Sky wiggled her flanks just a little before leaping to an adjacent rooftop. She felt overall pretty exhausted, but there was still a lot of work to do. Her mind was racing like mad as she galloped down the street towards her little tower.
Who the hell was in my territory? Why’d they hit the university? What did they want with those crystals? Hell, why did they think it was so important that I take the fall? These were all questions to which Sky had no answers, and being as she was an incredibly nosy mare, that simply didn’t sit well with her.

Another thing that simply didn’t sit well with her was that the door wouldn’t budge when she tried to open it.
Damn it, not again… Sky rolled her eyes. “SHADOW!”
A little blue pegasus filly peeked out from over the balcony a couple of floors up, giving Sky her most incredible shit-eating grin. “Yeeeeeees?”
“You’ve got ten seconds to open this door…”
“Or what? You’ll not fly at me?” Shadow giggled cheekily. “No, I open the door if you give me the password. That’s the rules.”
Sky glared up at her little sister, thoroughly unprepared to deal with this shit tonight, thank you very much. “No deal.”
“Well, okay.” Shadow shrugged. “I guess you don’t want me to let you in, then! Now, what can I do to pass the time when you’re not here…?” She disappeared into the tower again. Sky’s ears splayed back as she realised what she was up to.
Oh no, she’s not going to do this again…
Shadow trotted back onto the balcony, holding a big black book in her mouth. It was old and worn, and it looked like it had had a great many pages added to it. Sky recognised it on sight.
“Shadow, you’d better not!” Sky shouted, shaking her head. “I swear, if you read one single word of that book, I will fucking end you!”
The little filly cleared her throat as she took the book in her forehooves and flicked through it, wings buzzing excitedly. “Oh, here’s a fun entry! Ahem…”
“YOU’D BETTER FUCKING NOT!”
“Dear Diary, today I saw that cute mare in the library again! She’s got a manecut that really brings out her eyes!” Shadow snickered, speaking loud enough that the neighbours would almost definitely be able to hear.
Sky did a nervous little dance on the spot. That was yesterday’s entry, and she knew that it got far worse than just that.
“She was with that dark blue dick-piston again! They look so happy together, but he’s just whispering sweet nothings in her ear! I wish she’d notice me instead! I’m way cuter, plus I can do that trick with the yo-yo and the...oh Luna…” Shadow broke down into the squeakiest fit of the giggles in Equestrian history, unable to go on. “Ser...seriously...you wrote this?”
“SHADOW, PUT THAT BOOK AWAY RIGHT FUCKING NOW!” Sky panicked, looking around sheepishly as some of the neighbours came to the windows to see what all the fuss was about.
Shadow, however, seemed determined to go on, for the good of Equestria, if not for the state of her sides. “She...she’s so sweet and has a smile that...that brightens up...the whole room...oh Luna, you’re killing me!” she collapsed, rolling onto her back and laughing loudly enough to wake up the whole city. “I kee...keep having these dreams where...where she pushes me up against the wall, and…”
“OKAY, YOU WIN! YOU WIN!” Sky bellowed up at the hysterical filly. “I’LL PLAY YOUR PASSWORD GAME BULLSHIT! JUST PUT THE BOOK AWAY! PLEEEEEASE!” She stamped her hooves, panicked, as a couple of onlookers gave sleepy little chuckles.
Shadow took a moment to catch her breath, rolling onto her front and dropping the book. Her wings, a little bit bigger than they ought to be on a pony her size, fluttered along with her laughter. She had a giggle that could make the biggest steroid-abusing minotaur in Equestria squee.
“Okay...okay...I’m all right…” she panted after an agonising few minutes. “Right...right...try to guess the password and I’ll let you in, okay?”
“Right, right, password…” Sky looked down at her hooves, flapping her good wing pensively. “Um...can I get a hint?”
“It’s something that you ought to say to me more!” Shadow stuck her tongue out, dangling her forehooves off of the balcony lazily.
“Shit...erm...I…I love you?” Sky gave a wide toothy grin.
Shadow gave her a deadpan look. “Erm…no.” She shook her head, grinning. “Come on sis, this one’s so easy that even you can get it!”
“SHADOW, I’M GONNA KICK YOU RIGHT IN THE…”
“...WHERE SHE PUSHES ME UP AGAINST THE WALL AND I BLUE-DART HER AND I CAN FEEL HER BIG HARD COCK PRESSING AGAINST MY…”
“OKAY! I’M GUESSING! I’M GUESSING!” Sky waved her forehooves wildly to get Shadow to shut up.
Shadow checked her hooves for blemishes, putting away the book. “I’m listening…” she giggled.
“Okay, right...erm...how about another hint?”
“It’s a poem.” Shadow looked up innocently.
“A poem? How the fuck am I meant to come up with a poem?” Sky did her little dance again, before a very sneaky idea struck her.
“It’s gotta be aaaaaaaall about your favourite little filly in the whole wide world!” Shadow grinned cheekily, leaning out over the balcony.
“Oh, that one who still wets the bed?” Sky grinned smugly, flicking her tail into her saddlebag and withdrawing a lockpick.
“He...HEY! I do not!” Shadow squeaked defensively, going bright red. “No! Fuck off! Just for that, you’ve gotta add a verse about how much braver I am than you!”
Sky deadpanned up at her little sister. “Yahuh...brave? Really?” All the while, she worked the lock, carefully pushing up against the little tumblers
“Yeah!” Shadow nodded, apparently unaware that Sky was in the process of breaking in. The elder sister stuck her tongue out as she concentrated, gently working the old lock apart. It was a cheap piece of shit. Only two tumblers.
“Oh yeah!” Sky nodded. “You’re super duper brave and awesome, Shadow! I mean, it’s not like you hid under my wing that time we went to the petting zoo and you thought the puppy had rabies.”
“Hey! Shut the fuck up! Besides, you’re not exactly the bravest pony in the stable yourself! Remember how high you jumped into the air when I crept up behind you that one time?”
“Hey! That wasn’t me being scared! That was me being startled! There’s a difference!” Sky cried defensively as she pushed the pins in the lock into their retracted positions, taking a bit in her mouth and sticking it in the keyhole.
“Yeah yeah yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night.” Shadow giggled. “So come on already! Quit stalling!”
“Okay, fine!” Sky sighed, twisting the bit in the lock and popping it open. “So what was it you wanted me to do again?”
“A poem aaaaaaall about how great I am!” Shadow nodded briskly, giving a cheeky little squee.
“Okay…” Sky slipped inside, climbing up the stairs. It didn’t look like her little sister had noticed her absence yet. She licked her lips as she clambered up the stairs sneakily, tail flicking from side to side as she approached the as-yet unaware filly.
“And don’t forget to add that verse I told you about!”
“And what verse was that, exactly?” Sky asked, when she was right behind her.
“The verse where you tell me how brave I...HOLYSHITDON’THURTME!” Shadow turned around and shrieked, leaping a good ten feet into the air and smacking into the doorframe as she tried to escape.

