Hangfire waited, then cornered Hazy when he woke up. Dragging him to the kitchen table and setting him down with a cup of coffee shoved into his hooves.
“Look, what’s this mean?” She pointed to the word that had caught her eye earlier.
Hazy of course, took a minute or two to wake up, shuffling the papers as Hangfire got impatient. “Hazy c’mon, it’s important here.”
He nodded, “I...know. Let..me...wake...up..”
She sighed, staring into her coffee, “Sorry Hazy, sorry, take your time.”
He looked at his notes, then slipped out a couple of papers. In his halting way, he told her what he’d found so far. They were supposed to receive bonuses for working at night.
“Bonuses? Really? Have you guys got any yet, cause I sure haven’t.”
The big stallion shook his head, “No..one..has.”
“So where exactly is all this money going to?”
“I..don’t..know..yet. “ He pointed out another thing they’d copied, it was a list of all the weatherponies hurt in the line of duty. Who had been on the night crew. She recognized a few names, all of them had been paid off, very low she might add. But they were marked as injured or disabled. Every single one of them, injured.
“So all this money is going somewhere, and alot, I mean alot of ponies are getting hurt on the night shift, what the hay?”
Hazy shrugged, he looked as helpless as she felt. Finishing his coffee, he got up, and fixed them both something to eat. Setting a plate full of crunchy greens in front of her, he munched quietly as he pointed out a few things on the pieces of parchment.
He pointed out, the bonuses that they should be getting, which amounted to quite a bit of bits. Neither she nor he had remembered anything on payday, nor did anyone mention them before, even Chryse and ‘Flower.
“Hazy, work on em as best you can, I’m going to go see someone.”
He nodded, settling back down and concentrating on the stack.
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She flew on to downtown Ponyville, looking for the one person she might be able to get some answers from. She found her, of course, napping on a singular puffy cloud over the orchards.
“Dash, hey Dash!”
Cerise eyes cracked open with a “Wha..?” Hooves rubbed away the sleep as Hangfire landed softly on the personal cloud.
“Hey Dash, I’m sorry to bother you, really I am. But ya got a minute?”
A hoof covered an open mouth, giving a big yawn as she finally woke up with a smile, “Oh! Hey Hang, sure. I..uh..was just practicing you know!” A grin covered the sleepy face, Rainbow Dash was known for her impromptu naps.
She smiled warmly, hiding it behind a hoof as she tried tot ake the comment in stride, “Right, got it, need that practice!”
An answering wink cleared the air, nothing like sharing a private joke. “What can I do for you though?”
“Well,” She twisted her hooves a bit as she sat on the cloud with Rainbow Dash, “Uhm, was just wondering.. You know Chryse and Hazy and I and Flower are on the night crew right?”
“Oh yeah! You guys are doing a great job!”
Hangfire’s head shot up as she looked a bit quizzical at the cyan mare, “Sorry?”
“You’re doing a great job! Yeah it’s been alot easier on the day shift. I know you guys work hard, and it’s a pain in the tail at night, but Celestia knows it sure makes it a bunch easier on us during the day!”
“But..I..”
Rainbow Dash looked over the side of the cloud for a moment, “Yeah, I tell you,” Ignoring Hangfire’s comment for the moment, “Without you guys it’d be alot harder to keep winter going right, we all appreciate it. Being weather manager is tough, but seriously, thanks!”
“Uhm..oh..you... You’re welcome!” She looked at her hooves for a moment more.
Rainbow Dash tilted her head, “Something wrong?”
“Oh, yeah. Uh, alot of ponies get injured on the night crew huh? Cause it’s dangerous?”
The multi-colored mane bounced as she nodded, “They do, but Canterlot, always provides a stipend, cause it’s in the line of duty. The Princesses always make sure that anyone doing a job gets hurt, there’s something to help them. They set that up a long time ago from what I heard.” She stared at Hangfire’s expression for a moment, “You are getting the thank you’s from the main offices right? The memo’s for doing a good job?”
The umber mare nodded, “Oh..oh sure! Yeah! It’s nice to be appreciated, I was just worried cause you know, Blue got hurt recently.” Nopony ever told them a thing about any thank-you’s, all they got was derision and scorn. Especially from manager jerk.
“I heard about that and tell him I’m sorry I couldn’t drop by, we were really busy! But I’m sure the office took care of any hospital bills like they usually do.” She gave a casual wave, like it was an everyday thing.
Wait a second, hospital bills..we had to pay those! Or did we? Her anger smouldered like a low fire now. That jerk, that plot kissing jerk. He said WE had to cover those!
She felt a nudge against her shoulder, snapping her out of her angry reverie, “Huh? What?”
“You okay?” Concerned eyes stared at her as Rainbow Dash smiled.
“Oh..sure yeah! Thanks Dash for the info!” She gave her a smile in return and a wave as she took off towards home. Her wings catching the crisp air, putting her airborne in a flat second.
Rainbow Dash rubbed her chin with a hoof as she watched the umber mare take off, going over the conversation in her head before streaking off towards the library.
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Hangfire’s hooves hit the balcony as she stalked into the house, yelling out loud trying to find everyone. They looked up as she banged her way into the kitchen, saying at the same time she did.
“ The money's being stolen! ”