With a frustrated glower, Dim realised that whomever had drawn this map had been a disgusting primitive. Perhaps even a career drunkard that had no business drawing maps, or anything else for that matter. None of the landmarks tagged on the map seemed to be present and he couldn’t even be certain if they were in Pranceylvania. The only somewhat helpful information that the map offered were the words, ‘Don’t fly at night,’ which were emblazoned across the top in bold letters.

Raising his head, he scanned the horizon, looking for some sign of civilisation. There were mountains, which were not marked on the map, a muddy looking river, and a vast forest of what appeared to be poplar trees. The map fluttered in the wind but he had a good grip on the edges with his telekinesis.

“There!” Blackbird cried.

“Where?” Dim’s head jerked around in the direction that she pointed. “What?”

“Road!”

For a moment, Dim strained to peer through his goggles and he could feel the beginnings of a headache. His needs, his addictions had been wearing away at him all morning and his temper was worn thin. There was, indeed, a road, and that was a welcome sight. Perhaps following it would lead to civilisation.

“I wonder if those mountains in the distance are the Clopathians,” Blackbird said, thinking aloud. “We’re getting close to Pteroșani, I can feel it. This is one of the places my mother went. Maybe if we’re lucky, we’ll pick up her trail. I’m feeling really good about this, Dim, I am!”

Sighing, Dim folded up the useless map and dismissed it with his magic.

“There are supposed to be vampires here, Dim! Real, actual vampires! They look like bat ponies, but they are different!” Blackbird clapped her talons together, unable to contain her excitement, and Dim winced from the sudden sharp sound. “Maybe I’ll get bitten on the neck and I’ll turn all vampy and I’ll get big wings with membranes… oh, wait, I already have fangs.”

For whatever reason, Dim found this idea appealing, even though—or perhaps because—of the fact that he suffered from hemophilia. Without even realising it, he slipped into something of a daydream, and thought about Blackbird nibbling on his neck. Sure, it was wrong, and he had no desire to become the sort of abomination that he knew he would have to kill, but the fantasy was appealing.

When she spread her wings, Dim was torn from his fantasy by the eye-watering stench. Several days of flying with no bathing had done unkind things to Blackbird’s wingpits and Dim now found himself quite repulsed by his companion. Of course, he was probably no bouquet of tulips himself, and he wondered what sort of funk he might have that he had lost awareness of.

Blackbird began strapping herself in and Dim knew that they would be moving again soon.

The city appeared as if by magic and Dim couldn’t help but feel a little awe inspired. It was built against a sheer cliff and a massive wall wrapped around the city, leaving it well defended from the ground. The secure aeries of pegasus ponies were built along the cliff face to overlook the city below. This had to be Pteroșani.

Already their approach was noticed and a lone pegasus pony came flying out to greet them. She was wearing dull grey iron armor and her helmet had a bright red visible plume that rose from the crest. Even encumbered with armor, she flew with remarkable grace and speed. Dim watched her approach and hoped that their meeting would be a friendly one.

“Don’t land outside of the city,” the pegasus mare barked. “It’s not safe! I repeat, it is not safe! Touch down inside the city if you wish to trade! I say again, to land outside the wall is folly!”

Blackbird raised her talons in salute to acknowledge the warning and then fell into place behind the armored mare. Dim felt the vardo begin to descend and he wondered what could possibly threaten a fortified city of pegasus ponies. A shivery chill traveled down his spine as he thought about Schwarze Wasserüberquerung and it occurred to him that there were no longer any safe cities, no shelters, no havens. With Grogar, there was no sanctuary to be found.

“There are landing platforms near the marketplace,” the armored mare shouted. “I am Commander Starhammer and this is Pteroșani, the city under my protection. You are welcome to visit, but I must request that you remain on your best behaviour. Welcome to Pteroșani!”

Adjusting his hat, Dim watched as Commander Starhammer approached, and no doubt, she was sizing him up. She looked at him with eyes hungry with need, a mad desire for a wizard. Dim had seen this look before and something about her gaze left him feeling giddy. Her heavy iron armor clanked with each step and combined with the sound of Blackbird’s tack jingling, the moment was almost musical.

