Chapter Nine: We're All Mad Here
~BlackRoseRaven

The group was quiet as they sat around the campfire, Whisper studying her bandaged hooves silently as she sat beside Datura, who had his head down and his eyes tightly closed. Splinthoof had fallen asleep – or maybe a better word was unconscious – next to Sally. The Pegasus Avatar, lastly, kept scrubbing convulsively at her face... but no matter how much she tried to brush it away, she could still feel the blood. She could still smell it. She could still... taste it.

Sally resisted the urge to gag, swallowing and hugging herself before she bit her lip and looked across the fire at Datura, who was just... sitting there. He wouldn't talk, wouldn't react, wouldn't do anything. No one could get through to him, and she wondered silently... just how much Angel had actually meant to him.

She had been a Figment, a pony that they all knew was... imagined, made-up. She had existed solely for pleasure... and for pain. But even if she had begun her not-life as some kind of living love doll... she had obviously meant a lot more to Datura. And yet she didn't even know...

“How... how did you and Angel meet?” she asked quietly, and Whisper winced as Datura slowly opened his eyes, looking up at her across the flames... but his expression was neutral, and in spite of her fear, Sally pressed: “I'd... I'd like to hear the story. If you want to tell it.”

Datura looked down and closed his eyes, and Sally thought for a few moments that he was just going to go silent again, shut them out and shut himself off... but then he murmured softly: “A Clopper brothel was attacked by psychotic Crossworlders. They burned it down then took the mares as sex slaves, to sell at auction.”

Datura cleared his throat, then he sat up a bit, nodding a little as he reached up silently and rested a hoof on Whisper's shoulder unconsciously. “I was trying to find a place... back then. I came across the auction market. They had all the slaves on display, and... I saw her. She saw me, and uh... she imprinted on me. Figments do that sometimes, when they come across someone who... matches them, so to speak. It's sort of a symbiosis: they become attached to the pony or Avatar they imprint on, but in return, they feed off the energy and emotional connection that person provides.”

There was silence for a few moments, and then Datura looked down and rubbed at his throat silently, before he said softly: “We were perfect for each other. And I am... greedy.” He smiled briefly over at Whisper, then awkwardly dropped his hoof away from his shoulder, glancing lamely away from her before he continued: “Anyway, I... I didn't have any money. So I waited until the coast was clear, and I slipped in and freed her. And right away, she says to me... 'free the others.'”

Datura chuckled quietly, looking down and murmuring: “I don't know why I cared. Why I listened to her. But I did. It was fun, at least: chaotic, a great distraction. Whores everywhere, plenty of these little mares beating the crap out of big tough stallions twice their size.”

He shook his head slowly, then looked down and closed his eyes, whispering: “She's gone now. She's dead. It shouldn't matter. She was never real to begin with, like none of this is real. But it hurts me, and it's a hurt I don't like, and... and I don't like it.”

He clenched one hoof tightly, gritting his teeth and looking away, and Whisper silently leaned over and hugged him for a moment, bowing her head against him as she murmured: “It does matter. She was real. And you... you can't blame yourself for this.”

Whisper clutched to him, trembling a bit, and Sally looked silently away from the two, swallowing a bit and not knowing what to say. Datura remained silent, but one of his forelegs wrapped around Whisper, squeezing her protectively close even as he gazed off into the distance, breathing quietly in and out. And Whisper just held on to him, in spite of how pale she was, how she trembled, how she seemed... absurdly guilty, for some reason.

After half an hour, Whisper started to tire, exhausted from the day. Datura quietly picked her up and carried her off to a lean-to he had constructed at the edge of this little meadow they had found in the forest, a safe distance from the path. After a few minutes, he returned to the fire, looking over at Sally as he said softly: “Go and rest. I don't sleep... I never really have.”

“No, I... I think I'll stay up a little while longer. I...” Sally shivered a little, looking away as she whispered: “I keep feeling all that... blood and... Christ. How do you do it, Datura? I... I know you aren't the monster you keep saying you are, so how do you do it? How do you... kill?”

“Because it's not killing them, for one thing. It's just getting rid of a nuisance.” Datura said moodily, and Sally shivered as she looked uncomfortably over at Datura, but he simply shook his head shortly, stating contemptibly: “Destroying their body here is basically a much rougher version of kicking someone out of an internet forum. They're being an asshole, and I'm the one bringing the banhammer. That's all there is to it.”

“No! It's... we're killing them!” shouted Sally, stomping a hoof angrily as she sat up and glared at him, and Datura winced at the loud noise in the stillness of the night, gesturing at her violently.

Sally thankfully swallowed her anger after a moment, taking a slow breath before she said in a harsh but much-quieter voice: “We're killing them, whether you... whether you want to accept that or not. We're hurting them and making sure they can never come back to the world, we're... we're taking their lives away. Whether or not they have a life back home, we're... taking their lives away.”

“Fine, we're killing them. Then you're going to help with killing every single Avatar in this country when we destroy the rift machine.” Datura said, voice hardening. “And when the Avatars are all gone, the Figments will follow, along with all the things the Avatars created. Equestria will collapse back into nice little pony land... except we've already scarred the ponies themselves. What will they do without us? What's going to happen once we're gone? What is their world going to become?”

