The next day at the castle, after her meeting with Vapor Cloud - Umbra found herself interned and with nothing to occupy herself past the noon lunch. Feeling lonely, and with Tempest seemingly out and about the town on the hunt for a job - she decided to take a trip to Canterlot to visit Vee. The company of a witch was always a welcome treat, especially one as chaotic and long lived as the purple pegasus.

It was just around the evening hours when the door to her shop chimed, Pumpkin managing the register in Vee’s usual place. The quiet mare approached, her eyes taking in the timid Earth pony with curiosity.

“Good evening, Miss Pumpkin Spice. I am in the mood for… pleasant company. Perhaps Vee is available? Suffice to say that the mobile statues in Canterlot offer little entertainment, besides the fear my presence provokes.”

Ducking just a little behind the till at the looming, tall mare, Pumpkin gave a nod. “She’s um… above. I don’t know when she’ll come down.”

“Perhaps you might fetch her for me. After all, I-” She froze on the spot, a purple feather falling gently onto her nose. Slowly, her eyes travelled up to meet a calmly preening pegasus, stuck to the ceiling with an equally inverted cup of coffee.

“Good evening, Umbra! D’ohoho~ Come to visit little ol’ me? Well too bad! I’m not little. But you can still visit.” The Purple pegasus stared blankly at the wall straight ahead, hardly even tilting her head to meet the confused Unicorn below.

“Is this perhaps not an opportune moment?” the gray mare inquired, the purple pegasus above fanning a wing dismissively.

“Any moment is opportune if you’re opportunistic! Though I must admit, I find myself in a bit of a bean. Well, I am sitting in my shop, but a bean I am in!” She stopped preening, staring blankly at the far wall. “Umbra, you look awfully flat. Maybe I’m not the one in need of assistance! D’ohoho~”

“...Are you in need of aid? I can wrench you free of the planks above, if you so desire.”

“While that would be lovely, Spooky-fry, I’m afraid it’s not that simple! I was tempted to drink coffee from the Kangaroo Lands - who knew that what comes from down under leaves you looking up? It makes little sense! But, it is wonderful on the feathers, lots of room for preening, plenty of space for sweeping and all that jazz.”

“Pumpkin, is she alright? Has her sanity fled?” Umbra eventually confessed, worried that Vee had finally lost the plot.

“Actually, she scheduled this. It’s literally on her checklist of things to do today. By all accounts, this is um… i-intended?” She ducked below Umbra’s gaze, the Unicorn giving a sigh.

“Very well. Perhaps I will join her then. Sometimes a fresh perspective grants new answers.” Umbra nodded to Pumpkin, who shrunk even further behind the till.

“U-Um… Coffee doesn’t… do that to a pony. N-Not unless you’re Vee. M-Maybe you can cast a spell?”

Umbra sighed, rolling her eyes. With a flash of her horn, she slowly floated up to the planks above, clunking against the wood with her back. It took a moment of undignified shuffling and rolling to right herself, now meeting the pegasus’s gaze in her emerald green eyes.

“Aha! Not so flat are you, hmm? Must be a new fad diet; those things never work, Spooky-fry. I should know! I invented some of them, just to see health nuts drink coffee with butter in it. D’ohoho~” A strand of hair fell from Vee’s mane, gravity taking hold once more. With a sip of coffee, it fell right back in place.

“Anywho! What brings you snooting about my shop? Besides the obvious fact that I’m here, oho~” The preening resumed once more, Pumpkin sighing as feathers galore began to rain onto her hat.

“I find myself… lacking in missions, as the only issues left to handle are beyond my expertise. By this evening, the Police will instigate raids, stallions would be seized, and justice would soon be brought on them. Of course, I gave my aid where aid was needed, but… now, I am without task. In these lonesome moments, I would typically seek Arin’s company. But… well, I may never see him again.”

“Bold of you to think that, while talking to a Lunar Witch! Arin and Celestia are both fine; sleepy, perhaps. But well! At least, from what Onyx tells me. He’s got a beak on his brain, and feathers in the right places. Said places are all places! Much like me, d’ohoho.”

The news was comforting, albeit confusing, for the former Umbra. “I know that you are a Lunar Witch; that is a given. But I did not have the foresight to probe into your abilities. Who is this Onyx you speak of? I feel as if I have met him before.”

A soft croak and click of a beak snapped her head to the left. Much like Vee, the Raven settled on the ceiling. Further annoying Pumpkin, who sat on the floor of the empty shop alone.

“I am the black that stirs in the night, the darkness that-”

“Eats all of Pumpkin’s cookies.”

“...The Feathers of which the sounds of despair carry, yet the winds of the world-”

“Bring you cookies.”

Onyx went silent, dark eyes staring. “May I finish?”

“Your cookie? Yes.” Vee hovered said circular disk to the Raven, who after some goating - devoured it in moments. Where she produced the cookie, Umbra was not sure.

