The rain fell down in buckets. Puddles rippled and swelled in the continued downpour. The City That Never Sleeps received its first full rain in over a week, thankfully washing away the collected grime from the city’s streets.
The puddle splashed over the earth pony stallion’s belly and legs as he ran through the rain-slicked streets of Manehatten. The screams of his comrades echoed behind him and he lowered his head to run faster. He heard one of them call out his name before the voice grunted in pain and fell silent.
He turned down sharply into another street, running past the windows and doors of shops that were closed for the night. If only one of them was open, he could get away from his pursuer! He had to get away, that was all he knew. Some place without shadows, if only he could get there!
He rested against a shop’s door, his lungs screaming for air. He panted and gulped in the needed oxygen as he looked over his shoulder. Nothing but the rain moved; it was only him on the street.
‘Nothing, nothing is good,’ he told himself. Maybe he was lucky, maybe he threw off the—
Something moved along the walls, and he screamed in terror. He didn’t wait to see what it was before he tore down the sidewalk. A brief flash illuminated the streets as the lightning tore the sky above him. He risked another glance over his shoulder and tripped over a trashcan that jutted into the street. He landed unceremoniously into a puddle, the refuse of the can spilling across the street.
He groaned as he pushed himself up, wiping his face of the muddy rainwater. A chilling laugh had his eyes widen in fear and he gave an unstallionlike squeal of fear and fled for his life. Tears mixed with the rain as he finally turned down an alley and dove behind a dumpster.
He sat there for a time, not daring to breathe in fear of being found. The rain pounded on the dumpster and the road, filling the alley with its dull roar. After what seemed like an eternity, and nothing jumping out to get him, he allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief.
“Lost ‘em.”
“Running from little old me?” a distorted voice said sweetly.
He didn’t have time to scream before he found himself hurled further into the alley. He landed with a pained grunt, and he looked up to see a pair of glowing, yellow eyes approach him. He scrambled away from the apparition, stuttering in fear.
“P-P-Please! D-Don’t hurt me!”
The apparition stopped as the lightning flashed again—illuminating the shadow pony—and the eyes narrowed at him. “Tell me what I want to know and I won’t.”
He scrambled away from her. “I-I can’t! If they found out I—” He screamed again as the shadow was suddenly in his face, the eyes blazing in fury.
“Tell me where I can find them!” the shadow demanded in that otherworldly voice.
He cringed away from those eyes. “N-No! I-I can’t!”
His scream of fear jumped a few octaves as he found himself dragged into the air. The apparition beat the air with shadowy wings as it lifted him with little difficulty. Reaching the top of the building, the shadow held him upside down over the edge.
“Last chance, bucko.”
He whimpered as he flailed around, the street below looking so far away. “P-Please…”
Without so much as a word, she let him drop.
His scream echoed and the street approached so fast. “I’ll tell! I’ll tell!”
He covered his face with his forelegs, but before he could hit, he was hauled back up into the air, and was promptly dropped on the roof of the building again. He climbed to his knees and emptied his stomach of its contents.
“Eww…” he heard the voice say. “All right, spill your guts… again. Where is Mafioso?”
He wiped his mouth of the acidic residue and turned to look at the shadow pony as she stood above him. “I-I don’t know where the boss lives. I’m just a grunt in this business, I swear!”
“But…?”
“I-I know where you can find a guy who can tell you where the boss hangs his hat! His name’s Tricky, and he’s got info on just about everypony in the mob!”
“And where can I find Tricky?” The shadow stepped toward the stallion, who backed up toward the edge of the building with a nervous gulp.
“H-he lives downtown! In a complex called the Hole! J-j-just ask around, the locals there can point you to it!”
The living silhouette backed up a step with a nod. “Thanks for the information. Goodnight.”
“Wha-?” He was interrupted by a hoof connecting to his jaw, knocking him right into dreamland. When he eventually woke up, he found himself tied up to his partners with rope. Several police officers were surrounding them, talking about to deal with this situation that had become relatively common in recent weeks. Slowly, a realization dawned on him. “The boss is gonna kill me.”
-o-
‘So… you’re not going after this Tricky guy yet?’
Swirling gave out a disgruntled sigh as she entered her apartment, changing out of her Raven form as she touched down on the floor through her window. “Nope. Downtown is on the other side of the city. Better to wait until tomorrow night so that that five hour time limit of yours isn’t as big of a deal.” She ran a hoof through her mane, shaking it back out to its normal place.
‘I don’t have a time limit. You do. If you keep using it beyond that limit-’
She rolled her eyes at him. “It’ll tear me apart from the inside-out, I know.” She flopped onto her bed, turning to lay on her back to stare at the ceiling while she talked to Nevermore. “You don’t have to keep reiterating it like you do every night.” The spirit mumbled something inaudible, probably something derogatory about ponies. She’d gotten used to that by now, as much she hated to admit that.
