“So,” Tora abruptly spoke up from her seat on one of the chairs in Durin’s armory, chest bare save for her chest-bindings as she waited for the Terrarrian to finish repairing her leather breastplate. “Whatcha even need th’ platty for? Doesn’t seem like it’d do much good fer ya.”

“Better quality than gold,” he replied, rummaging around in a chest to find the repair kit he needed. Finding nothing, he checked the next one. “Gold is tough, but platinum is better.”

“Eh, fair ‘nuff. Explains why th’ damn ponies use th’ stuff in their armor an’ shite,” Tora shrugged, pulling slightly on the lowermost part of her chest bindings to adjust the tightness slightly.

Durin tried to force his blush down and also tried to not look her way, along with trying to keep his thoughts elsewhere. ‘They’re more malleable in my world…’ He glanced to her, then quickly back to the chest. ‘...Probably not as much as her- NO! Bad Durin! Head in the game!’

“Again, if y’ wanted t’ look at my knockers, y’ have to pay cash fer it,” Tora reminded him with a sly, amused smirk.

“I-I’m not gonna pay for that. I’d rather you did it of your own free will instead of for m-money’s sake,” Durin replied with a stutter, silently cursing as he kept looking with no luck for the repair kit.

“...It’s a fuckin’ joke, ya dag,” Tora let out a ‘mrrow’ of laughter and shook her head. “Ain’t no bloody person is gonna see m’ boobs unless they’re m’ mate, so don’t get any ideas.”

“I-I wasn’t! I-!” He stopped himself. “...I’m just going to keep looking for the kit.”

“A’ight, y’ do that, lover-boy,” Tora rolled her eyes and stretched languidly with a pleased grunt.

The door to the armory soon opened. “Yo! How’d the trip go?” Vinyl blinked, seeing how little Tora was wearing and blushing a bit. “You two bang or somethin’?”

“Fuck off, Vin,” Tora rolled her eyes at the mare.

Octavia slapped the mare upside the head. “Vinyl!”

“Ow! Hey, it was an honest assumption!” Vinyl argued, rubbing her head.

“Even so, you could stand to use a little more tact!” Octavia shot back, giving her friend a disappointed frown.

“Durin’s fixin’ m’ armor. That’s why I’m half-nekkid up top, ya fuckin’ pervy horse,” Tora explained, if only to cut off any further questions from the DJ.

Vinyl groaned. “That’s lame.” Another smack from Octavia. “Ow! Tavi, come on, stop it!”

“She might stop if you stop insinuating things,” Durin grumbled to himself.

“Wot he said, ya horny little weirdo,” Tora tacked on her own opinion.

“Well excuse me! I haven’t gotten properly filled in over a month!” Vinyl said, huffing and turning her head.

“Did not need to know that,” Durin said, shivering and trying to hide his blush.

“Well, maybe y’ should invest in a way to, oh, shut yer damn heat up or somethin’!” Tora scathingly remarked to Vinyl, eyes narrowed and nose twitching.

Vinyl’s flagging tail immediately clamped down over her bits. “I haven’t gotten laid, buck off!”

“Whatever, Vin - jus’ don’t project yer lust onto us, capiche?” Tora said warningly, eyes narrowed in a stern glare at the unicorn.

“I’d have to agree. I’m not keen on smelling your heat scent all over my house,” Durin agreed, before finally pulling out a small wooden crate, ignoring Vinyl’s mild glare at him. “Here we go,” He said, walking back over to the table where Tora’s armor was. He paused as he did, looking to the mares. ‘Shit. I use this and they’ll know too.’ He looked to Tora, who raised a brow in questioning. ‘...Fuck it. They already know most of the story. What’s a tiny bit more?’ With that, he pulled out a hammer from the repair box, and, to both Tora’s and Vinyl and Octavia’s surprise, simply tapped the armor with it, and the scratches were gone, along with the repair box.

He then picked up the armor and held it out to Tora. “There. All fixed up.”

Tora nodded gratefully and took the armor from his hands, quickly putting it on and patting the front of it once it was snugly in place, “Thanks, Durin. Hope I don’t have t’ do this kinda thing too often, eh?”

Durin nodded. “Yeah. I don’t have many repair boxes.”

“H-How...What-?” Octavia gestured to Durin.

“Th-This...that doesn’t make any sense! Where’d the box go?!” Vinyl asked, voicing the question Octavia was trying and failing to ask.