Sky burst out laughing as her little sister got to her hooves, mildly concussed.
“You’re gonna be the death of me…” she whimpered softly, shaking her head and perking her ears back up.
“Super-brave, huh?” Sky grinned, ruffling Shadow’s mane and trotting back inside. Shadow rubbed her head, groaning.
“I am super-brave!” She said defensively, hopping onto a couch and settling down. “It was just a...erm...a super-rare karate move called the...erm…”
“Scared filly?”
“Shut up!” Shadow pouted, tucking her head under her wing. When she spoke again, her voice came through quite muffled. “Where the hell were you, anyway? You’re late. I thought you said we’d meet up back here.”
“Yeah, sorry Shadow.” Sky rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “I got arrested.”
“What the hell, sis? You never get arrested!” Shadow raised her head, fluttering her slightly larger-than-average wings.
“Somepony was robbing the museum. Looks like they wanted me to be the fall mare.” Sky shrugged, starting to pace around the room. “Damned if I knew who pulled that, though.”
“Whoa whoa whoa! You mean, like, the Canterlot Museum? Our territory?” Shadow lofted her eyebrows, tail flicking from side to side restlessly.
“Yeah. Whoever it was had backup. They sleep darted me and left me to get taken down by the cops.”
“Oh, well that one’s easy.” Shadow shrugged. “There’s only a few burglars in this whole damn city that work in pairs. There’s us, and then there’s…”
“Shady and Nightshade…” Sky finished for her, nodding. “But what the hell would they want with those crystals they stole, and how the hell were my feathers found in the crime scene? I haven’t been anywhere near that place in months, not since they had that exhibit on the Wonderbolts. They’d have cleaned the place up since then, right?”
“Yeah. One of them must’ve gotten their hooves on some of your feathers and planted them there, right?” Shadow put in, hopping off the couch.
“Well...I guess they could’ve...” Sky nodded uncertainly, looking around at her decidedly untidy wings. “Wait...at Screwdriver’s, Nightshade grabbed my wing! He must’ve pulled some of my loose feathers out!”
“See? Maybe if you preened once in a while, you wouldn’t get in trouble…” Shadow grinned, giving her big sister’s good wing a playful tug.
“Preening’s for ponies with working wings.” Sky chuckled, giving her little sister a soft hug. “This shit’s starting to make sense now. Nightshade pulls my feathers out, he goes and robs the museum with his dad watching his back, and that must’ve been the two of them fighting with me a few blocks away when I caught up with them.”
“Course, finding out the truth means busting into their part of the city.” Shadow frowned. “Think you can handle it, sis?”
“We’ll do it together.” Sky nodded, looking down into Shadow’s bright green eyes. “It’s okay. We’ve got an advantage. Nightshade and Shady think that I’m still in prison.”
“You sucked off the guard, didn’t you?” Shadow deadpanned.
“I didn’t not suck him off…” Sky rolled her eyes evasively. “Look, the point is that they won’t expect me to be coming, and once I’ve got a few things together, we can hit their hideout and see about making them cough up some information.”
“Wow, look at you.” Chuckled the little filly. “It’s almost as if you’ve got a goal in life again.”
Sky gasped in mock shock. “Don’t be ridiculous! Start saying shit like that and next thing you know, I’ll have a real job.”
Shadow shuddered. “Yeah, let’s not imagine you with a real job. For some reason, my mind just jumped to the word ‘brothel.’”
“Maybe if I fancy a holiday.” Sky pulled her bandolier off of her back and started inspecting the darts therein. All of them were built around a little glass capsule containing that delightful bright green sleep formula. “If I’m gonna hit Shady’s hideout, I’m gonna need a few different darts. Sleep formula’s nice, but I wanna be flexible.”
The little white pegasus pulled her diary out of her saddlebag, dropping it onto the couch and turning the pages until she found her little list of recipes. “How about some pink darts?”
Shadow hopped onto her sister’s back, looking at the book over her shoulder. “Hmmm...nah.” She shook her head. “I wouldn’t open with them.”
“Awww…” Sky’s ears flopped down with disappointment. “Okay, okay, what about the amber ones?”
“We wanna interrogate them, not blow them up. Come on sis, just make some blue ones, take a few bottles of mane and coat dye with you, and you’re golden!” Shadow nudged her neck impatiently, grinning her cheekiest little grin.
“Hmmm…” Sky scratched her chin, looking at the blue dart recipe. “I think you’re right...fine. I’ll whip up a few of those, just in case one of them catches me.”
“I was gonna suggest you use them on yourself so they don’t see you coming, but hey, what do I know?” Shadow shrugged.
“Where’s the fun in that?” Sky chuckled. “Ponies always make the funniest faces when they think they’ve gotten rid of me and I pop up in their homes.”
“Okay, I’ll give you that.” Shadow rolled her eyes. “It’s pretty damn funny. So can I come with you on this one?”
“I dunno, are you positive that it isn’t somepony’s bedtime?” Sky stuck her tongue out at her little sister. “You did have a big day beating up that poor drunk bastard…”
“Hey! I’m totally awake! Fuck you!” Shadow protested. “Besides, I’ve probably got concussion or something. I shouldn’t be sleeping! I might die!”
“Yahuh. Excuses, excuses.” Sky grinned, bucking Shadow off of her back and catching her by the scruff of neck. The little filly squirmed and flapped her wings as Sky carried her up a floor, dropping her into bed and tucking her in.
“Hey get off of me! I’m not tired! I’m...not…” Shadow kept squirming, giving a wide squeaky yawn. “Not tired…”
“Sure you’re not.” Sky whispered, sitting down by her bedside and stroking her mane. “Do you want me to read you something before I go?”
“How old do you think I am?” Shadow asked irritably, glaring sleepily up at her big sister.
“Well okay then! I guess I’ll just be off!” Sky shrugged, getting to her hooves and trotting for the stairs.
“No, wait!” Shadow held out a forehoof pleadingly.
Sky stopped in her tracks, looking around at her with her trademark shit-eating grin.. “Yeeeeees?”
“Um...maybe...maybe one story couldn’t hurt…” Shadow held up a little old book that she’d clearly pinched from the library. “This one’s all about two little sisters who go on adventures together...I...I guess you could read this one. I mean, you know, if that’s okay with you.” She did her best to appear apathetic, but there was a certain desperation in her eyes that Sky couldn’t ignore. The little white pegasus trotted back over to her sister’s bed and took the book from her.

