I woke up screaming, sweat rolling down my brow and over my muzzle as I shot straight up. I’d just killed a mare in my dream, and she’d turned into a gooey mess as the disintegration magic in my pistol ripped through her screaming form. I put my head between my hind legs, and held my cheeks with my forehooves as I worked to steady my breathing. I started when I felt a gentle, soothing touch to my mane. I must have looked horrible, because the look Blackjack gave me spoke volumes.

“Nightmare?” She asked simply, very slowly running the underside of her hoof down the back of my head.

I tried to blink away the image of the mare dying in stereo with the waking world, and nodded. “I… I killed somepony in my dream,” I said quietly. “I didn’t kill anypony yesterday, but here I am feeling guilty about it. I am so stupid.”

Blackjack quirked an eyebrow at me. “Seriously? You know who you’re talking to, right?” she asked with her casual little self deprecating smirk. It didn’t work, and the expression slid from her face. “Listen, do you know what the difference is between them and us?” She asked, all serious and matter-of-fact. I shook my head slowly. “They shot first.”

“Nopony would have died if we’d just stayed in the Hoof,” I whispered, clutching my head.

“Yeah they would. It just would have been someone else,” she said with that gentle firmness of a mother teaching a foal a hard lesson. “We came north because you decided it. So, to me, it makes sense that you’d take responsibility for the ponies that died yesterday, but you’re not to blame. They attacked us.”

I let out several slow breaths as I tried to get my tongue to work with me. The once limber muscle turned to stone in my mouth, and it took concerted effort to find the right words to say.

“Is that how you do it?” I asked after a long moment. “Tell yourself that they had it coming?”

Blackjack gave me a hard look, and I felt the familiar wave of self-loathing wash over me like the bitter morning tide. “I’m not like that. I figure any pony has their reasons for doing whatever it is they do. So long as they’re not hurting someone that can’t defend themselves, I’ve got no problem. The second they take a shot at me and my friends though, all bets are off.” She gave a little smile. “Just their bad luck they targeted somepony that’s very good at defending herself.”

“I don’t want to kill ponies. I don’t want to kill anything at all,” I sniffled. “I thought all that was over with when the Lightbringer and you...” I trailed off. “Goddesses, I must sound like an idiot.”

“No. You’ve got the right attitude. But I don’t think the wasteland ever goes away. Not completely. And ponies kill ponies. Good ponies try to stop it. Find out why they’re fighting. Find some other way. All killing does is make a corpse. It doesn’t let a pony learn from their mistakes. Do better.”

“Did you?” I asked, then felt the souring of her emotions. “Sorry.”

“I learned a few things. Stuff you’re learning now,” She admitted, resuming her petting of my messy mane. “It’s never an easy thing to take somepony’s life. I don’t enjoy fighting and killing. I’m good at it, but I’d rather be doing something else.” She said with a wink, but I didn’t feel any real lust behind it.

Her smile faded as she went on. “Killing a giant Radscorpion or a Yao-guai is one thing. You know that the fight is for survival. There’s something so simple about fighting something that only wants to kill and eat you. You don’t think about it. There’s no malice in it. Just something hungry putting you on the menu.”

“And when they’re not?” I asked.

She didn’t answer for a moment, her emotions a toxic stew of regret, annoyance, and self loathing, like bits of burnt rubber bobbing in a vat of radioactive waste and raw sewage. “Then you fight till they stop wanting to kill you. Sometimes that means they get killed. I don’t start the fight, I end it. And I am really, really good at ending them,” she finished, her lips pressed in a grim line.

It struck me that a pony was almost referring to themselves as if they were an apex predator. A long time ago, we were herd animals. We always had been and always would be, ultimately, a prey species because we were herbivores by nature. With… some forays into eating meat when it was necessary. I personally couldn’t imagine living without bacon. But eating Radhog felt different than actively seeking out prey to take down. That thinking was reserved for Gryphons, Minotaurs, and Hellhounds. But not ponies. Never ponies.

I let out a long sigh. “No, you’re right,” I admitted. “I am taking responsibility for their deaths. Even though it was you, Glitter, and Bubblegum that killed the Timberjacks here,” I frowned, a thought occurring to me. “I need to be more present in the next fight. I can’t keep freezing up and letting others fight for me.”

“That… would be kinda helpful,” Blackjack said, ruffling my mane gently. “I mean, you don’t have to fight if you don’t want to.”

“I don’t?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I’m not going to make you fight and kill, Threnody. That’s not my call. If you don’t want to fight, we’ll find another way. But having somepony to watch my back when Glitter and Bubblegum are busy would be kind of nice.” She gave me another one of those easy smiles. The kind that made me feel funny in my stomach and somewhere between my hind legs. “But only start a fight if you know it’s one you can’t afford not to. You know what it’s like to be shot. Probably not an experience you’re interested in repeating, mmm?” She asked. I shook my head.

“Then what we need to do before we get to Fold is make sure we have you armoured up,” Blackjack explained, getting up off of the bed and bending forward as she arched her spine. I felt my eyes following the curve of her back to her fl– No! Bad brain! No, no!

I rolled my head from side to side and wiggled out my wings. “Right. So, I’m not gonna get back to sleep anytime soon, so… let’s see if we can’t find something that fits.”

“What do you mean nothing fits?” Blackjack called over the bathroom divider an hour later. We’d picked up a great deal of gear that we’d appropriated from the Timberjacks, and Pine Sap had been more than willing to take the rest of their stuff off our hooves to restart his trading post. However, as I’d come to find out, being the lumpiest tato in the wasteland meant that finding armour and battlesaddles that fit my frame was nigh impossible. Either it was too short and didn’t offer enough protection for my lanky legs, or was too big and made it hard to trot, let alone fly.

“Well, like I said, nothing fits!” I replied with a resigned sigh.

“You know I can-” Blackjack started to say.

“It’s always been like this! I swear, mom would have kept me in baby rompers if she could!” I whined, anger and frustration pushing me forward.

“But I know-”

“And even when I was on my own, I still couldn’t find anything that fit! Just my duster, which has proven definitively unhelpful with my ability to resist bullets! This is impossible!” I snorted.

Blackjack didn’t answer for a moment, “Um...” she started to say.

“I am just a stupid, ugly, lumpy tato, and because of that, finding barding that fits me is going to be a more of a pain in the bum than anything else on this stupid trip has been or will be!” I summarized my tirade of clothing woes.

Blackjack replied by hitting me in the face with something green and sparkly. I looked down at the dress, and turned it over, confused. “Blackjack, this isn’t armour,” I said, looking over the garment. The tag on the inside read CP, and had a stylized hat.

“Yeah, well, it's the bottom of the barrel,” she answered. “Okay, nevermind. I have some rags here but there’s something crawling in them.”

“I’m putting it on,” I blurted at once, not wanting to have a lice infested rag tossed at me. “This has to be the absolute worse armour in the wasteland,” I muttered, not wanting to admit that maybe, just maybe, this dress might look okay on me.

“You want the rags? I got fleas, ticks, or lice?” Blackjack asked.

I took a look. It was probably a filly’s cute-ceañera dress, with green sequins, lace, and taffeta. As goddess-awful impractical as it appeared, it’d withstood 200 years of wasteland. The soft hunter green garment shimmered with sequins as I slipped the single wide strap over my right shoulder. The dress was nearly backless, which was ideal for my wings, but had an additional support that ran over my withers. That support helped the dress hug my chest, even though my left shoulder was left bare. I looked back as the dress flowed over my flanks, making them look fuller than they were. Huh. I… hmm.

The door opened and Blackjack gazed at me a moment. At once, she grinned. “Hey,” she said in a voice that made me both apprehensive and fluttery at the same time.

My cheeks felt like fire as I looked up at Blackjack. “Do we have a mirror?” I asked, pointedly looking at the floor. I wasn’t sure I could look her in the face right now.

She peered out of the stall. “I think... yeah!”

