Not quite awake just yet, Dim lifted a cup of hearty breakfast tea that was still steaming from the small table and then he just held it. The room was nothing special, but it also wasn’t terrible. The table was battered, low to the floor, and had seen better days. Blackbird hunched over the table, far too large for common pony furniture, and she watched, waiting for Dim’s reaction.

In the middle of the table was a most curious bit of parchment, a bounty notice. It had his picture and a brief blurb about his description, including his heterochromia. Perhaps most interesting of all were the instructions to collect the bounty; sprinkle the parchment with blood and then burn it in a roaring, well-fueled fire. Even in his half-awake state, Dim had to appreciate just how much work, effort, and planning had gone into his ‘recruitment.’

With every idiot, moron, and cretin hoping to collect, Dim suspected that there would be a lot more killing. This inconvenience would grow tiring and would make it difficult to visit new places. Uncertain of how to react, he slurped some of his tea and continued to contemplate the bounty notice. A little blood and a little fire… the parchment presented a unique opportunity to speak with his enemies, perhaps to parley. Not that much negotiation would take place, but he could provoke them… yes, he could do that. Provocation was something of a talent for Dim. Perhaps, if he was lucky, he could provoke them into doing something foolish, somehow.

“How are you feeling, Dim?” Blackbird asked in a voice thick with concern. She loomed over him like an enormous, overprotective mother hen and watched him as he drank his tea.

“I feel well enough to go out for a long walk through the woods,” he replied. Licking tea from his lips, he looked up at Blackbird and found her looking down at him. “I’ll be fine, trust me. I am not stupid and I know how to deal with threats like trolls.”

“I am worried about how you will deal with them.” Blackbird’s tufted ears bobbed a few times and then she rested her right talons on the table. “Hungry?”

“A little, but also nauseous.” Dim slurped more tea and reveled in the fact that his teeth were now whole once more. Perfection had been restored. Keeping his voice low, perhaps concerned that the walls had ears, he said to his companion, “While I am gone, do not sleep. Keep a wary, watchful eye about you. Commander Starhammer might be honourable, but those under her command may not be. There could be others hoping to collect and they may try to use you as a hostage.”

“And if somepony tries?” she asked, also keeping her voice low.

“Kill them.” Dim took a quick slurp of tea and then repeated his reply. “Kill them. Do so horribly and make an example of them. Let others see the fate of those who would move against us.”

“I don’t know about that.” Her words were hesitant and she shook her head from side to side. “I’m having bad dreams about that pony that I shot. It’s bothering me, Dim. I feel terrible. I feel really bad about what I did. I don’t mind scaring a pony near to death, but killing them…”

“Do what you must, then.” Dim lowered his gaze and stared into his teacup, then half-closed his eyes while he enjoyed the delightful steam. Seized with a marvellous idea, he issued a command to his companion: “Go and fix me scrambled eggs. Many of them. And toast. There must be toast. Do so now.”

“What?” Blackbird bristled and her talons resting on the table clenched into a fist. Her green, slitted eyes narrowed and her feathers fluffed out, making her wings look enormous.

“Eggs. Scrambled. Bread. Toasted. Surely a disgusting primitive such as you can manage these simple instructions.”

“I can cook!”

“Then do so.” He made a dismissive gesture with his hoof.

“But I—”

“But you are having trouble with simple instructions?” Dim knew that he was playing a dangerous game, but he didn’t care. To tug the tail of the lioness was going to be an enjoyable new pastime for him, his new hobby. Her irate expression nourished his soul and woke unknown desires that lurked within the shadowy recesses of his psyche.

“Fine, I’ll fix you a meal, but you owe me!” Growling, Blackbird got up and flounced away, leaving Dim to slurp his tea in silence.

A rusty red-orange moon rose over the wall of the city of Pteroșani. The residents had gone indoors as the sun had gone down, save for a few unfortunate members of the local Nightwatch. Like in so many other places, the ever-present strix were a real problem here, but vampires were said to be a far more pressing concern.

