Chapter 4
The building was covered with a curtain of rain, the weather team above fighting to contain the fire in the penthouse. Underneath, a group of gawkers had formed, standing just outside the rain and watching as a pair of police ponies tried in vain to secure the crime scene despite all the water. Pin hastened his pace, walking past the hotel to get to the back entrance, but still he managed to steal a glance at the victim the police was surrounding - a crashed body of a griffon with what looked like a broken half of a pool cue pierced through his neck.
There was nopony on the ground floor. Pin resisted the instinct to run towards the elevator and ran up the stairs instead. When he got to the penthouse, he found the door unlocked. Inside there was still smoke, but that didn’t make him miss a body on the floor, a unicorn girl he recognised as Rosemary, a pool of blood beneath her slashed throat. He heard a spell charging up and instinctively ducked, before realising that it wasn’t aimed at him - a pair of unicorns wearing fire brigade uniforms were finishing their job there, hitting the remaining fire spots with ice spells. They seemed focused on their job, ignoring the wrecked furniture, as well as two more bodies that somepony had pulled away from the fire and left in the middle of the floor, both pegasi that Pin did not recognise. He choked when the sight of their injuries added to the effect of the smoke; It was quite obvious that the paramedics would be no help to those two.
“Hey!” he shouted towards the firefighters, throwing caution to the wind. “Was there anypony else here? I’m looking for a brown earth pony!”
One of the unicorns turned towards him. “Nopony left here. There’s been some injured, but they’ve already been taken downstairs. Talk to the paramedics.”
Swearing under his breath, Pin ran downstairs. He needed to know what happened, but he also knew he couldn’t afford to talk to anypony downstairs.
Too many ponies there ready to ask me questions. The last thing I need is being questioned by the police now. What do I do?
He snuck out outside, taking a longer route to return to the crowd from the street. He could see that the body had already been taken and the police officers were now trying to question anypony around, starting with the hotel staff. The gawkers were mostly gone now, most of the remaining crowd composed of the hotel guests waiting for a chance to return inside and collect their belongings. There were also a couple reporters taking photos of the chalk outline on the pavement as it rapidly washed away.
Pushing the hat down against his horn, Pin walked among the ponies, looking for a face he would recognize. Finally, luck smiled at him and he managed to catch a white-coated hotel maid just as she was leaving the scene, the police done questioning her for the moment.
“Hey… Daisy,” he whispered, at the last moment remembering her name. “Where is everypony? Where is 8-ball?”
The girl turned to him and stared for a moment before finally recognizing him. He started walking away with her, leading her away from the crowd.
“I… don’t know. Squall’s been here with Lightning Bolt and Thundercloud, but they left. He said he’d be at Myrtle’s. I think 8-ball was gone by the time the police arrived.”
Pin absorbed the information. “Was he injured? The firefighters said they saw somepony injured.”
The mare looked at him. “I don’t know… Golf Club was wounded, some broken glass I think… I saw him getting bandaged, but I lost sight of him later. I don’t know about the boss…”
Pin stopped walking. “Ok, now listen. I need you to stay here for a while longer. I know it’s been a rough evening, but chaos could cost us lives right now. I’ll go get in touch with Squall. You stay here and tell any of the boys that show up to meet us at Myrtle’s, ok? Will you be able to do it?”
She nodded, but there wasn’t much spirit to it. Pin wished he had somepony better for the task. He reached with his magic inside the coat and produced five bits, handing them to the mare. “Thank you. I need to go now.”
***
Pin picked his way through the night alleys. After the delay caused by the need to move some clouds over the fire, the night downpour had finally started. The unicorn used the conditions to cover his movements, avoiding the light of the street lamps to pass through the city unnoticed.
I’m trying to regroup with the rest of the Pool, but it feels like retreat, he thought angrily.
The attack on the hotel was clearly meant to be a psychological attack as much as it was a strike against 8-ball himself. They couldn’t stay there with the police snooping around, which meant they had to abandon what had until now been the seat of their power. Pin hoped the Candies would not be organized enough to search the streets and pick off any stragglers, but he continued skulking through the shadows all the same.
Finally, he approached a large house. There was a pub on the front of it, but the lights were out and the sign on the door was turned to ‘closed’. Pin walked around the house and up to the back entrance. He rapped on the hard wood, then waited until the eye slit opened.
“Password,” whispered somepony from the inside.
“Swordfish,” answered Pin, sighing. There was a sound of grinding metal as the door was unlocked.
