Kevin kicked up small clouds of mulch as his hooves propelled him forward along the roads. He turned when appropriate, snaking through the maze of streets lined with brick houses and a few other, taller buildings but never giving more than a moment's thought as to where he needed to go. Even though it had been years since he walked these streets and he had been much younger when he did, the route he traced was so familiar that he had no trouble remembering how to navigate through the streets to get to the best place for directions.

It was in the centre of this destination that Kevin finally skidded to a stop. Ponies of all ages were milling about in Dienna's Main Square despite the fact that the sky was already dark; however, the square was illuminated by more paper lanterns that were larger than the ones on the houses. A few elders took up the benches on one side of the clearing, and they were watching ponies pass much as Kevin was. He could hear Gloss's hooves on the mulch behind him so, just to be a little more annoying, Kevin started moving again. He walked slower this time, though, approaching the townsfolk who were passing by.

One filly in particular, a yellow pegasus about Kevin's age, looked up to meet his gaze and she twitched involuntarily at the sight of him. "Kevin?" she murmured, loud enough for him to hear but quiet enough so as to not disrupt anyone in the crowd. "Is that you?"

"Shh," Kevin shushed, putting a hoof to his muzzle. "Come with me. I wanna ask you something." The filly started walking forward, so Kevin turned around and trotted over to some bushes on the other side of the square where nopony else stood. He looked across the square where he could see Gloss had already spied him and had slowed down his pace, now that he knew where he was going. The filly pulled up beside Kevin and he started to speak frantically so that their conversation could end before Gloss got there.

"Flight, I need you to tell me where Doc Zed lives if you know. I've got to talk to him."

"Kevin, what's this all about?" Flight asked. She nervously twirled a hoof in her long white mane.

"No time—I just gotta know where Doc Zed is."

"No, Kevin, you've gotta have time!" Flight whispered loudly. She looked straight into Kevin's eyes with a sad expression. "You just disappeared one day without even a goodbye and now you just come back demanding... demanding to know stuff? What's going on?"

Kevin looked over his shoulder, where he could see Gloss was making his way around the benches. In just a minute or two, the older pony would be over there, listening in on the details of their conversation. "Augh... dang it, Flight! I don't have time right now! Can we talk about this later?"

Flight frowned, but nodded. "Okay, but you have to come see me right after you see Doc Zed. Promise?"

Kevin sighed. "Yes, I promise. Now, if you'll just tell me...?"

At this, Flight smirked. "You dummy, he lives in the same place he always has. That weird blue house on Fifth Street. You've been there plenty of times—you'll recognise it."

Kevin nodded. "Thanks a million, Flight. I owe ya."

"Yeah, you owe me your story. Meet me back in the square before midnight." With that, the filly walked away. She passed Gloss as she trotted back towards where she had been walking before, and the pegasus stallion raised an eyebrow as she passed. She seemed not to notice him.

"Who's your friend?" Gloss asked as he reached comfortable conversation distance from Kevin.

"Just a pony I know from school. She wanted to know about my trip but we don't have time right now so I told her I'd tell her later." While some of those words didn't mean quite what Gloss thought they did, Kevin was particularly proud of himself for not quite telling any lies.

"Oh, okay. You gonna ask somepony where we can find your dad's friend, then?" Gloss asked.

"Just did, actually—my friend knows him too, thank Argent," Kevin said. He started walking along the bushes to where they led into another road. "C'mon, let's go. We can take it slower this time, too."

"That sounds pretty good, kid. You've definitely got me outmatched when it comes to speed."

Kevin and Gloss continued down the road in silence, descending further into the depths of Dienna. Although the town by no means was a large one, Gloss could already see that it wasn't the tiny village he'd imagined.