I slowly made my way out of the stall I’d been using to change in, and joined Blackjack at the mirror. I bit my lip and ducked my head as I gazed at my reflection. Weird. Somepony had taken a filly with my shape and colouring and actually made her kind of cute! I looked over at Blackjack as I felt something lightly pulling on my mane. Her small horn lit up as she twisted my dirty blond mane about, and she offered me a smile.

“So, yes. You’re right. This isn’t armour. But sometimes it pays to have something that you can put on and stop a fight with before it starts,” She said softly, letting my mane fall in a somewhat messy bun down around my shoulders.

That’s when I started crying. I couldn’t bear to look at the filly in the mirror. The filly in the mirror was too pretty. Too pretty for some cruel mare to keep her hooves off of her.

Blackjack’s eyes widened with alarm. “Woah, woah, woah!” She immediately reached out to hold me, but I immediately put a hoof out to keep her back. Right now, being touched wasn’t on my wants list. “What’s wrong? You’re not that ugly in it,” she said with a vain attempt at cutting humour, a half smile melting away as her brows knitted together. “What’s wrong?” she repeated, a little more serious.

“I look too pretty,” I said, tears running down my cheeks. “Just like my mom would always say before I got sent off to that mare. Just like she would always say. T-too p-pretty,” I stammered, trying to wriggle my way out of the dress. It was a beautiful dress. I just couldn’t be a beautiful filly.

“Right,” Blackjack said, levitating the dress off me, cold hate trickling through her, along with that familiar self-recrimination, most likely at hurting me. Great, now she was feeling like crap because I was being stupid. Good fucking job, Threnody. Way to make your friends feel loved and helpful. “We’ll settle things up, Threnody. When you’re ready,” she murmured, reaching out and patting my mane gently as she gave a little half smile. Then she looked back at the stack. “What I was trying to say earlier was that Grace taught me an alteration spell, so I think I can shrink some of that barding to fit a, how’d you put it? ‘lumpy tato?’”

I rewarded her with a small smile. “That might work a bit better. Sorry I didn’t let you say that in the first place. There’s a set of leather barding that I think we could easily cut wing-slits into.” I said, pointing to the stall.

“Are you sure?” she asked, then levitated up a monstrous parody of protective gear. “Bondage gear and spikes. Classic raider. Ehhhhh? Ehhhh?” she said with a foalish grin as she waggled the horrifically impractical barding in the air before me.

“Right, because clearly I want to get shot by the next set of right-thinking ponies we run into. Or is this because you want me to tie you up and start calling you Littlepip?” I asked with a shaky grin of my own in return.

She relaxed as I snarked back. “Nah. Been there. Done that,” she said with a smile as she set it aside and levitated up the leather barding. “Let’s see how far I can shrink this,” she murmured, her horn’s magic engulfing the barding. Five minutes later, I had a set of reinforced leather barding that fitted me far more snugly than I’d imagined... and Blackjack’s horn was smoking. “Hot! Hot! Hot!” she hissed, fanning it with a hoof to cool her tiny horn.

I leaned over and blew on her forehead and little horn. “That help?” I asked, smirking at her. I let my face relax into a small smile. “Thank you, Blackjack, for helping.”

To my surprise, she actually blushed. I didn’t think she could blush! “Well, that’s what I like to do,” she murmured. “That and not fuck things up.”

“You’ve been doing that pretty well since we left the Hoof,” I admitted, slipping my duster on over my new barding. “So… should we go wake up Glitter and Bubblegum?” I asked, giving myself a cursory glance in the mirror. I looked like a wastelander. Maybe a cute wastelander, with the way the barding hugged my hips. But I could deal with that.

“Yeah,” she said as she started for the door. “Also, I can’t wait to hear your plan,” she said casually as she disappeared up the stairs.

I blinked. “Wait. What?” Oh! Plan! The plan!

… I am so doomed.

We found Glitter in her ‘executive suite’, snoozing on a pile of legitimately clean mattresses. I didn’t know whether or not the Timberjacks just put the nicest bedding in that room, or if their leader -whichever of the dead ponies downstairs he or she happened to be - actually happened to be a neatnik.

“Glitter,” I said, gently shaking my friend’s shoulder. “Time to get up!”

Glitter opened one purple eye at me and used her magic to bap me with a pillow. “Ten more minutes…” She moaned.

“Glitter, where’s Bubblegum?” Blackjack asked nonchalantly from behind me.

Instantly, my purple friend was up and moving. “I’m up! I’m up! I’m ready to go!” She said, her mane sticking straight out to one side as she staggered on the heap. I was curious where our comely earth pony had wandered off to, but Glitter almost looked panicked. “Where is he? The Enchilada didn’t attack last night, did it? Oh dear,” She fretted.

I leaned up and gripped her head in my hooves, smooshing her cheeks. “No, no attacks. He just wasn’t in here when we came to get you up. Wanna come find him with us?” I asked. Glitter nodded so rapidly I was nearly vibrated off of my hooves. I wasn’t sure what had gotten into my purple friend. Bubblegum was more than capable of handling himself!

Glitter, Blackjack, and I wandered through the upper floor of the motel, looking for Bubblegum. “When we’re together, we’ll talk about Thren’s plan,” Blackjack said as we searched. I figured that the tall earth pony hadn’t gotte- hello!

Us three mares halted at the sight in the courtyard below. Bubblegum had found a tub large enough for himself, and was currently taking a bath. His luxurious pink mane was brushed out and dripping as he worked a bar of soap over his withers. The water cascaded down his well muscled, toned body, and I felt my wings getting that weird ache they’d had the night before.

“I…” I started, just staring at the rather impressive display of wet testosterone in front of me. “Plan?” I murmured weakly. The only plan I had in my head at that very moment was the plan of trying to figure out what Bubblegum felt like. That butt. Oh my goddesses.

“Screw the plan. The plan is we stay right here,” Blackjack replied, her eyes running over his form. I’m pretty sure even Glitter could feel the waves of lust and desire Blackjack was feeling. It was like standing next to a spotlight of degeneracy.

A purple aura seized both of us and with a flash we were being negligently tossed out of the motel.

"So, Threnody,” Blackjack said, a few pine needles still stuck in her mane as we walked along the road north out of Three Rivers. “What’s the plan?”

I tried to not glare at her as she interrupted my daydream involving Bubblegum’s butt. Glitter had made sure that Blackjack and I were walking up front, and I was enjoying that daydream! “I… well, hmm,” I frowned a moment as I weighed my options. “Honestly, I have a feeling that we’re probably going to get shaken down again by the Timberjacks if they are anything like the ponies we encountered here. We didn’t pick up many caps from them, and they may be a little bit wary if we try to buy entrance into Fold with their dead friends’ weapons.”

“Yeah yeah,” she said with a wave of her hoof. “That’s fine, but more... what’s the word... strategically? The strategic plan? Are we just going to go through and not make trouble, or go wandering from location to location killing anyone that looks sideways at us while we search for profit and amusement?” She asked with a smirk as she looked down at me.

“Well, I want to make sure that they aren’t working with slavers,” I said firmly. “That goes against all of my beliefs, let alone my oaths as a Follower. The how of it, though, I’m working on that. I have a feeling these ponies aren’t exactly going to be open to listening to us extolling the magic of friendship,” I replied bitterly.

Bubblegum snickered behind us. “Well, trying to get some sort of lay of the land may not be a bad idea. Get some idea from a local, not a Timberjack, as to what the situation in Fold is like?” He offered.

“Pine Sap said the Timberjacks came around a few years back, and took control of the local ‘herb’. I’m guessing it's a big deal to the people around here,” Blackjack said, her gaze on the trees around us. “We need to see how they operate. Are they just a local gang, or are they a part of something bigger? Call me paranoid, but it always seems like things end up being connected.”

Given what she’d been through, I couldn’t blame her. I hoped this was just a local problem. The trees around us really were beautiful though. So much was dead and wasted south of us that the sight of anything green and growing was like food for a starving soul. Far off to the north west rose the largest mountain I’d seen; a pristine white peak that stood alone from other mountains in the range. I could only guess that was Mount Hoof.

