"Now," Vinyl asked, "how do you feel?"
"Interesting." I pushed my mane back, feeling for the tiny horn on my forehead. I picked up my nearly empty glass, smelling the remaining blood. It tickled my nose with pineapple and fresh-cut grass, lively and energetic scents. I felt almost antsy, tingles of power crawling over my skin. "Twitchy, ungrounded. Like I should start floating." I upended the drink, swishing the blood past my teeth before swallowing. I exhaled slowly, savoring the taste. It was delicious.
"Still in control?" Silver gave me a wary glance.
"Yes." My certainty surprised me. "Yes. It's powerful, but it's not overwhelming."
"Hold onto that." Vinyl took the glass, rinsing it carefully. "You're doing good. The next step will be interesting. Ready?"
"As I'll ever be." I firmed my resolve, carefully monitoring my reactions.
"Okay. You’ll be learning some control. With enough magic, you can pick the one to draw on. Your natural magic will be easiest. Other pony types can come to the fore though, or you can draw on your vampire nature."
"Isn't that dangerous?" I remembered the strange mindset I'd fallen into, shifting uneasily.
"You’ll be fine." Vinyl stood, leading us into the living room, standing in the space cleared for Silver's clip. "It shouldn’t affect your mind strongly unless you're low on magic." She waved me over.
"What do I do?" I squared up, lifting my chin and flipping my mane back confidently.
"You've already done it." She grinned. "When you scared those schlubs the other day. Think back; what did you do?"
"Hmm." I tried to recall. "I focused on my feelings. I needed the to be able to feel their perceptions, like when I went… stalking."
"Start with that." Vinyl nodded. "It worked for you then, it can work again. Just repeat what you did and you’ll learn faster than trying to follow my advice."
"Okay." I drew in a deep breath and began to concentrate. I slowly pulled half-remembered sensations to the forefront, using my practice as an actor to fine-tune my stance and posture. Gradually, the colors in the room became muted, while the light grew brighter and edges sharper. I winced as my jaw throbbed, teeth shifting uncomfortably. My coat started itching and I nearly stopped, but wouldn’t break character.
I am the night. I smiled.
I dragged up my memories and impressions, focusing on what I wanted to be. As I did, I was careful to hold my performance mindset. This was me, but not totally. It was an aspect, a true character I set over myself for a time. When I finished, it would go.
Finally, the changes slowed and stopped. I relaxed, feeling my muscles move with unconscious power.
"That was pretty good." Vinyl looked past, to the kitchen’s clock. "Three minutes is a strong start. More practice will help, but take a look at yourself."
I turned, inspecting. My coat had thickened and roughened, nearly erasing my cutie mark. Its color had darkened, with a tinge of blue added. I lifted a leg, feeling strange muscles again. My hooves had thickened and toughened, growing wider and sharper.
"Here." Vinyl hovered a small mirror over. I leaned forwards, inspecting my face.
My pupils had gone slit, narrow lilac irises edging long black slashes. My features were more angular, sharp and predatory, and my ears had long, fluffy puffs on top from my longer coat. My mane was coarser, locks curling and jagging away from my careful brushing.
"I barely recognize myself." I paused, realizing my voice had changed, sounding higher and sweeter.
"You'll be stronger and faster like this." Vinyl's words were rougher, and I looked up to see her similarly changed. She smiled around her fangs. "Now reverse it."
I nodded and closed my eyes. It took longer to change back. I focused on my normal self, breathing slowly. After a long pause, I relaxed.
"It's gone?" I felt my forehead, where I'd had a stub of horn before.
"Yup, that's the first reason we're doing this." Vinyl nodded. "Once you've got this down, we can try drawing other pony types. Now, again."
I focused, settling in for practice. This, I understood. Careful repetition and rehearsal were key to learning nearly anything.
"Octavia, Octavia!"
"Mmmm?" I rolled over, rubbing sleep out of my eyes to see the clock. "Shimmerelle, what do you want? It's…" The time read nearly noon. I groaned, falling back into bed.
My roommate poked her nose through my door, smiling broadly.
"Silver Lining's here for you! How do you know him? Isn't he cool? What are you two doing?"
I shuffled the pillow over my head.
"Stop being enthusiastic, Shimmer, and go tell Silver I'll be out in a few minutes."
"K~!" She pattered away. I sighed, pushing back sleep. We hadn't even been very late last night. Vinyl had drilled me until I could switch with confidence, if not speed, before sending us home. I'd told Silver to come by in the afternoon so we could prepare for our mission. Then I'd gone to bed.