For now, she needed to think up a plan of action for when she found Tricky’s place (what kind of dump would it have to be to earn the name “the Hole?”). If he was one of Mafioso’s guys, he’d no doubt have at least a few flunkies hanging around to keep an eye out for trouble. And if he was important as that thug from earlier had implied, then his bodyguards would probably be pretty tough. Perhaps even a decent challenge for the Raven…
‘Ego,’ Nevermore warned her.
“Sorry.”
-o-
The Raven was starting to be a real pain in Mafioso’s flank. Fourteen members of his syndicate behind bars in the four days since that nag Swirling Line’s bizarre escape and that freak’s interference in something that just wasn’t her business. This was starting to irritate him.
“Why hasn’t she been brought to me yet?” he inquired in a tone that was polite, yet menacing. Brawn and Knives blinked at each other as their boss fumed. The slate-colored earth pony was grumbling at a newspaper in his hooves, particularly at an article talking about how the Raven was taking down known criminals, while simultaneously saying that she might not be completely trustworthy to the general public.
“Well, she ain’t exactly easy to pin down, boss,” Brawn offered with a tinge of nervousness in his tone. Mafioso scowled at him. “Look, we’ve got the whole gang on the lookout for the Raven. We’ll find her sooner or later.”
The mob boss sneered as spite became more and more evident in his eyes. “I want her found now!” he bellowed, throwing the newspaper at his two lackeys. “No more excuses! I want you two to go see Tricky about this. I’m sure, by now, he’d have something on the Raven that’ll make my life a lot easier.” He whirled in his chair, turning away from the two in spite.
“Yeah, boss, we can get it done,” Brawn said, inclined his head.
Before Brawn could turn away, Knives spoke up. “Boss.”
“What is it, Knives?” Mafioso asked, not bothering to turn.
“What do you want done with that Swirling Line nag?” Most of the injuries he sustained from the fighting had healed up, though the area around his eye was still blackened. “You want us to finish the job?”
Mafioso snorted. “That nag’s the least of our problems now. Find the Raven and bring her to me.” He turned back enough to glare at the unicorn. “Don’t come back without her. Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal clear,” Knives answered as he rubbed his black eye. “You wouldn’t mind if I-”
“I would mind, actually.” The earth pony boss glared at the unicorn, already knowing exactly what he was planning to do. “I’d prefer it if you brought me a whole bird instead of a few ribbons.”
Knives backed away and lowered his head submissively. “Right.”
Brawn put a hoof on Knives’ shoulder. “Come on, pal. We got a rat to visit.”
-o-
“Wow, this place is a dump,” Swirling commented as she flew over the street during the early hours of the night. She felt sorry for the earth ponies and pegasi who had to walk on the trash-covered streets and sidewalks. It was far from being the cheeriest neighborhood she’d ever seen. More than a few ponies looked like they were up to no good. “This place could do with a good clean-up.”
‘I’ve seen worse,’ said Nevermore. ‘Trust me, this is a paradise compared to some places I’ve been to.’
She landed in an alley not far away and quickly darted to the shadows, her eyes searching for anypony walking nearby. “Sounds like you have some good stories to tell.”
‘Stories, maybe. Good? Not so much.’
His tone told her that he’d rather not continue down this line of conversation, so she merely nodded and morphed into her alter ego, her coat becoming an ethereal black as her wingspan doubled and her mane and tail became black fire.
With her transformation complete, she sank into the shadows, darting lightning fast through the night until she came across an old apartment complex that looked like it should’ve been condemned a long time ago. Above the door hung a sign that should’ve read “hotel,” but the “t” was missing. Apparently, somepony thought it would be funny to take the “l” and put it where the “t” belonged. Appropriate, she supposed.
“Everypony I’ve asked so far has said that this is the place we’re looking for,” Swirling pointed out. Just then, a brick came flying into one of the windows. Some colts ran off laughing as an older stallion bellowed at them in an elderly fury. “Sheesh. Why would anypony want to live in this part of town?”
‘Some ponies just aren’t as well-off as others,’ Nevermore answered. ‘A fact of life.’
“Don’t I know it…” she muttered under her breath.
‘You’re better off than these poor souls. So that should make you somewhat thankful for what you have.’
“Sure.” Swirling dove into the shadows again, slipping into the building known as the Hole with no eyes following. Sticking to the shadows, she took a look through room after room, trying to find out which apartment Tricky called home. Through her search, she found mostly ponies who looked just a little bit worse than down on their luck. Alcoholics, an oversized family, ponies who were very clearly members of the Reds, and a number of other less-than-glittering examples of how to live.
She passed one apartment where she saw a mother trying to care for a sickly foal. The child’s cries as the sickness wracked its body and the mother’s sobs tore at her very core.