The Pegasus Avatar stared at him, trembling like a deer caught in headlights, and after a moment Datura softened before he leaned forwards and said in a gentler voice: “Did you never realize that, or did you just convince yourself somehow that... this was all going to have some magical, simple answer? Because it's not, and because... this world is broken. You can't... fix what's broken. You can only stop the damage from getting worse.”

Sally looked down silently, biting her lip before she looked up and whispered: “Isn't there any way just... just to make people listen? Just to make them not be stupid, to... get along with everyone else?”

“I don't know. But I do know that's precisely what Canon Camp wants, among other things. And look at what they're willing to do, what they feel they have to do, in order to achieve that peace.” Datura said quietly, lowering his head and closing his eyes. “Indoctrinate and kill. Those are your tools for 'peace.' Is that what you want?”

Sally shivered and looked away, swallowing thickly, and there was silence for a few moments before Datura sighed softly and murmured: “But say you could make everyone listen, just... with a flick of your hoof. Say you really could do that. You're a Christian girl, though: isn't there something in the Bible about how God has a plan, but part of that plan is free will?”

The Pegasus Avatar looked silently down, biting her lip and chewing on it slowly before Datura looked down into the flames, saying quietly: “If everyone listens to you because they have to, they aren't listening. They're just drones, obeying you. If you take away everyone's capacity to make mistakes, you take away the capacity for miracles and new experiences. And why do you think you're so smart? Does that mean you never make mistakes, you aren't an idiot in some way yourself? Because let me tell you, you are an idiot. You're stupid. You're arrogant. You just... stubbornly do whatever you please every single time I warn you that it's going to turn out badly, and then when everything goes to hell, you start crying and you fold up like a flower and you close yourself off... like a coward...”

Datura was staring at nothing, and Sally could tell that he wasn't speaking to her anymore: he was talking to someone else. She wondered silently if it was all in Datura's head, if he heard voices, or saw things that weren't there... or if he really was carrying on some conversation with some unseen phantasm...

He shifted a little, then sighed softly and closed his eyes, murmuring: “We just have to get to Canterlot, and then everything... I can fix this, I can... yes. Just that far...”

Datura shifted silently, and then he shook himself briefly out before he glanced curiously up as Sally looked at him uneasily. “What did you say?”

“I...” Sally shifted a little, then she said finally: “I was just curious how far Canterlot was from here. It wasn't that long a trip...”

“By flight, no. But you may have noticed we're not heading in a straight line. We have to keep following the road and enter the mountains through a distant pass.” Datura replied, gesturing distastefully outwards with one claw. “It'll take at least another day, and on the way, we'll likely have to pass through a Canon Camp checkpoint. They have all kinds of little 'waystations' set up, particularly in zones that are important in Equestrian lore, so to speak. Princess Celestia sends her guards out to 'peacefully disband them' every now and then, but she doesn't dare do more than give them a slap on the wrist.”

“They're really that dangerous?” Sally asked curiously, and Datura gave a thin smile. “But... I mean, there can't be that many Avatars who are so... fanatical...”

Datura only shook his head slowly at this, then replied with a shrug: “Of course not. But Canon Camp is about indoctrination as much as anything else, remember? And, not to beat a long-dead, overused horse... the Nazis weren't all bad guys, too, as hard as that is to believe. Plenty of them were just regular guys, doing their job. If you serve your country as a soldier, you don't get to pick and choose whether or not you fight in the war. And even if you could... the people on top usually have ways of making sure you do what they want.”

Sally looked silently over at the scarred stallion, and then she nodded briefly before looking down and murmuring: “I guess... I never thought of it that way. But the guys we saw... they seemed so... so scary. So mechanical.”

“They're trained hard... brainwashed, essentially.” Datura replied with a grimace, shaking his head briefly. “Many of the Avatars who join Canon Camp don't realize what they're getting into: Canon Camp is rigorous, disciplined, devoted and... a lot of other things that I ironically respect. They feel like they have the weight and honor of Equestria on their shoulders. They're brought in gently, told that they love and accept and tolerate all ponies, they just want to protect Equestria... and then those lessons are added to and evolved more and more, until eventually they're told that... in order to protect this proud nation, they have to erase everyone who disagrees with them. They become the... the 'gears in the machine' that 'keep Equestria running behind the scenes.'”

Datura laughed dryly, sitting back as he looked moodily down into the flames, and Sally smiled faintly before she said softly: “Get you talking about something you're interested in, and suddenly you just won't shut up.”

The scarred unicorn looked up at her with surprise... and then he gave a brief smile himself in response, nodding slowly before he lowered his head and murmured: “Funny. You're actually right about that.”

They both gazed into the fire for a few moments, and then Sally glanced up and said finally: “I'm... I'm sorry about Angel. She... saved us all.”

“Don't be sorry. Death isn't what's hard, Sally...” Datura flexed one hoof into a claw, studying it quietly. “It's the letting go that's the hard part. But... we all have to let go, sooner or later. We all deserve some kind of... release.”

He looked down with a brief shake of his head, breathing slowly in and out, and Sally nodded silently before she asked: “Is that what you think it'll be when... when we send the Avatars back home? A release, that...”

“Everyone will go back to where they belong. We all... have to.” Datura replied softly, lowering his head and closing his eyes. “It hurts to think about. I want to consider a thousand other options. I don't want to let go, but... we're like ghosts, clinging to a world that's moved on from us.”

