> A New Start
>  by Black Hailstorm
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Bumpy Beginnings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You'd think a city full of so many inhabitants would have found a way to adapt a park for the ones that actually want a bit of quiet now and then."

Furnace Raiser chuckled at his companion's remark all while scratching the back of his head as he eyed his next move on the chessboard. They had grabbed coffee, ate some donuts, and now were sitting in the shade of a large tree- playing a old pass time: a game of chess, all while they waited for his niece and brother-in-law to catch the next train over. In the span of an hour or so between idle chatter Furnace had found he really had gotten rusty at this thing.

Especially since the last time he'd taught Cozy how to play she seemed to just get better every time she lost before he couldn't beat her at all.

In the span of what he presumed to be an hour, at least judging by the clock stand sitting in the center of the park; one of four of its faces showing the time they'd spent on this single match Furnace had lost both his rooks, a bishop, four pawns, as well as a knight and had only gotten one rook, one knight, and two pawns for all the trouble. Pierce was doing far better than he expected.

Then again, he was dealing with a thestral that was way out of his league.

"Still not used to Manehattan's ways are ya Pierce? Funny, I'd have thought a bloke like you would be used to things here given our bunking times."

"How you can be so calm about the screech of a passing train I feel I will always have a reason to envy" the thestral sighed. "Having sensitive ears blows," which only earned him laughter from his friend. Smiling just a little Pierce lifted a wing and pinching one chess piece between his central knuckle and claw he lifted the folded wing up and tapped his knight on E3. Strategically, it provided few advantages but it kept his knight safe. Placing his knight in a path that gave him direct access for Furnace's bishop while also moving it out of its line of pass.

"Dang it." Furnace frowned. Huffing the stallion blew up, causing strands of his boysenberry mane to jostle on the cool air, an old habit Pierce had noticed his old friend hadn't quite given up on since their teen years. "Was hoping you wouldn't notice that." His horn glowing a brilliant orange, Furnace moved his bishop elsewhere, leaving his pawn perfectly exposed for the taking.

Chuckling as he moved a pawn up, just a few more paces closer to the end of the board, Pierce smiled and said "Don't forget I have to be astute if I want to stay alive given my job you know."

The comment while seemingly innocuous, reminded Furnace of just what his little spark plug would be going into and just how much his old friend had changed going into this line of business. "Right," He shifted on the stump cushioned seat that filled many park tables. "...It's good to hear from you again old friend."

"You too Furnace." Pierce smiled. "It's been a long time."

"Almost 25 years."

And that was the end of idle chit chat for awhile. The two lapsed into companionable silence as they continued their little game in the public park. The sound of hundreds upon hundreds of beings moving on about their daily business all around them. Shouts from wagoncab operators yelling at other wagoncab operators or for Manehattanites, hotwheels. The distant sound of someone shouting something to someone else could be heard easily now and again. On top of that there was music from a street performer that played between the passing sea of bodies or the shouts of a travelling company, dishing out fliers for their latest set up and upcoming show. Manehattan was a busy place, one of Equestria's most popular polis for its historical economic advantages in show business and fashion. Furnace couldn't help but find it somewhat amusing his old, freshcolt companion from their First Categorial days had forgotten just how busy and how loud the city could be, especially depending on the district one resided in. 

But then again...

The tiffany blue unicorn looked up at his friend, stealing a glance at the thestral as he rubbed the stubble of his lower chin, acting like he was pondering his next move.

...then again, it had been years since he'd last seen Pierce Streak. Over two decades in fact now that he thought about. Between the spots of light that shined through the roof of branches and leaves thanks to a clear and sunny sky Furnace could see the signs. One or two stitches hidden in that coat of cobalt blue that could easily be black. 

Looking back to the board Furnace Raiser frowned. Pierce Streak lived a life that could be called into danger at any time at any point. Facing things he could only imagine were just as bad if not worse than what he dealt with in his own profession, and the overprotective uncle in him didn't want to see his little spark plug thrown into that lifestyle.

If she had ever gotten her mark, he'd have thought it would have been in politics. His little spark plug was so gifted in guiding a conversation, something he'd had to be careful with when talking to her as she got older. Cozy Glow was a natural social butterfly, just like her mother. There was no magic involved when talking to her, no compulsion that pushed things into her favor. Cozy was just good at reading others.

In retrospect, perhaps it had been obvious what she'd end up doing. They'd all just been too blind to see it or the direction it would take her.

Then again, he thought, she'd call me out without hesitation. Cozy Glow did what she wanted, and she would clearly point out to him that he would be lying to himself if he said what his own profession involved, didn't involve danger. Not with him and others in his unit fighting the fires of danger to save lives and spare homes.

Not when Manehattan's finest firefighters and members of the Royal Guard had risked their lives to try and subdue a 20 foot tall demon with six legs, four arms, five eyes, and the terrible gift to breathe fire, stomping and laughing as she rampaged across the 12th and 14th Districts, stalling for Princess Celestia to get there.

Shaking his head Furnace shook away those thoughts. The dead would not be coming back, and he had no reason to get himself in a sour mood when in the presence of good company.

"Hey," he looked up and found Pierce staring at him with grape purple eyes. "...Let's get back to the game...okay?" 

Blinking away the blurries, Furnace took a trembling breathe and smiled slightly. Horn glowing, Furnace took the rook his friend had been inching towards his queen's direction. Watched as Pierce set his pawn on his side of the board and then swapped his queen for the pawn, putting him dangerously close to the king defended by a another bishop and one king-pawn.

Some time passed, turns were taken then after a pause and another move, "...You know she's a real strong filly." Pierce commented, eyes never leaving the pieces in front of them. "Baby doll while derogative of her peers in school to give her such a name given your family's history with dwarf ponies, she sure gave them Tartarus for the label." Pierce nudged a bishop with his hoof, smiling in a similar manner to his friend as Furnace nudged his knight. "Temper like that is something we'll watch out for but she'll need to learn how to stomp it down on her own at some point. Her affinity to magic was a surprise though. Even Princess Twilight was curious when we reported the events leading up to her mark."

"You never did explain that y'know?" Furnace frowned as he moved a piece, sacrificing another pawn. "What's so different about her Mark from somepony else that isn't a unicorn and gets a Mark relating to magic. I get you Pierce, but I still don't get how you're any different from somepony outside the unicorn tribe in a similar situation."

"Marks as we know it are what ties us to the Great Harmony the royal sisters once maintained, right?" 

"Your point? Why you gettin all philosophical on me here P, just get to the point we don't have all day to talk, y'know."

"My point is her mark isn't about her interest in magic, it's more than that. Just like our marks don't define us, a mark is more than your interests or what you're gokd at. It's the definition of what you excel at."

He knew where this was going.

"Like Troubleshoes?"

Pierce grinned, "like Troubleshoes."

Furnace just shook his head. "How a mac gets a mark for bad luck I'll never understand. Least he's on our side."

"You have no idea how good that actually is. Seriously, if it weren't for him Sombra would have won. And who knows, perhaps the knight-lord may have also." The thestral laughed.

Shaking his head Furnace made his move. "So what are you saying here?"

"I'm saying that the difference between a pegasus who has a mark depicting something abstract in relation to magic is easier to notice when compared to an Earther whose mark depicts something clearly representing magic like beakers dealing in chemistry. It's not uncommon these days for a tribe to get something usually found in another tribe and Harmony is all about balance. Unicorns that control the weather exist in Canterlot, however few they are. Earth ponies that have some strange connection to  magic exist, if rare; Lady Pinkamena is a perfect example and her mark is so abstract it's easy to see why she's still an anomally. And pegasi that are stronger in ways their mark shouldn't cover exist as well. Cozy Glow had excellent grades in her magical theory courses and is above the standard average in her testing. You know there's not a lot of us unique types out there these days. Not like in the early period of the Diarchy after the Sisters took control.

"From what I've seen, she's a young mare that will be just fine when she finishes her training and enters the field.  She'll level out nicely, you know that right?" Pierce's voice was quiet, soft for only the two of them to hear.

Furnace smiled lightly as he watched his king get taken. "Of course P." The thestral smiled at his old nickname.  "My little spark plug's a lot tougher than her looks would have you think and we're all damn proud of her for it." Furnace sniffed, coughed, then with a hack spat a good distance out for the loogie to land on the grass some ways away. "T.P. still peeved at you?"

Pierce chuckled in amusement after a moment of silence. "He means well. Just worried for his daughter. It's your sister I'm afraid of..." He paused. Grinned. "Checkmate."

