Sneaky Breeze and his partner, and special somegriffon, both sat inside of a booth within the speakeasy hidden under one of Hoofington's many dentist offices. The speakeasy had once been an underground bunker during the changeling war a year ago but the crazed pony who owned it died, now it was a small bar with even a stage for shows of all kinds. Smoke hung in the air as a few ponies and other races smoked while most just drank and ate.

"come on." Sneaky said, growing impatient as he waited for others to arrive that were not just customers looking for a fix. The light blue Pegasus pulled a pocket watch out of the dark blue suit he was wearing for the meeting, he usually hated wearing such things but the boss had ordered it so he did.

Fiona, a female Griffon, was sitting at the table with him, drinking some cider through a straw and wondering when they could leave so she could get her Shotgun back. The speakeasy they were in was on neutral ground for meetings between gangs and such. But it always made her go on edge when she was outside of her home without a weapon, even when she was at her dayjob she kept a knife hidden in her clothes.

"you think anyone is coming to the meeting?" She asked sneaky who shrugged and took a bite of a green apple he had brought with him.

"I don't know, but the boss told us to wait al day if we had to so get comfortable sweetie."

(for newcomers Sign up thread here: Sign up)

Summer breeze had been flying in from Ponyville/Cloudsdale to Hoofington ever since her family's interest in genealogy led to a possible distant cousin. Summer wasted no time and planned to meet up with her Private Investigator, Big Horn, A unicorn stallion who ran his own detective agency.

After paying his fee, Big Horn was able to point Summer Breeze in the direction of Hoofington. There, she flew out in search of the strange cousin she never knew she had.

2746021 As sneaky ate from his apple he checked his watch again and looked around the speakeasy again to see if anyone else was there. The place was starting to get empty as midnight was coming around and many would have work the next day.

2746064 Summer breeze landed outside the strange building that Big Horn's investigations showed where a possible distant relative would be hiding out. She wondered why her parents did not tell her or her sisters about this particular pony. She ended up hovering up to the door, and knocked three times with her fore hoof, and crossed her arms, waiting for whoever lay on the other side of the door.

2747337 A section of the door sliped open and a pair of eyes looked out. "Password?" Asked the guard on the other side of the door.

2747380 Summer breeze stared at the pair of eyes and then rummaged through her saddlebags, "I'm looking for a Sneaky Breeze. Tell him his cousin Summer is here to see him. It's important."

2747394 he closed the slide and a few minutes later a griffon lady stepped out, looking imposing as she tkwered over the pony.
"Who are you? Fiona asked the mystery pony and wondered if this was some kind of trick to get her special somepony kiled.

Summer looked at the griffon warily, flapping her wings in her hovering mode, "I'm Summer Breeze from the Cloudsdale/Ponyville area. I was doing some genealogy research and discovered I may have a distant cousin living here." She hoofs over the research she discovered on the supposed relationship on Sneaky and Summer.

2747446 Fiona looks at the documents and can't help but think that ppony genetics are weird.

"I'll give this to him, stay here." The grifon left and Summer was left waiting for close to twenty minjtes before the guard at the door opened it. "You can come in but we have to check you for weapons."

Summer shrugs and hovers inside, "I have nothing to hide. What kind of operation you running here?" She allows the guards to search her saddlebags. and herself.

"As you can see, I brought some snacks; travelling takes a lot out of you when flying." She added, watching the guards warily searching her for weapons.

2747546 (it helps if you reply to my reply's because it notifys me when you have done so )

They frowned at her. "don't ask what this is." when they were done searching one of them led her down to the speakeasy and Summer got a good look at what was going on, the cider, the poison joke powder, the debauchery, as she was slowly led to a light blue Pegasus in a suit who was talking with the Griffon from earlier.

2747627 Summer looked over at the Poison Joke operation and the barrels of cider, then decided to make a wide flight away from these areas. She then saw the blue suited Pegasi. "Hello there. I guess you are wondering why a mare like me from Ponyville would be stopping by this place looking for you. I believe you and I are somewhat related. Your griffon companion has the genealogy records I presented to you. I am Summer Breeze, and you are one of my distant cousins, twice removed, I think. The writing's a but smudged. Maybe you can take a look at it?"

