Apropos of the Sinners

by SpitFlame

Part V – Chapter II – The Information Broker

The hurried and hasty bustle of townsponies had poured into the southern train station of Fillydelphia at the point of morning. Everything was in delay, unfortunately. Lines of ponies waited at every checkout area, locomotives rolled in late, clouds hung about in clumps without purpose, pegasi dashed about, and the whole system of the daily grind was as if in slow motion. This is, naturally, part of natural ramifications, of the most natural sort. Business is unpredictable, as they so cleverly remark from a distance, observing the whole scene play out. While most schedules were delayed, this was true, that was only a temporary effect on the way to the Flying Rift. Eventually the gears would get cranking at full speed, and everything would return to normal.

When Airglow had arrived at the station by coachpony, her first resolve was to look for Nova. Both of them had written to each other the week before, agreeing on where to meet. The whole block was separated by silver gates, into third, second, and first class. She was in the first class area, thanks to Misty's golden ticket. The Flying Rift express had arrived in Fillydelpha at full steam; in reaction several groups of ponies—many were aristocratic families by the looks of it—approached the narrow stairs leading inside, while others took the moment to bid each other farewell.

The whole morning, however, was not the most pleasant setting. It was so damp and foggy that dawn could barely break; twelve paces to the right or left of the line it was hard to make out anything through the carriage windows. Among the passengers some had returned from abroad, others were on holiday around Equestria; but the third-class compartments were more crowded, and they were all petty business folk from not far away. The second class was more similar to first class, whose rooms were incredibly spacious, adorned with special privileges, and decked out in white curtains, gold-rimmed tables, and a glittering chandelier in each car. Everypony at the moment was tired, as usual, everypony's eyes had grown heavy overnight in preparation for the Flying Rift. Everypony was chilled, too, and their faces pale, matching the colour of the fog.

Airglow trudged along the crowds, trying to multitask her eyes between the map she held in front of her and the incoming traffic of other ponies. On a bench, facing one of the first-class windows, she saw Nova sitting by himself. He too was scanning a map, and by the looks of it, he had packed light, and in my opinion was unfashionably dressed.

Airglow stored her map away and jogged towards him.

"Hey, Nova!" she called.

He turned his head, blinked a few times, then suddenly jumped up.

"Oh, Airglow, ah... ah..." he spoke while awkwardly stuffing his own map into his saddlebag, while at the same time embracing her in a quick hug. "How long has it been!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know," replied Airglow. "I arrived not even an hour ago, by the bayside. So... I mean, wow! I can't believe we're really here. How long have you been in Fillydelphia for?"

"A fair question! I can see that you had been anticipating this get-together, eh? No, no, nothing of inconvenience has haunted me yet, things have been going well with me. I only pawned a couple of my belongings, nothing much, just the right amount to make the trip, and besides—phew!—the weather is a calamity these days! Are we in the Everfree Forest or what?"

"That makes sense. Last time I heard..." Airglow began in a decidely premeditated manner, as if she had been planning this exchange for some time now. "I heard you left Ponyville... when I spoke with Misty."

"Of course, of course!" Nova slapped himself on the forehead. "I asked you to talk to Misty, to convey to her the message that I have bowed out. So you did tell Misty about my 'bowing out,' yes? What did she say? Go on, my dear Airglow, strike me down, don't spare me! Was she furious?"

"No, not that... It wasn't like that at all, Nova. It was... I found the two of them together there, a few weeks ago."

"What two?"

"Misty and Bouquet."

Nova was dumbstruck.

"Impossible!" he cried. "You're out of your mind! Bouquet—with her?"

Airglow told her brother everything that had happened to her from the very moment she had entered Misty's house after Maxim's birthday party. She spoke for about five minutes, one would not say fluently or coherently, but she seemed to convey it clearly, grasping the main words, the main gestures, and vividly conveying her own feelings, often with a single stroke. Nova listened silently, staring point blank at her with horrible fixity, but it was clear to Airglow that he already understood everything and comprehended the whole fact.