Pin walked inside, nodding to the familiar old mare as he removed his hat. “Evening, Myrtle.”
“Evening, Pin. They’re inside,” she responded, pointing her head towards the living room.
The place was large, not very different from the pub that served as the front. Right now it was filled with the sound of multiple voices, mostly male. Heads turned as Pin entered the room. There were twelve ponies already in the room: Squall and his two goons, Fish, Chip, Mallet, three of Smarts’ girls, a brawny zebra stallion named Swirl and, to Pin’s great relief, both Smarts and 8-ball. The boss had some bandages around his neck and chest, partially covered by his vest, but he didn’t seem in much discomfort, or was at least strong enough to act tough while his gang was watching. These weren’t the only injuries in the group; Lightning Bolt and Thundercloud had some cuts and bruises and Fish was nursing an injured wing.
“I see, almost everypony’s here already,” sighed Pin. “What’s the situation?”
“They found the moment when most of us were away and tried to take out the boss,” answered Squall immediately. “Luckily they underestimated him. He killed two and held the rest back until my boys could come and help. The bad news is, they set the place on fire and now it’s swarming with police.”
“They killed Rosemary too,” deadpanned Pin. “What about Golf Club?”
“In hospital,” answered 8-ball, taking initiative before Squall could open his mouth again. “So far he’s both a victim and a potential suspect, so they’re working on getting him back on his hooves while the police is trying to keep him safe. We’ll be working on getting him out once he recovers. But first we need to decide how to reorganize. We also need to get the hotel re-opened as soon as possible, to show we’re still in business.”
“I didn’t expect them to go that far, to act so openly,” said Pin.
“They’re getting desperate,” said Storm Cloud, looking up from his table. “Squall’s strategy is working. They are getting scared. Some of their ponies have been quitting too.”
“So, Squall, is that what you wanted?” asked Pin, looking at Squall, who responded with a glare.
“We could have fought, or just given them our turf. You’d rather this conflict was one-sided?” he said, flaring his wings.
Just then Lighter appeared in the door, panting slightly. He looked around the group before focusing on 8-ball. “Good to see you alive, boss. What did I miss?”
“Finally,” said 8-ball. “We need to talk. Pin, Squall, Lighter, Fish, follow me upstairs.”
The group started reshuffling as the stallions left their places and started making their way to the door. Pin turned towards the bathroom door instead.
“Give me a second, guys. You can brief Lighter in in the meantime.”
The bathroom was composed of several stalls, mirroring the one in the pub on the other side of the wall. Pin entered, but did not use the facility, instead waiting for the sound of approaching hooves. He wasn’t disappointed.
Smarts entered the bathroom, stopping in front of Pin. “I’ve done as you asked,” he said. “Are you happy now?”
“Do I look like I’m happy?” answered Pin. “Do you think I did it for fun, or something?”
“So, our deal?” asked the earth pony.
“I won’t tell anypony,” answered Pin. “Though I expect Squall might ask. This attack required knowledge of when we’d be away. I can bet my hat we will spend the meeting arguing over who might be the traitor. You said you were doing your job. Anything new to report that I could tell the boss?”
Smarts turned towards the mirror. “I’m working on finding the traitor. I think I can find who it is before he strikes again. Proving it might be another matter.”
“What do you have in mind?” asked Pin.
“A traitor needs to contact the enemy from time to time. He could send a message, of course, but that’s a solid proof with just one slip-up. I think he will show up somewhere where he shouldn’t be, sooner or later. The problem is tailing a suspect through the city.”
“That’s why you bought a dog,” said Pin.
Smarts nodded, then turned to face Pin again. “I want you to know… I still want out.”
Pin’s expression grew grim. “You know it doesn’t work like this.”
“I know,” said Smarts. “But it’s up to the boss to set the rules. Things might change. You might be the boss one day.”
Pin shook his head. “Or I might be dead tomorrow. There’s a war we have to win. Concentrate on that. Then we can argue about whether miracles exist.”
***
Just as he had expected, a large part of the meeting was spent on pointless arguing. Finally, after receiving their orders on coordinating the counter attack and repairs respectively, Squall and Fish left the room. Lighter and Pin were left facing 8-ball over the table.
“It’s your turn now,” the earth pony spoke. “What’s your report?”