I'd expected to wake up at a reasonable time.
Cursing whatever was disturbing my sleep, I struggled out of bed. Running a brush through my mane barely made me presentable. I regarded my sleep-haggard face and remembered what I'd learned. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, calling up a touch of unicorn magic.
Trickles of energy threaded outwards from my forehead, energizing me gently. I sighed, feeling much more lively, and headed for the kitchen.
I found Silver sitting uncomfortably, a glass of water untouched on the table before him. Shimmerelle was directly across the table, staring at him intently.
"Morning." He nodded to me.
"Afternoon." I grinned, sitting next to my roommate.
"Sooooo…" Shimmerelle turned to me, leaning in close.
"We're going to a party," I said flatly, fending off her nose with one hoof. "One of my, as you say, 'social things’."
"Ooooh." She nodded, springing upright. "Have fun! I'm off to see a dog about a pony." She grinned back as she left, closing the door firmly.
"Gah." I rubbed my eyes again, wiping away the last vestiges of sleep. "Sorry about that. I didn't think this through. How do you know her, anyways?"
"She's auditing my class, or something." He gave a wry smile, launching into a story while I moved for the fridge. I'd missed breakfast, but I could make up for it with lunch.
"Hold still." I worried a particularly tough knot in his mane, working the brush slowly.
"Ow!" He flinched, pulling it away. "Why are we doing this? You said I looked okay last night."
"I said you looked 'almost presentable'. Not 'ready to socialize'." I sighed, retrieving the brush. "Why do you think I asked you over hours early? You need to brush, and I need to gauge if you can look far enough down your nose. Now, hold still."
I stepped back, examining my work. Silver shifted uncomfortably. I'd brushed his mane, and I’d managed to convince him to shine his coat with a currycomb. He glowed rust-red in the afternoon sun, an elegant wave in his darker mane. Even his wings were neater than usual.
He cleaned up fairly well. Now I needed him to stop acting so uneasy.
He watched my inspection, before drawing in a deep breath and snapping to attention. I quirked an eyebrow as he threw his head back and squared his chin, a cold veneer falling across his face, wingtips spread slightly.
"Not bad." I nodded. "If you don't need to talk, you could maybe get away with that."
"Good." He deflated, sighing slightly.
"If you could keep it up for three hours." I shrugged. "Still, it's a start. First, though, let's talk about obfuscation. How do you feel about that stripe in your mane and tail?" I pointed to the gray streak running through his deep red hair."
"I… don't know. Why? Obfuscation?" He moved closer, watching as I shuffled through the things on my vanity.
"One of your biggest worries is being noticed." I turned back with a small pot and a tiny highlight brush. "Clipping your coat and brushing your mane, combined with a change of posture and attitude, ought to fool just about anypony. But I was thinking maybe we could re-stripe your mane, to complete the effect."
"Yellow?" He glanced at the cosmetics. "Hmm."
"I'm planning on adding a stripe to mine." I shrugged. "I don't know if anonymity is possible, but it won't hurt to be less obvious."
"Fair enough." He nodded. "Let's see how it looks."
"We ready?" Silver appraised me as I stepped out of the bathroom, finally finished with my preparations.
I nodded, giving him a cautious smile. I'd added a purple streak to my mane, and donned a pair of round silver spectacles. He was wearing his suit, the crisp creases sharpening his profile even more, the yellow streak giving him an almost fierce countenance. He grinned and offered me his hoof.
"Then, milady, shall we?"
"Of course, milord." I grinned back, but paused. "Phooey, I forgot to schedule a cab." I sighed, looking down at my elegant blue dress, carefully picked for its high collar. The necklace barely made a lump beneath it. "I hate walking in these things. I hope we have time."
He shrugged, and we headed out the door. It was nearly suppertime, and the late spring sun was still bright above the horizon. He lifted off gently, hovering a moment.
"I could give you a lift," he offered hesitantly.
"What?" I looked up, perplexed. "How would that even work?"
"Hold still a moment." He leaned in to tap my shoulder. Suddenly, a sense of motion overcame me, gentle breezes swirling around the hem of my dress and ruffling my mane slightly, before I lifted gracefully off the ground.
"Eeep!" I froze, trying not to flail at the slight vertigo.
"You okay?" He watched me for a long minute as I marshalled my reactions, finally relaxing.
