CRISIS: Equestria - Divergence, Book 2

by GanonFLCL

Chapter Three: Together

One Week Later

New Pandemonium City's airport was located in the southernmost sector of the city, located adjacent to the Gate District that served as its entrance and exit. The surrounding architecture was quite different from the rest of the city. Instead of towering skyscrapers made of black steel and red concrete, the structures and streets here were made of durasteel and colored silver. There wasn't an ounce of filth or smog to be found, and the air smelled faintly of a hospital: sterile and clean.

If Havoc wasn't so used to the living conditions in Pandora Tower, she'd find the place mildly disturbing. It was just so unnaturally neat and tidy, uncanny in a way she couldn't really describe. Even the Inner Districts weren't this clean, and that was saying something considering how the rich elite tended to live in their ritzy penthouses with abundant public servants to clean up after them.

She'd dressed for the occasion, which meant wearing her casual clothes that she wore on a typical day-to-day basis when she wasn't out in the Wastelands exterminating bugs. The outfit was simple: a classic black varsity jacket with her initial on it, with a white t-shirt beneath that. It wouldn't do to be wearing her military-issue gear along for the journey; she hadn't even packed it.

She just had to remember not to use her fire powers at all on this trip, since they were supposed to originate from her gear's "experimental weapon system". No problem, she figured; when would she have the desire or opportunity to use them anyway? She brought a lighter with her if she needed a smoke, so there shouldn't be any other reason to light up.

At the moment she stood alongside Dawn and Curaçao as they waited for Gray to say her goodbyes to Flathoof and his family while they made ready to leave. She could only just barely hear the conversation over the hustle and bustle of the crowd around them by the airport entrance.

"You don't have to stay here, you know?" Flathoof said, holding Gray's hoof in his own. "I'm sure arrangements could be made so that you could come with us. Curaçao seems pretty resourceful."

Gray shook her head. "It's… complicated right now, I think. She told me that they're already pushing their luck with the arrangement as it is. Me coming along too might screw things up for what they're working on."

He sighed. "Are you sure there's nothing anypony can do? I don't like seeing you upset like this."

"Just… just drop it, okay? It's not your fault, and I don't want you and your family to feel down just because I'm not coming along. I'm sure something can be figured out eventually." She looked at the rest of his family with a sad smile. "You guys all take care of yourselves down there, okay? Everything I've heard makes me think you'll be much better off than you are in this dump."

Shortcake put a hoof over her heart. "Oh, Gray, honey, I wish there was something we could do. You've been so good to all of us, especially to my son. You're a part of this family as far as I'm concerned," she said, giving Flathoof a look that he seemed to consciously ignore. "Maybe not officially, yet. But still."

"You're going to be okay here, right?" asked Stouthoof.

Gray smiled and shook her head. "Don't worry about me, okay? I'll be fine where I am. I just want the best for all of you." She let out a breath. "But, uh… I'd better let you guys all get going. You've got a flight to catch. Most important flight of your lives."

"We're gonna miss you, Miss Skies," said Shorthoof. He was the only pony Havoc knew that was allowed to call Gray that.

"You too, little guy," she said back with a grin as she tousled his mane. "Keep up with your schooling, yeah?"

Pattycake pulled a small package out of her bags and passed it to Gray. "I made this for you last night, Gray. I figured that since we're leaving this dump, I wouldn't need to save up a lot of money. So, I spent what I had on getting the ingredients. They're your favorite cookies: classic chocolate chip. Real chocolate!"

Gray smiled and took the package under her wing. "Thanks, Pattycake. You didn't need to do that for me."

"Sure I did. You're like the big sister I never had, and sisters take care of each other."

Havoc noticed Gray tense up a little and… was she tearing up? "Yeah. That is what they're supposed to do…"

Thickhoof offered Gray his hoof. "Don't look so glum, Gray. You'll see us again, I'm sure of it."

Gray took his hoof and gave it a firm shake. "Yeah… someday soon, I hope." She then turned to Lockwood. "And you, you'd better take care of these guys for me, alright? You've already done more for them than I think anypony could, but I'd better not find out they're anything but happy after all this."

Lockwood chuckled. "I promise, this will all work out in the end, for everypony. I've taken care of everything." He tilted his head slightly. "I'm… sorry things didn't work out perfectly, though. I thought for sure—"

"It's not your fault, bud. You're just looking out for your family." She clapped him on the shoulder. "Things'll work out eventually. Just… not yet."

"Well, take it from me when I say that I firmly believe you'll all be reunited again. I happen to know a pony who was separated from their partner for quite a long while, but eventually they made it back to one another." He gave her a wink. "I'm sure it won't take quite so long in your case, though."

"Heh… thanks. And hey, no more risky business," she added. "I don't want to hear that you locked yourself in a room with a criminal again any time soon."

"Depends on your definition of 'criminal', I suppose," he replied with a mischievous grin, as if he'd just told some inside joke that nopony understood but him.

Flathoof took Gray's hoof in his again. "I'll do whatever I can to keep in touch with you, okay? I'm sure something can be arranged once we all get settled in. I promise."

"I know you will," Gray replied with a nod. "Once I figure things out, I…" She paused and gulped. "I'm just… at a loss for what to do now. I finally thought I had things figured out, but—"

Flathoof leaned in and as if it were totally normal kissed her right on the lips, ignoring both the withering stare from Havoc and the kind grins, giggles, and looks of approval his family was giving him. Havoc wanted nothing but the best for her sister, and hoped that Flathoof wasn't getting fresh with her just to look good in front of his parents.

"Don't stress out over it," he said when he pulled away. "We'll figure things out together. Okay? This isn't goodbye, not for good."

She nodded. "Okay…" She then cleared her throat. "Well, you guys better get going. I'll see you around." She then swiftly turned and walked towards Havoc and the others, pulling up her hood in the process so that nopony could see her face clearly. It looked like she was barely resisting the urge to cry.

"Don't worry, sis," Havoc said, reaching up to pat her sister's shoulder. "We'll get things sorted and make it all work out, I'm sure of it."

"Thanks, Havoc," Gray muttered.

Curaçao cleared her throat. "I'm sorry things had to work out this way—"

Gray turned on Curaçao in an instant. "Save it. I don't want to hear how 'sorry' you are. You got what you wanted out of all of this." She poked Curaçao in the chest hard enough to push her back. "Next time you want to play your political games, though, let me know if it's going to ruin the only good thing I have going for me."

"It's not too late to trade with me," Havoc offered, glad that Gray wasn't mad at her for all this. She'd had nothing to do with it so she didn't see why Gray would, but she was glad all the same. Gray was scary when she was mad.

"Don't bother, Havoc," Gray snorted. "You've got your own role to play in this bullshit too, just another pawn in the game. I wouldn't want to step on anypony's hooves."

Dawn huffed and leveled a glare at Gray. "Gray, your attitude is unbecoming. This situation requires a delicate touch in order to advance our agenda, which I remind you was our father's last wish before his ascension."

"Don't bring Dad into this, dude," Havoc chided.

"I am in firm agreement with Curaçao's decision; her plan is sound. Your opinion on the matter is irrelevant." Dawn stuck her nose in the air. "I think an apology is in order."

Gray just stared at their youngest sister in disbelief, then shook her head and walked off without another word.

"Gray! Apologize to your sister this instant!" Dawn hissed, probably to avoid drawing attention.

Curaçao set her hoof on Dawn's shoulder. "Don't worry, Dawn. I will talk to notre soeur privately. She is upset with me, and I do not blame her one bit. C'est ma faute, après tout. I am the one who needs to apologize, and I will take it upon myself to make amends with her."

"I disagree wholeheartedly. She is acting in an irrational fashion. I do not understand why Captain Flathoof's departure would cause such a hostile reaction." Dawn shook her head. "Regardless, there is no changing the situation as it is now. Make her see reason, Curaçao. I will not have her acting this way when I return."

Curaçao looked slightly uncomfortable with the lingering aura of command with which Dawn had said "Make her", but nodded anyway.

Havoc ran a hoof over her face, in complete disbelief that her braniac sister was so stupid sometimes. "Speaking of departures, are you sure Gray can't just trade with me? I still don't understand why I have to go. You guys know I'm not the diplomatic one no matter how you toss it."

Curaçao gave Havoc a small smile. "Do not sell yourself short, ma sœur. You've spent most of the past year building a good reputation for yourself, and for us. I'm certain that a chance to meet you would be quite an enticing prospect for the queen and her councilors, even if you don't. We need all the good will we can get."

"Fine, fine, I get it. But why does she need to come too, then?" Havoc asked, gesturing dismissively at Dawn.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Because if anypony is responsible for negotiating diplomatic ties between our city and Hope's Point, it should and will be me. Her Majesty Queen Blackburn will require a pony in a position of power to negotiate with, and there is no more suitable candidate than the Committee's Shadow Associate."

"Oh no, I get all that shit. My question is why do you need to come?" Havoc gestured at Curaçao. "You can just shapeshift into her, right? And you already know more about this Blackburn chick than anypony else, and you're actually friends with Lockwood. Seems to me that you'd be more suited for this."

"That is not how I desire this situation to proceed," Dawn said through gritted teeth. "Curaçao will remain here and impersonate me in front of the Committee. Beyond that, there are other assignments ahead of her that she must be present here to complete, and thus she cannot depart."

"So that's it, then? I'm stuck going on this trip with Dawn because there's no other way?"

Dawn glared. "If it troubles you that much, sister, I would not object if you preferred to remain here."

"Oh, I bet you'd love that," Havoc snorted.

"Did I stutter?"