“Well, connected is kind of what big bad groups of dumb ponies do, isn’t it?” Glitter Bomb asked as she and Bubblegum trotted up beside Blackjack and I.

I frowned. “Well, Blackjack, talking tactics with me is about as useful as asking me how to psychologically break somepony. But… if the Timberjacks are as bad as Pine Sap says they are, and if they have connections to The Family, I want to shut them down. But I’d prefer to do it in a way that doesn’t kill innocent ponies who are trying to make a living along the way. If we have to fight, we fight like surgeons, cutting out the cancer, not like some wandering murder hobo who doesn’t care who she hurts.”

“You realize both of them carry grenades, right?” Blackjack asked, nodding back over her shoulder.

“Hey, some of these are non-lethal,” Bubblegum reminded her.

“And Caledonia taught me a spell that makes ponies go to sleepies,” Glitter added helpfully.

I looked over Bubblegum’s present armament, and had to agree with Blackjack’s initial assessment. We weren’t really equipped for surgical. Not with Bubblegum’s hunting shotgun, Blackjack’s riot shotgun, Glitter’s grenades-- oh goddesses we were equipped like murder hobos.

Blackjack leaned over and gave my shoulder a nudge, “This is gonna be fun!”

Oh goddesses… She wasn’t just equipped like a murder hobo, she actually was one!

“Okay, so, the plan is try to hurt as few ponies as possible. With our weapons. And then… we free the slaves? And profit?” I rambled anxiously. Oh. This was going to go swimmingly.

Fold was located in a picturesque little valley right next to a wide band of river flowing along the west side of the city. The woods had easily claimed more than half the structures, in some case growing up through the roofs and creating a sort of maze of ruins that was challenging to manoeuvre through. What remained of the settlement seemed to be split between a large saw mill next to the river, a town square that looked relatively open, and a few acres of green land further north. A large billboard read ‘Welcome to Fold, home of fine Equestrian hemp products!’ A relaxed-looking earth pony on the faded sign held brown cloth on one hoof, and brown rope on the other.

We were all hidden up in an old building that read ‘Tree Hugger’s Fine Herb’. The shop stunk worse than the other buildings we’d picked through so far, but it gave us a good view of the whole town. It looked like the Timberjacks and the rest of the population were working on cutting down trees. The lumber mills to the north had smoke coming out of them, and looked like they were being used!

“Huh, they’re making lumber,” Bubblegum commented as he looked out over the town with a pair of binoculars he’d pulled from his bag. “That’s… really smart. If they can get it cut up in significant quantities, that’d sell for a shiny bag of caps in plenty of places.”

“But why are they cutting down trees and restarting the lumber mill?” I asked, genuinely confused. “I thought this place was supposed to be run by awful slavers?”

Blackjack chuckled beside me. “Well, with that SPP tower over there, I bet they stopped slaving right around the time that Littlepip opened up the sky, Thren,” she said, pointing to the massive metal tower at the far north end of the valley.

“So they’re working… together?” I asked. Oh Goddess Luna forgive us! We may have just been on our way to kill innocent ponies!

Glitter Bomb frowned, shook her tail, then levitated her own pair of pink binoculars from the debris that fell from her knotted tail. “I wouldn’t be too sure of that, Threnody,” I turned to look at my friend. “Why are the earth ponies doing all the work while the unicorns stand around with guns and grumpy looks?”

I looked over the scene laid out before me through Bubblegum’s binoculars. How had I missed that? The earth ponies were a mottled and unpleasant-looking bunch in heavy flannel, denim, and leather barding that likely offered modest protection against your average unarmed labourer. There were a few with the odd pistol or varmint rifle, but most of the weapons were axes and chainsaws. The unicorns, however, wore fine looking blue and black combat armour and had clean, sharp looking carbines. The unicorns might have been outnumbered five to one by the earth ponies, but in a fight, I knew which side I’d bet on.

Up on a cat walk around the edge of the mill, I spotted a pink unicorn stallion in a fancy hat trotting along with a tall, rough brown earth pony mare with an axe strapped across her back. The unicorn wore a kind of sickly smile as he talked. The earth pony didn’t smile at all, her eyes frequently glaring out at the workers in the mill yard below her. Hmm.

“Though it is odd, now that you mention it, that the unicorns are the ones with the nice guns, and the earth ponies have the axes and chainsaws.” Bubblegum added grimly. “What are the unicorns guarding?”

“Well, they seem to like those buildings” Blackjack said simply, pointing a hoof toward a set of greenhouses. An uncomfortably large number of unicorn guards patrolled around the grounds.

“Are they just growing a lot of really yummy carrots?” Glitter Bomb offered. Blech, carrots.

“I don’t know about that, Glitter,” Bubblegum said, looking over the greenhouses. “There’s something important in there. I mean, you don’t just casually have most of your guards watch over something worthless,” He said grimly. “I mean, I don’t think they’ve got a hydra in there or anything, but there must be something worth protecting in there.”

My brain immediately snapped to rows upon rows of cherry trees. That was worth protecting!

“Who the hell would keep a hydra in a glass building?” Blackjack asked, giving Bubblegum a confused look.

“I don’t know. I heard a rumour though that there was one that was held in Flank, so… you tell me.” He replied levelly, his pink eyes meeting her red.

Blackjack’s eyes narrowed as she looked the stallion over. “Are you sure we haven’t met before?” She asked.

Bubblegum rolled his eyes. “Like I said, I’m just a boring trader,” He said, turning back to the broken window to look over the town. I didn’t like the fact that he’d just told a lie. Who was this stallion? I knew he was more than just a pretty face. And butt. Goddesses the butt…

I felt myself being picked up in Glitter’s familiar ticklish magic and set on the other side of Blackjack. I stuck my tongue out at her. “What?!” I asked. “I was just planning.” Glitter said nothing, but pointed a hoof at her eye, pointed a hoof at me, pointed a hoof at Bubblegum, and pointed a hoof at her eye. “Not that kind of planning!”

“Then what were you planning, hmm?” Blackjack asked, her voice smooth as caramel, but that familiar taught tension running through her emotions. “What’s the call, Captain?”

“We go down there and ask questions. Pose as traders.”

“If we’re traders, then what are we selling?” Blackjack countered back. “We’re sort of shy of Brahmin and wares.”

“Okay, mercs? Looking for work? I mean, Bubblegum looks mighty scary with the small arsenal he’s trotting about with,” I replied, pointing at the still-broken grenade machine gun.

“Oh yes. Very formidable,” Blackjack said with a purr at the stallion. Bubblegum blushed at the attention, and there was a purple flash, and Blackjack disappeared. The door to the store room opened a second later and Blackjack walked out with a bucket on her head and a mop draped across her shoulders. “How’d you do that?” she asked Glitter.

“Do what?” Glitter Bomb asked back, interposing herself between Blackjack and the stallion.

I’d better move this along before they duelled for Bubblegum’s honour... though if they did and took each other out, then I’d– no, no no! I blurted at once, “And we have an alicorn. I didn’t see any down there when I was looking earlier. That may weigh in our favour!”

“We have an alicorn?” Glitter asked. My hoof met my face.

“Okay. Three decently armed mercs. You could be our scout. That explains you not being armed to the teeth,” she said and gave a nod. “Want me to be in charge? I am a unicorn, after all.”

“How will they be able to tell?” Glitter Bomb mused, and then parted Blackjack’s bangs with her magic. “There it is! It's so tiny. Like a bump.”

“It’s not tiny. It’s compact,” Blackjack pouted.

“Well, with these folks, it may actually be better if you take the lead, Blackjack,” I said after a moment.

“Okay,” she said and gave a little nod. “You keep your eyes and ears open and see what you can sense. Maybe you’ll run into something we can use. Find out what the scam is and if there’s a way to fix it that doesn’t involve blowing everything up and killing everyone.” She said, then paused as she became aware of my flat look. “What?”

