• Published 29th Oct 2020
  • 378 Views, 16 Comments

A Dance With Death - Dee Pad



When down-on-her-luck Samba meets Limbo—a private detective investigating a series of kidnappings—they work together to find the kidnapper and Limbo's killer. Oh, Limbo's a zombie, by the way. Should probably mention that.

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Chapter 9 - Chasing Shadows

The day's plans were set. Limbo and Samba had some ground to make up in the Ghost investigation, so they weren't taking any guff from anypony who intended to get in their way. Limbo was still adamant about exploring her theory that the Ghost was specifically a changeling that worked for Mango Incorporated. That notion at least narrowed down their search a lot. Getting into Mango Inc. headquarters was perhaps the biggest hurdle, but she already felt like she had Mango Career's compliance with the investigation thanks to their meeting at the Magi-Tech Expo.

That being said, Limbo and Samba were not headed straight for Mango Inc. First, they wanted to stop at town hall to check out the citizen records. Getting some advanced knowledge of the people they may have to interrogate could be a boon and save them some time.

When they arrived at Bubble Gust's office, they found the breezie secretary conversing with both Mayor Highstrung and Loose Leaf. As per usual, the mayor was sweating profusely as Gust was instructing him about things regarding the upcoming reelection. If it weren't for the difference in size and species, one might think Gust was a mother trying to get something through her child's head.

"All you have to do is read everything I wrote for you without tripping over your words," Gust insisted firmly.

"I understand that, but you say it like it's so easy," the mayor whined. "You're not the one who has to speak in front of a crowd of people."

"You are the mayor," she reminded him, her high-pitched voice dripping with frustration. "It is your job to talk to people and organize your thoughts in a cohesive way. How is it you have stage fright?"

Highstrung drew back meekly. "I-Is there possibly any way you can somehow make it maybe a little easier? Perhaps?"

Gust rolled her eyes. "Honestly, where would you even be without me? I do not even know how you got into politics in the first place. Really, I should just run for mayor. Probably would not be difficult."

"Please don't. Career is intimidating enough," Highstrung moaned.

"Seems like tensions are high around here," Samba whispered to Leaf.

"You been here before? It's always like this," he told her with a smirk as he sipped his iced coffee.

"Yeah, well, we got business," said Limbo impatiently. She clomped a hoof on the desk, causing the mayor to jump, though Gust just cast her the stink eye. "If you wanna set aside your ill-fated election for a few minutes, I've got an investigation that needs investigating."

Mayor Highstrung actually knit his brow slightly at her, but there was clearly a lack of conviction in his eyes. "Need I remind you that I hired you to investigate the Ghost of Baltimare."

Limbo challenged his attempt at authority by leaning forward with a sneer, his frail façade cracking immediately as he drew back. "And how exactly am I gonna do that if you don't cooperate, 'Mister Mayor'? Just let me do my dang job and I'll let you get back to your job of getting ordered around by somepony one twentieth your size."

Highstrung backed off with a sigh. "What do you need, Detective?" he asked submissively.

"I need copies of any citizen records for changelings that work at Mango Inc. How long you think it'll take to manage that?"

"We can narrow it down with the immigration records," Gust told her as she fluttered over to the filing cabinets. "Most changelings living in the city immigrated here. Any who were born here are likely still young and living with their parents."

"Why do you need copies?" asked Leaf.

"Research. There might be relevant information to come across if I take some extra time to look 'em over. Don't have that kinda time right now. So let's go, chop chop."

Bubble Gust flapped over to give Limbo a disgruntled jab in the muzzle. "Do not push me. I have already had enough of his backtalk today," she warned, pointing a tiny hoof at the mayor.

Limbo just let out a forceful huff through her nostrils, the exhale strong enough to push Gust's lightweight body backward a few inches. The breezie begrudgingly went back to digging through the citizen records.

Leaf shook his head with a groan. "Yeesh. Everypony's in a mood today, aren't they?" he grumbled quietly.

"Limbo's just a little overeager since we're finally making some decent progress on the case," Samba told him.

"I mean, if she wanted info on Mango Inc. staff, she can just ask me. I mean, I don't actually work there myself, so I don't know everycreature there, but still..."

"How's your brother handling this by the way?"

Leaf sighed, but also couldn't hold back a small smirk. "He's been kind of a mess from what I've heard, but I haven't actually spoken to him since the expo, so who the hay knows? If I had to guess, he's probably been drilling his employees for information ever since."

"He's taking it pretty seriously, I assume. Makes sense. This can't be good for his reputation," Samba uttered sympathetically. "Think this'll hurt his chances in the election?"

"Pfft, you kidding? Have you met the Mango Inc. super fans? He could literally murder somepony and his zealots would still vouch for him. As seriously as he might be taking this, he's too influential to fail."

Samba could see the slight disdain on his face. She had gotten an idea of what Leaf's relationship with his brother was like. The two certainly seemed to be at odds, unfortunately. As somepony who had her own emotional issues with somepony she cared about, she felt bad for him.

That being said, she didn't want to poke her nose where it didn't belong. She and Limbo intended to head over to Mango Inc. anyway, so she might inadvertently gain some insight in that time. Right now, she figured a change in subject was in order. Samba's eyes drifted down to Leaf's barrel and legs, where there were still a few discolored spots.

"Bruises healing up good?" she asked compassionately.

Leaf lightly rubbed a bruise on his chest. "Yeah, it's fine. I went to the hospital afterward and the doctor said I don't have any serious injuries. So, yeah, don't worry about me. I'm just sorry I couldn't be more help in your investigation."

"Not like it would've mattered anyway. Your attacker was a disguised changeling. No offence, but I don't know how much help you could've been."

Leaf shrugged. "I guess."

Samba smiled reassuringly. "But it's not like we don't have anything to go on. We're probably gonna head over to talk to your brother when we leave here."

"Good luck with that," Leaf grumbled. "If I know Mango, he's probably neck deep in his own personal investigation at H.Q. Don't be surprised if he tries to throw you guys out."

"I don't think you have to worry about that. Limbo's too stubborn to care," Samba giggled.

"You don't have to tell me. I've known her longer than you."

Samba tilted her head inquisitively. "You know, that's something I've been meaning to ask about. Are you two close at all?"

"I don't know if I'd say 'close' per se, but—"

"Okay, this is taking too long," Limbo blurted impatiently at Bubble Gust, who was busy systematically removing papers with her self-engineered pulley system.

"You are the one who said you needed copies," Bubble Gust retaliated grouchily, letting a sheet of paper flutter to the carpeted floor. "Do not make demands if you are not patient enough to wait."

"Look, can I just borrow the files? I promise I'll return 'em safe and sound."

"You can't just leave with people's personal information," Mayor Highstrung told her.

Limbo glared at him through narrowed eyes. "You want this case solved before or after you lose the election? Because, let's face it, whether I crack this thing or not, it ain't gonna improve your chances. It's just gonna help you go out on a high note. You want me to catch the Ghost and save those people, then maybe make a few exceptions, yeah?"

Highstrung sighed, using his necktie to wipe the sweat from his forehead. "Alright, alright, fine. Bubble Gust, just get her the files."

"Well, I'm not sticking around because I have other stuff I need to get to, so I guess take your time and focus primarily on those who work for Mango Inc.," Limbo requested. "Just deliver 'em to my apartment later."