His eyes flicked to the side quietly, and he chewed on his lip for a moment before shaking his head briefly. “Sometimes you just... have to let go. Sometimes it's time to move on and... I think it's long past that time now. Most of us here, Sally, are all cowards: people, hiding in this dreamworld to get away from a less-than-stellar reality, where we have... pain, and too many problems, and too much responsibility, and far too many other things to handle by ourselves...”

He looked down for a moment, studying the ground in front of the flames quietly before he steadied himself, then smiled briefly as his eyes flicked upwards. “We'll march hard tomorrow. Once we're past whatever checkpoint Canon Camp has set up, the going will be a lot smoother, one way or another. And once we reach Canterlot, we... all of us can go our separate ways.”

Sally studied him silently for a few moments, and then she simply nodded to him before she bowed her head and murmured: “I... I hope that we're doing the right thing here.”

“Me too.” Datura replied quietly, and then he returned his eyes to the fire with a sigh before he bowed his head and whispered: “Me too.”

In the morning, Sally found Datura seated by the dying embers of the campfire with Whisper, the mare smiling faintly up at him as she rested one bandaged hoof on his shoulder and murmured to him. Whatever had passed between them last night, that weird guilt, that moment of anger... it seemed to be gone and forgotten.

Sally studied Whisper for a few moments, feeling something strange, all the same. Some tickle. Some weird sensation from the earth pony Avatar that struck her as... odd. But after a few moments, it vanished as Datura poked Whisper's forehead and made her smile, and Sally couldn't stop herself from walking forwards and saying softly: “Well, aren't you in a good mood?”

Datura winced as he looked up, then glared at her balefully as Whisper only blushed a bit and said hesitantly: “I hope... I hope it doesn't seem disrespectful or anything, but...”

“No, no. Not at all.” Sally reassured with a quick shake of her head, giving a brief smile as her eyes flicked towards Datura: even if Whisper seemed to be pushing him a little towards trying to be happy, at the same time, she could see... it wasn't a lack of confidence in his movements, as much as it was just a... slowness. A jerkiness, like he was responding mostly without thinking, trying to keep up appearances.

She studied him silently for a few moments, reflecting on how Datura always had to have some kind of mask up, some kind of armor. Even when he seemed to be losing his mind, that itself he wore like a shield, to hide whatever was going on in his head. Because it wasn't his heart he seemed to mind wearing on his sleeve... it was what he was thinking that he seemed afraid of ever revealing.

There was an awkward silence for a few moments, and then Datura finally cleared his throat before he said brusquely: “Let's get ready to go. Wake up Splinter or whatever his name is, if we start moving now, we should be able to get to Canterlot by tomorrow, even with the delays we'll have trying to get past Canon Camp.”

“Why are you so convinced they're going to cause trouble for us?” Sally asked, but Datura only grunted and turned away to begin cleaning up the campsite, the mare sighing before she looked moodily over her shoulder, then simply slapped one of the poles supporting the tent loose.

The whole thing collapsed behind her, and Splinthoof swore as the fabric and poles collapsed on him, kicking and flailing wildly in every direction before he sat up, looking like a puddle of a ghost as Sally smiled slightly before she called: “Pack up the tent, okay? I'll get the food bags.”

Without even thinking about it, Sally hopped into the air and flapped her wings, easily taking to the air and not even realizing what she was doing until she was hovering by the high branches where Datura had slung their food bags last night. She blushed a bit, looking quickly down, but no one was paying attention to her: Splinthoof was trying to crawl out of the collapsed tent, Whisper was carefully cleaning the campsite, and Datura had vanished.

So after a few moments, she turned her eyes back to the bag, leaning forwards and carefully biting into the strap with her teeth before pulling it loose. She grimaced as it dropped free from the branch, but held gamely on, letting herself naturally drop to the ground before she lowered her head and dropped the bag with a sigh of relief.

She straightened and smiled... then winced when Datura seemed to materialize beside her, the stallion studying in her intently. Then he suddenly stepped forwards into her space, almost bodychecking her, and the mare winced backwards before automatically nipping at him before she could stop herself.

Datura easily avoided her teeth, but he was smiling to himself, looking strangely delighted even as the Pegasus Avatar blushed deeply and blurted: “Y-You startled me, that's all! Get out of here, what have I said about keeping your hands... hooves, whatever, keep them to yourself!”

But the scarred unicorn only laughed before shaking his head and leaning forwards, studying her intently. “Don't apologize. That was an instinctive, feral reaction... just like how you used your mouth instead of hoofgrip to bring that bag down from the trees.”

The mare's eyes widened slightly in surprise before she reached up and touched her lips, trembling a bit. And Datura looked both strangely disappointed and relieved at this, continuing to study her before he murmured: “Although you're still perform plenty of actions from your life as a human, too. You haven't lost who you are... even if part of you thinks it's a horse now. What will be really interesting, Sally, is how long it's going to take you to remember you're a human, beneath all the layers of equine...”

Sally gritted her teeth, then she reached up and shoved him backwards, snapping: “Will you leave me alone? Why the hell is this so fascinating to you, why... why the hell can't you just understand that I'm in afraid, that this is... awful, and... I don't want to be a horse!”

“Then don't be a horse.” Datura said reasonably, as if it was that simple, and Sally mouthed wordlessly before the scarred stallion leaned forwards and said quietly: “At some point in our lives, we all have to take responsibility for what we're becoming. If you don't like who you are... change it.”