"Yeah." I looked down to the sidewalk, several inches below my hooves. "I think—" I stopped as we moved higher. His wings flapped slowly, and he never seemed to strain as we rose above the rooftops. "Woah." I breathed in amazement as unseen vistas spread before me. "This is wonderful."
"Like it?" A genuine grin flashed across his features, lighting them with joy.
"Yeah." The hem of my dress rippled in the breeze. "Do you think…" I paused, enjoying the cooler air, turning the thought over in my mind. "Do you think I could learn this?"
"Hmmm." He gave me a speculative glance. "No idea. Vinyl can't fly, even with pegasus blood. But you are different." He shrugged. "Maybe she could say." He looked back to the town. "Give me some directions, and tell me our plan."
"Head for the castle neighborhood." I gave him a minute to orient. He drew me near as we began moving until his near wing almost brushed me with each flap. "And the plan… well, it's nothing concrete. Getting in will be easy. You've got a codeword? Did your contacts come through for you? If not, we can maybe still work something out."
"I think so." He frowned. "Vagabond claimed Azure would respond to references of objects being 'enslaved', as a euphemism for stolen. He didn't have a known safe keyword, unfortunately."
"Hmm." I pondered that. "Well, we'll work from there. My plan isn't some convoluted sequence of predicted actions. It's like… broad strategies. We'll stick to those and build our tactics as we go."
"That, hmm." He paused, looking thoughtful as the wind rippled his mane. "That makes a lot of sense, actually."
"The important thing to remember is we've got surprise, anonymity, and initiative. As long as we're moving from a strong position and not reacting, We can control the flow, guide it to our ends."
"I see." He nodded. "You seem to have a good grip on tactics."
"Huh?" I gave him surprised look. Few enough really grasped my ideas on dealing with confrontation.
"It's like warfare." He rubbed his chin. "Interesting. I've never modeled politics like that, but can't for the life of me think why."
"Follow this street." I pointed. He nodded, taking my direction. "Anyways, the first steps I do have plans for. Originally, I'd planned to rely on publicity for safety. We'd go in high-profile and rely on that to mitigate backlash. Since I've got you, though, and you're armed, I'm willing to take a slightly riskier approach. We'll use the invite to get in, and then we'll do our best to avoid notice. I’ve got an idea to try, but I won’t know if it’ll work until we’re in. Laying low may not give an advantage here, but we might appreciate it later. The risk is being quietly dealt with, since we can’t take refuge in publicity."
"Hmm." He nodded slowly. "Alright. You're my wingleader here, so I'll follow your lead." He grimaced slightly, as if unsure.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, really." He shook it away. "It just feels weird to say that."
"Team?" I chuckled softly.
"Right."
We floated in elegantly. He wafted us up the sidewalk with an impressive display of control, our hooves barely above the cobblestone path leading to Azure's mansion. Candle-lanterns marked our way, meticulously tended gardens weaving pleasant greenspace round the ornate building.
"I could get used to this." I grinned. "Just drifting places."
"Hire a chauffeur." He shrugged back. "You'll need quite a bit, though."
"And you're not even sweating."
"I really am that good." He quirked a smile as we alighted before the door.
“Welcome!” A uniformed pony stepped forwards and bowed. “Names, please?”
"Miss Melody and guest." I produced my invitation, giving him a haughty look.
He inspected the invite for a moment. "Enjoy yourself."
I swept through with a sniff. Silver fell into step at my side, and I felt a small warmth at his unflinching solidity. He easily assumed his facade, just as we’d practiced.
Inside, ponies were already mingling, sipping drinks and eating snacks. I saw Jet Set, Photo Finish and a half-dozen others. Moving with firm purpose and avoiding eye contact, I slowly started working my way through the crowd in the most discreet way I could.
It took minutes, but I managed to lead us circumspectly past. I paused at the back wall, looking around. After being reasonably sure we hadn't attracted attention I picked a nearby door, leading Silver through and closing it behind us.
"What now?" Silver relaxed slightly, and I shot him a sharp look.
"Don't break character yet," I hissed, before taking us further into the mansion. We passed servants and waiters, wearing simple white shirts and red ties. I nodded at that, glad I'd guessed right. I quickly found a secluded room, a library. I closed the door and turned to Silver.
"I hope you're not too attached to that suit." I stepped behind a bookshelf, unbuttoning my dress and slipping it off, revealing the crisp white shirt I was wearing underneath. "Lose the coat and vest." I opened my purse and dumped out a pair of red ties, tossing one over the top to him. "Put that on. Good thing I never liked this dress." I folded it and shoved it into the bookcase, before carefully fastening my tie over the necklace. When I saw him, we matched fairly well.
