Chapter 35

Braeburn groaned as he pushed himself up, his hat was missing and his vision was filled with a blinding light. His groan became a roar in his skull as his brain lurched painfully at every move he made

“G-guys?” the apple farmer moaned quietly, his hooves protected his fragile eyes from the dim sunlight that streamed in through the window. His eyes managed to adjust enough for him to make out a pair of bumps under a large bed sheet

Shining Armour lifted his head from one of the bumps and groaned in agony as his body was exposed to the waking world. “What the hay happened?” he whined as he held his tongue out of his mouth. “And something tastes really strange, almost… non-vegetable”

The other bump groaned as it sat up and was revealed to be Big Mac, his eyes bloodshot but he still had a strange, relieved smile. He looked at Braeburn before looking at the stallion next to him, his jaw dropped as he saw Shining’s disgusted face

“AAAAHHHH!”

…

Shining Armour finished brushing his teeth for the fifth time as he continued to whimper, his hooves constantly rubbing his face as he attempted to process the information. “Wha… how… why was I in bed with Big Mac?”

Braeburn found his hat and quickly placed it on his head, his waistcoat was still missing as he looked around the room they were in and risked looking out the window. “I think we should be asking why are we in Manehatten”

“WHAT!” Big Mac gasped as he rushed to the window and looked down at the busy streets below, city ponies carrying on with their day

“I-I cheated on my wife… with Big Mac?” Shining’s eyes searched the floor as he staggered out of the bathroom

Braeburn turned around and slapped Shining Armour before grabbing his tense shoulders. “We have no way of knowing, so assume that just fell asleep next to ya”

Shining slowly nodded his head, his tongue still found it’s way out of his mouth as he gagged again. “But what the hay did I eat then?”

Big Mac shrugged before looking around the penthouse suite they were in. The main room was a large, open area with soft seats and glass tables. A few varnished doors opened into large bedrooms and a bathroom with a hot tub.

Braeburn groaned as he searched for his waistcoat, finally finding it in front of the only closed door. “Hey, I think somepony is in this room”

Big Mac and Shining Armour both removed themselves from the window and silently opened the door, leaving enough space for them to peek in

Facing them was a sleeping pair of ponies, Flux being held by Strong Shield as they held each other softly. Strong Shield’s scarred eye was hidden in Flux’s messy mane, making him almost look happy

“Hang on,” Shining pulled his head away and looked quickly around the penthouse. “Where is Dave?”

Flux and Strong Shield both groaned as they woke up, their eyes scanned the room before they ended up looking at each other. Their reactions were hidden by their faces but not by their shocked eyes

“W-why am I in…” Flux was about to let a small smile crawl across her lips but she was prevented when she noticed the two earth ponies standing by the door

Strong Shield looked up at Big Mac and Braeburn with an unimpressed glare. His expression managing to hide the strange grin that wanted to leap to his face when he awoke

“Well this is strange” Braeburn commented before closing the door and dragging Big Mac away to search around the room. Flux groaned as she crawled out of bed and began using her hoof to flatten her mane

Strong Shield rubbed his eye before climbing out of bed and peeking out the bedroom door, making sure nopony was in earshot. “So… last night”

“Was clearly a mistake for you,” Flux hissed as she began stretching her wings. “I wasn’t drunk enough to forget what you had become”

“What I’ve become?” Strong Shield glared as he forced the door closed with a loud thud. “Excuse me, who was it that hired mercenaries to ransack the castle?”

Flux sneered at the comment before responding with one of her own. “And who was it that tried to drug a mare in a nightclub?” she snarled, “Some would see that as attempted rape”

“I was merely going to detain you in a prison cell,” Strong Shield responded, making sure he kept his serious face from showing his annoyance. “I assume Battering Ram will find out about this?”

“He would kill me, then you” Flux sighed as she looked in the mirror and saw the large bags under her eyes. “He always was the protective sort, making sure nopony got hurt”

Strong Shield snorted, “So are you both an item now?”

“No, he just doesn’t like the fact that I keep trying to reason with you,” Flux frowned before her eyes dropped to the floor. “He and I are friends, you were once his best friend and he would never touch the mare you love”

“You say love as if I still care about you,” The frowning unicorn glared as Flux waved away with a hoof

“If you didn’t then why are we talking rather than fighting?” Flux looked over her shoulder as she walked over to the bedroom window. “If you didn’t, then why did we spend the night together?”

Strong Shield shuffled uncomfortably from each hoof as he shot another glare at the Pegasus. “I assume you are keeping a close watch?”

Flux did not respond, instead she open the window and leapt out, spreading her wings as the morning sun warmed her body. The morning breeze began to fill the bedroom but was cut short as Strong Shield used his magic to slam the window closed

Strong Shield left the bedroom and was instantly standing in front of a shaking Braeburn. “No I am not going to describe what happened between me and that Pegasus,” Strong Shield groaned

“Daveismissingandwehavenomemoryofthepasttwodays” Braeburn said as fast as he could before sitting on the spot, panting as if he had just ran a marathon

“Slow down, deep breaths” Strong Shield rested his hoof on the pony’s shoulder. “Say it again”

“Dave is missing and we have no memory of the past two days” Braeburn sighed. His closing eyes shot open as Strong Shield yanked him upright and stared into his eyes

“WHAT?” He yelled as he saw a bead of sweat roll down the farmer’s face. “Did you say Dave is missing and we can’t remember the past two days?”