Sally glared up at him, then she asked sharply: “Why don't you take some of your own advice, Datura?”

There was silence for a moment, and then Datura reached up and almost tenderly stroked her face, Sally blushing in surprise at how gentle the contact was before the scarred stallion murmured in a quiet voice: “I did.”

He halted, then dropped his hoof away from her face, adding with a shrug: “And look. It's your choice how you deal with it, even if it doesn't feel like it. You don't have to listen to your emotions. Sometimes you can't choose if you're going to be sad, or happy, but you do choose whether or not you give in to despair, or if you let anger take over, or if you let fear drive you away. Control yourself.”

The mare looked up at him silently, and Datura looked calmly back down at her before she laughed faintly and said finally: “You expect... way too much from people. You know that?”

Datura only shrugged, then replied quietly: “Maybe. Maybe not. I expect from other people what other people have always expected from me... and what I've started to expect from myself.”

The two looked at each other quietly, before Datura shrugged and added: “But if you want me to expect nothing from you, like you're just a child, I can do that, too. Would you like a lollipop, little filly? Or maybe I should offer you a cube of sugar... or a banana. Horses love bananas, did you know that? It's true.”

The Pegasus Avatar stared, and Datura simply shrugged again before he turned away, heading towards Whisper. Then Sally groaned in frustration before she picked up the food pack and flung it over her back, stomping after him. “Why do you have to spout all this random nonsense, all the time?”

“It stops me from going insane and killing you and Splinthoof. And maybe Whisper, but she's secretly into that sort of thing.” retorted Datura, but Sally only glowered at him as Whisper blushed and shook her head hurriedly, waving a hoof back and forth. “Oh, don't be so embarrassed. I bet Sally is, too. All mares are, right?”

Sally sighed tiredly, understanding that this was Datura's idea of 'playfulness:' trying his hardest to piss her off or annoy her. But hey, he wanted to play? She'd play. “Yeah, Datura, I really am. Gee, will you put me in my place later today? Or are you too afraid that I'm going to beat you up again to try and shove me back into the kitchen?”

“We don't have a kitchen. We're in the wilderness. Gosh, I guess that's just your ovaries acting up again, though.” Datura shot back, glaring at her before he added flatly: “And you sat on my head. You're already feral: you clearly went into estrus and tried to jump on my face in your wild abandon, but you landed badly.”

Sally snorted, then leaned forwards, meeting his eyes fearlessly as she ground her teeth together and snapped: “Oh yeah, that's right! I'm just wild about you, gee, I just need you! Except it's too bad that the poker between your legs is probably as broken as the one on your head!”

“It's not broken, it's a breaker.” Datura replied sharply, looking very proud of himself, but Sally only grinned widely, quick with her counterattack:

“By which you mean your circuit's always turned to the off position, right?”

Datura mouthed wordlessly at her, and then Sally sniffed loudly before straightening and adding primly: “Besides, I don't wrangle cattle, Datura. You can be as big, strong, scary as you want, it doesn't change the fact that what I notice about you ain't the size of your locomotive, it's how much of you is taken up by the fact you're a giant caboose.”

There was silence for a few moments as the two looked at each other steadily... and then, to Sally's surprise, Datura's lips spread in a smile before he pointed at her and declared almost childishly: “I like you!”

He laughed, he actually laughed, and Whisper looked relieved as Splinthoof stared over at the two from where he had folded up most of the tent before he asked disbelievingly: “What the hell is going on?”

“Shut up and finish up. We're done, you're lazy.” Datura said mildly, then he turned and headed over to his packed-up satchels, adding easily over his shoulder to Sally: “I keep forgetting you're actually an interesting mare beneath all the... everything else. Well, apart from the fact you're turning into a feral horse, I mean, which is plenty interesting on its own but also a little... weird.”

“Thanks for being so tactful about it.” Sally said dryly, and Datura only shrugged amiably before the Pegasus Avatar sighed a little, then turned her eyes towards Whisper as the mare fumbled at one of her bags, visibly favoring her front hooves. “Hey, you okay?”

“Y-Yes, thank you. It just... they just ache a little still, that's all.” Whisper answered after a moment, giving a brief smile before she blushed a bit when Sally took one of her hooves and studied it quietly.

The problem wasn't as much the damage to the hoof itself, which was a tough, nail-like material: it was where the chains had slipped upwards and ground against skin and the sensitive joint. She had bled through some of her bandages, but the Pegasus Avatar imagined that it was the irritation that was likely bothering her most right now: joints were awful enough when you were a person, and somehow these horse bodies seemed... more sensitive.

“I uh... hey, do you want me to carry your bags? Less weight, maybe it'll bother your hooves less.” Sally suggested, but Whisper blushed and shook her head quickly, even as she gave Sally a lame smile.

“N-No, no. Thank you, but no. I want to carry my own weight and... the pain isn't that bad.” Whisper murmured, bowing her head respectfully towards the Pegasus Avatar. “It's more that it's in an awkward area than anything else, but... I'm okay.”

She halted, then smiled faintly over at Sally before saying softly: “Look, uh... thank you for being here. And thank you for... pushing Datura. He needs it, and honestly, I can't do it by myself. He and I uh... we're friends, but we're also... bad for each other sometimes.”