"We're posing as waiters?" He snugged his own tie up, slightly crooked.
"Exactly." I leaned in to straighten it, getting a whiff of his scent, ozone and clouds. "I think we did a good enough job avoiding attention on our entry. Feel free to act more normal. Just follow my lead and keep your temper under control." I collected his coat and vest, hiding them in the bookcase as well.
"Never liked that suit anyways." He gave me a tight smile and fell in behind as we left the room. I grinned back, appreciating his willingness to adapt, follow my lead. It was nice to simply be able to rely on him like this.
Back at the party, the atmosphere felt completely different. We were beneath attention now, erased by our uniforms as if we'd turned invisible.
"You can talk a little more freely now,” I muttered, nodding to the guests. “They’ll ignore servants. We're looking for Azure." I snagged a discarded tray of hors d'oeuvres and passed it to him. "But we’ll likely be waiting a bit. Hold this, and don't meet anypony's eyes."
I lead us in a careful dance of avoidance, staying just at the edge of attention. Not far enough away from anypony to seem distant, not close enough to actually attract eyes. I found a tray of drinks and balanced it on my back, smiling as Silver managed to nod pleasantly and offer a snack to a pony who got too close. He seemed much more relaxed.
"You almost seem to be enjoying this," I murmured.
"It's interesting. Different." He pitched his voice low, just below the bubble of small-talk. "I've never felt so alone in a crowd."
"If you look exactly like they expect, they'll never see you." I paused as a shiver of tension rippled his ears. "What?"
"There." He pointed with his chin. I followed with my eyes, spotting a huge, downy griffon, plumed in black and furred in white. "That's Auric."
"Hmm." I inspected the tiercel. "Good eye. I'll avoid him." A swirl in the crowd drew my attention, and I nudged him. "Here comes our mark, fashionably late to her own party." I smirked. "Grandstanding. Some just can't resist. We'll give it a few minutes, and then approach."
I waited as she settled in, carefully avoiding her path of greetings and social favors. When that finally petered out, I laid down my tray and moved closer.
Azure Mist was a light-blue unicorn with a seafoam mane and tail, darker at the tips. She wore a sparkly, elegant, minimal dress. I spotted crows feet around her eyes, cunningly concealed with touches of makeup and brushing, but she acted fresh. I watched as she talked and laughed for a moment, trying to gauge her. She was good enough that I couldn't spot obvious tells. Perhaps she was truly enjoying herself.
I moved in as she turned away, catching her attention and meeting her eyes.
"Good evening, Azure Mist." I straightened up, putting confidence in the set of my chin and angle of my eyes. I saw her hesitate, nearly double-take, as her instinct to dismiss servants was overtaken by the strangeness of my attitude.
"If there's a problem, take it to the maître d'." She frowned, wavering on taking us seriously.
"Oh, I would." I nodded. "Except this requires your attention. You see, recently something of mine has gone missing. I think it's been enslaved." An electric chill ran down my spine as I began the conversation, stepping out into the spotlight.
"Hmm." She sipped her drink, face impassive. "I guess the maître d' couldn't help with that." She inspected us again, eyes narrowing. "But even if I could, why should I?"
"Now, now." I grinned, confident, slightly brazen, energy dancing in my eyes. "Don't play coy. You know who can help. Surely there's some means of persuasion? We can be very persuasive." I mimed shaking a purse, leaning for a little pressure. "If only you're willing to negotiate."
"Negotiations." She mused. "Yes, perhaps." She put on a broad grin, though it didn't touch her eyes. "Can you tell me what hour we should meet at?"
I struggled not to pause, to keep my reactions suppressed. It was obviously a key phrase, exactly what I'd hoped to avoid.
"Midnight." I said the first thing which came to mind. Better the wrong move than none at all. I winced internally as her smile grew flat, a hard glint in her eye.
"Well, you're very persuasive. Perhaps we can move forwards from here." She reached to the purse at her neck, pulling out a slip of paper and handing it to me. "There's an apartment across from the intersection by the train station. Head to the second room on the third floor and give this to the pony there. Now, if you'll excuse me?" She turned away. I let her go, working to keep my emotions from showing as frantic frustration surged out of tension.
I looked back to Silver, who'd stayed stoic through the whole thing. He quirked an eyebrow, questioning. I shook my head slightly and picked my tray back up.
