After having a lengthy conversation with Mags, getting all of the extensive information and knowledge from her that he can, he exits Bottlecap’s office and leaves the dark cerise mare where she lay on the floor. Right outside of the door, and not far away from the entrance, Bottlecap stands talking with a member of security as they go over some paperwork on a clipboard. She looks up from her clipboard and catches eye contact with Gearing.

After the two have been looking at each other in the eye for a bit, long enough that the tan mare next to her starts getting uncomfortable and starts wondering if there’s going to be a problem, Bottlecap gives a dip of her head and smiles as she says, “I’m sorry I’ve kept you waiting so long. Are you feeling better? Ready to talk about the transaction between you and Lodestar yet?”

The little blue pegasus in his head narrows his eyes with a wide smile across his face as he says, ‘Oh… she’s gooood…’

Gearing looks at her and a smile grows on his muzzle as he says, “Thanks for letting me use your office to cool off.” He starts walking by them as he says, “We’ll talk about Lodestar later when we both have the time.”

The tan mare’s eyes go wide as she turns towards Gearing. “You going somewhere? I thought you were in a big rush to get this over with?”

Gearing looks at her, then at Bottlecap as he says, “In a rush to find out if I’ve been cheated and set up, sure… but I think it’s best if I go outside for a walk… Let everyone have enough time to destress with me out of sight….” He looks at the tan mare and grins as he says, “Maybe catch some air and think things through while I’m running some other errands…”

Bottlecap’s eyebrow rises as she asks, “Are you sure? I’m ready now if you are?”

Gearing looks at Bottlecap and waves a hoof dismissively. “I’m sure. Besides, this’ll give you and Lodestar time to talk privately about what you both want to do without having to worry about me.” He turns his head to show her the profile of the smile on his muzzle as he says, “There’s been something that’s been bugging me for a while, and I need to go do something about it…” He shrugs and starts casually walking away as he says, “Sounds like perfect timing to me.”

Bottlecap lets just a hint of a lip curl twitch on her face before she says, “Well, when you have the time, I’ll make myself available to go over the details with you.”

Gearing nods and continues walking away but then spins around and sits down as he makes a snap with his wing and draws both of their attention as the two mares had just started to look at each other to continue their interrupted conversation. “Oh! Just one more thing!” He trots back over and tilts his head as he asks, “I just want to check… make sure we’re perfectly clear with each other… See, I got a lead on some work… from someone else… And I didn’t go through the Finders, so you’re not going to try and stake claim on some of the profits from that, are you?”

Bottlecap’s eyes go wide, and she shakes her head for a moment before she says, “Absolutely not. We only charge a commission fee for those transactions we help facilitate. Why would you think that?”

Gearing grins as he says, “Well, it’s just that… with all of the work I’ve been doing for the Finders, some might be under the impression that I am one of you,” He glances at the tan mare and then leans towards her as he looks at her and adds, “Which I’m not.” He looks at Bottlecap and tilts his head as he says, “So, just in case you’re under the mistaken impression that I work for you… that I’m one of the Finders… I just want to clear that up… Because I don’t work for you… I might do some work for you here and there but…” He waves his hoof dismissively. “I’m simply a hired hoof. A contractor. A mercenary if you want. Nothing more. You pay me for ‘a’ job, and I do that, and that’s it… understand?”

Bottlecap’s eyes narrow as she looks him over. She purses her lips to the side before she raises her head and nods. “That’s perfectly understandable. Thank you for the clarification on your loyalties.”

Gearing nods as he says, “Good, so you get it?” He asks as he raises an eyebrow and she slowly nods. “Great… because beyond that I have no affiliation with you.”

To the guard’s surprise Bottlecap actually smiles at Gearing as she nods. “We agree. You have no affiliation to the Finders and are simply a hired hoof we sometimes contract for jobs that you are suitable for. As we do for any other pony.”

The tan mare curls her lip in disgust and asks as she looks at Gearing, “What the hell’s that all about all of a sudden? Why’s your affiliation so important?”

“Because to some it matters, and I can see how there might have been some confusion in the matter given all he’s done on the Finder’s behalf recently,” Bottlecap comments evenly.

“And then there’s the problem with others already staking claim on that and who I’m with,” Gearing says as he looks at the tan mare and shrugs.