Curaçao sighed and pressed a hoof to her temple. "Je suis entouré de poulains. Both of you, please, just… could you at least pretend to tolerate one another for a few weeks? S'il vous plaît?" She looked at Dawn especially now. "Remember, this is Papa's last wish for us."

Havoc narrowed her eyes at Dawn. "Oh, you can count on me to make this whole plan of yours work, sis. I think I've proven myself reliable enough, even if Dawn doesn't think so."

"Proven yourself as a violent barbarian capable of slaughtering mutated arachnids, perhaps," Dawn retorted. "But if our sister believes that your presence will improve these diplomatic proceedings, then I will make an attempt to tolerate your boorishness for a time, so long as you do not embarrass me."

"You'll do that just fine on your own, you stuck-up—"

"I think it's about time to board the flight," Curaçao interjected, putting a hoof over Havoc's mouth. "Best of luck, both of you. I have utmost faith in your success."

Havoc and Dawn continued to glare at one another for a moment, then they both grunted, grabbed their suitcases, and headed off after the Hoof Family for the docking hangar. From there, it was just a matter of boarding the airship and taking their seats, following along with the rest of the crowd of well-to-do ponies, some of whom had nearly as much luggage as the entire Hoof Family combined.

The airship itself was hardly an impressive sight as far as Havoc was concerned, but the Hoof Family, save Flathoof and Lockwood, seemed to have quite the opposite opinion, gaping at the contraption like it was something truly wonderful. Really, it was nothing more than a giant, rust-colored box with rudimentary wings and engines that would let it achieve flight, and that wasn't an exaggeration; they had the unofficial nickname of "boxship" for a reason.

Havoc had glimpsed a few Hope's Point airships over the past few months, and those looked much more impressive.

The inside of the ship was even less impressive than the poorly-maintained exterior was. Havoc had never been on one of the city's buses before, but knew their reputation as dirty, cramped vehicles that made you wish you could walk just a little faster; she was glad she could fly wherever she needed to go, even with the stupid air traffic laws. This airship was so tightly-packed and unclean that she started to feel her claustrophobia acting up just a little. She was positive the stain on the floor in front of the aisle where her seat was was dried vomit that had been shoddily cleaned.

And it was crowded, packed to the absolute brim with other ponies. Havoc knew some of them were just rich snobs going on vacation, with maybe a few here and there being traders that would stock up on goods to fly back on a cargo transport. Maybe, just maybe, there would be a pony here that was doing the same thing she and her traveling party were doing: making a trip to Hope's Point. Most did it by land, but some could afford to go by air. In either case, it was unpleasantly warm in the passenger cabin, and obnoxiously noisy, and even just a little bit smelly.

"This is so exciting," said Shortcake as she took her seat, barely able to squeeze into it next to her husband thanks to her… gifted figure. "I can't believe we're really doing this. Oh my stars, my heart is pounding." She started fanning herself excitedly. "So exciting!"

"Have either of you ever been on one of these things before?" asked Stouthoof, turning to Dawn and Havoc. "Figured I'd ask, since we don't know you too well yet. I'll admit, I'm just a little nervous flying on an airship for the first time. Us earth ponies prefer to stay on the ground."

"This will be my inaugural experience with flight, actually," Dawn said with a polite smile. "Apart from some rudimentary spellwork to attempt flight in a similar vein to pegasi, of course, which was unfortunately a pale imitation of the legitimate ordeal and met with uninspired results."

Stouthoof blinked. "I have no idea what you just said, but you said it so politely that I've gotta assume it was supposed to be reassuring."

"It's my first time on one of these too," Havoc said with a nod before Dawn could open her mouth again. "But I'm used to flying, so I'm not bothered by it. You'll be fine, though, I'm sure of it. Rich ponies take these flights all the time, right? It can't be that bad if they keep going back and forth for vacations."

And then the flight started, and Havoc immediately regretted her reassurances. The flight was, in a word, bumpy. At first the passenger cabin shook and rumbled like a chariot riding along a particularly old cobblestone road that was in desperate need of maintenance. This was no trouble for Havoc, nothing worse than flying on a windy day out in the Wastelands.

Dawn, she noticed, did not share that sentiment at all, and in fact looked just a little pale.

Havoc leaned over and set her hoof on Dawn's shoulder. "Hey, you're not feeling airsick, are you, sis?" she chortled.

"N-no," Dawn muttered. "Just… just some slight discomfort. It will pass in time."

This ordeal went on for hours, surprisingly. Finally, Havoc could see out the small window that the ship had passed over the Wastelands and made it to the ocean. Impressive time in a vacuum, considering an average pegasus would take four days at a minimum to make the same flight, assuming minimum time taken out for breaks and sleeping. Rainbow Dash might be able to make the entire flight in a single day, maybe a day-and-a-half; Havoc had timed herself on the same trip and managed it in just over forty-eight hours at her best.

I'll catch up to you one of these days, Dash. I swear it.

Then, an announcement came over the cabin's loudspeaker. "Attention passengers, this is your captain speaking. We are now approaching the Belt of Tranquility and will be activating our defensive shields. Please fasten your seatbelts, as things might get a little bumpy."

If what was coming was considered "a little bumpy", Havoc wondered what the hell the captain would say to describe the trip so far.

Havoc watched everypony in the cabin do as they were instructed, and she followed suit before returning to looking out the window. She'd only ever seen the Belt from a distance, where it looked like nothing more than a far-off storm across the planet's equator, but she knew that it was something much less mundane than that.

As they approached, she got a good, clear look at it, and saw it was much, much more than just a storm. Yes, there were dark storm clouds across the entire horizon for as far as she could see; yes, there was plenty of lightning and at an alarming frequency. But more than that, there was fire. Great, swirling vortices of flame that streamed up and, to Havoc's surprise, followed the ship. The lightning did much the same, she noticed, visibly snaking through the clouds towards the ship as though it were alive.

And with each strike, she saw a flash of gold shimmer outside the ship as its energy shields protected the vulnerable metal box from harm. Mostly, anyway. The impact was still substantial enough that the entire ship shook violently with every lash of flame and bolt of lightning. To Havoc, it felt like the most severe turbulence she'd ever experienced, but nothing too terrible.

The rest of the Hoof Family were in various states of unrest, however. Shortcake clung desperately to her husband, looking legitimately frightened by the whole ordeal. Stouthoof kept a stonish expression on his face as he held his wife's hoof, but Havoc could see in his eyes that he was just as scared. Thickhoof had sunk into his seat and was staring straight ahead, eyes wide with concern. Pattycake had closed her eyes and clenched her teeth, apparently hoping the sensations would go away. Shorthoof, surprisingly, had his mouth open in awe as he bounced about, like he was on a rollercoaster, looking like he was barely restraining himself from cheering.

Flathoof and Lockwood's reactions surprised her as well. The former kept the same look on his face that his father had, only with much less fear in his eyes. Havoc wondered if he had ever flown with Gray before and thus had a little experience with rough flights—Gray was not the acrobatic flyer she was, after all. Lockwood, as a pegasus, should've been handling this all about as well as Havoc, but he looked about as spooked as Thickhoof was, honestly. What a creampuff.

Then, a glance at Dawn told Havoc that the Hoof Family were made of some pretty stern stuff, relatively speaking, because to Dawn this was clearly a truly horrifying experience. Her face was ghostly white, and sweat was trickling down her temples like it was a sweltering summer day. She clutched the rests alongside her seat with a vice-like grip, hard enough that her hooves were digging into the cushion. She was breathing so rapidly and heavily that Havoc thought her lungs would just pop right out of her chest at any second.

That's when Havoc got an idea. A wonderful, awful, no-good, terrific idea. "You're sure you're not feeling just a liiittle airsick, sis?" she asked with a sinister grin.

Dawn licked her lips. "I… am fine. Thank you."

"Hmm, I dunno, it kinda looks like you could just, I dunno, hurl at any second now," Havoc said, leaning in close to Dawn's ear. "Y'know, just puke your guts out right here. Get a little throwup action going on—"

Dawn instantly put her hooves over her stomach; Havoc could hear the sheer discomfort oozing from every fiber of her sister's being. "Please… do not talk about—"

"Say, you're the smart one, maybe you'd know what other words there are for vomit?" Havoc muttered, tapping her chin without dropping her grin at all. "Blow chunks? Spew? Get sick? Toss your cookies? Ooh! I know just the one." She then made a mocking retching sound right in Dawn's ear. "Barrrf!"

Dawn's stomach rumbled, and without a word she unbuckled her seatbelt and sprinted for the airship's restroom. She moved at a speed that Havoc was certain would make even Rainbow jealous, a magical field over her mouth to keep it all in. Satisfied with her mischief, Havoc set her hooves behind her head and leaned back with a content sigh, taking advantage of the sudden, substantial increase in leg room, then closed her eyes and drifted off for a little catnap.

Dawn did not return until almost an hour later, shortly after the airship finished crossing through the storm.

Havoc had already woken up by then and let Dawn into her seat without a fuss. "Feeling better?" she asked with the best shit-eating grin she could manage.

"You are contemptible, and I despise you…" Dawn mumbled without looking at Havoc, her face still as pale as a sheet and drenched with sweat.

The ship landed a couple of hours later, but before it did, Havoc got a chance to look out the window and catch a glimpse of the southern continent's coastline for the first time. To say she was awed wouldn't do it justice. It was just so… green. Like nothing she'd ever seen before or had even imagined. There were vast fields of grass as far as the eye could see, dotted with trees—real trees of all species—that stood as tall as houses and then some.