Big Mac placed a hoof on Strong Shield’s shoulder. “Eeyup”

…

Shining Armour, Braeburn, Strong Shield and Big Mac all sat around a table in one of the nearby cafés. They all had large coffees sat in front of them as they all looked down in despair

“We have been gone a whole weekend” Braeburn sighed in disbelief. “Nopony knows that we are here and we don’t know where Dave is”

Big Mac leaned forwards, his eyes holding onto a small fragment of hope. “Maybe he went back ta Canterlot”

“No, he was definitely with us until yesterday afternoon and the train for Canterlot was vandalized the other day by a bunch of partying stallions” Shining Armour groaned as the large red stallion sunk back into his seat

“Ah shoot” Braeburn pulled his hat down to cover his face. “Those vandals were us weren’t they?”

The group all exchanged glances before they groaned in unison, Big Mac taking a large drink from his coffee in an attempt to avoid eye contact with anypony

The black unicorn stood up and looked at the rest of the group. “Alright, if we find Dave then we can worry about everything else later because losing Dave would be the worst thing for us”

“I know, he was such a nice guy” Braeburn sniffed as he hung his head. “I couldn’t live with the guilt if he got hurt because of me”

“I though that you would have been more worried about the fact that Princess Celestia would probably kill us all, or send us to the moon” Strong Shield rose an eyebrow as Braeburn finally caught on

Shining Armour stamped his hooves as determination swept across his face. “We must find Dave and find out if I had an affair with Big Mac”

“Why is that important?” Big Mac groaned before looking away awkwardly, due to Shining’s disgusted look

“If we lose Dave, Celestia will kill us!” Shining nodded but his face became more panicked as he hid slowly beneath the table. “If I cheated on Cadence, she will make me infertile and then kill me”

Braeburn stood up, causing the table to shake as he cheered. “Alright! We will save Dave and Shining’s balls!”

The café waitress coughed to get Braeburn’s attention. “Will you please quieten down? This is a family area”

“Ah,” Braeburn apologized before herding the group outside and forming a small circle. They all focused on the matter at hoof as they tried to come up with a plan. Big Mac would occasionally point out flaws whilst Braeburn came up with ideas that were more radical than the last

Shining Armour tapped Strong Shield as they all paused to think. “Do you think I could use my shield spell to find where Dave is? He would resist the expansion of the bubble and we can track him from there!”

“What if he’s below ground? Or outside Manehatten?” Big Mac sighed as he brought Shining’s plan crashing down

Strong Shield tapped his chin with his hoof. “We might as well try, and at least we would remove a large area from our search”

Braeburn clapped his hooves together in an attempt to stay positive. “Alright, that is our Plan A”

“What’s gonna be our Plan B?” Big Mac frowned as Braeburn quickly stammered another response

“W-we get our flanks to Saddle Arabia and live in a cave” he smiled to keep his confident appearance going

Shining Armour held up his hoof, a new idea forming a wide smile on his face. “Wait… I have the perfect idea”

“What is it?” Strong Shield leaned closer to listen

“If I go hide in Saddle Arabia then Cadence won’t be able to emasculate me with her bare hooves!” Shining cheered quietly. “It is better safe than sorry. Running the risk of finding out if I did sleep with Big Mac is too great and takes up valuable fleeing time”

Strong Shield groaned, “Can we just find my son for now?” He snarled slightly, “Besides, we can find out if you slept with Big Mac later before you go steal a hot air balloon”

“But I need all the time I can get” Shining whimpered as if Cadence was already charging towards him. “If she hears a rumour then she might take my manly mark just to be sure”

“She won’t touch your cutie mark or your manly mark until she is sure you slept with Big Mac” Braeburn frowned at Shining’s strangely nervous attitude. “You are safe until you find out more”

Shining shook his head before he finally regained his smirk. “Alright, first we have to find Dave or any clues that might help us”

The group nodded before they began walking down the busy streets of Manehatten. Shining Armour would occasionally ask a passer-by for any info, but sighed when his questions turned up nothing. Braeburn kept pausing to eavesdrop on strangers whilst they gossiped.

Big Mac and Strong Shield both kept on eye out for any strange objects or ponies. They both continued to frown as their search found nothing as well. The group groaned as they stopped in a park to rest, Braeburn pulled his hat down to block the sun from his eyes

“I think we should try this magic spell before we go any further,” he groaned. “We are wasting time if he isn’t even in the city or lost underground”

A snapping twig made Strong Shield turn his head to look at a brown earth pony with a messy cyan mane. “So I heard you were missing something dear to you,” he smiled as he looked over the confused group. “I can inform you that there are some mystical sea-ponies that live in a small cave on the edge of Manehatten. Where the beach and the cliffs meet! They can use their spiritual magic to find your lost friend”

“Cheers mate!” Braeburn began pushing the group away but was stopped as the strange pony jumped into their way. “Can we help you?”

“That will be ten bits!” The pony held out his hoof as his cyan mane was continuously messed up by the wind and made him seem immature rather than threatening. “My trade is selling folklore and information”

“We didn’t ask, so we ain’t paying!” Big Mac growled as the pony shrugged

“Fine, then you technically shoplifted,” The weird pony smiled happily. “Now pay or you will be going strait to prison! You hear me? S-T-R-A-I-T to P-R-I-S-O-N!”

Shining Armour held up his hoof, “Isn’t straight spelt s-t-r-a-i-g-h-t?”

“Oh ho silly unicorn,” The pony scoffed as he pulled a dictionary out of his messy tail. He flicked though a few pages before slamming his hoof onto a page. “HA HA! Straight is spelt s-t-r-a-i-g-h-t! Victory is mine! Mine! MI… oh”

The pony looked at the book again before scowling at the group of bemused ponies. “You win this round” he glared as he crawled away and slid into a bush

“I’m scared” Big Mac gulped as he saw the cyan eyes watching him from the bushes. The group nodded as they quickly hurried away in search for the cave and the sea-ponies