"Bah!" Furnace threw his hooves up at the announcement then downed his cold coffee in one go. "I don't blame you. She can be terrifying when she finally gets angry and not the scolding parent kind." He scowled at the bitter cold wind that passed as he finished his beverage and chucked the cup into a disposal bin not far away. "And for the record I let you win." Furnace managed the serious face to match that tone but then it faded into a merry grin riddled with chuckles.

Horn glowing he began to rearrange the pieces for another game.

"Heh, you keep telling yourself that ya lug. So," Pierce glanced at the clock post behind Furnace. "What time are they supposed to be getting to the station."

"4:20, why?" Furnace asked, using his magic to grab the two empty donut cases they had devoured.

"It's 4:09 Raiz." Pierce said rising. "Your sister doesn't like no-shows or late appointments. So...run?"

Gathering the items in his magic as he rose, placing all the pieces in the box he'd brought, and stretching a little the tiffany blue unicorn squinted at the clock with a eye and weighed his options. He nodded, seemingly coming to a decision after a moment then looking at his friend said: "Run."





Manehattan was a city virtually connected by its rails. Trains were not everywhere but they were popular for those in need of a place to go between the subdivisions of Manehattan and its social caste. Plus in a overcrowded city of varying cultures, species, and ethnics, it was a lot easier to simply take a ride out on the rails than fighting others in public for a hotwheel and a driver willing not to take the first passenger waiting on the sidewalk or the one  driver that had sworn fealty to a customer for extra pay for waiting an extra half hour. (Providing the new customer couldn't out pay the last).

The trains went under, over, or through different districts. Some went between bridges that were between buildings or separated district A from district B. The park Pierce and Furnace fled from to catch the 4:20 Rigby Train, was in fact, ten minutes distance away by hoof, probably less depending on the flier, barely even noticeable if the unicorn had the pow to do a jump of such a distance. The two rushed from their game in the park and crossed the busy street in a hurry. Pierce flew over the crowd while Furnace teleported to his side.

The next eight minutes were spent running to the other side of the city block, going straight several blocks and taking a left on the path to the nearby station where in the distance a train was already leaving--

"Oooo, so close," Furnace winced.

Standing side by side with a unicorn of maroon coat and a mane of varying yellows, Cozy Glow frowned at her mother as the mare carried several little duffle bags in her magic, waiting for somepony behind them to pass. The two were whispering in hushed tones but it was clear that whatever was being said, Cozy didn't like it.  That frown switched to a glower when she followed her mother's gaze at the abrupt stop. Staring down at him and his friend as they approached the slope, where exiting the station's building, was a Earth pony stallion. A large one but not terribly so. He walked steadily with a minor limp, his charcoal coat bringing a contrast to his light blue mane and indigo eyes.

"You were supposed to meet us at the docking station Raiser!" The mare said, sounding very displeased as she glanced over at her husband. "You know Torch shouldn't be taking on heavy loads after his accident."

"Now hold on Merry, it's not even 4:18 yet, it's--"

"4:23." Torch Path said as he walked up the aisle with the trolley he had hitched on trailing behind him. Looking down at the smaller, wiry stallion as he glanced at his wife who carried several bags in her own aura. He glanced at Cozy who refused to look in either of her parent's direction before looking at his brother-in-law. "It's good to see you Furnace." The stallion's stern expression gave way to a warm smile, at least till his eyes glanced over to Pierce and then some of the warmth seemed to leave his face. "Pierce, always nice to see you."

"Likewise." Pierce neutrally said, a small smile of his own present that seemed to somehow betray the one Torch was giving him.

"Oh stop that!"  Merry swatted her husband's flank lightly with a rolled up magazine she'd been carrying.

Several bags dropped from her aura in response to that action.

"Be nice hun, I thought you were old friends!"

"We are. Still are. At least when it's not involved with taking my daughter."

"Correction, she's being brought on board of her own free will. No taking involved." Furnace carefully informed, earning him the stink eye from the earth pony that quite literally towered over him and everyone else in their group.

"I can speak" she stomped, "for myself now daddy!" Cozy said through grit teeth, hints of her accent seeping in with her anger. "I'm not dat tiny cutesy ootsy foal anymore dat used to have fun spreading gossip about Clear Skies an' her stupid little entourage of whores--"

"Cozy!" 

Furnace deciding he had dodged a bullet let his niece talk while he went to grab bags in his magic as Pierce stayed behind to watch the interaction.

"--who thought they could one up me by making me look bad on my thirteenth birthday, in public, covered in cake at school! The legal adult age is 15 in case you've forgotten, and last I checked I'm well over that age limit. 17, remember?"

"Cozy!" Merry snapped, her voice firm, swatting her daughter's flanks lightly also in warning in a way that unlike her husband actually managed to make her daughter wince for just the briefest of seconds. "Manners! Don't talk to your father that way!"

Wings twitching the Pegasus hid a scowl behind her curls before she sighed, giving up with a pout. "Fine. I'm sorry."

Merry harrumphed with all the skill of a true Canterlotive and tossed her flowing yellow mane out of her eyes. "You know you don't say that when you don't mean it. Look, your making a scene in front of Pierce here and how do you think that reflects on you even if you've passed your tests?"

Pouting the slightly larger filly went silent, choosing to watch some of the passers that were also exiting from the train into the public grounds from the sloped catwalk behind them. Some she noticed had begun glancing a lot more in her mother's direction and this small detail couldn't help but make Cozy feel a hint of annoyance at the way her mother's recognition seemed to follow them everywhere.

Sighing and moving a volatile strand of yellow and marigold out of her glowing green eyes, Merry Note pushed her mane back with her magic and then with a glancing frown at Cozy, looked at Pierce with a warm friendly smile. "Agent Pierce Streak. I'm happy to see you're doing well, I hope?"

"Always in good company Mrs Light. Even better now that we're all together" The thestral smiled, a feat that she noticed made one or two ponies pacing pickup just a little more.

"Excellent!" Merry Note smiled brightly then turned to her husband who had lost some of the load that was on his trolley cart. "Are we ready to go?"

A round of nods, save for Cozy who did it last, and Merry beamed as she led the way. "So, what hotel are we staying in?"

"Oh it's just a hotwheel away. Shouldn't take us too long for us to get there by wagon. About, I'd say, fifteen minutes or so. Little longer if you feel like hoofing it."

"Well Spring weather is coming in. But if it's alright with you I'd like to avoid the remaining chill. Oh," Merry paused as they reached the exits and glanced behind her with a look of concern. "Have you eaten? We had a early brunch before leaving some two hours ago. We could stop by somewhere, eat in before heading to the hotel?"

"I could eat." Furnace said absentmindedly as he observed the gear inside one bag. Wing blades, stilletos and an assortment of blades glinted off the light in their cases in one bag while a variety of polishing equipment and material were in another for weapon maintenance.  "How did you get all this through security? You've got so much metal in here I'm surprised your stuff wasn't confiscated."

"Security clearance," both father and daughter said together before glancing at each other.

Zipping the first bag up Furnace took another and look inside another. "Are these shard charges?"

"Yup" Cozy smiled just a tad, hoof going up to ring of metal acting as a sort of collar and necklace for the gem in the center that rested on her upper breast. "Been practicing how to use them. Specially since I'm still trying to work on control and all." 

Furnace whistled. Looking through the shard gems in cases, packed tightly together he took a peak at what else his niece had as he took up a few more bags in his magic.  "Even got spellscript here. I didn't think you would go into runecraft but I guess that makes sense...hm..." rummaging around as he looked and putting things back together Furnace took his time looking through what would be going with his niece. After all, he was the only unicorn in the family that had the most knowledge on theory.

"Should have called me when you guys were buyin this stuff" he muttered as he pulled, looked, and packed.

Torch couldn't help but watch his brother-in-law with some minor concern while Cozy mildly perked up at the attention her gear was affectionately getting.

Tearing his eyes away from Furnace's snooping Torch smiled, the scar over his lip and up his cheek somehow making his smile almost morbid, like a sneer. "I could eat also."

"Pierce?" Merry checked, ignoring her husband and brother for the sake of common decency.

"Food would be appreciated Mrs Light, thank you." Pierce smiled warmly. 

"Perfect." Merry Note beamed, leading the others out the station as they followed closely behind. "I know the perfect place."

"Please don't let it be another Neighponese restaurant like last time" Cozy muttered. 

"It is!" Merry snarked.

"Uuuuuuugh!" slumping her wings and whole body as Cozy took agonizingly slow steps forward. Deciding if she had to eat trash she might as well delay the inevitable.

Giggling the maroon mare smiled impishly while rolling her eyes. "Just kidding!" She singed, voice catching ears, some eyes taking double takes as the mare trotted by and they all headed for the glass door exits. "It's a Saddle Arabian diner. I think you'll like it."