“Durin, mate, jus’ get it over with an’ explain it t’ the sheilas, will ya?” Tora sighed, giving the male a dry, expectant look as her paw tapped on the ground.

Durin let out a sigh. “I’m a Terrarian. We function so differently from others that we have our own brand of physics.”

“I...I don’t even…” Octavia slowly fell to her plot, holding her head as if her whole world had been shattered.

Vinyl did the same, only she looked to the ground and did not cradle her head. “I think I need a minute.”

Durin raised a brow. “Mind doing that elsewhere? I still have to upgrade Tora’s gun, and the work room is out that door.”

“Please, don’t have ‘confused sex’ in any room that’s next t’ this one. I’d rather wait fer Gabe t’ be made better without having t’ listen to two mares scissorin’ or somethin’,” Tora idly requested as she checked the flexibility of her cuirass once again.

“We’ll just...be upstairs, then,” Octavia said, finally coherent. She pulled Vinyl up. “Come on, Vinyl.”

With that, the two mares left the room, leaving Tora and Durin alone.

“...Wonder if that’ll be how most o’ th’ blokes and sheilas y’ reveal this to will react,” Tora wondered aloud, giving one final stretch in her armor before sitting back down and resting with a content sigh.

With a grunt, Durin walked past her. “It probably will be. Come on, follow me.”

Tora stood up as asked and followed Durin into the hall and down it, past the storeroom, where he soon opened a door, revealing a room that was quite humid and warm, and filled with anvils, workbenches, and furnaces and sawmills, though the room did not smell in the least like sawdust.

“Well, well, quite th’ little operation y’ got here, Dur’. How long’d it take ya to build all o’ this?” Tora asked with an impressed whistle, running her hand along the edge of a workbench.

“Better part of three weeks,” was his reply as he walked over to a workbench with a number of tools all over it, even hanging from a tool rack that was attached. “Mind handing me Gabe for a bit?” He asked, hand outstretched.

Slowly, hesitantly, Tora handed Gabe over to him, “Don’t break ‘im, or I’ll use yer skull to shit in.”

“Colorful,” Durin complimented as he took the heavily modified gun and placed it on the bench. “Inventory,” he said, opening the screen. He tapped the crafting portion a few times, swiping up to scroll through its options. “Hmmm…”

“Jus’ don’t take too long, a’ight, mate? It doesn’t feel right not havin’ Gabe on m’ back,” Tora said with a light, nervous shuffling of her feet.

“Right, righ-” Durin’s eyes widened as he scrolled down one more time. “-Holy fucking shit.”

“W-wot?!” Tora asked as she bounded over to him with concern - for Gabe, obviously, Durin didn’t seem to be melting into slush, so clearly he was fine.

Durin scrolled down, and down, and down, no end in sight to what he was seeing. “Your gun not only is something I can work with, but it has...what, over thirty five-” He stopped, scrolling down more. “-Scratch that, fifty different modifications on my list here.”

“...So, we can tweak Gabe however we please?” Tora asked, a grin forming on her muzzle.

Durin nodded. “Your gun has more options than my Witcher gear.” He gestured to a set of options. “Problem is, most of this stuff I don’t have.” He scrolled up a fair ways, then pointed to one option. “There’s only three I can give you right now, all just for runes. This one, which can cause burning,” He pointed to the next. “One which can add more armor piercing,” he pointed to the last one. “And this one causes bleeding.”

“...Incendiary,” Tora said, pointing at the option for the ‘Dahzbog Rune’. “If’n Gabe doesn’t blow a beastie apart or kill it outright, he can still set ‘em on fire an’ we can whittle ‘em down that way.”

Durin nodded. “Right, then.” Tapping the option, Gabe suddenly gained glowing orange runes along his barrel, and Durin dismissed the menu, picking it up and offering it to Tora. “Here you go.”

Tora almost squealed in delight as she took the improved Gabe, but had enough presence of mind and dignity to give him a thankful smile before looking him over and tracing a paw along the runes, “Wonder how well he’d do against some brain-munchers, or a horde o’ beasties.”

“Considering most are susceptible to fire, very well,” Durin replied.

“...Does...was there an option fer ‘splosive rounds or somethin’? I’d love to just make a bunch’a assholes go up in a spray o’ gibs,” Tora asked hopefully, eyes big and shimmering.