The ocean here was different too, not the sickening greens and purples of the northern sea, but a healthy, vibrant blue with calm, soothing waves rather than a frothy, stormy mess. The sands on the beach were a bright white rather than the dirty browns of the northern continent's coastline, and the colorful ponies down below sat on colorful towels and under colorful umbrellas that were clear and easy to see from even this great distance.

And then there was the sky, clear and blue with fluffy white clouds. More than that, there was the sun, a brilliant burning orb that hovered high in the sky. It was so bright that Havoc couldn't even look directly at it without hurting her eyes, but she wanted to do so all the same. Even through the window she could feel the delightful warmth, and marveled at the sunbeam that shined through into her lap and pleasantly toasted her legs.

For the first time, Havoc understood why ponies really wanted to come down here. It was… beautiful. She was almost sad that she'd be going back across the equator soon to make for Hope's Point, which could never hope to compare to the southern lands no matter how good it was. She hadn't even disembarked from the airship yet and she already felt freer than she'd ever felt before. She couldn't wait to smell the air.

She noted that the port town of Newhaven was nowhere near as advanced technologically as New Pandemonium was. The tallest buildings she could see were barely two stories high, and they were all made of old-world materials like wood and stone. It was like stepping into a storybook about a world long gone, and yet here it was right in front of her.

But then, there was the actual port, which was just as advanced as the city she remembered, and it was here the airship landed, finding an open-top docking hangar to descend into with ease. From there, it was a simple matter of disembarking from the airship and making their way into the port's large transitional area, which contained wide corridors that led to all of the other docking hangars.

The air, by the way, smelled… indescribable. There were scents in the air that she'd never smelled before and couldn't put to words. She'd smelled some of the north's attempts to replicate these scents with air fresheners, but there was no equivalent to real grass, real pine, real seawater, all of it together in a medley of sheer legitimacy that would burn a hole in Havoc's brain forever.

Havoc watched the Hoof Family with amusement. Even Flathoof, who had looked at the airship earlier like just another piece of everyday technology, seemed amazed by what he saw here. The family pressed themselves against the glass windows of the corridor to look out towards the town in the distance, eyes wide with wonder as they saw the same things that she'd seen from the airship window but from much closer.

"It's so green!" said Pattycake with awe. "I never knew there was so much green anywhere in the world!"

"Is that really what the sky looks like?" asked Shortcake, tugging his mother's blouse. "Is that what it looks like behind all that orange stuff back home?"

"Maybe it is," answered Shortcake, sounding every bit like she hadn't the slightest clue and was just as curious. "Wow… this place certainly is amazing, isn't it?"

"Tell me again why we're not staying here?" asked Stouthoof, nudging Lockwood.

Lockwood tilted his head. "I mean, you can, eventually, if that's what you want to do. I won't blame you if you want to come live here in the south after a while." He shook his head and grinned as he looked out the window. "Seeing it for yourself is… a lot different than just hearing about it. I honestly can't believe it after everything I've heard over the years."

"It looks a lot like how Applejack used to talk about her home, doesn't it?" Flathoof muttered, scratching his chin. "Kind of makes you think…"

"Oh! Do you think we could visit Applejack?" Pattycake blurted. "She moved back here earlier this year, right? I'm sure she'd love to see us. I know we've got to go back north soon, but maybe we can come visit later?"

Lockwood, Flathoof, Dawn, and Havoc all shared the briefest of glances. "I'll see if I can figure something out," Lockwood said, covertly tugging at his collar. "The southern continent is huge, you know, and they don't have the technology we do up north that would make it easy to find out where she is. Like finding a… what was the expression? A needle in a haystack?"

"Oh yeah, it might be super hard to find her," Flathoof said with a sagely nod. "We'll worry about that some other time, though. We're not supposed to be here long, are we? Maybe in a few years after we get settled in our new home and everything."

Lockwood glanced at his watch and nodded. "Speaking of which, our flight to Hope's Point is scheduled to land in about twenty minutes in Hangar Nine. We should get a move on so we're not keeping anypony waiting."

"Oof, not even enough time for lunch, huh?" Havoc asked. She smirked and nudged Dawn in the ribs, gently enough not to hurt but hard enough to notice. "What a shame, right sis? Maybe get a little grub on and fill that tummy up for another flight?"

Dawn audibly gulped. "I believe it would be prudent to embark upon our flight and subsequently dine after landing at our destination. And perhaps not broach the subject of sustenance, for that matter, until such a time."

"Are you going to be alright?" Thickhoof asked, tilting his head. "You look a little pale, Miss Dawn."

"Aw, she'll be just fine," Havoc chuckled. She shifted her look towards Lockwood. "Well, lead the way, Dreamboat. You seem to have a better idea where we're going than anypony else."

Lockwood mouthed "Dreamboat?" to himself silently, then shook his head and gestured with his wing for the others to follow. "Well, alright everypony, follow me. I mean, this is my first time here just like all of you, but I got some pretty good directions from my contacts so I think I've got it all figured out from here."

Havoc didn't mind what anypony might think about her nickname for Lockwood, really, but if anypony other than him noticed they didn't comment on it. She knew well enough by now from Curaçao's reports that Lockwood was off the market. She was totally over him by this point, anyway.

Well, maybe not totally totally. She couldn't help herself from checking out his cute ass as she followed behind him towards the hangar, and usually found herself staring at those pretty golden eyes of his whenever she got the chance. Whoever this "Thunderbolt" mare was that had snagged him first was a lucky bitch, that much was for sure.

The hangar bay they arrived at was currently empty, so they proceeded to the small waiting area nearby and checked in with the dock worker before taking some seats and waiting for their ride. Five minutes passed, then ten, then fifteen.

At almost twenty minutes to the second, an airship arrived. It was a large, gold-colored aircraft with an elongated oval shape, currently with a pair of V-shaped wings jutting out of the top that retracted into the ship's hull so that she could fit into the hangar safely. Just watching it land made it look more sophisticated than the boxships could hope to be.

The landing gear deployed and the ship descended the final few feet with a loud hiss and a satisfying thunk before coming to a complete stop. Havoc and the others gathered their things and made their way towards the ship just as the boarding ramp was deploying, but honestly, Havoc couldn't help herself from voicing the one opinion she had about their new ride:

"What a piece of junk," she groaned.

Indeed, the ship was not as impressive as she'd been hoping. The metal wasn't neither sleek nor shiny, and frankly looked like it had seen better days. The New Pandemonium boxship they'd taken on the way here had been more impressive in her mind, and that was what was most disappointing. After all, Hope's Point had a reputation for having better, faster, nicer ships in its fleet, right? She'd seen some herself, albeit from a distance. Is this what they all looked like up close?

"Y'know, I'm inclined to agree," Flathoof said. "You're sure this is our ship, Lockwood?"

"Oh, absolutely sure," Lockwood replied with a grin. "Don't let looks deceive you. I may have never flown with any of Hope's Point's pilots, but their ships have a reputation for being the best. Smoothest flights you could ask for. They just look like this to better blend in for smuggling runs up north."

"A perfectly logical method of subterfuge," Dawn said, sticking her nose in the air. "And you are… ah, certain that they possess a reputation for smooth flights?"

"Well, unless I've been lied to for the past decade, yeah, I'm pretty certain." Lockwood paused, then chuckled lightly. "Oh, uh… fair warning though, the pilot we have today is a bit on the… eccentric side. Don't let him rile you up, alright? He means well. Big heart, bigger mouth."

Speaking of which, from the boarding ramp descended the pilot. He didn't so much walk as he sauntered down it, a large grin on his face. He was a pegasus stallion, and a tall one at that with a larger-than-average wingspan, a goldenrod coat, and a golden-brown mane that he kept utterly untidy. He wore some sort of form-fitting bodysuit that reminded Havoc of her old skyball uniform; his was colored green with a green lightning bolt on the front and on each hoof, plus some goggles that he'd just tucked up over his head.

"Lockwood, Lockwood, Lockwood! I never expected to see your face out here," he said, the quickness of his voice not matching his baritone at all. Without stopping for an answer, he grabbed hold of Lockwood's hoof and gave it a few solid shakes. "So good to see you!"

"Briarthorn, you old pirate, how are you?" Lockwood replied with equal enthusiasm, like two old friends that hadn't seen each other in years. Which Havoc figured they very well could be.

"A-yo ho ho, you know, same-old same-old. Well, not entirely same-old. Ish. I don't know if you've heard any yarns spun about this, but over the past, like, six months or so? Seven, maybe? Nu-nu-nu-nu, uh-uh. Nine. Nine months. Yeah, the past nine months have been weird, old buddy. Straight-up mysterious."

Lockwood tilted his head; Havoc knew he was well-informed and had to play along. "How so?"

"Security up north has been a little… I dunno, lax? Sloppy? Like seconds? Just kind of… of…" Briarthorn then completely stopped talking and stared off into the distance for a long moment, as if fixated on a particularly interesting section of sky. Havoc checked; there was nothing there.

Lockwood raised an eyebrow, then snapped his wing in front of Briarthorn's face. "'Kind of' what, Briar?"

Briarthorn shook his head slowly, as though coming out of a trance. "—my sort of party, last week, maybe! But you and me, Lockwood, we're— yeouch! Mah tongue!"

As he sputtered, Lockwood blinked with concern. "Briarthorn... uh, you okay there, buddy?"

"I bith my faborith thongue!" Briarthorn said, waving his hooves frantically.

This time, Lockwood gave him a dead-eyed stare.

Briarthorn pulled his tongue back into his mouth, chastened. "What, wait, we weren't talking about something important, were we?"

"Yeah, you were talking about security up north, right before sort of losing your train of thought."

"Huh. Ye— well, sure. Right, right. So… yeah. It's been oh, way way easier to deal with the security patrols up there for… mmmooost of the last year. Ol' Queenie's trying to figure out why, but get this: she's at a loss! We all know how rare that is."

