Ashton

"Off my chest? Oh I'm sorry did I dr-" Jasper started to snark but got a swift kick from cloudy and a glare

"Jasper, lets talk in the hall. Excuse us, ma'am" said cloudy as he drug the dragon out into the hallway.

Iggy was awkwardly silent a few moments before sighing "I kinda figured this was going to happen..." she said "Jasper was born in the dragonlands, I dont think he ever saw a pony growing up, then when he was molting and washed up on equestria, ponies treated him like some kind of sideshow freak and stared or gawked at him, most not bothering or simply not knowing enough to help him... so he has a... distaste for ponies. I dont know if cloudy and I would have gotten so close to him if we'd not been half-breeds ourselves." she paused "dont take jasper too seriously, he's just had some bad first experiences, and I think that somewhere deep down he might feel betrayed that somepony --- or maybe I should say some dragon ---- that he met and thought was special, was 'just another pony'" she paused "Like I said, give him time, he'll get better, but he's got a lot to work out... especially since I think he might have had some feelings for frost... maybe more than just friendship... and now... well..." iggy sighed "I'm sorry... maybe we shouldn't have come... I hadn't considered how you'd react to Jasper's normal snarky dragon-y self..."

Meanwhile if Ice listened closely she'd hear that cloudy and jasper were having a much more heated debate, which would be expected of males. Hopefully it wouldn't devolve into violence, though cloudy wasn't exactly the kind to resort to violence.

"Very impressive ship, ma'am" said cloudy as they walked. 

Iggy probably would have said something too but she was too busy looking at everything around her, having never been on an airship before and even the pictures she had seen were nowhere near this advanced... 

Jasper was a little less impressed, muttering about Ice's quarters "its almost as big as my closet..."

...which of course earned him a kick from cloudy. Jasper looked like he might take that as an opportunity to start a fight, but cloudy and iggy's glares made him sit down and shut up.

"well, that's still a bit of a distance, but its a lot shorter flight than all the way from manehattan" said iggy

"Not to mention it's all downhill" added cloudy

"too bad there wont be time to check out any of the record stores, they have a wildly different variety than even this place does" commented jasper

"So, I guess its unanimous, if you really want us to, we'll come along" smiled iggy

When they reached the ship, though, they might find it odd that Harle was nowhere to be seen, and the guards all commented that they assumed with Felix showing up that harle would have been with Ice...

Felix snorted but said nothing as he lead his marefriend away, clearly wanting to make some snarky remark, but knowing that it would be best to hold his tongue in this situation.

The trio looked at each other a bit uncertain

Iggy voiced their concerns "Well, we'd love to go but... its a long way to have to get home"

"Yeah, especially since we have to take turns carrying this one" Jasper nodded at Iggy

"-And dont you even suggest teleporting, you know what happens... I dont want to see the place we're renting burn down..." cloudy gave iggy a firm look

Iggy laughed a little awkwardly but said nothing, clearly there was unfortunately some truth in cloudy's comment

Felix sighed "Your wasting your time, Captain Storm." he explained "If you insist on this charade, then fine, I wont resist, but if would be nice if Jasmine could return home, she's likely to be missed and actually has family that will worry about her. I'll accompany you to the dungeons peacefully" it was clear at this point he was highly annoyed and wanted to get this over with, confident that this investigation would turn up nothing and this will have been a huge waste of his time.

It was at this time that a voice spoke over the communicator: "Commander we have a positive ID on the suspects, they are attending a party in Manehattan, we're already preparing for launch as soon as you return"

Felix sighed "perhaps I overestimated your mental skills. I stated that I have no idea where my parents are and I do not regularly contact them, they randomly show up to harass me about my life and look over the business." he paused a moment to let that sink in "Secondly, this is a matter that will have to be brought up with my accounting department, however I believe you will find all the records to be immaculate and up to date. Once I took over the business my team went back several years to ensure nothing had been misplaced, beyond the normal Statute of Limitations"

All this time, the others were giving felix increasingly dirty looks. They knew a snake when they saw one and unlike Ice, they weren't bound by law or duty in what they could do... even if everything went felix's way, there was no telling what might happen later...