It would be nice to say that Sky sat there for a good half an hour and read quietly to Shadow. It would be nice to say that Shadow was allowed to drift off to sleep to the her big sister’s soft reading voice. She would have done, had this not been the sort of book that required that Sky do every little sound effect and assign each character a silly little voice. She danced when the book told her to dance, made the big minotaur character speak in the squeakiest little falsetto, and mimed throwing pies at the tiny little filly when the book demanded it. For just a few minutes that night, Shadow forgot herself, sitting up and clapping as Sky read her the little story, making a noise between a squeaky giggle and a neigh whenever she did any of the silly sound effects. As Sky finally closed the book, she looked over to find that poor Shadow had laughed herself out, curled up under the blanket and snoring softly.
“Hehe...you poor little bugger.” Sky whispered, ruffling Shadow’s mane as she tucked her forehooves up under her chin, twitching in her sleep. “You’re pretty cute when you shut the fuck up and go to sleep.”
“Eat...shit...sis…” Shadow sighed, clutching her pillow and cuddling it tightly.
“I love you too.” Sky beamed down at her, giving her one last kiss on the cheek. She crept downstairs quietly, trying not to wake her little sister again.
“Goodnight sweetie.” Sky whispered as she pulled her hood up again. Getting a good run-up, she charged out onto the balcony and made a particularly big leap, gliding down towards street level. Those two rivals of hers were big trouble, brawlers first and burglars second. They were really just glorified thugs. Sky had gone up against them with Shadow enough times to know that they were bad news, but the past few months had seen them largely keep themselves to themselves. Now they wanted Sky removed from the gameboard, and she was going to bloody well find out why.

Author's Notes:

It’s best to not go into detail about how she can pick a lock with hooves. Trust me, you’ll sleep better at night not thinking about it.