"I can drop 'em off if you want," Leaf offered. "I'm clocking out early today because I've got my own stuff I need to do later, so I can swing by your place first."

"Sounds good." Limbo grabbed a pen and a scrap of paper, wrote something down, and passed the paper to Leaf. "Here's the address for my building and my room number. Just slide the papers under the door or something."

"Can do."

"Just make sure to get those files back safe and sound," Highstrung requested worriedly. "The last thing I need is citizens becoming upset because their personal information got leaked."

"Correct," Bubble Gust chided the mayor. "Because you need to focus on your speech. You need all the help you can get to get a leg up on Career, so we do not need the people watching as you drip sweat onto the paper you are reading from. We are not leaving here today until you have committed it to memory."

The breezie grabbed the mayor by the ear and started to drag him toward his office. He was obviously too big for her to actually pull, but the subordinate mayor just meekly let her. Highstrung glanced back at the three other ponies, just weakly whimpering, "Help me..."

The two disappeared into the office, where Mayor Highstrung was likely going to be imprisoned for the rest of the day while Bubble Gust went about her other errands.

"Alright, no more dillydallying," Limbo asserted, paying no heed to the mayor's plight. She turned to Samba. "Let's get over to Mango Inc., A.S.A.P. Leaf, don't forget your job."

"I got it, chill out," he responded defensively.

Limbo trotted hurriedly to the door. "Get the lead out, Samba. I ain't worried about your hamstrings today."

Samba groaned, anticipating her exhaustion by the time they made it to their destination. "I'm coming." She flashed a smile at Leaf. "Catch you later."

"Good luck," he said back.

***** ***** *****

All Sambo and Limbo could do was crane their necks skyward at the gigantic structure towering over them, a fixture of monolithic proportions seated square in the middle of Baltimare.

Mango Incorporated headquarters was one of the tallest buildings in the city, yet it may appear to be one of the least industrious compared to other major corporations and manufacturers. In stark contrast to the concrete and steel that was common in other buildings of this size and importance, Mango Inc. practically looked like it was constructed entirely out of glass. The building didn't appear to have what one could even call walls past the first couple of floors, just windows that spanned the entire circumference of the cylindrical tower. It was practically the world's largest terrarium, allowing passersby to observe all the worker ants doing their thing.

That being said, the giant, transparent structure's post-modern and minimalistic design was juxtaposed by the lush gardens of trees and flowers surrounding it, creating a one hundred foot barrier of nature between it and the sterile city it was situated within. The pretentiousness of unionizing technology and nature didn't escape Limbo.

"You know, I see this building almost everyday, jutting up over all the others, but I've never actually been this close," Samba commented as she stared up at it. She had to bend her neck back even from the edge of the gardens just to take the whole thing in.

"I just can't help but think of that old saying about stones and glass houses," muttered Limbo. "Why do millionaires feel the need to blow their dough on 'artistic' nonsense like this? If he'd just contracted a more traditional building, maybe he could've made his magic helmet doohickey a few years ago."

"Well, there's a reason why those kinds of people are successful, right? They just think differently from us."

"I think there's a difference between being a visionary and being schizophrenic."

"That's being a little unfair, don't you think?" Samba chastised in disagreement.

"It's not like I'm saying they're mutually exclusive. I'm just saying, if Career starts talking about being 'zen' or 'centered,' I'm out."

"Based on what we've seen and what Leaf told us, he's probably miles away from zen right now."

With that, the two started their way down the path to the front door. Limbo kept her one eye trained forward, focused on the task at hoof, whereas Samba let herself take in the beauty of their surroundings. The "zen" thing might not have been far off; the place looked pretty relaxing, and it looked like some of the employees were chilling out in some gazebos during their break. That being said, the atmosphere got a little muddied as they approached the building and observed the groundskeeper shoveling up the corpses of dead pigeons that had blindly smacked into the immaculately polished windows.

Thankfully, the first floor at least offered some privacy compared to the rest of the building above, though there were still noticeably large windows around them. The lobby of Mango Inc. was practically barren. The walls were a blinding white that somehow made the interior even brighter than the cloudless sky outside. Limbo might not have remembered what it was like during the two weeks that she was truly dead, but she was getting a major sense of déjà vu having to shield her eye from the bright light. The only fixtures that broke up the monotony within the lobby were some uncomfortable, post-modern chairs situated off to one side and a glass coffee table with a single magazine sitting on it. Aside from that, there was just the reception desk off on the opposite side. There was a young zebra mare stationed behind it, but she was too distracted by her spellphone to notice the pair of mare's enter. Besides, she'd need a pair of binoculars to identify them from across the expansive room anyway.

And smack dab in the middle of the lobby was an a pair of elevators, the shafts glass tubes that extended all the way up through the center of the building. At the moment, only one of the lifts was on ground level. Limbo started toward it, ignoring the receptionist, and Samba followed along behind her, feeling a little intimidated by the sound of their hoofsteps echoing through the empty void.

There was somepony else standing outside the elevator, though, but it took until they got closer for them to recognize who it was: a buff earth pony stallion with a golden coat and light blue mane.

Limbo offered a friendly, albeit condescending grin. "Hey-o, big guy. How goes it?"

Quad Blast smiled back at her surprisingly unassumingly for a guy his size. "Mornin', Detective."

Limbo pursed her lips at his greeting, staring quizzically at him. "So you remember I'm a detective, but can't remember my name. Could you remember me if I gave you a nickname?"

"I don't 'member names very good," he reminded her. "Nicknames are names. Titles ain't names."

"What kind of bullcrap selective memory is th—you know what, nevermind. Bigger fish to fry. I'd introduce you to my associate here," Limbo said, gesturing to Samba, "but that'd just be an exercise in futility."

"I 'members her from the expo. Mornin', miss. Name's Quad Blast," Quad greeted with a courteous nod.

Samba smiled affably. She'd briefly seen the guy at the expo, but was never introduced. "Nice to meet you. I'm Sa—"

"Don't bother, he won't remember," Limbo interrupted. "Remembers his own name just fine, though. Figure that one out. Anyway, we came by to talk to your boss, so if you'll just step aside we can—"

As Limbo tried to shimmy past him, Quad stepped in her way, her face colliding with the solid wall that was his chest.

The detective glared up at him. "There a problem, bruiser?"

"You got an appointment?" he inquired threateningly.

"If I did, would you even know? Your appointment list require a glamor shot so you can identify visitors?"

He tilted his head toward the inattentive receptionist. "She'd have your name wrote down. You call before coming?"

Limbo narrowed her eyes, prodding the guard in his brick-like barrel. "We're investigating the Ghost. You know, the guy that stole that dumb-looking hat? Your boss ain't gonna have a problem with me coming to speak with him."

Quad shook his head. "Sorry, jus' doin' my job, Detective. No appointment, no entry."

Limbo rolled her eye. "Alright, I'm officially ignoring you now."

Limbo made to just brazenly brush by him, but before she could even register what was happening, she'd suddenly found herself pinned to the floor with what felt like a sack of hardened concrete on top of her.

"The hay?! Get off-a me!" she demanded, struggling to loosen his grip, but unable to budge under his weight and sheer strength.