Lighter swallowed the piece of chocolate he was chewing on. “Well, for starters, Squall was right about one thing. We did push them. The word on the street’s they’re having problems recruiting. Many of Manehattan’s hired muscle have gone into hiding. They’re not taking sides ‘til this blows over. There’ve been some desertions too. On the other hoof, the core of the gang is a family. Those will fight all the fiercer.”
“And have you had any luck locating Candy?” asked 8-ball.
“None so far, I’m afraid,” answered Lighter, reaching for another piece of chocolate. “The ponies who know stuff are harder and harder to find, either hiding or…”
8-ball exhaled angrily before turning to Pin. “How about you? Any luck?”
Pin reached inside his coat and retrieved a small stack of papers. “I have a list of the guys they should still have, give or take five. I think I’ve narrowed the number of ponies who would be trusted with the pixie dust supply down to four, excluding the leadership of the gang.”
He slid the piece of paper towards 8-ball. It was covered with a number of pony names, colored lines connecting them into a web. Five names were circled, one of them already crossed out.
8-ball looked down on the paper. “So, these are the guys we should be hunting… Candy Wrap?” He pointed at the crossed out name.
“Sadly,” answered Pin. “If we’d known earlier… we should have been trying to get him alive from the start. Now that they’re on their guard, the others won’t be that easy to locate. Fortunately, they need to keep doing their job. They can’t just stay in hiding like Candy does.”
“Remember though,” said 8-ball, “just capturing one is not enough. We must learn the location of the lab before they have the time to pack it up and relocate it. Keep up the good work.”
***
Pin walked past the cafe and turned left, walking between two houses. He trotted deeper into the alley. There was a door there, an entrance to a small shop, too poor to afford a place with a main street front. It was also a place where one of Pin’s informants worked.
The unicorn looked left and right before pressing on the door. It opened inwards, a small bell on top of the doorframe announcing his presence. The inside was dimly lit and claustrophobic, the walls lined with curiosities - rare books, weird souvenirs from around the world and exotic brands of tea and coffee, all treasures for the right ponies, if only they knew to find them here.
Pin walked in slowly, looking around. “Eyeglass?” he called. There was a sound of shuffling hooves between the shelves.
But not the one Pin had been waiting for. He had spent some time in the shop in the past, talking to the elderly shopkeeper. Enough to get used to his uneven walk caused by a bad hind leg. He tensed and waited. As the pony’s head emerged from between the shelves, Pin was already in motion, hitting the heavy piece of furniture with all his weight just as he recognised the face of one of the Candy thugs. The bookcase fell over the gangster, pushing over another one behind him and filling the air with swirling dust.
Pin saw movement to his right. He turned away just as a pie thrown over the counter slammed into his face. Fortunately he was hit from the side, the custard only covering his right eye. He moved back and bucked with his hind legs slamming the door shut in the face of the third attacker, then ran straight through the shop towards the back door. The pony behind the counter tried to pounce at him, attacking from his blind side. They collided, but Pin maintained enough momentum to go head first through the door, rolling back to his hooves and shaking off pieces of broken wood, and his opponent dropped off as he hit the more solid door frame.
The door opened to a corridor. Pin threw a single needle, not even trying to hit his enemy but forcing him to duck behind the door frame. He then ran along the corridor, skidding into a turn as his hooves lost footing on the wooden floor, shouts and sound of pursuit behind him.
Finally he burst through another door, ending up in an alley. He ran right, taking the longer route that would take him away from the way he had come there. He took another turn, taking a second to focus his magic and pull a large trash bin behind him, blocking the way. A deep red beam from the enemy’s horn zipped past his ear, hitting a wall and causing an explosion of sparks. It was a stun spell only, but Pin knew he would be done for if he let himself be caught.
How many are there? he thought, shaking the custard off his face. As if to answer there was a shout high above him and then a roar in front. He skidded to a halt as he saw a black bull blocking his way. The massive creature had a gold nose ring and was wearing a fedora just like his.
“I don’t have time for this,” grumbled Pin under his breath, before charging straight at the bull. The huge thug grinned, lowering his horns. Pin waited till the last moment before pouncing, kicking down with his front hooves against the bull’s head. Even as the hat crumpled under his horseshoes, he felt the heavy head jerking upwards, the tips of the horns scratching against his barrel as the move added to his own momentum, launching him over the bull’s head. He flew clear over him and landed with a heavy thud, his back protesting as he forced himself to roll back to his hooves, a shout of a pursuing pegasus still above him. Fortunately, the bull was too big to easily turn in the narrow alley. Pin kept running until he emerged into a busy street, hoping his pursuers would not attack him in plain sight.
