Braking and entering

[Switchback]

The mostly quiet town of Ponyville was as quiet as it normally was; it was the kind of place which lived in opposites; one day you could be relaxing at the cafe enjoying a nice hay sandwich, the next the cafe could have been flattened by the newest creature to escape the Everfree Forest. And yet ponies seemed to rebuild and carry on as normal; this was the Ponyville way, to carry on and only question it when in the company of good friends for a nice laugh. It certainly helped Coltson do both of his jobs well; nopony ever questioned how the bookstore was always left standing after such attacks or even how a store like it could stay in business when the owner had such a penchant for holding onto the valuable books; it was just the way things worked with him. It did confuse some ponies however on how the pony who ran the store almost always wore a suit and sunglasses at work when inside, however most passed it off as just another quirk from the young businesscolt. And today was a day just as any other for him; he relaxed at his counter, eating a hay sandwich he had picked up from the cafe for lunch, the sun was out and rain wasn't scheduled for another few days, so he had his door wide open, allowing the golden rays to spread across the shop floor, causing the embossed spines of the books to shine with colour, especially from the ones with foil emboss. There hadn't been many customers today; most just stopped by for a chat or to catch up with the colt, it was as pleasant and boring as you could get. 

[Bolt]

The peaceful Ponyville atmosphere was disturbed by a deafening sonic boom; the blue lightning bolt of a dragon was dashing around town and causing havoc just by being himself. As he dashed around utterly annihilating the sound barrier carts were flipped and widows were shattered, he received some verbal backlash for his reckless use of speed but to him it'd just become background noise, he was going far to fast to care. Skidding to a stop leaving a trail of flames in his wake Bolt raised a quizzical eyebrow while spotting an embossed golden sign that said bookstore; he smiled and walked on inside acting like the damages he'd caused the town were nothing. Bolt wasn't great at flying so he used his super speed to run everywhere; causing Sonic booms and traveling faster than light that close to the ground tended to tear up the environment.

Looking around he gave a dismissive wave the store owner while running his claws along the spines on the shelves. His eyes darted around the room until he reached a section on lore and legend; zipping over quickly he tapped the spine of a book titled Equestria's Greatest Beasts & Where To Find Them, before pulling it off the shelf. He flicked the book open and started to scan the pages his fingers and eyes working at impressive speeds to take in the information. Because of the dragons abilities it also allowed him to speed read flipping through a vast tome in a matter of minuets. Bolt often wasn't one for books however he was drawn to tales of lore and legends before they allowed him to find the locations of new monsters to hunt down and slay.

[Switchback]

Coltson looks up as he hears the sonic booms, knowing by now what it was he shakes his head, glad base was under lockdown for the time being anyway due to escaped items. He rolls his neck as he prepares for the usual to happen; it was routine for him, less so for Bolt luckily. He uses his magic to move all the real books about myths and monsters into the backroom, setting out the fake books as per usual during the time that the dragon normally took to notice the shop, making sure to leave the perfectly garish if not completely fake Equestria's Greatest Beasts & Where To Find Them as he gets ready for the rude dragon to barge in. He knew of a dragon's nature, they were often decently annoying, but Ember and Spike at least proved that it wasn't as down to race as they originally thought.

No time for further thought as the dragon barges in right on schedule. He gives a nod as Bolt waves at him "Good morning Bolt, can't say I was surprised by this entry. Taking that book out again I presume? It's one of my ones with multiple copies so I can offer a... 20% discount on that one if you'd like to take it home with you." he says, leaning boredly on the counter, his sunglasses hiding his eyes as he watches the dragon; he wished he could read that slowly, take in the information slowly instead of with his way, which included magic and near instant information transfers.

[Bolt]

Slamming the book shut Bolt zipped over to the counter slamming the book onto the table. He gave Coltson an annoyed look placing his claw atop the book. "Pay you, for this? Listen this is the third time I've flicked through this and none of the locations of the monsters it describes are even remotely true; an Ursa Major in Cloudsdale? Let me tell you something I've been slaying monsters for years and you'd have to be a hatchling to believe such drivel. There's one of two things happening here; either the person who wrote this book is an idiot or you've been selling me fiction as fact. Ponies from everywhere tell me your store had books you can't even find in the Canterlot royal archive, yet every time I race around all I find are common paperbacks." Sliding the disappointing title away he tapped the counter with an annoyed look exhaling embers. "Are you holding out on me? Because you know I can pay right? If you've met a dragon that dosen't have a horde of treasure then he's just an overgrown lizard." He reached around and dropped a sack onto the desk with glittering gems and golden bits. "I'm hunting vamponies but not just any vampony, I'm after the queen. This enough to get you to finally cooperate with me?" Bolt was at his wits end he hated parting with such a vast amount to treasure but he wanted the Vampire Queen's head to decorate his cave even more.