But his face, as the story went on, became not merely grim but menacing, as it were. He glowered, clenched his teeth, his fixed stare becoming still more fixed, more intent, more grim—which made it all the more unexpected when, with unbelievable swiftness, his face, until then angry and ferocious, suddenly changed all at once. His compressed lips parted, and Nova suddenly dissolved into the most irrepressible, most genuine laughter. He dissolved into laughter and for a long moment could not even speak.

"She just didn't kiss her hoof! She just didn't, she just ran away!" he exclaimed with some sort of morbid joy—one might have called it insolent joy had it not been so artless. "And the other one shouted that she was a gold-digger, to be 'beaten on a scaffold.' A gold-digger she is! And that she deserves the scaffold, yes, yes she does, I agree, she does deserve it, she has long deserved it! Let's have that scaffold, sister, but let me recover first. I can see that queen of insolence, the whole of her is there, that hoof expresses the whole of her! Infernal mare! She's the queen of all infernal mares the world can imagine! Joyful in a way! So she ran back to her city, presumably? Then I... eh... will run to her! Airglow, don't blame me, I do agree that throttling's too good for her, ha, ha!"

"But what about Misty?" said Airglow sadly.

"I see her, too, right through her; I see her, I see her better than ever before! It's quite a discovery—all four cardinal points—the corners of the world. What a thing to do! It's the same Misty, the institute mare, who wasn't afraid to run to an absurd brute of a street guard with the generous idea of saving her friend, at the risk of being horribly insulted! But what pride, what recklessness, what defiance of fate! You say the aunt tried to stop her? That aunt, you know, is a despot herself, she used to put on even more airs than the other one, but her husband was convicted of tax fraud, lost everything, his estate and everything, and his proud spouse had to pull her head in, and never stick it out again. And Misty didn't listen, she wanted to attack Bouquet? Why, Bouquet was showing herself off, so whose fault is it? Maybe she truly did fall in love with Misty then, that is, not Misty but a delusion of her, a dream of sorts.

"My dear Airglow, how did you manage to save yourself from them, from those mares? You must have hitched up and run! Ha, ha!"

"But Nova, don't you notice that you did something really bad to Misty, by telling Bouquet about that day? She threw it in her face, that she 'went secretly to her gentlecolts to sell her beauty.' Could you have offended her anymore than that?"

Airglow was most tormented by the thought that her brother seemed pleased at Misty Gem's humiliation, though of course this wasn't exactly the case.

"Pah!" Nova frowned horribly all of a sudden and slapped himself on the forehead once more. Only now did he notice it, though Airglow had just told him about the offence and about Misty's cry, "Your brother is horrible!"

"Yes, maybe I really did tell Bouquet about that 'fatal day,' as Misty calls it. Yes, I did, I did tell her, I remember! Goodness, it couldn't have been otherwise! That's how it is with these types of mares. I really am horrible."

He looked down and thought for a moment.

"So that means you met Bouquet Rose for the first time. What was your impression of her, Airglow? Was there anything she told you before she departed?"

An intense heat unexpectedly took over Airglow's face, in the form of a profound red blush. While telling her side of the story to Nova, she did, of course, omit the detail of her final exchange with Bouquet, and by extension omitted the make-out session.

"She... she... I don't..." Her lips twitched, and her face grew even hotter, her temples becoming damp from sweat.

"Airglow? What is it? Ah, you're starting to sweat! And you look awfully dizzy! Here, here, take a seat."

"No, no, I'm fine," Airglow managed to say in a breathless voice.

"Nova Steel? I never expected to see you in Fillydelphia," interjected a third, unknown voice.

A hoof laid on Nova's shoulder, who turned around and was greeted by a familiar sight. It was a unicorn, wearing a friendly smile, strapped with two heavy-looking saddlebags, as if preparing for a long voyage.

"Sharp Heat! You're here?" exclaimed Nova with ardour.

"Who's this?" asked Airglow, coming up besides him. "Friend of yours?"

"Of the friendliest stripe!" laughed Nova strangely, as if he remembered something all at once.