Durin hummed, looking to the bench. “Hand Gabe back for a sec and I’ll check.”

Tora all but threw Gabe at Durin as she bounced on her paws like an excited kid.

Durin chuckled and rolled his eyes before calling out, “Inventory,” again and checking the list once more. When he reached Gabe’s options, he found ‘Explosive Gabe’ in the unavailable options. He looked to her. “Sorry, Tora. Unavailable to me right now.” He looked to the screen. “Says I need to progress or some shit.”

Tora deflated with a heart-wrenchingly sad mewl, her tail and ears drooping in dejection.

He spoke up again. “However, looking at the options again, it seems I can give Gabe poisonous traits now, thanks to the materials from that Grave Hag.” He smiled. “Up for giving your gun fiery poison?”

“...Sure, sounds ace,” Tora said, her mood visibly improving somewhat.

“Alright, then,” Tapping the option, Gabe suddenly gained a draconic skull at the barrel, said skull covered in green veins. Durin picked it up and made to hand it to Tora, only for her to yank it from his hands and spin in a circle with a delighted laugh.

“Gabe looks mighty corker, now! Thank y’, mate! I’m so gonna enjoy usin’ this on the beasties,” Tora grinned a rather predatory grin.

Durin chuckled, then crossed his arms. “Glad you like it. Based on the options, he’s only gonna get better and better. Probably with more bones, too, from what I saw.”

Tora was vibrating with excitement, “Oh, I dunno wot that even means, but I can’t wait!”

Then she pounced on him with a laugh.

“W-Woah! Hey!” Durin cried, falling to the floor.

Tora laughed, her face right above his, “Sorry, mate, I’m just...y’ have no idea how much I wanted t’ improve Gabe, but I was scared that he’d be too fragile t’ modify! An’ now, I got you t’ improve ‘im fer me! Heeheehee, just so happy!~”

“O-Okay, I get it! Now get the hell off!” Durin cried, blushing at how close she was.

“Tch, fiiine, y’ dag,” Tora chuckled as she hopped off him and pulled him up...into a small hug. “I just want y’ to know...Gabe’s saved m’ life time an’ time again since I found ‘im, and…an’ I just am so bloody happy yer able to make wot was m’ only ‘friend’ fer years even better.”

Durin stiffened at the contact, but slowly reciprocated. “Y-Yeah...You’re welcome.”

Tora let go of him and flashed him a toothy smile, “Jus’ don’t expect me t’ make this a regular thing, mate.”

Durin nodded. “R-Right, right.” He shook his head, then summoned the rectangular device from earlier. He sighed as he looked at its display. “Daytime. Alright.” He banished it to his inventory, then looked to her. “We should get you and the others out of here now. You’ve been gone for too long, others will start to wonder.”

Vinyl and Octavia looked back at Durin as they walked away from the forest’s edge with Tora beside them. Grass crunched under their hooves as they trotted towards civilization.

Vinyl looked towards Tora. “Do you think the big guy is gonna be okay?”

“He looked...different, when he was bringing us out of the forest,” Octavia added.

“Eh, she’ll be apples. That is, th’ big bugger’ll be fine. ‘Sides, I’m comin’ back. I told ‘im that I’d help ‘im, an' so I’m gonna help the bloke,” Tora shrugged, then paused mid-step as she thought for a moment, then resumed walking alongside the mares. “But before I get t’ that, I gotta report t’ th’ mare who sent me t’ fossick fer ‘im.”

Vinyl winced at that. “Oof, yeah, good luck with that, Torry.”

“I can always lie,” Tora waved a paw dismissively. “Tell ‘er that I couldn’t find ‘im, and that’ll be that.”

“Will she accept that, though?” Octavia asked next, looking to Tora.

“I can say that I found th’ fuckin’ dog bitch we had a burl with an’ say that Durin got turned into its tucker,” Tora replied, seeming not at all concerned about how it’d work.

Octavia frowned. “I’m not sure she’d believe or accept that either.”

“She’ll find a way, Tavi, lay off,” Vinyl said, wrapping a foreleg around the mare. “‘Sides, Durin’ll be fine either way.”

Octavia’s frown increased as she shoved the unicorns foreleg off. “Weren’t you just as worried as me a moment ago?”

“Vin doesn’t seem t’ be th’ kinda sheila t’ worry ‘bout somethin’ fer long,” Tora surmised with a glance at the successful DJ.