Sally looked curiously at the mare, but the earth pony Avatar only smiled awkwardly again before throwing her packs on and hurrying over to where Datura was now lounging. So after a few moments, the Pegasus Avatar shrugged before she turned to head over to Splinthoof, who was still struggling with the tent.

Once they were ready and Datura and Splinthoof had argued a little, Sally felt herself awkwardly shoved into the position of leader again. But she'd half-expected it, so she just kept her eyes forwards and led them to the path, then let her hooves naturally guide her in the right direction.

Her sense of direction seemed improved, at least: in the past, well, she still sometimes managed to get lost getting from her bedroom to the kitchen, if it was a dark night. Sally smiled briefly, but at the same time wondered uneasily if all these blessings were really just... more pieces of whatever the hell was happening to her taking root.

She lowered her head and bit her lip, not wanting to think about it... but not thinking about that led her to thinking about Angel, as if the thoughts had just been lingering under the surface, waiting for the moment they could leap up and... punish her.

She had been so... wary of Angel, and it had been so hard to believe that she and Datura had shared more than just some... weird lust, some freaky fetish she didn't understand. But, little as she understood the why or how, she did recognize now that Angel and Datura were good for each other, that Datura had somehow been protecting Angel, and Angel gave Datura much needed way to vent his psychotic instincts... had been, she meant. Angel was... gone.

Sally glanced quietly over her shoulder, and saw Datura chatting away with Whisper, rambling and doing most of the talking... but he seemed almost... manic. He kept twitching, his eyes kept darting back and forth, he seemed like he was trying to cover up all his pain. It was like he seemed to think that if he refused to acknowledge what had happened, he'd never have to deal with it...

Or maybe he was just afraid of admitting he actually had a heart beneath all those scars and old wounds. Maybe he wanted to pretend that emotional pain was just like physical pain, and he could either ignore it or find some twisted pleasure in it. Or maybe, he just didn't want to appear... vulnerable.

Sally studied him quietly as they walked along, looking more over her shoulder than focusing ahead, just... watching Datura. She didn't know what to make of him, what to say to him, whether or not she should stop and try and get him to open up a little or if she should just... keep walking, and hope that one way or another...

She thought for a long while, about everything she had been through, everything they had seen. She thought about Datura, and Angel, and Splinthoof, and her family and friends back home and what was happening to her now, and what had happened to this world. She wondered silently if Celestia really had some plan that was going to help everyone, or if Datura was right and they were just going to... to essentially kill every single Avatar and Figment...

But she knew that sometimes, you just... had to have faith in people. Whether they deserved it or not, but... so far, Celestia deserved it, Sally thought, even if her world was... falling apart. But maybe that in fact was part of why Celestia deserved her faith: after all, she had somehow kept this perilous balance, protected her ponies as much as possible while acknowledging and giving to the Avatars...

How much was too much, though? Sally knew that until she actually saw a full-fledged pony city, she couldn't judge. And even then, how could she know the hearts and minds of a nation? Maybe there were only a few bad Avatars, or maybe the Avatars were careful to care about the ponies, even if they seemed eager to hurt each other. There were too many 'ifs...'

And then Sally winced as a hoof grasped into her shoulder and halted her, and the mare looked dumbly up to see Splinthoof beside her, the unicorn smiling at her briefly before he said quietly: “Hey, uh... we should slow down. It looks like we're nearing the edge of the forest.”

“We should actually pull off the path and adjust our disguises, little as I want to.” Datura added moodily, and Sally frowned over her shoulder at him before the stallion looked pointedly down at Whisper, who smiled hesitantly up at him. “You can do this, right?”

Whisper nodded quickly, smiling up at Datura, and the scarred unicorn looked both displeased and relieved at the same time... which just made Sally all the more curious about what precisely he had in mind. “What?”

“Oh, you'll see. I figure she'll want to do me first, because you two won't need more than touch-ups. But hopefully this will let us sneak right through the Canon Camp checkpoint ahead...” Datura halted, then he licked his lips slowly before muttering: “I can feel them in my stupid horn. Whenever they gather in one place, all that accumulated fanaticism creates a powerful psychic resonance...”

Datura shook himself briefly, and Sally looked uncertainly over her shoulder... but after a moment, the scarred stallion simply grumbled and turned, shoving his way through some bushes and vanishing into the trees. Sally sighed tiredly, but Whisper only shrugged and gave an apologetic smile before she turned and hurried after her friend.

Splinthoof sighed, but he followed Sally as the Pegasus Avatar strode after the two, the unicorn muttering: “I have a terrible feeling about this. But honestly, I have a terrible feeling about most of the things you Avatars do these days.”

“Us Avatars. Don't count me in with them, Splinthoof, I'm the one turning into some kind of crazy wild horse thing.” muttered Sally, grimacing a bit, and then she blinked in surprise when Splinthoof caught her by the shoulder and halted her, turning her towards him.

He met her eyes, then leaned forwards and said quietly: “Sally, out of all the Avatars I've met, you are unquestionably the best... and from what I've learned, you're the only person here who Datura will listen to you. Maybe even who he respects, considering how he treats Whisper and...”

Splinthoof quieted, and Sally glanced down before she shook her head and murmured: “He respected Angel. I know how funny that sounds, but... I think... I think he respected her more than any of us. I know it goes against everything you must believe, especially if you really are like my brother, but... everyone's different. Everyone has different needs, different... urges, desires. Maybe... maybe in small doses, pain is...”