When Ice shifted back, jasper and the others backed down and took a few steps away, clearly expecting a fight to break out... also quite possibly the whole Ice/Frost thing was still messing with their heads... and clearly it did seem to have some effect on jasper...

Felix sighed "Ice Storm, former commander of the lunar military" he said "To think somepony once so great has fallen so low as to run around with riffraff such as the blackclaw pirates, at least find a competent crew to join" he paused "and I'm sorry, Miss Storm, but you dont scare me, my record is clean and you have no evidence to hold me on. There is no crime for having lunch with a friend"

the mare giggled "friend" she repeated, leaning her head on his shoulder for a moment

Rainbow Dash

Darkness.

What lay in darkness was always something hidden, almost forgotten,and usually kept out of mind. Darkness was where the nagging thoughts always festered and spread like a mold... or perhaps that was just the slice of pizza that lay forgotten in a corner. But then, a glimmer of light! slowly growing larger and larger, as the rainbow mare slid open the door of her closite.

She fluttered partway inside, using her forehooves to move things out of the way "nope... nope... nope... I still have that? ...nope... ah here we go!" she pulled out a hanger containing her wrap-up pegasus uniform and leader armband, taking a moment the shake off any dust that had accumulated over the last year and making sure to sniff it to make sure she had washed it after she'd worn it before... she didn't want a repeat of that incident with the Haywii shirt from the summer. After smell-checking it she smiled and tossed the hanger on her back, taking time to slide the door closed once again, shrouding everything inside in that inky blackness.

She walked over to the mirror and slipped the uniform on, making sure it still fit. Of course she should have done this weeks ago just in case it did need to be altered, but as per usual for the cerulean pegasus, she kept putting it off. It was indeed a little tight, she hadn't accounted for the fact that all her training with the Wonderbolts had indeed caused her to increase in muscle mass in some areas, but it would probably stretch. She'd just have to make sure that she had it fixed the next day --- meaning that next year she'd probably be going through the exact same scenario... some things never change.

But... some things do...

Dash posed in front of the mirror and flashed a winning smile, but it quickly faded as she looked out her window "Things were going so well... everypony was on-task and we were so close to breaking the record for fastest traditional wrapup..." she sighed "this year just wont be the same... we'll probably come in last and Derpy will be found next week in Dodge city or applewood again looking for the birds..." she shook her head "really going to miss that egghead... wrapup just wont feel right without her" after a moment dash's face hardened "No! you cant say things like that! Ponies are counting on you! Twilight or no Twilight, we have to make sure this wrapup goes off without a hitch! We may never see another chance at that record, but we have to atleast give it our best!" She took a deep breath and puffe dup her chest "This year is going to be the best wrapup we had! We know what to do! We'll come out of this as winners!"

She held that pose a few moments before snorting "Who do I think I'm kidding, this is going to be a dissaster... The only good thing is the weather factory's shortage or whatever that gave us so little to wrap up..." she leaned her head against the wall "No, Rainbow, stop that! Stop thinking like that! Remember what Twilight taught you! We need to... to... to..." she spun around and slid down the wall, hooves to her face "I cant even remember! This is going to be a disaster!"

After a few more minutes of worry she pulled herself together and took off her uniform "Disaster or not, I have a job to do and I cant let the others down, we may crash and burn, but we're going to do it awesomely!" she nodded decisively as she laid down in bed knowing that whatever happened, she'd find some way to keep things on track... maybe... with that she clicked off her lamp

Darkness.

Felix let out a chortle "you really think they'd tell me where they were?"

"yeah if we knew we'd be back in silver's bedroom instead of in this slum" said the mare

"Yes, indeed, so whatever you want with my parents, you can tell Harle that unless they're right in front of my nose I dont know where they are, they keep that secret from even me --- and yes, I can tell harle sent you, pretty obvious when you didn't want money"

Iggy facehoofed and glared at cloudy asif to say 'you should have let me!'

Felix sighed "Now that we're done here, I suggest you move. Unlike you lot of worthless so-called pirates, I have real contacts in these parts, and it would be unfortunate if something were to... happen to you..."

"Dont you threaten her." said Jasper with a growl

"Oh and what are you going to do about it? Sing sad emo songs at me? you wouldn't dare hurt me with my connections, you would be best to just stand aside"

steam was now rising from jasper's nostrils dangerously, the one thing you did NOT do was threaten his friends! Though exactly what he would do was up for debate...