“Like, who? What group are you really with?”

Gearing looks between them and smirks as he says, “Well, the answer to that entirely depends on who you ask.”

Bottlecap actually raises an eyebrow at that and asks, “Such as?”

Gearing looks at Bottlecap and waves it away with a hoof as he says, “If you ask me… I’d say I’m an unaffiliated independent. A neutral party that’s not even from around here.”

“Sounds like a typical merc; so who’s trying to call dibs on you?” the tan mare asks with a smirk.

Gearing looks between them then rolls his eyes before he says, “Well, if you go to the arena and ask them, Big Daddy’s staked claim. He spent a good amount of time this morning chewing me out over the possibility of anyone else saying otherwise and how he’s not going to stand for it.”

The tan mare’s eyes go wide as she asks, “Wait, you’re a Reaper?!”

Bottlecap chokes and coughs for a second as she wasn’t actually expecting that given the conversation she thought they were having. “Since… when? That’s certainly a new development.”

Gearing looks at her and sighs before waving a hoof off in the general direction of the Freight Cars territory. “Since before I met you, actually. An asshole named No Shoes tried to rob me and threatened some foals I’m looking after. Even issued an official challenge over it… So… I killed him in the ring.”

“So... you’re a Reaper too? Not just that ‘Iron Hoof’ you hang around with?” the security pony asks.

“According to Big Daddy, yeah,” Gearing says with a shrug. “I don’t really claim it, but Big Daddy’s pretty insistent in the matter. So if anyone asks, make sure there’s no confusion on that. I’m not a Finder.”

The tan mare looks over at Bottlecap and says quieter, “That explains more than a few things…”

Bottlecap, noticing the growing attention and potential witnesses around them because ponies had stopped in their tracks and blatantly started listening in on the conversation after the mention of the name ‘Reaper’, slowly nods in agreement to the tan mare. She directs her attention back to Gearing and says with a slightly louder tone than she had a moment before, “Well, whether you’re a Reaper or not, I expect you to behave while in Megamart. We have a standing arrangement with Big Daddy and his Reapers. You’re still as free to shop and do business as everyone else is. Take contracts from the wall or commission them if you wish. It’s up to you as long as you follow the rules.” She shrugs and then gives the faintest smile as she says, “I really don’t see the difference between what you’ve already been doing and now… Except now we know your affiliations… It’s not like you’ve ever said you were a Finder.” She grins wider as she says, “I’d have had to have a discussion with you about your lack of license payment if you ever did.”

Gearing nods rapidly as he smiles. “That’s fair.” He gets up and starts leaving as he says, “Now, I got another job to get to; see ya later.”

The tan mare calls after Gearing, “You really gonna kill Lodestar?” and gets a scathing stare from Bottlecap for her question that makes her ears fall back quickly and give a sheepish smile in return.

Gearing glances back at her and says flatly, “That depends how he wants to play ball. Either he gives us what we agreed on, and proves it’s one big misunderstanding like he’s saying… or he’s lying, and, well… I wasn’t lying when I said I’d rip his head off if it turns out he did set us up to be killed… The jury’s still out on whether I’ll actually give it to Swift and the others to play hoofball with, considering that’s not one but two he backstabbed if that’s the case.”

Bottlecap interjects, “I’ll have a word with him shortly and get this sorted out. But, again, please do not go threatening the merchants in here. And absolutely no fighting! I don’t care if you are a Reaper, Big Daddy still hasn’t paid the balance from the last time one of you started a fight in here.”

“I’ll keep any messy details outside of Megamart, I promise Bottlecap,” Gearing says as he turns and keeps on walking away. Gearing can’t help but notice the number of ponies that suddenly remember they have other places to be, and quickly scramble away as he walks away from Bottlecap.