If her track record was any indication we’d probably end up doing exactly that. “Let’s just get moving,” I said. “And I’ll poke you if anything feels… off.”

We made our way down the cracked concrete streets toward the mill. Grass - actual live grass - was growing out between the fractured slabs. The town entrance was another trailer, and Blackjack approached it openly, all smiles and shooty looks. “Hold there!” Someone shouted, and I had the unnerving sensation of being appraised by the carbine-wielding unicorns. “Where you from?” a grey earth pony mare challenged.

“Ticklemoose,” Blackjack lied. “Not looking for trouble. Just looking for some trading and a little work.”

There was some talk between the earth ponies. “You’re a long way from the mountains,” the mare shouted.

Blackjack paused then frowned. “What are you talking about? Tickle’s on the coast.”

The guards relaxed a little bit. “Fold can always use good workers. You can exchange your caps for script at the store. Script’s the only thing we trade in,” the grey mare said. “You don’t like it, you can head off.”

“Fine. Fine,” Blackjack said. The two unicorns’ horns glowed simultaneously, and they effortlessly lifted the trailer. I was a little impressed by that. I’d only heard the Lightbringer capable of lifting something so heavy. We carefully walked through, me painfully aware that at any second it might drop and make Threnody jam. Once we were inside, the trailer was lowered back in place.

“So, any work here for a group of mercenaries?” Bubblegum asked, offering the grey mare one of his winning grins.

She actually paused and flushed a moment, before giving her head a hard shake. “Not for me to say. Talk to Buzzsaw. She’s in charge here. I’ll walk you to her,” she said and then gave Bubblegum a crooked little smile, as if she weren’t used to the expression. “Maybe get a drink later?”

I could hear Glitter Bomb’s growl like a subsonic rumble. Well, maybe Bubbles shouldn’t take her up on the drink offer...

“Sounds good,” Bubblegum answered casually. Oh goddesses he was going to die. Glitter was going to kill him. “My name’s Bubblegum. And you are?”

“Basalt. Basalt Breaker,” she said brightly, and then her eyes shifted to me, then to Blackjack, and I felt a toxic, tarry loathing from her... and something below the surface, slick and thin. Fear. “Hope you’ll be sticking around some.”

I kicked Glitter in the shin when I felt anger and jealousy rising up in my purple friend. Not now. I thought quietly. Though that loathing and fear I felt from Basalt was interesting. Was it because of Blackjack’s horn?

The dozen or so blocks of Fold was honestly one of the more prosperous and simultaneously depressing communities I’d ever seen. Most of the shops in the downtown area were flop houses, where dozens of earth ponies milled about, looking exhausted and hungry. Most were smoking pipes of dank smelling herb, cooking on little fires, and generally just waiting around. Those that weren’t, mostly Timberjacks and the well-armed unicorns, kept in tight knots in the city centre. There was a saloon of sorts, with bright and cheery music playing while the gangers relaxed within. Outside one shop was a chalk board with food prices in ‘script’. I had no idea what the exchange rate was, but the prices seemed pretty damned high. No one should charge 100 anything for a carrot! A line of hungry-looking earth ponies stretched out the front door and around the corner.

I waved a wing to a small white and brown painted earth pony foal that stared at me as Basalt led us past. Her mother quickly pulled her close as we trotted past, fear and confusion in the bay mare’s eyes. What sort of operation was this? 100 script for a carrot? 75 script for water? Water!? There’s a friggen river right there! And they were charging for water?

I trotted closer to Blackjack, and pressed my muzzled close to her ear. “Notice the difference between the earth ponies and the unicorns?” I asked, frowning. “They charge for water!”

Blackjack glanced at me then gave Basalt an easy smile. “Hey. Basalt. What’s the thing with the unicorns?”

Instant hate and dread bubbled out of our escort. “What thing?”

“Just they have some nice guns. I’ve got a good eye for them,” Blackjack said, casually.

“Don’t you never mind about them. You’re here for work. Work. Get paid. Leave if you don’t frigging like it,” she snapped. Blackjack clearly was the wrong pony to ask. She looked back at Bubblegum and gave him a little nod.

He hesitated a moment, then trotted up on the other side of Basalt. “Hey, no need to be like that, BB.” BB? He’s known this mare for two minutes and he had a frigging nickname for her? “We just want to know what’s what.”

She blinked and gave Blackjack and Glitter Bomb a cool look. “I’ll just say that if you’re a unicorn, you got nothing to worry about. That’s all I’m saying.”

“What about a pegasus?” I asked, the question tumbling out of my lips before I could stop myself. Dammit.

She blinked as if just acknowledging that fact. “Huh. Oh. Who the fuck cares?” she answered with a shrug. My ears wilted. Oh. It was that kind of town. “All that matters is you got that bump on your head. You got that, you got it made.”

“But having a bump on my head actually kinda gets in the way,” Glitter Bomb said quietly, glaring daggers at Basalt. “But I don’t think it makes me special.” She said matter of factly.

“Trust me. Folks here will think you’re plenty special. You’ll–” she suddenly froze as a golden aura seized her. I’d been grabbed by Glitter more times than was healthy, but this glow was almost like a powerful mitt of a golden paw. Her mouth was crushed shut as she struggled.

“I’m sorry,” said a sweet, cultured voice behind us. Turning, I spotted four of the unicorns standing shoulder to shoulder. Their horns all glowed with the same identical aura. “I swore I heard an earth pony acting like she gets an opinion,” said a sour mare with a cream coat and a red mane whose entire body, posture, and smile screamed ‘Cunt!’ Odd, their magic wasn't just uncannily identical in hue, it was freakishly bright, too. “I hope she doesn’t give you the wrong impression,” she said sweetly to Blackjack, their red eyes locking briefly.

Oh, I think she gave the right impression after all. I wanted to speak, but realised that right now, it was a good way to get my muzzle forced shut like poor Basalt.

“No. Now let her go,” Blackjack said at once, her voice level. The red maned mare arched a brow coolly, and Blackjack added, “Please.” She pursed her lips, then looked at the suspended Basalt. Her ruby eyes narrowed, and there was a sharp snap and a muffled scream from the mare. Then the golden glow shared by their four horns disappeared. Basalt collapsed in a heap, gritting her teeth, clearly trying not to sob as her left foreleg now had an extra joint that didn’t belong there.

I trotted over to Basalt’s side, ignoring the quartet of unicorns. Glitter followed me as I gently looked over her leg.

“You needn’t tend to her,” The lead mare said, her voice sweet as saccharine, but the emotional undertones full of disgust and sick amusement. “Earth ponies are very strong. Even with a broken limb.” She snorted, “They’re not sensitive enough feel pain like real ponies.”

I wanted to say something. I felt like I needed to say something. Who the hell did these ponies think they were, that it was okay to just snap somepony’s leg, and then look at them like they were no better than a Radroach!? I grit my teeth as I dug through my saddlebags for a healing potion despite the mare’s words. Fuck her.

“I’m a Follower,” I said sharply as I reached out and set the potion down in front of Basalt as I prepared to set her leg. Okay. I’d seen this done before, I could do it. “I heal who I choose.” I pulled out a small splint from the supplies in my saddlebags, as well as a clean cloth.

“She means she follows me around,” Blackjack amended at once. “Headstrong. Pegasus, you know,” Blackjack said, giving me a frown.

Clearly the unicorn didn’t know, but honestly didn’t care either. “Quite,” she said with a sniff. Basalt, however, was looking at me, clearly questioning my sudden altruism. And canny enough that she didn’t question me in front of the unicorns.

I passed the cloth to Basalt. “Bite down on this. This… is going to hurt for a moment.” Basalt looked at me with alarm, until I set my hoof on hers. I pictured the white hot flow of pain from her fractured bone flowing into my body, and grit my teeth as her pain flooded me. Oww. Okay. That… really hurt. Need to do that less often.

Basalt bit down on the cloth, and I tugged her leg. A sickly wet snapping sound rumbled from the limb as set back into place, and Basalt screamed around the cloth bandage. I took more of her pain, a bit of blood starting to trickle down my left leg as I tried to help deaden the worst of it. “Drink,” I rasped as I tied the splint in place. “It should be better by morning.”