2747808
Sneaky nodded. "I did, and while it does look like we might be related. We have the same last name and heck out cutie marks are both symbols of wind. But even if we are why are you here? Just to meet me?" Sneaky asked as Fiona laughed.

"And here I thought I was the only girl chasing you ponyboy." Fiona said and drank the last of her cider before snapping her fingers at a waitress and making the signs that she wanted more.

Sneaky frowned at her. "as I was saying. Why are you here?"

Summer sighs, "I just found out you may be related to me, and I wanted to meet you and say hello. I'm your cousin. I have three sisters, Autumn, my eldest sister, and Winter, as well as my youngest sister, Spring." She then looks over at the griffon. "Wow, a Griffon! the only griffon who showed up in Ponyville was named Gilda, and she used to pull all sorts of pranks on ponies. She was a good friend of Rainbow Dash's until she roared at Fluttershy and made Pinkie Pie upset."

2747908 Fiona nodded. "Yeah yeah good for her." She said and leaned in, eyes suspicious.

"Why are my instincts starting to tell me that you ran away from home and your parents don't know your here kid?" She said, putting a hand affectionately on Sneaky. "I think we need to send her home before some worried parents call the cops and we get into some trouble."

Sneaky rolled his eyes. "First off we will be fine, second im sure my possible cousin here wouldn't do that. Right?"

Summer breeze waves her front hooves in front of her..."Yeah, I'm good. I'm just here on Genealogical research. Once I get proof you and I are related or not, I'll head back to Ponyville, and we'll not speak of this again. How in the hay are we to find out if we are related or not?"

2747853 A Stallion and Mare walked in. He kissed her on the cheek before she walked to the bar.
Sickle adjusted his uncomfortable black suit to fit more comfortably as he approached the table. He stood across from Sneaky and his Griffon friend.
"Sir Breeze?" He asked

2748414
2748668

Sneaky cleared his throat at Summer as a newcomer came up. "Just go sit by the bar and order some food, we will talk later." He then turned to the Stallion.

"I presume you are one of the outsiders to Hoofington?"

2749303 Summer nodded to her cousin and went over to the bar area. She ordered a cider and some food, and waited until the new stallion who entered finished his business with Sneaky.

So far so good. I'm concerned about the line of work he's in, though. Better just leave it be and see if he has any family heirlooms or other proof of our familiar heritage. The light blue maned Pegasi thought to herself.

2749951 After a little bit of talking Sneaky sent Fiona away and the Griffon went over to where Summer was sitting and sat in a chair right beside her.
"Since sneaky is busy I guess we should have some..girl talk or whatever."

2749989 Summer saw Fiona come over to talk with her. "Oh, hi there. I'm Summer Breeze. I think I may be related to Sneaky. I had to hire Mr. Horn, a private investigator to track him down. It's just....I've been researching my family tree for this project my sisters and I are looking into for our parents. The last entry on the records indicate that I am related to Sneaky.. He's my cousin, twice removed or something. The records appear to be smudged. Do you know anything about him?"

2750016
she made a mental note to pay a visit to this Mr. Horn, with a hammer to his knees.

"You know kid you talk a lot. I know who you are and I know that you need to leave this city."

She then laughed at the last part of her statement. "Yeah you could say I know him...intimately in fact."

2750057 "That all depends on who I am speaking too..." He cracked a smile "Ah I am just kidding, I know who you are. I saw pictures of you and your companion during the briefing." He took a seat. "I am the outsider, yes."

The grey unicorn piloted his airship to the outskirts of the city and set down in the clearing he had spotted earlier, and decided to set up camp for the night. As he lit the fire, he said to himself, "I hope that the boss shows up to bring me up to speed. I have no idea where to start!"

(Srsly I don't know where a good spot to enter the story would be, so i'm hoping you'll do it for me )

( btw I did sign up, check the other thread)

2739241
(So where can I start, exactly?)