As he’s walking, there’s a lot that he has on his mind. Although, contrary to what most would think, the whole situation with Lodestar is only a small part of it. He’d learned a lot from Mags. And he’s trying his hardest not to judge her too harshly. He’s already sure she’s going to be beating herself up for everything more than enough for the rest of her life over it. He doesn’t need nor want to add to it. Especially since the information she got in the process is most likely going to make all the difference. Not just for her quest for vengeance, but for his own long term plans as well. He’d still rather not associate with slavers. At all. Unless he’s only doing it to pump them for information to wreck their world. But that’s exactly what she did. Fraternizing with the enemy. That’s how she knows so much. Loose social connections with a few of Usury’s slavers. She can’t prove it, but her theory is that one of them got behind on their quota, knew she wouldn’t be there to help defend the home, and they broke in and took them to try and save their own skin. Red Eye’s appetite for pony flesh to do his work is insatiable. And he’s apparently been growing more aggressive. And to make matters worse, or better depending on your point of view, Usury’s been falling behind in her obligations to him.

Which might be exactly the wedge that Gearing had been trying to find to crack the whole operation apart.

But it saddens him that she had to lose her entire family to it before she was willing to say anything. He would have helped her and started the moment he was told had he’d known. He knows that. And, what’s worse, she knows it to be true as well. He’d already proven the point with the slavers that took Sugerbell’s father. So she’s got to be the one who has to live with that: keeping secrets she shouldn’t have until it was too late and bit her in the flank. Although that’s even a sketchy point in itself as well.

Because he feels a bit slimy on the things he did say to her in that regard.

She’d moaned and cried about how much she wanted to die and be with her family. And how she’d already been debating on either eating a bullet herself, or just getting so drunk she doesn’t feel anything more, and then shooting up Paradise Mall as much as she can before they finally take her down. Maybe take a few of them out with her. Which seemed to be the winning option in her mind.

Until Gearing twisted her grief and shame against her.

What he told her amounted to her being selfish for putting them into that situation, but then taking the easy way out and killing herself. And he’d asked why they had to keep suffering until they finally died, while she got to just give up. At the bare minimum she can wait until Usury is taken care of. Or, if she really wanted to atone, stop feeling sorry for herself and do something about it. Not in a drunken blind rage that’s doomed to fail, but in a way that’ll do some actual good. Or, and even better, get all the info she can, and feed it to him, so he can take care of it. Because eventually they’ll get the ones that snatched her family and then her family will properly be avenged and can rest in peace.

And then there are his parting words, which were something that he still actually regrets saying. He told her that she had a decision, and could either do something to make right for her mistakes, or she could give up entirely and in doing so fail her family a second time. It cut deep. He saw the look on her face in agonizing detail as the syllables fell out of his mouth. And as someone who knows more than a little bit about the guilt failure brings, it was a double edged sword that cut him as well. Possibly even more than it did her.

If anyone else had seen the exchange he knows that he’d be getting yelled at as a self righteous bastard that has no right to say something like that to her. And, he’d have to agree with them, at least on an internal personal level. He’s in no position to judge anyone over their own mistakes. But at the same time he hopes the push, the biting stinging statements, will stay with her. Because as long as they torment her, she’ll be thinking about it. And as long as she has the capacity to think, she’ll be alive. What she does with that is up to her but he hopes that she can turn her grief and anger into a fuel to keep her going.

It’s worked so far for him.

As he’s still scolding himself for his piss poor choice of counseling techniques he walks around Megamart in a roundabout way. He intentionally avoids going near the area where Happy Trails has her booth. There’s enough tension that just walking by it might break the seal and get everyone covered in muck. So he starts walking by the area with the cots as he’s trying to figure out where he should go and what exactly he should do.

And, as he’s walking by, a flash of white catches his eye and he glances over. On the far end, away from everyone else, is Swift and Handy lying on cots as Dandy sits near them talking with them. Or, what would be a more accurate explanation, would be that everyone else is actively staying away from them after the Lodestar incident and the pair were just being polite enough to stay in the far side back area. Dandy, obviously not perturbed by the news of the incident, sits nearby and chats merrily with an apparently very sleepy Swift.

Handy, for his part, seems to be just as, if not more, exhausted. But he’s far more awake as his cold is contributing to quite the pile of mucus filled cloths on the floor near the head of his bed as he rolls over one way after another and tries to get into a position where he can breathe easier and get some actual sleep. And as Gearing is looking them over, he can’t help but notice the pile of supplies in between and under Swift and Handy’s cots that he’s not sure where it all came from.

As he’s trying to see what it could all be, Dandy happens to glance over in his direction, whip her head to look right at him, and a grin explodes across her muzzle.

