“That should be everything, then, Miss Tora,” concluded a blue unicorn mare, adjusting her glasses as she looked the individual before her over. “Will you be needing anything else?”

“Nah, I’ll be alrigh’,” the tigress shook her head, her amber eyes looking dead into the mare’s. “‘side from an assurance that this isn’t gonna be jus’ some bloody goose chase. M’ time is important, and I ain’t gonna waste it cuz some nutta’ saw a squirrel runnin’ in the shadows.”

“I assure you, this is very important wor-” the mare began with a frown, but Tora interrupted her.

“Oh, they always bloody say tha’, an’ ‘alf the time, it ends up being a ‘colt who cried ‘timbawolf’’ scenaria,” Tora scoffed, her Faustralian accent making each word sound all the more sarcastic. “Wot should make me believe tha’ this is gonna be any different?”

The mare’s brows furrowed. “Because we have several eyewitnesses of the creature.”

“Aye? And wot’s it fookin’ look li’?” Tora raised a brow questioningly, paw tapping expectantly.

The mare gestured to the bipedal feline herself. “Much like you, actually, albeit in heavy armor and apparently furless.” She gave her a smirk. “Didn’t I tell you this already?”

“...Okay, I zoned out ‘cause y’ were dronin’ on an’ on instead’a gettin’ ta the damn point, but fine, got anythin’ else ya can tell me ‘bout this ‘creature’?” Tora asked with narrowed eyes, not liking the horn-head’s damn smirk one bit. “Loike weapons an’ shite?”

“According to what Miss Vinyl explained,” the mare began, adjusting her glasses once more. “It used a simple sword and a smaller version of what you have. She described it as like a miniature crossbow, but spitting fire instead of bolts.”

Tora slammed her paws down on the table as she abruptly shoved her face into the mare’s personal space, a suddenly (and disturbingly) interested look in her amber eyes, “A fire-spittin’ mini-crossbow, y’ saey? An’ whatever it shot kinda ‘sploded with a hole innit?”

The mare nodded, leaning back at this action with a frown on her face. “Yes. Now, if you don’t mind, would you please ste-”

Tora’s upper half snapped back to where it had been before, an excited grin on her muzzle, “Where was th’ creature s’posed to be, again?”

The mare sighed, rubbing her forehead. “As I said in the briefing,” she started before looking up at Tora. “We don’t know. It teleported away, yet not by magic according to our unicorns. We couldn’t trace it’s whereabouts. That’s why you’re going to find it, because you have more experience with such things. I’d suggest visiting Miss Vinyl to follow up on leads.”

“Aye, I’ll get righ’ on tha’!” Tora said, giving the mare a quick and sloppy salute before turning and walking out the door.

The mare sighed as she left. “That cat is going to be my end, I swear…”

Tora soon arrived in Ponyville, stepping off the train and onto it’s station and looking around at the admittedly large, almost city-sized rural town as the train soon after left the station, smoke pouring out of it’s stack as it chugged off.

“...Eh, could use s’more sand an’ ‘roos kickin’ people in th’ shins fer lookin’ at ‘em funny,” Tora sighed in disappointment, but continued on to her destination, regardless. She had a witness to interrog- ahem, question, and a nice lil’ thunderstick to take some much needed ammo from. Gabe only had eight of the ‘cragadile-killer’ shots left, and she really wanted to use Gabe’s true firepower more often.

Paying others to make more was expensive, too, and she didn’t have enough to pay for a few rounds and pay for food and room. Hence why she’d taken this job. It paid very, very well.

And now she had a new mini-Gabe to loo- er, appropriate for herself.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts, then pulled out the strip of paper with the witness’ address on it.

“...A’ight, a’ight, find this disk jockey an’ I’ll be able to track down m’ mark. Simple ‘nuff,” Tora nodded to herself as she (slowly, what with all of the damn twists and turns in this town) made her way to the address.

It took a fair while, but she soon found the house on the edge of the town limits on the top of a small hill. It looked innocent enough, for the abode of such a famous DJ and Cellist. Simple thatched roof like every other house, white stucco, all very much the same as most domiciles in Ponyville.