"Your brother kept his mouth shut about me, is that it?" said the one called Sharp Heat, hunching his shoulders. "Ain't that good news."

Nova took about half a minute to introduce the two.

Sharp Heat was a unicorn official in the Royal Guard, though he was placed within an unusual position, acting more as a captain of his own unit and an investigator. He was that type of pony to conduct himself with practiced composure, usually courteous and with a honed sangfroid, even when the courtesy was not sincerely meant. His history was one of hard work and strong will, because many ponies had told him that he was not "cut out" to be an official, though throughout the years he had proven himself to be more than competent, acting with appropriate and shrewd civility.

Nova talked about how he and Sharp Heat had met not too long ago. Nova had had an antique crossbow, a fine thing with dual cartridges, and he loved it very much. Something like a month back, he had struck up an acquaintance with a certain young official, that being Sharp Heat, and had learned somehow, in a tavern, that Sharp Heat had a passion for weapons, everything from mechanical contraptions, to daggers, and even magical staffs. He would hang them on his wall, show them to his acquaintances, boasted of them, and was even an expert in explaining how they worked. Without thinking twice, Nova went straight to him and offered to pawn his antique crossbow to him for two hundred bits. Sharp Heat was very impressed with the crossbow, and had tried to persuade him to sell it outright, but Nova would not agree, so the official handed him two hundred bits, declaring he would not think of accepting any interest. They parted as friends, and remained friends every since.

(This, in any case, went on to explain how Nova managed to secure the money necessary for a trip to Fillydelphia.)

"Did you rush to Fillydelphia from Canterlot?" asked Nova

"Nah, crowds are too tight at this time, been here since yesterday," replied Sharp Heat. "I'm on business, is all."

He suddenly approached Airglow, much to the latter's surprise, and shook her hoof.

"How's it going, Airglow? You're in town for the magnificent Flying Rift, too?"

"Yeah, got my ticket and everything," replied Airglow readily.

"And I bet it was one heck of a ride here—for the both of ya," he chuckled, looking at Nova. "If you or your sister hadn't noticed, the whole network has been delayed. We'll be departing at twelve-thirty today."

"Ah, eleven-thirty, twelve-thirty, it's all the same! Let's go get a bite to eat, the cafés have just opened, there, down the block. Perhaps you could tell us what you're up to, eh?"

"Come on, ha, ha! I'm not as secretive as I look, you should know. Maybe not now; we can talk inside the Flying Rift. You're both first-class, right, as mentioned?"

"First-class, that's right."

"Same here. But Look," he spoke now more clearly, even more seriously, as it were, in spite of his friendly demeanour, "I need to check up on some things. There's an information broker I'm supposed to see. It should be quick. You can go and grab your seat, I'll meet you there soon."

"That works for me," said Nova.

"See ya soon." Sharp started heading the opposite direction at a modest pace.

Nova looked at him with an expression of incredible respect, as if silently boasting to be friends with the Sharp, but then he observed his sister by his side and an idea came to him.

"Say, why don't you accompany him?" he threw in all of a sudden.

"Oh, um..." Airglow was ready to depart to the train, but now paused. She wondered what he had in mind.

Sharp Heat's ears perked; he stopped and turned around, and asked with curiosity, "You wanna accompany with? I'm just stopping by an information broker, nothing fancy."

"Apologies, but I was thinking: you have just arrived, and storing the luggage must be the last thing on your mind, correct?" Nova continued to his sister, with surprisingly genuine concern at the thought that she should do any work instead of having fun. It's almost as if he wanted to make things up to her for something. "Sharp Heat here is a swell guy—you two can get to know each other, and he can even show you around, since you two just met. Because, say, there's still some time before the train departs,"

"Would you really be okay with that?" asked Airglow. "It's been a while since we've seen each other, you know."

"Say," Sharp Heat remarked suddenly, fixing Airglow with an intrigued look, "how long have you been in Fillydelphia for?"

"Me?" Airglow was momentarily stunned by being addressed as she did. "Not long at all. I just got here."

"I was thinking that if your sister really does want to accompany me, to the broker that is, it might work since we have spare time due to the train's delay." He continued walking. "I warn you, though, the streets are heavy right now. Come or don't, up to you."