Sally looked away for a moment, and then she blushed a bit before turning and trotting quickly through the brush until she found Datura. And she frowned a bit as she found him digging through one of his ominous sidepacks... before her curiosity only intensified when Datura produced what looked like several jars of paint, the stallion putting these out on the ground in front of Whisper as she chewed on one of her bandaged hooves. “Is it enough?”

“Uh... well, I think I can make it work, yeah.” Whisper said hesitantly after a moment, looking up at Datura and grimacing a bit. “But you're still going to be big and... you know they don't like ponies who aren't... 'standard.'”

“Yeah, I know. It'll be enough to let us get past the basic checks, though... and if they have a scanner set up, we'll punch our way through the rest.” Datura said moodily, and Sally gave a short laugh as she approached, the stallion looking up at her mildly. “Well, if you have any better suggestions, I'm all ears. Like a potato.”

“Those are eyes, not ears.” Sally said dryly, and then she winced when the scarred unicorn half-turned his head to focus his eerie, broken eye on her. “Stop that.”

Datura only smiled wryly, then he shrugged before sighing when Whisper began to nervously poke along his body, the stallion muttering: “Just splatter it on. You don't have to make it pretty or perfect. We just need to get through this.”

“It should look good.” Whisper murmured with a shake of her head, studying him for a moment before she smiled briefly, silently reaching up and touching his cheek beside his blackened eye. “You're going to have to wear the eyepatch, though. I can't do anything about this.”

“I know.” Datura grumbled, nodding briefly before he glanced up at Sally when she frowned at him. “Just shut up and watch. You'll probably get a kick out of this.”

Sally glared at him, but then simply sat back with a grunt, deciding there was no point in responding to Datura's baiting or arguing. Whisper gave her a small smile, while Datura only sulked and crossed his forelimbs... then sighed tiredly when Whisper reached up and awkwardly pushed his forelegs back down.

Still, he moved for her, and both Sally and Splinthoof watched as Whisper picked up a vial of paint before she poured a bit of it into one hoof. And the Pegasus Avatar's eyes widened in fascination as she smeared this over Datura's body... and where she touched, his coat instantly turned orange around her hoof, taking on the same color as the paint.

His scars vanished from sight under the orange coating... and within only a few minutes, Whisper had painted Datura orange from horn to hooves, the stallion looking moodily down at a now-smooth foreleg before he muttered: “I look a little bit like a giant Applejack.”

“You do not. You're brighter.” Whisper replied with a small smile, and then she glanced down at the jar. “Just about out. I'll... do your mane black, since you already have black in it.”

“I have purple in it, too. I think it's mostly purple, as a matter of fact, but... hey, who am I to judge? It's just my body.” Datura said dryly, and then he shook his head before sighing and gesturing grumpily towards his open satchel. “There should be some big scissors or a knife or something like that in there. Grab 'em and have at my mane and tail.”

Whisper sighed a little, but then she looked awkwardly over at Sally, saying quietly: “Would you mind doing that? I need to keep my focus and do a cutie mark for Datura first.”

Sally nodded, giving a supportive smile, and Whisper smiled back as she turned and wiped her hooves quickly on some grass, the paint seeming to flow off her bandaged hooves, spreading slowly over the flora and turning grasses and leaves different shades of orange. Sally did her best not to be distracted by this phenomenon as she strode over the large bag, but she was unable to stop herself from asking: “Is that... some kind of magic?”

“Sort of.” Whisper shrugged a bit and laughed a little, then she hesitated before explaining quietly, even as she poured a little bit of black paint onto one hoof: “Ponies don't really... have magic like this, but Avatars... we often have powers that normal ponies don't. It's either a sort of wish fulfillment or... I dunno...”

“The amplification of our natural talents.” Datura said mildly, smiling briefly as he glanced over his shoulder at Sally. “Who knows? Maybe your special talent was always being crazy and wild. And that's why you're turning into a wild horse.”

Sally shook her head slowly, but she smiled despite herself before she winced a bit as she felt something poke her leg before she awkwardly grasped it, muttering as she lifted the knife free: “Why the hell would you even... no, don't answer that. I don't want to know.”

“We all have our needs.” Datura replied all the same with a shrug, and Whisper shook her head briefly before she stepped carefully around him and started to work on his other side: she had sketched a cutie mark of what looked like a pen and paper, and it looked as real as any other pony's... “Oh, wait. Sally here needs a cutie mark herself.”

Sally blushed a bit, then she looked awkwardly over her shoulder at her blank flank, shifting before she looked almost lamely at Splinthoof. And the unicorn gave her a brief smile before he shrugged and nodded hesitantly, saying finally: “I hate to agree with him, but he's right. If you're missing a cutie mark, the Canon Campers will jump right on top of that.”

The Pegasus Avatar nodded hesitantly, then she looked down and murmured: “But I don't really... have any special talents. I mean, I'm a farm girl. I spend most of my time helping Daddy pick crops and tilling soil. I don't draw or write or... anything like that.”

She looked awkwardly away, thinking of how many cutie marks she'd seen that were all some kind of... artistic talent, or something else that was... well, far better than she imagined hers would be. What kind of special talent did she have, anyway? She wasn't social or good with people or anything special. She just loved her family, worked on the farm, and did her best. She... just had another reason why she didn't belong here in this world.

