"Here to pay your tab?" Vagabond grinned as he let me into his bar, tables empty as he cleaned and prepared for the day. "You're sure early."
"Hah hah." I took a seat and sighed. "Not unless you're calling in that favor. And I've got things to do later."
"Well, I'll let you off for today." He poured a glass of ice-water, carefully adding a twist of lemon. "What do you need, Silver?"
"I want to talk to a gem thief." I sipped my filtered rainwater. It tasted like sky and tropical sun. "Cracked Ruby. My… other sources claim that her gatekeeper is Azure Mist, but…"
"You want to know if that's right, and how to get inside?" He frowned, giving me his full attention.
"Yeah. Think you can manage?"
“Hmm.” He paused, considering. "Are you planning to bust her?" He gave me a wary look.
"No.” I shook my head slowly. “I won’t ask you to betray a contact. It's… a stepping stone. We just need to talk, I think."
He thought for a minute, organizing a few of the bottles behind the bar.
"Then I can try. You know there's no guarantee on this sort of thing, right?"
"Of course. Is there anything else I should know? How're… things?"
"Well…"
I listened with half an ear as he launched into a general overview of the Hunters, tidbits of gossip and rumor intended to intrigue me into asking more. There were some bits I'd expected, like rumors Syzygy had found another vampire, and speculation on Auric stirring up more trouble for Intaglio, but none if it seemed worth paying for.
"…so come back tomorrow, or early tonight, and I might have something for you. If, that is, you can pay me." He grinned brightly.
"Of course." I pulled out my wallet, and counted half his fee onto the counter. "I'll be back, then. I've gotta get to class."
"Hold up."
I waited as he swept the coins off the counter.
"Silver, there's a griffin looking for you." He gave me a sharp glance. "She's a Hunter, but I know how you are."
"White and brown? Sort of snappish? Auric's niece?"
"That's the one."
"Why would she…" I pondered that a minute. Gilda knew where I lived and worked, after yesterday.
"Said she wanted something private."
"Ah." I looked up. "Are you expecting her?"
"Any minute." He smirked. "Mind sticking around?"
"How much did she pay you?"
"Nothing, yet."
"You'd better not be gouging my friends, Vagabond."
"Yes, yes." He waved my concern away. "Anyways, you want to dodge her, leave now."
I sipped my water, contemplating. Finally, I sighed and nodded.
"I'll stick. Can you get me some breakfast, though?" I yawned. I really was here early.
"If you're okay with bar food?" He cocked an eyebrow.
"Pfeh, whatever. Hay fries for breakfast, let's do this." I slumped in my seat as he heated a pan. A few minutes later, the bell rang at the door, and I rose to get it.
"Silver." Outside was a griffon, white feathers and tawny fur, clearly surprised to see me.
"Gilda." I grinned but couldn't hold it, the expression slipping. "Come in." I sighed. I snagged my glass off the counter, heading for a table further from the bar in hopes of finding a little privacy. "You were looking for me?"
"Yeah." She thought for a minute, gazing around the empty room, before turning to the bar. "Hey! Whatserface, get me whatever he's having!"
"It's Vagabond." The barkeep filled a pitcher of water and brought it over with an empty glass. "You want breakfast too?"
"Add it to my bill." She waved a claw dismissively. Vagabond rolled his eyes, and I gave him a sympathetic smile. "Yeah, Silver, I was looking for you. Hay, I've been looking for you, on and off, for four years now."
I swirled my glass, listening to the cubes clink, unsure how to respond.
"And really, at the end, I just want to ask you one question. Why, Silver? What was that all about? What happened that drove you, who has the strongest sense of justice I've ever seen, to abandon your friends and vanish? What happened to your father?"
I sat in silence, letting her questions trail off into space.
"You don't need to know."
"Don't give me that, Silver! I... We looked up to you, to your dad, and—"
"No, you really don't get it." I set my cup down with a thunk. "You, Gilda Highwind, Blade of the Steel Wind, niece of Auric Highwind, don't need to know."
"You don't trust me." She gave me a lidded glare. "After all we've been through?"
"We were children. And hardly best friends, even then. But it's less about you, and more about your uncle."