“Are you a wizard?” Commander Starhammer asked as she drew to a halt.

“I am a vizard,” Dim replied and he watched as her eyes narrowed. A crowd was starting to gather as ponies began to emerge from the almost deserted marketplace.

“Ah, so the eccentric explody kind that throws spells around like confetti. Excellent.” The commander’s short cropped tail thumped against her armor and her wings folded against her sides while she continued to study Dim. “We are besieged by trolls, an entire army of them working together—”

“Preposterous!” Dim retorted and he began to shake his head. “Trolls don’t work together! They hate each other! It is the only reason why they haven’t overrun all of civilisation yet.”

Commander Starhammer’s jaw firmed for a moment and then she responded, “I assure you, they are working together. One of the cat folk has them under some kind of spell. She calls herself the Jaguar Witch.”

“Why not just kill them with fire?” Dim asked as Blackbird drew up beside him.

“And burn down the woods?” Commander Starhammer shook her head. “We need the woods, otherwise we’d already be flying sorties with firepots filled with pitch.”

“Excuse me for a moment, but I’m looking for my mother,” Blackbird said to Commander Starhammer. “Hippogriff by the name of Starling… gunslinger.”

The armored pegasus nodded. “She was here. Came here looking for a mercenary but found disappointment—”

“Disappointment?” Blackbird took an eager step forwards and looked down at the smaller pegasus mare while towering over her.

When Commander Starhammer was forced to look up to meet Blackbird’s gaze, the neck plates of her armor clanked and clattered. Her front hooves shuffled and it was clear that she was uncomfortable being this close to the much larger hippogriff spawn. Dim had to fight back a chortle and it was a struggle to remain professional.

“She came here looking for a griffon named Gossard. He was a pistoleer that I had hired to help guard the city. Not long before she arrived, he got himself into a bit of trouble… committed a nasty rape, he did. He was scheduled for execution, but somehow escaped his cell. I still don’t know how because the door was locked and nothing was disturbed. Starling told me what happened and why she was looking for him.”

“And that’s it? There is nothing more you can tell me?” Blackbird’s voice quavered and her talons clicked against the stone. “Surely there must be something else, something… please, it is very important that I find my mother… did she say where she was going next? Did she do anything while she was here? Did she help you somehow, perhaps?”

“She had shells made.” Commander Starhammer took a step backwards and then another to get some breathing room. “She had our brass smith make more shells than I’ve ever seen and she stayed in town while she pressed her own bullets. She flew out of here with a ton of brass and a brand new rifle just off the bench. Her last words to me were something about having a lot of killing to do, a whole lot of killing, and I wished her good luck.”

“Gossard!” Blackbird almost hissed out the name. “I keep hearing that name, but I know almost nothing about him. This is driving me crazy!” Turning about, she stalked away, her claws tapping against the stone, and she stood near the vardo with a sour expression upon her face.

“So, about your troll problem… I might be able to help you, but I require payment.” Dim glanced over at Blackbird for a moment and then returned his focus to Commander Starhammer. “Half up front and half when I am finished, of course. I assure you, I am worth the expense.”

“You know what, let’s go talk about this in a more comfortable place.” The commander almost smiled and relief could be seen in her eyes. “Come, follow me, let us all wet our whistles while we discuss business.”

Lighting a clove and cannabis cigarette, Dim settled back into the comfortable cushions of the chair and watched as a tall glass of gin was poured. The room was quiet, filled with a few muffled sounds, and the lighting conditions were poor, which suited him fine. Commander Starhammer sat across from him and her iron helmet sat on the table near her elbow. Taking off his hat, he set it down upon the table and he began to study Starhammer in earnest, watching every move she made.

Blackbird was a bit too big for the table but somehow managed to fit anyhow. Her slinky body was hunched over in what could only be described as a boneless manner, and her expression was one of distraught worry, but this changed when a platter piled high with smoked fish of some kind was set down in front of her.