‘Oh, sweet Celestia...’ She brought a hoof to her muzzle to keep a choked gasp from escaping her. ‘That’s so horrible.’
‘It could still be far worse,’ came Nevermore’s voice.
‘How?’
‘That child could be alone, with no mother at all to care for him. That would be truly horrible.’
Swirling let out a small sigh as she left the mother and child’s apartment. ‘Yeah… I guess so. But… still.’
‘Concentrate on the task at hoof. Stopping Mafioso and his goons will be a much bigger step than one family.’
The pegasus nodded, understanding, but reluctant. Mafioso had to be taken down. As long he was a free stallion, nopony else would be. With that thought in mind, she went back to her search.
Upon reaching the top floor, she believed she finally found what she was looking for. Though nopony was home, this particular apartment had assortments of files on counters, table, and in various cabinets. Opening one file revealed some information on none other than that wacko Knives. Weirdly enough, that guy was apparently from Canterlot. Go figure.
“This has to be the place,” she said to herself. “We might not even need to talk to Tricky. We’ll just have to keep looking around until we find something on Mafioso.”
‘Sure, but you might want to hurry. There’s no telling when that Tricky guy will come home.’
Not needing to be told twice, Swirling Line began digging, looking through every file she saw. She found information about Knives’ pegasus partner Brawn, some intel on the Reds, and something about some mare called Rough Diamond, but nothing on Mafioso except for a few mentions of some auxiliary hideouts. There was nothing concrete about the mob boss. Maybe Tricky had something hidden away somewhere…?
The familiar click of a lock being opened made her ears flick toward the door, and she saw it beginning to open. Thinking fast, Swirling sank into the shadow of the couch at the end of the room, just as an earth pony stallion walked in. His coat was a dark shade of yellow, with an equally dark blue, unkempt mane and tail. His cutie mark looked like a pair of dice rolling around a quill, which was more than a little odd. His sea-green eyes seemed to scan the room briefly before he set his saddlebags on the floor near the table covered in files that Swirling had been sifting through.
He stopped as his gaze fell on the files. Without a doubt, he knew that they were out of place. He glared around the room, as if he knew somepony was there with him. After looking around the room for a long moment, he sighed and picked up the out of place folders. The metallic shelf clicked as he closed the drawer, and he took a seat at his desk with a weary sigh. He reached into his desk and produced a flask and took a hearty swig. “Ahh, another day, another ten bits earned.” He then scowled to himself. “Well, one bit after rent.”
Swirling peered around the edge of the couch to stare at the pony. His back was to her, and he had his back hooves resting on his desk as he took another drink from the flask.
She wrinkled her nose as the smell of strong booze reached her. ‘Ugh… How can he drink that stuff?’
‘For the same reason you work at that grease hole; because he can,’ she heard Nevermore snark at her. ‘He’s not paying attention. Now might be your best chance to get some useful information out of him.’
She nodded silently and crept from her hiding place, taking it slow so as to not draw attention or make any sound. She paused halfway as he leaned forward on his desk to start writing on a piece of parchment. Convinced that her cover wasn’t blown, she crept forward again. Just as she was to grab him from behind, her ears flickered at a clicking sound. A nearby shelf shot open, and a wire net launched out and snagged her in its grasp. The force of the net pinned her against the opposing wall, and she felt the wires of the net press painfully into her skin.
The stallion turned to regard her smugly, removing his hoof from a concealed button on his desk. “Pressurized net launcher. Useful for ponies who like to sneak up on me,” he said as he stood. “So who’s the pony who thinks they were going to get the drop on old Tricky, I wonder?” He turned on a nearby lamp to regard her.
Swirling struggled under the iron press of the net, but found that it held her so tightly that she could barely move her head.
‘All right, even I didn’t see that one coming,’ Nevermore quipped, his tone showing a faintly grudging respect.
‘Get me out of this net!’ she screamed at him in her mind.
‘Not yet, let’s see how this plays out. Go along with the captive routine for now.’
The stallion, Tricky she guessed, looked at his captive with some surprise. “Well, if it isn’t the Raven the papers have been going on about lately. Didn’t think I’d be getting a visit from you in a while yet.” He walked over and placed a hoof on her face, giving it a firm tug.
At her hiss of pain from pulling her fur, he stepped back with a pensive look. “Huh, so it’s not a mask and suit. Interesting.”
“So you’re Tricky then?” she asked, still grunting from being held.
His eyes lighted in wonder. “A mishmash of two or more voices? Amazing. How’s that done? Some sort of spell? I wonder whose voices they belong to?”
Swirling looked at him as if he was mad. “Did you not hear me?”
“Oh, I heard you. I’m just ignoring you. Mostly” The way he looked her over reminded her of when she would visit an art exhibit and she found one amazing piece among less impressive works. “The way the shadows seem to swirl over your body, the way your wings and mane seem to drift off at their ends. Truly a work of art. I’ll have to make notes about this in your file.”
