//------------------------------// // Chapter 16: Spies and Speeders // Story: Clusterbuck to City Hall // by Caddy Finz //------------------------------// The dark, gloomy weather was very unsettling for Octavia and her new friends. The gray clouds and the torrential downpour outside the hospital did nothing to help calm the ponies' nerves as they had waited all night and all morning for an update on Vinyl Scratch's condition. Nearly twenty-four hours had passed since the overly exhausted unicorn collapsed on the floor and was rushed to urgent care. Every hour that went by without good news made Octavia and the rest of the group all the more restless and worried. Around nine o'clock that morning, the doctor at long last came to the waiting room to retrieve Octavia and bring her to see her longtime best friend. The look on the doctor's face was that of a mix between relief and a hint of worry at the same time. "Miss Octavia?" The Doctor said as he entered the waiting room. "Yes, Doctor?" Octavia answered. "Vinyl is awake and ready to see you now. Follow me." Without a moment's hesitation, Octavia rose from her seat and made her way to the room where Vinyl was recovering. With each and every step, the concerned friend became more anxious for answers. After countless hours not knowing what was going to happen, she was desperate to finally know Vinyl's state of health and what had to be done from there. "How is she, Doctor?" Octavia asked as they neared the recovery room. "She's going to be fine, Octavia." The doctor replied. "The bad news is that your worries before are confirmed and she did indeed suffer a heart attack. The good news is that in her case, this can easily be prevented from happening to her again. I'll explain that when we are in the room with her." After only a minute that seemed like hours, they reached Vinyl's room and quietly entered. There lay Vinyl on the hospital bed with a fluid iv in her right foreleg and a heart monitor to the right of the bed. Vinyl was awake but she was not in good spirits as the stream of tears rolling down her cheeks made clearly obvious. "Vinyl, you're alright!" Octavia exclaimed as she quickly dashed over and embraced her ailing friend. "Tavi!" Vinyl sobbed as she returned the hug. "I'm sorry, Octavia! I'm so sorry!" "Vinyl, you have nothing to be sorry for! You've done nothing wrong!" "Tavi, as long as we've been like sisters, I have never screamed at you the way I did! That wasn't me and none of what I said was really how I feel!" "It's okay, Vinyl, the important thing is that you are going to be fine. I know you didn't mean any of that. You would never me-*sniff* Vinyl I was so sca-*hic* Please don't..." Octavia could no longer help it. No matter how hard she tried to keep her wits, her emotions got the best of her. The concerned friend of Vinyl hugged the ailing unicorn tight and sobbed like she never had before. They had always loved each other like sisters but Octavia was cherishing Vinyl's existence now more than ever. "Vinyl, I almost lost you!" Octavia sobbed. "You even got to a point where they had to use a defibrillator on you! It made me sick to watch that! If you had died, I don't know what I would do!" "I lo-*sniff* I love you, Tavi! Don't ev-*hic* ever think that I don't!" "I love you too, Vinyl!" "Now that *sniff* she's fully awake..." The doctor began as he failed to hide tears of his own. "I'll go get the rest of your friends. There are *hic* a f-few things we n-need to go over." The doctor then turned around and went to the waiting room to bring back Twilight and the rest of the ponies. Caramel had also just arrived having just finished a long shift on patrol. The doctor felt it was important that as many of Vinyl's friends as possible were present as it would be helpful if they were all aware of what needed to be done for her. Soon, everypony was in the room to listen to what the doctor had to say regarding Vinyl's condition and the necessary steps for her full recovery and prevention of future problems. "Okay first and foremost..." The doctor began. "In case any of you haven't been told yet, Miss Scratch here has been confirmed to have suffered a heart attack. She has so graciously given me permission to share all of this with you in hopes that you can all work together to help her recover. Her cholesterol levels are normal, blood sugar levels are good, she has no arterial blockage and she is of ideal weight. The issue is that her blood pressure and resting heart rate are at rates difficult to measure by modern science and are considered critical." "Luna's flank, that bad?" Rainbow Dash said. "Unfortunately so." The doctor replied. "However, because it was induced by severe stress and chronic sleep derivation, with plenty of rest and a quiet, soothing environment, her numbers can be brought back down. Also, the sonogram results show no permanent damage. Miss Scratch here is incredibly lucky. Most ponies who have heart attacks induced by chronic stress have to deal with complications for the rest of their lives. Anyway, I'd recommend making a few changes to some of her living arrangements once she is discharged." "Whatever it takes, Doctor" Octavia replied. "Very good. Now let me lay down some rules that will need to be followed to the letter. First off, absolutely no more smoking." "I can give that up, no problem." Vinyl answered. "Secondly, you must take time off from work and the campaign." "I gotta sit the whole thing