This statement seemed to perk Cozy up. At least to the point where she was no longer dragging herself behind the group.





The Tasty Treat was a rather large restaurant. Large at least in terms of the other places one could get a bite to eat, given the different species that tended to mix in Central Manehattan territory.

The ride had been absolutely boring and Cozy Glow wanted nothing more than for it to be over and done with. Upset and annoyed at the earlier event of causing a scene, the teen sighed a calming breath and tried to relax as they approached the restaurant that honestly had her appreciating foreign foods in Equestria, as long as it wasn't some odd variant of said food butchered in Equestrian style.

If she was going to eat exotic she would prefer it wasn't demolished by Equestrian food critic 'high standards'.

"It has been a while since we've been here, hasn't it Torch?"

"Mmmhm" the earther replied as he sat down to rest for a moment. "Moons since our last date what with work and your performances and little gumdrop over there."

"Daddy!" Cozy whined with a pout. 

"Ah hush you," Torch jokingly prodded his young.

"How is the singing gig going by the way? I've heard good things what with you taking to jazz, pop and classical genres very well. A little surprised you took a career in that direction what with...well..."

Merry smiled sadly. "Yes, papa probably would be happy he won in the end."

"I'm sorry I--"

"Quite alright dear." Merry smiled disarmingly at Pierce while Cozy leaned forward, intrigued by the mention of her departed grandfather whose name was rarely sung. "Shall we go in?" Merry asked, easily switching topics. "I've seen such lovely reviews since I came here last."

Disappointed, the pegasus said nothing at the sudden drop of the topic.

Moving away from her husband's side, the light maroon red mare took only but a step before lifting a hoof to help her husband rise.

"Thanks babe."

"Anytime hun" Merry purred as she brought herself right by her husband's side to give him support. Even if Torch was a full two heads taller than his wife, despite being slightly above average for an earth pony, she supported him with ease.

Cozy tried not to roll her eyes, but it was hard not to when your parents got all gushy like prepubescent teens around each other. Sometimes it really was embarrassing to be out with them.

Following the others in the short filly walked beside her father, ever wary of his movement as she glanced around at the decorations beckoning customers to the glass doors and inside the warm establishment. Away from the chill of the ending winter season, where warm food and good drinks awaited.





"Welcome to dah Tasty Treat!" a sleek mare with a white coat smiled brightly as she pushed a strand of aquamarine hair out of her eyes. "Can I show you to a seat?"

Giggling Merry covered her husband with a gentle pat to his side, easing his tense nerves and locking muscles at the mare's sudden appearance on their entree. "Thank you! We would love that- oh and if it wouldn't be too much to ask could we get a large table, ah, with some distance from the other patrons? I'm celebrating my daughters entrance into her 2nd Categorial program and we'd like a bit of privacy if it's not too much of a bother."

"One booth coming right up! This way please. Oh, and may I say I loved your latest album!"

Merry beamed, "thank you!"

The mare smiled brightly in return and with an extra noticeable pep in her step she led the group down the entry hall into the establishment, under a doorway, decorated in a wreath of flowers.

Inside Cozy was assaulted with the scent of spices. Steamed vegetables of all kinds could be hinted at in the air and delicious aromas wafted through the kitchen from behind the large dark brown wooden counter where four separate cashiers were taking orders on the leftmost side of the room, not far from the entrance or the hole with lines that had notes sent to the kitchen staff.

At the same time there were other scents and smells. Things she had gotten used to since it had all been a part of her training. The scent of meat was faint but it to lingered in the air, though it was faint, it still made her stomach lurch in a uncomfortable way.

But if you lived in Manehattan long enough, you got used to all kinds of smells quickly depending on which district you went.

The Tasty Treat was divided into three levels. The ground level or main floor had an array of tables and chairs that sat on polished floorboard ground with patrons and customers chatting away in a vast space in the center of the room, roughly equivalent to a hooball field as waiters of different races swooped in and took their meals or dropped by to take orders before they turned around, disappearing behind a door past the cashier table that read in bold red letters: Employees Only.

Some waiters lingered to exchange small chit chat before a co-worker from the rectangular windowless opening that was connected to the kitchen would shout out an order number and one waiter or waitress would excuse themselves and head back to duty.

The main floor was made up of rows and columns that consisted of zigzag like format. Almost like tables were randomly tossed in a vague semblance of order and then were divided on their left and right by hardwood sheets of mahogany that had square holes drilled in to its uppermost part. The idea was to provide some privacy, as while the main floor was large, the distance between the randomly arranged serving tables and their hosting sizes required a large space, but not one where one wouldn't feel slightly intruding into another's dining bubble. Each table was thus separated on the side by these heavy moveable wooden sheets that clicked into certain points of the ground. Allowinv for a form of privacy between tables on the sides, while distance was maintained in the front and back.

Cozy noticed as they entered the mouth watering room filled with all sorts of chatter and smells, that all the patrons on this level were ponies. Most of a specific tribe while a few tables down, on the northeast or south parts, one could find interracial tables like her group. As they walked down the walkway, she saw a donkey family here, or even odd couple of what looked to be bipedal griffons, feeding each other fruit.

It was an interesting thing to note since this was her official first time in the restaurant, not simply something bought and brought to her by her father or uncle.

"Wow, really crowded in here this afternoon, isn't it?" Furnace asked. His 's' slurring to sound like 'innit'.

"Yeh, it's been like this most of winta actually" their waitress informed.

"Do you usually have so many pony patrons come here?" Pierce asked, his nostrils flaring at the familiar smell.

"Ah, can smell the fish can't you sir?" the waitress chuckled as Pierce sniffed the air. "No, we get all kind of custamers. Ponies, griffons, hipppgriffs, minotaurs, donkeys, buffalo, even the occasional Diamond dog and on one rare occasion a ape. The owners aren't from Equestria though so after their business kicked off with the support of Ladies Pinkie and Rarity they expanded out a bit with their menu. Come from the eastern terratories. Vinji, if I recall right."

"Oh we know" Merry smiled as they circled the room to head towards the stairs. "We--"

"WELL IF IT IZN'T OFFISER BIGS!" a light accented voice cut across the room, though if anypony noticed they certainly didn't care as most continued their own loud conversations.

Torch turned to the chubby stallion approaching him, followed by a okapi mare who dipped to the stallion's right, flashed a smile at the group as she passed and headed to the center stage.

"Corian!" the off duty officer shouted back as the host got closer. "You walk all this way out here to meet me you big lovable teddy bear?" 

"You saved ze life of my daughter and our customers at your own risk from that monster when she came barreling down the streets toward our establishment and threatened to eat all those inside. I told you my friend, you are always welcome here." Pulled into a one legged friendly pat on the back, Torch smiled at the restaurant's owner.

"Anytime, don't you worry about it. I was just doing my duty anyway. How is she by the way? We haven't been here in a while y'know?"

"Oh Saffron is fine. She is doing much better also thank you for asking. She is actually working at the top level tonight! Say hello to her when you can. Mrs. Light!" Coriander smiled, his purple moustache slightly masking his lips. "Always good to zee you to! Oh, who is zis?"

"Our daughter. We're celebrating her inauguration into her secondary classes." Mrs. Light replied, smiling at her filly who stood almost a half a head taller than her.

"Oh, excellent! Well then, you know what this means?" 

Furnace grinned. "Free food?"

Barking with laughter Coriander Cumin jiggled with all the joy of a stallion who had come a long way to reach success, having heard that one many times before.

Then he stopped laughing abruptly and with perfect deadpan regained a calm flat voice: "No."

"Awww." Cozy and her uncle cried.

"It does mean however," a mic flashed into appearance at the host's mouthm "20% off on specials, half off for meals and non-cider beverages for the rest of the day!"

The whole room roared in cheer, and as Coriander waved goodbye to the departing group who had just recalled their thestral had sensitive ears, Coriander laughed and said: "I hope you have a good time!"





Seasoned Pinch, the name of their waitress, led the group up the plain white stairs swiftly, smiling apologetically at Pierce who was scowling as they reached the second floor.

It was here on this level Cozy became accutely aware of the difference in patrons here.

Unlike the ground level the second floor lingered with the scent of fish here and many of the creatures here varied between griffon, hippogriff, or in some cases more of those strange bipedal griffons with the occasional Felinx.

It seemed this floor was inclined more towards meat eaters, though the scent she could detect that was somewhat more manageable was the scent of cooking fish.

"Sorry" Season said with a empathetic smile in Cozy's direction. "This floor and the third floor lean strictly towards meat eaters. Out of da three this is probably the  most lenient one towards herbivores, at least in terms of the senses. It serves both herbivores, hypocarnivores, and mesocarnivores."