I glanced at the slip of paper before slipping it into a pocket. It was simply Azure's business card, with a flowing signature on one side and her mark, three wispy curls, on the reverse.
After a few long moments of thinking and careful walking, I frowned at my comrade.
"I'm pretty certain we flubbed that."
"How so?" His tone was neutral, curious.
"She shouldn't have shut us down that fast." I considered the card again. "And this appointment doesn't seem right. It should take time to set something up."
"Think it's a dead end?"
"That's likely." I sighed. "It could be a trap too; something she uses to deal with nosy customers."
"Hmm." He frowned. "Yeah, okay. So, what now?"
I pondered that.
"Chaos," I said finally. "We need to stir things up, uncover new options. If it's a dead end, we'll cut our losses and disengage, but if it's a trap, there really may be ponies connected to Ruby. We haven't lost the initiative yet, so we can try to work with this." I skimmed the room, considering. My eyes finally landed on Auric. "Hey, that griffon. Think we could use him?"
"Depends." Silver shifted uneasily. "He's fairly cautious, but he is driven."
"He's after you, right?" I glanced at him, assessing his reaction. He seemed reserved, but not worried.
"Yeah."
"Okay." I considered for a moment. "I'm going to try baiting him, try to draw him in." I moved, carefully positioning Silver near one of the snack tables in full profile. "Re-arrange things here, pretend to be busy. Don't look directly at him."
He nodded and started neatening the buffet, slowly adjusting things. I wandered towards the group Auric was standing with, centered around a small table. I circled them, looking for useful ideas. That pony was smoking; that one had an empty glass; another’s plate was near the edge…
I stepped forwards, unobtrusively replacing the finished drink with a fresh one. As I did, I tapped the cigar, spinning it neatly around.
As I backed away, the stallion reached for his smoke without looking. The tender part of his hoof touched the glowing end and he yelped, jerking back. The half-empty plate fell, scattering snacks. The group laughed, nodding to each other and splitting up over the mess. Auric scanned the room, skimming across various cliques. His eyes slid past Silver twice, and I wondered if he'd notice, before I saw his attention snap back and focus for a moment.
Hooked him, I thought, moving back to Silver and tapping his shoulder.
"He's noticed you. We're going to wander a few more minutes and leave."
"He'll follow us," he said calmly.
"Counting on it." I smiled. "Come on." I led him on a few more meandering circuits and out a side door. I sighed, feeling the tingle of tension subside slightly as we hit the cool night air. I liked performing, and the stakes were making this exciting. Playing from a strong hand was always interesting, and the chances of real chaos had kept me on edge better than any stimulant. Silver seemed to relax as well, shuffling his wings. He stripped off his tie and shirt, tossing them into a nearby bush as we left the garden unobtrusively.
I led him slowly down the street, keeping us easily visible. He flared his wingtips, nodding after a moment.
"He's behind us, in the air."
"Hmm." I focused, carefully shifting as Vinyl had taught me, just enough to sharpen the night slightly. As lanes of perception snapped into mind, my eyes locked on Silver. His awareness seemed to extend in every direction, a shifting mass that moved like… the wind. "You can feel him?"
"Yeah, somewhat. It’s not something many pegasi learn." He spread his wings more, and I saw his perception sharpen. "No promises, but the patterns match griffon flight."
"Good. Let's go. Try not to lose him."
We picked up the pace gradually, heading into the quickly darkening streets.
"What've we got?"
Silver landed lightly before me, near-silent with unconscious grace. He looked back at the apartment above us.
It hadn't been hard to find, down by the train-station. This neighborhood wasn't particularly exceptional in any way, just one of the many places ponies walked through on their journey to elsewhere. The building was new-ish, tucked into a niche and comfortably ignored.
"I only saw one pony, but I think he was talking to another. Looked like a fairly average brawler, not really the 'negotiating' type."
I pondered for a long moment, feeling threads of action and fragments of opportunity snap together in half-realized patterns, firming into a sort of plan. I made a decision and launched into it. "Okay. We're assuming it’s a trap. If it's not, we may have problems later, but…" I shrugged. "I don't think I'm wrong. Auric still up there?"
"Yup."
"Right. Here goes." I opened the outer door and walked into the entryway, a narrow hall with mailboxes on one side and an intercom on the other, buttons for each room neatly arranged. Dim lights showed a sliding grille at the end, through which was a neatly austere lobby with a few chairs and an empty counter off to one side. Silver followed, watching our backs even as he traced my movements with curious eyes. I inspected the locked gate, scanning the call buttons.
