been accused of worse. Honestly, once you get past the ridiculousness of the argument, it was an interesting angle to attack a story from. If it wasn't aimed at real ponies it would have made a good book. And you not realizing the effect you had on the ponies when following them, well, I didn't know the effect writing the stories was having. I was probably more guilty than you, so holding a grudge about that wouldn't be fair at all.” He smiled at her. “Besides, at least you're trying to do something to fix it. That seems to be all I've been doing lately.” Rose smiled back at him. “I'm sure you're doing your best.” He stared at the apple sitting on the table next to him and frowned. “I dunno. There's one last lead to look into, and it's very interesting, but I don't fully trust it. It's all come so easily and so conveniently that it almost feels like a trap.” Rose shrugged. “So it's a trap. What's the worst the can happen? If it were up to me, I'd go for it.” Ink Well nodded. “You know? You're right. I'm just being paranoid. I mean, worst case scenario, what am I going to do? Lose my job? Already gone. Lose credibility? Went out the window when I started writing for the Equirer. Heck, writing the story will only cost me ink and paper. Might as well go for it.” Rose nodded. “Might as well, right? So, um, what exactly are you going for?” Ink Well shook his head. “Oh no, I'm not dragging any more ponies into this mess just in case it blows up in my face. It involves why my corrections didn't print, and that's all I'm going to say for now apart from thank you for your time and your workroom. It's been very nice talking to you.” “Yeah. You too.” Ink Well moved into the main part of the shop, getting ready to leave when Rose noticed the apple sitting on the desk. “Hold on! Don't forget your lunch!” She tossed it to him, landing it right in his bag. He tipped his hat to her. “Thank you Miss Roseluck. Have a wonderful day, and I hope to see you again soon.” He walked to the shop entrance, flying through the market and trailing the scents of the shop behind him on his way back to the library. --- Ink Well landed at the library, pushing open the door to find Fluttershy and Twilight going over the folder. Twilight looked up at him as he entered, a frown on her face. “Where have you been? It's been hours. I'd thought you'd gone home or something.” Ink Well shook his head. “No, I was about to though. Just thought I'd give the folder a once over to see if I'd missed anything.” He walked next to Fluttershy, who was engrossed in the papers before her. “Interesting read, isn't it?” Fluttershy looked up, a fearful look in her eyes. “I had no idea the Equirer was this... big. It makes you wonder why anypony would go up against it.” “It makes me wonder why nopony has tried before, especially if I could get my hooves on this so easily. But I won't be letting their size get to me. Equestria has to know about this one.” He looked over to Twilight, who was examining the payroll paper. “Speaking of their size, what do you make of that many guards on the pay? I only counted maybe ten when I was there last night.” Twilight shrugged. “I don't know what to make of it. Could just be they want to be really secure, or it could be an oversight. I really can't say with what I've read.” Ink Well shrugged. “I guess we won't find out by talking. I'm heading home, I've got some writing to do.” “Oh, then you'll need this. Here, I'll just...” Fluttershy hurriedly closed the folder, prepping it for him. He placed a hoof on it as she worked. “No need. I've got everything I need to know memorized. I'm just going to go straight home and write it anyway.” Twilight looked unconvinced. “Are you sure? Because it's not like we need to have this floating around here, and flying all the way back because you forgot it would just waste your time.” Ink Well shook his head. “It's fine. I know what I'm going to write, and I was going to come back here to confirm it before I sent it off anyhow. You just keep those folders safe, and I'll be back in a few days.” Twilight shrugged. “Alright. Whatever you say Ink Well.” Ink Well walked to the exit, tipping his hat back at the room. “Have a good read you two.” “Fly safely, and good luck with your story.” said Fluttershy. Ink Well nodded to her. “I will. I'll see you both soon.” Then he opened his wings, taking off into the mid afternoon sky. --- Ink Well flew from the Library to his house, eating the apple early in his flight and mentally thanking Rose for the first food he'd had in two days. Happier than when he left, he landed gently by his mailbox just as the sun was sinking into the horizon. He walked inside his house, taking off his bag and hanging it up on its stand near the writing desk. As he turned towards the desk, he felt a shift in the air behind him. A sharp pain exploded across the back of his head, stars and darkness filling his vision. He landed roughly on the ground, his hat rolling off under his desk. From the shadows of a stack of papers stepped a well kept unicorn pony with dark green fur, an emerald mane with a golden streak along the bottom, and bright red eyes. She stood poised over the prone figure of Ink Well, blackjack floating near her head with a faint red aura around it. “My, my, Ink Well, it seems you've fallen into something that somepony doesn't want you having your hooves on.” She moved over to his bag, carefully rummaging through its contents. As she dug through his bag, slowly a frown appeared on her face. After a few moments, she flipped the bag over with her magic, dumping its across the floor. Papers mixed into the thin layer already there, his pen clattered from its holster and rolling to the side, the ink reservoir it sat in splattering across the floor. The unicorn looked at everything falling out displeased, her eyes narrowing into a glare that she directed at Ink Well's body, which was slowly struggling towards his hat. “You already got rid of it, didn't you? Why must you make it so difficult for us?” She watched him crawl across the floor, a cruel smile slowly forming on her face. “Shame. Looks like I'll just have more work to do. But first, I think it would be only fair to let you know that evidence disposal is my favorite part of the job.” She brought down the blackjack again, ceasing the movements of the form beneath her. Her smile grew slightly manic as she looked at him. “Now then, what shall we do with you?”