"Breakfast for two." Vagabond stepped over to the table, carrying two plates. "Hash browns and eggs; the best I could do on short notice."
"Thanks." I smiled at him.
"Get me some salt," Gilda snapped.
"Don't be a brat, Gilda." I gave her a sharp look. "You may not be picking on my sister, but I can still thrash you."
"Please?" she added, looking to our host. He nodded genially.
"What's with you and my uncle, anyways? I'm surprised you're not working for him, honestly. He's a good guy."
"Good enough, to his people." I shoveled a scoop of greasy food into my mouth. It was pretty good. "But I've never been much of a joiner. I'm in the Hunters because of Intaglio, and there's bad blood between the two of them. Auric can't stand how I won't just sell out. He's got the largest group of well-respected Hunters working for him, and he'd like nothing more than to sideline the rest of us. Unfortunately, there are a few who just won't be ignored. It's never been a problem for me, but recently…" I sighed. "Well, I've been pushed out of my comfort zone, and it's making me do things I'd normally never consider. That's gotta be worrying him."
"Why?" She chewed thoughtfully, turning over what I'd said.
"Good grief." I put down my fork. "He really hasn't told you anything, has he?"
"Well…" She got a defensive look on her face, before deflating. "No, not really."
"Okay, hmm." I thought for a moment, pondering how best to begin this. "It's something like this. The Hunter organization is powerful."
"Sure."
"No, really powerful. The Chair has basically got license to arm and train what amounts to a private army. That's not how it's used, but under a strict interpretation of the law, it could be read that way. Needless to say, the Princesses keep a close eye on it. Just holding the position gives more status than most the nobility have."
"So, Auric…?"
"He wants that. At least, I think that's what he wants." I shrugged. "I don't really know the old bird that well. But if he manages to gather enough support, or fragment Intaglio's, he might be able to take it, and he seems to be trying for that."
"So why you?"
Vagabond returned, passing her a salt-cellar, which she accepted brusquely.
I pondered her question for a moment, before taking a different tack.
"There's no official ranks in the Hunters."
"Sure."
"There are, however, records of how many jobs we've taken, how well we've done, and rumors. Lots and lots of rumors."
"Ah. No 'official', then, but lots of unofficial?"
"Exactly. And that counts for something. Those of us who are active and committed, it doesn't take long to get some sort of reputation. There are lots of well-respected Hunters. There are several organizations within the Hunters. Specialists, guilds, squads, what have you. Steel Breeze is the biggest one that's really well thought of, and to be honest, they're quite near where they'd need to be to unseat Intaglio. If they could just sway a few more unattached members, or remove a little of the big guy's backing…"
"Power plays." Her tail twitched in annoyance, the fluffy bob bristling. "Uncle Aury let me into his guild because of power plays."
I gave her a tight little smile.
"Pfeh!" She dropped her fork, as realization hit her. "He wanted to use me against you?"
"Didn't you see how he was watching, how careful he was to introduce us?" I sighed. "And you wonder I don't trust you."
"I… I didn't…" She picked at her food for a long moment. "This is stupid."
"Preach it!" I slammed my fork down, making her jump. "Yeah, it's stupid. All the bickering, infighting, jockeying for position, all of politics. One big pile of stupid. But I can't thrash all of them one by one and force them to play nice."
"Not like old times, huh?"
"Not at all." I sighed, counted out the bill with a tip, and pushed my chair back. "Speaking of playing nice, I've got a class to teach. I'll catch you around, Gilda. Take care."
"Silver!"
I paused, hoof on the door handle, looking back.
"We're not done with this."
"Oh, I know." I swung the door closed, ending the conversation. "Don't I just know it." I sighed, and took the high road.
I hovered just over head-height, looking down at my class as they finished assembling on the field. Once again, I’d had them running drills. They were improving, starting to work together as a team. Maybe I could start them on a game, next week. The weather might turn for the worse, but that could be a learning experience, too.
Still, I didn’t have to worry about it for a few more days.
"Dismissed!" I hollered. "See you all Monday!" The class started to break up. As they scattered, I followed Beau for a moment.
"Listen, Beau."
"Mmm?"
"No hard feelings, right?"
