"Perhaps this isn't a good idea," Sunny mumbled, pulling a hat over her ears. "Say, you think that they'll notice me?" she drawled sourly as she bit her bottom lip. Silver rolled her eyes and threw her scarf around her neck.
"You can always stay here, you know," Silver sighed as she took the manuscript and shoved it into her tattered saddlebag. She shook her hair away from her face and sighed. She had taken a long, warm shower earlier, giving her a cleaner feeling. She didn't know when she would have the chance to take another shower.
Sunny scoffed. "Please," she growled. "I'm just coming because you actually know what you're doing," the white filly said as she tucked the stray curls of her blond hair into the hat with a slender hoof.
Silver looked over her shoulder at Sunny and raised a thin eyebrow. "I said that?" she said slowly, trying her hardest not to grin. "Since when?"
"You've got to be kidding me. You have no idea what you're doing?" Sunny's jaw dropped and she felt a hysterical smile twitch at the corner of her mouth. "I thought you jumped out a window and landed just fine and... and slept in a dumpster, for Luna's sake! You're telling me you have no plan?" Sunny sighed roughly and groaned, throwing her head back with a dramatic flare that Silver couldn't help but smile at.
Silver Wish laughed quietly. "I jumped out a window and slept in a dumpster. What about that scenario makes you think I had a plan?" Silver shook her head and sighed. "Let's go. Potts' house is on campus, so we're walking straight into hell. Don't give me that look! Everypony who is anypony will be looking for us," Silver warned as Sunny rolled her eyes and snapped her white saddlebag shut. "You can always stay here, Sunny."
This was answered with yet again, a roll of the eyes and an exasperated sigh. "And be left here all alone?" Sunny scoffed. "I don't want any slimy Fed putting handcuffs on me," she sighed, holding out a hoof with vain admiration.
Silver gave a small smile, turning back to the door.
"So now they're slimy? I thought you wanted to be a hoof-kissing Temp," Silver teased, blowing a strand of shimmering hair away from her icy eyes.
"So did you," Sunny mumbled. "Look, let's just go. Your stalling is making me nervous," Sunny grumbled and hung her head, a pale golden lock curling lazily like a snake.
With a sigh, Silver pushed open the front door and trotted down the hallway, not bothering to wait for Sunny, who shut the apartment door with a soft click. Silver trudged a few feet ahead, waiting for Sunny to lock up the apartment, but was halted in her tracks at Sunny's shriek of horror. "What happened to my roses?" Sunny shrieked, cupping a tattered flower in her hands. Silver shrunk her shoulders. "They were knocked over a few days ago, but I don't remember them being this bad!" Sunny stifled in a sob and let out a long, melancholy sigh.
"I wonder what happened," Silver said, trying to sound as genuine as possible while stifling in a laugh. She still couldn't get the taste of lush red roses out of her mouth. Sunny's eyes swiveled in her direction and bored into Silver's very soul.
"Shut. Up," Sunny said, slowly and dangerously. "Don't play innocent, Wish," And with another sigh, let go of the wilting rose one last time and followed Silver, reluctance and defeat reflected in her cyan eyes.
Potts' house was on the corner of Cadence and Sherry avenue, which was in a more quiet part of Canterlot. Silver knew that Potts' was probably being watched, since he told her to flee, but Silver knew that he had clearance to the library, and to more manuscripts. It was the only way to get more information.
Silver didn't know what attracted her to the fact that there were more manuscripts. Maybe it was the fact that she was bored and the chase excited her; but Silver shook that idea off almost immediately. No, she was terrified, wasn't she? The fact that the Feds were chasing after her and she was on the wanted list weren't making her excited. Besides, trying to cure boredom was what got her father...
Silver blinked slowly. It was an accident. She wasn't bored, she was just in a thick haze of misfortune, that's all.
After quiet and uncomfortable trot down the back stairs and out the back alley, Sunny and Silver stuck to the back roads, which were unusually quiet and still. Silver had held out a hoof in front of Sunny so as to stop her from entering the alleyway. She narrowed her ice blue eyes, scanning the alley like an x-ray machine. No cameras screamed alarms, no Feds popped out of the dumpster. It was safe.
Silver nodded and motioned for Sunny to follow. The now pale and rather terrified filly hobbled stiffly in front of Silver as if her legs were frozen by horror.
Silver couldn't blame her; the alleyway was dark, like someone had put a dark cloak over the sun, so only flecks of pale light rested on the dirt-ridden alley. It did not look welcoming. They passed a sleeping, dirty colt that was hunched fast asleep in the doorway to a pub with quiet hoof-steps, their eyes flicking from him to the street ahead. His mane was black and dark gray, marts of dirt and muck dotted the dark locks, which was long and unkempt. His coat was a dark silver, patches of cleaner fur that wasn't caked with dust shimmered in the pub door windows. Silver took notice to the bottle of spiked cider which was discarded a few feet away from him. He must have been drunk.
With a crash, the pub door flew open, and the rump of a large, gray pony began to back out, his white tail swishing back and forth. Chatter and the sound of bottles clinking merrily together poured from the open door and into the deserted alleyway. Sunny and Silver leaped behind a near-by parked car and crouched, waiting for the pony to emerge, their hearts skipping a mile a minute.
The colt that had backed out of the doorway was a large, round pony. His white hair was tied back in a messy bun, which rested losley against the back of his neck. He was balancing a tray on top of his head, which was holding an array of bottles that seemed to once hold cider. With a shout of frustration, his back hoof caught the sleeping pony on the stomach, causing the large pony to trip and slide down the stairs.