out?" "You're in no condition to be doing anything that could cause any stress, Miss Scratch. Your life may very well depend on it." "Now that you put it that way..." "Also, you must refrain from any sexual activities for at least three months." "The lack of which that pretty much got me here in the first place. Go figure. Okay, what's next?" "If you continue to improve at the rate you are now, we will be able to discharge you on Friday, five days from now. From that day, you must be on twenty-four hour watch for at the very least a month. You need to have a friend with you at all times in the event of another problem. With as many friends and may I add such wonderful friends you have, you can all take shifts and keep a close watch on her. Do not leave her by herself." "She can count on us!" Pinkie Pie replied. "Excellent." The doctor answered. "Lastly, no alcohol or caffeine. None whatsoever. Oh, and take one of these blood pressure reducers once a day for thirty days. Preferably at bedtime." "Whatever I gotta do, doc." Vinyl replied. "Vinyl, I can't describe how happy we all are that you're alright." Octavia said. "We'll come back to visit you tomorrow but now, we have to find out what Rich is up to. I read on one of your clip boards that he was repeatedly spotted leaving town and coming back late at night." "Oh yeah, that. Damn, I wish I could be there. So whatcha gonna do?" "We're going to tail him to wherever he keeps going and find out who he's been talking to." "I bet by now he recognizes our cars so you can borrow our old unmarked cruiser and follow him with that." Caramel suggested. "It's black and has tinted windows so you should look pretty inconspicuous." "Are you sure we can do that?" Twilight asked. "We're talking about unauthorized use of government property here." "The chief has already given us the green light, Twi. He's actually a pretty rad dude. I'll be right there with you so it'll be fine" "Hmm...In that case, that could be pretty useful. I think I have an old base station cb radio sitting around in my basement somewhere. I'll set that up in the Library." "Gnarly! we can keep in touch the whole time!" "Okay well we need to get going and stake out his place if we want to follow him." Octavia stated. "I'll see you tomorrow as soon as I can get here, Vinyl." "Just be careful, Tavi." Vinyl replied. "I've got a bad feeling about this. watch your backs, okay?" "We'll be alright, Vinyl. Okay everypony, let's go digging!" Caramel, Octavia, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were all piled into a 1981 Plottsmuth J car much like Caramel's personal vehicle except it was painted black and had all the fixtures that most police vehicles did. It had recently had a new dash board camera installed, it had a shotgun hooked up to the center console, a small computer for looking up arrest warrants and a cb radio under the ash tray. The windows were also tinted as to hide the identities of the occupants. As for the last finishing touch to further add more secrecy, the coach lacked an external light bar and the lights it did have were hidden away in the front grille and under the front and rear windshields. It was now five o'clock in the afternoon and the weather was starting to clear up, bringing everypony's spirits up along with it. The group of four was parked a safe distance down the street from Filthy's estate as they waited for any signs of him leaving. His red sports coupe was still parked in his driveway and they continued to wait patiently for Filthy to make a move. After another half hour, Filthy Rich emerged from his house. Rainbow Dash was looking through a pair of binoculars and observed that Diamond Tiara was clinging to her father's back leg much to his annoyance. After prying her loose and shaking her off of him, he got into his coupe and backed out of his driveway. "There he goes." Rainbow Dash said. "C'mon, let's tail him." Caramel then cranked the engine over and began to follow Filthy while maintaining a safe distance as to not spook their target. Filthy's vehicle made a left turn off of his street and cruised down Ponyville's main drag for several blocks until he slowed down, his left signal light blinking away. "Hey, he's getting on the interstate." Octavia said. "It looks like he's heading south." "I'm on it." Caramel replied as he entered the on-ramp. "Okay, I still see him. I'll set it on cruise and we can keep him in our sight." For another half hour, Filthy and Octavia and friends continued their drive at sixty miles per hour down the highway. The speed limit was only fifty-five but they had to match their target's speed in order to keep up with him. They had passed by several Equestrian state troopers waiting in place but going only five miles over the speed limit was not enough for them to waste time pulling somepony over. "He's signaling to the right, guys." Rainbow Dash said as she continued to spy through the binoculars. "He's taking the Appaloosa exit." "This is gonna be a tricky one." Caramel answered. "I gotta find the perfect balance between keeping far away enough so he doesn't spot us but not too far that I end up losing him." "Ya hear that, twi?" Applejack said over the radio. "He's gettin' off the interstate in Appaloosa." "Copy that, Applejack." Twilight replied. Let me know if anything else comes up. I mean anything at all." "Sure thing, sugarcube." Ponyville was a small town but it still almost looked like Manehatten compared to Appaloosa