Tora casually waltzed up to the door and rapped her paw on its face three times, “Oi! Is a ‘Vinyl Scratch’ ‘ere? I need t’ ask her a few questions ‘bout that creature she saw!”

There was a bit of noise from the other side of the wooden portal, along with voices, before the door opened and a white unicorn mare with a blue and electric blue mane stuck her head out. “That’d be me! Sup?” She said casually.

“G’day, cunt! How are ya?” Tora asked with a somewhat friendly smile.

Vinyl blinked. “Faustralian?” She asked, looking her over.

“Yeh, wha’ of it? Y’ don’ like us Faussies? Somethin’ ya don’t like ‘bout us cats?” Tora asked with faux-indignation.

Vinyl shook her head rapidly, waving a hoof. “N-No, no no, just...Never seen one of your species from Faussie.”

“Eh, we’re kinda rare, even in th’ Way Out Back. But that’s ‘sides the point. Ya got a min’ to talk ‘bout the hairless blood that y’saw? Prolly saved y’ life, if what th’ reports I ‘eard ‘bout ‘is blue with that big ol’ peeper were any indication?” Tora inquired, leaning on the doorframe and crossing one leg over the other.

Vinyl’s crimson eyes widened at this, and she nodded. “Y-Yeah,” she stepped aside and gestured inside. “C-Come on in.”

“If’n you insist,” Tora replied, stepping past the mare and into the house. When she did, she noted the house was not as innocent as she thought. The entire abode had been seemingly split in half with different themes, whether it be in color or style. One half was gray and purple, with refined, classical furnishings. The other was a deep blue, and more modernly styled.

“...Who did th’ interior decoration ‘ere, cuz you should get y’ moolah back!” Tora crinkled her nose at the gaudy and clashing styles at work.

Vinyl chuckled. “It’s just how we went about it. Me and Tavi - my roommate - were the ones who designed this house. It’s different, but it’s home all the same, ya know?” She walked past Tora and further into the house. “Tavi! We have a guest! Get down here!” She called.

“Ah, y’don’t need t’ get yer mate down ‘ere,” Tora said with a hint of discomfort in her voice. “I’m only ‘ere to ask y’ bout the bloke y’ saw.”

Sadly, it was too late, as the grey mare came down the stairs and paused as she saw Tora. Her eyes specifically went to the weapon strapped on her back, before she shook her head and gave the feline a small, kind smile.

“Hello there. I assume you’re with the Guard?” she asked.

“Nah, I’m a merc, but nice t’ meet ya, shiela,” Tora said, holding out her paw for the cellist to shake.

Taking the paw and shaking it gently but firmly, Octavia let go and gestured to the table in the dining room kitchen. “Please, have a seat.” She looked to Vinyl with an unreadable smile. “We can’t very well let you stand there the whole time.”

Shrugging, Tora pulled a chair out and sat down, making sure that Gabe didn’t catch on the chair or scratch the paintjob.

Taking seats across from her and next to each other, Vinyl asked, “So, what do you want to know about the guy?”

“I wanna know what y’know ‘bout the bloke. Voice, stature, what it used to shoot the giant peeper, shite like that,” Tora replied, leaning back into the chair and propping her legs up on the table. “Cuz the damn dickhead of a mare who gave me this ‘signment told me fuck-all in terms of nitty-gritty deets. Jus’ ‘go find the creature’, and nothin’ else. Bloody drongo, that horse.”

Octavia’s brow twitched at that action, but she didn’t comment on it. Vinyl simply continued the conversation so that it wouldn’t turn sour.

“Well,” she began, leaning back and using her magic to open the fridge, pulling out a can of soda from it expertly. “Its voice was real deep, and sharper than most ponies I know, like a Griffon’s. Though kinda more like…” She frowned, thinking of the word. “...Like sandpaper across your face.”

“So, the bloke’s a dinky-di bloke, an’ he sounds like he gargles nails fer brekkie. A’ight, anythin’ else?” Tora asked, tilting her head inquisitively as her tail flicked behind her.

“He had some kinda heavy armor on. Greaves,” she looked to Octavia. “Gauntlets, I think Minotaurs called them?” She shook her head, then looked back to Tora. “Anyway, he had some heavy looking scalemail under all that, and a leather coat. No helmet though, weirdly enough.”