2751459

( I have no idea)

2750838 "I have heard of you mister Sickle Steel, I too am from Stalliongrad, was born there. But enough small talk, now we get down to business." Sneaky said after taking a moment to straighten out his suit, and wish that Fiona was still next to him to help provide him with some confidence.

"As we both know Hoofington is a big place, big enough for the both of us. My boss does not want trouble spilling out into the streets and disrupting the lives of daily hardworking ponies. So he is willing to seed you a small amount of territory if you allow the Cider Flyers to be the ones to deliver your goods or at least a portion of it."

2751605
(maybe you could be flying your airship over the meeting place as a precaution to rescue the other members of the gang in case there was trouble.)

2751459 (you can start wherever you want. Your changelings be...changeling like. )

2753690 "Well I'm sure you aren't dumb. We've been starting our businesses already with powder production. We need fronts to sell them in town more efficiently. Here's my counter offer. We pay 5% profit to use the brothels or speakeasies to sell our product. In return we will allow you to continue your cider business no questions or interference. That's what I am allowed to offer."

2753777 "You will allow us? Pardon me if I sound rude sir but we own a third of this city. And 15% would be more in the spirit of Friendship.". Sneaky said, hoping he hadn't just started a war.

2751204 He soon heard the sounds of wings as a male Griffon landed nearby.

"Hey new guy. Uhh...." he looked into a saddle bag and read the letter.
"Dark...thunder?" he said with an eyebrow raised. "Message from the boss Freelancer, your hired into the Cider Flyers now, your first mission is to head to this location in the city and wait incase theres trouble. If there is you have to rescue some of our crew there. A Sneaky Breeze and a Fiona Feather." The Griffon then handed over some pictures of the two he mentioned.

"Good luck, I got a lot of other messages to run." The Griffon the flapped his wings hard before getting airborne.

2754024

Dark packed up the camp, loaded it onto the airship, and gave a routine check to make sure the gatling guns and other weapons were in working order. Then, he flew over to the specified location, hovering above an adjacent rooftop.

Across the street, he saw what looked like a speakeasy, hidden and disguised as a cellar, if one happend to notice it. He knew it was a speakeasy because there were people who were looking to make sure they weren't seen by anyone before going in.

2754693 (um make the airship alittle less overpowered. We are just a crime group, not a paramilitary organization, maybe one gun on it or something.)

Things seemed rather calm from the outside nothing out of the ordinary except there seemed to be a lot of customers coming in. But then again when wasn't the speakeasy getting use.

2753690
(Does Hoofington have a dock or port section of some sort, or is it landlocked? Because I'll start at the waterfront if it has one.)

2755756 (its a port city there is a rather large port and a small dock or two.)

2755772
(Good then. I'll start there.)
2754693
2753777
2750016

The ship pulled into port. It was a large passenger craft, alike any other. there were no obvious quirks, just an everday ship. The vessel pulled into port and unloaded its various passengers into Hoofington. again, perfectly normal.
Is everyling off the ship?
Yes. All changelings have dispersed amongst the crowd.
My team has successfully unloaded the cargo.
Good. Falx, how goes information gathering?
It goes. I've got maps and such, but learning the true lay of the land will take awhile.
Understood. Vinea?
I'm looking for a suitable base of operations. I'll have need of Falx's maps.
I've found a warehouse. I'll have some troops guard it while I secure our claim.
Good. Check back in one 30 minutes.

2750057 Summer Breeze continues to talk to Fiona. "Uhm, you want me to leave? It's just that I suspect that Sneaky may be related to me. I mean, he and I have the same last name and similar themed Cutie Marks involving wind. My cutie mark is the zephyr, which is the gentle west wind. My parents were Sky breeze, my mother, and Gentle Breeze was my father. Together, they had a total of four foals, all fillies. Unless mother and father had a son that they refused to talk about. If that's the case, then Sneaky would be my brother...or cousin, I don't know. The records are smudged...Maybe the records were smudged on purpose."

