Sky cricked her neck, pulling her cloak on again. Her whole body still ached like mad after yesterday, but she had to keep going. Both of them did.

“Please tell me that we’re not going to Silver’s place again.” Shadow cocked her head with concern, pulling her own hood up. With a little pomf, her little ears poked out of the specially-cut holes in the hood.

“Well, yeah, but a different kind of place.” Sky shrugged, cringing a little as another jab of pain shot across her body. “If we can’t get into his facility, we’ll hit his house instead. There’ll be letters or a journal or something there, right?”

“Hey, that’s the least insane thing you’ve said this week!” Shadow giggled, slinging her bow over her back again. She was looking a little better already, although part of it might have been that her bruises perfectly matched her coat colour.

Sky looked her up and down, grinning. “Look at you! You’re just as bouncy as ever.”

Shadow looked down at herself, then up at Sky, smiling softly. “You know it takes more than just a charging mega-unicorn to knock me off of my hooves, right?”

“I dunno…” Sky chuckled, trotting out onto the balcony and giving her wings an experimental stretch. “You got quite a bit of air time when he ran into you.”

“More air time than you’ve had in the last five years.” Shadow giggled, sticking her tongue out at her big sister.

Sky took a moment to glance back at her little sister, and Shadow met her gaze with a nigh-ecstatic grin. She’d been that way ever since last night, like Sky talking at her bedside had in some way made her whole week. Of course, if asked, the little filly might not say that that was why she was in such a good mood.

“Sky?” Shadow asked, her smile fading just a little.

“Yeah, sis?”

The young pony came a little closer, tucking her wings in and bowing her head. She hesitated, mulling the unfamiliar words over in her head. She stayed silent for the longest time before taking Sky’s forehoof in her own, squeezing it tightly.

“Let’s be careful, okay?” Shadow whispered. “I...I don’t wanna lose you either.”

Sky’s ears splayed back. She glanced around to see if anypony was watching her, before scooping Shadow up and holding her tightly to her chest.
“Of course we’ll be careful, sweetie.” She said softly, rocking the light pony back and forth and kissing her on the forehead. “We’ll watch each others’ backs, same as always. Got it?”

“Ye...yeah...um...sis?”

“Hmm?”

“I just said we should be careful. I wasn’t giving you permission to get all sappy again.” Shadow pouted, glaring at her elder sister.

Sky gave a little sigh, putting her down on the floor again and ruffling her mane. Shadow gave a shake, as if trying to decontaminate herself before she caught the big sister cooties.

“You’re a damn silly pony sometimes.” Sky chuckled, hopping off of the balcony.

“Look who’s talking.” Shadow rolled her eyes, spreading her wings and doing the same.

The two of them crept through the city streets as the sun came up over Canterlot. For a time, the entire city was basked in a great orange glow, painting every building a bright, rich gold. Sky and Shadow stayed silent as ever, wary of the morning patrols as they made their way up into Canterlot’s prestigious Rich DIstrict. Here was where all of the most privileged ponies, most of them unicorns, resided. Sky was used to walking these streets. She’d even learned to judge how far away a patrol was by sound alone.

“Hide!” She squeaked, diving into an alley and taking cover in the shadow of a large mansion. Shadow did the same, hiding behind her big sister. Both of them stood stock-still, crouched down so as not to draw attention to themselves.

A moment later, a platoon of guards went marching by, their armoured hooves clanking against the cobblestone streets. At their head was a pony that Sky recognised.
What the hell’s Shield doing here? She thought to herself, as the patrol took a right turn and disappeared down another street. Sky, compelled by her own curiosity, started working her way up the fire escape ladder, eager to follow them from up above.

“What the hell are you doing, sis? Silver’s place is that way.” Shadow pointed across the street, glaring.

“That pony’s the one who interrogated me a few days ago.” Sky grunted, clambering up the metal steps towards the rooftop. “I wanna know what he’s up to.”

“You’re seriously gonna just say screw it to this job so you can look into your secret soldier-boy crush’s professional life?” Shadow spread her wings, taking off and hovering next to her sister, forelegs folded disapprovingly.