Quad looped his right front leg under Limbo's own, holding her in a firm, unyielding grapple. "Nopony gets past under my watch, Detective, not even you. Jus' leave quietly and we won't have no problems."

Samba could only stand by worriedly as Quad kept Limbo incapacitated. "Uh, m-maybe we should just call Mr. Career and let him know we're here. I'll just ask the receptionist to—"

"No! I've—hngh—got this!" Limbo insisted as she squirmed. "You got nothing on me! You ain't got the guts!"

Quad just shrugged nonchalantly. "I didn't wanna do this, but you asked for it."

Without any further warning, Quad tightened his grip on Limbo's right front leg, and the sound of a sickening pop echoed through the lobby, loud enough to distract the receptionist from her phone.

Samba stood there in slight horror as Limbo stopped struggling. "Oh, my gosh!"

The detective stared in shock at her dislocated shoulder, very caught off guard. "Eeyoley moly! The big galoot actually went and done it!"

Quad stood back up, releasing Limbo, though his face started to turn a little green. "I... tried to warn ya," he said with a queasy burp.

Limbo got back up as well, though her right front leg was now hanging limply. "You really don't joke around, huh? Kinda gotta respect that, I guess."

"Uh, you okay, Limbo?" Samba asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I don't have to tell you that I've had way worse injuries than this." Limbo sat back, grabbed her dislocated leg, and expertly popped it back into its socket. "Doesn't mean it don't hurt like the dickens, though," she groaned as she rolled her shoulder to work out the discomfort.

"Can we please just ask the receptionist if she can call Mr. Career?" Samba pleaded. "I don't want to have to watch you piece yourself back together like a puzzle."

"Yeah, whatever. I think I made my point anyway," she claimed triumphantly, haughtily smirking at Quad as he tried keep his breakfast down.

Limbo and Samba began the rigorous journey toward the reception desk, but before they could manage more than a few steps, one of the elevators arrived at the lobby. Standing inside, visible through the glass elevator shaft, was the very man they'd come to see. Mango Career stepped out, looking surprisingly haggard. His expertly gelled hair was rather unkempt, and his eyes were dark and bloodshot. And the expression on his face reflected his physical state: irate and exhausted.

Career immediately set his eyes on Quad. "Alright, what's going on down here? Zuri just called and said there was a disturbance."

Quad took a deep breath to steady his stomach, and tilted his head toward the two visitors. "These two're tryin' to get in without an appointment, so I had to rough one of 'em up."

Career turned to the two mares, Limbo giving him an disgruntled stare and cocking her eyebrow expectantly. He then responded to Quad's explanation with a low growl. "Quad, I told you to let Detective Limbo through if she showed up."

Quad simply blinked blankly.

Career ran a hoof down his face with a groan. "Right, guess that's on me." He turned back to Limbo and Samba, trying to offer as welcoming a smile as he could manage. "I'm glad to see you, Detective. Would you like to come up to my office?"

"That's why we came here," she accepted.

Career gestured for them to enter the elevator. Quad gave Limbo an apologetic frown as she passed by.

"My bad..." he mumbled ashamedly.

"Hey, no hard feelings. But next time I come by, I'll be popping out your shoulder," she told him with a challenging smirk.

"I highly doubt that," Samba deadpanned.

Limbo, Samba, and Mango Career entered the elevator, the latter pressing the button to take the lift up to his office on the top floor. With an almost inaudible hum, the elevator began its ascent. Once they got above the first couple of floors, they could finally see outside again through the rounded, glass walls of the building. Samba watched with silent awe as they rose higher and higher, and the city gradually went lower and lower. She'd been inside tall apartment buildings before, but being able to see the skyline on all sides from this height was almost mesmerizing, if not a little disorienting. Once they hit the twentieth floor or so, Samba began to feel a pit in her stomach, exacerbated by the fact that the floor of the elevator was also glass, meaning that there was nowhere to avert her eyes from the increasingly dizzying heights surrounding them.

That being said, one's attention might also be diverted by the myriad employees diligently doing their work. Samba and Limbo got a brief look at each floor as the elevator rose. Floors of cubicles where accountants were balancing the company budget; meeting rooms where the marketing teams were discussing new advertisements; the R&D department where tech nerds were testing, fixing, and tweaking spellphones and other devices; a break room with arcade machines, pool tables, and televisions to help employees unwind. At times, it felt like they were observing the lives of citizens living in a small-scale city. At this point, they wouldn't have been surprised to see a floor with beds for people to sleep overnight.

But for as many floors as they'd passed already, the digital panel inside the elevator indicated they had only yet risen beyond half of the building's eighty floors. So, rather than just awkwardly stand in silence, Limbo decided to start with the questions early.

"So... You look like you've seen better days," she said bluntly to Career.

The stallion sighed wearily. "I've barely slept since the expo. How can I knowing that that maniac is out there using my creation for Celestia-knows-what?"

"Have you talked to your staff?"

"I don't know what good it would do. If it is one of them, they'd obviously never admit to it."

"That's not the point. We need info, Mr. Career. Anything we can get is better than nothing."

"I am not going to single out my changeling employees based on your simple hunch," Career hissed adamantly.

Limbo shrugged at his defensive response. "Fine. I mean, if you don't want your invention back..."

Career groaned in defeat. "Is there any way we can be a little more discreet about it?"

"In the interest of time, I'm gonna say no. The faster we get this done, the better."

By now, the elevator had arrived on the top floor, letting the three ponies out into Mango Career's office. Like the ground floor, his office had actual walls, save for the back wall behind his minimalistic, white desk. The back wall was just one big, curved window that looked out toward Horseshoe Bay, but the rest of the room was lined with bookshelves, filing cabinets, cupboards, and even several monitors that were currently displaying nothing and were presumably for video conferences.

And true to what Career had told Limbo at the Magi-Tech Expo, the office was in a pretty sorry state. Papers were strewn about everywhere, several dismantled spellphones and their components were laying on his desk, a trash can beside his desk was overflowing with crumpled paper so much that the bin itself was barely visible, and many candy wrappers, empty potato chip bags, and takeout containers were left here and there. All in all, Limbo actually felt a little at home.

"So what do you propose I do?" Career asked.

"Well, first of all, somepony needs to talk to your people, even if it's not you," Limbo told him, idly picking up a chocolate bar wrapper. "Have the police been here already?"

"Just one officer. A Sergeant Night Owl."

Limbo cocked an eyebrow. "Just Owl?"

Career simply shrugged. "Just him. He questioned some of my staff, but I don't know if he learned anything from it. None of our changeling staff were at the expo, but I suppose that doesn't mean anything." He ran a hoof through his disheveled mane with a sigh. "I hate to think any of them snuck in under a disguise. My company conducts thorough background checks during the hiring process, and any remotely illegal activity above jaywalking is grounds for termination. I don't want my company associated with that sort of thing, so you understand why I want this resolved."

Limbo grimaced at him. "Again, I feel like there are more important things to worry about than your reputation."

Career cast her a disgruntled glower. "Detective, with all due respect, finding those people is your job. It's not that I don't care, but I have to a business to run, and I can't do that if my company's reputation tanks."

"Well, that goes both ways," she retaliated firmly. "I don't really give a crap what happens to your company, but finding the Ghost is gonna benefit both of us, so it would behoove you to cooperate."

"I'm doing what I can while also trying to be respectful to my employees who immigrated to this kingdom in good faith."