‘He knows perfect work when he sees it.’
‘NEVERMORE!’
He remained unmoving to her demand. ‘Not yet, ask him about Mafioso, and do try to be sly about it.’
There wasn’t anything sly about her thoughts about the spirit at the moment, but she turned her gaze to the the stallion.
“Word on the street is that you’re the pony who seems to know a little bit about everypony.”
A sly smirk crossed his face. “Maybe not everypony, but I do tend to gather little tidbits here and there.” He looked towards his desk for a second. “Did you know that Princess Twilight has obsessive compulsive disorder? Apparently it drives her insane when her things aren’t in the order she wants them. I even heard it’s caused a ruckus in many places.”
“Uh-huh,” Swirling deadpanned. “Tell me about Mafioso.”
The sly grin faded to a serious expression at her demand. “Who now?”
Her eyes narrowed at him. “Don’t play dumb with me, buddy. I know you work for him, and I want to know where he is.”
His own eyes narrowed. “Little lady—if that’s what you are—you’re not exactly in a position to demand anything out of me. Besides, even if I did know anything about this Mafioso guy, such information doesn’t come cheap. If you want anything out of me, you’re going to have to pay for it.”
‘Now?’ she asked Nevermore.
‘Close, but not yet,’
She growled. “What’ll it take?”
Tricky’s eyes widened and his greedy grin grew just as wide. “Oh, there are a few things I could use. Mostly information on you, but there is something that I could use even more!” He turned to dig into the files on his desk.
‘Now!’
“Finally!” She retreated into the shadows, and before he could whirl on her shout, she had him pinned against the wall. He struggled under her grasp and kicked at her, but her shadow form absorbed any of his ill powered blows.
“Damn it all! How did you do that?” He demanded as he realized she had him. “That net was made to hold even a minotaur.”
“You don’t know anything about me.” She held him higher. “Now tell me about Mafioso.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, little lady. There’s no reason to get violent here. We can talk this out like reasonable ponies. Or whatever you are. Let me down, and I’ll get you his file.”
‘Don’t trust him.’
‘You don’t say!’
She slammed him against the wall. “Not happening.”
He smiled slyly, his eyes showing some respect. “Clever mare. Fine, I’ll tell you what I know, and in return—”
She bounced him again. “You’re in no position to ask anything.”
“Actually, I am,” he shot right back. “I’ve got ears and eyes all over the city. There’s very little that happens here that I don’t end up knowing about. Why do you think I take precautions to counter anypony who would want to hurt me? It’s because of what I know.” He held his forelegs out wide. “The smarter ones know that I’m too valuable to hurt, but there are always the stupid ones, and if there’s anypony that I hate, it’s a stupid pony.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “So what does this have to do with me?”
“You’re a hero, right? Not a murderer like the papers say you are.”
She couldn’t help but wince at his remark.
“But I can be of the same service to you as I am for the Reds, the mafia, and every other major crime lord - and a few newspapers - in this city. I supply information to you, and you keep the idiots off my back and out of my business.” His eyes seemed to gleam in the light of the room. “That’s the best offer you’ll get out of me.”
She narrowed her eyes at of him. “How do I know I can trust you?”
With a shrug, Tricky answered, “What could I possibly have to lose from a deal like this? You get all the tips you want, and I get a bodyguard. Win-win.”
Before she could seriously dwell on his offer, they both turned to see the door open, and who else should enter but Brawn and Knives? “Tricky! The boss—”
All four stopped in shock, staring at each other.
“Well, this is awkward,” Tricky said before kicking at the Raven’s gut, winding her into letting him go. Quietly enough so that only she could hear him, he said, “Stay down until I say so.”
Just as Swirling was about respond, Brawn bellowed, “What in the hell is going on here!? What’s that freak doing here!?”
Tricky offered a shrug. “She snuck up on me. Caught me off guard and overpowered me. I’m lucky you boys came along when you did. I think she was just about to kill me.” Knives glowered at the earth pony, who was one of the few ponies who wouldn’t immediately shrink under the unicorn’s appraising stare.
Brawn looked between Tricky and the Raven, the latter of whom was still lying on the floor, holding her stomach like she was about to hurl. He glared at the shadowy mare before facing Tricky again. “Yeah. Lucky. Especially for us.”
The earth pony raised an eyebrow as Brawn made his way over to the prone mare. “Why’s that?”
“The boss wants to have a chat with her. He’s got a proposition that she can’t refuse.” He turned, facing Knives. “Come on and pick her up. Today’s a good day for us.”
Tricky nodded in agreement. “Could be.” He looked over at the Raven. “You can get up now.”
Before either Brawn or Knives could react, the Raven, vanished into the shadows. This was only for a split-second, however, as she came flying out at Brawn, landing a hoof right into his jaw and knocking him back several feet. Knives, in a moment of instinct, threw the file-covered table at the shadowy pegasus, hitting her hard enough to daze her and summon one of his blades with a quick spell.