She raises a foreleg high in the air as she calls him over. “Hey, Gearing, over here!” She climbs up into the cot next to Swift and starts getting comfortable as she stretches out and looks at him. “Swift’s been catching me up with what all you guys have been up to.”

“Oh?” Gearing asks as he walks up and sits down on the floor not far from them but closer to Dandy’s cot to avoid the mess on the floor. He arcs an eyebrow as he looks at Swift, as the cheerfulness of the greeting really didn’t seem to match what he’d expect.

Swift groans as she stares at Gearing with her eyes drooping. She yawns as she says, “Just the highlights… not… everything… else…”

“Fuck the lowlife lowlights,” Handy mutters from his cot as he performs another comfort seeking rolling tumble across the top of the cot and, this time, ends up belly down as he hangs his right two limbs off the bed.

Dandy grins as she looks at Gearing. “Did you seriously scale an elevator shaft by gluing spikes to yourself? That’s so crazy!”

Gearing smirks as he says, “Yeah, but, they weren’t spikes…”

Dandy scrunches her face to the side as she raises an ear. “What?”

Gearing reaches into his bag and pulls out the smallest pinkie claw he’d salvaged from the museum from the metal box it's stored in and holds it up with his wingtip. He starts twirling it around with his green wingtip, seemingly enjoying showing off his dexterity with it, as he says with a grin, “It was some of these… not spikes…”

Dandy’s eyes go rounder by the second as she seems absolutely mesmerized by it. But then she extends out a forehoof and starts waving it at the claw as she asks, “I-is… Is- Is that- Is that a wyvern’s claw?!”

Gearing flicks the claw up into the air as he chuckles. He catches it again and goes back to twirling it as he looks at her and smiles. “Dragon, Dandy, dragon… It’s a dragon’s claw… wyverns only pretend to be dragons until the real dragons show up!”

He scoots just a bit closer to her as he holds it for her to see.

‘What… what’s that smell?’ the little pegasus in Gearing’s head asks as he lifts his head and looks around, despite how tired and weak he feels.

Gearing mindlessly scoots just a bit closer as he mentally replies, I’m not sure.

The movement catches Handy’s attention and he starts eyeballing Gearing suspiciously.

Dandy’s jaw drops, and her foreleg stops mid shake, as her eyes go to their absolute widest and seem to practically sparkle. “H-he said it…” Her ears and cheeks start turning rosy as a flush seems to grow across her entire body. “Heh… hehe… pretend… to be dragons… heh… hehehehe…” She seems to lose all sight of their surroundings as she slowly turns into a drooling giggling mess and seems to practically melt into the cot as she gets lost in her own thoughts. “Heh… claws… hehe.”

Swift’s eyes suddenly seem to lose their sleepiness as she looks over at Dandy’s sudden rapid devolution into a giggling mare puddle. “What the hell? That’s a weird ass kink…” Swift sniffs the air a few times before she rolls her eyes and starts changing positions. “Oh hell… seriously? I’m too tired for this…” She flops over in a decidedly different direction and tries to ignore whatever it is Dandy’s doing.

With Dandy lost in a world of mental thoughts and apparently unable to speak anymore, Gearing shifts over and looks at Swift and asks, “What’s with all of the stuff under you guys?” Although he shifts closer to Dandy ever so much more while talking to Swift.

‘What is that smell?’ the little blue pegasus in his head asks as he closes his eyes and starts snuffing around.

Swift groans, “We don’t trust Lodestar, so we got our shit back from Happy Trails. Had security drop it off for us. The stuff they had of yours is under Handy’s head. Apparently Patches still has some of your other stuff though, but that should be fine.”

“Ah, okay,” Gearing replies as he leans over ever so much. He closes his eyes and slightly shifts as he takes in a long slow snuff and tries to follow the scent.

Swift’s eyes go wider by the second, as Handy’s narrow. As what’s taking place before him happens, Handy mutters flatly, “Bullshit… bullshit…”

Instantly Dandy’s eyes zip open crystal clear as she’s violently pulled out of her fantasy world.

All because Gearing had started his long slow intake of air at the base of her neck, trailed it up her mane, behind her ear, and ever so lightly brushed against her horn and ear with his lips as faint as a butterfly’s kiss. She slowly starts shaking as he retraces the path, and she shivers as he brushes past her ear yet again.