“Well yeah, I mean, come on!” Sky chuckled, clambering atop the mansion and following the sound of marching echoing through the streets. “I’m Canterlot’s most wanted pony right now, so if I listen in his investigations, we’ll know what the guard are planning, right?”

“I guess you’re right.” Shadow shrugged, flying alongside Sky in order to keep up. “Besides, we can use the exercise.”

“Maybe you can.” Said Sky, giggling a little. “You’re the one who’s been pigging out on chocolate when you think I’m not looking.”

“He...hey!” Shadow squeaked, going a little red. “I don’t do that!”

“Oh, well I’m certain that if I look under your bed when I get home, I won’t find a bunch of sweet wrappers all over the place.” Sky said sarcastically, making a leap across the street and following the patrol again.

“Those could be anypony’s sweet wrappers!” Shadow pouted. “Come on, are we following these assholes or what?”

Sky couldn’t help but giggle as she and her little sister chased the patrol as silently as they could, though a dull panic was tugging at the back of her mind. She knew this street very well indeed, and had a very good idea about where those guards were headed.

“Shit.” She muttered, skidding to a halt and nearly sending roof tiles shooting down into the street.

“What’s the matter?” Shadow halted next to her, glancing up at her big sister with concern.

“Mum and dad.” Sky mumbled simply. She took a run up, leaping across the road and onto another rooftop, following the guards from the far side of the street. As the patrol came to a stop, she crouched down behind a chimney, poking her head out and perking her ears to listen in.

Inspector Shield stepped forward, rapping on the door as authoritatively as he could manage. He admittedly didn’t look official or intimidating when he had a pair of coffee cups strapped to his helmet, filtering espresso down through two straws into his mouth. However, he’d been up all night tracking these assholes down, and hadn’t the patience or compulsion to consider removing it just yet.

Unclipping his saddlebag, he knocked on the door again, louder this time.

A red-maned white unicorn mare answered the door. She was wearing a fluffy pink dressing gown, her horn flaring blue and suspending a coffee cup in midair in front of her.
“Can I help you, officer?” She asked coolly, in a voice that sounded like a far more cultured, high-class version of Sky’s.

“I’d like to ask you a few questions about your daughter.” Shield snatched the coffee cup out of the air, downing its contents too. It wasn’t as strong as the cups strapped to his helmet, but he couldn’t even begin to bring himself to give a damn. Coffee was coffee.

“I don’t have a daughter.” The mare answered simply, taking her empty coffee cup back and giving him a look that said “...and you’d better not tell the neighbours about this.”

“Ma’am.” Shield sighed, sticking his hoof in the door as she tried to slam it in his face. “I...oof...I have evidence that you have a daughter. Her name is Sky Runner. She’s twenty-five years old, and she’s currently wanted for a whole string of crimes...including terrorism.”

That gave the mare pause. A moment later, she was joined by a light blue unicorn stallion with a blond mane, every bit as neat and cultured as his wife. “What’s going on here?”

Shield groaned internally. “My name is Inspector Shield. I’m interested in asking you some questions about your daughter, Sky.”

“We don’t have a…”

“Mr Runner, please.” Shield held up a forehoof. “Your wife’s already tried that one. Here.” His horn flared, and a set of documents and photos floated out of his saddlebag, hovering in front of his face. “Elementary school records, birth certificates, photos. We know that she’s your daughter, and you can’t disprove it. Now, will you let me in so I can ask you some questions?”

The two unicorns exchanged a worried glance, looking up and down the street before ushering the Inspector inside.

“Sky.” Shadow put a hoof on her sister’s shoulder. “I know what you’re thinking, and I wouldn’t go doing it if I were you…”

“Relax, Shadow.” Sky chuckled, shrugging her off. “I just wanna find out what questions they’re gonna ask, that’s all.”

“Sis, please. You know what your mum and dad are like. This is like a fast-track to getting yourself hurt.” Shadow glared at her, not relinquishing her grip.

“I just wanna eavesdrop, then we’re gone. I’m not gonna get hurt, sweetie. I promise.” Sky closed her eyes, giving Shadow a little nuzzle before spreading her wings again.