“It’s payback time, freak,” he hissed. “I don’t care what the boss says! I cutting you to bits!” He lunged forward, his blade leading.
“Yeah, you’re still crazy,” she said, dodging to the side and ducking as he continued with a slash. “Though that black eye actually makes you somewhat bearable to look at.”
He snarled and slashed out. “Joke while you can. I’ll cut that voice box right out of you.”
She hopped back and felt her rump hit the wall behind her. She looked away for a split second; that was all the opening he needed to stab at her.
“Got you!” He leaped forward, his knife ready to plunge into her skull.
Thinking fast, she grabbed a thick book from the ground and held it above her head. The knife tore through the volume, pricking the end of her nose, but thankfully going no further. She wasted no time in tossing the book in Knives’ face. He swore and accepted the hit off this neck, but when he turned back, he saw her bring back her foreleg.
His eyes barely had time to widen before she slugged him across the room. He crashed into another file cabinet and fell with a grunt. He picked himself up and noticed the heavy cabinet falling towards him.
“No, no, NO!” It landed with a heavy thud and the unicorn groaned in pain under mess of papers, shelves and other things.
Tricky sighed at the mess. “This is going to take forever to clean…”
Swirling smirked when she saw Knives buried under the cabinet, but turned as she heard an enraged road approach. Brawn brought his foreleg in a punch and, before she could begin to stop it, he slammed her. The sheer force of his punch sent her flying through the nearby window.
The glass shards of the window fell beside her as she plummeted towards the street. She bounced off the wall of the building right next door before landing with a painful thud.
She grabbed at her face, the stinging pain bringing tears to her eyes.
‘Sweet Celestia, he hits hard!’
‘Guess that’s why he’s called Brawn,’ Nevermore quipped.
‘I thought the Raven form was supposed to protect me?’ She got back to her hooves and looked back up at the broken window.
‘It did… mostly. Remember what I said. It has its limits, so—Watch out!’
She snapped her gaze up and flapped her wings to dodge Brawn as he stomped into the pavement she had vacated just barely a split second earlier. The concrete cracked and split from the force of his stomp. He glowered at her with a vicious snarl. Clearly, he was just a little miffed.
“I’ll break your spine, you little nag!”
The Raven face-hoofed. “Okay, seriously, what is with you guys and calling me a nag?” she asked. “Do you have any idea how rude that is? Did your mothers just never teach you to respect mares?”
Brawn hollered in rage and charged at her, tackling her into the street where a number of pedestrians panicked and ran off, a few standing back to watch the brawl as the two pegasi rolled across the road. Swirling managed to kick Brawn off of her, launching him into the large window of a china shop. The resulting crash of ceramic plates and other things was drowned out only by Brawn’s swearing.
‘Well, there goes a couple hundred bits’ worth of fancy plates,’ Nevermore said as Brawn climbed back out of the store, where the owner was struggling to save what was left of his merchandise. The muscle-bound pegasus snarled spitefully and again charged at the Raven, his eyes burning with fury.
Having learned her lesson, Swirling ducked under Brawn’s charge, sinking into the shadows as he pulled himself to a dead stop. He looked around with a savage glare, trying to find any clue as to where she might’ve-
“Sleep tight!” Before he could react, she reappeared next to him, ramming her hoof into the side of his face and knocking out and away into a dumpster, denting the metal of the large receptacle. He groaned in pain once before finally blacking out and slumping into unconsciousness.
Shaking her hoof, Swirling eyed the burly stallion for a moment. “I think I cracked my hoof on his jaw.”
‘Quit complaining. We still need to talk to Tricky.’
She nodded and flapped her wings, heading back to Tricky’s apartment, where the stallion was grumbling to himself as he cleaned up the mess of papers and files in his small living room. Swirling climbed back through the window, landing quietly and deciding to let the guy vent his frustration.
“Sure, guys, have a brawl in my house,” he muttered to himself. “Oh, don’t worry about all these incredibly important files and whatnot. I’ll clean them up no problem. Not like I’ve got anything better to do. ‘Gee, thanks, Tricky!’ Idiots.”
“You done?” Swirling deadpanned.
Tricky glanced at her with a raised eyebrow, his expression somewhere between annoyed and accepting. He sighed through his nose as he gathered up a few files, which he placed on the table that Knives had thrown at her. From the look of things, it’d be a while before Tricky got everything back in order.
“Well, this could be worse,” the yellow stallion said with surprising calm. “Doesn’t look like I’ve lost anything important. Sorry about the sucker punch, by the way. Had to be convincing.”
“Sure. Just give a girl some warning next time.” Swirling Line looked around at the files scattered across the floor. “You know, with all this info, you could probably get every major criminal in the city locked up for a long time. Why haven’t you?” To her surprise, Tricky laughed, shaking his head in amusement like she’d just cracked a half-decent quip. “What’s so funny?”
