The Candle Shop

Candle Glow smiled blissfully while she worked away at a set of navy blue candles, carving them intricatly. Several of her co-workers also eagerly molded warm wax into blissful shapes.

Switchblade walked into the candle store, smiling lightly as he shut the door behind him, he flicked his goggles onto his forehead and walked up to the counter "Anyone here?" he asked semi quietly.

Candle Glow looked up from her station for only a moment, carefully carving away at a beautifully layered candle. "Back here!" She cried, tossing her mane out of her eyes with a shimmer of her orange magic. "Welcome to Whimsy Way's Wax Boutique, home of candle carvers, wax dolls, crayons, and pigments, how may I help you?" She recited distractedly.

Switchblade shrugged "Just doing a my usual rounds and realised that I've never actually been inside this store to introduce myself." he said, looking into the back room.

Candle nodded, murmuring to herself as she dug her tool into the wax. "Well, welcome to the shop then. Over there is Color Blitz, that's Smoothie Cream, and I'm Candle Glow~. The big man himself doesn't really show up much, spends most of his time in the Canterlot branch working on scented candles."The back room was a touch small, but well organized. Shelves were stocked with baskets of pigments, dyes, waxes, strings, and tools, sorted by color, use, and size. Several objects floated about Candle Glow, as she rarely didn't multitask. With her hooves, she was carving a candle, but with her magic, she was also dipping a set of blue candles, mixing a batch of wax, and putting price tags on some wax dolls.

"That's some impressive coordination, Ms Glow, wish I was that efficient with my smithing and inventing." he said, admiring the mare's workshop. He smiled at the other employees and waved at them, wondering if any of them would recognise him.

"On your left" Exclaimed the young artist as the blue sticks of wax wizzed by his ear and onto a shelf where she hung them to dry. "It's my goal to meet my quota as fast as possible so I have as much leisure time as possible."

Switchblade dodged out the way before she even finished shouting the warning "I know the feeling, although metal isn't quite as easy to toss around." he said, smiling as he remembered all the incidents.

Candle nodded, finishing up the day's quota, setting the last candles on the shelf and putting the dyes in their bins. With a sputter, her horn stopped glowing and Candle looked around for her rouge scarf. "Before I close up shop, is there anything you need? New candles, set of matches?pot of colored ink?"

"Nothing that I know of, but I'll take a pot of bronze ink just in case I need it later." he said casually, watching the work slowly grind to a halt "Wow, you must have some serious concentration to keep your magic going for that long with that much energy; just using a chain teleport leaves me a bit dizzy sometimes."

Candle shrugs, using her hooves to pull a pot of the color from the shelves, walking to the cash register. "I could levitate objects before I could walk, all depends on the pony I suppose.

"I see. Naturally talented then. How much for the ink then?" he asked, getting out his coin pouch "I think the only thing I could do before I could walk was fall over, in fact I'm still pretty talented at that nowadays." he joked casually.

Candle flicks her bangs out of her eyes. "Three bits. Falling is a pretty cool talent, I wonder what a falling Cutiemark would look like." She chuckles, ringing up the ink.

Switchblade gives over five bits "As a tip." he said casually "A falling cutiemark? Probably look like a bunch of motion lines going off the flank, or a dust cloud in the shape of a pony."

Candle laughs. "Probably. Much appreciated. Every bit counts. I'm trying to find a friend of mine I haven't heard anything from in a while."

"Oh?" Switchblade asked "Who might that be, because if there's one thing I can do, it's find people." he said casually "I know quite a few of the ponies around here."

Candle pulled a sketch out of her apron. Pictured, were a slightly younger Ivy League, Candle Glow, Maestro, Lantern Light, and some other pony in a large amount of costume. "Lantern Light was the apprentice of my Grandfather before he passed away. That was three years ago, when this mare and stallion were together and they played in the orchestra for one of a local theater team's performances. But Lantern hasn't been seen since. He should only be 14 or so now, not yet old enough to be on his own."

Switchblade thought for a minute before thinking back to his first conversation with Pillow, where she mentioned that she normally sees a stallion named lantern. "Well I recognise Ivy; she's my cousin, and I think I know someone who talked about a stallion named Lantern."

Candle nodded. "Really? Ivy League dated my brother Maestro. Yet never the less, Lantern's also my cousin, and I'm supposed to be watching him. He's only Fourteen. "

"That young? Well, let's go and fetch my daughter then; she knows where he is currently living." he said casually, almost like this was an everyday occurrence.

Candle considered the stallion curiously, before moving to follow him. Her soft beige hooves carefully sliding the keys into the lock behind them, locking up the shop.

Switchblade led the way back to his house, his armoured hooves clinking against the stone. He walked in silence, keeping a keen eye on their surroundings as they arrived at his house where he unlocked the door and entered his home.