“Wearin’ a ‘elm would just cut field o’ vision down, and that’s just bodgy, plus this ‘fire-spitter’ thing th’ drongo told me ‘bout sounds like it needs good aim t’ be any good,” Tora explained with a light shrug. “Hey, mind passin’ me a cold one? Kinda parched.”

Taking a sip of her own soda after popping it open, Vinyl floated one over to Tora. “Take it. It’s grape flavored.”

“Grape? What kinda crook idea izzat?” Tora asked with her tongue stuck out in disgust, but cracked open her can and took a sip anyways, eyes widening after pulling it away from her muzzle. “...That’s actually a corker drink. Huh. Anyways, back to th’ talk. Wot else did the bloke ‘ave?”

Vinyl frowned and gained a look of deep thought, brows furrowing. “Well, I don’t know. He didn’t have any pouches or sheaths or holsters or anything for storage. What I remember is seeing his sword just...appear in his hand. Same with the other thing.”

“The thunderstick, kinda like Gabe ‘ere?” Tora asked, patting the arbalest-like weapon on her back. “Cuz if this bloke is magickin’ stuff outta the blue, he might be a damn mage o’ some sort. ‘Dee-mensional storage’ or summat like that, heard some horn-head- er, uni say somethin’ about that kinda thing once. Sorry bout the slang, force o’ habit.”

Octavia waved it off. “It’s fine. I’m used to it from Vinyl.”

Vinyl nodded. “Yeah, I’m pretty bad usually, especially when making my tracks.” She shook her head. “Still, he didn’t seem too magical, I didn’t see any spell-flingin’, ya know? Just that stuff.” She took a draught of her soda, then soon lowered it from her lips. “He was a big guy, though. Easily a hoof or more taller than you, and he was…” She shivered. “...built like a brick house. Way more than most stallions. Not like a Minotaur is, though.”

Tora chuckled, shaking her head in amusement, “‘Course, almost no one’s buffer than a ‘Moo. So, taller than me, prolly got some kinda bonkers magic, smaller version of Gabe, a sword...sounds like ‘e gargles nails...that errything?”

Vinyl shook her head. “He had cat eyes. Green ones. But I didn’t see a tail or ears like yours on him. His ears were round, and on the side of his head, not the top.”

“...He’s a damn hairless ape?!” Tora shot upright, tail bristled. “I’ve been ‘round the world, an’ I’ve seen quite a few animals in m’ time. Only creatures I’ve seen built like a Moo is an ape, and they have the same sorta ears ya just told me ‘bout. So, we’re lookin’ at a bloke that could punch m’ bloody head clean off, rip m’ arms off with little effort. Aaand he might be able to see in the dark, like me. Splendid.”

Vinyl chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. “Y-Yeah, that does sound pretty bad.”

Octavia looked to Tora. “What are most of the apes you’ve met like? Are they really that dangerous?”

“They’re right docile most o’ the time, but ya piss one off, and you’ll cark it if ya don’t take ‘em down first. Big question is, did ‘e show any signs of aggression towards ya, Vin?” Tora fixed Vinyl with a narrowed stare.

Vinyl frowned and shook her head. “No, actually. I mean, he yelled at me, but he was telling me to run, not yelling at me for anything else but being stupid.”

Tora frowned, bringing a paw to her chin as she hummed in thought, “...Might be a monsta’ hunta, then. Sounds like he’s geared fer fighting big beasties like that giant peeper, so...could be he didn’t want any civvies in the way, and y’ were frozen like a squirrel on train tracks.”

Vinyl blushed a bit and looked away. “Y-Yeah, heh, you could say that.”

“...Well, that means he won’t jus’ up and ‘ave a blue with me fer just bein’ in his line o’ sight. I could reason with ‘im…’ssuming that you damn ponies didn’t fuck it up with yer knee jerk reactions t’ big an’ scary things,” Tora said, amber eyes fixed on the tabletop as she thought.

Vinyl, whose blush receded, frowned at this. “Yeah…” she muttered, before shaking her head and looking back to Tora. “Anyway, aside from all that, the only other thing I recall is that he had a mane as white as snow, and it was in one of those ‘warrior ponytails’.”