“Bullshit,” Handy mutters again as he stares at Gearing mindlessly casually invading Dandy’s personal space.

‘Why’s her hair smell so good?’ the little blue pegasus in Gearing’s head asks as it’s completely confused.

“G-Gearing!?” Dandy shrieks as he tickles her neck with his lips. Yet again. “W-what are you doing?”

Gearing pulls back a bit, just enough not to butt heads as Dandy jumps her head up to look at him. He looks her in the eye and asks flatly, “New shampoo?”

Dandy stares at him blankly, although the flush working its way down her neck doesn’t diminish at all. “‘New shamp-’?” She looks over at Handy, who is glaring at Gearing endlessly, and Swift, whose eyes couldn’t get any bigger if she tried. A smirk grows across her face as she says, “Oh, I get it…” She taps him on the cheek with a forehoof, in a light slap, as she says, “You’re getting fresh, aren’t you?” She climbs out of the cot as she says, “Mmm hmmm, that’s it. I need to have a little conversation with you and your habit of invading my personal space.” As she’s walking by him, she wraps her tail around his neck and says, “Come on, you, let’s go have a chat… I know where we won’t wake up ponies trying to sleep.”

Gearing tilts and leans towards her, and then gets up to follow along fluidly as he says flatly, “Uh, yeah, sure. Let’s go.”

As Gearing is walking out of the Megamart cot area, Handy mutters, “Bullshit… Don’t know what I’m talking about, huh? No way you’re that dense… no way…”

As Dandy is leading Gearing up the metal stairs that lead to Megamart’s roof, the little pegasus in Gearing’s head keeps leaning closer and closer as he asks, ‘What is that smell?’

Gearing mentally replies as his body mindlessly follows Dandy, I don’t know, but I want it…

After Swift had fallen asleep, and with Handy still wishing he could, a pink lemonade pelted mare in a caravanner outfit comes trotting through the cots without paying much attention to her surroundings. Whether she’s too focused on what she’s wanting to do, or because it’s so early in the day she doesn’t expect anyone else to really be trying to sleep, her hooffalls aren’t exactly quiet. So she draws Handy’s attention as she quickly marches over to where another caravanner mare is laid out on a cot.

The audacious mare stops right next to the cot, and unceremoniously starts poking the orange sleeping mare in the side with a hoof, quickly waking her up.

The mare laying down jerks at being touched, then looks at the mare next to her and asks grumpily, “The hell you want? I thought you all went to go play cards?”

“I did. We did. Gimmie a cigarette…” She pokes her a couple more times. “Gimmie a couple, actually.”

The orange mare in the bed lets out a few grumbles and growls before she says, “Did you really just wake me up for a fucking cigarette?!”

“I need one, I need one bad… And we haven’t been paid yet and you owe me a few.”

The mare in the cot rolls around and grumbles. A moment later her horn glows and the jacket she had laying over the side of her cot floats up. A pack of cigarettes comes floating out of one of the pockets and then gets flicked at the mare that woke her up. “You don’t smoke that often, how could you need one so badly?” She lays down and glares at her. “Bad enough to wake my ass up?!”

The mare quickly grabs the pack, flicks a cigarette out of it and directly into her mouth, and lights it up.

The momentary flare up reveals the pink lemonade mare’s face more and the mare laying down lifts up a bit before she asks, “Why are you so flushed?” She smirks. “You’re pinker than normal.” She taps on her own cheek with a hoof to indicate where she can see a very noticeable color change in her friend’s complexion.

The smoking mare takes a few more puffs before sitting down next to her. “I just had a hell of a time. We’re all up there trying to enjoy ourselves with a game before our next run … but apparently Patches decided to enjoy herself some other way.”

The mare lying down rolls over to look at her and grins. “You mean…?”

She puffs on the cigarette a few more times before she says, “Oh, it wasn’t just somepony… She musta hired a professional.” She puffs a few more times and lets the smoke out in a long stream. “Whoever it is has got Patches making noises that’s getting everypony frustrated and going to have a hard time sleeping tonight.”

The mare on the cot chuckles as she stretches out. “Got you all hard up, huh?”

The smoking mare stares her in the eye and groans, “I swear I almost came just hearing it.”

The mare on the cot chuckles as she asks, “Why don’t you just knock on the crate and ask if you can join?”