"I don't, really," Lockwood said.

"Lucky for us, Queenie said it wasn't a bad loss, just a weird one. And boy howdy, it is weird, yknow? Kinda like they just don't give a shit anymore." Briarthorn froze as he looked right at Shorthoof. "Darn. Give a darn. Sorry, didn't know we had innocent ears around. Whoops! I'm a baaad role model."

"I know the word 'shit', mister," Shorthoof said with a smile.

"Shorthoof!" huffed Shortcake, grabbing his ear. "You watch your language." She turned to Briarthorn. "Sorry about that, Mister Briarthorn."

"No trouble 't'all, ma'am. My ears can either take it, or they've already taken it, in which case I couldn't hear it!" Briarthorn clapped his hooves together. "So! You all must be Lockwood's lovely, lovely family. No need for introductions," he interjected, lifting up a hoof when Shortcake started to speak. "We put together a full dossier when Lockwood contacted us. Let's see…"

He pointed at Shortcake first. "Shortcake, the mother." He bowed his head slightly. "A pleasure, ma'am."

"A pleasure to meet you as well," she replied with a smile.

He then pointed at Stouthoof. "Stouthoof, the father. A pleasure, sir."

Stouthoof nodded. "Likewise, son. Nice ship you've got there. It got a name?"

"Of course! Behold!" He gestured towards the ship like it was the grandest thing in all the world. "My Thunder. My heart and soul, my eternal waltz through sky and sea, and here's where the guitar starts and— oh, right. Yup. That's her. Ain't she a beaut'?"

"She honestly looks like she could use a new paint job," scoffed Pattycake. "And a tune up."

Briarthorn pointed next at her. "Ah, ah ah, nope, that's all intentional. Battle scars worn proud. She's perfect the way she is, au naturale. Would you 'tune up' a visionary painting? Hmm? Would you give a paint job to a captivating opera?"

"Uh, shouldn't those be the other way around?"

"Nooo! You don't ruin art, darling, and the Thunder is a work of art. A masterpiece of the grandest scale, yes indeed. A gift from the gods!" He then smiled and nodded. "You must be Pattycake, the sister. A pleasure."

He then pointed at Thickhoof, then Shorthoof, then Flathoof in quick succession. "And you three are the brothers, Thick, Short, and Flat Hooves. Hoofs? Hoovers. Super nice to meet you all, really. Lockwood's been a pal to me for years, just a real peach, a bucket of chum, a… uh… nutty buddy…?" Again, he froze up, tilting his head to stare off into space for a moment.

He seemed to recover on his own and went right back into it without missing a beat. "But look, honestly, I don't know a whole lot about you all other than your names. The rest of that information is with our security and intelligence divisions. All the super-duper hush-hush secret spy stuff, yessir."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Mister Briarthorn," Flathoof said, taking and shaking Briarthorn's hoof. "We're in the same boat, actually: Lockwood never mentioned you to us before."

Briarthorn gasped loudly, hoof over his heart, and wheeled on Lockwood as fast as Havoc had ever seen a pony move. It was a wonder that he didn't get whiplash. "Lockwood! You rascal! You hoodlum! You utter reprobate! You mean to tell me that you haven't been spreading legends of my legendary escapades to your family? They're the stuff of legends!"

Lockwood raised an eyebrow. "No, because I thought keeping the identity of Hope's Point agents confidential was of paramount importance."

"Oh. Right." Briarthorn deflated and returned to his smiling self just as quickly as he'd dropped it. Again, a wonder he didn't get whiplash. "Well! All is forgiven, then, in that case, pal-o-mine-o. Hey-o, I guess this gives me the opportunity-o to tell stories about my daring-do's and daring-don'ts myself, doesn't it? Perfect, just perfect. More than perfect. Yes, yes, this will be wonderful."

Briarthorn then wheeled on Dawn. "And… hello!" He then paused, drew back, and scratched his head. "I… don't know you. Do I? No, I'm pretty sure I don't. Wait! Yes I do, you're—"

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance," Dawn said, offering her hoof. "My name is Golden Dawn. And no, I am absolutely certain that we have not encountered one another prior to this meeting."

"Golden Dawn, hmm? A very lovely name, certainly wakes you up inside," he said with a nod, taking her hoof gently in his. "You're certain that we haven't met before? Absotively posilutely certain?"

"I can recall every individual that I have ever come into contact with, but you are not one of them," she replied, tilting her head. "Perhaps you encountered somepony that shares a physical resemblance? A pale imitation, I assure you, but out of millions of ponies, surely at least one other possesses my exact hues of coat and mane coloration."

He nodded sagely. "No no no, you're absolutely right, of course. We can't have met. Silly me. I always remember a pretty face, and yours isn't ringing any bells, but I daresay we've readied a remedy for that pretty quickly, haven't we? And you, mmhmm, I can see you've got a certain… vibe around you. A presence. Like… an aurora about you. No no, wrong word. Remora? Plethora?"

"None of those are correct. They are, respectively, a radiant emission within the upper atmosphere, a parasitic species of fish, and the last is simply defined as 'a lot'."

He smiled. "Well, you're welcome! I'm glad that meant a lot to you."

If Dawn noticed the wordplay, she didn't acknowledge it. "Yes, well, I believe the word you intended is 'aura'."

"'Aura'?" he repeated, tapping his chin. "Hmm… no no, not that, but I like your way of thinking. No, you've got a certain… je nais se quoi. I don't even know what that means! Heyyy!" he said, drawing up alongside her and tucking his wing over her shoulder.

"My eldest sister is fluent in Romantique, so I have educated myself in the language. Its translation is 'I do not know what'," Dawn said, nose proudly in the air.

Briarthorn stared at Dawn for a long moment, his eyes wide, as if considering something. He rubbed his chin, apparently deep in thought. Finally, he firmly set his jaw and smiled at her. "Oh? I thought for certain you'd know what it meant!"

She raised an eyebrow. "I do. I just explained that its translation is 'I do not know what'…"

"That's what it sounds like to me." He smiled. "Well, whatever it is, you've got it," he said with a wink as he patted her hoof with his. He seemed to wait for a response of some kind, but when one didn't come, he tilted his head. "Huh. Y'know, it's odd, but I think that 'I don't know what' might be more accurate than I thought."

Dawn's response was flat: "I do not follow."

"Yeah, I kind of figured." He shrugged. "Well, there's a first time for everything."

Havoc laughed inwardly. This guy was pretty brazenly flirting with her sister, and admittedly wasn't bad at it. A different mare might have found his wordplay amusing, even charming. But there was no way in hell that Dawn would pick up on the flirtatious nature of things, let alone respond favorably to it if she did. The stick up Dawn's ass had a stick up its ass, and there very well could've been another stick or two jammed up there somewhere. Like one of those nesting dolls, only with sticks in asses.

Gross.

Briarthorn then turned his attention to her. "Okay then, here's one more unfamiliar face. Well, not entirely. I'm pretty sure I've never met you before, either, but there's something familiar about you. Can't put my hoof on it."

"Name's Havoc," she said, offering her hoof to him. As he took it, she pulled him roughly so that she could speak softly without anypony else hearing. "Let me be upfront here and save us both the effort: you're not my type, and that's not gonna change, ever. You try any of that 'wing over the shoulder' shit with me and you can kiss your balls good-bye. We clear?"

Briarthorn blinked, then smiled widely. "That is upfront, to be sure. First: don't threaten someone you don't know with what could be a good time." He gave a long, clear laugh. "Maybe I like getting thunked in the junk. Second: We're clear. Because I don't like it. Eh, much." He then shook her hoof properly. "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Havoc."

"Psh. Don't mention it. Seriously, don't," she replied evenly.

He then clapped his hooves together and gestured towards the Thunder. "Well, let's not keep everypony waiting, hmm? All aboard!"

The group boarded the ship while chatting among themselves about how excited they were to finally be on the last leg of the journey, all while being directed by Briarthorn to the seating area. Havoc noted that it wasn't structured at all like the big boxship had been. In fact, the seating area they were directed to looked more like a cargo bay that happened to have seats, which were little more than wall fixtures with harnesses instead of seatbelts, kind of like a rollercoaster's seating.

The carpet was clean, though. As were the shiny chrome walls. All of it was of a high quality, too. The interior definitely did not match the exterior, that was for sure. It lent a little credence to the claims that the shoddy hull appearance was just to blend in further north.

For the moment, though, nopony was asked to take their seats. "Nothing but smooth sailing along the entire flight, fillies and gentlecolts," Briarthorn explained as he helped them fasten their luggage into compartments. "You won't even need to take your seats as we pass through the Belt unless you want to."

"You're kidding," Havoc scoffed. "The ship we took over here rocked like a busted washing machine the whole way through the Belt. Made my sister here blow chunks and everything."

Dawn's face reddened. "I… I did no such thing! No chunks were blown!"

"Oh yeah, Dawn was heaving in the restroom for the whole hour we moved through it," Havoc laughed, making a mocking retching gesture with her hooves. "Hilarious. Highlight of the trip."

"Well, there won't be any heaving on my ship, sister," Briarthorn said with a wide, professional grin. "A flight on the Thunder is so smooth, you could balance an egg on your head and it wouldn't so much as fall off if I didn't want it to. That is a Hope's Point Guarantee, registered trademark."

"Consider me sold," said Lockwood with a laugh.

With that, Briarthorn left them all in the seating area while he headed up to the cockpit, whereupon it didn't take long before the ship rumbled ever-so-slightly to indicate it was taking off. Once it did, it was exactly as advertised: smooth sailing all the way.