Airglow looked to be conflicted.

"Go ahead, you're in good hooves with Sharp" Nova encouraged with a beaming smile. "Please let me take care of the luggage. It's hardly a trouble."

"Well, why not?" said Airglow, shrugging. "I read in the brochure there's a café in first-class. Think you could..."

"Oh, of course! Just look for me in one of the cabins. Anything you want me to order for you?"

"Get me a mocha," Sharp called back. "I'll pay ya back later."

"Get me a mocha, too," said Airglow, who was already walking with him.

Yes, every path to redemption begins with a single step, thought Nova, giving them a quick wave and making his way to the train.

* * *

"Here, let me take that off your shoulders," said Sharp, levitating Airglow's saddlebag for him to carry.

"Oh, thank you so much," said Airglow as if by instinct, but she almost cringed at how much weight he must have been carrying now.

They had been walking briskly down a long and crowded street. He was remarkably easy to talk to, all too ready to engage in conversation. Every once in a while he would relay to her some little tidbit or other about Fillydelphia, about the Flying Rift Express, or even about his own biography. She listened to him very attentively, and even managed to make her laugh quite a few times.

In appearance Airglow could see him as calm and collected, though judging by his eyes, she felt that underneath his calm veneer lay turbulent emotion—including that of passionate and ruthless ire, though he possessed enough self-awareness and self-control (quite unlike Nova) to control these feelings and manage them. He was incredibly handsome, and built to endure the strongest of conditions, which immediately caught Airglow's attention.

There was something about his face, too—perhaps a feature which rested in his cheekbones, or his sharp chin—that resembled some inner and suppressed arrogance. This all added up to a coarse smile and a sharp, self-satisfied gaze.

"And Airglow," he said, "why are you going on the Flying Rift anyway? You want to meet somepony?"

"No, not exactly, I'm just travelling."

"Just travelling? Travelling for the sake of it?"

"You could say that. What about you, Sharp? Is there somepony you're supposed to meet on the train?"

"I'm ready to bet so," he replied with a pleased air, after having chuckled his fill. "Though the train is hardly the point. You can bet it doesn't contain any gold packets or foreign currencies."

"To tell you the truth..." Airglow looked down, and a faint smile spread on her face. "I actually am looking for somepony on my own behalf. But that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the train."

"Somepony close to you?" Sharp looked intently and inquisitively at her.

"Yeah!" Airglow gazed at him. "I'm looking for my oldest brother, Cluster Tale. Have you seen him?"

They both stopped walking.

"Can't say I have, no. I'm not much of a looking type, if you catch my drift. If I want to find somepony in particular, I usually have them come to me." He turned to his left. "We're here, by the way."

Airglow found herself in front of what looked like a small and compact storefront, made from musty-looking bricks, riddled with vertical signs and iron stairways sticking out above. The doorway itself was relatively well kept; it swung very widely on entrance.

"It's right there," said Sharp, pointing at the door.

"What did you say you wanted to find again?" asked Airglow from behind, as they entered the small building.

"I'm collecting vital intel about a certain few passengers on the Flying Rift."

It was fairly noisy inside. While they were in a reception room, from behind a door in the back Airglow picked up several voices, hoof-steps, and the typical sounds of papers being moved around.

"Intel?" said Airglow. "You mean like—?"

"Information, yeah, like who they are and all that pizzazz. Information is everything, especially these days."

"Should you really be telling me this?" she asked, recalling that he was a military captain. "Isn't this, like, a secret mission?"

"Not at all. Or rather, it depends entirely on how it's conducted, but for the time being, no, nothing secret."

From behind a desk seated a stallion buttoned up in a tailored suit. On arrival this stallion greeted them with an awfully courteous smile; he even leaned forward, as if taking special interest in them.

"Good morning, my fellow ponies," he addressed in a welcoming voice. "You may call me Bottle Top. I run the Fillydelphia edition desk." He closed one eye and pressed a hoof to his chest. "Pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine," replied Sharp.