"We should be fine dear," Merry assured. "Go on, lead the way. This isn't Torch or Furnace's first time in a non-herbivore restaurant and certainly not mine. Cozy, you are alright though?" she asked leaning her head up to get a better look at her girl.

"Perfect."

"Good. Now let's hurry and get poor Pierce here a place to sit down and relax."

Leading the way towards the end of the large hall, booths could be found in horseshoe shapes against the wall. There were waiters who brought food out for customers from the end of the hall where cashier, kitchen, and staff were busy. And just behind them, where the group walked away from the exit in the side of the wall, Cozy checked for the restrooms and saw a big neon sign at the other end give her the answer.

Passing between various booths that lined the walls the group were brought to a particular booth that had a window view of Manehattan on the other side. Citizens walking to and fro as the day hit late afternoon.

"Well this is nice" Merry smiled as she looked around and slid into a seat, scooting to make way for her husband who followed in suite. The booth had a black cover over white cushions and it, like all it's seats had been adapted for creatures of every size and form. Taking her seat Merry glanced at Pierce with a look of concern. "How are you feeling Pierce? I'm sorry, we should have been more mindful of your ears." 

"I will be fine Mrs. Light, thank you for the concern. Nothing I'm not used to after all. It was my mistake, should have brought my audio dispensers."

"Ohhh poor dear," Merry frowned.

"I'll come back in a bit" Season whispered. "I'll see if we have anything that can help also."

"No, no." Pierce waved a outstretched hoof to the waitress before she could leave. "I just need a minute or two, that's all."

Season nodded, "I'll be back in a few. Y'all take it easy."

Feeling a nudge Pierce looked over at Torch who stared at him with a look of understanding. "You aren't just talkin big for the pretty mares here are ya P?"

The thestral grinned. "Nah. Wouldn't dream of trying to woo ponies out of my league."

Snickering at the remark as silent as he could Torch Path slid a menu over to his friend. "Here, it'll keep ya focused."

"Thanks." 

The group fell silent as they looked through the menu.





Season had passed by one more time and when she did she was followed by a gangly mare, one who bore some minor resemblance to Coriander, the owner of the establishment.

"Saffron Masala" Torch beamed at the shocked mare's expression. "I see you healed up nicely from those bruises. I'm glad."

Swallowing Saffron blinked away moisture in her eyes and with a trembling smile nodded her appreciation. "It is always a pleasure to the meet the stallion who led his unit to save my life. I can never thank you enough, captain."

"Bahhh enough o' that." Torch smiled happily, the scar over his lips and cheek warping it into leering grin. "I'm glad you're okay- expect me to get one of your specials today though." He patted his gut. "Been awhile since I had your cooking."

Smiling with a hint of a blush Saffron hid her smile with a small laugh. "I will see what I can do."

"Why hello there."

The chef turned to look at the young filly addressing her with a polite smile of her own. "Oh, I am sorry. You brought friends captain?"

"Most are family actually." Pointing at the one who was more staring at the chef with a polite and friendly smile that stretched a little too wide, Torch introduced his family. "The little gumdrop over there is my daughter: Cozy Glow. Brother-in-law, I believe you've met before" he said pointing to the other side of the table at the tiffany blue unicorn. "He's--"

"Mr. Furnace!" Saffron hopped with a smile and shook the hoof of the stallion who had put out more than one accidental fires started by her apprentice cooks. "How are you?"

"Perfect now that you're here" the stallion grinned.

Rolling her eyes Saffron's smile widened. Just as she was about to say something back--

"Oh!" Cozy piped up, eyes wide. "Have you met Mr. Pierce?" she smiled over at the stallion who glanced the filly's way then looked over at the chef who was now staring back.

Cozy noticed she didn't express any sign of fear or concern for her own personal well-being like most other ponies that saw Pierce did. Especially since Princess Luna's return, she come.to notice there were many that found thestrals to be...a bit uncomfortable to be around.

Then again, she did cook meat so probably shouldn't think too deep about that.

"Pleasure to meet you" Pierce smiled, revealing one or two sharp teeth of some sort of predator.

"Oooh a thestral!" Saffron said with twinkling eyes, followed quickly by a apologetic smile. "Haha, sorry. I've only seen a few on papers that are said to have joined Princess Luna's revival of the Night Guard. It's a pleasure to meet one in pony. Especially since there are hardly any around these parts outside of Thestralia."

Pierce beamed. "Pleasure is mine," he gently returned the offered hoof with a gentle shake.

"Have they put in their orders?" Saffron asked Season.

"Not yet, was about to--"

"Um, excuse me?"

Saffron turned to look at the voice addressing her and then her eyes locked on the mare who had just returned from the rest room. Smiling the maroon unicorn moved around the two as Cozy adjusted her seat to pull back and give her mother way to her father's side.

Jaw dropped, Saffron stared at the mare sitting before her. "Heaven Lights?"

Merry smiled with a polite nod. "Yes, the one and only. Although Mrs. Light is just fine or" she tittered, "Merry."

"We weren't told you would be coming by your agent! Why are you-?"

"Officer Torch is her husband," whispered Seasoned in her boss' ear.

Eyes widening even more, Saffron blinked and said not a word. 

"Yes" said mare smiled. "It's good to see you again dear. I didn't think it was necessary to let Soundproof call ahead, especially when I'm on vacation."

Licking her lips Saffron only nodded. "Yes, well um, it's a pleasure to see you again. Well" Saffron turned to the group and smiled awkwardly. "I should hurry back, I'll be sure to fill out your orders as soon as I get them." There was a clang and a shout from the cashier's counter. "And drinks are free!" She called as she dashed off.

Watching the mare go, Cozy couldn't help but narrow her eyes. 

"So" Seasoned said, cutting through the slightly awkward departure of her boss. "What can I get everypony?"

Eyes glancing back in the waitress' direction Cozy lifted up her menu first and hummed when she noticed no one else was immediately saying what they wanted. "I'll take a ice mango cherry. And...hm..a number 29...extra sauce."

It might be a long day after all.
> A Trip Gone Wrong
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The lull of silence that awkwardly spread following Season's departure was enough to make Cozy feel like she should scream. She had wanted things to go smoothly for her departure, but life always seemed to have other stupid plans.

First the argument about convincing her to drop out of the program she'd been working so hard for on the train ride over, then this little surprise after meeting the head chef.

Her father's obliviousness to Saffron Masala's obvious crush on him made her want to reach across her mother's side and shake him. His obliviousness in many ways, reminded her of some of the colts of her early 1st Categorial years. Colts and fillies that sided with the cool kids or the rest of the herd so easily were so annoying. It had been one of the struggles she'd dealt with when trying to persuade the more annoying colts that sided with the equally petty fillies that were merely manipulating them (like she was, honestly) to ditch the mares fellating them and join her side; when the name picking and the insult to her natural good looks came like harsh rain from the Everfree. 

Those had been difficult times, at least till she had to drop her cute antics for more devastating methods to Clear Skies and her attention whore brigade of the 1st class.

She wanted to face hoof at how completely ignorant he could be sometimes in certain social settings (even if she did love him, still)-- but she took solace in knowing that her mummzie was a good sport and decided not to bring up the matter.

Even though, had she been in her mother's shoes, she would have; just to see if there would be any sweat or shifting eyes.

Furnace, or Uncle Furnny as she called him, broke the silence that had lingered for almost three minutes now and muttered something about Pierce's "wuss choice in drink." Cozy inclined herself to agree as she tuned in, though she never voiced it. Not with mother here and not when the stallion was somepony she needed to please-- but seriously why couldn't he have gotten something a bit stronger? It wouldn't have hurt to see what her supervisor would be like cutting loose a bit more, especially if it meant getting some answers on what she was to be expecting tomorrow.

Even if his decision was wise. Sunny T though? Ugh.

Then again her first choice of drink had been downing an entire keg of Blackberry Fire on a dare during her fourteenth party when they went to Las Pegasus and then playing off the nausea and vomiting she succumbed to hours later from going on too many rides with her friends. That had been tricky but she'd played it nicely.  A bad case of spicy hay burgers -she vaguely recalled telling mumzie and daddoo- and if memory served well, that's exactly what she had regurgitated on the night rush to the bathroom.

"I'm just saying Pierce, you chose Sunny T over Crisp Cinders."

"I told you I can't drink heavy today, remember? A splitting headache tomorrow wouldn't help when I have to be up early and off to Canterlot with Cozy."

"Speaking of which" Torch said, "you said your guys would get the equipment to the hotel safe, right? Spent a lot of bits wandering around with gumdrop over here through those apothecaries."

"Daddy!" Cozy hissed. 

"What? I'm asking a honest question here. Pierce, we're both off duty, they aren't taking that stuff to the actual hotel we're at are they?"