Felix looked quite suprised, looking around at the two dragons, 'griff, and kirin, then sighed "I swear there are more 'insurance' agencies here every day" he muttered, pulling out a pouch of gold "Ok, how much does my 'protection' cost from you?" he asked, completely nonchalant and clearly used to being approached by criminals demanding money not to cause him trouble

Iggy's eyes seemed to turn to coins as she grinned, clearly very tempted to take advantage of this 'opportunity' though cloudy less-than-gently thwapped her in the back of the head and nodded at Frost and Jasper. Iggy frowned, looking like she might sit there and pout, more than a little annoyed that when free bits presented themselves, she couldn't claim them...

Jasper glanced at the others, trying to figure out whether he was supposed to be acting casual or intimidating... clearly used to having to intimidate others... yeah... these three were trouble makers... reasonably good-hearted troublemakers, but troublemakers none the less...

The trio nodded, trying to keep quiet, though they all looked a bit more grim as she spoke of how harle might react to all this... no doubt they all had their own ideas what a griffon so ravaged with emotions that she was nearly rabid could do... though likely cloudy was the closest since he was almost a griffon himself... unusual for them, they were all quite quiet right now.

The noise from the room continued for a surprisingly long time, but then faded and stopped, it seemed now was when felix would be coming out so the group would best get into position...

Iggy motioned cloudy back over as they followed, all looking a little apprehensive and surprised, though probably not too surprised given the revelations a few minutes ago

"Ya know, I always expected us to be part of a guard sting operation, but I always figured we've be on the receiving end, this is much more fun" quipped Jasper

The other two roleld their eyes but smiled a little awkwardly, confirming they likely felt exactly the same...

meanwhile when they got to the room, the door and walls were thick enough that they couldn't make out any exact words, but it quickly became apparent that the two insider were not discussing any kind of business deal... at least not one being paid in cash for sure...

((the ironic part is I'm sure at least one of the three is right now thinking "oh hey I could use that to make super-fast popcicles!" XD))

When the foursome returned it seemed to ease the staff's concerns and they slowly began coming out of the back room. Cloudy excused himself to go and talk to them to explain that everything was OK now - apparently the 'griff was the groups proverbial "public relations" which had a lot of interesting implications as to what he was capable of...

As they sat back down, Jasper sent a quick flame over his ham, possibly surprising frost that his fire was blue --- some greater power was really working hard to mess with the dragon's life and make everypony think he was some kind of Ice dragon --- and offered to do the same for frost.

It was at this point that something frost would never have expected happened... a familiar stallion entered with a mare next to him. She at first seemed fairly plain, but if one looked closely they'd notice the small details, like her cloak having genuine gold stitching, and her much more flashy clothing concealed underneath. Felix went up to the desk and spoke to the pony behind it, soon retrieving a key and he and his mare companion headed up the stairs to the rented rooms, both seeing in extremely high spirits...

Before anyone else could respond, Cloudy Quickly saluted and said "Yes Ma'am, Miss Frost, Ma'am!" with a stupid grin on his face, causing the others to laugh.

"Oh dont worry, no creature's coming near the bathroom" said Jasper "when they felt that hugs magic aura expand everyone thought the place was under attack, most of the customers fled and the staff hid in the back rooms"

Cloudy shrugged "we figured iggy was just having another magic surge so we hurried in after her"

"sometimes pushing too hard makes her release more than she intended" quipped Jasper

Iggy turned red "thats enough, guys...."

the others laughed again as they started heading for the door.

Iggy had calmed down but her head quickly snapped back to face frost "What?! no, never! I meant I am still suspicious of Captain Blackclaw, not of you, Ma'am! I have zero concerns about you now!"

Jasper stared at the ground a moment, silently thinking about what he was going to say "its like I said... I'm almost like a half-breed... I dont think like a dragon and I dont think like a pony... your missing out on a dragon who will rush headlong into danger just because he is too stupid to realize he'll die doing it, and your missing out on a pony who would hold back and stategize and make sure their plan was air-tight before they acted... I would rush in without a plan and try to figure it out as I went... the worst of both worlds... and that's how I do everything... rush in with no plan then panic and try to figure out things as they're happening..."