"And you," said Bottle Top, placing his hooves together and pointing them at Sharp, "you must be... wait, don't tell me... Sharp Heat, artillery captain of the fourth cadet corp from Canterlot. Well, am I right or am I right?"

"Whoa, that's so crazy! How did you know?" said Airglow with the widest eyes.

"You see," replied Bottle Top, proudly sticking out his chest and facing Airglow this time, "as an information broker, there are very few facts of which my company is not aware."

"That's what I'm here for, pal," explained Sharp, grinning. "Fact me this: do you happen to know if the Tic Tocs are going to be onboard the Flying Rift Express this afternoon? You gotta throw me a hint here, it's extremely important."

"Of course they are. The Tic Tocs are one of the three prodigal families aiming to control the city, amid legislative turf wars and whatnot."

"Do you have any idea why they're boarding? And how many? Tell me and I'll make it worth your while."

Bottle Top stuck his hoof out over the counter. "Four hundred."

Sharp tilted his head. "How much?"

"Four hundred bones, and not a bit less."

Sharp looked at the broker's extended hoof, then heaved a sigh. "You're asking for a lot, pal," he said. "I haven't received my bonus yet, so that option's off the table. But as far as I know," he said again, with a gleam in his eyes, "there are other means to buy information, ain't that right?"

"Perceptive as ever!" exclaimed Bottle Top. "Either you pay the four upfront, or—you only pay a quarter and pony up some information about yourselves."

"But why's that?" asked Airglow. "Aren't bits more valuable?"

"I'm an information broker," he laughed, raising his shoulders and sticking his hooves out, as if shamelessly admitting to something. "I'm just trying to stay in business. But..." A ponderous expression came over his face; he surveyed both Sharp and Airglow, then finally landed his sights on her. "I know a lot about Mr. Sharp Heat here: he's thirty years old, lives in Canterlot, is contracted by several aristocratic families stationed there, including Princess Celestia herself, et cetera, et cetera. I want to know something about you."

"Me?" she said in some astonishment.

"Hold it, hold it," Sharp said sternly, stepping between them, "she's got nothing to do with this, understand? Don't forget I'm the primary customer; there's still some things I could tell you that you don't know. Here." He lit his horn, scrambled about his saddlebag for a few seconds, counting something to himself, then levitated a hefty pouch of bits from it and dropped it on the counter. "That's one hundred flat."

"Well, what can I say?" retorted the information broker with the most sincere tones. "I've never laid my eyes on that filly before, and that's something which goes against the mantra of our labours. I don't need anything from you at the moment, Sharp Heat. If you'll excuse me, miss...?"

"Airglow Sky, sir."

"Airglow Sky! What a pretty little name. Tell me, Ms. Airglow Sky, why are you in Fillydelphia? I can see you're not a local."

"It's alright," Sharp spoke up before she could respond, gesturing to her, "you don't have to say anything. If the broker won't fork up, then that's just our luck. We'll get going, Bottle Top."

"No, I'll help," said Airglow, seriously enough that Sharp looked at her blankly. He was caught off guard, as it were, by the determination on her expression.

"There you go," encouraged the information broker, raising a curious eyebrow. "Ain't that the easy part?"

"Just one question," said Airglow dubiously. "If I tell you something about myself, and some other pony wanted to 'buy' that information, would you give it to them?"

"Of course. I'm an information broker. It's in the job description."

At least he was honest. She could admire that.

"Come on, forget it," Sharp pressed on, "it isn't that important to me anyway, more of a menial task really. I don't want you to get tangled up in this whole thing."

"I appreciate your concern"— Airglow flashed him a reassuring smile —"but it's fine. Really, it's fine." She cleared her throat. "So, uh, ask away."

"Like I said," the information broker continued, with ready composure, "I would very much like to know why it is you've ventured into this city."

"I'm actually from Ponyville," replied Airglow hesitantly; one could tell she was trying to conceal all traces of timidity. "And I came here to go on a trip with my brother."

"A trip, you say? You mean the Flying Rift transcontinental?"