"No." Pierce shrugged. "It'll be heading to Canterlot ahead of us."

"See, knew it." Furnace commented.

"So, how long do we get to see my little gumdrop here before the gates close fo good?"

"Five more days under Sun and night, then it's four moons of intensive training with no outside contact."

"You be careful!" Mery pulled her daughter into her embrace and squeezed her while all Cozy simply did was roll her eyes and give her mother a squeeze back with only a second of delay. "Ooooooohhh, we're going to miss you!"

At this Cozy smiled just a little. "I'll miss you too mom" she said earnestly, spotting Seasoned Pinch trotting up with drinks and some sides. 

"And we're damn proud of you too spark plug!" Furnace toasted raising his beverage as he took it.

Glasses, mugs, and cups raising into the air, Cozy spotted her father looking at her with a sad smile as he too raised his mug of Apple cider into the air.

"Be safe gumdrop. Itsa messed up world out there. And if you're joining you know what, then all I ask is you try not to come back--" he gestured to his scar, "mucked up like me. Else", he shot Pierce a glare who merely smiled as he sipped his own mug, "no S. M. I. L. E force" he whispered, "in the world or police department this side of Equestria or beyond will stop ol' Biggs."

Feeling an odd warmth around her eyes, Cozy was grateful for the afford hoofkerchief her mother produced from her purse. "Thank you" she sniffed, "daddy."

"Anything for my clever little candy."

A satisfying clink filled the air and Furnace Raiser rose, lifting his hoofheld mug high above the others. "To Cozy Glow. Wishing all the best."

And the drinks were downed by all in one go.





Food was served and the devouring had begun in earnest.

Manehattanites were often considered slobs because of how they chowed down. Loud banter, sometimes even loud belching --no 'excuse me' involved, with every attendee cutting loose and getting into the friendly groove that usually involved expletives at each other but were all in good humor. Cozy glow dug into her cheesie veggie mix with a fork in one hoof and slurped silently from her twisted, silly, crazy straw.

"Mmm- I'll be right back" she said slipping out of her seat, dabbing at her muzzle with a brown napkin. "Bathroom." 

Pierce and her mother merely nodded then returned their attention to the heated conversation they were watching Torch and Furnace engage in over what type of cider was superior to the other.

Uncle Furnny refused the challenge that Crisp Cinders was not top 10.

Rolling her eyes with a mild smile Cozy trotted off, turned the corner around the table, then spreading her large wings took off down the hall to the neon sign indicating the restrooms at a glide.

As she entered the hallway a tingle ignited somewhere around her flanks but Cozy ignored the itch. Blowing up at her curls to get the bangs out of her eyes as she trotted in the lit hallway. With a flip of her head her curls went back enough for her to see clearly and then, she pushed the steel gray colored door open and walked in.

Almost immediately, something felt off once her hoof crossed the black line that separates bathroom from light green floor.





Weight training had been a part of her exercise routine when preparing to take the Selective Candidate Exam or (S.C.E) that all those interested in joining a specific agency had to take, based off the agency's rules for said exam.

She recalled the times when her friend Drop Count, a rather athletic pegasus she'd met in 5th year around the same time she'd meet Clear Skies, advised her to start slow even though she had wanted to start with the heavier weights and argued with her on the matter till she conceded. The victory had been a petty thing, a small moment of triumph Cozy had savoured like when she had sown the cracks in the relationships of those that had tormented her.

A victory it had been, a mistake it also was.  She recalled how difficult it had been to move and how her feeble muscles had strained to move an inch forward. How the weights felt like they were pulling her down, even though she could barely get a hoof off the ground.

The weight in the bathroom was exactly like this, all without the stench of a bad salad or bean stew leaving behind its smelly results. It was an assault on her senses, both physical and paranormal. Something that felt oh so familiar.

Images of that colt, Zipper Pace, flashed into her mind when she recalled how just being around the demon carrier, trapped in his own mind, had made her feel just being around him. 

At least till she'd gotten her cutie Mark in the same instance and then everything started getting weird.

The senses were key, that had been her first lesson in magic. The mind sorted reality into appropriate chunks that could be processed to manipulate ambient magic particles in the manner one desired. When tapping into magical energy for the purpose of creating effects on reality the brain tweaked the perception of one's world to allow for the complex manipulation of magic/ spell algorithm, at least as far as theory understood. 

This was what allowed unicorns the ability to sense or pick up on magic easier than any other specie and why they were virtually the only ones of the known present, outside of a few other races, to not require the taxing measures of magical items to do their magic. Their horns were like old radio antennas that sent signals through the aether to punch results into reality or recieved them when magic was being manipulated at high levels by powerful casters or odd entities separate from this world. They were attuned to it in the very same way the Crystal ponies were attuned to the Crystal heart, similar to how Earth ponies were connected to land and pegasi the sky.

Cozy felt her secondary and tertiary feathers tremble in tune with her primaries before shifting to a weird rhythm that was subtle enough it made her look like she was shifting her wings. The tingling sensation that travelled through her wing muscles and the feeling of being weighed down was all too familiar yet also felt so terribly different in a new way. It was like coming back from a good work out and feeling the burn in reforming sinews but also feeling the satisfying exhaustion that came with it.

If she hadn't felt this experience when the she-demon the centaur prince had unleashed on Equestria went rampaging through her school in the body of a colt two years older than her, she probably would attribute this strange body reaction to some sort of chill from the a/c. 

But she was a pegasus, and pegasi were built to handle the cold of higher altitudes, unless that chill came from unnatural magic.

She blinked, struggled to draw in sweet sustaining air, and her necklace gem briefly glowed a seering red-orange before fading as all of a sudden the entire weight that felt like gravity trying to pop her, vanished. Cozy breathed deeply through her nose, eyes dilating and eyelids fluttering rapidly till the adrenaline released into her bloodsteam subsided with the seconds of her steadying heart.

Shite! she swore mentally as she gasped and took a step back, tushie pressing against the cold door that opened inwards. In a restaurant? Really?!

The unpleasantness at the possibility something insidious lurked in the bathroom stalls was more irritating than anything else. The problem was there were too many bystanders here- and most importantly, she wasn't supposed to be dealing with this kind of stuff till 4 months after her training had been completed as a S. M. I. L. E agent. What the fuck was that? And why the fuck did it feel like it was coming from in here?!

"Celestia's departed spirit why is this happening to me now?!" Cozy whispered in that soft, worried, sweet submissive voice she used when she was trying to earn brownie points with egotistical cockroaches to lower their guard, only in this case her concern was more genuine and she wasn't feigning fear.

A sudden urge ran through Cozy's body in this same instance and in a second she recalled why she came to the bathroom at all. 

Crud! taking a deep breath the small petite pegasus paused, styled tail falling between her hindlegs. 

Carefully she looked around the twelve different stalls that lined the wall, ears straining to hear something. The sound of some sort of shifting, breathing, a 'dunk' in the toilet, maybe even a grunt from someone pushing out a big one-- anything!

There was nothing. Just her, and it made her feel creeped out.

The oppressive presence that had been in the air was gone as soon as she had picked up on it for what was literally faster than should have probably been normally possible for a magical sensitive tier one entity to even process, but for some odd reason despite hearing nothing and seeing no signs of movement behind the stalls Cozy felt that there was somepony here or something was coming. She wasn't sure how she knew or why it felt that way despite the bathroom being deserted. All she knew was that something was here, or something was coming.

 Okay she sighed, maybe whoever was here is already gone. This could have been residual magic for all I know. Why anypony would use a public bathroom of all places to commit low level dark magic or whatever that was is beyond me...But... I should probably tell Agent Pierce after I'm done, and ask daddy to warn the owners that something is seriously wrong with these bathrooms here. 

Satisfied with this thought Cozy pranced off to a random stall, finding as she neared the ones in the middle she smelled something off that wasn't there before. Like somepony had eaten bowls of chilli all day and dropped a massive one without flushing.

"Ugh" she grunted, a sour look on her face. "Disgusting!" waving a hoof away to gain some measure of clean air Cozy quickly moved to the fartherest stall on the left and entered.

The nagging sense that she wasn't alone persisted and seemed to grow worse even as she moved away from the stench.

Grumbling Cozy did her business while ignoring this, got out of the stall and went to the sinks to wash her hooves. Seconds later she grabbed a few paper towels and was done. Never before had she had a stronger urge to flee a bathroom so quickly hit her, but hit her it had.

Some part of her resisted just bolting out the door as she neared it. That nagging growing stronger as her ears perked, like prey being hunted and vaguely aware the predator was near.

And then something happened.

