“Miss Coffyn… a moment of your time, if you please. My name is Yuny and I apologise in advance for any intrusion into your privacy.”

Wary, but still in a good-natured mood, Blackbird sized up the jasper jackal addressing her. These canids were quite distinct from diamond dogs; thinner, smaller, the jackals did not appear to be subterranean brutes like their cousins. Yuny was armed and wore a uniform, a padded khaki jack and trews. His sidearm had seen excessive polishing and maintenance, Blackbird saw it plain as day because she was also obsessive about these tasks.

She chose to be friendly with her response. “What do you need, Yuny?”

“I represent the Royal Guard.” While he spoke, Yuny bowed his head and lifted one paw with claws that had been manicured to perfection. “I have come to inquire about your relationship with Prince Dim of House Dark. This is a matter that must be discussed for his protection, and perhaps yours as well.”

“You know…”—Blackbird drew in a deep breath—“I don’t think that’s any of your business.” She put her cards down and then rested her talons on the table, both of them, as the eyes of the bushwoolies around her became anxious. “There is no good reason to complicate this.”

“But we are going to talk about it,” Yuny replied, keeping his voice down so others would not be disturbed. “I take my job seriously. Already, you have sized me up and no doubt, you have noted my meticulous nature. Prince Dim is a member of the royal family, and I am tasked with his safety, his happiness, and his security.”

Annoyed, irritated, a bit of Blackbird’s friendliness slipped away. Her right talons began to drum on the table, her claws clicking with each touch, and her left talons began to twitch. “Something tells me that you waited until Dim was away before you approached me. That doesn’t strike me as being particularly brave.” While she spoke, Yuny’s ears twitched and she saw his nostrils flare. Yep, she had struck a nerve, and took a bit of pleasure from her petty satisfaction. She did not appreciate this unwanted intrusion into what she felt was her business, her prerogative. What her relationship was with Dim was private.

“I did not wish to cause a scene with His Majesty—”

“But you are willing to cause a scene with me, is that what you’re saying? So his peace of mind is worth something to you, but mine is not?”

“Madam, please, right now, I am trying to discern your relationship with Prince Dim so I can sort out and potentially prioritise for your protection as well. I understand that you are his travelling companion, but if there is something else there, if you are, perhaps, someone he has an eye on as his consort, I am obligated to look after his interests.”

“Did you just ask if Dim was fucking me?” Blackbird demanded and the sheer volume of her voice caused many heads to turn and look in her direction. The room around her quieted and, perhaps sensing danger, the bushwoolies began their hurried exodus. “That word… ‘consort’ that you said… is that the nicest way you could think of saying ‘fuckbuddy’ or something?”

Sighing, the jasper jackal’s ears drooped as his tail sagged.

Nearby, a pitch black Abyssinian put down her mandolin, rose up out of her seat, and then stood with her paws akimbo. Blackbird watched from the corner of her eye, but she kept her focus on Yuny. With each passing second, it felt as though her neck grew hotter, and Blackbird could not remember the last time she felt so thoroughly insulted. The Abyssinian’s companion, a wan looking earth pony, was now also watching.

“Yuny… you have no skill whatsoever when addressing the fairer sex,” the black Abyssinian said in a husky voice that was thick with feminine intensity. “I seem to remember that you set me right off… why, as I recall, I threatened to kill you.”

“That you did, Miss Sable.” Yuny rolled his eyes, made a dismissive gesture with his paw, and let out a sigh.

“I have since become your friend,” the Abyssinian continued, “and I marvel at how inept you are. When dealing with issues of the heart, you have no tact. Period.” Purring, the felinoid strode forwards, her hips sashaying from side to side, and her long tail swishing in a way that suggested amusement.

Almost right away, Blackbird decided that she liked this stranger, but she remained wary of Yuny. Her neck was still far too hot, as were her ears, and she just wasn’t ready to think about the relationship she had with Dim, as it was all far too confusing for her to deal with. She didn’t know her own feelings, but there were feelings, and Yuny had pretty much requested a public confession, an outpouring of her heart.

“There is just something about Yuny that makes a girl want to throttle him,” the Abyssinian said in a throaty, almost purring voice. “My name is Bombay Sable and I’m going to do you a favour, new friend. Just agree to become a bodyguard and all of this can be sorted out with no headaches whatsoever. And ain’t nobody need to know what a prince and his bodyguard be doing when no one is looking.”

Blackbird’s cheeks caught on fire and she found herself turning away to stare down at the table. Could she be a bodyguard? Sure, if one ignored the fact that Dim had saved her on more than one occasion. All of this only highlighted the fact that she wanted to impress Dim, because it just wasn’t enough to have his attention—she wanted his awe and maybe just a bit of his adoration, if he was capable of such a thing.

All of this brought her parents to mind, and she was curious about what her father must have seen in the dangerous creature that was her mother. He was gone, her father, and she would never be able to ask him for his advice, or hear his opinion on Dim. Would he approve? Maybe… Dim had saved her, and that had to count for something. Surely her father would approve of that.