Strands of garlic hung everywhere, filling the town with a pungent funk. Every home, every residence, every place of shelter had at least one well-lighted window, even as the other windows were claimed by darkness. This was a town that lived in fear of the night, and for good reason. Dim understood them, and he pitied them. The disgusting primitives were right to fear the dark and were prudent to seek shelter in places where the light held sway.

The velvet shroud of night was his domain, his birthright, and Dim felt an odd sense of revivification as the moon and stars shone down upon him. As he stood basking in the moonlight, he could feel strange magic here in this place, exotic magic of unknown origin. Just as other places in the world had their own unique magic, so too did this place, and Dim could sense it.

Somepony needed to travel the world to catalogue these strange local magics and study them, but alas, leaving Equestria or the civilised parts of the world was not something most scholars would do. The sort of pony that could study the places such as this one were unlikely to leave their well protected, comfortable studies. Most unicorns lacked the ability to even sense the variations of magic, being far too weak and removed from the ebb and flow of magic. With some small sense of sadness, Dim realised that these studies would probably never take place, and the that strange magic to be found in the world would remain unobserved, unknown.

“Dim, I’m a little scared.”

With a smirk, Dim turned to look at his companion. She wore her revolver out in plain sight for all to fear and she had woven herself a crown of daisies picked from somewhere. Blackbird was a silly, ridiculous creature, a horrendous hybrid, a tossed salad of random limbs and creature parts. Some parts were far more intriguing than others and he did nothing to disguise his lust as his thoughts burned pink.

“I’m not scared to stay alone here, I can handle myself, I think… but out there”—she made a broad, sweeping gesture with her talons to the woods beyond the wall—“out there is an army of trolls and the Jaguar Witch. Are you sure you can just go for a stroll all by yourself? I mean, you’re little, and kinda fragile looking.”

“I have no intention of fighting the trolls,” Dim admitted so that Blackbird’s mind could be put at ease. “I will make it a point to avoid them. I will go and deal with the Jaguar Witch directly.”

“What if she is dangerous?” Blackbird asked.

Sighing, Dim looked away from his companion and looked up at the moon instead. “From what Commander Starhammer said, she is trying to curry favour from Ahuizotl, which means she is trying to prove herself. If she was dangerous, if she was skilled, she would already have the favour of Ahuizotl, whomever he is. So I can make a reasonable assumption that she isn’t as dangerous as she might first appear.”

“So the powerful have no need to prove themselves and gain positions, while the weak must somehow prove their worth and justify their existence to the strong.”

Smirking even harder, Dim could not resist himself when he said, “Yes, like fixing a fine meal of scrambled eggs and toast.”

“Hey!” Blackbird’s thrashing tail conveyed her ire and a ferocious growl could be heard deep within her throat. She bared her teeth at the pony beside her and let out a heated hiss. Being ignored made everything worse, and her feline eyes held a almost luminous glare of disapproval. “Asshole.”

“The eggs were good.” It wasn’t often that Dim offered praise of any sort, and he could not help but notice how good it felt to do so. “Fluffy and not overcooked. How hard can it be to scramble an egg? So many mess this up somehow. Myself included, sadly. I grew up pampered and lack the skills to care for myself.”

“The trick is to pull them off of the heat before they are finished, and then let the residual heat finish them off. If you cook them until they are done and then pull them from the heat, by the time they hit the plate they’ll be overcooked.” Blackbird was still furious, but she still reveled and took pride in her cooking skills. After a moment, her heated expression cooled, and then she extended her massive wings to stretch them.

They were huge wings, wings that when they were folded, they ran the entire length of her body from her girth to her hindquarters, with her primaries extending out past her backside. She did not have pegasus pony wings, but the reaching, majestic wings of eagles. Well oiled feathers glistened in the moonlight and she gave herself a little shake to loosen everything up.

“I met an Abyssinian in Southbury when I was staying there.” Dim’s voice seemed distant, far away, and his eyes seemed unfocused somehow while he gazed upon the moon. “I was helping an inspector from the Shetland yards. Together, we hunted a killer and a rapist. The Southbury Slasher, as he was called, was gaining notoriety. He liked to prey on fillies and young mares. This Abyssinian, she came upon one of the bodies and she was quite distraught. For good reason, I suppose. The body was skinned, and she had a hard time dealing with what she saw.”

