It was only a mansion if one squinted at it real hard and had an overactive imagination. Most of it wasn’t painted and some of the boards had started to turn grey. An open-air cupola rose up from the middle of the structure, located up high above the front door. Armed guards were visible in the cupola, and Dim watched them while they watched him. Not too far away, a lean-to covered a coal-fired boiler that no doubt provided both hot water and electricity for the ‘mansion.’

Dim was cautious now, some of these guns were not the low power black powder weapons, but high powered modern weaponry that he knew could punch right through his shields, though some of his more advanced wards might offer a tiny bit of protection. He held no advantage here, and as such, his mental bearings went from ‘aggressive’ to ‘diplomatic.’ Lording himself over others would accomplish nothing.

A pony stood on the veranda, watching them, and as they approached, he trotted down the somewhat crooked front steps. He then stood in the unmown grass, waiting, watching, and Dim could see a peculiar grin upon his face. The grin left him uncomfortable, though he could not say why, and the heat of the day left Dim feeling all the more irritated. It was too hot in this part of the world, far too warm, and he wished that he was farther north.

“Greetings,” the pony said when Dim and Blackbird were about twenty paces away. “My name is Grimy Rich, and I’ve been expecting you. I do hope that you will partake in my hospitality, so that we might get to know one another better.”

It was Blackbird who replied. “It’s strange that you know me but I do not know you.”

“I knew your mother.” Grimy’s voice was soft, cultured, and educated. “I was very fond of her, and in those moments she had good clarity of mind, she told me stories about you.” Lifting one hoof, the stallion gestured at the house behind him. “I would be most honoured if you would join me inside. I’ve had tea prepared, as well as a meal. There is coffee too. When I got wind of a big black hippogriff in town, I was almost beside myself with joy.”

“What do we do?” Blackbird asked her companion in a low whisper.

“For now,” Dim replied, “we play along. I’m positive that he’ll want something.”

“We’d love to have tea with you!” Blackbird’s voice rang out through the yard, startling several birds, which flew away with squawks of terror while their fear went squirting out from behind them. “I’m really quite relieved that you knew my mother. I’ve been worried about her, and I’m trying to find her.”

“Come… come inside and we’ll talk more. It is far too miserable to talk outside.”

Gritting his teeth, Dim prepared for the worst.

Stepping into the door, Dim was struck by a blast of almost cool air. It was moving air and it made the broad brim of his hat ripple. The perfumed scent of flowers was heavy in the breeze, and he could hear the whirring of electric fans. Why, it was almost pleasant in here, and Dim felt bad about how shabby he must have looked. While the outside looked awful, the inside was a little better, with hardwood floors, some rugs, and reasonably clean plaster on the walls.

He removed his hat, rolled it up, and stuffed it into his left saddlebag.

“Oh my, your companion is one of the Kathiawari... how exotic and delightful. Look at him… look at every beautiful inch of him. I bet there are several very beautiful inches of him that could be put on display…”

Dim realised two things straightaway. Somepony was inside of his equinal space, and Grimy Rich had fabulousity to spare. Dim was fine with that, and was relieved that he could serve as a distraction. He glanced at the earth pony out of the corner of his eye and knew that the stallion was quite taken; there was lust visible in his eyes.

“Interesting ponies, the Kathiawari. Natural mystics. Their magic is unique. Am I correct to assume that he is your… bodyguard? Or do you have a deeper relationship, perhaps?”

“Are you interested in a little ‘alone time’ with my companion?” Blackbird asked.

“Why yes I am,” Grimy Rich replied and then a lewd giggle escaped his lips. “What a magnificent specimen!”

“I would not be an honourable owner if I traded away my bondservant for favours.” Blackbird sounded apologetic and she bowed her head a little. “I need to be able to trust him—”

“Oh, of course I understand.” Grimy lifted one hoof, fanned himself for a moment, and then made a dismissive wave. “I need to go to Windia and do a little shopping! The collapse of Grittish interests there has made it a buyer’s market.”