“Two bits says you do.” Shadow rolled her eyes, spreading her own wings.

The two of them glided down past the guards, landing behind a hedge in the front garden. Quietly as ever, the duo slipped around the side of the mansion, keeping close to the walls so they couldn’t be spotted from inside. Keeping quiet and low, they crept around the back of the house, to the servants’ entrance.

“Sky, last chance to walk away. Come on.” Shadow whispered, tugging on her big sister’s tail.

“Not yet. If this is about me, I’ve got to know what the guards are asking about me. Investigating this whole mess doesn’t mean shit if I get caught halfway through.” Sky shrugged, quietly fiddling with the lock and popping it open with a satisfying click.

The two sisters snuck inside, finding themselves in the back of a sizeable, yet unoccupied kitchen. A variety of pre-made dishes lay out on the counter, all surrounding some form of magically chilled ice sculpture, a giant griffon with its wings spread and one foreleg in the air.

“Looks like they’ve got a fancy dinner planned.” Shadow commented.

“Yeah.” Sky frowned. I hope they’re not caught up in all of this too...although I wouldn’t be bloody well surprised…
The little white mare put her ear up to the door, listening carefully to the conversation from the parlour beyond.

“We’re not going to be in trouble for this, are we?”

“No, Mrs Runner. Not unless you’ve been harbouring her.” The Inspector shook his head, unstrapping one of the coffee cups from his helmet and sipping its contents patiently.

“Good, because we’re not taking responsibility for the kind of pony she grew up into.” Her father put in.

“The report I have here from about twenty years ago says that she ran away, right?” Shield asked. “Do you happen to know why that was?”

“I wish I knew.” Mrs Runner sighed dramatically. “She never did say, and we’ve never seen her since. Heck, we thought she was dead until she started showing up on wanted posters. Then we were just...disappointed.”

There came a very soft whine from just beyond the kitchen door. Fortunately, it was so quiet and low that nopony in the parlour heard it.

“I understand.” Shield nodded, cocking his head and regarding the somewhat older mare with a very odd look. “You know, your daughter’s made things very difficult for us over the past few years. However, if there are any friends or family she could have sought shelter with, anypony who’d know where she is now, I’d appreciate your help.”

The two unicorns shook their heads sadly. “All our other family is in Trottingham.” Mr Runner said. “There’s no way that Sky was with them at any point or they’d have told us. I’m confident of it.”

Shield nodded again, absently looking around the parlour. His gaze fell on a family photo from a few years ago, and his eyes narrowed.
Doctored. I can tell from here. The pony who did it did a shit job. They must be really disappointed in that filly… He sighed. More interesting still was the one remaining child in the picture, standing between his mother and father. He was a pretty tall, broad-shouldered stallion, with a blond mane and blue eyes. He almost looked like…

“Inspector? Do you have any more questions for us?” Mr Runner asked impatiently.

Shield shook his head, coming back to reality peering into his now-empty mug mournfully. “Uh, yeah...yeah, I’ve got a few more…” He grunted.

“You seem pretty tired, Inspector.” Mrs Runner put a hoof on his shoulder. “Would you like us to get you another cup of coff…”

“Black, strong.” He interrupted, grunting gratefully and holding his mug up. One of the servants took the mug off him, trotting daintily towards the kitchen.

Sky peered through the keyhole and gave a quiet yelp. “Shit! We’re gonna get caught!” She backed up a little, bumping into the island counter in the middle of the kitchen. The ice sculpture rocked on its platter, before dropping off and smashing to pieces on the floor.

Shadow glared at it, then up at Sky. “Nice job, clompy-hooves!”

Sky said nothing, still too overcome by panic to do anything more than flip her little sister off. Looking around, she dove into one of the larger cupboards, working to control her breathing and tucking her tail in around her belly.

Shadow was left standing alone in the kitchen. She looked down at the smashed ice sculpture, giving a frustrated little squeak. “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you…” She muttered, hopping up onto the sculpture’s pedestal and striking the very same pose.