“You really are naive, aren’t you?” he asked with a smirk.
‘He’s right, you know.’
‘Shut up.’
Tricky tapped his hoof on the table. “Do you have any idea what kind of people - pony, griffin, minotaur, what have you - I work with? If I just threw out information about their business to the cops, they’d have me whacked. Or worse. I make a living on keeping secrets—and selling the right ones to the right ponies—not throwing them around like an idiot.” He returned to organizing his files. “Besides, talking to the cops would be counterproductive.”
Swirling’s ears perked up at that. “What do you mean?”
“Mafioso’s got half the police force in his pocket,” Tricky explained. “And the cops aren’t the only ones. He’s got some firefighters, a ton lawyers, and even a few doctors on his payroll.” Seeing the Raven’s question before she asked it, he answered, “Maybe a firefighter misses some poor schmuck in a burning building, and that schmuck just happened to have crossed a certain head of a criminal empire. Or maybe one of that criminal mastermind’s enemies is sick and needs a special surgery. Everyone’s got a price, even the folks we think are supposed to help and protect us.”
She lowered her gaze for a second before she snapped her eyes back up at the earth pony. “I don’t believe that.”
He shrugged nonchalantly. “It doesn’t matter what you believe. It’s the truth of it. Not everyone’s capable of playing the hero, hero. Better remember that.”
‘Once again, he’s right.’
She tuned out Nevermore as she spoke again. “Where can I find Mafioso?”
Tricky frowned again. “What are you gonna do? Turn him over to the police?” He shook his head. “That wouldn’t accomplish anything. He’d be back out on the streets in nothing flat. So what are you gonna do? Kill him?”
Her eyes widened and she shook her head to where her ethereal mane flickered like a fire. “No. I’m gonna make sure he doesn’t hurt anypony else—without killing him.”
A sly smile crossed Tricky’s face. “Well, that’d be interesting to see.” He gave a grand shrug. “It’s beside the point, however. Mafioso doesn’t share his location with me. And I’m willing to bet some fair coin that he has more than one hideout.” He rubbed at his chin suddenly. “Buuuut…”
“But what?” she pressed, taking an involuntary step forward.
“One of my runners knows where to deliver messages to him. He usually stays a few blocks away, so ask him. His name’s Rat. He’ll point you in the right direction. Make sure you use the phrase ‘it’s a tricky sort of business’ when you talk to him. Otherwise he’ll think you’re a mole and… well…” He looked her over a moment. “I really don’t want to have to hire another runner.”
She settled back and nodded after a moment. “Thank you. You won’t have to worry about Mafioso when I’m done.” She ran to the window but paused, glancing back at him. “You might want to get someone to take out the trash, before it starts to stink.” She nodded towards the unconscious form of Knives before leaping out the window.
Tricky walked to the window, but quickly lost sight of the shadowy mare, privately admitting her camouflage worked flawlessly at night.
With a smirk, he walked towards Knives and lifted the file cabinet off of the prone unicorn. “Wake up already. You’ve snoozed long enough.” He prodded Knives with a hoof.
Knives groaned, but didn’t wake.
“Oh, for the love of…” Tricky retrieved a glass of water and splashed it over the unicorn.
Knives awoke with a sputter, wiping at his face. “What in Tartarus!? Where did that freak get to!?”
Tricky smirked. “She beat you and Brawn to a pulp when you weren’t paying attention, and left.”
Knives growled and picked himself up, using his magic to return his knife to its sheath. “Where’s she going?”
“After your boss.”
Knives whirled on him in rage. “You told her where to find him? You idiot! He’ll carve your—”
Tricky held up a hoof in annoyance at the unicorn. “Please, I didn’t tell her where to find him. I’m not an idiot. I sent her after one of my spies. He’ll lead her on a roundabout goose chase before she finds her way there.”
“So you did tell her!” he accused.
Tricky remained unperturbed at the irate unicorn. “She was going to find him anyway. I just gave you and your boss time to prepare for her arrival. Gives you both a chance to settle the score in a fight of your own choosing.” He smirked. “If anything, you should be thanking me.”
Knives pushed him away, heading for the door. “I’ll thank you by cutting your throat out.”
Tricky snorted at the empty threat. “One piece of advice, though.”
The unicorn glanced back at him.
“I noticed when I turned a light on, she flinched. I’m going to say our little shadow mare isn’t too comfortable around bright light. I’m sure that free little tidbit might be useful.”
Knives grinned wickedly. “I’ll make sure the boss knows. He might let you live for it.”
Tricky snorted again as the door slammed shut.
“Idiot.”