The quartet of identical, or nearly identical unicorns stared at me creepily. What? What motherbuckers? I’m a bleeding pegasus who heals ponies for fun. Fuck off. I held my defiant glare a moment, then looked to Blackjack. “Sorry boss, I’ll pay you back for the supplies later.”

“No sweat,” Blackjack said, then gave the redhead mare a crooked smile. “I’m Fish. This is Thren, B.G. and G.Bomb. We’re just mercenaries looking for some good paying work.”

“Well, I know that Peculiar can always use a good unicorn. And an alicorn...” she looked at Glitter Bomb, who pulled a pair of sunglasses from her saddlebags, snapped them open, and slid them over her eyes with a disdainful little pout. The bitchy mare leered over Bubblegum, and I felt that usual desire mares and some stallions had for the colt, but then I was smacked by self-disgust at the same time. “What a waste,” she muttered, then eyed me for a second and looked away with a dismissive sniff. “Anyway, do take them to the mill without further commentary, and if you’re lucky, I won’t break another of your legs, Basalt.”

“Sure, Sweetness. No problem,” Basalt said, her voice low as she struggled to keep her fear and rage in check. The bitch’s name was Sweetness? She was about as sweet as Cinnamon was! Come to think of it, aside from the eyes, she and my least favourite batpony did look startlingly alike.

“Tah tah!” she said brightly to Blackjack, giving a cheeky smile and... oh dear goddesses, she was sincerely being nice to Blackjack. Somehow, that was even worse than her being a 24/7 cunt. She and the three stallions trotted off towards the saloon.

Basalt looked between the four of us with a mix of awe and confusion. Her blue-grey eyes settled on me. “You’re bleeding,” She said softly as she struggled to all fours. “You’re bleeding, and I don’t hurt nearly as much as I should.”

I looked down at the rent that had opened up in my left foreleg. “It’s nothing. We should probably let you take us to Buzzsaw and Peculiar,” I said, wrapping my foreleg with a bandage from my saddlebags.

Blackjack sent a shooty look in the direction of the saloon. “Hello again, Daisy,” She muttered, speaking in a cold growl that couldn’t have been doing much for Basalt’s nerves. Fear rolled off of Basalt, but the earth pony said nothing.

“I’m not very fond of the vibes I was getting from her either,” Bubblegum said, trotting over to Basalt’s left side. “Go ahead and lean on me, BB,” He offered gently. “Might as well keep that leg healing as best as it can for now.”

Glitter Bomb trotted to Basalt’s right side. “I can help support you too. I’m sorry that meanie broke your leg,” she said pointing her horn toward Basalt’s leg. A soft, glittery purple glow wrapped around the mare’s leg, and fear flared throughout Basalt’s body, but her pain deadened as Glitter cast an anaesthetic spell. “Something to make it less ouchy.”

“I… uh. Huh. Right.” Basalt said, completely bemused by what had happened. “You’re not...” she started to say, then glanced back at the unicorns and went silent.

“That’s right. We’re not from here. We’re from Ticklemoose,” Blackjack stated both firmly and gently. Basalt just eyed her sceptically, her fear diminished but not absent. “Glitter,” Blackjack said as we continued making our way to the mill. “Did you notice anything weird about those unicorns’ magic?” She asked idly.

Glitter scrunched her brow as she thought hard. “Oh! They were sorta kinda casting together! Like when we used to do television spells with Caledonia and Dry Clean Only!”

I glanced at Blackjack, confused. “What’s the big deal about that?”

Glitter gave me a very serious look. “Alicorns can only do magic together when the greenies are with us. Otherwise we can’t link our magic. We just do it alone. Blues and Purples like me need the greenies to make our spells way strongerer!” She said with a nod. “Which means if those meanies can do it, then they could be very dangerous for us.”

Blackjack nodded. “That’s what I was afraid of,” She said. “Though you may want to stop supporting her, Glitter. We’re coming up on the guard post to the mill.”

The mill was blocked by a massive chain link fence. As usual, two unicorns with their shiny black and blue combat armour stood watch as we approached. I felt like I was starting to get a sense for the town, and I didn’t like what I was feeling. A little too heavy on the side of desperation and depression for my tastes. The whole town needed heartmending. Goodness.

Basalt waved to the unicorns. “I need to bring them to see the Boss and Peculiar,” She called out. The black-clad unicorns nodded, and this time, only one pony’s horn lit up. The dark green stallion’s golden magic gently pulled on the barbed wire fence, revealing an opening for us to walk through. This time, however, the defences were on the inside of the gate. Not the outside. Weird.

We followed Basalt through the working lumber yard. All around us, ponies pulled on logs, stacked cut planks, or used axes and massive saws to saw off small limbs from the fallen trees. The entire yard smelled like wet wood and something slightly acidic. It wasn’t pleasant.

“Did somepony pee on the wood?” Glitter Bomb asked, crinkling her muzzle at the smell.

“Green wood always has a bit of an odour to it. Remember, these trees were alive until just recently,” Basalt explained as we trotted through the yard. “You get used to it after a bit. Though the yard smells amazing when we’ve gotten a load of cedar in.” I got the slightest sense of relaxation from Basalt. Like watching a string that had been pulled taut beneath the weight of a bird balancing on the line slacken as the bird took to the air.

Basalt led us up to an office labelled ‘Foremare’. She rapped on the door once, and moments later the door swung open, pink magic wrapped around the door handle. The pink stallion with a yellow mane and a very tall hat blinked at us. “Yes?” He said, surprisingly kindly, to Basalt, causing her to back up a pace. Something about this unicorn made me abruptly very wary, though he seemed to be one of the least threatening I’d seen... ever. Just a round, tubby little unicorn stallion in a top hat.

“Got some new recruits to introduce to the boss, Mister Peculiar, sir,” She said, averting her eyes and looking down at her forehooves.

The stallion snapped into a broad grin as he looked us over. Or rather, when he looked Blackjack and Glitter over. I’d expected some of the same contempt that I’d gotten from Sweetness, but there was a wrongness coming from him I’d never felt before in a pony. It was a still coldness that leaked from every pore. That happy, welcome grin might as well been made of plastic, as his mismatched eyes, one orange and the other purple, swept over each of us. I was glad he barely paid me any attention at all.

“I see. I see,” he muttered. “Well, Buzzsaw is very busy right now. Much paperwork to do, and all that,” The stallion said in a soft, almost intimate voice. I couldn’t help taking a step back. Something about him made my feathers itch, but I couldn’t quite pin down what it was. He had his mane slicked up in a pompadour style, the old top hat perched just behind the curl. Blackjack just stared at him a few seconds too long silently, so I poked Blackjack’s side.

Blackjack blinked, then gave her casual grin. “Well, surely she’d make some time for a unicorn looking to work around here. My crew are all skilled mercenaries. Even got into a little dust up with some Rangers around Portlandia on our way over here,” Blackjack said, looking down at her hoof. “So if she doesn’t want to see us…”

The pink stallion perked up at the word ‘Rangers’, his expression brightening with almost alarming rapidity. “My my, and you survived the encounter?” He asked, stepping out onto the ramp on which we stood. “That is rather impressive!”

Blackjack shrugged. “Just business. Now, are you going to let us meet Buzzsaw or not?” She asked, tossing her head in such a way that flashed her small - I mean compact - horn.

He didn’t respond at first. That grin seemed to widen into almost childish delight, “Oh. Yes. Mercenaries. Yes. Formidable mercenaries. Yes.” he said in that gentle voice. “So strange. I was certain... very very certain... that I knew any and all mercenary companies in the region capable of crossing Rangers. Yes. Very certain.” My stomach dove at once as he stared. His eyes met mine and I felt... it was an intrusion of some sort. It made my stomach clench, and for just an instant his smile faltered.