"We have a deal." He gave me a slightly puzzled look, before realizing. "Oh, grudges. No, I hold you no ill will."
"Good." I sighed.
"Don't think I missed your wordplay, though. You promised help 'finding the thief', not the carcanet." He chuckled. "Quite specifically."
"Eh, well." I shrugged helplessly. "Maybe if you told me more about your treasure…?"
"Oh-ho." He grinned. "Perhaps. I will consider it."
"Blech." I grimaced. "Look, Beau. I can't help you if you don't cooperate a little more."
"I know," he replied archly. "Why do you think, although I've taken your deal, I've yet to collect payment? Your help was not conditional to my acceptance. I will wait until I know more."
"Fair enough." I let him go as our paths parted. I stood for a long moment, chewing over his words, until light hoofsteps approached. I turned, finding Octavia. Her mane was elegantly coiffed, her gray coat shone gently.
"Were you following me?"
"I didn't want to interrupt you two." She looked to where Beau was turning a corner. "So, you really are a teacher?"
"For… three more days." I grinned. "It's the weekend at least. How about you? Don't you have class?"
"Fridays are light for me." She smiled back. "Anyways, I had a question. Do you own a suit?"
"Maybe…?" I racked my brain, trying to remember. "I can check. But why?"
"Well, you offered me your help." She looked down. "Sorry to ask so soon, but things are moving quick. Azure Mist is throwing a party tomorrow. I'm certain I can get an invite, but it's a plus-one. I could ask Vinyl, I guess. Normally I'd take my brother, but I wouldn't mind having somepony along who's in the know."
"You want my protection at a party." I wasn't sure what to make of this.
"Well… yes." Her ears flattened slightly. "I know it's a little strange, but I don't think this is going to just end with us asking nicely, and at the very least, I'd feel better knowing I had help at hoof if things go sour."
"I… um. Look, Octavia, if this is what you need, I can try. But I'm no society pony. I'll use the wrong fork, I'll drink the punch too fast, and if anypony talks to me, I'll probably say the wrong thing. I'm not a 'good date'."
"Oh, is that all?" She waved my worries away. "Leave the talking to me. You can be my bodyguard and play the strong, silent type."
"That might work." I shrugged but smiled. "If you want me there, I'll watch your back."
"Good!" She grinned. "Now, let's see about your suit."
"Is this really necessary?" I gave the clipper a wary look as it buzzed past my nose, glancing around the room. Even though Vinyl’s flat was full of clutter, I couldn’t spot a decent place to hide.
"Entirely." Octavia gave a firm nod. "Your suit is barely passable, but you've got to have a neat coat." She looked up from the garment she was carefully pressing. "Take it away, Vinyl."
"But I like my fur long." I tried to sound plaintive, but the unicorn just smirked.
"You, Silver Lining, have looked scruffy ever since I first saw you. This shag needs to come off. When was the last time you had a trim, anyways?" She pointed to my fluffy fetlocks. "You must shed like crazy."
"It keeps me warm and dry!"
"You're a pegasus; you don't get cold." She adjusted the clipper with her magic, and swung it near my shoulder. "And I've never seen a raindrop hit you. What's that you always say? You fly between them?"
"Bah." I surrendered with poor grace as she started in, working carefully around the base of my mane. Rust-red hair started to pile around my hooves.
"This is important, though." Octavia looked up. "If you're going to a nice party, you need to look nice. Your wings are immaculate, anyways. Why let the rest of your image suffer?"
"My wings are tools." I tried to spit out a hair as the flying cloud surrounded me.
"So is your coat." She wrinkled her eyebrows as she worried a particularly tough crease. "Your image is as much a weapon as any blade you might carry."
"Yeah, but I know how to use a blade." I hacked and shut my eyes. "I've been wearing them for years now."
"Wearing?" She turned, curious.
"Oh, she missed them." Vinyl smirked. "Show her, Silver."
I spread a wing obligingly, curling my quillons so they sprang free of the surrounding feathers, a dozen gleaming edges.
"What," Octavia asked slowly, "are those?"
"Wing blades," Vinyl answered glibly, even as she worked down my back.
"No, I've seen wing blades." Octavia shook her head. "They go on the leading edge, and you strike on a dash. My brother has a set."