A moment later, the pony came in, trotting right by Shadow without a word and starting to brew another cup of coffee. The little filly fought the urge to fidget as much as possible, standing stock-still with her hoof lifted just off of the pedestal. The servant still hadn’t spotted the smashed ice sculpture, or caught on to the fact that there was a pony standing there, blatantly impersonating one.

In time, the kettle whistled. The servant looked at the coffee pot, then at the mug. He made a quick assessment of the kind of pony that was sitting out in the parlour, before leaving the mug and just carrying the whole jug out instead.

As the door slammed shut again, Shadow put her hoof and wings down again, passive-aggressively lobbing an apple at the cupboard in which Sky was hiding. A moment later, her big sister poked her head out.

“Is the coast cle...oi!” She squeaked, as Shadow beaned her in the head with a second apple.

“Stop knocking shit over.” Shadow growled, rolling her eyes and trotting back to listen at the door. Sky rolled out of the cupboard, creeping up to Shadow’s side and pressing her ear up to the wood again.

“...and she never stopped disappointing us. School history? She literally dropped out of Flight Class!” Mrs Runner spat. “We tried and tried to be good parents, but she never appreciated it. She spent all of her time with her big brother.”

“She was lucky to be able to fly at all. There was something wrong with that filly from day one.” Mr Runner nodded in agreement. “I know what you’re trying to do, Inspector, and we appreciate it, but she’s not our daughter. She’s a criminal, a cripple and a waste of space. All we can ask is that you put her behind bars and never ever link her to us in any way, shape or form.”

“Ouch.” Sky muttered simply. “I love you too, mum and dad…”

“Well...thanks for your time.” Shield sighed, getting to his hooves. “If you find anything that you think might be at all helpful, don’t hesitate to contact us, okay?”

“Thank you officer.” Mrs Runner nodded gratefully, seeing him to the front door. “Good luck catching her. She’s a menace. The sooner you put her in prison where she belongs, the better.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks again.” Shield said simply, putting his helmet back on and heading out into the street.

There was a pause. Sky finally let her ears splay back, bowing her head a little. Shadow bit her lip, putting one of her forehooves on Sky’s and nuzzling her. “They’re assholes, sis. Don’t worry about them.” She whispered.

“I know, I know. It’s okay, I’m fine.” Sky whispered back, smiling and nuzzling her little sister back. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

The two sisters hugged each other for a moment, before sneaking out of the servants’ entrance in unison, wings resting on each others’ backs. They left the house with an air of contemplative silence, until...

“Did that bastard just steal our coffee pot?” Mrs Runner yelped.

All told, the security around Silver Tongue’s house was lackluster compared to his facility. There was a noticeable lack of superpowered unicorns, for one. Sky always appreciated little courtesies like that.

“Anything yet?” She looked over at Shadow, who was busy pulling out drawers in his desk.

“Official documents...passport….weird porn…” Shadow mumbled as she opened each new drawer. “Oooh, he’s booked the party hall in the palace for his wedding! How sweet…”

Sky chuckled. “No expense spared, huh?” She started pulling books out of a nearby case, downing a hip-flask full of whiskey that she found inside a dummy copy of Ethics for Dummies.

She trotted over to the sick young little dragon in a cage that hung nearby, giving it a friendly smile. “You know, you look really upset, all cooped up in there. I can let you out if you want.”

“No thanks Miss, I’m quite all right here.” The little dragon replied sarcastically. “Don’t mind me! Carry on with whatever you’re up to.”

He was awfully ill, with pale green scales and a beige belly, eyes that almost had a milky look to them, as if he was half blind. The poor little reptile looked like he’d been going blind for a while, and was a few doctor’s appointments behind.

Sky giggled, pushing a bobby pin and a bit into the lock and freeing the poor reptile. “I like this guy’s attitude. So...we’re looking to screw over Silver Tongue. I don’t suppose you can give us a hoof?”

“Nope, but I’ve got a hand if you want that instead.” The dragon gave a hacking cough that burned up a few square feet of carpet as he stumbled out of the cage. “But hey...Silver’s treated me like shit. If you wanna make life difficult for him, then I’m in...oh Celestia’s bollocks…” He started wheezing again.