Vinyl laughed. “Exactly! I’m a tough bitch, I got no worries at all!”

“Eh, more like you’re scared t’ worry fer too long before y’ start freakin’ out,” Tora dryly remarked with a smirk at the mare in question.

Vinyl flushed at this. “Wh-What? Th-The- I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Octavia giggled behind her hoof. “She’s got you figured out, doesn’t she, Vinyl?”

“Plus, she wants t’ have a naughty with Durin,” Tora said in a teasing sing-song voice, then stepped to the side to avoid Vinyl’s charge of anger, the mare falling on her face in the dirt and grass. “So fuckin’ easy t’ tease,” Tora laughed as she mockingly strutted around the fallen mare. “Y’ wanna fuck Duuurin!~”

Vinyl growled, horn lighting up. “Shut up!”

“Tch, ya won’t blast yer cobber, I know y’ wouldn’t,” Tora smirked as she leaned her muzzle into Vinyl’s face and flicked her horn.

Vinyl squeaked at the action, hooves going to her horn as she blushed. “D-Don’t touch my horn!”

“Oh, so th’ rumors ‘bout ya horn-head’s head-dongers an’ head-clitties bein' sensitive or erogenous zones is all true. Good t’ know,” Tora chuckled evilly as she ruffled Vinyl’s hair.

Vinyl glared up at the tigress. “I hate you.”

“Didn’tcha want t’ have a naughty with me, too?” Tora asked with a knowing smirk and mock-seductive glare.

“...” Vinyl continued to glare, but added a pout on top of it.

“Heh. You’re just fuckin’ too easy t’ tease,” Tora said, poking Vinyl’s nose.

Octavia’s voice rang out. “Come on you two! We’ll miss the train if we don’t hurry!”

“Comin’, sheila!” Tora called out to Octavia as she brought her attention back to Vinyl. “C’mon, or else you’ll get left behind.”

Vinyl grumbled to herself as she stood up, following after them. As she and the other two boarded the train after a hasty sprint to the station, and they all took their seats, Vinyl looked out the window, frowning as she looked at the treeline where Durin had disappeared into.

‘...Stay safe, big guy.’

A careful incision was made into the corpse's flesh with a surgical knife, before the flesh was picked up in a red aura and deposited into a beaker full of some strange, clear fluid. A red aura soon surrounded it as well, swirling it around. Moments later, the flesh dissolved, and the beaker turned a dark purple, then a bright red.

"Hmmm..." The stallion adjusted his glasses, then made a few notes on his clipboard. "Essence appears to be tied to dark magic, but two different brands..." He squinted his eyes at the beaker, watching as the liquid continued to shift color from purple to red. "...And certainly not of any brands I've seen before...Hm."

The door to the room opened, and a familiar hornless, scarred unicorn walked in. "Doctor Beloved, how goes the research?" Tempest asked, trotting over.

"Not as fast as I'd like," the stallion replied, not turning to her as he straightened his blue and orange mane with a hoof before he grabbed the surgical knife again. "Sadly, it seems these creatures are not tied to one source like we thought. Others aren't tied to any, like they just...popped out of the ground."

Tempest eyed the beaker, then looked into his black eyes. "I see." She cast her gaze towards the corpse, that of a zombified pony mare. "So it's safe to assume we're barely any closer to discovering how this all started..."

Doctor Beloved nodded his head, adjusting his glasses once more as he idly twirled the knife. "I'm afraid so. I wish I could be of more help, but I've got my hooves full just trying to explain one of these beasts, let alone hundreds." He gestured to the many corpses around the room, then stopped on one covered in tattered red robes. "That one I had trouble just keeping intact. It kept wanting to dissolve into mist. Far as I can tell, it's the body of...some sort of female, but cursed by some form of dark magic." He looked to her. "It's obvious it was some sort of vengeful spirit, based on the report the Guards gave, but damn if it still doesn't throw me for a loop on how it even functions."

Tempest frowned, but nodded. "Give me a status update nonetheless."

The Doctor sighed, slumping a little for a moment, before straightening back up and nodding. "Very well." He gestured to the corpse in front of them. "This one appears to have been raised almost naturally, but..."

Big thanks to my Patron (won't say his full name, as I respect his privacy) D for his OC
at the end there and all his support! I hope you like the spin I did for your OC, dude!

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