Blackbird cringed and let out a hiss. After a moment of disgust, she asked, “What happened to the slasher?”

“The inspector and I had a writ,” Dim replied, his expression still unfocused and distant. “The inspector was wounded, taken by surprise, but I subdued the slasher. Then, I put a chain around his neck, hung him from a bridge, and I set him on fire. His howls and screams could be heard all over the town. A reporter came out and took a picture of him while there was still some life left. I was seen as a hero for what I did.”

“I don’t know what—”

“I was no better than the slasher, really.” Dim’s outburst cut Blackbird off, but he didn’t seem to care. “At that point, I had killed quite a number of ponies, but I was celebrated and congratulated for the work I did. I was hired to kill these… undesirables. The only difference between them and myself was that I had permission to kill and I killed those that society had no love for, no feeling for.”

Staring at her reminiscing companion, Blackbird remained silent.

“At that point, I had already taken more lives than the slasher himself. He had taken dozens while I had taken scores. Many met gruesome ends. In just a few months, I had made a name for myself as Harsh Winters. The slasher was feared, loathed, and hated, while I had a celebrated, sterling reputation as a hunter of mad dogs. I was seen as being beneficial to society. I still don’t understand why.”

“Dim…” For a moment, it seemed as though Blackbird was about to say more, but she faltered and no further words were spoken.

“Now, I am going to go out and kill another. I will go forth from the city, find her, and kill her. She will not be given a trial, or even a chance to explain her actions. I tried to muster up some feeling about this, but there was nothing, nothing at all. She is just a means to an end, a task to be done so that I might be paid. No feeling, no remorse, and not even a sense of hesitation. I am going to kill her and get paid. I am no better than the slasher, but performing this contract somehow makes me the hero. I’m the good guy. There is something wrong with the world, Blackbird.”

Blackbird’s crown of daisies slipped down on one side when she tilted her head. A much-welcomed cool breeze blew over the rooftop where she and Dim sat and she continued to stretch her wings while allowing the wind to tickle her. Several times, her mouth opened, but no words came out. After many failed attempts, she scooted a little closer to her companion, stretched out her right talons, and rested them upon his withers.

Dim’s muscles quivered at her touch and his thin body shuddered. He felt her talons travelling up his neck, along his crest, and then those deadly sharp points were moving through his mane. One little slip, one careless mistake, and his thin flesh would be torn open. A head wound might be fatal. When she took his ear into her talon-fingers and gave it a gentle tug, he leaned over into the direction of the pull with the hopes of another.

For all of his faults, for all of his monstrous behaviour, for all of his horrible deeds and actions, he was still a pony and he longed for the touch of another. Blackbird’s talons were large enough to completely wrap around his neck or his head and the tips of her claws were potentially fatal. Her talon-fingers curled into a fist and with the back of her knuckles, she began to rub the tender location just behind and below Dim’s ear.

“I understand my father a whole lot better now,” she murmured while she continued rubbing. “I mean, he knew about my mother’s past and chose to be her friend anyway. If you will let me, I’ll be your friend, Dim.”

For a moment, Dim thought about saying how he needed more than friendship, but he chose not to ruin the moment. There were no cold, calculating thoughts of how he might get what he wanted later, his selfishness did not manifest, nor did his possessive, greedy, hedonistic nature. A part of him was glad—relieved even—that she had said that she was his friend.

What he did say surprised even him: “I have never had a friend. Not even Darling… I thought that she was my friend, my playmate, but I realise now that you cannot be friends with the property that you own.”

“No Dim, something tells me that you can’t.” Blackbird reached up, adjusted her crown of daisies, and continued to rub Dim’s neck. “Stay safe, Dim.”

“Keep your wits about you, Blackbird.” He sighed, regretting that this moment had to end. “I should be going and I shall do my best to return before dawn. Remember what I said and be on watch. I would not trust this place enough to sleep alone, unguarded.”

“I’ll keep myself up somehow,” she replied. “Good luck.”

“Goodbye, Blackbird… when I return, I shall no doubt be hungry for eggs again. See that I get them.”

Author's Notes:

It was either that or a 'Faster pussycat, kill kill!' reference.