“Hey! Hey, it’s okay…” Sky crouched down, patting him on the back with her forehoof. “You’re out of there now. Come on.” She kissed him on the cheek.

“Ugh...yeah, thanks.” The dragon cricked his neck, having a little trouble standing. It looked like it had been years since he’d used his legs. “Silver Tongue treated me like ass. That guy’s got the manners of a sabre-toothed tiger.”

“Trust me, we’ve seen some of his hospitality.” Sky chuckled, indicating her bruises.

“Yeah, I was about to ask, did you try and get into his facility, or did you lose an argument with a stagecoach?” The dragon gave her a critical expression for a few moments, before cracking a smile full of missing teeth. “Nah, I’m kidding. You’re all right, sweetheart. So who’s ‘we?’”

“Oh, yeah. This is my little sister, Shadow.” Sky stepped aside, indicating the young filly. Shadow looked up from her looting, smiling brightly and giving him a little wave.

“Right.” The dragon nodded, looking back up at Sky with a smile. “Well, I’m not exactly a fan of Silver right now, so what do you need?”

Sky cocked her head. “What, really? It’s that easy?”

“Well, not as easy as you are, I’m sure…” The dragon begins, before falling back into a coughing fit once more.
“He’s got...every letter he’s received from his waifu and the Count...he’s got a box…” He kept choking, gesturing up at a little wooden box atop a bookcase.

Sky rubbed her hooves together. “Thanks sweetie. Go on, get out of here so you can start scarfing down gems and feeling better, okay?”

“Oi! That’s stereotyping!” The dragon said reproachfully, before waddling off with his heavy tail dragging along behind him. “Racist bitch…”

“Whoops! Erm, sorry!” Sky chuckled uneasily, starting to scale the bookcase.

“I’m just pulling your leg, sweetheart! I’ll fucking gorge myself on gems!” He called back, giving her a smile and a wave before coughing again, escaping Silver’s house after a great many years of captivity. He took each new step with growing confidence, happy to step outside and actually see the sun again. “Damn...I owe you one, little pony!”

“I like him.” Shadow giggled, watching him go. “Need some help, sis?”

“Nah, I’ve got it.” Sky smiled, clambering up to the top of the bookcase and grabbing the box. She dropped down to the floor, opening it up and looking at the topmost letter.

Silver,

I will be visiting Manehattan for the next few days. Thank you for bringing the break-in and SH’s actions to my attention. I’ll be sending you further instructions about what to do tomorrow once I’ve formulated a plan. Make sure that you and your fiancee are ready to move up to my facility immediately after the wedding. I’m sorry to have to cut the honeymoon short, but we didn’t count on Miss Runner still being a factor.

Regards,
Rolling Thunder

“There’s that monogram again.” Sky noted. “Looks like this is our guy.”

“How’s he gonna get that message if his dragon’s flown the coop?” Shadow asked.

“He’ll be forced to send it the normal way. Probably through a courier.” Sky frowned.

“Well, we could just wait here and snatch it when that courier turns up.” Shadow shrugged.

“Yeah, but they know we’re in this city, so they’ll plan for that.” Sky nodded. “I think our best bet’s gonna be going to Manehattan and snatching the instructions off of the courier there. Fewer defences, less chance of it being a trap.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that.” Shadow shrugged. Her wings gave a little flutter at the thought of being allowed to go to Manehattan.

Sky glanced up at her, smiling a little. “And yeah, we can stop by Celestialand while we’re there, okay?”

Shadow clamped her wings back down by her sides. “Well...yeah...I mean, if you really wanna go to Celestialand...I guess we could drop in for a few minutes or something.” She tried to keep her expression bored and neutral, but her eyes and wings were giving off an aura of fillyhood glee. Celestialand was her favourite theme park ever, even though she’d never been. Of course, prancing around and giggling was something that only fillies did, and Shadow was above such behaviour...mostly.

“You’re so cute.” Sky beamed, ruffling her mane and trotting out of the house.

Shadow blushed a bright deep red, following her big sister out into the street as well. As her saddlebags jingled quietly, Shadow frowned a little.

It was almost as if her coinpurse was two bits heavier.