Havoc, as a pegasus, could feel and recognize the minute vibrations here and there that indicated a shift in the flight path, be it a tilt in the ship or a change in altitude. So she knew just when the ship entered into the Belt because there were ever-so-slight rumbles throughout the ship that only she could sense; maybe Lockwood could feel them too, but if he did he gave no indication of it. He was too busy chatting it up with his family and Dawn to notice anyway, it seemed, and not one of them seemed to notice the change.

Yes, it seemed that Dawn's sensitive stomach was safe, for now.

After several minutes of listening to the other chatting about the new mode of transportation, Havoc decided to make better use of her time. So, instead of just lazing about in the seating area, she decided to head up to the cockpit to get a look at what made a ship like this tick.

Briarthorn hadn't sealed off the area or forbidden them from entering, so she figured it was fair game, and sure enough she was able to just walk through the clean, metal guts of the ship to where she figured the cockpit was.

The inside of the cockpit was a rather simple affair, barely large enough for a pair of ponies to operate the various buttons, levers, knobs, and switches that spread across the main console. Havoc noted that said console was unattended, and that a display on the console read "Automatic Co-Pilot Engaged". Was Briarthorn flying the ship entirely by himself?

Speaking of which, Briarthorn was situated in a glass-like tube in the center of the cockpit, and somehow was "flying" inside it as though he were out in the open air, complete with wind sweeping through his mane and everything. He even had his goggles up as though to protect from the wind.

There was a black substance coating his wings that hadn't been there before, either, and every time he shifted them she could feel the ship shift in turn. Was that how he was piloting the ship?

"Hey there… Havoc? Havoc," he greeted, turning his head slightly to the side. When he did, Havoc noticed the view screen in front of them shift slightly as well. "Welcome to where the magic happens. Got bored in the back, huh? Not much of a talker?"

"Yeah, a little, I guess. Figured I'd come check out how you fly this thing, y'know?" she said with a shrug. "Looks interesting."

"Aah, a fellow wingnut, perhaps?" he asked with a slight grin. "You don't have to answer. I can tell you're all about flying. I saw you checking out my suit earlier. I misread you, you know. At first, I was way off, but now, I get it; you weren't checking me out; you only had eyes for the flight suit."

"Bullseye."

He chuckled. "All that being said, my guess: skyball. The only real question here is: Pro, Semi-Pro, or Amateur?"

She smirked. "Good guess, dude. Yeah, played with the Mid-East Rockets, Semi-Pro League." She paused and grumbled as she felt the rage building up in her gut. "Former Mid-East Rockets. Whole team got fired last week. Bunch of bullshit."

"That's a big oof, good buddy. Bad season, huh?"

"Oh hell no, it was the best season the team's ever had. We went undefeated and everything, won the championship for the first time in like twenty years. It was kind of a big deal for us."

She could still remember the smiles on her teammate's faces when they held up that trophy. She could still remember the sheer disbelief when Rainslick, their manager, had informed them that the owner, Treasurer Vendetta, was dissolving the team to recoup a "bad investment". It had taken every ounce of restraint she had—and half her team holding her back—to keep herself from flying up to his fancy loft and burning him alive.

Briarthorn raised his eyebrow, but kept his attention on flying straight. "And the owner just fired you all after that?"

"Yup. Me and a lot of other good ponies that deserved far better than what they got."

"That... that's ridiculous. Did the guy… hate money and success or something? It makes like… negative sense."

"Yeah, well, it's a long story, but I'll give you the short version: the guy's a total fuckwit, and I hope he dies a slow, agonizing death in a fire." She shook her head. "Whatever. It happened, and for now there's not a lot I can do about it."

"Well, my condolences. Sounds like you've got a real passion for the sport."

"Yeah…"

She stood in silence for a while as she watched the ship effortlessly fly through the storm without so much as a single rough patch despite the same conditions that the boxship had gone through. She'd heard that Hope's Point had invented a shielding technology that far outclassed anything New Pandemonium had come up with in decades, and was amazed to see it in action. It explained how their city could even withstand as much as it did year after year.

And this ship was faster, too, that was easy enough to notice. It took an hour for the boxship to make it through the Belt, but it took the Thunder barely even twenty minutes, and she could tell Briarthorn wasn't even flying it at top speed, either, probably to keep the trip as smooth as he'd advertised. When they broke through to the other side of the Belt, Havoc felt the vibrations beneath her hooves cease entirely as the ship reached calmer airspace.

From here, Havoc could see Hope's Point itself rapidly approaching. The city was situated on the edge of a mile-high cliff overlooking the sea. It was surrounded by a golden dome of energy that glimmered even from this distance; this was the great shield that had protected the city, she knew. How they kept that thing powered was a mystery to her, but it wasn't really her thing, so she didn't ask.

She was surprised when Briarthorn gently took the ship down towards the ocean surface.

"Attention passengers, this is your captain speaking," he said; Havoc could hear him both in the room and over the ship's loudspeakers. "You will momentarily hear a sudden noise—like if a raincloud dropped and hit the ground all at once!—as the Thunder dives underwater to approach the Hope's Point hangar bays. No need for alarm, it is perfectly safe and normal. Please do not scream. You will make me scream. Then we will all be screaming. Thank you."

The ship then suddenly dove beneath the waves without slowing or anything, and the only indication of it was the sound of rushing water sweeping over the ship. Now Havoc was impressed; she had no idea that Hope's Point kept its hangars below the ocean surface, and thus that its airships also functioned as submarines.

She watched the view panel as Briarthorn steered the ship into an opening in the rock wall ahead, glancing to and fro as they passed by underwater rock formations and little else; there were no fish in the northern seas, nor any seaweed, coral, or anything else, really. Just rock as far as the eye could see, which, to be fair, wasn't very far in the darkness of the ocean. Maybe there was something else out there that just never got discovered because it was too dark?

The opening led into a tunnel, and the tunnel led into a hangar bay filled with water. The Thunder settled into a clamp inside the bay, upon which Briarthorn settled himself inside the glass chamber in the cockpit. She watched him press a few buttons inside his chamber, which released an aerosol spray that caused the black substance on his wings to harden and flake off without a trace.

He then exited the pod, approached the main console, and pressed a few buttons. Havoc watched as the hangar bay drained of water within only a few moments. She shook her head, impressed with the display; it was no wonder the ponies of this city had a reputation as pirates. Secret underwater base? Submersible airships? Yeah, total pirate stuff.

Briarthorn then turned to Havoc and nodded. "The welcoming party'll… be here to pick you guys up, uh, up momentarily," he said, removing his flight goggles. For some reason, he looked… tired. Significantly more so than he had when she'd seen him before takeoff. "I'd take—whew—care of it myself, normally, but I was given specific... instructions otherwise, for some reason. Maybe you'd know why?"

Havoc shrugged. "I dunno. Lockwood's the one who arranged the whole trip, so maybe he'd know."

Briarthorn made a show of tapping his chin, but missed and looked ridiculous tapping his cheek. "Hmm. Probably." Then he shrugged too. "Eh. No big deal." He flipped a switch on the control panel, activating the boarding ramp. "Um… would you do me a favor and… help everypony disembark? I need to take a breather for a minute."

She raised an eyebrow. "Uh, sure, I can do that. Everything alright?"

"Me? Psh, oh yeah, I'm just peachy keen, easy as pie," he said, obviously not peachy-as-pie at all.

He reached under the control panel to open up a compartment, from which he pulled a metal flask that he immediately set to his lips and drank from.

"Mmph… ah yeah, okay, that's better," he grunted, though he didn't look better, he just looked green. "No no, just… I have to take care of the rest of the docking procedures, okay? That'll take some time. Sorry."

"No… it's cool, dude. We can handle ourselves from here," she said, not thoroughly convinced. "Thanks for the ride."

"Y-yeah, whoo! Hey, hey, no problem at all. Welcome to Hope's Point and all that jazz. Maybe I'll see you guys around after I get things situated here."

"Yeah, maybe. Uh, later."

She left the cockpit only slightly confused by his behavior, but didn't question it. Maybe they had policies in place about this sort of thing? Either way, she followed along, figuring she might as well, and headed into the cargo bay to recover the rest of the traveling party.

"Alright guys," she announced. "Briarthorn said the welcoming party should be here soon, so we can go ahead and get off for now and wait for 'em to get here. Grab your bags and let's go, chop chop."

"He's not seeing us off?" Lockwood asked.

"Nah, said he's gotta take care of some docking procedures. Didn't ask a lot of questions."

"Huh. Well, if you say so," he replied with a nod.

Something about his expression told Havoc he knew something she didn't, but she didn't pry. Curaçao always said he tended to have a few secrets here and there that even she hadn't figured out yet, and this must've just been one of them. He and Briarthorn seemed to know each other a lot better than she'd expected them to, so that seemed likely. Still kind of weird, but it wasn't any of her business.

Either way, everypony disembarked as asked and headed into the hangar, which was surprisingly dry after being filled with seawater only moments before. Almost as soon as they disembarked, the large bay doors opened to reveal a single pony, a well-built pegasus stallion wearing what looked like body armor. He approached them without much fanfare at all, to her surprise.

"You are the Lockwood party, correct?" he asked, firm and to the point, his eyes scanning the group briefly.

"That's us," Lockwood answered with a grin. "You must be on the welcoming committee."

The stallion nodded, then gestured for them to follow. "I have instructions to escort your party to your hotel arrangements. If you'd follow me, please."

"Wow, you got us situated at a hotel already?" Shortcake asked. "You really did take care of everything, didn't you?"