which had only eighteen hundred residents to speak of. In order to get lost or lose their target in a town this small, Caramel would have to be a complete airhead of which he was not. After exiting the highway, it did not take very long for Filthy to find his destination. A DisKord auto manufacturing plant had recently been opened in the little town and for some reason, Filthy was parking his coupe in the parking lot which was otherwise completely empty as the workday for the employees was over. The team knew that joining him in the parking lot was a dead giveaway and would surely blow their cover so they needed to find a secluded spot to leave the unmarked cruiser and search for Filthy on hoof. "Hey, Twilight." Applejack said. "He's parkin' at one of Discord's car factories." "Are you serious?" Twilight said, shocked. "I swear on Starswirl's grave, if Discord is working with Filthy, I'll tear him limb from limb personally!" "Whoa there, pardner. Let's not go on jumpin' to conclusions. Yer better than that, Twi." "And here is all the paperwork you need to get started, my friend." Filthy said as he hoofed a briefcase over to Discord himself. "Ah, very good." Discord replied. "I trust that there is enough room at the community center for the new dealer lot?" "Of course, and if there isn't, just level the town fountain to make more room." "Are you getting this, Rainbow?" Octavia whispered as the group hid behind a stack of shipping crates in the warehouse section of the factory. "Oh you know it." Rainbow Dash replied. "This sucks though. I was really starting to like Discord." "Yeah, you think you know somepony." Caramel agreed. "So Mr. Rich, I heard that you have also spoken with some corporate officials regarding putting a Saltmart where the Ponyville Community Park currently is, correct?" Discord asked. "Damn straight!" Filthy replied. "Who needs a flat patch of grass with a bunch of stupid trees, three koi ponds and a bird observatory when you can have a huge store with dirt cheap stuff?" "Hahahahaha! Oh Filthy, you poor, misguided fool." "I beg your pardon? How am I the fool here? And what's so Celestia damn funny?" "You shall see soon enough my friend. Pleasure doing business with you." Poof! Before anypony had the chance to wonder what Discord meant, the crazy draconiquis disappeared in a bright flash taking the mysterious briefcase with him. After the bright flash subsided, Filthy frantically bolted out of the room, got into his coupe and tore out of the parking lot as fast as his V8 would allow. Caramel, Octavia, Applejack and Rainbow Dash did not know what to think as theory after countless theory rushed through there minds. "It looks more like Discord was pulling something over on Filthy." Octavia said. "Hey your guess is as good as mine, babe." Caramel replied. "All I know is that I'm as confused as the Ponyville mail mare was when she set off the fireworks at the county fair." "Well, any way you slice it, we got what we need." Rainbow Dash said. "Let's get outta here before somepony sees us." "But what do you think Discord meant when he called Filthy a fool?" Rainbow Dash asked as her and the group sat at a diner in Appaloosa. "I really couldn't begin to guess." Octavia replied. "I don't know about you girls, but I can't think on an empty stomach." Caramel said. I'm getting an eggplant burger and some hay fries." "Sounds plum good ta me, cuz." Applejack agreed. "Matter o' fact, Imma make that a doub-" "Oh my Celestia, I thought I recognized those voices!" Said a cheerful, effeminate sounding stallion's voice. All four ponies in the group turned around to see a yellow stallion with a blonde mane and tail, a stetson hat similar to Applajack's and a pink scarf around his neck. Said stallion looked as if he had just found a long lost best friend as he trotted towards the group, his smile bringing as much light to the diner as Celestia's sun could." "Cousin Braeburn!" Caramel and Applejack beamed in unison. "Well, he seemed like such a sweet guy." Octavia said. "Yeah, he's really the kinda guy who would do anything for anypony." Caramel replied. "Hey AJ, we really need to catch up with him, am I right?" "Ah hear ya, cuz." Applejack agreed. "Dang he's such a happy go lucky guy aside from the shit he's been through in life." "Really?" Octavia said. "What happened to him?" "Well in case ya couldn't tell, he's a bit of a flamer and his parents and most of his siblings ain't been all that nice about it." "Aww, that's so sad. Somepony as nice as he is to have to go through all that." "Hey sorry to interrupt this heartfelt conversation but..." Rainbow Dash began. "You do realize that you're going eighty-eight miles per hour right?" "Oh shit!" Caramel said as he quickly pressed the brake to slow down. "Hey don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of low speeds myself but the last thing we wanna do is draw..." Whoop whooooooop whoop! "...Attention to ourselves." Rainbow Dash finished after being cut off by the familiar sound of a law enforcement vehicle signaling for them to pull over. Green and purple lights flashed behind their car proving that they had slowed down too little, too late." "Okay, no big deal, I'm sure." Octavia said as Caramel stopped the coach on the side of the highway. "I'm sure he'll send us on our way as soon as he realizes that it's you, Caramel." "Easier said than done, baby." Caramel said. "That's not one of my Ponyville PD chums, that's a state trooper."