As he tried his best to disappear into the crowd he saw several ponies giving him odd looks. As soon as he finished catching his breath, he pulled out a hanky and started wiping the custard off his face. Still his appearance betrayed the recent struggle; his hat was stained white, his long coat covered with dust from the shop and dirty from his landing in the alley. He could feel several bruises already forming from the multiple impacts he’d suffered and there was something warm trickling across his withers, thankfully covered by the collar.
Ugh… that guy who rammed into me must’ve had a hoofblade. Good thing he missed the neck…I need to get that patched up.
Stopping in front of a news stand, Pin considered his options.
The nearest safe house is four blocks from here. I should get there with little trouble... I think I can stitch that myself… Eyeglass is probably dead. Also, they were waiting for me… one, two, I think the unicorn was the one I hit with the door. That makes five of them. And they tried to kill me, not catch me. Blinded me and went straight for the throat… didn’t they know who I am? Or did they not care? Perhaps they thought they didn’t need to ask me any questions… They already know all they need.
Pin looked up and around himself. Was he being watched? If the enemy knew of his every move then the safe house could be another trap. Perhaps he should take a longer route to a different destination?
As his quick search didn’t result in finding any enemies, Pin relaxed slightly. Around him the ponies continued going about their business, too absorbed in whatever they were doing to notice the oddities of his looks. As he turned to move away, Pin looked along the street and sighed.
I’ve spent weeks watching every shadow, fighting for my life and they… just walk around as if nothing has happened. Perhaps I got it all wrong… would it be better to be like one of them, blind to all the evil that keeps happening? Don’t they all read newspapers, or what?
Touched with a sudden thought, he turned around and faced the news stand.
***
“Nothing.”
Pin was sitting in a secluded corner of a pub, opposite a scared-looking white unicorn. His clothes had been hastily cleaned, but there was still a rip under his collar and an edge of a bandage could be seen peeking over it. He looked down on the newspapers spread over the table.
“Sports. Upper crust gossip. A new airship built. Musical reviews. And nothing about the dead griffon thrown through the penthouse window of Sunny Side hotel. Or anything else that has happened recently. Just what is going on here, Pencil Pusher? Can you tell me?”
The other unicorn seemed to shrink in his seat. “We… don’t know either. The boss wanted an article on that ever since that Swallow Chaser guy got attacked… but…”
Pin leaned closer. “But what? It’s been weeks since then.”
“Well…” said Pencil Pusher, wiping his brow. “Some notes got misplaced, then photos. The boss got angry. A couple guys got fired. I tried to stay out of it… I thought it was you guys’ doing. Then there was this fight in the street, but the police didn’t let us see anything interesting. And then, when this hotel business happened…”
He paused, looking around the pub to make sure nopony was listening.
“The whole, ready article disappeared. And then, the boss came back from his office, all shaken. He told us to stop looking and make something else quickly instead. He hasn’t sent anypony on the topic since then.”
“Did he have visitors?” asked Pin, his eyes narrowing. “An elderly unicorn stallion perhaps?”
“No,” said Pencil Pusher. “Nopony came in and nopony got out. But… I talked to his secretary later that evening. She said there was a bag of bits on the boss’ desk, and a letter. She didn’t get to see what was in it.”
For a moment the table was silent, Pin absorbing the information. Finally he breathed out slowly. “And the papers I wanted from you? Have you got them?”
The unicorn stared at him for a moment before catching himself and hastily reaching into his bags. “Oh, yes, yes, there you are. It took me four days to find and copy everything without anypony noticing…” He looked up at Pin. “You do have the bits?”
Pin shook his head in bemusement before reaching for a bag of coins. “Of course I do. There you go. Now go. We’ve never seen each other.”
***
Pin knocked on the door and waited.
“Enter,” called 8-ball’s voice from the inside.
Opening the door Pin entered a small office. 8-ball was standing near the desk, a glass of cider standing on the desktop beside him.
The earth pony turned towards him. He was already free of the bandages, but he looked tired, as if the last weeks aged him. “Afternoon, Pin. Take a seat. Or not. Celestia, I hate this office. I’ll be back to the hotel as soon as we can do it safely. I heard the renovation crew has done some extra quick job?”
“Unicorn magic to clean things up, pegasi air transport and earth pony craft,” said Pin, smiling faintly. “It will be good to live in by tomorrow. But that’s not what I’m here to report, sir. I think I found it.”