"I said that I would, and I meant it," Lockwood replied with a smile. "Trust me, everypony, everything's going to work out fine. Just wait and see."

Havoc rolled her eyes covertly. She was sure Lockwood was good to his word, but figured that he was maybe a little overconfident.

Okay, he had a contact in this city that was supposedly loaded or well-connected or whatever, and he had a reputation for working miracles, but there was no way anypony could make anything happen that fast. It would likely take the entire two weeks she and Dawn were arranged to stay here for them to even get what they wanted out of the trip. Not that she was complaining, just observing.

Nevertheless, the group followed the armored stallion a fair way out of the hangar and down a corridor past other, similar hangars with their own airships of different shapes and sizes and with crews of their own performing maintenance or loading or unloading cargo.

At the end of the corridor the group entered a large elevator, which took them up to the surface level of the city. As it ascended, they could all look out the elevator window and see that the city had a huge subterranean section with all sorts of buildings.

The titterings of the Hoof Family as they gazed out on all those buildings actually made Havoc grin a little; they seemed so happy to be seeing all these new things, and she was happy for them, if only because Gray couldn't be here to see it. She'd tell Gray all about this to try and lift her spirits up a bit, after giving her some time to calm down. It was something they needed to do face-to-face, anyway.

When the elevator reached the surface and they disembarked, everypony almost immediately looked up, wowed by the sight of the energy shield from the inside. To Havoc's surprise, the city smelled different from New Pandemonium and the Wastelands, as if the shield even kept out the stagnant, dead air that normally plagued her nostrils. Not quite the smells of nature that she'd experienced down south, but a sort of agreeable freshness.

"Welcome to Hope's Point, everypony," said the escort stallion, though he was still professional and curt about it. "The hotel isn't far. Follow me."

And so they did just that.

Havoc watched the Hoof Family pointing at every little thing that caught their eyes, from how different the architecture here was—not as tall or dirty—to the sort of dress code the ponies here maintained—much the same, but nicer. The advertisements were for different products and services than they were used to, the streets didn't have buses at all but only simple chariots, and there were no skylanes in the air to restrict the movements of pegasi, who just flew to and fro however they liked.

And best of all, there was no smog to breathe in or block their view of the sky above. The golden-orange light of the Beacon in New Pandemonium might have stretched out this far and still blotted out the clear blue sky they'd just left behind in the south, but at least here they could see it somewhat clearly; the shield still distorted it slightly, but that seemed acceptable.

Havoc especially noticed Lockwood's expression, since his was quite different from the others. The rest of his family, even Flathoof, were all abuzz with excitement, like a bunch of ponies visiting an amusement park for the first time and geeking out over the sights. He was excited too, to be sure, but there was something different about it. An almost nervous kind of excitement.

Havoc remembered that feeling when it was time to go out on the field for the championship game. What did he have to be so excited about? Oh, right. Thunderbolt. She guessed that being apart from your fillyfriend for six years or whatever might make you a little excited to see her again.

Lucky bitch, Havoc thought. There's no way they're not gonna bone like, a hundred times before we leave. I'd do it if I were in her horseshoes.

The hotel was a four-story structure only a few blocks away from the elevator exit, a large brick building that seemed to be just the perfect blend of charmingly rustic and modernized. The interior was decorated with all of the sorts of things Havoc expected out of a decent hotel, things she'd never have expected from one further up north, like real plants and respectable paintings.

The staff seemed friendly too, as each of them greeted the party with a smile, a nod, and a "Good Afternoon". It actually seemed way too nice. Rooms here had to cost a fortune.

"Welcome to The Mareiott," said the concierge, a pretty unicorn mare with a crisp suit. "How may I help you today?"

The armored guard approached and handed the mare something from his pocket, a note perhaps? She briefly read it, eyes widening at one point, then handed it back. The guard then turned to the group. "Enjoy your stay, folks." And with that, he walked off without another word.

"Huh… peculiar behavior," Dawn said, tilting her head. "Why were we assigned an escort in the first place?" she asked, turning to Lockwood. "It seems remarkably superfluous for our group's circumstances."

"Eh, it's just proper procedure, I'm sure. Obviously it's all a part of the package I arranged," he said, brushing the concern off with a hoof.

The concierge cleared her throat briefly. "Mister Lockwood, your reservation with us comes complete with a number of service packages and room accommodations. If you'd like, I can have somepony escort you to your rooms now, or I can have your bags taken up to your rooms first if you'd prefer to partake in some complimentary lunch?"

"Ooh, lunch sounds amazing," Pattycake breathed. "As much as I wanna just put my hooves up for a bit, I'm starving."

"Me too!" chirped Shorthoof. "There weren't any snacks on the airship rides! I thought there'd be snacks! Snacks snacks snacks!"

"I agree, I could go for a bite myself," said Flathoof. "The rooms can wait. We should probably talk about who's sharing with who while we eat, anyway."

"We have a number of rooms available to your party, sir," said the concierge with a smile. "As part of your package, we can designate room accommodations in whichever way is most convenient to your tastes. Everypony can have their own room, if they wish, or you can share one of our larger suites."

"Separate rooms! Yes please!" Havoc blurted out, perhaps too quickly.

"Ma'am?"

Havoc cleared her throat. "I mean, I'd love to have my own room, if I could. Yeah."

"I was under the impression we would be sharing a room, Havoc," Dawn said, eyebrow raised.

"Ha haaa, yeah, no. If I have the chance to not share a room with you, I'm taking it. That is the absolute last thing I need on this trip."

Dawn snorted. "Very well, if that is the arrangement you desire, and if we can accommodate it, then I will not object. Perhaps I can savor the peace and quiet of solitude without your rambunctiousness present."

"We'll talk it all over during lunch, then," Lockwood said. "For now, I say we eat. It sounds like most of us would probably prefer it that way, right?"

"Hear, hear!" said Stouthoof, smiling and clapping Lockwood on the shoulder.

*****

Lunch had been a pleasant affair, all-in-all. They made a pretty mean spicy curry with rice, complete with fresh carrots, potatoes, onions, and celery, all imported from the southern continent. She'd remember to suggest it to the tower chef back home.

Now, Havoc was used to the sort of high-quality foods she could get at Pandora Tower, and had even enjoyed some old-fashioned home cooking from her visits to Pewter at the Checkpoint out at Goldridge. She hated to sound like a snob, but nothing really came close to the stuff she was used to. And while this hotel certainly wasn't that good, damn it all if it wasn't better than any of the fare she had in Pandemonium when she wasn't at home.

While the group was relaxing and talking after the meal, the concierge approached looking slightly spooked, and whispered something in Lockwood's ear. Lockwood listened intently, a big, dumb smile coming to his face that Havoc didn't quite understand. Then, the concierge left as soon as she'd arrived without so much as acknowledging anypony else.

Havoc was about to ask him what it was all about when he abruptly stood from his seat, dropping his napkin on the table. "Excuse me, everypony, but I have some business to attend to as part of our arrangements here. You understand, I hope?"

"Hey, that's fine, we know you probably had to jump through all sorts of hoops to snag us a place like this," Flathoof said as he sipped from his glass of orange juice. "Don't let us stop you."

"We'll head upstairs and start unpacking," Shortcake said with a grin. "We might as well make ourselves at home for the night, right?"

"You never told us how long we're staying, actually," Stouthoof said, raising an eyebrow. "Does this have something to do with that?"

Lockwood nodded. "Something like that, yeah. We're probably only staying for the night, though, so there's no need to go unpacking everything, just what you need for now. I'll let you know if my plans change, but I'm pretty sure arrangements are being made for our new home by tomorrow morning, I hope."

Flathoof balked. "Tomorrow morning? Really? That fast?"

"Like I said, I've taken care of everything." Lockwood then turned to Havoc and Dawn. "Miss Dawn, Miss Havoc, your presence has also been requested."

"Us?" Havoc asked, tilting her head. "Why?"

"It's related to your mission here in Hope's Point. My benefactor would like to meet you both, ASAP."

Dawn blinked. "You certainly work expediently. I am of the opinion that Curaçao undersold your capabilities."

"Just you wait, I'm full of surprises," he said with a wink. "C'mon, let's not keep anypony waiting."

Havoc and Dawn glanced at one another, shrugged, and rose from the table to follow him, and then in turn followed the concierge that was waiting for them at the exit to the hotel's dining area. She led them through the hotel lobby to its conference room, whereupon she opened the door and gestured for them to enter. Once they did so, Havoc heard the door lock shut behind them.

Inside the conference room, which was empty aside from the stacked tables and chairs along the walls that hadn't been set up yet, there were four ponies.

The first was a unicorn mare, though she was short enough that Havoc almost hesitated to call her a mare. She had a pale pink coat and a bright orange mane kept out of her face with a set of safety goggles, and wore a light purple jumpsuit that covered her entire body.

The second was an earth pony stallion, a well-built one at that, wearing a suit of bronze-colored body armor. The armor had a helmet, but he'd removed it and set it near his legs, giving Havoc a good look at his face. His coat was light brown, his mane a darker brown.

The third was a dark purple unicorn mare with a bright red mane, also wearing a suit of body armor though not one as robust as the stallion's. Her face was decorated with scars, and her horn had clearly been shattered and replaced by a prosthetic, a silver spike with neon blue rings.

The fourth was another mare, this one a pegasus with a smoky gray coat and a vivid turquoise mane, which she kept long and wavy. She wore a snazzy white jacket that just screamed "authority figure!" to Havoc, as well as a scarf with alternating green and gold stripes. She also had a cool scar just above her nose, obviously from a fight.

The other three ponies seemed to be looking to the fourth with some deference; she had to be the boss.