“I haven’t been too successful in keeping him safe,” Blackbird muttered and her right talons clenched into a tight fist. “Couldn’t keep myself safe, either. I was brought down with pepper bombs and Dim… Dim just goes off and does his thing… killed the whole damn army… the things he did…”

“Perhaps with Bombay’s help, we can start over,” Yuny offered while his eyes darted in the direction of the Abyssinian. “Or, at the very least, we could talk… all I ask is that you give me a chance to have my say…”

The raki, also called lion’s milk, had done much to improve Blackbird’s mood. Yuny wasn’t a bad guy, not really, he was just utterly inept with it came to dealing with females. This raki stuff was delicious and the addition of water or ice to the strong liquor made it turn milky as if by magic. She had two new friends now, wonderful friends, Bombay Sable and Pâté au Poulet—she had found a long lost cousin, which was just her luck. Pâté was simply known as ‘Bard,’ or ‘the Bard,’ however.

“So… lemme get this straight”—Blackbird’s vision slid in and out of focus, and she cast a wary glance at her half full glass as she tried to get the world back in focus—“you want me to join the royalist of guards and then I’ll start getting training to help keep Dim safe?”

“No one is ever safe,” the Bard muttered and he made a dismissive wave with his hoof. “Trust me, I know from experience. They will come for Dim and they will try to steal part of his soul, just as part of my soul was stolen. It is only a matter of time. Belladonna is a dangerous foe and you’re going to need some help if she comes calling.”

“Belladonna came here, to Istanbull, and she tried to forcibly recruit Eerie,” Bombay continued and she made a sour face as she spoke. “It was the second time I had to face her… me and many, many others. Eerie was not alone, but Belladonna was, and it was a fierce battle. Everything was almost lost… a great many unicorns and others who rose in Eerie’s defense were slain that day. I wish my magic was stronger, I might have done more.”

“The point, if there is a point, is that we fought together and we trusted one another with our lives… and perhaps our souls.” Yuny poured himself another drink, a scant inch in the bottom of his glass, and the liquid changed colour as it poured over what remained of the solitary ice cube. “We exist in defiance of a great and unworthy enemy.” After lifting his glass in salute, the jackal tipped his head back and drank it all in one swallow.

One thing troubled Blackbird and she had some difficulty thinking about it in her current state. Pushing her glass away from her, she twisted around in her seat to have a better look at Bombay. “Why would Belladonna be interested in the soul of an earth pony named ‘Chicken Pot Pie?’ I don’t get it. With Dim, I understand, but this I don’t.”

“Dim and I both were meant to be something else,” the Bard replied in a fatigued voice that sounded as though he was in dire need of sleep. “Eerie has only told me a little of what she knows, and I don’t know the specifics… what I do know is that I, the Bard, was meant to be… had the potential to be…”—at this point, the Bard slumped over in his seat and looked crushed—“the Alicorn Prince of Love. I coulda been somepony. My gift to inspire others might have been just what the world needed… inspiring others with romance, with great acts of love.”

“Oh… the world certainly needs some of that.” Blackbird, now eyeballing her glass, was tempted.

“Oh, it does.” The Bard reached out and touched Bombay, who sat beside him. “I just want the world to stop fighting and start fucking. Is that so wrong? Maybe with a fine meal, some wine, and a song. But since having part of my soul stolen, I can’t seem to write a song to save my life.” A dark look crept over his face and he looked Blackbird right in the eye. “I have seen visions of a world without love or uplifting music… this is not a future we want.”

Bombay unslung her mandolin and then leaned back into her seat as she cradled it in her arms. Her whiskers twitched, they quivered with each breath she took, and Blackbird knew just enough about feline faces to see the keen regret in her eyes. At some point, while staring, she realised that Bombay and the Bard were a couple, and what an odd couple they made.

“Learn to fight,” Yuny said to Blackbird, pulling her attention away from her profound realisation. “Learn to exploit Dim’s strengths and cover his weaknesses—”

“How?” With a turn of her head, Blackbird stared at Yuny while thinking about what remained in her glass.

“Oh, I don’t know.” Yuny shrugged and waved his paws about. “Dim could make things dark and you could shoot somebody in the dark if you remembered where they were. Stuff like that. There is more you could be doing. You just need to apply yourself and spend a bit of time training, if you can.”

Blackbird’s cunning told her that this was a brilliant tactical move and she was now ashamed for having not thought of it herself. It seemed so obvious in hindsight, but this had never occurred to her. If she and Dim were to be partners, if they had to fight together, moves like this one would benefit them both. Now, she just felt stupid, and feeling this stupid, she no longer felt like drinking.

“I’m glad I didn’t unscrew your head from your neck,” Blackbird said to Yuny.

“I’m… glad… too?” Yuny blinked once, twice, and on the third time, his ears folded back. “I’ve grown rather fond of having my head where it currently is. I worked very hard to survive a change of regime and I feel it would be a real shame to lose my head now just as I have started to show some real promise.”

What had she stumbled into? Blackbird was uncertain. She just wanted to find her mother, but now that was looking difficult, or even impossible, and she could feel something deep within her tugging at her, demanding that she do more. A fight was brewing—a big one—and she was a powerful hippogriff creature of gargantuan proportions. She didn’t even work out, not really, and she was every bit as strong as most minotaurs, she had proven that.

“So, how did you two end up here with Eerie?” she asked of the Bard and Bombay.

“Oh, we were part of her adventuring company… we all took the city.” Bombay smiled, revealing one crooked fang and she rested her paw upon the earth pony beside her. “When Eerie demanded Majid’s surrender, he was rude… disgusting even, so I shot him in the dick.”

“Baby, you gotta stop shooting others in the dick,” the Bard whispered to his groin-gunning companion.

“I can’t,” Bombay whispered back, “there’s just too many dicks needing to be shot.”

Author's Notes:

Leave no groin ungunned.