At that 8-ball raised an eyebrow, his usual energy instantly starting to return. “Oh? Please do tell.”
Pin approached the desk and put a stack of paper on top of it, starting with a map of Manehattan, various shapes marked on it in red and blue.
“I have spent the last weeks tracking their movements. This is the list of hideouts I managed to compile. And this is where the officers we were looking for would usually appear,” he said, levitating a needle to point at several locations in turn.
8-ball nodded. “They surround the industrial district, the Candies’ traditional seat of power. But Lighter already searched there. Their old factory is abandoned… or did he mess up?”
Pin smiled. “I don’t think he did. Because the factory isn’t there. Between me and Smarts, we have friends everywhere. I’ve been calling in some favours, getting information from various…”
“Get to the point, will you?” interrupted 8-ball impatiently.
Pin smiled sheepishly. “Of course, of course. Here,” he pointed his needle at the map. “An old building recently bought through an affiliated third party. They thought they could hide it and nearly did. I only found out when I had enough papers to cross-reference.”
8-ball’s other eyebrow went up his forehead. “That’s… just opposite their old place.”
“Convenient, isn’t it?” said Pin, putting the needle back inside his coat. “They can keep everything going by the same routes without much disruption, they have a decoy right at their front door and a good vantage point to see if anypony’s snooping about.”
8-ball fell silent, staring at the map, the gears in his head turning. Finally he smiled. “You’re right. You did find it. Now we can deal them a blow that will decide this war…” he suddenly paused, his smile disappearing.
Pin looked at him. “Except we need a way to get this done without walking straight into an ambush and we still haven’t figured out...”
“Who the traitor is,” finished 8-ball. “Much as I’d like Squall to be wrong, the evidence is overwhelming. There is somepony telling them where we’re going and where best to strike us. We were incredibly lucky they didn’t get you last time. Or Lighter.”
“He was attacked?” asked Pin.
“Right at the door of Jam’s pub. A hidden blade for a passerby. Good thing he had a heavy wallet. It stopped the blade.” 8-bit smirked for a moment, but then looked at Pin with a somber expression. “We can’t afford to wait. And we can’t afford half-measures either. We don’t know how well defended it is. We’ll call the boys without telling them the purpose and then go for the attack.”
Pin stared back at him in surprise. “With a turncoat among our ranks?”
8-ball’s jaw clenched. “We have no choice. This is the best we can do. He’ll have no time to warn them. That means, he will either reveal himself during the fight or, if we strike hard enough, pretend to be loyal in hope of ending with the winners. Then we can fish him out later.”
Pin walked around the office, turning back to 8-ball just in time to see him empty the glass of cider with a single swig. “You do know if he shows his true colors, it’s your back he will stab first?”
8-ball put the empty glass on the desk. “Mine or Squall’s. I’m the leader, but he’s our best brawler. Despite all the fights he’s been through the Candies haven’t as much as scratched him yet. If they can take him out, our boys might start breaking.”
Pin looked at him for a moment, then sighed heavily. “Ok, this is crazy. But I get that we have no better options. What do you want me to do?”
“Send the kids with orders to everypony tomorrow evening, tell them to go to northern warehouse, no other explanation. Then I want you to watch my back, obviously.”
“And what about… the other force?” asked Pin suddenly.
8-ball grabbed a bottle with his teeth and poured himself another glass of cider. “The other force? Oh, right. You mean whoever is scaring the newspapers into keeping a lid on the whole mess?”
“Yes,” said Pin. “We still don’t know who it is, but they seem to know more about us than they should and we don’t know how much influence they have. I don’t like the idea of any additional surprises.”
The older gangster smiled. “There shouldn’t be any. There are lots of ponies who would like to stop the story from becoming public.It’s bad for business, you see. Manehattan, the city of wonders. Come for our tourist attractions, stay with a knife in the back? How would that sound? What is happening is not at all surprising. But scary as it might seem… if it were as you fear, they’d have already taken action. If they haven’t, that means they’re not going to. You think the cops don’t know who is really fighting? But it’s the same for them. This war will blow over and then it will be back to business as usual. It may be a matter of life and death for us, but in the scope of the city? It doesn’t matter who rules Manehattan. There is always one gang or another. No point getting your hooves dirty trying to change that.”
***
Pin opened the warehouse side door, letting Swirl inside.