"Everycreature is capable of malevolence. We don't want to discriminate, but that's the hard truth. As a law enforcement officer, I know that better than most people, and sometimes we have to do something we don't like for the greater good. So, can we try and think about the bigger picture here? People's lives are at stake, and even more will be the longer this goes on."

Career was quiet for a moment as he walked around to sit behind his desk. "What are you hoping to learn anyway? Do you really believe the culprit will just tell you what want to know if you can even find them?"

"Well, let me ask you something, Mr. Career: how much have you learned since the theft?"

Career learned back in his chair, grumbling something under his breath.

Limbo held a hoof to her ear condescendingly. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. You mind speaking up?"

"Nothing, okay? I've learned nothing," he begrudgingly admitted.

"Because you choose to learn nothing," Limbo insisted, leaning on the desk. "You're so worried about your own reputation that you can't even bring yourself to do anything about it because you're afraid of what you'll find. You're hanging yourself with your own noose. Your company is the best lead we have, so if you're going to continue refusing to cooperate, I'll just have to arrest you for obstruction of justice. How'll that affect your reputation?"

Mango Career lowered his head, scratching his scalp vigorously as he internally fought to make a decision. Eventually, he lifted his head again, a reluctant frown on his face. "I promise I'll do what I can," he muttered quietly.

"I've heard that before, but I guess I'll take your expression at face value—no pun intended."

"So, are you going to interrogate my staff now?" he asked with a defeated grimace.

"As much as I'd like to, I don't actually think I'd get much out of it. The Ghost knows me. If I ended up talking to the right person here, they'd no doubt feed me false information to send me down the wrong path. That's why I wanted you to do whatever you could to help, so I could then get the info from you."

Career got back up from his desk, walking around to offer a remorseful look. "I'm sorry, Detective. I don't mean to hinder your investigation, but you have to understand that I'm very stressed out right now and extremely exhausted. I'm not exactly sure I trust myself to even treat my employees fairly and not fly off the handle at little things in my current state."

Limbo scratched her ear with a reluctant groan. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. Maybe at least try to get some sleep or something and approach this with a clear head. I'm kinda relying on you here."

"I'll do that," he agreed with a tired yawn. "But what are you going to do now, then?"

She shrugged. "No idea. Might have to take some time to weigh my options. I do have other cases I can look into in the meantime. So, how about this? My assistant here will give you her number, and you contact her if you learn any relevant information."

Career smiled weakly. "Sounds like a plan."

"Okey doke. Samba?"

Samba's ears perked up suddenly, as though she'd been snapped from a trance. "Huh?"

Limbo stared at her quizzically, noting how narrow her pupils were and that she had started to turn a little blue in the face as she just stared out the window. "You good, Samba?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. Just, um... coming to terms with the fact that I apparently have a fear of heights now. You, uh... You need something?" she asked shakily.

"Give Career your number."

"Oh, okay." Samba didn't argue and just gave her phone number to Mango Career, who registered it in his own spellphone. "So, can we leave now before I lose feeling in my legs?" she requested desperately.

"Sure. Just remember to not look down when we're on the elevator," Limbo recommended as they headed for the lift.

Samba felt her fur bristle. "Don't say that! Now I'm not gonna be able to not look down!"

Limbo had to lightly drag Samba away from the obscuring walls of Career's office and into the glass elevator, riding it all the way back down. Limbo gave a friendly wave to Quad as they made their way back through the lobby and outside.

Samba let out a sigh, just relieved to feel solid terra firma underneath her hooves again.

Limbo grinned knowingly. "You alright there, wobbles?" she teased, noticing the other mare's knees still quivering.

"Uh, yeah." Samba brushed a hoof through her wavy mane. "I'm just realizing how lucky I am to only live in a second floor apartment. You mind if we take a minute so I can find my legs again?"

"Sure, why not?" Limbo looked around the gardens outside the building, spotting an empty gazebo nearby. "We can sit down over there, take in the scenery for a bit."

Samba agreed to that idea with a nod, and the two made their way down a connecting pathway past some shrubbery to reach the cozy gazebo. There was a picnic table in the middle that they sat at, and upon it was a half eaten bag of potato chips and an open can of soda that somepony had likely left in haste when they realized too late that their break was over.

"So you're only realizing now that you have a fear of heights?" Limbo questioned.

"I've never had a reason to go the roof of anypony's apartment building. Your place on the fifth floor is the highest I've gone."

"Eh, it's probably no big deal. Most people would have the same reaction in a place like that," Limbo said with a dismissive shrug.

Samba furrowed her brow indignantly. "That's easy for you to say. If you fell from the top of that place, your broken body would just regenerate."

"Hey, it ain't like I'm invincible just because I'm a zombie. My skull could shatter and a piece of bone could penetrate my brain. I'd be done-zo if that happened."

Samba frowned slightly. Limbo was clearly aware that, despite everything, her body had limitations. Yet, like Night Owl said, she was still pretty reckless—apparently even more so than when she was alive. "So how come you don't try to be more careful?"

"Whaddaya mean?"

"Well, I know you said you don't care about what happens to you as long as you can save Poe, but have you ever actually put any thought into what you're going to do after that?"

"Does it matter?" she countered rather nonchalantly. "I'm a walking corpse. The sole purpose of this 'afterlife' is to pay back Poe for what she did for me. What happens after that doesn't matter. In fact, if I die again after I save her, it might be for the better. Then nopony can figure out what she did and arrest her for it."

"But—"

Limbo held up her hoof to interrupt her, though flashed an appreciative smile. "Look, I'm flattered that you care so much about somepony you've known for barely over a week, but maybe let me make my own decisions. I might be dead, but I'm still an adult and a member of law enforcement. I'm breaking the law just by existing, so I've got to think about this from multiple angles."

"And you're okay with that? You don't value your life anymore?"

"I have no life," Limbo told her with utmost seriousness and acceptance. "I'm a shambling cadaver who only wants to repay her debts to the one person in her life that she's ever cared about. I mean, think about it: corpses reanimated by necromancers are typically resurrected to serve the one who revived them, right?"

"Uh, I dunno. I don't really watch movies or read books or anything like that."

Limbo grimaced a little. "Man, we gotta get you some culture. Everypony needs to see a good zombie flick," she insisted, taking a sip of the open grape soda left on the table.

Samba blanched at the sight as Limbo slurped down the soda. "Ew! What are you doing?!"

"What?"

"Somepony else was drinking that. That's gross."

Limbo just gave her a deadpan stare. "Really? What were we just talking about? Germs don't mean squat to me."

"It's still gross," Samba repeated with a disgusted shudder.

"Look, I haven't had a coffee since we left. I gotta get my caffeine fix somehow, even if this stuff's gone flat by now. Oh, speaking of which, I bet Webber'd like some too, right, buddy?"

At the mention of his name, the spindly arachnid crawled out from underneath Limbo's eyepatch—a sight that Samba still wasn't entirely used to. Webber crawled down onto the table and Limbo poured out a small drop of the grape soda onto the table for him.

"Can he drink that stuff?" Samba asked curiously.

"Of course he can. See?" Limbo gestured to Webber, who was contently consuming the purple liquid.

"Okay, but should he?"

