As Mochi relinquished her hold of Kevin and Scootaloo, Flight took a step forward. "This is great and all, but we really need to keep moving. We've already wasted enough time as it is."

Scootaloo turned to Kevin and smirked. "Who's this girlfriend you picked up, Kev? She's pretty cute, but she kinda has an attitude."

It was hard to tell which came first—Kevin's beet-red face and stammers of "N-no—she's not—it's—" or Flight's exclamation of "What? No I don't!" At this, Scootaloo merely grinned, and even Cotton Fluff behind them had to hold in a snicker.

"Not you too!" Flight said, exasperated as she turned to Cotton Fluff.

"Heh, sorry," Cotton replied. "I mean, I dunno who this filly is but she's kinda got a point. We don't really need to be anywhere in a hurry."

"Nah, the yellow one's right," Scootaloo said. "Me and Mochi—and the rest of you guys, I think—need to get out of the city ASAP. There's a tunnel in the aquarium that we should be able to use."

"Sounds good, Scoots!" Mochi exclaimed. "Lead the way."

"Wait, what?" Flight looked from Scootaloo to Mochi and then to Kevin, whose cheeks were still red. "Kevin and I still need to get some parts, for your darn ship, no less."

Scootaloo blinked. "Really? I mean, awesome! Thanks a lot!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. But we've got to go to the last store. That's why Cotton Fluff here"—Flight gestured with a hoof—"is with us in the first place. We bought a bunch of parts from her and now she's showing us where the next shop is."

Cotton Fluff waved. "Yup, that's me."

"Huh, cool." Scootaloo nodded. "But you'll have to get that stuff some other time. For now, we gotta bail. There's guards swarming the zoo because of Mochi and also a distraction Grey caused." She turned to Kevin. "And based on what this guy in the South Pen told me, you're not supposed to be out and about."

Kevin gasped. "You were in the South Pen? What was it like? How did you survive?"

"Heh... another story for another time, dude. But seriously, let's get moving." Scootaloo turned tail and started trotting back down the path she had come from. It wasn't until she was maybe a metre down the path that she realised nopony was following her. "Um, guys?"

"Comin'!" Mochi exclaimed, bounding across to where the filly stood.

For another moment, nopony moved. Then, Kevin took a step forward. And another, and another, until he was right alongside Mochi. "You guys coming?" he asked, looking over his shoulder.

"I... guess," Flight said, finally trotting up to join him. "I really don't know what's going on and Scootaloo's got a lot of explaining to do but I'm willing to trust her for now."

"And you, Ms. Fluff?" Kevin asked.

Forgotten until then, the mare shiftily avoided his gaze as he asked. "I'm... uh... I'm not so sure I wanna go with you guys. This isn't really what I signed up for... and I kinda need to get back to my store, heh."

"That's fine," Flight said with a smile. "Thank you for all you've done for us."

"O-of course," Cotton Fluff murmured, averting Flight's gaze. She only looked up to watch as the ponies started trotting briskly down the path. Then she thought of Gloss. She had made a promise to the stallion that she would help him capture the kids. And despite whatever misgivings she had about him, they had always had two rules—no lies, and no breaking promises. Cotton Fluff didn't want to break those, not now—even if it had been nearly five years. She sighed and then let words flow from her mouth—words that she didn't really want to be saying. "Wait up!" she called.

One by one, the heads of Scootaloo, Mochi, Kevin, and Flight turned to look at her. Cotton Fluff stared back at the four sets of eyes. "Eheh... I'm coming with," Cotton mumbled. "I don't really have anything better to do, anyway." She cantered forward, taking a place in the back of the group.

"Glad to have you with us," Flight said. Then, once Cotton Fluff had joined the group, they continued down the path in silence but for their hooves on the dirt and the leaves brushing against their coats, following Scootaloo further into the zoo.

And yet, on the tip of Cotton Fluff's tongue, she felt like she could taste a hint of regret.