"It's Saturday night," I mused, before pressing buttons randomly, avoiding ones on the third floor. "Somepony's ordered takeout…" A jumble of voices called back before the latch on the grille simply clicked over. "…Right?" I grinned at him. He raised an eyebrow, impressed. I slid the gate open, propping it with a hoof before reaching to call the room we’d been sent to.
"Hello?" I spoke clearly into the mic, deepening my voice.
"Yeah?" The reply came moments later, abrupt.
"Azure sent us."
"Hold on, I'll be right down."
The lock didn't move this time. I nodded, and waved for Silver to follow. I slipped through the door, leaving it open a crack. I dashed to the counter and vaulted it, lowering myself to the floor. Silver joined me, pressing in to stay hidden, feathers warm against my side.
"Here comes Auric," he murmured, even as I heard the outer door open. I wished we could watch, but looking over the desk would surely betray us. The grille rattled back, and claws scratched cautiously on the wood floor as the griffon entered. I heard hoofsteps coming from the direction of the stairwell, and Auric’s claws moved towards them. Suddenly a door slammed open, and three sets of hooves emerged.
"So, Azure sent you." I heard a pony’s voice, dark with humor. "Well, we've got what you need."
"Huh?" The surprised squawk made me grin. "No, I—"
"Get 'im!"
A series of thumps and grunts rang out, mixed with sharp, deep screeches and tearing noises as we heard the ponies attack the griffon. I tried to keep from laughing with glee as the trap closed neatly on the wrong prey, missing us completely. The fight escalated quickly, and I hoped our cover wouldn’t be damaged.
"Hope he doesn't hurt them too much," Silver breathed. I looked at him curiously. He honestly expected one griffon to take on three ponies?
"Well." Auric's voice was barely winded, and my eyes widened in surprise. Apparently, he'd been right. "This was just sad." A few muffled groans answered him. "Tell your boss Auric Highwind is severely annoyed." There was the sound of stalking, and the outer door slammed shut.
"Ooof." There were scraping and limping noises as the ponies collected themselves. "Well, that was a clusterbuck."
"What the hay was that?" another snapped.
"That was the boss of the Steel Breeze group." There was a scratch of pain in the voice I'd talked to on the mic. "Auric Highwind's a Hunter, one of the big guys. We might be in trouble..." Their discussion faded as they slowly moved back up the stairs.
I sat for a minute, falling into thought. Silver shifted uncomfortably beside me, and I realized we didn't actually need to be crammed back here any longer. I awkwardly shuffled out. "Can you tell if Auric's left?"
"I felt him lift off outside the door, but I can't read farther from in here."
"Be less dangerous for a moment, will you?" I glanced at him. He grinned wryly and settled his wings back against his sides. I focused, trying to pay attention to the signals I'd been learning to listen to, trying to keep from constantly distracting me. "I don't feel him. He's either gone, or lurking, or… I dunno. Come on." I turned for the back. "Let's find a back door."
"How are you holding up?" I glanced at him, as he wafted us skywards.
"Fine." He set us lightly on the roof, where we had a vantage on the door. "And Auric's gone or gone to ground. Wonder what he's up to."
"Shouldn't be a problem." I stared at him for a long moment, wondering. It had been interesting working with him so far. He was clever and dependable. His backing gave me confidence I liked, reliable strength to lean on. "I must say, I've been appreciating this 'team' thing."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." I sighed, trying to center myself, process a little of what we'd just been through. "I love this. Intrigue, thinking in circles, it's exhilarating. But without your help, I’d never have taken such a direct approach. It's a good feeling, having you support me."
"I get that." He leaned out over the edge, dangerously far for a non-flyer, looking down at the door. "Comrades. Reliable partners. They're something I crave, but felt I shouldn’t reach for. Being thrown together like this though… I'm glad we can work with it."
"Mmm." I stepped up beside him, leaning on him to peer over the edge.
"Why are we waiting here?" he asked.
"We're watching for those thugs." I pondered for a minute, considering. "If they really felt threatened by what just happened, there's a good chance they’ll run to—" I cut off as a pony appeared, four stories below.
"Their boss, huh?" Silver grinned at me. "You, Octavia Philharmonica, have a mind like a corkscrew."
"And now we're the followers." I grinned back. "Honestly, I don't know why others think in lines and boxes. There's no need to limit yourself to the obvious."