Cloudy smiled "You mean like today?"

Jasper sighed and nodded

"maybe I'm the crazy one, but looks to me like things turned out alright for you" he smiled

Jasper just blinked

Iggy smiled "no creature's perfect jasper, and the speculated pony that waited till they had an airtight plan could miss a window of opportunity. Sometimes the best thing to do is go in half-cocked and work it out as you go. Besides, you have others you can rely on to help you, dont sell yourself short like that"

Jasper's worried look seemed to evaporate as his lips pulled into a grin and hugged Frost.

Though almost instantly he quickly leapt back "Sorry ma'am! sorry! I... er... rushed in without planning" he laughed a little awkwardly a darker blue blush coming to his cheeks, having accidentally demonstrated exactly what he had been talking about...

All three of them were silent a moment, shocked at Ice's honesty.

Iggy spoke first "I'm sorry for what I said... I have a history with pirates... I'm sure you understand why I assumed the worst... I'm still suspicious... but..." she sighed

Cloudy looked over at iggy, suprised "...you told her about jade?"

Iggy nodded sadly, hugging cloudy

cloudy quietly whispered "you didn't tell her about... other things, right?"

she shook her head "she'll find out on her own when she gets home, we're safe till then" she whispered to cloudy

Finally jasper spoke up, sounding uneasy "I... I dont understand, m'am... your the captain of some elite black-ops military group... why would you want to be friends with a broken creature like me... I'm not even a proper dragon - I think way too much... or... was that just part of your cover... you were just... pretending to care..."

Iggy looked up and stared at ice for a long moment in utter confusion "but... this power... I've never felt anything like it before! Even Princess Twilight doesn't have this kind of aura!"  then her eyes seemed to reconnect with reality as she apparently came to some conclusion about it in her head "I'm sorry I accused you of being in leage with that nefarious pirate, I'm sure you can see how easily the two stories would tie together" she said, laughing a little "blackclaw is probably lucky she didn't run into you or you would have made sure her reign of terror was ended permanently" she didn't directly address her brother, probably because it was a painful subject, but she did smile when ice mentioned looking into the proverbial case.

It would likely suprise both of them when the door was opened by a very concerned dragon and hippogriff... apparently Ice's aura had allerted them something was wrong... as they rushed in though, they had two very different reactions...

"Where's Frost?"

"The guards!"

Iggy though quickly hurried over before either could do anything stupid "wait, wait, its ok, I've been talking with commander storm here"

"you were talking?" asked Jasper

"oh, well sorry we rushed in, didn't mean to inter-"

"Where's frost?!" interrupted jasper

Iggy sighed "She saw her target out the window and had to go after them. She asked me to tell you she had a wonderful time and hopes she sees you again"

"so... she's gone now..." 

"its for the best... you dont want a long-distance relationship like that anyway..."

of course the big question now, was wheather Ice was going to go along with the story, or call iggy out on lieing to jasper...

For just a moment as ice began, the flames only intensified, no doubt iggy's less rational mind was thinking this was all a lie, but as she spoke, the flames calmed, in part because iggy was calming and in part from the ice magic that the pony before her was using...

by the end, the flames finally turned to smoke as iggy lost her rage... well smoke and steam... the latter from the tears coming from her eyes and hitting the remnants of the flames or her still hot fur "Jade... they took him... to get back at me..." she said, looking at Ice with very serious, but not accusation eyes "My little brother... when I wouldn't join them, they kidnapped him... I dont know if he's even alive, I've not seen him in years..." 

Now pieces would start to fall together... Iggy didn't trust pirates because they took her little brother, and she was overprotective of jasper because her brain was seeing the dragon as a sort of substitute for jade...

"I'm so sorry, your highness" said iggy, now neiling "I had no idea who you were... please forgive me, princess luna"

It was also clear now that none of iggy's history books had been in color, that she had never met the former princesses, and that the tears were making her eyes very blurry...

Once the door was shut, iggy glanced around to make sure they were alone, then locked the door.