Limbo shrugged. "He tried coffee once and he was fine. I mean, he was crawling around the walls all night like he was possessed by a demon, but it didn't hurt him or anything. Can't imagine some flat soda would be any worse," she said as she chomped on a chip. She then nudged the bag toward Samba. "Want one?"

Samba politely pushed the bag back with a grimace. "No thanks."

"Hm, more for me."

Samba, perhaps subconsciously wanting to change the subject, glanced back at the Mango Inc. building. "So, what are we doing now? I was... kinda distracted while we were up there, so I didn't catch the whole conversation." She pulled out her spellphone. Seeing Mango Career's name right underneath Luster Dawn's on her contacts list was a pretty surreal sight.

"The quick synopsis is that Career is—hopefully—going to talk to his employees and get some info for us. He'll contact you when or if he learns something."

"You think this'll be better than asking yourself? I think I remember you saying you probably wouldn't be as successful, but is there any credence to that?"

Limbo tapped the table in thought, crunching another chip between her teeth. "You might be right, but that's kinda the reason I told him that."

Samba tilted her head, puzzled. "What's that mean?"

"Don't you think Career's being a little wishy washy? He's tearing his hair out over the theft, but he's not putting much effort into actually finding the culprit. Maybe he's trying to focus on the business side of things, maybe he's just being selfish, but he's clearly apprehensive about digging too deep."

"You think he's afraid the Ghost will come after him if he talks?"

"That's not the Ghost's style. Owl might think that they kidnapped Poe to threaten me, but we both know differently, right?"

Samba said nothing.

Limbo leaned on the table, knitting her brow as she mulled it over. "I don't want to jump to conclusions or anything, but if I didn't know any better, I'd almost think he was trying to cover the Ghost's tracks."

"What? Why would he do that?"

Limbo shrugged. "No idea. Maybe just in the hopes that we're wrong about them working for Mango Inc., maybe just because he's afraid of the Ghost. But, if I'm being honest, I don't know if I trust Career much anymore. We'll just have to see, I guess. If he calls you within the next few days, then we can probably call him trustworthy. Right now, though, I'm putting him on the sus list. At this point, I wouldn't be too surprised if he was in cahoots with the Ghost."

"I think that's going a bit far," Samba disagreed. "I mean, what would he have to gain from—"

"Shh."

Limbo discreetly pointed behind Samba toward the building. Samba cautiously glanced back over her shoulder. Somepony was coming outside. Under normal circumstances, that wouldn't seem odd, but this person was wearing an oversized hoodie that obscured their face, concealed their cutie mark, and made it hard to determine what race they were—even their tail was tucked up underneath the hoodie. A pair of large sunglasses could barely be seen underneath the hood, but no more of their face was visible from their vantage point.

Samba turned back to Limbo, keeping her voice down. "You don't think..."

"That'd probably be too easy, but that's definitely a suspicious looking character if I've ever seen one."

"What do we do?"

Limbo watched closely as the individual traipsed down the path toward the exit of the gardens. "Going back to what I was just saying, it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility that the Ghost could have cohorts. Kidnapping all those people as efficiently as they have would be a difficult task for just one person. After all, they did enlist Wick Nimble, so maybe 'scapegoats' is more apt than 'cohorts.'"

"Are we gonna tail him, then?"

"Until Career gets in touch with us, we've got nothing else to go on, so we may as well." Limbo chugged the remainder of the grape soda and gestured for Webber to crawl back into her eye socket, then waited for the suspicious character to near the gate before getting up. "Come on."

Samba followed along behind her, the two keeping within the bushes of the garden to avoid being spotted. Once out to the street, the shady person hailed a taxi, though Limbo and Samba remained too far away to hear where they'd asked the cabbies to take them. Once he'd climbed into the carriage, Limbo booked it out of the bushes toward the road to flag down another taxi.

"Where to, miss?" asked one of the two cabbies.

She urgently pointed to the other taxi making its way down the street. "Follow that cab!"

The cabbie cocked an eyebrow. "This ain't a movie, ma'am. We ain't in the business of stalking people."

"I'm a detective," she explained with an impatient eyeroll, quickly flashing her badge. "I'm doing my job, so I expect you to do yours."

He huffed begrudgingly. "Fine, get in."

Limbo opened the carriage door, but glanced back. "Samba, get a move on!"

The unicorn mare was busy untangling her wavy tail from the twigs of the bushes. "Ugh, be right there. Hng!" She yanked her tail out of the shrubs, tumbling over and leaving a few stray strands of hair behind. She quickly got back up and hurried over to climb into the taxi with Limbo before they got carried along on their way.

As they sat across from one another, Limbo stared at Samba's normally well-styled mane. "Uh, you've got a little something..."

Samba ran a hoof through her mane, several leaves and small twigs falling out of or tugging on her hair. She groaned in discomfort. "Great... Now I gotta spend the rest of my day fixing this before work tonight."

"Well, your beauty ain't a concern at this job, so get those pink irises trained forward."

Samba glanced out the cab window, seeing only nondescript buildings whizzing by. "Where you think they're headed?"

Limbo opened the window, poking her head out to analyze their current surroundings. She could still barely see the other cab further down the street. After a few moments, she sat down again. "Looks like we're headed downtown."

"I guess that makes sense," Samba said, though a little uneasily. "If you're a seedy type, you're probably going to hang out in the seedy part of town."

"Stuff is starting to stitch together though."

Samba tilted her head at that comment. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it. Sizzle Conifer's parents said he was going to an audition downtown, then he disappeared. Wick Nimble met his contact—who we are assuming is the Ghost—at your workplace, which is downtown."

Samba's ears perked up as she put the pieces together. "Oh, you think the Ghost's lair might be downtown, then."

Limbo scrunched her lips. "'Lair'? We're not dealing with a comic book super villain."

"Well, what would a ghost call their base of operations?"

"I'd call areas they like to hang out 'haunts,' but I guess that doesn't work for their hideout. A grave, maybe?"

"A mausoleum? Oh, what about a tomb?"

"Hmm, tomb... I like that actually. And when you think about it, it's pretty thematic, yeah? I mean, I'm a zombie tracking a 'ghost.' Maybe 'grave' would be a more appropriate term for my base of operations..." Limbo suddenly shook her head. "W-We're getting off topic. In any case, you know the phrase, 'Two is a coincidence, three is a pattern'? Well, Sizzle and Wick could have been a coincidence, but this guy we're following could be the pattern."

"Assuming they're related to the Ghost at all."

"We'll figure that out when we reach our destination—wherever that is. But even if they aren't, there's no denying that that guy was being shifty as all get out. I mean, who goes out on a nice day like this in a big ol' hoodie? They're probably sweltering in that thing."

Samba shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "Not gonna lie, I'm starting to get 'stalker' vibes."

"Ooh, hopefully."

Samba furrowed her brow, vexed by Limbo's suddenly eager reaction. "What do you mean 'hopefully'? I never want to see that guy again."

"What are you talking about? I thought you wanted to catch him."

"I want you to catch him. You offered, remember? I want to stay far away from that creep."

Limbo shrugged indifferently. "Whatever. I need to redeem myself anyway. In all honesty, I'm still a little embarrassed that a civilian had to come to my rescue. Thankfully, Owl doesn't know about that. He'd never let me live that one down, especially after I told them all where they can shove it," she grumbled.