He had spent two hours already, waiting with 8-ball for the others to show up. The first was Squall with Thundercloud and Lightning Bolt, their wings bringing them to the warehouse a good half an hour before their ground-bound companions. This was fortunate, as Squall reiterated Pin’s doubts for the plan in much less polite manner. The next member of the Pool, Mallet, arrived just after 8-ball and Squall finished butting heads.
Since then, three more gang members arrived: Fish and Chip, the former still unable to fly from the wing injury, and now Swirl. 8-ball would introduce them to the plan as they arrived, repeating himself over and over in the process. Pin tuned him out and started to mentally count those present.
Squall’s boys are here… me and the boss, Fish and Chip, Swirl… Golf Club’s still in hospital… That leaves… Lighter and Smarts. There aren’t many of us left… I hope we will be able to pull this off.
For the fifth time this evening he let his magic flow through the coat he was wearing, checking the position of every needle and knife he had prepared. He didn’t want to weigh himself down with saddle bags, but now it seemed like it was almost the same . He even had a length of pipe in case he needed to apply some blunt trauma at range.
None of the others was so heavily armed. Since the order didn’t call for any weapons, they came armed only with their usual stuff and were only now picking extra gear from the contents of the warehouse. There were some knives to wield in the mouth, a pipe or a club and various variations of hoofblades. 8-ball was actually wearing a piece of chainmail under his vest - while most fighters would go for the throat, protecting the upper chest from a surprise stab could be worth the extra weight. Swirl took no weapons beyond his heavy horseshoes. He didn’t really need to either, he was second in strength only to Chip and his bite was quite infamous among the local brawlers.
A soft knock on the door pulled Pin out of his musings. He opened the eye slit. At first he didn’t see anypony. He instinctively moved his face away in case somepony tries to stab his eye through the slit, but nothing happened. It was only a moment later that he heard a timid voice from below.
“A message to Mr Pin…”
Sighing, he unbolted the door and opened them a bit. There was a small earth pony, a chocolate flaxen blank in a red baseball cap. a set of bags thrown over his back.
“What are you doing here so late?” asked Pin. The colt wasn’t wearing the Sunny Side colors and either way neither side had yet stooped to harming children, but still Pin didn’t think it was entirely safe for a kid to roam that part of the city past sunset.
The colt looked up at him. “Mr Smarts sent me with a message.”
This made Pin pause for a second. “Wait a minute… you’re the one I sent to him. With a message to come here immediately. Why isn’t he here yet?”
He didn’t raise his voice much, but just the change in his expression was enough to startle the boy.
“I don’t know, I’m just a messenger,” he said. Then he stared at Pin expectantly.
The unicorn shook his head. “Ok, what is the message?”
“He said…” the colt focused to remember. “It will be the one that knows.”
“Why would he play puzzles at such a moment… Is that all he said?”
The colt turned around, reaching for his bags. “He also said to give you those.” He retrieved a folded pair of sunglasses. As soon as Pin freed his mouth by grabbing the glasses with telekinesis, he added, “He said they’re for you, cause he knows you always wanted to have them.”
Pin looked at the glasses in confusion before putting them in the inner chest pocket of his coat. “Did you know where he is now?” he asked.
“Nope. He ran somewhere as soon as he was done talking to me,” said the colt.
“Ok, kid,” said Pin. “Here’s your bit. No go back home and get some sleep.”
He shut the door and slowly returned to the warehouse proper. The one who knows… what is the meaning of this…
“Who was that? asked Squall immediately, turning away from the discussion he was having with Fish.
“Chocolate Muffins,” answered Pin. “He brought me a report from… one of my informers,” he said, almost biting his tongue at the last moment. He could only imagine Squall’s reaction to the news that Smarts wasn’t coming. And it would likely be Muffins to bear the brunt of the pegasus’ anger.
“We can wait no longer,” said Squall turning towards the warehouse. “It’s time we moved.”
“We don’t have everypony yet,” said Mallet. “Shouldn’t we wait for them?”
“They all received the message, didn’t they?” answered Squall. “If they’re not here right now, then either the Candies got them first, or they’re not trustworthy. The longer we wait, the lower our chances of catching the enemy by surprise.”
8-ball rose from his seat. “What do you think, Fish, Pin?”
“He’s right, boss,” answered Pin. “We really can’t afford to wait any longer.”
“No argument here,” added Fish.