This fourth mare stared right at Lockwood the moment he entered, and it was here that the gears clicked and Havoc realized that this had to be none other than Thunderbolt, the mare that Lockwood was involved with and who was their ticket into the city's political sphere. Havoc was impressed; this mare worked fast indeed, and even managed to clear out the conference room on a whim.

Lockwood approached her wordlessly and, to Havoc's surprise, immediately began moving his wings in a series of gestures: first, he spread them both and tucked them forward in a sort of prayer-like gesture, bowing on the floor as he did so. He then offered his right wing out towards her while tucking his left over his heart.

Thunderbolt merely stood and watched the display, then used her wing to motion for him to rise before performing another quick series of gestures with her wings that Havoc didn't quite pick up on.

Dawn leaned over and whispered, "What did he say?"

"What're you asking me for?" Havoc whispered back.

"It was clearly 'spoken' in pegasus wing language. Translate it for me."

"Uh, well, I'm not exactly fluent in wing language."

Dawn narrowed her eyes. "But you are a pegasus."

"No shit. But not all pegasi know it fluently. It's like sign language for earth ponies, you only learn it if you need it because you or a family member is deaf or something like a social worker."

"You truly are useless," Dawn said with a sneer.

"Fuck you too, sis."

After the two pegasi finished their little whatever-it-was, which Havoc didn't understand—the best she could figure was that Lockwood was complaining about a bad case of heartburn?—they met and embraced in a tight hug and kissed each other deeply, the sort of thing that Havoc expected of a couple that was being united after years and years apart.

A moment later, the large stallion and the little mare joined in, turning it into a sort of group hug. The stallion was laughing jovially, while the mare looked like she was practically fighting the urge to cry. Very touching, Havoc could admit—she wasn't the sentimental type—though she was still in the dark about a lot of this. The other mare, the purple one, seemed just as lost, actually, which was weird.

Once they'd broken from the hug, the lead mare cleared her throat. "Let's take care of business, first, okay? We can continue this later." She and Lockwood remained side-by-side while the others returned to their original spots.

She then turned towards Havoc and Dawn. "Greetings, and welcome to Hope's Point. I don't know exactly what Lockwood might have told you, so let's proceed with introductions. Do you know who I am?"

Dawn stepped forward and smiled; Havoc just rolled her eyes discreetly, knowing that now it was her sister's turn to strut her stuff. "You are Thunderbolt, owner and founder of the Crown Spectrum tech development company, and long-time companion to Mister Lockwood here. With you are your chief development engineer, Tinker, and your personal bodyguard, Fireblast."

"Impressive. And Lockwood told you all of this?"

"On the contrary," Dawn replied, which was bullshit since Curaçao apparently knew the whole story from him and kept Dawn in the loop. "Apart from some preliminary information, I have collected thorough dossiers on each of you, enough to understand your deep ties to Hope's Point despite your official story as being from the southern continent after your family moved there from New Pandemonium."

Thunderbolt tilted her head. "And what ties would those be?"

"Most crucially, a thoroughly-detailed business partnership with one Virtuoso Fantasia, former Don of the Fantasia Crime Family. Several years ago, he fled New Pandemonium City, and though there was never any absolutely certain proof, the prevailing theory in certain circles is that he fled here to Hope's Point and was appointed to a position of power."

"Hmm… you've done your homework, that much is clear. You know an awful lot about me, and yet I must admit I know very little about you." She gestured to the purple unicorn. "This is Stellar Storm, the city's Chief Security Officer. She's in charge of obtaining and examining any intelligence out of New Pandemonium City, and determining if it'll be a threat to Hope's Point."

Havoc raised an eyebrow. "The city's head security chief? Like the top brass?"

"Correct. She overviews each and every refugee request we get to determine if incoming ponies are legitimate or if they are attempted plants by the NPAF or CIA to infiltrate our city for nefarious purposes." Thunderbolt then gave Storm a nod.

Storm nodded back and took a datapad from her armor's tactical pouch, which she then began scanning through. "When Mister Lockwood contacted us and put in a request for refuge, he was required to list all other members of his party, who would also need to provide vouchers. His family members were given an exception because of their familial status, and because I was given full authority to bypass normal protocols.

"You two, however, were also on his list of incoming ponies, and yet he did not list you as family. Normally we would require a voucher for you as well, but Mister Lockwood knew the proper protocols to initiate a different procedure entirely. Nevertheless, we still needed to perform standard background checks on everypony coming in, his family included.

"That's when we discovered a problem," she said. She pointed first at Dawn. "You, Golden Dawn, are not registered in the New Pandemonium City database whatsoever. I quadruple-checked every single record by hoof for potential aliases, surgical procedures to alter your appearance, and other methods for concealing your real identity, but have come up with nothing. You are, for all intents and purposes, a ghost.

"And you," she continued, pointing at Havoc, "are NPAF Commander Havoc. A relatively unremarkable career as far as your records show, with no history of training experience or other documentation; it's as though you just appeared in the directory.

"However, your appearance and name match descriptions we have received in the past several months regarding an NPAF agent assisting land-route travelers west of Goldridge, alias 'Fire Warrior'. Supply troopers have confirmed these reports with Pewter of the Goldridge Checkpoint."

Havoc inwardly pumped her hooves. "Fire Warrior" was still an awesome nickname, and she wanted to find whoever came up with it and buy them a beer.

"What is your intended use for this information, Miss Thunderbolt?" Dawn asked, narrowing her eyes. "I am having trouble understanding the purpose of this meeting, or of your involvement with the city's Chief Security Officer."

Thunderbolt smirked. "Naturally, regardless of your intentions here, the pair of you are considered substantial security risks to Hope's Point. My intent here is protecting this city by finding out exactly who you are, and why you're here. If I don't like your answer, actions will be taken to ensure the city's safety. Do you understand?"

"Yo, is that a threat?" Havoc asked. "'Cause if it is, I gotta say, bad idea. We ain't done nothin' wrong. Hell, you already know I've been nothing but helpful to folks coming here for months now."

"If this was your city, wouldn't you do the same thing in my position?" Thunderbolt asked. "Wouldn't you do everything in your power to protect the ponies that live here?"

Havoc blinked. "I… suppose I would, yeah? I mean, I guess. I'm still kind of confused about this whole thing."

"Besides that, I can spot a possible ulterior motive when I see one, and I'm taking action to see if I'm right or wrong. So, I want answers. Now. Who are you exactly?"

"Perhaps it would be more prudent for me to take the lead here, Havoc?" Dawn whispered with a look, the kind she always gave Havoc when she disapproved. "You forget your place."

Havoc sneered. "'Forget my place'? The fuck does that mean?"

"Just remain quiet and allow me to proceed with the diplomacy now. You expressed yourself that you are unsuited for it, so cease your attempts to participate." She then turned to Thunderbolt. "Forgive my sister. She is not the authority here."

"Then start talking," Thunderbolt said.

"My name is Golden Dawn, as you're already aware," Dawn said, nose in the air. "As for why I did not appear in the New Pandemonium database during your attempts at scrutiny, the explanation is simple: as far as the city at large is concerned, I do not exist. I hold a position of authority within the city's Committee as its Shadow Associate."

Thunderbolt just stared at her for a long moment; the jaws of the other three ponies in the room collectively dropped.

"Bullshit," said Tinker.

"I assure you, it is not a falsehood," Dawn continued. "If you desire proof, I am afraid I am incapable of providing any, as the only proof would be the identities of the other Committee members and that is public knowledge that would serve no benefit."

"So we're supposed to just take you at your word?" Thunderbolt asked.

"I regret that there is no alternative. I could recite typical Committee procedures and guidelines which are not publicly available, but they would be impossible to confirm without another member of the Committee present."

"A clever predicament. Well, let's say that I do believe you, then. What purpose would the Shadow Associate have here in Hope's Point?"

"A rather simple, yet complex purpose, actually." Dawn smirked, nose higher in the air than ever. "As Shadow Associate, I have initiated a vote within the Committee in regards to this 'war' with Hope's Point. Specifically, I hope to usher in an end to it via peaceful means. A total cessation of hostilities between our two nation-cities."

Now even Thunderbolt seemed baffled. "You wish for peace? Are you serious?"

"Quite serious, yes."

"And how do you intend to go about this?"

Dawn shook her head. "I regret that I cannot discuss the finer details of the plan with anypony but Her Majesty Queen Blackburn and her Council." She turned to Stellar Storm. "You are among their members, are you not?"

Storm nodded. "I am."

"Then perhaps you are capable of assisting me in arranging an audience with Her Majesty?"

There was a long, awkward pause as all parties looked at one another. Havoc was confused as to why everypony just went quiet. What was most confusing though was the wide, shit-eating grin on Lockwood's face, as if he was barely containing a laugh. And despite Dawn's insistence otherwise, Havoc couldn't help herself any longer.

"Yo, Dreamboat, what's so fucking funny?" she blurted.

Lockwood's smile widened, and he looked at Thunderbolt, then at Havoc, then at Dawn, then back to Thunderbolt before shaking his head, attempting—badly—to cover his face with his wing, and then actually flat-out laughing. Loudly, at that.

"Did I miss a joke or something? Seriously, dude, what the fuck are you laughing at? This ain't a laughing matter here."

"No. Not laughing matter at all," said Thunderbolt with a sigh. The look she was giving Lockwood right now—curiosity mixed with amusement and affection—baffled Havoc. "Will come clean, save us the trouble."

Tinker shook her head and nudged Lockwood in the side. "You really are full of surprises, featherbrain. The Shadow Associate? Really? I'm impressed."