“I trust that my companion will be welcome to join us for tea.” Blackbird’s voice now had a hard edge to it. “I would be quite upset if he was made to go and wait elsewhere while we talked. Again, it is a trust issue. I keep my bondservant happy.”

“Oh, not to worry… not to worry… if I can’t play with him, at least I can look at him!” Grimy pranced in place, his ears pivoting from excitement and his eyes glittering with pleasurable glee. “Come… join me… I’ve been dying to meet you ever since I heard stories about you and I simply must have some tea! Please, join me!”

In the entirety of her life, Blackbird had never felt more nervous. Even when meeting her current companion for the first time, she hadn’t felt like this. Her talons shook and it felt as though her whole body was having nervous fits. The chair was too small for her, the table was too low, but she managed, somehow. Beside her, Dim was still getting comfortable, and he didn’t look the least bit bothered by the fact that he had just ended the lives of three creatures not even an hour ago.

This made her feel squeamish, but she wasn’t about to turn away his help. He was the real deal, a vizard as he kept saying, and she knew that with his help, she had better odds of finding her mother, Starling. She also resented him a little at the moment, because at this fancy table, he knew what he was doing, while she didn’t. At the moment, she felt like a drunken minotaur in a porcelain shop.

“How did you meet my mother?” Blackbird asked, kicking off the first of many questions.

“Ah, the circumstances.” Grimy leaned forwards, rested his forelegs against the table, sighed, and his eyes took on a faraway look. “I had an overboss… a rough one… a mean one… he kept the workers in line. A griffon. Well disciplined. Claimed to have a background as a soldier, but I don’t know… anyhow. Apparently, he got wind of the fact that his past was coming back to haunt him. He knew your mother was coming, that she was looking for him. I don’t know how he knew, but he took off, he did. He stole a lot of my money and he split.”

“Smart.” Blackbird began to wonder what sort of horrible punishment her mother had thought of for this guy, and she shivered a bit. All of this was overwhelming, it left her jittery and she had trouble sitting still. She could not help but feel that she was getting close, close to finding her mother, and then all of them could go home. Even Dim.

“Starling came to me, looking for him. I told her, of course, and mentioned that he had taken off with a small fortune of mine. The bastard stole the acquisitions funds. She wasted no time and went after him. Honestly, I thought that would be the last time I’d ever see that magnificent creature.” For a moment, Grimy was almost weepy eyed, but he blinked it away. “She was a tortured soul, as I’d come to find out later.”

“She came back?” Blackbird found herself leaning forwards, eager to hear more.

“Much to my surprise, yes. She came back with most of the money that had been stolen and the severed head of my overboss. He had his own unmentionables stuffed into his beak. It was quite ghastly. I never expected to see that money ever again, but there it was. Now, I didn’t ask your mother to bring that back, not exactly, so I felt that I owed her some kind of payment. She asked if I could help her find some folk she knew… so I obliged her, of course.”

“It sounds like you really had a chance to get to know my mother though, so how?”

“Well, it took time, you see. I used corporate channels and resources. I figured that some of these unsavoury types she was looking for might be mercenaries for hire, and I was right. She stayed with me… as my guest. I helped nurse her back to health, she had a few gunshot wounds, and of course she had a broken heart. I’ve never seen a creature weep the way she did. She did it while she was sleeping, you see, but never when she was awake. I’d sit by her bedside at night, because I felt the need to do something.”

A leaden heaviness settled into Blackbird’s heart and she leaned back in her chair as Dim began serving them tea. This was unexpected, and she couldn’t tell if he was trying to be nice to her, to bring her some comfort, or if he was just playing his role as her bondservant. She focused on Grimy, who looked quite animated and maybe just a little bit sad.