-o-
If the Hole was a pit, then place that this “Rat” guy called home was a virtual warzone. From the shadows, the Raven saw the seediest, shadiest, burliest, meanest, most volatile ponies she’d ever seen in her life. Nearly all of the stallions looked like they’d done more than their fair share of hard time, and most of the mares looked used, abused, or both. Was the entire downtown area just Tartarus on Equus?
Deciding that she’d be safer as the Raven rather than Swirling Line, she watched from the cover of the shade, her eyes scanning the ground ahead for anything suspicious. Not the easiest thing in the world, considering just about everything here looked suspicious.
‘So… where do you plan on searching first?’
She should’ve seen the question coming, because, in all honesty, she had no idea where she was going to start. Her hope had been that this place would be relatively welcoming compared to Tricky’s residence, which would’ve made this a little easier. She’d be able to walk up to somepony and ask for… directions.
Peering around, she soon saw a stallion scanning every mare who passed him by, a lascivious smirk on his face as he leaned nonchalantly against the wall of a building.
“I’ve got an idea.”
-o-
“What the hell is wrong with you!?” the stallion cried out in terror as he dangled helplessly from a clothesline, struggling to keep himself from falling after having been thrown up to it by some kind of living shadow.
“I just want to ask you a question,” the shadowy mare said in his unnatural double-voice as she hovered next to him. “I didn’t want to take the chance that you’d run away, hit on me, or try to kill me.”
“You’re bucking nuts!”
Solid yellow eyes narrowed at him slightly. “You should be careful how you speak to me. I don’t see any wings on your back, and being so hurtful might convince me not to help you if you fall.” The stallion stared at her with wide eyes. “Now, I’m looking for somepony. His name’s Rat. He works for a guy named Tricky. Do you know anypony like that?”
“R-Rat? Y-yeah, I know him!”
She hovered closer to him. “Where can I find him?”
-o-
Swirling Line was no fan of bars. The smells, the leers, the mess, the ponies who frequented them. It just wasn’t an environment she was too fond of. Besides that, she got more than a few less-than-savory looks daily at her job at Lou’s. She was getting pretty sick of being seen as an object.
‘You’ll learn to get over it,’ Nevermore said with his usual ambivalence.
‘Maybe if I decide to dance instead of paint,’ the pegasus replied in kind. Receiving only a grunt of acknowledgement from the shadow spirit, she peered into the bar through a window, careful to remain unseen, scouting the building to try and decide who might be Rat. There weren’t that many ponies present, so there at least wasn’t much of a crowd as there could’ve been. It didn’t help much, though.
‘Should’ve asked for a description,’ she thought with a sigh as she made her way to the entrance. The best way to find Rat right now would be to ask. With any luck, she wouldn’t cause a scene or anything. It didn’t look like this place was particularly popular for mares.
‘Really wish I could do this as the Raven,’ she thought as she reached for the door.
‘Yes, because the patrons will be so willing to talk to you as the Raven than as Swirling Line. Quit worrying already. I told you, I’ll keep an eye out for you.’
“Why does that not reassure me?” she muttered aloud as she pushed the door open. She had to choke back a gag as the smell of heavy alcohol and tobacco assaulted her nostrils worse than anything out of Lou’s Diner. She coughed once but held her head up as she entered the smoky bar.
Almost as one, the patrons looked to see who had dared to enter their sanctum, and almost as one they dismissed her, going back to their drinks or hushed conversations. The barkeep idly wiped at a few stained glasses as Swirling took a seat at the bar.
“What’s your poison, doll?” he asked.
Aside from bristling at the pet name, she could have sworn the barkeep sounded like he hadn’t breathed any air other than that of the bar for years, as raspy as his voice was.
She knew she had to sound tough, or else things could go south on her real quick. “I’ll take the strongest you got.”
The barkeep leveled his eyes at her. “Doll, you don’t even look old enough to be in here, let alone able to handle a light brew.”
“Hey, I’m twenty-two, thank you very much.” The bartender gave her a skeptical look, and she heaved a sigh of defeat. “I’ll take an apple cider.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “A cider? Right.” He turned away and began filling her a mug from a nearby keg.
‘This is starting out swimmingly,’ Nevermore quipped.
‘Can you not be sarcastic for once?’
‘When you stop making it so easy.’
She groused a thanks to the barkeep as he slid the mug to her and went to fill a mug for another patron. She took a sip of the brew as she looked across the bar. The old jukebox played some old timey tune her dad would to listen too all the time when she was younger, and a low smog of smoke hung around the entire bar, nearly choking her. She looked over the few patrons before her eyes settled on one patron - and earth pony stallion - who sat alone in the corner of the bar. He appeared scrawny to the point of malnourishment. His eyes seemed to be constantly darting around, and he didn’t appear to be able to hold still as much as he was twitching in his seat.
‘Think that’s him?’ she asked.
‘Why ask me? All ponies look the same to me.’