"Ok, you can cut the crap" she said "I'm not Jasper, and I'm not going to fall for your manipulation" she frowned, looking very stern "I saw your captain swagering around town drunk off her ass and I saw the paper. Your with that pirate Blackclaw, arent you?" thought it didn't sound like a question the way iggy spoke "somone here said something your boss didn't like so you two came here to shut them up for good, right? that's how you creatures opperate." her nostrils were flared and wisps of smoke were occasionally starting to drift from iggy's fur as she started letting all her emotions boil to the surface "I dont know what kind of use you think Jasper would be to your boss's thugs, but I'm not going to let him get mixed up in it, after all the trouble we've had, the last thing we need is the nieve dragon joining a bunch of pirate thugs. So I suggest you and your boss keep away from us..." at this point iggy burst into flames as she went full nirik "I'm not letting your pieces of s--- hurt me and Jade again!" she roared

So now it was clear, sometime in the past Iggy had been hurt by pirates, and presumably somone she cared deeply for since she let the name 'jade' slip out despite having no relevance to the conversation whatsoever it seemed... but that was only half the problem... frost now also had a raging nirik to deal with, which was a major danger on its own!

As she spoke, cloudy and iggy both eyed her critically, an uneasy glance that made it clear the way she was talking made them suspicious of her "You know, its always best to use the restroom before you eat much to... help digestion... why dont I show you where it is, frost"

"Yeah, I'll go ahead and look over the menu while you two ladies are gone, I'm sure I can find something good" offered Cloudy, likely just to distract Jasper while the kirin lead frost off somewhere they could talk privately...

"we'd never put you on the spot like that" said Iggy

"Yeah, there have been times we've even brought our of food, this isn't a problem"

"...at least we're not out hunting squirrels and rabbits..." muttered jasper

"So" said Iggy "Where are you from? Do you live in canterlot or just visiting?"

Jasper sighed "she just said she was here on business"

Iggy and cloudy both looked quite surprised that jasper volunteered the information

"what? you obviously weren't listening when she said it"

The two quickly looked away, trying to pretend that jasper hadn't failed to play dumb and that everything was normal, but from their reactions it was clear that Frost was already having a positive impact on jasper's personality

Iggy nodded at most of it then her gaze grew cold as she looked to the male dragon "...jasper..."

He quickly threw his hands up "I never said we would!" he quickly defended, sighing "I know we cant afford things like that" he then muttered under his breath about having to fly here instead of taking the train...

Cloudy shook his head "ok you two, calm down, it didn't happen, lets not start a fight in front of jasper's new friend"

Iggy sighed and closed her eyes, looking away from the dragon, opening them back to look down at the table "I suppose we can still afford to get lunch, I managed to sell some stuff... though with how much jasper's already treated himself it looks like we're going to be left with the cheap sh-"

"Sandwich!" quickly cut in cloudy "the cheep sandwich, good idea iggy"

Iggy was about to make a snarky remark when cloudy started glancing over at frost and back to iggy. she realized what he was implying and sighed "...yes, the sandwich..." she agreed, trying not to make a huge scene in front of jasper's new friend. it was starting to be clear that jasper likely didn't have many friends and these two were working hark not to cause any trouble with this one. given what jasper had said before about trying to act like a dragonlands dragon it made sense that most wouldn't want to deal with him... and very telling that he was willing to open up to frost...

Jasper looked surprised but a little excited at the offer, He smiled and opened his mouth to respond, but before he could speak, two more voices joined in

"We figured this would be where we'd find you" smiled a kirin, taking a seat on one side of the table

"Oh, hey there, did you find poor dumb jasper wandering around and bring him someplace safe before he got hurt?" Teased the hippogriff

Jasper sighed, looking at his hopefully-new-friend "I'm sorry" he whispered quietly, before turning towards the 'griff "you make such a great first impression, Turkey" he muttered, then cleared his throat "Frost, these are iggy and cloudy. Iggy, Turkey, this is frost"

The two nodded as their names were called

"technically its azure Ignine, but everyone calls me 'iggy' for short" explained the kirin

"and despite all the rude things Jasper's likely called me, I'm Cloudy Skies, nice to meet you" smiled the 'griff

It would likely become clear to ice that these two meant a lot to jasper, though his relationship with each was completely different - having far more respect for Iggy but being more lighthearted with cloudy... there was no doubt this trio had some very complicated and interesting history to bring them all together.

