As I followed Lone into the apartment building, I was surprised by the fact it looked like something you'd find in Canterlot. As if he could read my mind, Lone said, "Illusion spell on the outside to make it look abandoned while we make it livable on the inside in cities like Manehattan. Though the inside design is up to the individual cell and ultimately dictated by majority." He then shrugged. "Believe me, I like the one in Canterlot better. Those there are tired of the whole 'elegant' shit, and made it much more. . . well, to put it in the words of a friend of mine, 'charmingly rustic'."
"Can't say I blame them," I commented. "Hell, my room in the castle? I asked if it could be made to look more common."
Lone chuckled. "Oh, thank Celestia. You would not believe how annoying ponies are who think the best is the nobles. If I met her, I'd probably hate the Element of Generosity, as report say she's obsessed with Canterlot culture. Buck, she thinks the blandest food critic is the best one in Canterlot. Now come on, time you meet the ones you'll be working with while you're here."
I nodded. "Right." With that, I followed him up to the second floor, and, from there, one of the rooms there.
He knocked- receiving a "We're decent!" from inside the room- and opened the door before walking in, and I followed him in. To my surprise-because this was Equestria, probably home of the subtlest racism ever- there were more than just ponies in the room. I mean, there were two, one being Lone, but there was also a griffon, a changeling, and a zebra.
"Hey, plotholes," Lone said in a friendly manner. "How's everything?"
"Hey, Lone," the other pony- a unicorn mare wearing a black tank top and workout shorts over her dark blue skin, her blue and dark green hair tied into an ironic ponytail while her actual tail wasn't styled at all-said before noticing me. "That her?"
"Yep," Lone said before turning to look at the changeling. "Anything on their location, Mist?"
The changeling- wearing a short sleeved, lime green shirt and cargo shorts- shook his head. "Nothing since the robbery last night." He shrugged. "On the upside, it does confirm that they seem to steal only from high end jewelry stores here in the city."
"Don't forget the area," the griffon- a female wearing just a sports bra and pants with the head cardinal and the body of tiger, if the stripes were any indication- said. "That gives us another data point for us to use to look for where they hide out."
"That is, assuming, they aren't trying to fake out the cops," the zebra- a male wearing a white shirt with one of those old, leather cowboy jackets with the tassels-seriously, what are those called- and cargo shorts- commented. "Even if they aren't near our level of effecieny, they have the basics, and are already combing the area we've found, with little success. True, there's a lot of places to search, but they aren't looking for something to narrow it down."
"Guys, slow down," Lone said. "Introductions, then we talk about this. I'm sure you all know of her, at least. Cinder, this is the Manehattan branch of the Shadow guard. Their leader, Azure Shadow- no relation to me," he said, as the mare nodded, "Green Mist, one of the first changelings in the shadow guard; Gina, who's the recon specialist for the gang here, and finally Zeke-before you ask, that's the name he gave us upon us coming to him, and we don't have his actual name on file- who's the analyst and messenger of the cell."
"A pleasure to meet you all," I said with a head nod. "Though, I have to ask you, Mist, why is it a changeling, if not changelings, are in this particular division of the guard? i thought ponies-even Celestia, saw your kind little more than parasites."
"Yeah, well, that's just a small portion of our population," Mist replied. "Mainly led by a nut job who wants all of Equestria as her personal conquest. Most of us have actually lived with the ponies in disguise but putting on ourselves for the personalities."
"And as to the while thing about most seeing them as parasites," Lone said. "Yeah, um, don't tell Celestia this, but I kinda went behind her back. Now, don't get me wrong, she wouldn't have become a ruler without good reason, but a lot of the choices she makes, I just don't see the logic, like her banishing her sister to the moon when she could have easily just fixed it, along with other stuff the basic guard and civies don't notice because they think she's perfect."
"Yeah, if there's any who know she isn't, it's those of us in the Shadow guard," Azure said. "Tartarus, my brother's in the main guard-none of which know the Shadow guard exists, btw- and most of them are pansies who are an insult to the word guard. Trust me, some of our friends who aren't in any part of the guard can kick his plot."
"Can we get back to the important matter at hand?" Zeke asked.
"Yes, please," Lone muttered. "Azure, you want to tell her about your brother, do it off duty or when we're not hunting criminals like this."
"Right, sorry," the unicorn mare said, embarrassed.
"So, for Cinder, what we got?"
"Nothing much," Mist said. "Just a pattern, an an area. The pattern being only high end jewelry store, and," he said as he used his magic to reveal a map of the city on the wall with various words and a circle in the upper right area, "they all take place in this area."
"Which matches with that magic surge I felt a week ago, right near the center of it," Azure said. "Doubt it's a coincidence."
"Yeah, and I can't do recon there," Gina said. "Place is very anti-griffon, and would attack me with whatever they have on hand. Mist can't get in because he has a limited magic pool for his disguise, and we need solid proof. Zeke can't because a zebra here in the city would just call for the media whores. Azure never felt comfortable in crowds like there, and-"
"I bucking hate crowds and am annoyed by them," Lone growled. "That's a reason why I made every cell for the Shadow guard four at maximum. And trust me, in this city, you don't want to get me pissed off in a large crowd."
"Let me get this straight," i said, holding my forehead between my thumb and index finger. "You can't do recon because you can't use an illusion spell?"
There was silence for a few seconds before Azure faceplamed. "Can't believe we didn't think of that with Zeke."
"I still wouldn't be able to go," he said. "My mannerisms make it obvious I am an outsider, and chances are, these three are on the lookout for that. What we need is one who can blend in easily and is not annoyed by crowds, nor is anxious in them."
"Well, why not me," I offered. "My mannerisms are those of a pony's, and I can work in a crowd. All I'd need is an illusion over myself, as well as a lead on where they're going to hit."
"I can handle the illusion spell," Azure said.
"And, fortunately," Lone said as he looked at the city map, "in the designated area, there is one store not yet hit that fits with current criteria for those three."
"Then I guess I'd better get ready."