It returned to his face just as swiftly as it had left. “Oh, pardon my manners. I am Peculiar, Miss Buzzsaw’s... advisor,” He said, nodding slowly. “I advise her to do this. I advise her to do that. I am good with advice.” He purred and nodded again. “Very good. She leads the Timberjacks, you know. I simply advise.” He then swept his gaze at Basalt. “Why, whatever happened to your leg?” he said, the concern in his voice just as flat and superficial as his friendliness.

Basalt didn’t answer immediately, so Glitter Bomb piped up, “One of your meanies named Sweetness broke it!”

“Oh my! Did she?” Peculiar asked with a gasp of shock. Basalt still didn’t answer.

“You bet she did!” Glitter insisted. “Tell her!”

Basalt shrank a bit at Peculiar’s words. “It- It was an accident, Peculiar,” The grey earth pony mare said, taking a few steps back from the pink unicorn. She felt like she was half expecting Peculiar to snap her healing leg.

“Basalt?” Gitter asked, ears drooping.

“My. Well, I do hope you don’t have any more. A mare can only suffer so many... accidents,” he replied, his warm smile returned immediately, as if he were swapping one mask for another. “Well, I’ll take them the rest of the way. They won’t be any... trouble...”

His orange and purple eyes shot to me, of all ponies, and I felt my stomach clench again. Basalt gave a jerky nod and turned, limping away down the hall. “Well, do come in!” Peculiar said, stepping out of the way to let us into Buzzsaw’s office.

The inside was decorated with what I assumed was local timber. It smelled like cedar, and the lovely fragrance made the wood decorated office feel much more ‘homey’ somehow. Every piece of furniture looked like it had been hoof carved or hewn from one of the massive trees that the mill was working on outside. Seated behind the office’s more ornate desk was a very stressed and grumpy looking earth pony mare. She wore her slate grey mane in dreadlocks that hung over her right shoulder, and like so many other Timberjacks, she wore red flannel that clashed horribly with her dusky lavender coat.

“Miss Buzzsaw,” Peculiar said, causing the mare to look up at us. “Basalt was kind enough to escort this group of fine ponies to see you. Apparently, they are looking for work. They are mercenaries. Yes. Fine mercenaries. They took out some Rangers. Outside Portlandia. Isn’t that interesting?” he murmured.

“Don’t you have some prisoners to interrogate?” the mare snapped.

“I do. Did. Done. They don’t know who’s behind the sabotage, though one acted on his own,” he said evenly. “I was just jotting down my notes when these...” He turned, giving us that gleeful grin a moment before finishing, “impressive mercenaries... arrived.”

“I’ll talk with him. Spell things out,” Buzzsaw scowled.

“Oh,” he blinked in momentary surprise. “Oh, dear. I’m afraid he’s in no condition for spelling, miss. Or talking. Or thinking. He’s still breathing though. Yes. Breathing. I suppose. Possibly.” He nodded once. “In a fashion.”

“Damn it, Peculiar! That’s not your call,” she roared, rising to her hooves. His mask didn’t slip, but I could feel the chillness grow inside him. “Go find whoever’s sabotaging my mill. I’ll deal with these mercenaries.”

“Don’t you want me to stick around? For advice? I can be very sticky, if you like,” he said with a faux expression of hurt.

“I want you to do your job. Now find that saboteur. And be quick. I got a headache!” she muttered, rubbing her temple.

He was silent for several seconds. “Of course. Of course. I understand. I’ll find them. I will. It’s just a matter of time. And knee caps. And loved ones. Some one will talk. I’m sure of it.” He paused and gave me another long look that felt as if he were disassembling me, oozing that cold emotion I couldn’t identify. I raised my emotional shields. Something in the way he looked at me, something in those mismatched eyes, made me want to run as far away from him as possible. Then he smiled like a foal amused by a puzzle, and never more had I wanted to teleport out of here like now.

“Peculiar. Out!” Buzzsaw snarled. “And do keep my workforce capable of working. Ponies with broken legs are of no use to me.” She said bitterly. “Especially if their legs are broken by my second in command and not by a tree falling on them. Accidents are one thing. Your kind of accidents are another entirely. Now git.”

The coldness inside Peculiar solidified into ice. But he continued to smile as he bowed his head. “Yes, yes. Out. Getting out. Nopony wants poor Peculiar’s help.” He said, pouting at Buzzsaw as he sulked sullenly out the door. He gazed at me one last time before he left, and I had to resist the feeling of pushing back against him emotionally. That would have been more draining than what it was worth.

Blackjack waited until the door clicked closed to speak. “That is one creepy motherfucker,” she said dryly.

Buzzsaw snorted in amusement, and shook her head as she looked us over. She seemed less impressed by Blackjack and Glitter, and more impressed by me and Bubblegum. Okay, maybe it was just Bubblegum. Yet again I was getting overlooked.

“So, you’re mercs? How the hell am I supposed to use mercs?” She asked, looking at us all in turn.

“Well, at the moment,” Bubblegum said, smiling at the mare and turning up the charm, “it sounds to me like you could use some help looking into little acts of sabotage. Just so happens we’ve got ways to look into things that don’t involve broken kneecaps.”

Buzzsaw seemed unimpressed by Bubblegum’s charms, but his offer to look into the sabotage appeared to give her pause. “Alright, what’s your angle?” She asked, looking us over, distrust clouding her general grumpiness. “Did the Family send you?”

Blackjack shook her head. “Nope. Like I told Basalt and Peculiar, we’re mercenaries looking for work. Came from Ticklemoose by way of Portlandia. Figured that being out in Fold might offer a bigger challenge than what we had back in the ‘Moose.”

Buzzsaw let out another huff through her nose, then shrugged. “You got caps to pay for a place to stay? I know you sure as hell don’t got the script for it,” She asked, eyeing us. “Don’t know if we have anywhere that’ll fit you, big missy,” She said, her eyes shifting to Glitter Bomb.

“I’m used to small beds, miss Sawblade. I just cuddle with Bubblegum and that seems to work,” Glitter said innocently, though Bubblegum blushed at her admission of their closeness.

“Well, small beds we got. Or leastwise we’ve got a place where you can flop.” Buzzsaw said, looking over Blackjack and I. “Though I reckon that you’ll probably get a better place to stay than most of the newbies around here. Not sure where to put the little one. She looks like she’d get eat up by any of the hungry stallions around here. Cute little thing like that’d be mighty popular.”

“She’s mine.” Blackjack said, putting a foreleg around me as she gave Buzzsaw a shooty look. Ugh, there was that fluttery feeling again. “Where I go, she goes. Pegasi. Gotta keep them on a short leash.” Now just who are you planning on putting on a leash, Blackjack?!

Buzzsaw waved a hoof dismissively. “Fine. Go meet with Basalt, she can get your caps exchanged for script. Then show up here tomorrow morning. We’ll fill you in on getting into our little sabotage mystery. Maybe you’ll be a sight better at it than his royal pompousness.” She said derisively. “Now git.”

A few hours later we found ourselves ‘relaxing’ in the town’s only saloon. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure why Blackjack insisted it was the best way for us to get the lay of the land, but between our supply of caps and salvage from Three Rivers, we were able to get a decent amount of script. More than enough to buy a nice meal from the saloon, though none of us ordered alcohol.

All around us, unicorns and gangers milled about, but rarely together. The earth ponies stayed on one side of the bar. The unicorns the other. With some exceptions. A few of the unicorns had swapped their shiny uniforms for the standard flannel and denim apparel of the Timberjacks.

“So, not every unicorn drank the punch,” Bubblegum murmured as he looked around the saloon. The big earth pony was getting a lot of envious looks from the stallions in the cafe. A few amorous ones, too. Glitter was growling at just about every mare that got close to our table. I worried that this might not be the best place to be.

“Yeah, looks like it. Which means there’s something up between the Timberjacks and the Family,” Blackjack said, sipping on a way overpriced Sparkle~Cola. “Wonder if that’s got anything to do with the acts of sabotage around the mill, mmm?” She asked, her red eyes falling on me.