The bathroom floor started shaking, it was brief, barely noticeable even and probably wouldn't have been noticed at all if her senses hadn't just heightened. The vibrations went up her frogs, through her body and for one brief second Cozy felt the world shift around her as she gained the sense that something bad was about to happen and it would happen right behind her.

A thought of some kind, similar to when she'd noticed something off with Zipper rushed forward.  

If she didn't use magic in the next few seconds, she would be severely wounded if not dead.

"Fuckin-"

Three toilets spewed geysers of toilet water out of their stalls in response to that expletive and into the tall ceilings above, at the same instant several small blobs of green that stunk with filth launched out of each stall, bathroom bowls shattering and things breaking as they launched into the ceiling and landed with a cracking thud above.

The atmosphere was riddled with the popping sound of a balloon, like teleportation had just been used except on a larger scale and matter had gotten in the way of the teleportee, thus ripping a new one to give way to the dimensional walkers.

Cozy Glow's eyes widened as four bathroom stall doors buckled under atmospheric pressure and pushed violently outwards, shaking everything nailed to the ground. The stall doors ripped open with a sudden violence, the walls briefly twisted and turned under the glow of magic before retaining form, and the stall doors were flung completely off their hinges; flying outward in her general direction--

Without even thinking, on pure instinct, her large wings flared, her gemstone glowed, her collar flashed lines of green color from the gemstone, outward-- and a curved shield enveloped her.

The second the shield went up, Cozy felt several small impacts, one strong strike that made her stumble and the sound of glass being broken filled the air.

"Hunggie!" shrieked a raspy voice through her ringing ears.

Scowling, her eyes now bleary, Cozy looked up.

"Eh-hehehehehe! Hunggie! Hunggie!" the little gremlins wearing tattered cloth and rat bones as makeshift armor chanted as they danced circles around the ceiling.

"Finally free!" one sewer gremlin stated.

"Real food at last!" another shouted.

"Taste ketchup, we shall!" the third shouted.

"Mustard, best sauce!" shrieked voices below from a small hole where a toilet had once been.

"Mayo best is!" cried others from another stall.

"Oh brother" Cozy said in worry as she dropped her shield and lifted a hoof up carefully to step around all the jagged bits around her.

"Ketchup is better!" shrieked one of the gremlins on the ceiling, breaking away from the three he had jumped with and then pointing in warning at the traitorous stall that spoke of mustard.

"No!" one of the other gremlins shouted on the ceiling, approaching it's cousin. "Mustard is bestest!"

"Liar!" the first growled and his companions cheered in their rough scratchy voices in concurrent.

"Double liar!" the second responded, shoving his companion off the wall they were leaving filthy footprints on and into another stall.

The gremlin lost its footing, toppling over and losing whatever strange ambient magic allowed it to wall crawl like a disgusting spider, it fell backwards and screamed as it fell into one of the gaping holes where the toilet should be and then "oofed" loudly as they fell on top of some unfortunate wretch that didn't move out of the way.

Two voices groaned from the hole.

Cozy slowly made her way to the door while the heated disagreement of condiments waged on, mindful of the argument and the things that could pierce her frogs.

"Mayo" said the third gremlin farthest from the two, "is true sauce."

"Fool!" the second  shrieked at the third, other tiny gremlins slightly bigger than a foal joined it, leaping out of the stalls and organizing into sides.

"Hey!"

Hundreds of tiny yellow eyes looked over at Cozy with confused looks as if noticing for the first time that she was there.

"What about hot sauce?" she asked, head poking out the female's door.

The gremlins all went 'ahh' as if remembering this then went silent in contemplation.

"Me thinks mayo is actually better," a voice sheepishly broke the silence.

"Traitor!" screamed one gremlin tackling the idiot right next to him and then the whole bathroom was filled with yelling and shouts as the gremlins about two feet tall all began attacking each other.

Quickly trotting out Cozy ran to go call Pierce.

"Thank goodness gremlins are so stupid!" she whispered.

In the distance she could still hear the scream of one saying "ketchup is best!" as she ran down the long hall.
> Stranger Things
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The fight between the sewer gremlins was thankfully being muffled greatly thanks to the bathroom doors, the long hall's distance to the entrance where the dining hall was actually located, and the loud chatter between multiple patrons.

Cozy Glow ran the length up the hall with a single question on her mind that had been on her mind since the day that dark unicorn prince had returned and the whole nation more or less had a panic attack when the Crystal empire showed up out of the story books into the real world.

That simply question was: why?

Why was Equestria always the focus of such madness? It had been a question she had asked her daddy once and he had given her the answer, "it's just how things are. Not everything can be sugar and candy gumdrop, sometimes life throws some spice at ya, and you deal with it the best you can."

For some reason, she had never really liked that answer. If Her Grace, Her Departed light, Princess Celestia were as powerful as all said and alicorns were as great as their society seemed to believe, why couldn't they stop some of this madness from ruining her own innocent day.

Honestly, any other day Cozy wouldn't have minded a bunch of gremlins needing their clocks cleaned. But today was her special day, and she didn't like it when things interrupted her special days.

There had been times where she wondered, if she had really let all that bubbling anger being picked on as a filly settle, could she have muscled the nation into a better place than it currently was? Princess Twilight was said to have once tutored for a brief period, Cozy wondered what she could have been like had she been under the current head of the aristocracy's eye. And just how better at magic she could be.

Why was it that somewhere, at some point, at some time, anywhere in Equestria you could just pick up the papers and flip through somewhere randomly only to learn something bizarre was happening? Sludge monster in Baltimare.

Ignis breezies in Marizona.  It was always something or other here in Equestria.

Sometimes she honestly did feel like Princess Twilight and her friends were to blame for all the weirdness that goes on.  At least when Lord Overcast had been around he had done something in cutting down half the weirdness around here down, even if he did let some goons get away with cheating the system.

As far as she could tell, as she entered the dining foyer no creature had noticed what was going on just yet, and if she was quick enough to get to Agent Pierce all of this could be settled immediately. So she snapped her wings shut, landed at a bit of a gallop and then slowed her pace down so as not to draw unnecessary attention.

Screaming "there's gremlins in the female's restroom!" would most certainly be ignored, because who would believe that and if anything it would probably just draw attention that could lead to somepony going to check and getting horribly hurt.

To join S. M. I. L. E you needed to pass a written exam. That exam required one to have a decent understanding of a variety of magical creatures, their social structures, behaviors, abilities, quirks (if there were any recorded) and a myriad of other things that made it easier to understand how they could become a possible threat to society, if they became a threat to society-- if they ever appeared in a city, region, or home. Cozy Glow knew for a fact she would be getting daily drills once she joined the academy for her official training to check if she was keeping up on her studies, so honestly she was on some level glad she had recalled not to immediately engage with the gremlins while they were distracted. If attacked immediately without provocation the whole troop would launch themselves at her in a effort to defend their fellow members.

Problem was, this wasn't the kind of practice she had been hoping for. Especially not here and not today. Not when she was supposed to be having a good day.

At a brisk trot she moved past a Pegasus waiter and between rising patrons, moving to get drinks from the dispenser fountains or bars on the walls to the right. 

Gremlins, Cozy frowned as she moved, trying to drum up information as she circled around others or slithered past rising or leaving parties. Doing her best not to draw attention or get some query eye at a filly running out of the bathrooms and screaming of impending danger, she kept silent and just trotted quickly. 

Gremlins she shook her head, curls bouncing as she moved, are naturally disorganized and virtually stupider than diamond dogs (a stereotype she had learned was in fact not true given the two Diamond dog brothers she had seen in her testing class). A troop of Gremlins consists of twenty, with an extra five leaders. The average Gremlin have the sense to follow orders, but most Gremlins of the warrior caste aren't too bright outside of combat. Distracting may be easy but getting them to do anything else once they've set their mind to it isn't, especially once in large numbers. If a troop of gremlins are here, hunting for food when they should be far away from any where that has a civilization, then this must mean that they have Scholars nearby that should be appearing any moment to settle their bickering and install order.

The question was why were they here in a restaurant instead of stripping public vendors for grub out in Manehattan's busy streets.

Gremlin raids were not uncommon, if memory served right. They weren't common either during the days of Her Royal Sun, Princess Celestia, but they still happened now and then once in a blue moon; Gremlins would surface from out of nowhere, horde as much food as they could in sacks, then disappear through the sewers and drainage system; back to wherever it was they resided. There had been attempts to stop them, but they were slippery folk. Most escaped or most that didn't end up staying in prison, were never caught to begin with. They were only really a problem here, in the Eastern parts of Equestria.