"At least I could rest easier knowing that that guy was off the streets. I mean, it's probably a long shot either way, but we can hope that we aren't just wasting our time here."

"Hey, even if this is just some punk shoplifter or something, it's better than nothing. We ain't the B.P.D. There's no crime too small for Detective Limbo," she stated proudly.

The carriage began to slow, so Limbo poked her head out the window again to see what was up. "Yo, cabbie. Everything good?"

"Your 'friend's' taxi stopped up ahead," one of the cabbies told her. "We figured you didn't wanna be seen, so we're lettin' you out here. That fine?"

Limbo hopped out of the carriage, Samba following suit. They spotted the other taxi down at the other end of the street, their target currently paying his own cabbies. Limbo gave their drivers a satisfied grin, dumping some bits out of her wallet for them. "Perfect. Thanks, fellas. And a little extra for being so considerate."

One of the cabbies happily accepted the bits. "No problem. Hopefully he doesn't call the cops on you," he quipped, the two snickering as they galloped off.

"Hey! I told you I ain't a stalker! Gimme back that tip, ya jerk face!" Limbo shouted indignantly, but they were already gone. She let out a huff through her nostrils. "Some people, I swear..."

"Maybe keep your voice down," Samba warned her quietly. "If that is the Ghost, they'll recognize your voice."

"Yeah, yeah, let's just catch up and see what they're up to," Limbo grumbled.

They made to follow the hooded individual, keeping a safe distance to avoid being recognized. Oddly, even though the person had left their taxi, it appeared as though they still hadn't arrived at their destination and kept walking down the street. Even though Samba lived downtown, she didn't spend much time out and about if she could help it, usually just walking the quickest route to work or the grocery store or wherever she needed to go. As such, she wasn't familiar with this particular neighborhood. They weren't very far from the wharfs, so the salty smell of the bay was noticeable, and that accentuated the dinginess of the area. It wasn't uncommon to find graffiti on the walls, or overturned trash cans, and most of the buildings downtown were barely successful businesses, cheap apartment buildings for people who couldn't afford to live elsewhere—like Samba—or boarded up and abandoned.

And if that didn't already make the atmosphere depressing enough, it wasn't uncommon to pass along by the occasional homeless creature. While most of them were ponies, there were unfortunately a number of other creatures amongst them, likely immigrants who moved to Equestria to broaden their horizons, but found it more difficult than they anticipated and wound up without enough money to return home. Princess Twilight was known to make occasional efforts to provide sanctuary for such impoverished individuals, but could only do so much with everything else on her plate.

But the plight of the homeless wasn't necessarily Limbo and Samba's concern right now. It was pretty obvious that the person they were tailing wasn't hard up for cash considering they clearly worked for Mango Inc., so that made it even more suspicious as to why they'd come all the way downtown. They highly doubted that this person lived in this part of the city. It was possible that they were simply frugal, but that didn't explain why they were seemingly trying to conceal their identity and why they hadn't taken the taxi all the way to their destination.

"Ugh, I'm pooped," Samba puffed breathily. "With all the walking around today and the stress of being waaaaay up inside a glass tower, I could use a little rest. Maybe a hot meal, a bubble bath, a good magazine. Oh, you know what I haven't had in a long time? A hooficure. But spas are kind of expensive."

"I can treat you to supper after this if you want, but a spa trip is a little outside my budget," Limbo offered.

"What budget? You don't need food or heat."

"I buy coffee. Lots of coffee. And I still enjoy eating. My tastes buds aren't quite dead. And maybe I don't need heat, but Webber does."

"Have you ever thought about a trip to the spa, though? Might help you relax a little. Could even be good for you. A massage might loosen up your muscles, work out that rigor mortus," Samba giggled jokingly.

"I think I'm way past the point of rigor mortus. If my body becomes any looser, I might just turn into a pool of jelly. Besides, with how brittle my bones are compared to a living person, a massage might break something, which wouldn't be good for keeping my secret a secret."

"Huh. Guess I never thought about how your condition can limit you in some ways. It's kinda sad," said Samba sympathetically.

"Oh, no, I can't visit the spa and have strangers rubbing their hooves all over me," Limbo deadpanned sarcastically. "I think I can survive without it, thank you very much."

"Well, technically you didn't," Samba tittered.

Limbo glared bemusedly. "We'll be dropping this conversation now."

She turned her attention back to the task at hoof. They'd followed their target around a couple of different street corners already, but it felt like they were reaching the end of the road, so to speak. The person seemed to be making a hurried pace towards a large, non-descript, single story building at the opposite end of the street. From their position, Limbo and Samba could see through the wide window to the right of the building's front door, and several other people were present inside, though they couldn't tell what was going on in there from this distance.

Limbo guided Samba quickly to a nearby alleyway to conceal themselves, poking around the corner to keep an eye out. "I'd wager they're headed for that place."

"Looks like it. You think it's, like, a drug den or something?"

"What drug den would have a big window like that? There's plenty of places around here more discreet for drug deals."

"Maybe it's a hideout for organized crime."

"If you're referring to the mafia, then that's doubtful. There're no crime syndicates like that in Baltimare."

"Okay, well what about—"

Limbo pulled back into the alley, raising a hoof to interrupt Samba. "Alright, look, the enthusiasm's commendable, but we're not getting anywhere just throwing out theories. Whatever's going on in there, it's probably not good for us, so I think we're in an 'ask questions later' sorta scenario. Wait here."

"Huh? Wait, where are—"

Without any hesitation, Limbo started bolting down the street to catch up to the mystery person before they made it to the building. The clopping of her hooves on the pavement effectively mitigated a proper sneak attack, but she was galloping so furiously that the perp barely had time to turn around before Limbo leapt onto their back and tackled them to the ground right as they reached the sidewalk outside the building, knocking their sunglasses off in the process.

"Alright, I'm gonna have to ask that you stop struggling and cooperate!" Limbo demanded as she held the guy down.

"What are you doing?! Let me go!"

Limbo blinked, the familiar voice catching her off guard. She pulled back his hood to reveal his face, finding the vexed face of a silver unicorn stallion that she'd just spoken to half an hour ago.

Samba hurried over to assess the situation, her eyes widening in surprise when she recognized him as well. "Mr. Career?"

"They hay are you doing all the way out here?" Limbo asked.

"Oh, no, don't bother apologizing for assaulting me out of nowhere, Detective. Perfectly reasonable," he growled sarcastically.

The door in front of them opened, revealing yet another familiar face that Limbo and Samba weren't expecting to see: Mango Career's own brother, wearing an off white apron and his thick mane stuffed into a hair net.

"What's going on out here?" asked Leaf, befuddled by the sight of his older brother being pinned down by Limbo.

"Leaf? Uh, well, this is awkward," said Limbo. "We followed your brother out here because he looked suspicious with this getup. I didn't realize it was him until now. I kinda thought it might be the Ghost or something."

"Well, obviously not," Career grumbled. "Now, will you please get off of me!"

Limbo did as he commanded and stood up, allowing Career to stand and dust himself off while casting her an irate scowl.

"So, what are you doing out here, Mr. Career?" asked Samba. "And you for that matter, Leaf?"

"We volunteer here regularly," Leaf answered.

Limbo cocked an eyebrow. "'Volunteer'?"

"Yeah. This is a soup kitchen."

