Above the treetops, the sky was already awash with orangey-pink hues as the sun slid down against the horizon. The town of Ferretfall's position below and beneath the treetops, however, served only to filter out much of the evening light, casting the streets and houses into darkness far quicker than they otherwise would have been. As a result, the Ferretfallers had a long-held tradition where, in the evening, the fillies and colts who had just gotten out of school were required to collect a jar's worth of lightning bugs for each house on their block—divided amongst the children who lived in that block, of course. Then, once they collected the required amount, they'd hoof the bottles over to their parents and neighbours who hung the jars up proudly as porch lights outside their homes.

It was in the midst of this hectic chaos with dozens of young ponies scrambling about, calling loudly to their friends, that a beige-coated unicorn mare stood, surveying the scene. She was an odd one out in a few different ways; in addition to being about a head taller than even the tallest of the fillies and colts, she wore a hefty, official-looking black vest around her torso. And, as a matter of fact, the vest was official-looking because it was official; a white, shield-shaped patch sat clearly on display over the left breast.

The mare coupled this official garment with an official-type stature, looking over the small ponies running about in semi-darkness as they chased after lightning bugs with a calm, observing demeanor. Not like she was looking for something, mind you—just content with that everything was going how it was supposed to. Every so often, the mare nodded or smiled when one of the fillies or colts gave her an inquisitive look as they passed, but these were oddities; for the most part, she remained standing there with a contemplative look as her eyes swept the town.

"What are you looking for?" a deep voice asked from behind her. The mare's ear twitched and, frowning, she turned to face the stallion she knew would be there.

"Good evening, Captain Jumping Frog." The mare gave focus to each syllable, enunciating them separately—a tactic some mentor long ago had taught her to bring unease. "I've been expecting you."

Jumping Frog, a stocky stallion with a deep green coat and deep-set eyes, blinked. "With all due respect, madam... of course you have. We arranged yesterday to meet here, no?"

"...Right." The mare coughed. "Do you have any updates on the situation?"

Jumping Frog shook his head. "Not yet. I know you were hoping that they would've arrived by now, but it looks like they'll still be a while. It's possible that they've overshot and will have to turn back."

"Hmm... quite possible, but I don't think so. It's been enough time since Ms. Fluff called that they should be here by now, regardless of whether they had to loop back around or not." The mare paused to look up at the nearest house, whose resident was just then hanging up a sealed jar of lightning bugs at the top of his porch with his magic. Sighing, the mare turned back to Jumping Frog. "What about Officer Gloss? Is he here yet, at least?"

"...again, with all due respect, you know as well as I that he would be here with or instead of me due to his relevance to this particular... endeavour."

"Right, right," the mare conceded. "Still, the sooner he gets here, the better. I'm not even sure what we're supposed to do if they get here before he does."

Jumping Frog cocked his head. "I don't mean to pry or anything... but... well..."

The mare sighed, rolling her eyes. "I don't care. Whatever. Out with it."

"Didn't Prince Aeneus leave you with instructions or anything?"

"Yes, he did." The mare paused for effect. "'Listen to Officer Gloss,'" she droned.

Jumping Frog facehoofed. "Seriously? I know the officer's been on the force for years, but he's still just a low-ranking official compared to either of us, and doesn't even have half our experience."

"I know, it sounds weird," the mare replied, "but apparently this Officer Gloss has a plan that the prince likes and thinks will work. Of course, that's still contingent on the stallion being here."

"I mean, you can probably cut him a little slack," Jumping Frog countered. "I heard he got beat up pretty bad back in the Umberlight Zoo, and now he's had to make this last-minute trip after getting his plan approved by the prince. I'm sure he thought he'd be laughed off or ignored. Plus, of course, those kids aren't here yet, either."

"That's true. Speaking of that... where in the hay are they?" The mare sighed. "Something here seems a little fishy..." As she trailed off with the last word, however, the comlink on Jumping Frog's wrist started beeping.

The stallion looked down and then opened his eyes wide with realisation. "Speak of the devil!" he exclaimed as he pressed the 'receive call' button with his muzzle and put the device up to his ear. "Hello?"

The mare couldn't quite make out what was being said on the other side beyond that there were a lot of words, coming quickly. Jumping Frog barely had time to "mhm" between statements for more than thirty seconds before the voice stopped.

"And you're sure?" he asked. Upon receiving some sort of response, he nodded. "Alright, thank you. I will be there in ten." With that, the comlink clicked and the stallion dropped his hoof back to the ground before looking to the beige-coated mare.

"So?" she said.

"It looks like you've got your development after all," Jumping Frog replied. "Just got a reported sighting of Cotton Fluff and that hovercraft, along with a whole slew of other ponies. Seems they've been... intercepted. And now I've got to go back to the station to talk with a few of my officers so we can track down where they've gone."

"Splendid," the mare said. "Alright if I come with?"

"Of course," Jumping Frog said, nodding. "It's always a pleasure to have you with us, Hazie. I hope you know that."

Hazie nodded. "I thank you for that. And please, Ms. Haze is fine."

Sighing, Jumping Frog turned and began to trot down the street, with Hazie following close behind. Already, most of the children had cleared, having already found their required quota of lightning bugs. All that were left were a few stragglers, the unlucky ones who were left trying to scrounge up the fastest bugs that were left over.