“Regardless, I exist not as a material being, but as an immaterial idea. A figment. While you exist in this Mortal Plane, I am an immovable being that spans all realms at once. While others require a source of magic, I am the source that giveth - the power that surges, the tide that churns. My powers are immeasurable and my age innumerable. I meddle where I will, and I roost where I desire. Those Vee calls friend, I shelter under my wing. The few who dare challenge me, are quick to lay still in their graves. I have the strength to end this world, and sever the very light in twain of which you call the Sun. But a tale is written that can’t be spoken in words, and I pride myself as the author of fate’s endless scroll. I will strike the quill with fresh ink, and etch the very words of reality into being. For I-”

“See? This is why I interrupt him so much. Give him an inch, he takes a mile. Shoo! Snoot up some sweets from the kitchen. You’ll melt Umbra’s featherless brain.” Vee preened a fresh purple feather, shooting the pinion at the bird with a puff from her lips. It bumped him in the head, and with a tilt of his beak - a soft croak - he ceased to be.

“Huh?” Pumpkin lifted her head from the counter, ear swiveling to the bumbling pots and pans of the kitchen. “Hey! Get out of those - those are for tonight! We have a bunch of reservations - Onyx!”

The little mare darted for the kitchen door, as a certain Raven made his great escape with a dozen cookies in magical tow - a cauldron cake impaled on his beak. Pumpkin gave chase with a wooden spoon in her mouth around the lobby, bumping her nose against the wall when Onyx inevitably faded from reality. “Ow… s-stupid bird…”

Collecting herself, she returned to the kitchen to clean up the mess with a sigh.

“If I may make a request, Vee - please grant me information regarding Arin’s journey when available. I desire his safe return, and I am not afraid to spill the blood of any who dare interfere.”

“D’ohoho, finding yourself bored without your special somepony to keep you company? Makes me wonder if I should snoot him under my wing - but alas, I have my heart set on somepony else! I’ll flick a feather your way if he decides to take a vacation to the world of the dead. Nasty place - they didn’t have coffee, so I made extra sure to stay away from there.” Vee took another sip of her favorite brew, humming.

“We are not an item, Vee. I believe I made that clear?” she corrected, her eyebrows furrowing in frustration.

“Oho! Brave of you to have wrong opinions! Lots of feathers tell otherwise, Spooky-horn. At least, in some of the futures I see, and others I don’t. Did you know that in another world, Arin is Celestia’s Knight? Strange times those are, even though they aren’t real. And the times that are real haven’t happened yet! Better put your feather in the cap if you want a chance to win the love lottery, d’ohoho~” Vee withdrew a pristine purple feather from her wing, plucking a roll of twine from under her hat.

“Best to play safe and sorry, than sorry that you’re safe. Or something like that; I’m not a mathemagician. Too many numbers.” She twirled the charm around Umbra’s hoof; a singular feather. “Tada, friends made with a well respected client, check. Next on my list! Gravity.”

She grabbed her empty coffee cup, gently holding it in her hooves. With a flick of her tail, she fell from the ceiling - landing on the pillow below with a harsh flick of her wings. Umbra sparkled her green magic, steadily falling before the register to join her.

“...You are a strange mare, Vee. But you grant splendid advice. Thank you. I believe this conversation is just what I desired. But now, I have one more question to ask.” Umbra curiously stroked her hoof over the new charm, curious for her reason behind it.

“Oho! I’m not paid to be asked questions. Actually, I’m not paid at all, as the economy is in shambles. But ask away.”

“Do you have any heartfelt gifts a Seraph like Arin would enjoy? And perhaps another question - do you accept Seraph Talons as payment?”

“Hmhmhm. That’s a doubly good question! No and yes. Talons can be turned to bits with a visit to the Castle, after all - but I’ll take them for now. It’ll also give me a good reason to snoot up some issues with Luna. Her moon wiggling lately hasn’t been up to par. Bad for the feathers.”

With that, Umbra spent the next few hours browsing Vee’s selection. After all, many of Vee’s wares were of the magical nature, and had many practical, powerful, or volatile uses.

Well past supper, and as the shop swelled with paying customers, she found something just perfect for Arin; and stuffed well over five hundred of the thin gold talons into Vee’s waiting hoof. Something she knew he would cherish.

With the gift wrapped tightly in a small box and placed in her bag, she left as the last of the ponies filtered in - looking to buy potions, enjoy pastries, and sip coffee until the morning sun urged them away. Now alone, and in the barren lanes, she made her way down the empty streets of Canterlot.

By now a few of the lights along the way had blinked out from disrepair, leaving the already shadowy mare slipping by in the dim dark. Something that felt… wrong, to her; a flag that caught her attention. Her ears went on swivel, as her steps naturally fell quiet.

Umbra was always the wary type; highly perceptive and intelligent, her trained danger sense ringed faintly. And it was in this building tension, a gloved hand struck in the dark.

The short bat clubbed her in the back of the head - the normally stalwart pony taken by surprise, giving a sharp gasp. It would take more than a single powerful swing to down her - but before her horn could even flash down the side alley, a hand roughly grabbed her mane and pulled. Disoriented, and out of the public eye - the club hit more cleanly, knocking her unconscious.

Sets of wings took to the air, shooting into the sky with their bound and magic-gagged target. Leaving the colorful streets of Canterlot missing its familiar shadow, as the third night’s rain began to pour down freely. The only signs of the encounter being the faint scuffle of hooves and feet, washed into the pouring water from above.

The soft click of a beak hung in the alley, a familiar Raven croaking sadly at the events that transpired in his infinite gaze. His sight saw beyond this moment, and knew what was to come - but he could not act, lest he change destiny for the worse.

And with the flash of black wings, he was gone.