“Then it’s decided,” said 8-ball. “We’re moving out. “Squall, you take your boys and cover us from the air. Chip, Swirl, you take front. Pin, rearguard. The rest with me.”
Pin knew what it meant. He wasn’t really there to guard the rear, but to have a clear view of everypony else. He walked behind the rest of the group, trying to stay focused on observation despite the thoughts rushing through his head.
If it’s one of Squall’s boys, we’ll know soon… no. If it was one of them, they’d have set Squall up to die long ago. So, somepony on the ground. If any of them moves against the boss, I’ll have a split second to take him down. Smarts… what did you mean? Or perhaps… he left me the glasses. Could he be running away? No. He wouldn’t know we’re going to battle. Unless… Could he have been the traitor all along? No, it’s not like him. But if he were… I’d be watching my gang walk into a trap and say nothing. Should I…
At this moment the group started crossing the street and Pin was rapidly reminded what he was supposed to be doing. They were already in the industrial part of the city. That meant the streets were almost empty at this hour - except for a few businesses working night shifts, the surrounding buildings were cold and dark, only a lonely light here and there marking the presence of a night guard. As Thundercloud lowered his flight to give them a warning, the whole group hugged the nearest wall, avoiding the lights of the sparse street lamps until a lonely police patrol passed the nearest crossing.
So far, so good… No enemies in sight, it seems…
A pegasus flew overhead and Pin recognised Squall’s light coat. He made a single gesture with his wing before turning around - there was somepony approaching from the left on the next intersection.
The team scattered, hiding in the shadows, all listening to the sound of approaching hooves. It was a single pony. He slowed down as he approached the intersection, finally stopping in the very middle, looking around nervously. Pin recognized the chubby silhouette just as Squall dove down towards it.
“Lighter! What are you doing here?” The pegasus hissed loudly.
The others started emerging from their hiding spots, approaching the unicorn.
Lighter looked up at Squall. “What do you mean, what I’m doing here? This is where I was supposed to meet you guys!”
Confused stares followed. 8-ball was the first to regain his composure. “You were supposed to meet us at the northern warehouse. It was an hour ago. We didn’t tell anypony we were going here.”
The pudgy unicorn stared at his boss. “The kid you sent to me told me to come here. He said you’d discovered where the Candies are making pixie dust and you’ll be coming to strike at them…” he paused, looking at his comrades eyes widening in surprise.
“We didn’t send that message,” growled Squall. “It was supposed to be a secret. Nopony was supposed to know until the last moment. Who was the messanger?”
Lighter squinted. “One of the hotel kids. A pegasus… lilac with blue mane?”
“Sea Foam,” said Pin. “That’s who I sent. But that’s not the message he was supposed to give. Somepony’s playing with us.”
“Well, out of the guys we have left, there is only one who isn’t here, is he?” said Squall, looking around angrily. The rest followed suit, all except 8-ball, who looked towards Squall instead.
“And what would he have gained by getting Lighter fashionably late like that?” he said with a smirk.
Squall stopped, his anger suddenly halted as he couldn’t find an answer to the question. Finally he landed, stomping angrily into the ground. “We’ll ask him when we find him. And Sea Foam too. But whatever the answer, this mission is a failure. They know we’re coming.”
“It seems so,” said Pin, walking into the center of the group. “We tried to keep it a secret until we were ready, but somepony knew in advance. That means the Candies got a warning as soon as the orders were received. If Lighter hadn’t received different orders, we’d have walked straight into a trap.”
“So… asked Mallet shaking his head… what’s really going on?”
“Good question,” said Pin. “I think Lighter here has been set up as a distraction. But also I’m beginning to notice some pieces I overlooked before.”
The one that knows… You've set him up, Smarts. You somehow learned what we were doing and tricked him into coming here. But why? Is he really the traitor? If so, why didn’t you just tell me?
Nine pairs of ears turned towards Pin with interest. He paused for a moment before looking at Lighter. “Let’s throw accusations for a moment, the way Squall so likes to do. Lighter, you were the one responsible for gathering intelligence on the industrial district. You didn’t find the factory, that’s understandable. You didn’t have the best ponies to work with.”
He was answered by a lone chuckle among the group. All of the ponies assigned to Lighter had since deserted the Pool.
“But that means nopony thinks twice about you doing stuff so close to the enemy territory. You’re just doing your job.”
Lighter seemed to grow slightly, his face turning red. “Are you going anywhere with this?” he asked.