Limbo and Samba peered through the window. The group of people they'd seen inside were actually a bunch of shaggy-looking creatures in tattered clothes, presumably homeless or impoverished people. They were all sat around with bowls of stew, though their attention was currently focused on the two mares staring back at them and the commotion coming from outside.

"Oh. Not what I was expecting," muttered Limbo.

"Hopefully that's enough to quell any suspicion," Career grumbled. He picked up his sunglasses and tucked them into his hoodie's pocket, removing his thin spectacles instead. However, he grimaced when he spotted a crack in one of the lenses, shooting another irate glower at Limbo.

Limbo grinned awkwardly. "I'll, uh... I'll pay for those. No hard feelings?"

Career sighed, putting his broken glasses on. "Just count yourself lucky that you're helping me with the Ghost situation. Otherwise, you'd need to compensate for more than just my glasses."

Limbo pouted in annoyance at his attitude. "Yeesh, jump down my throat for doing my job, why don'tcha? You're the one who looked like a junkie looking for his next fix."

"Why are you dressed like that anyway?" asked Samba. "I doubt this is your casual attire."

"It isn't, no," he replied. "But why don't we continue this conversation inside? There are people waiting for their food."

"Uh, sure," Limbo agreed.

The four ponies entered the building. Not surprisingly, the interior was pretty bare bones. All the homeless people present likely didn't care about presentation as long as they got their food. Most of them were seated at long cafeteria tables and enjoying their meals, though some of them were still eyeing up the two mares that had just showed up. On the left side of the building was a separate room, but with a large, open window giving full view of the kitchen inside from where the cooks passed the food to the visitors, a short line of a half a dozen people waiting outside for Leaf to return. Currently, the earthy smell of vegetable stew wafted out from the kitchen, only barely overpowering the smell of dirt and grime coming from the people who were eating it. Of note, there was nopony else in the kitchen.

Leaf and Career went into the kitchen, the latter removing his hoodie and hanging it up, replacing it with an apron and hair net of his own as Leaf went back to pouring up stew for the hungry vagrants.

Limbo leaned on the counter looking into the kitchen. "So, you two help out the homeless, huh?"

"Every now and then," said Leaf.

"That's pretty noble. Big corporate man helping out the less fortunate," Limbo commended with a nod. However, she quirked an eyebrow at Leaf as she recalled something. "Hold up, you were supposed to drop those files off at my place. You didn't forget, did you?"

He gave her a facetious scowl. "Of course not. I dropped 'em off before I came here. What, you don't trust me?"

Limbo held up her hooves to diffuse him. "Chill out, just making sure. That stuff is important to the case, that's all." She eyed up a bowl of stew as Leaf passed it to a weary pegasus. "That looks pretty tasty. Can I get a bowl?"

"The food here's for homeless folk, Limbo. I know you don't know what a comb is, but looking scruffy isn't enough to get you free food," Leaf quipped with a playful smirk.

Limbo chuckled, brushing the insult off. "Yeah, well, I have to replace your brother's glasses, so I might have to skip a meal or two to make up for it."

Leaf chuckled. "Alright, I'll get you some pity stew. What about you, Samba? You, uh... kinda look like you belong here too," he snickered, gesturing to her mane.

"Huh?" Samba pulled a leaf out of her hair, giggling awkwardly. "Fair point, but I'm good. Save it for the people who need it."

"We have plenty, but whatever you say," Leaf said with a shrug as he passed a bowl to Limbo.

Limbo chomped down on a mouthful of broth and mixed vegetables, moaning contentedly. "Mmm, tha'sh good stuff," she complimented as she chewed. "Might not be so bad to be homeless if I would get to eat this stuff everyday." She glanced to the line of people standing next to her, who were giving her the stink eye. She grinned awkwardly. "Uh, I'm joking. I'm sure life is tough for you guys, heh."

"To answer your question from before, my attire was to conceal my identity," Career told them as he stirred the pot of stew. "Admittedly, I guess it does make me look a tad shady."

"But why do you want to hide yourself?" questioned Samba. "I figured it'd be good press if people knew you were doing this."

"That's just the problem. You may recall that Princess Twilight's altruism is a great source of inspiration for me. If I publicize this, there will be people who assume I'm doing it for the sole purpose of improving my public image."

"I mean, your public image is already pretty positive. People think spellphones are one of the greatest inventions in history."

"You seemed to be pretty concerned about your public image after your device was stolen, though," Limbo pointed out with a skeptical glare. "Seems to me like you could use the boost. At least, if your interpretation of the situation is accurate."

Career narrowed his eyes right back at her. "Are you implying something, Detective?"

"She's saying your façade is starting to show cracks," Leaf sneered.

Career turned his glower at his brother. "Excuse me?"

"For as much as you talk about altruism, that's all it really is: talk."

"I'm sorry, who's the one who pays for all the food we offer here? Are you saying this is selfish?" Career argued as he delivered a bowl of stew to an uncomfortable-looking zebra.

"Altruism implies that you put others before yourself. I've gotten a few texts from friends who work for you saying that things have been a nightmare since the Spellmet was stolen. I honestly wasn't even expecting you to come out here today."

"You don't understand the stress I'm under right now, Leaf," Career argued adamantly. "I have to focus on the Spellmet. I can't help make Equestria a better place if my company is under attack by this controversy."

"Yeah? Then how do you explain leaving me out of everything before that? Not keeping me updated, not asking for input, not even including me in the discussion of naming the thing! You claim to be putting Equestria first, but you're just ignoring your own little brother."

Samba leaned over to Limbo, whispering to her uncomfortably. "Think we should leave?"

Limbo waved her off, spooning some veggies into her mouth. "Just let this play out. See where it goes."

"See what you're doing?" Leaf said, gesturing to the awkward looks they were getting from the other people in the building. "All you're doing is making a scene."

Career rolled his eyes and adjusted his glasses. "Perhaps you'd prefer if I just went back to the office. I didn't have to take time out of my day to come here. I do have more pressing issues to address, no offence to anycreature here."

"Oh, yeah, that sounds like altruism alright," Leaf quipped sarcastically.

"Maybe it's not my place to say, but I feel like this isn't the place to be doing this," Samba interjected sympathetically.

"When else can we do this?" said Leaf with a stubborn grimace. "I only ever see Mango anymore when we're here, or at events like the Magi-Tech Expo so that he has his legion of supporters behind him to make me look like the bad guy. His 'altruism' is a trump card he keeps tucked in his sleeve to play when the time is right."

"You know, I can flip this right back on you, Leaf," Career snipped. "Nothing is stopping you from coming to visit once in a while. You never needed an invite."

"Well, unlike you, I can't exactly afford to take time off. You can skip a day of work here and there because you've got hundreds of employees to keep the work going. Nopony's gonna pay my bills but me."

"Then why are you arguing about this?! It sounds like you wouldn't even accept an invitation if I offered it!"

"That's not the point, Mango! We can talk on the phone, text each other. All you had to do is text me, 'Hey, is Spellmet a stupid name?' and we might not be having this argument."

Career turned away with a grimace, a hint of remorse on his face. "I... suppose I could have made more of an effort. But you have to understand that I'm very stressed out currently and these sorts of discussions aren't helping."

"It sounds like you both need to cool your heads," Limbo butted in as she casually munched on vegetables.