"They're called quillons," I mumbled, trying to keep my mouth shut. "They're a specialist weapon. Don't see them much anymore. Takes years to learn." I flattened them, so only red-painted tops showed. "Used to be my father's. Can't beat them in close combat."
"Incredible." Octavia leaned in, inspecting my wing closely. "Have you had these on the whole time?"
"Yeah. It's a bit of a hassle to re-seat them after I molt, but worth it. Some of the reactions I've gotten are priceless. One second, it's a wing blow, but blink and you're ribbons."
"Don't they cause problems flying?"
"You'd think that. And most do, but these are special. Orichalcum channels magic nearly as well as natural feathers, so I can flex them, and they don't cut my speed more than a hair."
"They hurt like crazy," Vinyl muttered.
"Orichalcum?" Octavia frowned thoughtfully. "I feel like I've heard that."
"It's a type of bronze." I bit one, carefully un-socketing it and passing it to her. "Heavy on the copper, turns up in myths. We don't know how to make it anymore; it sort of heals itself, and there are rules on how to treat an orichalcum weapon to keep it true to you. I think it's got some sort of earth pony magic in it."
"Hmm." She turned the faux feather over in her hooves, inspecting it carefully, testing the razor edge. "Might be. Wonder what Verdant would make of this."
"Ask him about spatha."
"Oh!" She blinked in realization. "I did read about those. Didn't Commander Hurricane swear on his?"
"Yup." I accepted the blade back, replacing it. "They'll reject a dishonorable wielder. Anypony with an orichalcum weapon takes their oaths seriously or risks losing it. And they're worth having. There's no rule as to how you use them, though, just how you treat them. They're not some sort of magically 'good' weapon like the Elements, just excellent knives."
“I never even noticed them.” She paused, reflecting. “You could wear them anywhere.”
“I usually do.”
“Hmm.” She rubbed her chin. “Interesting. I hadn’t taken weapons into account, really, but if you wear these to the meeting, it changes things somewhat.” Her eyes went distant, dancing across unseen obstacles.
"There!" Vinyl finished her trim and stepped back. "Much neater! Now you just need a shower and a currycomb."
"Not bad." Octavia refocused to give me an appraising stare. "You almost look presentable."
"Thanks," I grumbled, shaking off. "Borrow your bathroom?"
"Go for it." Vinyl waved me on. "I'll sweep up, and then we can try teaching Octy something."
"Please don't call me that."
"I never thought I'd smell this pretty." I gave a wry smile as the two mares smirked at me from the table.
"What, don't like raspberry shampoo?" Vinyl sniffed, her grin growing. "It matches you well."
"Thanks." I snorted and sat down with them. "What's this?" I poked the mess of electronics spread before them.
"My synth." Vinyl started re-assembling pieces, snapping them together with practiced precision and startling speed into a flat black box, bristling with knobs and sliders.
"Music things?"
"Yeah, yeah. Anyways, Octavia, you ready for this?"
"What exactly are you two planning?" I looked back and forth between them.
"I want to teach Octavia a little more about being a bloodsucker, and I figured having a level head would be good." Vinyl grinned at me, floating the synth into her bedroom and levitating a dark bottle from her fridge.
"Woah, woah." I stopped her, grabbing the bottle before it reached the table. "You sure about this?"
"She's gotta learn sometime."
I looked to Octavia, who nodded hesitantly.
"She's right. And I do want to learn, prepare as much as I can."
I nodded slowly and released the bottle.
"This, Octavia, is unicorn blood." Vinyl produced glasses and poured for both of them. "I've told you little about how we use it for magic. I didn't mention, though, how you can draw different types of magic from different types of blood."
"Sort of obvious now." Octavia grinned wryly.
"Yeah, well." Vinyl smiled back. "Dunno if it would have changed much. You're not used to unicorn magic. Being suddenly flush caused most of your problems."
"It made everything sort of ripple." Octavia stared at the glass. "Distorted my perceptions."
"Right. Magic and mind, they go together. When I first tried earth pony blood, I was overwhelmed by how everything was so alive. Pegasus blood gave me jitters so bad I could barely focus."