“Yes, Pin, are you going anywhere with this?” asked Squall. “He’s fought at our side.”
“And been completely ineffective, if I remember, right up to the point where the tide of battle turned and we got close to capturing an important enemy, whose knowledge could have won us the war right then and there - then he shot him dead in an instant.”
Lighter was now entirely red. He actually looked like he was about to catch fire. “It was an accident!” he shouted.
“Yes, it was. Unless you knew the guy well enough to know what he’d carry in his pockets,” answered Pin.
8-ball looked from one of his officers to the other. “Wrap was an actual Candy, a family member. You really think he’d kill him if he were a spy?”
Pin looked at his boss. “Who knows? Candy isn’t famous for being a lenient boss. And Candy Wrap was supposed to ambush us and totally underestimated his opponents. You really think he would have lived long if he allowed to get himself captured?
“And finally,” continued Pin “the day the hotel was attacked. I met you in the lobby just hours before. You warned me not to bother the boss. And then, after the attack, you were the last to show up. You knew 8-ball and Squall had an argument. Nopony would go upstairs without a good reason. And no pegasi to guard the penthouse from an aerial attack. When I asked Smarts afterwards, he told me he was close to discovering the traitor. He wasn’t in the shape to do it then, his personal life left him quite distraught… but strong perfumes can be tracked by smell many hours longer than a pony smell could.”
For a moment there was silence. Pin smiled smugly towards Lighter, all the while hoping fervently that he was right, that Smarts had really done his job and that he had read all the clues correctly.
Then Lighter’s eyes widened. “Rosie… the sow…”
The others formed a half circle around him, drawing weapons. Lighter stepped back, considering his chances, his horn starting to glow. It must have been obvious to him that he would not be able to outrun pegasi pursuers in an empty street. Pin’s smile became genuine, his bluff paying off in full.
8-ball spat his club out, grabbing it awkwardly with his front leg to free his mouth to speak. “You are my oldest officer, Lighter. Why did you do that? Did you think the Candies would pay you better? That you’d get a better position? You think Candy would put a turncoat above her family?”
Lighter slowly went from red to pale, the gravity of his situation sinking in with 8-ball’s words. His moustache twitched as he tried to formulate a response.
Then there was a sound of multiple hooves on the cobbled street, the Pool members too absorbed with the situation to notice them in time. From the dark sky above the light of the street lamps Candy Floss dove down, flanked by a trio of gryphons.
Lighter grinned wildly, his horn charging for a shot.
“What can I say? I really like my sweets.”
Chocolate flaxen is totally a cool horse color. Look it up 
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Well dangit. Aren't ambushes magic?
Here's betting Celestia is somehow behind the cover-up.
5476619 Could you elaborate on the first point?
5476686
Sort of a play on "Friendship is Magic," in a similar vein to Rarity's "Congratu-pony-lations, fillies! Isn't friendship magic?!"
Mostly me being silly and comiserating with the protags.
5477156 Ah, I was concerned you had some issues with the plot.
5477512 The second thing was entirely on purpose - a lot of the rest of this world is Equestria we know and love and even a hardened criminal might throw a pie at you sometimes (if only to shank you while you're blinded)
The first... not so much, but I guess it also comes with the world. The police keeps appearing in the background, but on the whole the MLP law enforcement has all the effectiveness of Imperial stormtroopers.
A point for you for pointing out a flaw none of my proofreaders had (and they did cause me a lot of editing - never believe one that says creation is a one-man process
)
This just keeps getting better and better with every chapter. Things are really heating up now. (Lighter pun intended) I have to say though that i am not worried about Pin. That pony is a badass, I do find myself wondering if Smarts will still have a role to play later on in the story. I guess i will just have to wait and see
5479583 Now I'm worried that it may be a tough act to follow (as book two is quite purposefully made of snippets, giving the reader some outside borders of the puzzle instead of a big part like this one)
As for being badass... Pin is a big fish in a small pond. In terms of ability, most named members of the Pool would be about on pair with Dr Caballero's goons.
5501906 I have three proofreaders. three.
Well, the tension has been building up quite a bit in this chapter. Time for some payoff!
And that was pretty sneaky. "The one who knows." Took me a little bit to figure it out.
Quick fix:
Missing some quotation marks.
And chocolate flaxen has a wonderful color.
40.media.tumblr.com/48ba4660c4eb3b6fa694ae85fa5a722f/tumblr_n0lm3fQqDG1sknwwvo1_500.jpg