Then again the term 'problem' was relative. Gremlins were more like a nuisance than an actual problem. They were like the rat living in between your walls. That rat only came out to steal crumbs once in awhile, the rest of the time it barely bothered to show up. Even when you laid out believable harmless traps.

They never came in stupidly large groups to draw attention. They were actually intelligent about the raids and virtually non-confrontational unless attacked, and usually they aimed on scare tactics. Fighting the common pony or citizen was often avoided unless cornered. Instead they chose to chase away trouble with weapons and threats of violence, rare cases any actual violence ensued at all as far as her studies had shown on statistic reports in her Criminology studies. They went in units of five or eight and just raided nearby vendors or the public store and fled through the sewer systems before the cops could catch them all. If that didn't work, they hid and waited things out before making an escape.

They were, as Uncle Furnny had once said, the Underground Bandits of the surface world.

This was the first time she'd ever heard of Gremlins attacking a restaurant, especially using such covert methods as mass teleportation. The fact teleportation had been used at all was still surprising and Cozy couldn't help but get the sense she was missing something that might help explain this.

The disturbing thing was that these days Gremlin raids were supposed to be rare. More rare than they'd been before. Adaptations to sewer systems had been installed during Lord Overcast's brief period of power. Grates made of steel, charged with electrical energy delivered shocks to any entity that touched the steel before the power transmitted to it was shut off to allow for work to begin. It was a security measure he had personally ensured was installed in Manehattan with how troubled the suburb parts had been with the complaints of improper waste disposal, and increased violence cases in certain Districts that used the drainage system as escape methods. The shocks were painful enough to chase off and hurt, but not enough to instantly kill or stun. The installments while not all complete but should have been enough to scare the gremlins away for good, but here they were.

And now that she thought about it ...How did they manage a Zone Point for teleportation into a restaurant at all? The thought was chased away as Cozy saw her table come into view. Breaking into a gallop Cozy rushed towards where Mr. Pierce was sitting.

"Cozy!" Merry said with a smile, the smile soon faded upon seeing the sweaty state her daughter was in. "What's wrong gumdrop?"

"Mr. Pierce!" Cozy went on ignoring her mother. "Please, hurry! There's-- WAIT!" spreading her wings Cozy flapped and practically missed the hen trotting past her, heading in the bathroom's general direction on their side.

"Cozy!" Merry shouted in surprise.

"What are you doing?" Torch asked in confusion.

"And is that...bickering I hear?" Pierce asked, both ears raising. 

"Ma'am, you cannot go in there." Cozy advised.

The griffoness who seemed to be trying to trot around Cozy snorted, "why not?" she stomped her hind paw in irritation. "Bathrum's out o'er dere lass. You clog te toilet or sumetin?"

Gritting her teeth Cozy narrowed her eyes, staring up at the griffon who in general towered over her. "You watch that tongue Missy before you go making false accusations or--"

"Cozy" uncle Furnny drew out her name cautiously in warning. "Watch what you say next spark plug your mom is right here."

"And just what exactly is going on?" her mother asked with some sense of impatience creeping into her own voice as her eyes shifted between her daughter and the griffon she was blocking.

"Is there a problem?" Seasoned asked, trotting up to the group's booth with a hint of concern.

"Yes!" Cozy shouted. "Mr. Pierce" the pegasus stamped both forehooves. "We have a problem!"

"Oh, is it the food?" Season asked with a look of concern.

"Oh no dear the food is perfectly fine," Mrs. Light assured with a friendly smile, shooting her daughter a glance with those forest green eyes that seemed to warn she was losing her patience even without dropping her warm expression.

"I don't have time to explain I just--" wings shifting, feathers vibrating, Cozy shivered visibly as she felt that horrible nagging that something wasn't right here. That something was about to go wrong. That things were only just about to get worse and the shiver she gained made both father and mother, uncle and family friend shift their expressions in various forms of acknowledgement, surprise, alarm, or concern.

"Excuse us," Pierce was the first to slip from his seat and motioned with a wing for Cozy to come along as he drew her under his other wing. "I think we need to talk in private for a moment, ma'am if you wouldn't mind using the bathroom on the otherside that would be very appreciated."

The griffoness eyed the thestral with a raised brow before Pierce offered her a tooth filled smile. "Please" he added gently.

She huffed a "fine." then spread her wings and flapped away, disappearing down the foyer to the otherside of the o-shaped hall.

"What's going on?" Pierce trotted in the other direction. His ears twitching now and then.

"There's gremlins in the bathroom!" Cozy yell-whispered as she followed.

This statement only got Pierce to raise a brow, drop it, then nod. "Of course there are." He picked up the pace and wasn't surprised to find Torch in his blindspot when he turned.

"Daddy?" Cozy asked concerned. "What are you doing?"

"If there's a problem I'm joining you."

"Daddy, no!" Try as she might even if she kept her wings still, she felt the need to shift them. Things were getting worse but she wasn't sure if it was from the gremlins in the bathroom or if it was their leaders organizing them for some kind of attack. "You can't! It's too dangerous, plus you're injury--"

Torch snorted and looked down at his daughter from the corner of his eye with a cocky grin. "Danger's my middle name gumdrop. And no filly o' mine is headin out there without her pap."

"No." A green glow tugged on the earth pony's tail, granting a yelp of surprise from him, "You are not leaving."

Pierce entered the hall leaving Cozy who had stopped at the entrance to stare back and forth. "Mommy, I--"

"Go" Merry nodded with a small smile as she tugged her husband back to her side with her magic. "I'll keep an eye on him--"

Then the piercing yell reached everypony's ears.

It took a second as they squinted down the joining hall on the other side, but something was happening. Yelling and shouting suddenly began taking over the otherside of the dining hall in the distance as others looked down in the direction where a pony had just ran out of the bathroom's on the other side, bucking and kicking wildly to get something sitting on its back and laughing.

Not a second after this did gremlins, multiple of them, come rushing out of the bathroom entrance into the dining hall. Some crawling along the walls and leaping off it and crashing into tables, upsetting and stunning those who were still trying to process what was going on. Others running across the distance and heading straight for the various food on patrons tables, tackling the startled customers and dragging them away, while their other allies dug in with vigor.

Waiters that were the closest to the mayhem could be seen throwing trays at something before they were tackled by three or four vague looking green things, customers who didn't try to rush for the exists immediately were blocked by the same figures or in one case were driven away from the second floor exit leading to ground level by something laughing at them, swinging instruments left and right and herding them away.

A eagle cry pierced the air as Cozy caught sight of the griffonness she'd blocked earlier flying and with a spin, threw some creature down in the direction of the fighting and disorder only to disappear as she dived in for combat.

"We got ourselves a problem here!" Furnace shouted. "I'm gonna see if I can get back up!" Then without a second glance he was off, rushing towards the cashier stand, where all staff were still processing what was going on.

Flinching and trying to kick away, Cozy was snapped out of her stunned stupor when she felt the pressing hug of her father's chest blind her. "You stay safe now you hear me?" He whispered in her ear.

She nodded. "I will, I promise."

"Atta girl." She saw him grin, then with a scowl that made his scar twist into something more menacing, Torch Path let go of his daughter, turned to his wife and straight up threw her onto his back. "Best of luck to ya Cozy. See ya when the fun's over."

"Torch!" Merry shrieked in surprise as her husband galloped off after his brother-in-law. "Wait! Where are we--" it was the last thing Cozy heard as the sound of conflict grew to a crescendo with several ponies rushing towards her direction and the sound of shouting growing louder and louder by every passing seconds.

She hoped her family would be safe and able to take some control while she was away. 

Turning and galloping off, Cozy plunged into the lengthy bathroom halls. Running after Pierce who'd long disappeared ahead.





The pony in question stood waiting for Cozy in the miniature hall within the bathroom; a small corridor of sorts that had been built within. Where one simply pushed on the door ahead to get inside the bathroom itself. 

Entering through the first door, Pierce paused. His ears perking. Outside of the conflict his sensitive ears could pick up, he heard nothing from behind the bathroom door itself. Not a heartbeat, not a breath, not squabbling, not a soul. There was no sound that came behind the thin door ahead even though Cozy had said there were Gremlins that had appeared in this exact restroom.

Eyes narrowing Pierce cocked a brow as he stared at the door. "..." He nodded, retreating his steps back outside the main restroom entrance to the female's bathrooms but instead of letting it shut, he used one wing to keep it open.

Breathing in deeply he focused. In and out, he repeated this process like usual but with each intake and exhale he channeled the energy all around him into his body. Magic, the very force that infected reality and all its inhabitants, flowed into him and through every pore within his body. His eyes flashed a cold pale blue glow and in that same instance Pierce's hooves flashed the same pale blue as he cast a simple Silent Step spell on himself. When he moved across the tiled floor on his horseshoes next, his steps were muted, soundless, like a insect scuttling on ground.