Then the Pegasus Avatar blushed a bit as Whisper smiled briefly, walking over to her and saying quietly: “I have an idea, okay? It'll just take a minute.”

Sally nodded awkwardly, and then she watched curiously as the earth pony Avatar stepped past her and pressed her hoof to her flank: it sent a strange heat through her, but Sally did her best not to tense up or fidget, keeping her eyes forwards as Datura clambered to his hooves and Splinthoof watched with interest.

Sally glared at Datura when he simply yanked the knife out of her hoof with telekinesis, but the stallion only sniffed before waving one hoof back and forth in front of her face. “I'm differently-abled, remember? My hoofgrip doesn't work properly. I have to use telekinesis and my claws for everything.”

With that, Datura's eyes flicked absently to the side, and he began to easily hack away at his mane with the knife, guiding both his hairs and the weapon back and forth with surprising ease even as Sally winced: she wondered if this was why Datura was missing at least one chunk of ear. “You know, if you wait two minutes...”

“I'm impatient when it comes to this sort of thing.” Datura said with a shrug, continuing to cut and slice away at his own mane: to his credit, it didn't look completely ragged, at least. “Now listen. When we get to the checkpoint, we're going to proceed through as casually as possible. Canon Camp is very mechanical... but they also have to play by Celestia's rules. They'll search us and they'll question us, but we should be able to slip through with the right excuses and enough loud talk about how Celestia is expecting us.”

Sally grimaced a bit, looking at the scarred stallion before she said dubiously: “It can't be that easy. Those guys we saw before were scary, and you've said yourself they're insanely disciplined. We're already carrying a whole bunch of weird stuff with us, and uh... no offense, Datura, but you still look like a scarecrow that decided one day to pick himself up off the pole and go walking around.”

Datura gave her a grumpy look, and then he gestured to the side and said dryly: “I hate to point this out... and, well, to be honest, it makes me a little annoyed myself, but compared to a lot of Avatars that are going to be passing through that checkpoint... we're actually going to look normal, weird as that might seem to you.”

Sally began to frown, and then she cocked her head as Whisper stepped away from her, gesturing at her side and saying awkwardly: “Uh... there you go. I just... went with what came to me off the top of my head.”

Sally looked curiously back at her side, then smiled after a moment as she studied the image on her hip, of a horn of plenty with several brightly-colored fruits spilling from it. She looked gratefully at Whisper, nodding her thanks as Datura said wryly: “Well, a cornucopia isn't the worst thing, although I do wonder if that means you're ripe for the harvesting yourself.”

Whisper sighed, and Sally gave Datura a flat look before saying crankily: “You know, you're a lot less annoying when you aren't flirting with me. Go back to being a jerk.”

“Actually, I'm being a jerk by... I wouldn't call it flirting with you. I have no romantic interest in you. I just want to have sex with you. You're a sock.” Datura said blandly, and Sally only gave him a moody look for a few moments before he said wryly: “In my defense, your emotions are delectable. Your annoyance tastes a little like sherbet. Have you ever had sherbet? I'm leaning towards... lime, right now. Lime is good.”

“I never knew you had a foot fetish, getting off on socks and all. Or should I say, 'in.'” Sally said dryly, and Datura scowled at her before the mare added moodily: “I can't help but picture you as more of a man's man, though. You talk a big talk, you act real macho... but my brother always said, any man that can't do nothing but talk about what he's got downstairs does nothin' but think about it all day, too.”

“Yes, because Angel is clearly a stallion.” Datura said dryly, and then he halted suddenly, and Sally blushed a bit and felt an unreasonable guilt surge through her. Whisper and Splinthoof both shifted uncomfortably, and there was silence for a few moments before the stallion cleared his throat and looked quickly away. “I'm uh...”

Datura halted, then he simply dropped his head silently, and Sally smiled briefly, not even sure if there was anything she could say. But when she noticed that Datura was simply standing there, knife floating beside him, she strode forwards and gently took it from his telekinetic grip before quietly and carefully pruning the rough ends out of his hacked-down hair.

When she shifted to his tail, Whisper came forwards to color his hair: Datura scowled as she smeared paint into his locks, but after a few moments, sticky paint lost its consistency and instead became more like dye, steadily turning his mane a rich black. And by the time Sally had finished trimming down the scarred stallion's tail, Whisper had finished with his mane and was studying him carefully, until she finally murmured: “I wish I could do something about your ear.”

“As long as the rest of my scars are covered up, no one's going to notice a missing piece of ear.” Datura grumbled, flicking the mentioned appendage self-consciously. Whisper only gave him a brief smile and a small shrug, and then she headed back to his tail as Sally stepped forwards, the two moving in unconscious rhythm.

Datura turned his attention to the Pegasus Avatar, and they studied each other in silence for a few moments before the scarred stallion said finally: “I'm bisexual, actually.”

“Why... why would you just blurt something like that out?” Sally asked after a moment, blushing slightly as she shifted awkwardly backwards from Datura, and he only scowled at her before she babbled hurriedly: “Not that there's anything wrong with it, I mean!”

“You asked.” Datura grumbled, and Sally stared at him: she distinctly remembered not asking. “I suppose I'm actually pansexual, but I hate that term.”

Fully knowing she was going to regret this, the Pegasus Avatar asked slowly: “Why?”