2753941 "Yes, allow. We are here because of a few of ours taking a few of yours out of the sky without them coming back is grounds for war. You and those damned Crystal Daggers always on about damned territory. I've been doing this a long time kid and all territory is, is just another reason to get killed. We don't want that. That being said I don't know if you guys can hear us fifty years ago but powder has a generously larger profit then cider, and it's harder to come by with those Zebras getting in the way. So 8% is far more than enough to pay for a room."

2754906

( Fine. I guess if I talk to some comtacts later on, if I get enough money, I'll buy some other weaponry. Hmm... any suggeetions on what my first weapon on the ship will be? I've got a tommy gun and springfield sniper for on-ground or cover-fire usage, but I wonder what the ship's weapon'll be... I'll say a gatling gun unless you have a better suggestion, as the gatling is basically a normal machine gun that has more ammo and more damaging, but a slower rate of fire.)

2755880 Fiona rubbed her face.

"I did not ask for your life story kid. Listen just go home, this city isn't safe and i'm sure your parents would not like you getting involved in the line of work me and Sneaky are in." Fiona turned her head to make sure sneaky was okay before looking back at summer.

2756124 (maybe no weapons for now since your supposed to be a civilian airship, the only weaposn should be yours incse of boarders.)It was then that Thunder suddenly saw some zebras jump and kill the guards outside the speakeasy before forcing their way in.

2756108

Sneaky looked long and hard at Sickle and sighed. "Very well sir, consider it a done deal." He held his hoof out to shake with Sickle. "I hope that we can continue to have such a friendly relationship." But just as he finished there was a scream as a guard fell down the stairs with his throat cut, and several Zebras running in.

2756246

( I guess...)

Dark quickly grabbed his sniper and aimed it at the entrance of the speakeasy. He felt that something bad was going o happen, and his "sixth sense" as some of his former friends had called it, was almost never wrong. Thus, he waited.

2756246 Summer was about to consider taking Fiona's advice and head back to Ponyville without finding out the real truth of her alledged family relationship with Sneaky when the zebras came in..."Looks like we have company. I'm not sure what I should do. I'm just a civilian, looking for my lost family members, that's all."

2756307 Fiona grabbed Summer and shoved her behind the counter. "Just shut up and hide." she then grabbed one of the knives they use for cutting fruits and flips over a table while the Zebras begin shooting or stabbing.

2756342

Dark could hear shooting coming from inside the speakeasy, and decided to hover over the street rather than he roof so he could drop and pick up Sneaky or Fiona, as he remembered from the letter, at a moments notice.

2756246 Sickle had sneaked him and his wife to the janitors room while everyone else drew away attention. "Alright sweetheart, you stay here, I won't let anyone touch you." He put a reassuring hoof to her face.

She pushed it off in a huff. I told you this is the kind of shit I don't want you bringing home. We were supposed to go to dinner and a show not fucking work!" She said through tears.

Sickle tried again "I know and I'm sorry, you can yell at me when we get home. Just let me work a little longer. You hide."

Gleam hid herself among the supplies while Sickle took his place by the door.

2756763 Sneaky pounced upon one of the Zebras, knocking him down before he took the time to slip on his brass horseshoes and wailing on the zebra until he stopped moving. At that point a Griffon flew up and began stabbing a Zebra who though bringing a butcher knife was a good idea, Fiona took it away from him after stabbing his side and proceeded to open his head.

"Fiona, we have to get out!" Sneaky yelled at his mate while she finished off the Zebra she was killing and then took cover behind a turnedover table.

"But babe im having fuuunnn. Besides the boss wouldn't like it if ur new business partners got killed." She said while wiping blood off of herself.

"Dammit...Mister Sickle!!" Yelled Sneaky, looking around for the newcomer.

2756807

( Hope DJ replies soon. I can't wait for our characters to meet!)

2756807
Sickle waited in his spot as a Zebra busted in gun at the ready, however Sickle blindsided him with a knife to the throat. He brutally punctured the Zebra till his gurgled screams stopped and he could hear Sneaky from the main room. "I'm over here!" He yelled.
Babe, you still got that thing in your purse? Gleam nodded without opening her eyes and shoved her purse to him. "I told you it was a good idea, now keep your eyes closed." He assembled his grandfathers old PPsH and loaded it.