"Yes, quite impressed," agreed Thunderbolt. "Utterly unexpected, yet… hmm… potentially fortuitous. Already thinking on solutions, angles, methods to take."

"And why are you talking like a robot now?!" Havoc exclaimed, throwing her hooves in the air. "What the fuck is happening?! Come clean about what?!"

"Havoc!" Dawn snapped. "Cease your prattling!"

"Truth of the matter, you wish to broker peace agreement with Hope's Point," Thunderbolt said, still talking in that weird syntax. "Need to present to Queen Blackburn. Natural desire, logical. Only pony that can approve or disapprove formally. Normally would be an issue." She took a breath. "Queen much too busy."

"We have arranged to remain in the city for two weeks' time," Dawn said, though even she was starting to seem annoyed and confused by all of this too. "So long as we are permitted, of course. Can that be presented to Her Majesty as well?"

"It already has. She approves. For now."

"She… she does?" Dawn asked, blinking. "We were not informed of this development. When did this happen?"

"Just now, when you asked for approval."

Dawn and Havoc stayed silent for a long moment.

Then, the gears clicked into place and everything made sense. Except the weird way she was talking now, that didn't make sense, but whatever. Havoc spoke before her sister did; it looked like Dawn was having trouble piecing it all together, actually. "Shit. Shit shit shit, no way! You're Queen Blackburn?"

Thunderbolt—no, Blackburn—nodded, a faint hint of a smug smile on her face. "Correct."

"Oh fuck. Uh, wow. Uh… sh-should I, like, bow or some shit?" She turned to Dawn, who still seemed stunned, and was rapidly looking between her and Blackburn as if hoping Havoc would be wrong. "Dawn! What's the right way to greet a Queen? First impressions matter, right?"

"No need for that here," Blackburn said, waving the gesture off. She turned to Dawn. "Shadow Associate Golden Dawn, presented proposal for peace. Will listen to terms at a proper Council meeting; will arrange one in due time. Likely within days."

Havoc blinked. "Wow, you're gonna accept it just like that?"

"Offer intrigues me. Could be trick. Hmm… potential assassination attempt?" Blackburn looked to Lockwood, who just shook his head. "Perhaps not. Either case, will need to hear terms. Fact that Shadow Associate came personally, particularly interesting. Unique scenario, unpredictable outcomes. Sources suggest odds shifts in political climate in New Pandemonium, lends credence to story." Another breath. "Need more answers.

"For now, however, meeting can wait," she continued. She looked to Lockwood again and smiled. "First wish to properly welcome Lockwood and family to city. First time meeting them, wish to make good first impressions. Hmm… over dinner, best scenario. Will arrange shortly." She turned to Havoc and Dawn. "Welcome to join us."

Dawn shook her head, not in disapproval but likely to draw herself back to the present. "Yes, that… that sounds pleasant. We would be honored, Your Majesty."

"Excellent."

"Ah… if I may, Your Majesty, I am experiencing difficulty in parsing through all of this information. I was under the impression that 'Thunderbolt' was the romantic partner of Lockwood. Does this still hold true with your true identity?"

Blackburn tilted her head. "Yes. Lockwood is my fiancé."

Havoc laughed, loudly. "Ho hooo shit, no way! Yo Dreamboat, we didn't know you were engaged, too! I thought you two were just lovey-dovey and shit, nothing more! Ha! Wait 'til Curie hears about this."

"Hmm… interesting reaction. At any rate, until dinner, remain with Lockwood and family. Will arrange separately, meet you all later." Blackburn turned to the other ponies in the room. "Much business to attend to, little time to do it in. Must be perfect, must handle personally." Then she turned to Lockwood and kissed him briefly on the lips. "Glad to have you back, safe and sound."

"Glad to have you back too, BB," Lockwood replied. "We've got a lot to discuss, believe me."

"Indeed." With that, she took her entourage out of the room, giving Lockwood a brief smile before she left. Lockwood's gaze lingered on her for a slight moment, a sly grin on his face, and in that moment Havoc knew Lockwood was going to be getting busy tonight.

Good for him, she thought. Good for her too, actually. Lucky bitch.

Lockwood smiled and turned to Havoc and Dawn. "Told you I'd take care of everything."

"You sly motherfucker!" Havoc laughed, rushing in to give him a noogie. "You've been engaged to the queen of Hope's Point this whole time?! Talk about fucking secrets! And fucking secrets, too. Ha!" Then, she gasped loudly and wheeled on Dawn. "Oh shit! Dawn! We gotta tell Curaçao. Like, right now. She's gonna flip!"

Dawn nodded. "She would certainly appreciate the information, yes. One moment."

Havoc felt her mind open slightly and Dawn expanded their telepathic bonding spell so that they could both communicate with Curaçao. Instantly. From across the continent. Because of course Dawn had to show off. There was barely even a delay before Curaçao answered.

"Bonjour, mes sœurs. I assume you have arrived in Hope's Point. How was the trip?" Curaçao asked.

"It was uneventful," Dawn answered quickly, glaring at Havoc as she did so. "Nothing noteworthy occurred in any capacity before our arrival in the city. Nothing at all."

Havoc rolled her eyes but said nothing, even though she wanted so badly to tell Curaçao about Dawn's nausea troubles. She'd do it in private, later.

Curaçao hummed over the connection. "Has something happened now that you have arrived, though? I was not expecting any communications until you had news to report."

Dawn took a breath. "Yes, well, something eventful has transpired, and we believed it prudent to update you. Ah… we had a chance to meet with Miss Thunderbolt—"

Havoc couldn't contain it any longer. "Lockwood's fillyfriend—fiancée, actually—was really Queen Blackburn this whole time!" Havoc blurted, laughing both out-loud and through the connection. "He had you fooled like nopony's business! Ha!"

"Havoc! Some tact, please!"

Curaçao paused on the other end. "Is this true, Dawn?"

Dawn nodded to nopony but herself. "It certainly seems to be, yes. Lockwood has essentially confirmed the truth of the matter, though there certainly could be a trace of deception present. Despite Havoc's tactless method of presentation, I believe her assessment is correct: you were misinformed."

There was another pause on the other end. A long pause. A very long pause.

"Curaçao? Are you there?" Dawn asked over the connection.

Havoc chuckled and clapped Dawn on the shoulder. "Heh. I think we broke her. Awesome."

Comments

[hamster wizard]

I don't like that silence. Curaçao doesn't sound like she's surprised, she sounds like she just realized something is very wrong.

[RoboRed]

Poor Gray, in the middle of trying to put some kind of meaning in her life together with Flathoof and now he has to leave her for an indeterminate amount of time. Life just gets rough, and Dawn isn't helping things with having no concept of social cues for how Gray is feeling, much less actually talking to her.

She kinda got what was coming to her with Havoc jabbing her into blowing chunks of the flight.

Great to see the old crew coming back together again. Briarthorn, Gadget, Crossfire, Storm, and of course Blackburn. Looks like Briar is still having his health issues though. I hope him and the others have better fates in this timeline.

Curaçao paused on the other end. "Is this true, Dawn?"

Dawn nodded to nopony but herself. "It certainly seems to be, yes. Lockwood has essentially confirmed the truth of the matter, though there certainly could be a trace of deception present. Despite Havoc's tactless method of presentation, I believe her assessment is correct: you were misinformed."

There was another pause on the other end. A long pause. A very long pause.

"Curaçao? Are you there?" Dawn asked over the connection.

Havoc chuckled and clapped Dawn on the shoulder. "Heh. I think we broke her. Awesome."

Curaçao is usually one with something to say at all times. I'm not sure if she's actually been "broken". No, I think something else is up.

[My name is R]

"I don't want to hear that you locked yourself in a room with a criminal again any time soon."
"Depends on your definition of 'criminal', I suppose," he replied with a mischievous grin, as if he'd just told some inside joke that nopony understood but him.

Well, most of Hope's Point are wanted criminals, are they not? At the very least they once were.

Havoc ran a hoof over her face, in complete disbelief that her braniac sister was so stupid sometimes.

I am completely unsurprised. Social awareness is one of her major blind spots.

Well, that's certainly not the combination I thought would be making tha trip, but it matches tha cover.

Oh, uh… fair warning though, the pilot we have today is a bit on the… eccentric side.

Lemme guess, it's Briar, isn't it?

Speaking of which, from the boarding ramp descended the pilot. He didn't so much walk as he sauntered down it, a large grin on his face. He was a pegasus stallion, and a tall one at that with a larger-than-average wingspan, a goldenrod coat, and a golden-brown mane that he kept utterly untidy.

Yep.

"Lockwood! You rascal! You hoodlum! You utter reprobate! You mean to tell me that you haven't been spreading legends of my legendary escapades to your family? They're the stuff of legends!"
Lockwood raised an eyebrow. "No, because I thought keeping the identity of Hope's Point agents confidential was of paramount importance."
"Oh. Right."

Would type thoughtful response, too busy choking to death on my own laughter. Please try again later.

"You will momentarily hear a sudden noise—like if a raincloud dropped and hit the ground all at once!—as the Thunder dives underwater to approach the Hope's Point hangar bays. No need for alarm, it is perfectly safe and normal. Please do not scream. You will make me scream. Then we will all be screaming. Thank you."

Has he always been this funny, and I just forgot? Did you write him differently before? Have my tastes changed that much over the last 15 months?
Or maybe it's because it's past my bedtime.

She also had a cool scar just above her nose, obviously from a fight.

Yeah, and she totally showed that mirror who was tha boss around here!

There was another pause on the other end. A long pause. A very long pause.
"Curaçao? Are you there?" Dawn asked over the connection.

Well, I wasn't concerned about that, but then I read tha comments. Hopefully it's nothing more than surprise...