I shrugged, having honestly been paying more attention to the fact that I was half expecting Glitter to work herself up into such a jealous lather that she’d start hissing at every pony that even looked in Bubbles’ general direction. “Hmm? Oh. Maybe? I don’t know,” I admitted distractedly.

Blackjack looked at me, looked at Glitter, then looked back at me. She let out a long suffering sigh. “Glitter Bomb, do you mind walking with me to the little filly’s room?”

Glitter blinked. “What? Oh! Um, sure thing!” She stood up and followed after Blackjack.

Bubblegum watched the pair leave, then turned back to me. “Why do mares always go together when they need to, you know, go?”

“Moral support,” I said with a smirk, then sighed. “Okay, so, I have a question for you, Bubbles. A few, actually, but I’m gonna start off with one if that’s okay?”

“Okay, shoot.”

“What are your plans for Glitter?”

Bubblegum was mid sip on his glass of water and sputtered. “I… wait, what? My plans for her?”

I gave him a flat look. “Look, it’s obvious she’s sweet on you. I’m just asking. As a friend. I want to make sure you aren’t going to hurt her.”

“Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but she’s an alicorn. I don’t know if I could hurt her if I tried!” Bubblegum said. He raised a hoof at my irritated expression. “That said, I do like her. She’s…” he scratched the back of his head with a hoof. “Honestly, she’s adorable. She’s sweet. She’s silly. But she’s got an inner fire that I kinda find endearing, even if she doesn’t know what strength she has.”

I nodded along with Bubblegum’s words. Okay, he was doing well so far.

“I just… I don’t know what to do in situations like this. I’ve never had a filly interested in me. Let alone somepony as gorgeous as Glitter.” My respect went up for Bubblegum by about ten points at that admission. “So that’s why I’ve been more or less not making a move. That and I’m afraid Blackjack might kill me.”

Despite myself, I started laughing brightly. “I’m pretty sure that Blackjack would just threaten to kill you. Not actually kill you. Probably.” I frowned, not liking that thought. “Anyway, I just wanted to know where you stood with her.” I shrugged, blushing slightly. “Gotta look out for my friend and all that.”

Bubblegum nodded sagely, a blush on his cheeks as well. “I just kinda haven’t had the right time to, you know, ask if she wants to go on a date or something. We’ve been so busy travelling, it’s… kinda hard to ask a filly out for a drink. You know?”

I really couldn’t argue with him there. “Well, okay then. Just, you know, let us know when you do! I mean, we kinda like to know these things!”

Bubblegum snorted. “As if Glitter would keep it a secret for very long anyways…”

“Honestly though, Bubblegum, just be careful with her,” I cautioned. “She may have the body of a mare, but she’s… pretty much our age mentally. She’s just now figuring out that stallions look nice and smell good and have really stro-” I coughed into my hoof to shut myself up. “Just be gentle with her, okay?”

Bubblegum nodded again. “I will. Now, you said that you had more questions for me? Any reason why you’re trying to get info out of the token colt in the party?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows at me.

I rolled my eyes. “Earlier, when you told Blackjack that you hadn’t met before? Why did you lie?”

Bubblegum’s pink eyes immediately hardened. “I didn’t lie,” he said, but his body language and the strong sense of dread that radiated off of him like a foul smell on a hot day told me otherwise.

“No, you lied. I can feel it, remember? What’s so wrong about you meeting somepony you thought was Blackjack?” I asked.

Bubblegum was silent a moment as he contemplated me, his pink eyes darting about as he studied me. Finally, he spoke. “Because I don’t think that what you said about her looking like Security is true. I think she is Security.” He said softly.

Surprise rippled across my face as I widened my eyes. “Psh, why would you think that?” I said, trying to sound dismissive and not anxious.

“Because I was there in Chapel when she was in a blank body before. This isn’t the first time that Security’s soul wasn’t in her body. Her living body may have been destroyed when the giant space rock fell on her, but what’s to say her soul didn’t migrate again?” He asked, his eyes not letting mine look away. “And she reacted very, very strongly to the mention of miss Morning Glory. Mares that don’t have a connection to her wouldn’t have said what she did. Wouldn’t have gotten so bent out of shape over me mentioning her kindness. And if she didn’t at least know a few things about Security, she probably wouldn’t be making comments about how my skill with a grenade rifle must be ‘an earth pony thing’.” He said seriously.

I didn’t know what to say. Anxiety clawed at my insides as I fought for words to fight- no- to deny his disturbingly accurate assessment of the situation. This wasn’t what I wanted at all! He and Glitter weren’t supposed to know that Blackjack was really, well, Blackjack!

“You know, you sitting there silent and staring at me like I just turned into a Hellhound ain’t exactly making me think I got the wrong idea,” Bubblegum said after a long moment. “She is Security, isn’t she?”

I tried to find a way to deny it. I really, really didn’t want Bubblegum wrapped up in all of this. I didn’t have any right to!

“How long have you suspected?” I heard myself whisper. It was weird, feeling like I was watching the scene happen without it actually happening to me.

Bubblegum gave me a small smile. “Since she hit it on the head that I hated being alone. I mean, Blackjack was an honorary member of the Crusaders. I was a Crusader during the battle of the Hoof, but I ran off after the big fight ended. Most of my friends died during the fighting, or got adopted by older ponies. I didn’t have anyone. So when I saw her in my house, when I heard her speak, when I watched her teleport over to me in a blink… I remembered.”

“I remembered a mare getting up on a makeshift stage, and begging for all of us to believe that she was Security. That she’d had her soul transferred to a blank body. I watched as she guzzled down taint like it was Brahmin milk.” He tossed his head, letting his long, luxurious pink mane fall over his shoulders. “Nopony ever did say what happened to her blank body once she got the cyberized one back.”

Mostly because that was supposed to be one of the most closely guarded secrets in the Hoof. Good job, Threnody. Way to fuck up and find the one pony in the whole goddess damned wasteland that remembered Blackjack when she was in her blank body the first time.

“Luna fuck me with the moon,” I muttered, rubbing my temples as I watched Blackjack and Glitter approach from the filly’s room. “We’ll pick this up later.”

Bubblegum nodded, and politely stood to offer to pull out Glitter Bomb’s stool for her to sit.

Oh brother…

I flopped down hard on the bed in the room Blackjack had rented. I’d already endured more than a few lewd comments about how I must be ‘Fish’s pet pegasus’ before we got to the third floor of what had once been a rather nice hotel, but I was tired, worn out, and my hooves hurt from trotting so much.

“Ugh! Why did I decide to make my life so complicated?!” I asked, rolling onto my back and pulling a pillow over my head.

“Because you like complicated?” Blackjack asked nonchalantly, and I felt the mattress move next to me as she got onto the bed.

I groaned, then bapped her in the face with the pillow. “No, I don’t like complicated. Especially when said complicated makes an already complicated thing even more complicated!”

“Sounds complicated.”

I regretted not having more things to throw at her when I opened my eyes and looked over at her impish grin. “Blackjack, I’m serious!”

“Oh, I’m sure it’s seriously complicated,” She said with a giggle, sticking her tongue out at me.

I groaned and rolled off the bed. Using a hoof, I pulled down the zipper of my barding. No sense in trying to sleep in something that had hard metal plates bound in leather! I felt Blackjack’s light touch of magic help me wriggle out of the tight barding. “I really do mean that it’s kind of complicated.”

I crawled onto the bed, and pressed my face into a surprisingly clean pillow. “Bubblegum knows you’re Security,” I said quietly.

Blackjack was silent for a moment. “Huh. I thought the story about me being mistaken for her was an easy sell!”

I sighed, shaking my head. “Well, it would have been, for like, Glitter Bomb. She didn’t know you before a week ago. But Bubblegum was in Chapel with the Crusaders. I guess he was one of the colts that watched you when you were in your blank body the first time.”

I shot up in alarm at the wave of nostalgia, loss, sorrow, and self-hate that surged off of Blackjack. I worried I was about to get washed away by the torrent of black, blue, and boiling emotions that splashed about our small hotel room. She grit her teeth and then at once, everything was calm.