"What are you, a psychiatrist?" Leaf grumbled. "This isn't a family therapy session."

"She has a point, though," Samba added. "You're both here to help other people, so can't you try to put your squabbling aside for now?"

"That would probably be for the best," Career agreed, noting all the awkwardness hanging in the air. If even a bunch of homeless folks looked too uncomfortable to enjoy their food, then that was probably a sign that they should tone it down a smidge. "I think we need more potatoes. I'll run down to the cellar and grab some."

Leaf quickly held out a hoof to stop him. "I'll take care of it. Serving soup is probably less taxing than lugging around a sack of potatoes. Not to sound condescending, but I'm just trying to lighten your load a little," he said remorsefully.

Career sighed. "I appreciate that."

Limbo and Samba watched as Leaf entered a door in the kitchen leading to a stairwell, presumably down into the aforementioned cellar.

"I feel like we may have overstayed our welcome," Samba stated with a sympathetic frown.

"I'd understand if you want to leave. I suppose I did end up wasting your time by looking suspicious."

"Hey, I ain't complainin'," said Limbo with a mouthful of food. "This is tasty stuff. So you guys provide all the food here yourself, or is this, like, one of those non-profit organization type dealies?"

"It's really just Leaf and I. He spends more time here than I do, especially since I've got a business to run and he's a better cook than I've ever been anyway. Leaf handles the actually ordering and receiving of the shipments, but we arranged it to come out of my own pocket." Career breathed a somewhat weary sigh. "It's been getting more and more expensive though. Not that it's threatening my bank account or anything, but I'm starting to feel like—with how strained our relationship has become—he might be gouging me out of spite."

"All the more reason to try and talk this whole thing out, right?" Samba suggested with sympathy. "But I guess that's not really our business. We should probably go, Limbo," she urged her.

Limbo grumbled as she continued to munch. "At least let me finish this bowl."

***** ***** *****

As long of a trek as it was, Limbo and Samba decided to walk the distance back to Limbo's apartment. It was a nice enough day, and they had nothing else to do for the time being. But despite the comparatively little progress they'd made today, Limbo still had a smile on her face as they casually sauntered down the sidewalk.

"I think this has been a pretty good day overall," Limbo commented with a satisfied grin.

Samba grimaced in response. "That's easy for you to say. You've been getting free food all day while I've had to accept my newly-budding acrophobia."

"Hey, Leaf offered you a bowl of stew and you turned it down. That's your fault." Limbo held a hoof to her stomach with a puff. "That stew was pretty heavy though. Might take my decrepit stomach a while to process it."

"Poor baby," Samba deadpanned sarcastically.

"Look, maybe you should've just taken a bowl. I know I promised to treat you to supper today, but I need to pay Career for a new pair of glasses. And knowing those rich business types, I bet those specs cost a small fortune just to replace a lens. I might have to set up a payment plan with him to pay it off," she groaned. "Seriously, they're super thin. Why would they be so expensive?"

"You don't know how expensive they are. You're just making assumptions."

"What, you think Career skimps when it comes to his eyesight? You saw his office. He tinkers with all the little bits and pieces of spellphones and junk."

Samba rubbed her neck with an embarrassed blush. "Uh, well, I barely noticed what was in his office. My eyes were kinda locked onto the window against my own will."

"You gonna be okay hanging at my place?"

Samba grimaced crookedly. "Only if you don't phrase it like that."

Limbo waved off any nervousness she felt. "Just stay away from the window. You'll never know you're on the fifth floor."

"You're not helping," Samba grumbled.

"Relax, would ya? We're gonna be too preoccupied to think about it anyway since we'll be neck deep in those files from town hall."

"Well, I don't know how much help I'm gonna be with that. I soon have to head home and get ready for work at The Brewery." She tugged at a small twig that was still tangled in her mane. "I might need more time than usual to fix this."

"True. Truth be told, I might not even be able to do much with them either. If the jittering I've been feeling inside my skull is any indication, Webber's gonna be too distracting for me to focus."

"That's what you get for feeding a spider soda," Samba scolded.

"I don't need you getting on my case about it, 'Mom.' It's bad enough that I've had to endure this since. Do you know how weird it feels to have the eight little legs of a caffeine-fueled arachnid skittering around on your brain?"

Samba shuddered. "I'd rather think about being back on the eightieth floor of Mango Inc. No offence to Webber."

Limbo twitched suddenly. "Eugh. Well, it feels like he took offence. Like a frickin' spellphone set to vibrate in there. And the caller ain't hanging up until I answer. Apologize, please, before my vision starts to blur."

"Uh, sorry, Webber. If, uh... If I ever end up like Limbo, you can, um... totally crawl on my brain. Ugh..." Samba blanched at the thought of it, even though it was an empty promise.

Limbo turned her eye up, pursing her lips as she waited. "Alright, that seems to have calmed him down. You know, you're pretty good with him. You're, like, a spider whisperer."

"You, uh... don't have to call me that. Ever," she told her with mild disgust, knowing that Webber couldn't see her. At this point she was eager to change the subject. "So, uh... What are we hoping to learn from the citizen records anyway?"

"Anything, really. One of the changelings working for Mango Inc. is the Ghost, we know that. Performing a cursory background check could help us narrow down our list of suspects, though I'm probably gonna want to interrogate all of them anyway, just in case."

"Kinda sucks that tailing Career lead nowhere," Samba said with a sigh. "So much for that pattern you were hoping for, huh?"

"He's not out of the hot water yet," Limbo replied sternly. "It might be a kind gesture to help those poor people out, but he was still blatantly ignoring the task at hoof, even immediately after our discussion about it. So I still think we need to keep our eyes on—"

Limbo thought was cut off by the loud sound of sirens coming from behind them. The two mares stopped, watching as a series red and white carriages belonging to the Baltimare Fire Department sped by, being towed by stallions in fire retardant uniforms. The carriages turned the corner at the end of the block, disappearing from sight.

"Wonder where they're headed," Limbo pondered.

"To a fire probably."

"Yeah, no dur, smart alleck."

"Wanna check it out?" Samba asked with curiosity.

Limbo chuckled, looking a little surprised. "Never took you for one who liked to watch the world burn. Well, sure, whatever. It's on the way to my place, so why not?"

They quickened their pace only a little to see if they could catch a glimpse of where the carriages were going. If they happened to go past Limbo's building, then they probably wouldn't bother trying to chase them down. As they rounded the next few street corners, Limbo and Samba started to notice the plumes of smoke rising up above the buildings. The fire was pretty close by apparently, and not far from Limbo's place it would seem. But as they reached the final corner, Limbo and Samba were slowed down by a large crowd of creatures who had already gathered there.

And then the horrifying truth was made apparent.

The carriages were parked outside Limbo's building, the firefighters valiantly attempting to douse the blaze with their fire hoses. A portion of the building was engulfed in flames, but instead of a fiery orange, the building was spewing vibrant, otherworldly flames of red and blue. Several apartments on one floor seemed to be where the fire was centralized. And as it so happened, that was the fifth floor.

Samba looked on in terror. "I-Isn't that your apartment, Limbo?"

Limbo just stared, slack-jawed and stunned with disbelief. "M-My apartment! My leads!" She fell to her knees as the realization hit her. "My mug collection!"