Hearing steps rapidly approaching his direction he turned one ear on his unseen visitor's path, then turned the other ear to the low whine, like a tuning fork had been struck, coming directly from the door itself.

Magic, he eyed the normal white push-in door. So it's true. They really can.

"Mr--"

"Shhhhhh", Agent Pierce shushed and then stretching one wing out as she came into the mini bathroom corridor, he tapped Cozy Glow's nose bridge gently with the tip of his wing membrane. 

She too flashed a pale cold blue color, but only for a moment as the spell took its effect.

"What was that?" She asked in a low, quiet voice, looking slightly up at the thestral as she glanced towards the other door on the other side of the corridor.

"A spell to mute our steps and this--" a second flash, this one of cold blue mixed with yellow flickered on them both, "That will make sure no one can hear us. We'll look like mimes to anypony else but from what I can hear outside, I don't think we have to worry about that just yet."

"Has anything happened?" she asked in a normal volume as he stepped inside to let the main entry door swing shut behind them.

Both ears rotated to his right where the door was. "I don't know. One or more know how to perform magic from what I can tell based off the spell tune, the spell they put on the door sounds like a spell tune from Abjuration. Low but strong pitch, deep and heavy yet quiet."

"Spell tune?" Cozy asked.

"I hear the varying frequencies in different forms of magic when a spell is cast. The air itself plays a sort of tune,  like listening to music I suppose. It's like unicorn sense but for a solar pegasus, or lunar pegasus in my case. Abjuration has a low yet deep pitch, Illusion spells come with multiple pitches; varying and fluctuating in volume and accent. Elemental spells tend to accompany the nature of their element: fire has a fast tempo with hard and soft notes etcetera etcetera. It is a gift as far as I am aware only few of us have."

"By 'us' you mean other thestrals, right?"

"No." He glanced at her and smiled. "I mean us." With a hoof, Pierce gently prodded Cozy's chest. "You and I can tap into magic in ways that are considered unordinary for a reason Cozy. Our biology is an anomaly with how it interacts with magic and I'm not talking about those example cases in Quibble Pants case study on Supernatural Offspring. We're an anomally just like those before us. I mean those of us that descend from the Royal Sisters Old Guard."

"Old Guard?" Cozy parroted. "...you mean the ponies that the Princesses had appointed as their personal body guard after marrying into the Platinum bloodline once things were settling after Discord?"

"The very ones. You might think I'm talking outta my ass here, but believe me. The Old Guard were known for doing strange things in their early days, and ponies like us fit that bill. Like me you too are an Illustram Cozy, but that is a story for another time. For now let's focus on the important matters."

Nodding Cozy turned her attention towards the door ahead, filing the term away for future looking into later. "So, what's the deal with that spell you can hear Mr. Pierce?"

"From what I can tell that based off the pitch I'm hearing, the door in front of us has had defensive charms cast on it. Which means...Cozy if you wouldn't mind aiding me in trying to break it down?"

Focusing Cozy nodded. Her collar glowed a spider web of green intricate lines across its banded surfacd, a red-orange glow emitted from her gem as Cozy suddenly became attuned to the presence of magic all around her. She could feel it in the air, passing through the ground, herself, Mr. Pierce, and everywhere around her. 

Eyes narrowing Cozy shifted her wings and with that subtle shift she gathered the magic into a single point. It grew in a second from a dot to a coin to a pool ball to a tennis ball of growing energy. Sparks flying as she concentrated to keep the ball together. 

"Now!" Pierce instructed.

With a second shift of her wings and a miniscule adjustment of her feathers, the orb of crackling energy launched forward; expanding and becoming more like a wave as she released her concentration. In the same instant, Pierce's whole being was incased in a ghostly blue glow that shrouded him like fog, then peeled off him and flew forward. Both the telekinetic blasts slammed into the door shaking it violently but overall did nothing to budge the door at all let alone even dent it. A odd feat considering it had once needed a simple push of no real effort to get in, and out.

Frowning Cozy whipped her natural bouncy curls back with shake of her head, stretched her wings slightly and glanced at the older stallion. "What do we do now?"

"The only two options we have is to go back out there and see if we can help the others. " Pierce stated, eyeing the door. "That door won't budge unless we hit it hard, and if I have to use much more force it'll do more damage to the area before it hits the door."

"Thing I don't get is how? Since when have gremlins ever been able to do magic let alone learn how to get the materials to create something capable of storing or channeling it? Why even the interest?"

"Don't know exactly myself." Pierce replied, ears twitching. "But if this goes to show anything they've always been able to do it" he grimly stated. 

"Always?" Cozy frowned, glancing at the door.

"Mass teleportation of this scale? That's not about raw power that's about skill. There's a reason the School of Thauma Sciences advise against mass teleportation for any caster. Sure, you need the juice to actually be able to do it so you don't hurt yourself straining, but to do it and do it safely?  S. M. I. L. E had no idea they could do magic, till one police chase in District 34 reported two months ago the gremlins they were hunting down just vanished mid chase...Princess Luna proposed it was magic when she heard about it, and no one believed her..."

"At least till now." Cozy finished, to which Pierce grimly nodded.

Seconds went by as they pondered what to do. Cozy glanced back to the exit, wondering how things were going on the other side. Everything was so muffled here and it was difficult to tell if they were winning or losing but since there had been no tremble in her wings she could only imagine...

"Do you recall those documents I gave you?" Pierce suddenly said, distracting her.

"Princess Luna's articles Monsters of Equestria? Yeah, why?"

"Gremlins," Pierce stated, his body was encased in the magical aura again. When he spoke his voice had a hollow second echo. "What do you recall about them?" THUNK

"According to A.K. Yearling's Magical Capabilities Of Supernatural Creatures, gremlins are known for having a hierarchy caste consisting of Warriors and Scholars. The caste is determined by birth--" THUNK the door shook but did not budge "--and is defined based on the intellectual limits of a gremlin."

"Correct." Pierce nodded, taking a moment to observe his work. "What else?"

"Scholars are the most intelligent." Cozy recited. "While all Gremlins are capable of communication, the Scholars are capable of greater focus, concentration, better memory, and have better learning skills than a Warrior who generally is easily distracted and far more suited to physical activity and are recorded as being far better at physical endeavors than mental ones outside of using brute force to get their way. Against Scholars that doesn't work though, my hunch is they take control while they're young and establish themselves as a dominant with at least one Warrior. The 'smart' Warrior would side with a good Scholar, the impudent ones won't." At these words her eyes widened with realization. "Wait, could Scholars learn theory? Is that possible?"

"Yes, if this door is any living proof" Pierce stated after failing to push it open. "Wouldn't surprise me, especially since gremlins and Diamond Dogs were the ones that played a role in manufacturing the paths in the Celestial Era that we'd use for the train systems later. But they're not the ones I'm thinking conducted this."

"What makes you say that? And how did they even get the means to study magic in the first place?"

"It's wrong to think just because Equestria is a leading figure in Thauma Sciences, we're the only ones that should be capable of bettering ourselves. The way this is all playing out seems like a larger effort. Scholars would no doubt be behind some of the activity going on with the raids, probably actively involved in the planning for them. But this, the number of Gremlins here? This doesn't seem like something a Scholar would do. They're smart about their actions and they play roles in a way that makes sure they maintain their support. Didn't Princess Luna's article Monsters in Equestria have something about there being another part to the hierarchy we missed? There was another type of Gremlin."

"Gelehrt" Cozy answered thoughtfully. "She called them the leaders of the Gremlin society and the ones making sure the balance of power didn't topple completely. But they never leave the Gremlin territory. They always keep a presence there to ensure that their territory isn't taken by a rival or rogue group."

"Hm..." Pierce went silent as he stared at the door. "...You said before you left, there was a fight that started? That's what all the commotion was. Other gremlins coming in. What was happening before you came here?"

"Everyone went into a panic. Some were trying to run, others were confused, and I saw a few actually fighting and taking some of the bats, clubs, and makeshift spears and fighting back against some of the gremlins that had brought with them. Uncle Furnny went to go call the police but after that..." her ears splayed and she bit her lower lip. Cozy shrugged.

"Don't worry, they'll be alright. Let's focus on dealing with this first and see if we can get some answers, alright?"

"But how can we get answers if we can't get inside?" Cozy stomped her hoof in frustration. "Should we just make our own entrance and force out some answers there? If that's the option then let me do it I can--"

Pierce's ears perked. "I think we won't need to worry about that anymore."

Tilting her head in confusion Cozy looked at the door and found her eyes widening. 

"Enter." Said the gremlin standing at the door. "Kianda wishes to talk."