“...Hmm, ‘least I’ll be able t’ pick ‘im outta the surroundins’ if’n he’s around ‘ere somewhere,” Tora surmised, finally bringing her paws down off the table. “A’ight, that all?”

Vinyl shook her head, then blinked. “Oh, wait, he had a medallion around his neck. Screaming eagle head. Didn’t get too close of a look.”

Tora blinked, then furrowed her brows, “So...could be part of a group or organization, then, if there ends up bein’ more like th’ bloke poppin’ up ‘round the place wearing that medallion.”

Vinyl frowned at this as Tora got up from her seat.

“Wot?”

“...I have a favor I wanna ask,” she said, looking up at the bipedal tigress.

“Then ask, shiela,” Tora said, tail flicking impatiently behind her.

Vinyl’s crimson eyes seemed to burn with determination. “I want you to bring me to him, when you find him.”

“Vinyl!” Octavia cried.

“This is our only chance, Tavi!” Vinyl shot back.

“Still, what if she-?” Octavia started.

“Wot’ll y’ gimme for it?” Tora asked with a small sigh, shifting her weight from one side to the other.

Octavia looked to the tigress in shock. “You...you don’t mind?”

“Oi, I’m a mercenary; I work for the bloke or sheila who pays me. Y’ pay me or compensate me fer bringin’ ‘im back, I’ll bring ‘im back. Simple azzat,” Tora shrugged, the arbalest on her back swaying with the motion of her shoulders.

Vinyl looked to Octavia triumphantly, who sighed and sagged her shoulders. “Ugh, fine.”

Vinyl grinned, then looked back to Tora. “How does a gourmet meal at Le Krakon paid for by me sound?”

“Fuckin’ corker!” Tora drooled with stars in her eyes at the thought of exquisite food in her belly overrode any reservations she’d had about accepting the favor. “Deal!”

Shaking hoof and paw, the two grinned, their accord made.

Now all that remained was to follow through.

Finally, Tora had found a damn trail that might lead to this ‘creature.’

Some pink terror she ran into after meeting with Vinyl had been talking to some random local about how there was some ‘weeeird shenanigans’ going on near her family’s ‘rock farm’, whatever that was.

Two whole quarries had been emptied of all the ores that a prospecting company had found months earlier. One quarry had been a marble quarry belonging to the rock farm, the other to a mining company named ‘GeodeCorp’, and both had been unable to find any tunnels other than the ones they’d already made that would indicate someone had tunneled into said quarries from elsewhere. There’d been no suspects that could be identified, so she’d been ready to just move on when the pink motormouth had started to talk about other weird things going on in that area.

...Until she mentioned that some mushy couple having a picnic at night - for whatever fathomable reason - near this ‘Whitetail Woods’ place had been sent running away, screaming about some ‘dark figure with an axe’ deep in the tree line.

A figure that, after she’d taken the train to that area to question the couple, matched the description Vinyl had given her.

From there, it was a simple matter of finding environmental clues and tracking down the creature bit by bit.

Chips of bark and wood around a few scattered stumps from trees that had clearly been felled by an axe were the most obvious clues she’d found, and that narrowed down the search area, since they formed a roughly circular shape when she cross-referenced their positions with a map she’d been given by the local authorities.

And so, she searched the area for a day with no luck.

The next morning, the Abyssinian tigress found tracks - almost unnoticeable at first, but a second glance had confirmed they were, in fact, tracks - from a pair of armored boots leading from stump to stump...and inwards to a central point.

And now, there she was, slowly creeping through the forest with Gabe still on her back as her eyes scanned the trees for the creature as she followed the freshest set of tracks further into the forest.

The sudden and familiar click of a gun behind her stopped her cold as a barrel of chilling metal pressed to the back of her head.

“Don’t move,” said a voice like the one Vinyl described; rough and coarse as sandpaper.

“...Bugger.”

Hope you all enjoyed this one! Me and my friend/brother, Nova_Eclipse, certainly did. He's the one who wrote Tora, so I hope she's just as fun for you all to read as she has been for him to write.

Anyways, let me know what you all thought below!

Thanks for reading!

-Timeless Overlord