"That's the one, the Flying Rift. I received a golden ticket from a friend, as a gift, and..." She paused, wondering if she was saying too much.

"Forget about this friend of yours, let's focus on your brother," the information broker picked up on her hesitation with incredible skill. "His name is...?"

"Oh, it's Nova Steel."

"You?—sister of Nova Steel, the former street guard and compulsive gambler?" The broker's eyes looked as if they were about to pop out. "I never would have guessed!"

"Wait, you know my brother? How?"

"I'm an information broker!" he laughed triumphantly. "And—oh, ahem!—please excuse me—but what's the deal with you and Nova Steel? Why are you two going on a trip together?"

"You were only supposed to ask one thing," said Sharp imperiously, frowning.

"Hey now, I'm still on my original question, aren't I?" the broker defended himself. "So, Ms. Airglow Sky, would you be so good as to elaborate?"

"It's just that... I came with him to get away from something... for the both of us." She noticeably bit her lips.

"Something important?" asked the broker.

"Sorta... Just that... I'm trying to get him and our dad to stop fighting," broke from Airglow all of a sudden.

"Eh? A fight? How do you mean...?" He looked at her more intently now, noticing how downcast her face had become.

"They're fighting over a few thousand bits," Airglow went on hotly, without checking herself, pressing a hoof to her chest, "and they won't stop. They just won't. And..." She stopped for a second, as if in some inner turmoil. The broker flashed her an encouraging and perfectly amicable expression, nodding to her words at every beat.

"Please continue, I'm here to listen," his face seemed to say, as if he was a therapist.

"Our dad got beat up over it," Airglow continued, indeed feeling encouraged, speaking more comfortably, like the broker was the first pony to show interest in her struggles, "almost killed even, and now my oldest brother, Cluster Tale, is nowhere to be seen. He doesn't want to help anymore. But I'm still here for them"— She lightly stomped her hoof —"I still want us to be family, just like all the other families. But nopony will listen to me. My opinion doesn't really matter to either my dad or my brothers. They just see me as the naive filly who works at a library. They don't see that violence only breeds more violence. I want them to stop, to make up and forget the stupid money, but they just won't listen. And—"

She stopped, having gotten into a fluster. She noticed Sharp Heat subtly and resolutely shaking his head at her.

"Ve-ry interesting, Airglow Sky," said the broker with an apt smile.

"I'm sorry!" exclaimed Airglow, darting her head back and forth, blushing all over. "I didn't mean to say so much. I only—"

"Ha, ha, yeah, ain't that the most interesting thing." Sharp Heat rested an elbow on the counter, coldly staring down the information broker. "Enough already. You got what you wanted, pal. Now's the time to fulfill your end of the bargain. Why are the Tic Tocs boarding the Flying Rift?"

Luckily he received a direct and non-convoluted answer. The Tic Tocs were securing some sort of delivery for a third party employer. The nature of this employer was unknown. This delivery was said to be of extreme value, so much so that anypony who let the secret out would have been killed. Evidently some were killed. As to how many members were boarding, he was told around twenty, give or take.

Sharp Heat wanted to investigate the potentially illegal endeavours of this family, but he could not risk getting involved, only be an observer. He would board the train, find out what he could, and report back to his unit.

He and Airglow left the broker's building and quickly made their way back to the train station. The Flying Rift was scheduled to depart in less than twenty minutes at that time.

"Hey," began Airglow quietly, "do you think I... said too much?"

"Hmm? Oh, about that." Sharp Heat looked up for a moment, humming to himself. "If you want my personal opinion, I would say answering anything more than the bare minimum of what they ask you is too much. But ponies like Bottle Top are clever that way. They phrase things in such a way that gets you to keep talking without even noticing it. But with you—I mean, you were too easy a target, you poured your heart out way too fast. It's a good thing I was there."

"Yeah," sighed Airglow. "Sorry."

"C'mon, it wasn't that bad. There's not much they can do to get you personally involved in anything, now that I think about it." They arrived at the station. "Look, there's the train. Your brother is probably inside, twiddling his hooves at the indoor bar or something. Let's go."