"Damn you, Heckler!" The gray pony set the tray down on top of the dumpster and aimed a hard kick into the silver pony's ribs. The silver pony coughed and moaned, clutching his ribs. "Get on your hooves, Heckler! I ain't got no time for your stupid games today, see?"
The silver pony reluctantly obliged, standing on his hooves shakily. His matted black hair hung in front of his amber eyes like a dark curtain. Silver noticed how his ribs were lining his stomach and how his cheekbones were amplified from hunger and lack of sleep.
"Now, I go out of my way to house a Troop like you, and you steal my cider and pass out on my doorstep when your supposed to be working," the gray pony snarled, towering over Heckler. Silver's ears popped up. So he was a Troop, just like her and Sunny.
Heckler simply glared, his eyes watering (from his expected hangover) and shimmering with misery. The large pony continued. "Now, you'd better get your ass over to that wash bin," he said, motioning to what looked like an old sink on the opposite side of the alleyway that was filled with murky water. "and start scrubbing, because if I come out here one more time and there's no clean bottles," the large pony clicked his tongue as he drew his large hoof across his chubby neck. "I'm turnin' you in."
Silver was surprised to see that despite the breaking down and scolding the fat pony was giving him, Heckler held a challenging gaze in his eyes, even with the obvious hangover. The grimy silver pony backed his ears against his skull and nodded slowly. "Fine," he mumbled, his smooth voice had a strained and uncomfortable sound behind it. "Want me to wash your entire bar while I'm at it? Maybe even your customer's hooves?"
"You go too far, Heckler!" The fat pony snarled, leaning forward. For a minute, Silver thought the large pony was going to kill Heckler. Sunny was quietly sobbing, shaking from fear and horror. "If you don't want to sleep here tonight, sleep it the garbage for all I care, but Luna help me if I find no clean bottles!" he slammed the tray down in front of Heckler and stormed back inside, slamming the door to the pub with a flare.
Heckler spat on the ground and picked up the tray, limping over to the sink and tossing the bottles into it.
Silver bit her lip and glanced at Sunny. The white filly shook her head furiously, as if predicting what she was about to do. Sunny looked terrified, her entire body shaking and trembling. Silver was ecstatic; the fact that this Troop could live somewhat of a normal life excited her. This Heckler colt had it rough, obviously, but he worked and made money, which was a start. Silver shot an apologizing look to Sunny, then emerged from behind the dumpster. She cleared her throat quietly and braced herself as Heckler jumped, spinning around and bared his teeth, a solitary bottle he was holding flew out of his mouth and rolled in front of Silver, bumping her hoof.
Fiery amber met icy blue, clashing like the elements they seemed to resemble. Heckler's matted coat was slowly relaxing, his muscles visibly loosening at the sight of her. His eyes scanned Silver, as if searching for a headset and a latex white suit. He stood up straight and blinked.
"Can I help you?" he asked slowly, his eyes still wide and locked with Silver's. Silver bent down, still gazing up at him, and picked up the bottle in her mouth. She slowly straightened up and walked past the motionless Heckler to the sink, setting it in the basin and turning the handle. Murky water trickled out into the bowl of the sink, and began to rinse the dirty bottles without a word.
"Your name is Heckler, right?" she asked, conversationally. Silver scraped off a bit of what seemed to be a bit of tobacco chew on the rim of the bottle.
"I-" he stopped, his mouth hung open. "Hey," he called softly, turning around and looking over Silver. Silver didn't turn around, but continued to rinse he bottles under the murky water with soft hooves. "You heard that whole thing, didn't you?" Heckler smiled softly and stood next to her. "I'm a Troop, you don't need to help me, you know. A high-end filly like you should be at school or-" he was silenced when Silver took off her hat and brushed back her bangs. His eyes fell on her bandaged ear and he blinked.
"Oh," he said quietly, putting a grimy hoof to his lips. "I'm sorry, I- um," he rubbed his now reddening ears. "Y-you don't need to do that," he reached for the bottle she was holding.
"My name is Silver," she said quietly, not looking up at him. His eyes widened at her voice. "Can I ask you something?" she asked softly, pausing, waiting for his response. He nodded, still in shock. "How did you manage to escape? From the Feds, I mean," she looked up and met his confused gaze with a curious one.
"I- well, I-" he frowned and blinked. "I just... did, I suppose. Honestly," he said, plunging his hooves into the water, rubbing off the muck and dirt off of his face and neck. "after a few weeks, they stop looking for you if they don't catch you," he laughed quietly. "Still, your name will always be on the wanted list," Heckler sniffed and shook his head.
"Mm," Silver nodded and frowned. "Look, I have a friend, over there," she gestured to the dumpster. "She's really scared, and we had to leave her apartment today. Do you know a place where we can stay?"
Heckler looked over his shoulder at Sunny, who had slowly slunk out from behind the dumpster and had leaned up against the opposite wall. "Yeah," he said, smiling down at Silver. Silver noticed that his coat was a bit more cleaner now; his shimmering, silver coat was unkempt, but surprisingly silky and smooth. His black hair was pushed back, the dark streaks of gray swirled around his locks. "Yeah, there's a place. I'll show you," he started to turn, but then smiled softly.
Right. The bottles needed cleaning. And no sooner than he had mentioned it, they were both scrubbing the cider bottles with their hooves under the murky water.