“You”—Starhammer gestured at Blackbird with her hoof—“you strike me as being a bit green but still dangerous. Something tells me that you have some training, probably from your mother, but you lack experience. You on the other hoof”—she turned her attention upon Dim—“you… you give off a bad vibe, wizard. You…”

“Yes?” Dim almost hissed the word because he was so eager to have his ego stroked.

“You strike me as the type that keeps Death busy.” Starhammer pulled a cigar from some hidden place in her armor, stuck it between her scarred lips, and lit it with the candle sitting on the table. She puffed a few times, releasing clouds of sweet smelling smoke, and her eyes narrowed. “Something about you makes Gossard seem like an innocent. Don’t mess with my townsfolk, wizard, and I’ll pay you well.”

“My primary interest is getting paid—”

“I’m counting on that, wizard.” Starhammer chomped on her cigar for a bit and then looked on with disgust as Blackbird began tearing into the plate of smoked fish. “Now, we actually have a good bit of intel on this Jaguar Witch. We know where she is, where she hides, and let me tell you, she is powerful. Them cat folk tend to be real powerful magi, in my experience. Somehow, she is controlling the trolls and making them cooperate. Break her spell somehow, and if you can, kill her. I’m not interested in giving her a fair trial at this point, because she’s been a nuisance for too long. If I hear one more cry of, ‘For the glory of Ahuizotl,’ I’m likely to snap.”

“Killing her costs extra.” Dim’s cold tone was both unfeeling and mercenary. He lifted up his glass of gin and took a little sip, testing it for flavour and drinkability. As it turned out, the gin suited him fine. “But nothing too dear… this price can be negotiated though. I am in need of medicine, something to fix my tooth enamel, for one—”

“Oh, I can do that!” Starhammer blurted out. “My soldiers like to get a little rough during training and punches in the mouth are common. We’d all be snaggletoothed without our alchemist.”

Dim considered this, and then decided not to inquire about a means to flush his body of his addictions. He would pay for that with coin, afterwards, when the job was over. He watched as the rough and ready mare puffed on her cigar; she was a disgusting primitive and a brute, which was exactly what the world needed sometimes. On her face was written the creed of battle, and if each scar was a word or a sentence, life had written entire paragraphs upon her flesh.

“We’ve been experimenting with killing some of the trolls with acid, but so far it has been just as dangerous to us as it is to them. There’s been some gruesome injuries and disfigurements. There’s also too many trolls and not enough acid, so our efforts really haven’t been working out.” Starhammer continued puffing on her cigar and the tip of it glowed a bright cherry red in the feeble light.

“Just wondering, what is the industry of this town?” Blackbird asked in between bites of smoked fish. “How is it that you can make acid? Is this an alchemical city?”

“We make a fortune from shit!” Starhammer bellowed in return, and then smoky laughter spilled out of her muzzle. She laughed until she coughed and then she banged her barrel plate with her hoof. Wheezing a bit, she sucked in wind, squinting with pain and concentration. “We get birdshit from the rookeries in the mountains and we get batshit from the caves. We make all kinds of stuff… gunpowder, fertiliser, bullets, I can’t keep track of it all.” She snorted, coughed again, and shook her head. “The earth ponies are getting fat and lazy just sitting around. We can’t escort them out of town so we can get our shit together.” Once more, the cigar-chomping mare exploded with laughter, and a wet, wheezy rattle could be heard from within her chest.

Pausing with a chunk of fish stuck to her talon, Blackbird had this to say: “I hope that you are nice to your earth ponies, at least.”

“Well, I should hope so, I’m married to one!” Starhammer banged her hoof against the rough wooden planks of the table and a phlegmy chortle could be heard deep within her throat. “Most of us in the sky are real, real watchful of our mates on the ground. Mess with them and it’ll be a hard, hard rain that comes down upon you.”

“That is an unusual arrangement.” Dim eased himself back into his comfortable seat a little more and did his best to relax while he puffed on his joint. “But a good arrangement.” He glanced over at Blackbird and then back at the rough and tumble pegasus mare. “So, tell me more about this Jaguar Witch.”

“Well, what is there to say? She’s a mean, hideous kitty bitch and she needs to die…”

Author's Notes:

This has been updating every weekend. Is that okay with everybody?