"What was with the…" Octavia rubbed her head "…horn?"
"Oh, that's part of the changes. You'll need to learn about that." Vinyl smiled, and her teeth stretched for a moment. "Your body is more elastic, now. This is the first step. Take a sip." She nudged the cup closer to Octavia.
I watched as she gracefully lifted it, swallowing only the tiniest amount. Her face betrayed nothing as she calmly replaced the glass.
"There it is again." She frowned slightly, eyes turning inwards. "That tingling." She shivered. "And there's the weirdest…" Her eyes started to flick around the room, snapping from object to object randomly.
"Hold on, don't—" Vinyl cut off as Octavia drew in a deep breath, closed her eyes for a moment, and visibly calmed herself.
"Wooo." She took another small sip. "This is crazy."
"You're good." Vinyl grinned, obviously impressed. "Getting the hang of it that fast."
"It's like acting, a little." Octavia sounded distracted, but controlled. "Stepping outside yourself. Monitor, check, adjust, flow."
"Alright, stop there." Vinyl pulled the cup away from her. "Any more, and you're likely to start surging. Give yourself time to adjust to this."
We sat silently for a long moment. My eyes started to drift back to the neatly-pressed suit, my trimmed coat feeling odd and light.
"You're worried." Octavia was staring at me.
I met her bright violet eyes, and looked away. It felt like she was weighing me, like I was suddenly transparent.
"About the meeting with Azure?"
"Sort of." I rubbed my head, uncertain how to explain. "Not the meeting, per se, but—"
"He doesn't like talking to ponies." Vinyl chuckled. "Thinks he's bad at it, that they're all out to get him."
"Well, some of them are," I shot back. "Auric is."
"What's this about?" Octavia asked mildly. "Will it cause us problems?"
"Not you, I hope." I sighed.
"No, no." She leaned forward, waving an admonishing hoof. "That's no good. You offered to help me, don't back out like that. We're a team, right?"
"Uh." I paused at that. "I, uh, I guess we are." I blinked. For a moment, the events of the past few days spun around me, whirling into a vortex of impression and emotion. "Yeah."
"Pfff, listen to this lump." Vinyl thumped my wing. "Look, Silver, we've been in this together ever since you showed up at my door."
"Now." Octavia fixed me with an uncompromising stare. "Tell me about this Auric."
"So he's after you, because he's after Intaglio." She frowned pensively and accepted another small sip of blood from Vinyl.
"That’s… I hope so." I shifted uncomfortably.
"This is about your 'flying under the clouds', isn't it?" She passed back the glass.
"Gotta be more to it than that." Vinyl took a sip as well, pushing up her shades to give me a sharp glance. "You've been lying low for as long as I've known you, before you were even somepony the other Hunters would notice."
I looked down into my own cup of pineapple soda.
"Is this about why you thought there was a trap specifically for you?" Octavia asked. Vinyl looked to me, curious but slightly wary.
"… Yeah, maybe." I sighed. "When I left Cloudsdale, it was in a hurry. The whole thing is complicated, but I was frankly running. I've got no idea who the ponies after me were, but…"
"Why were they after you?" Octavia asked. The question was frank, but I hesitated.
"Silver, look at me." She tapped the table, and I gave her my attention. "Keep your secrets if you need to. I won't pretend I've got a claim on them. But." She grinned slightly. "You know some of mine, and you've given me something of yourself. Look." She leaned forwards, lilac eyes going intense, ears swiveling as she focused on me entirely. "You feel like you're unprepared to deal with this. I get that." She laughed darkly. "These days, I get it so hard it hurts. I can't face down a dragon, I could barely deal with a pair of thieves! Rich snobs fencing with words, though?" Her smile went a little vicious. "I can eat those alive." Her teeth sharpened slightly, and I laughed.
"Point is," she continued, "I don't want this to be a one-way street. You've offered me your protection? I'll take it, gladly. But don't be afraid to ask for mine. As I said, let me do the talking. I want to be there for you too."
"Sure. Heh." I grinned, letting a little of my apprehension lift. "Right."
"Team, remember?" Vinyl said.
"Team." I tasted the word, feeling their commitment buoy me up, like wind under my wings. "Yeah."