“Blackjack?”

She shook her head as she looked down at her hoof. Her red and black mane seemed to wilt a bit as she spoke. “You know, it would be that everything we encounter out here reminds me of what happened. You being like Glory. Glitter being like Lacunae. Bubblegum literally being a ghost from my past, who also happens to have a fantastic ass like P-21,” She said, shaking her head. “Is this what my future is going to be like? Just, watching echoes of those I’ve lost float in and out of my life?”

“I don’t think we’re echoes, Blackjack. I mean, we’re each our own pony. Sure, there are some similarities! Glitter is a purple alicorn. I’m a pegasus. Bubblegum is a hot earth pony. But think of our differences. Lacunae was never as bright and cheery as Glitter is, right?” I asked, trying to fight back the tide of sticky black depression that flowed from her side of the bed.

“Lacunae... was... good. She was such a good person,” Blackjack muttered as she laid on her back on the bed. “The best. She was what the Goddess could have been. What she should have been. All the compassion. All the love. All the regret. All the kindness. ‘Flensed away and shoved into one body and one brain so the rest didn’t have to be tormented by what they were.’” She sniffed as she shook her head. “Glitter’s good too. A good filly who’s going to be a good mare, if she doesn’t get broken first.” She rubbed her eyes. “Goddesses, I hope I don’t break her on this stupid trip.”

“You’re afraid for us?” I asked.

She nodded. “I’m taking you out into the goddess damned wasteland like this is some field trip. I’m an idiot,” she hissed softly, then slumped. “But it was the only way I could help you.”

“Help me?” I asked, my eyebrows shot up. “Blackjack, I was there to help you.”

She snorted with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “Yeah, yeah. Help Security before she goes crazy and kills everyone. Cinnamon was right. I cause way more harm than good. Now I’ve taken you and Glitter here and part of me wants to go home, and the other part wants to walk out there, announce who I am, and slaughter everyone who tries to come at me just so the threat is gone.”

Or she was dead. “We’re not foals. Bubblegum seems to know what he’s doing,” I assured her, but she was little assured. “Why’d you want to help me?”

She closed her eyes. “Security saves ponies,” she muttered. “Only you weren’t going to be fixed with a couple of ruts till you noticed your co-worker was in love with you.”

Well, no. If Blackjack had tried to rut me that would have ended with her with a bloody nose and me likely banned from Star House. I knew that sex wasn’t the answer. You didn’t have to be a heartmender to realise that sexual healing wasn’t a thing. I wondered if the reason why Blackjack had this almost obsessive need to make sex a healing tool was related to just how fucked up things were in Stable 99. If you hate sex, the last thing you want is more of it! It puzzled me that she didn’t seem to understand that.

“Sandalwood was an easy fix. Sort of. Slate, never really thought there was much wrong with him. If we’d stayed, eventually I would have driven you off, or worse, and then I’d be trapped there with my memories.” She opened her eyes, staring into the past, “Only I’m still here with my memories. I wonder when we’ll pick a foal like Scotch Tape, or a bruiser like Rampage. Basalt kind of fit the bill, wouldn’t you say?”

“You want to add another mare to Bubblegum’s harem?” I teased, hoping to break her out of the spiraling emotions sucking her down.

It worked. I got a laugh. “No. Just... I don’t want to get you all killed,” she said swallowing hard. “I really, really don’t want to get you all killed.”

“And we don’t want to be killed,” I assured her. “We’re being careful, Blackjack.”

“Yeah.” she said as she rolled over onto her side and faced away from me. “Anyway, sleep with your gun tonight.”

I blinked, “What? Why?”

“Cause odds are, somepony’s going to try and kill us. Either Peculiar for us not being fun, because Buzzy finds out who I really am and freaks, or whomever she sent us to hunt down tries to take us out first. If there’s trouble, roll off into that gap between the bed and wall, and shoot from under the bed,” she said as she gestured to the small space between the bed and the wall. “Good night,” she said brightly.

I punched her in the shoulder. “That. Is. Not. Funny!” I said, punctuating each word with a thrust of my hoof. “I get what you’re saying. I get that this isn’t a safe place. I get that we probably painted a fucking target on our backs by being the newbies here. But…” I paused, thinking about what I’d felt when we were in the same room as Peculiar. “Blackjack? Are unicorns able to like, passively probe the minds of other ponies, like is there a spell for it?”

“You do realise you are asking the worst unicorn in the wasteland about magic, right?”

I sighed. “I know you aren’t the best caster, Blackjack. I never asked that. I just… I dunno. There’s something about Peculiar that gave me the creeps. Like he was trying to get at me.”

Blackjack rolled over to face me. “I suppose it’s possible. I mean, are you sure it’s not just cause he’s a creepy motherfucker?” She asked, her red eyes searching mine for something.

“It’s… just a feeling,” I admitted. “I can’t prove it. He just feels really, really wrong. So I wanted to rule out magic before I went with the idea that maybe he’s just… wrong.”

She snorted at me. “Well, I’ve met enough ponies that were just wrong that if someone creeps me out or seems dangerous, generally I assume that they are. And I prepare to handle them accordingly.”

I nodded, and lay my head down on the pillow. I turned over, then scooted close to Blackjack.

“Ackpth! Feathers! In face! Why!?” She sputtered as my wings worked against me when my rump came in contact with her warm belly.

“I’m sorry!” I squeaked. “I just wanted to cuddle!” I admitted, poking my forehooves together as I pulled my wings flat against my back.

I had a hard time putting names to the emotions that rolled off of Blackjack, but I chose to focus on the affection she felt for me as her forelegs wrapped around my barrel and she pulled me close to her. My heart fluttered in my chest as her closeness made me relax. Which was weird. Normally I didn’t want her this close. But right now, it was okay.

“You know,” she whispered into my ear, her warm breath washing over me as she spoke. “You being this close to me would make it very hard for you to shoot back at anypony that tried anything tonight.”

I sighed. “Well, then it’s your job to kill them with your brain, and let me keep on sleeping!” I suggested helpfully. I was rewarded with a tickle to my belly. “Ack! No!”

Blackjack chuckled, pulling me close once again. “That’s what smart mouthed little pegasus mares get when they act all cheeky.” I didn’t need to turn to face her to see her smirk. “Though come to think of it, you are a lot lighter than Glory was. It would be a lot easier to toss you around if things got… interesting,” I knew from her tone she wasn’t referring to throwing me in the corner between the bed and the wall.

“Not tonight, Blackjack,” I groaned, closing my eyes as I pressed myself closer to her.

“Tomorrow night then?”

Goddammit Blackjack. Not tomorrow night either.

… But maybe if you behave it’ll happen sometime. Maybe. Wait. No! I didn’t want to be thinking about this right now! I was trying to sleep!

“Wow, Thren. You really have a problem with those wings when you’re around me, don’t you?”

Luna, if you are truly a merciful goddess, please kill me in my sleep.

And Cadence? Fuck off!

50% of the way to leveling up.

Author's Notes:

Oh my gosh. I am so sorry this took so long to get posted! Between being sick, and Everfree NW, which was a blast, by the way, it sort of ate up my time. But happy Memorial Day to those of you in the States! You get more Blackjack as we celebrate and remember the sacrifices of those made to keep our country safe. Honestly, if you know veterans, do more than just barbeque this weekend. Give them a salute, and shake their hands and thank them for their service. Our veterans often get forgotten, and after working with homeless veterans for nearly 9 months last year, I have gained even more respect for the unsung heroes in our military.

As usual, I have a story to promote! This chapter's story is Fallout Equestria: Joker's Wild. Honestly, Shen's piece is really interesting, as it takes a daoist approach to how the wasteland works. Tumbleweed is a fascinating character, and Shen did a great job writing somepony who is, at best, chaotic neutral. It's really unique for FoE, and it deserves a bit more love than it's been getting.

Anyways, hope you all enjoy the new chapter!