“Sometimes, she’d tell me stories about you, your father, and I know what happened.” Grimy bowed his head a bit. “I’m sorry about that, for whatever it is worth.” The pony allowed for a pause to take place before he continued, “Your mother figured that you might come looking for her, and she left me a message to give to you.”

“And that is?” Blackbird asked, her head tilting off to one side while Dim poured a little milk into her teacup.

“Go home, Blackbird, and mind your father’s grave.”

An invisible noose tightened around her neck and Blackbird found that she could not respond. She fought back tears, but lost, and she hated herself when she felt them rolling down her cheeks. When at last she could say something, she did not recognise her own voice. “I can’t go home. My mother needs me. My father isn’t going anywhere, and his grave is being looked after by others that loved him.”

“Forgive my intrusion,” Dim said, sounding sophisticated and polite, “but it sounds as though you truly were her friend.”

Grimy laughed, but it sounded sad in Blackbird’s twitching ears. “Once Starling realised I was flamingly gay, she opened up to me. That happens, you know. The only thing I wanted from her was her conversation and her company.”

“So, if you don’t mind me asking, how does an earth pony like you manage to live in a place like this?” Dim’s question was soft spoken, charming, and disarming.

“Oh…” Grimy laughed again. “I am well protected. I am very, very valuable to the company I work for. They ensure my safety and spend a lot of money to protect me. It’s my talent, you see… I take one gold coin and turn it into two. It’s as easy as breathing.” He picked up his teacup and held it between his two front hooves while his eyes twinkled. “My talent doesn’t seem to work when I am being coerced, you see. It has to be something I want to do. Plus, I have a good head for business, so I am far, far more valuable to them when I am working from a position of power.”

“Yet, you are still a bird in a gilded cage.” There was a slurp from Dim and then silence.

“Well, of course I am. I’m not stupid. All of this comfort, all of this power, all of this”—he gestured at everything around him—“is just a means to keep me content and working for them. I’m still a slave, I just have much nicer shackles. Why would I want to leave all of this? Do you know what they do to earth ponies here in this part of the world? I wasn’t born yesterday.”

Turning her head from side to side—looking first at Dim and then at Grimy—Blackbird felt as though she had missed something, some part of the nuanced exchange. There was tension here now, she could sense it, something unpleasant. Turning to look at Dim again, she couldn’t see his peculiar eyes hidden behind his goggles. His face was a stoic mask, and his thin, tiny nostrils betrayed no sign of emotion.

“Do you know where my mother went?” Blackbird asked as the dreadful apprehension began to have its way with her. “Do you have any leads for me to follow? Directions I can go?”

There was a sigh from Grimy, who shook his head. “Is there no way I can convince you to go home?”

“Nope.” When she said this word, Blackbird’s heart began thudding against her ribs.

“East of Griffonstone, past the Worldwall Mountains, there is a little province called Pranceylvania. That was just one of the places your mother planned to go. One of those fellows she was hunting went there. Another went to Mareseilles, in Fancy. The third was also heading to Fancy, in a place called Gasconeigh. I don’t know where your mother went first, but I am certain that she has been to those places. She doesn’t strike me as the type that would quit… and I guess you take after her.”

Blackbird found herself blushing.

Feeling a little self-conscious, she began to eat, picking up treats from the various trays and platters around her on the table. Much to her surprise, she found shrimp toast, her mother’s favourite food, and just seeing it caused a flood of memories to manifest in her mind. Her father, Stinkberry, he had developed a taste for shrimp toast because of Starling’s insistence that he try it. Her father ended up loving shrimp toast, but it gave him terrible gas. Blackbird began to remember many fond meals together, and the affection that her parents shared.

“Your mother… she was very dear to me… I have many acquaintances, I have associates, and I have business partners… but her... she was my friend,” Grimy said in a wistful voice. “I wish her well. If you can find her, get her to go home. Do whatever you must. Could you do that for me?”

With her mouth full of shrimp toast, Blackbird nodded.

Author's Notes:

Dim has a secret...