Ignoring the implausibility of Nevermore’s statement, she turned to the barkeep as he walked past her again. “Can I ask you something?”
He turned his flat gaze to her and shrugged.
“Does somepony named Rat come here often?”
“Rat?” the bartender said as he rubbed his chin, looking around for a moment. “Yeah, he comes here every other day.” He pointed to the scrawny stallion Swirling had noticed. “That’s him right over there.”
With a nod, Swirling thanked the barkeep, paid for her drink, and made her way over to Rat’s table. As she drew closer, his attention fell on her, suspicion evident all over his face as she approached, but he didn’t stop her from taking a seat across from him.
This close, she now noticed how matted his chocolate brown fur was, and how tangled and unkempt his black, rat’s nest of a mane looked.
‘Huh. Rat’s nest. Fitting.’ She could hear Nevermore groaning at her observation, but ignored it.
“Are you Rat?” she asked. The skinny stallion flinched slightly.
“Er… yeah. What’s it to you?” It was painfully obvious that he was trying to act tough.
Leaning forward with her forelegs crossed on the table, Swirling whispered, “I need some information on Mafioso.”
Rat stared at her with wide eyes. He briefly looked around to make sure nopony had heard the mare, and leaned forward. “Why would you want to know anything about him?”
“Let’s just say I owe him and leave it at that.”
The scrawny stallion scoffed. “You and half of Manehattan. Look, I can’t just around passing out info about guys like Mafioso. He’d have me gutted if I said anything to anyone.”
“Well…” Swirling took a breath. “It’s a tricky sort of business, isn’t it?”
He blinked at her in shock before shaking his head in disbelief. Once more, he looked around, making sure no one had overheard. He groaned quietly, mumbling a curse to himself. “All right, fine. What do you wanna know?”
“I just need to know where he lives. Tricky said you’d be able to lead me in the right direction.”
“Yeah. Yeah, sure.” The longer this carried on, the more nervous Rat seemed to get. “Mafioso’s got a penthouse suite in some pricey hotel in uptown. Real fancy. The kinda place you could afford if you’ve got money to burn.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “There are a lot of fancy hotels uptown. Which one is it?”
He began rubbing his hooves together nervously, his eyes darting around. “Look, I ain’t a squealer. Working for Tricky won’t keep my head on my shoulders if I talk too much. You wanna know, you go look yourself.”
She whispered lower. “No one has to know. Just tell me, and I’ll leave.”
He glared back at her and shook his head vigorously. “No.”
“Oh, come on.” She leaned in closer and dropped her voice to a husky tone. “You can tell me.”
If Rat was nervous before, the way he twitched around at her tone could almost be called a seizure. “F-Fine. Check out the Golden Brace. He owns the biggest penthouse there.”
She gave him a sly smile. “Thank you. That wasn’t too bad, now was it?”
His body shook with a violent shiver. “J-Just get out of here. I don’t wanna see you anymore, you got it?”
She pushed away from the table and quickly left. She let out her breath in an explosive burst before she shook with resolution.
“I don’t want to ever do that again…” she muttered under her breath and started down the road.
‘I will admit, that was clever of you.’ Nevermore said. She could practically feel the spirit’s amusement.
‘What’s so funny, Nevermore?’
‘Using your feminine wiles on that poor sod. The way he was shaking, I thought for sure that you broke him. I didn’t think you had it in you.’
A blush erupted across her face. ‘I would never do that.’
‘Do what? Break him, or seduce him?’
‘I hate you so much right now.’ She made out the sound of the spirit chuckling at her expense. She grumbled to herself as she trotted into an inconspicuous alley and changed back into the Raven, sinking into the shadows for rapid travel back to her apartment. ‘We’ll head up to Mafioso’s penthouse tomorrow night. Don’t want to risk pushing the time limit you’re so fanatical about.’
‘Normally, I’d say we should go and finish this now,’ the shadow spirit said, ‘but for once, I agree with you. We shouldn’t push our luck.’
‘But…?’ She already knew for a fact that Nevermore would say something pessimistic.
‘This is going to give them time to get ready for us. We’ll need to be more careful.’
She returned to her apartment, climbing in through the window (she was still getting used to that), and reverting back into Swirling Line. “More careful, huh?” She looked out the window again as the sky began to lighten to the east. She watched as the city streets already began to fill with ponies as the day began.
A light bulb clicked in her head.
“I wouldn’t worry too much about them,” she said confidently. “I’ve got an idea they’ll never see coming.”
If Nevermore had a physical head, he would’ve been shaking it in his skepticism now. She then explained her plan to him, and he went from skeptical to disbelieving. ‘You are completely insane,’ he said as she finished.
“Like a fox,” Swirling quipped. She took Nevermore’s groan of irritation as proof of her point. She’d have to be even more careful for her plan to work, but if it did, she’d be able to take Mafioso down. She’d just have to get some really good sunscreen first.