Jasper looked at her oddly "If This is some joke by Flux or tha tbig-headed rainbow pony, all of us are going to be pissed..." he said, very seriously, but as quickly as he dismissed it, he clearly didn't think that was the case

He glanced both ways and leaned in close "look... whatever it is, dont worry, we've done worse... once when we were in vanhoover, iggy actually......"

"Hey! Go ahead and kiss her dont be shy!" laughed the waitress as she came back

Jasper nearly leapt out of his seat at the shock and steam started coming from his nostrils, no doubt wanting to turn the griffon into a thanksgiving dinner for the interruption

"Aww, wish I'd been a little later... and with a camera!" she laughed, clearly thinking jasper really had been leaning in to kiss frost. "But enough about that" she reached behind her and plopped down two large hams, each one meticulously encrusted with every color of hte rainbow, from large jewels that covered the cut side of the bone, to fine gemdust sprinkled over the whole thing. It really was a masterpiece to a dragon.

Jasper stared at the hams for a moment before turning back to the waitress "oh right, thanks for reminding me why I come here, I was just about to leave..."

the griffon laughed "Whadid I tell ya? he's a real wise-guy! Now you two lovebirds eat up, an' remember we got rooms for rent... no shortest time!" she winked at the two as she left

"and once again that desire to burn this place to the ground starts to grumble... sometimes I dont know if I'm glad iggy instilled so many morals in me or not..." he sighed, taking a large bite, crunching through several gems and into the meat "Dig in, its great, and everything's on iggy's tab so no worries!" he laughed

As they were eating, Frost would get her report from Harle...

"well, Ma'am, we've finished all the main quarters, was mostly a good time, but they didn't take the bait... and that last quarter was... well your guard I think became a hero for supposedly arresting me... none of them trusted me, all of 'em said I paid off the papers or blackmailed them... none of them trusted me in the least, I bet if I'd stuck around too long there would have been a lynching..." harle sighed hard "you dont know how good you have it ma'am, any time you want you can snap your claws and turn into a dragon without a past... every time some bloke talks to me I wonder if he's talking to me or to the idea of a bloodthirsty pirate captain or the idea of a daring adventurer... I never know if a creature really likes me or wants to be my friend or if they just like the history they heard... your really lucky ma'am..." there was a pause before harle concluded "going to check some of the other ares now like the docks, doubt we'll find them but thought I should check in from finishing the main living quarters. 10-4"

Jasper smiled, but then started to chuckle a little, though he didn't break his smile, then he shook his head "From the moment I met you I knew you werent like the dragons back home" he sighed "I hate to sound like iggy, but let me explain - there are basically three types of dragons I've come across in my life. There's the dragons who never left home, the ones who left when they were young, and the ones that somehow were taken away before they ever really learned about draconic culture" he sighed "I try to act like a normal dragon; pretend I only just left - you know big dumb violent... honestly kinda foolish and... well..." he sighed "I grew up with just dragons, but when I molted I ended up in equestria... long story, but the short version is a native of this land raised me, so you might say I'm almost a halfbreed - I have a lot of background and mental conditioning telling me how I should act... but... thanks to iggy and, I guess, cloudy too, I've sorta grown beyond it..." he paused "but you... you never grew up in the dragonlands, did you? or you were only there such a short time you probably dont even remember you life there as more than a blur, right?"  he sighed "you know, your lucky, you dont feel the need to conform to idiotic stereotypes, if you get a reason or even a whim to go and learn something you can do it... if you want to talk about something, you just say what your thinking instead of trying to water it down to sound dumb..." he paused "Just asking this makes my brain hurt because of the two conflicting worlds I've lived in but... I know we've only met... but... would... would you like..." he closed his eyes, focusing and gathering his mental strength "wouldyouliketobefriends?" he took a few deep breaths as if he had just run a marathon, and clearly mentally he had "I know... dumb thing to be stressed at asking but... I'm serious... I like you and I think I could learn a lot from an actual dragon that thinks the way you do" he forced a smile, and while it was clearly forced, it was also very clearly genuine. "What d' ya say?"