[Switchback]

"Ursa Major in Cloudsdale, yep there was. Three thousand years ago, that's an old tome remember, or did you read too fast to bother looking at the date inlay?" he asks, leaning back on his chair, seemingly unphased by Bolt's aggression "Now listen, I have a rule in this shop. No fighting, and no being rude to staff. So please heed at least that rule. Who knows, maybe you'll get a reprieve from damages if you are seen following just one." he points out, still calm and relaxed, his sunglasses reflecting Bolt's face back at himself "And yes, I do have rare books, for allies of ponies. You however have got a bad rep around here. A reputation of violence, narcissism, egotism, and a neglect for ponies around you. Which makes you too dangerous to have my valuable stock around. So yes, I am holding out on you, because I know your horde of treasure is probably gained via illegal intent, therefore most of your supposed riches realistically are of no value anymore sadly." he listens to the last part Bolt said as he chuckles "Well there's your problem then. Perhaps you wouldn't have made this mistake if you took more time around ponies." his horn lights up as a filing cabinet opens, full of newpapers he takes out the one local to the Hollow Shades for the current week, placing it on the counter "See, some guild in the Hollow Shades has already claimed that prize. Takes more than moving fast to make it in this world now. Don't matter how fast you can move, when you're against a guild you'll always be behind on the hunt; a guild can have ponies in multiple places at once."  

[Bolt]

Bolt rolled his eyes while shaking his head, yet another lecture he had to endure; he dropped his eyes into an unimpressed glare waiting for the pony in the shades to finish. He did however manage a smug grin upon seeing the picture in the paper. "That's a vampire queen......but not THE Vampire Queen. I'll admit I'm impressed a lot of hay munchers could achieve even that. The one I'm after......her and I have history. You think I'm bad, the things she's done.............they are unspeakable." After pointing out the error Bolt thought about what Coltson had said to him. "Yanno I came in here to buy a book, then you refuse to sell me them, give me a lecture and assume all my money is stolen. You don't know where I get my cash so stay outta my business. Screw this! If you won't sell me what I'm after I'm going to the Golden Oaks; maybe Twilight will have something laying around." Bolt was on personal terms with the princess but he didn't frequent Ponyville often so he wasn't aware that she had since upgraded to a castle. Snatching his bag of valuables off from the counter he headed towards the exit before looking over his shoulder saying. "Slow day today huh? I can see why you don't have many costumers now."

[Switchback]

Coltson carefully moves the paper back into its correct spot in the filing cabinet, closing it and locking it after as he laughs "Oh I know, the one you are after is this one, yes?" he takes a picture of the creature out from underneath his desk with a smile. "Oh and by the way, I'd be careful using slang like that in Ponyville; these ponies don't take kindly to their stuff being wrecked. Seriously, they sometimes riot." he relaxes again, toying with the picture "I know your money is stolen at least somewhat. Because that golden necklace that spilled out your bag when you put it down belonged to me. It vanished a couple of weeks ago along with all my windows being broken. Also the order to not sell you any of the rare books was given to me by the princesses and their respective militia, after the Storm King's attacks nopony is allowed to let information slip into the wrong hooves, claws, or wings. Furthermore, the castle you broke all the windows of on the way here belongs to Princess Twilight Sparkle. The Golden Oaks library was destroyed during the attack by Tirek. Some beast hunter you are; the princess and her friends had to deal with all these big ones. Well except the ones I hunt, like this one." he taps the picture on the table.

[Bolt]

"Oh ponies....I'm so scared." He said followed by raspy laughter. He placed the necklace back into Colton's hoof giving a shrug before falling onto all fours. This unicorn was really trying his patience almost as if egging him on. Seeing the photo of Vesper he was shocked more than anything; for once his pride gave way to concern as he used his claw to lower the hoof holding the photograph. "Look I don't know who you are or how you got that picture but burn it and do not pursue her. This mare is twisted in mind, body and soul. The things she's done to people.....the things she's done to......" He chocked up for a moment unable to finish the sentence. Taking a moment his tone deathly serious he warned. "For the sake of your own safety do not look for her. This is not a warning to be taken lightly, I don't like you but I don't want you dead either." Remembering Colton had just insulted him he smiled in good humor and shook his head. "Twilight is a powerful mage, I trust in her ability to handle threats like Tirek. If you think I should have been here to deal with that sounds like you need more faith in your princess." He said with a cheeky grin now leaning in the doorway. "Well if you won't help me there's more than one way to seek out ancient legends, old stone tablets and tapestries for one."