“Because it makes me think of satyrs or kitchenware. Neither of which I find attractive. I don't like the word.” Datura replied rationally, as if this was the most sane response in the world.

Sally only stared at him for a moment, then sighed before she began: “You know, that actually means-”

“I know what it means.” Datura said crankily. “Pan, from the Greek for 'all,' and sexual, for 'I like to use my genitalia on it.'”

Sally dropped her face in a hoof, but it was admittedly hard to repress a giggle: not just at Datura's response, but just... the horrible, grumpy look on his face. And after a moment, she lowered her hoof and smiled at him, shaking her head slowly before she said wryly: “I hate to say this, but I think I might actually be getting used to you.”

“Oh, the horror.” Datura said drolly, and then he looked at her for a few moments before he scowled over at Splinthoof, who was looking at him warily. “What? Are you going to start flirting with me too, now? Even more, I mean. Clearly your grouchiness is just your uppity little bottom way of begging for my attention.”

Splinthoof glowered, and then he said icily: “Actually, I was going to ask what the rest of us are supposed to do. If they're looking for us-”

“I doubt Canon Camp knows who Sally is yet. Even if they caught a scan of her, it'll take them at least a week to register her in their database. Sometimes professionalism is a curse.” Datura replied, shaking his head briefly. “You're a Royal Guard, correct? Then they won't bother you, either. You're Trueborn from Canterlot.”

Splinthoof frowned a little, but then he gave a hesitant nod before Whisper smiled and looked up. “And I just... happened to join up with you three on the way home from a carnival. Plus I have friends in Canterlot, so... it shouldn't be too hard for me to get past the checkpoint, either.”

Sally felt a little reassured by this, but all the same, she looked uneasily at Splinthoof, wondering if he thought something was wrong. The unicorn was only shifting on the spot, though, and Sally opened her mouth... before wincing when Datura asked flatly: “What? Spit it out.”

The two unicorns glared at each other for a moment, and then the smaller stallion finally grumbled under his breath before he gave a short nod and said moodily: “Fine. What about our equipment? And look, this kind of activity from Canon Camp is unusual. I don't think they're after just us... we need to be on guard. There might be something else going on.

“And what about that bounty hunter? I know you're convinced he was after you, but... I'm not so sure. Why didn't he just kill you and leave, if he was?” Splinthoof continued, although he looked a little less steady talking about this subject... and seemed to hesitate all the more when Datura cast his eyes down silently, and Whisper shifted silently. “I... look, no matter what kind of scum he was... why risk killing three Avatars and a Trueborn? And why disable you, but then leave you alone? He might have said alive or dead, but I get the feeling we were more valuable to him alive.”

Datura glared at Splinthoof for a few moments... but then he gave a grudging nod before muttering: “I don't like that you have a good point. I like even less that... you might be right.”

He looked away, still scowling as Sally shifted uneasily before Splinthoof said quietly: “I just know that if my bounty hunter failed, but I had some ponies I really wanted dealt with... my first priority would be turning the factions against them. Especially if one of them was apparently already on Canon Camp's hit list.”

“I don't think Canon Camp actually has a 'hit list.' I think they file 'pacification reports' or something like that for 'uncooperative subjects.'” Datura said dryly, and then he lowered his head and continued quietly: “And again, we're going to have to rely on the fact that Canon Camp isn't going to be able to check every group of Avatars and ponies wandering through the checkpoint they've set up, and that they have their own weird rules they tie themselves up in. Know your enemy, Splinthoof, that's a basic rule of war.”

“What do you know about war?” Splinthoof asked moodily, glaring at Datura, but the emaciated unicorn merely smiled and tilted his broken eye towards him, making the unicorn wince a bit as it glimmered with unnatural black light.

“Assume makes an ass out of you and me.” Datura replied pleasantly, and then he turned fully towards Splinthoof and leaned forwards, saying softly: “I don't like dick measuring contests. They're pointless, because size doesn't matter as much as how well you know how to use it, and how strong little sport is. Maybe you can claim yours is a mile long and just as wide: doesn't mean it's not anything but a big balloon I can stab a pin in and pop.”

Splinthoof shifted uneasily, and then Sally interrupted: “Look, if you boys are done, maybe you can put aside your differences for now and we can actually talk about this. Because we all seem to be in agreement we're in trouble here, so you two can stop acting like cats instead of horses.”

Datura laid his ears back and hissed loudly at Splinthoof, who winced in surprise before the emaciated stallion turned a dour look on Sally. “Fine. Let's behave like adults for a little while, then I'll pee in his bed once we get to Canterlot.”

“God, I hate you.” Splinthoof muttered, shaking his head moodily, and Sally sighed tiredly, lowering her head... but watching out of the corner of her eye with interest when Whisper reached up and silently touched Datura's shoulder.

The now-orange stallion flexed uncomfortably at the contact, but then he dropped his head before he looked up and said quietly, the swirling of his corrupted eye seeming to settle: “Fine. Let's... talk about this, then. But let's make it quick: we want to hit the checkpoint by the middle of the day, when it's most likely to be crowded and we'll find it easier to slip through.”

Splinthoof looked almost suspicious, but when Sally looked at him pleadingly, he sighed and nodded once before stepping hesitantly forwards. And the Pegasus Avatar gave a small, relieved smile as she stepped forwards herself as Whisper slipped up a little from Datura's side, closing the circle of four ponies as they put their differences aside for their common good.