“Because they might say ‘Yes’ and I might just die,” the smoking mare replies matter-of-factly.

“Patches? Why’s that name sound familiar?” Handy asks quietly.

“That’s the armor mare Gearing’s been dealing with,” Swift says with a yawn and betrays the fact that she’s been more awake than those around might have otherwise thought.

Handy raises an eyebrow as he asks, “He left with Dandy… It can’t just be a coincidence; can it? What’s he doin’? Trying to get a discount?”

Swift snickers and shrugs. “I don’t know. I don’t wanna know…” She lifts her head and smirks as she looks at Handy. “In case you haven’t heard, that buck gets around.”

The orange and pink lemonade mares have been joined by a few of their other co-workers and friends from the trail. After a while, it got to be too much for them and they came down to get out of the noise radius of whatever is going on inside of Patches’ personal crate. And, after enough of them came down, they started another pickup game of cards, with even the orange mare joining in. After all, any chance of going to sleep early went out the window a while ago after the next two came down to join the mare that woke her up.

Gearing comes down the aisle way, bopping and just a half beat below prancing as he makes his way to Megamart’s cot motel. He pauses long enough to stretch out with his forelegs, extra long as he slides his forehooves way out and wiggles all over as his front half dips low and his tail flies around behind him.

The little blue pegasus in his head mimics him perfectly as it has a wide smile on its face and performs the same downward dog stretch. ‘I feel so much better!’

Gearing straightens up and starts trotting down the aisle with a warm smile on his face as he casually looks back and forth, dipping his head respectfully to those that he locks eyes with along the way.

‘I was wondering how long it was going to take before that enervation crap worked itself out of us…’ The little blue pegasus in his head actually prances in place. ‘Not going to lie, I was starting to worry with how long it was taking.’

I hear ya, I’ve never felt so off in all my life, Gearing mentally replies.

‘I felt fuzzy, and only half here, and just ridiculously light. Like the implant had malfunctioned and was making us weigh less than a cloud.’

Yeah, what was that all about? Gearing mentally asks as his outward face momentarily twitches into showing how perturbed he is at the thought. Felt like I was going to drift away at any second!

‘Well, it’s over now. But at least we know that we just needa give it more time and rest away from that craziness.’ The little pegasus starts flying around in casual figure eights going through cloud hoops as he says, ‘I feel all topped up, full of energy, and ready to go!’

Really weird coincidence on the timing though, Gearing mentally chuckles.

The little blue pegasus in his head giggles as he replies, ‘I know, right?! If that acted like a battery for us, we could be super charged all the time!’

“Wouldn’t that be something though?” Gearing mutters aloud as he turns and starts walking into the cot motel at an energetic trot.

The entire way Gearing has been oblivious to the attention directed at him. He’s been keeping an eye out, as he normally does, for trouble. But in this instance, the looks stay under his radar as they are, in general, rather amused about something. And he doesn’t even pay attention to the card playing mares as they all look over and stare at him as he enters the area.

After a few whispers there’s a general consensus of agreement, before they all end up sharing the same sort of amused smirks as those Gearing had passed on the way here.

“He must really enjoy his job,” the orange mare comments as she shamelessly stares. “I wonder how he’s even walking already after all that… I’d figure even a pro would be sleeping it off now.”

The mare with the deck of cards continues shuffling mindlessly as she asks, “I wonder what he charges?”

The pink lemonade mare lights up another cigarette before she says, “He’s fucking gold… I don’t think we could afford it even if we pooled our money…”

The mare with the cards makes an exaggerated show of taking a long time to bridge shuffle the cards. “Judging by the noise he drew out of Patches, I wouldn’t mind fucking some gold myself…”

The orange mare sits up, her eyes going wide as something caught her eye. “Wait… did I just see green wings?!”

They all stare and focus more, and slowly their eyes go wide as well as they see the extremely shiny buck ruffling his crystalline feathers. Then, as one, they all gasp in quiet voices as they all turn to look at each other. “““Fixer?!”””

The name, as quietly as it’s uttered, draws the focus of one of Gearing’s ears. Then he turns his head and glances over at them sideways to see if they had any actual business with him or if they were trying to get his attention. As the group looks at him, and he returns the attention, he gives them a smirk of a grin, before gently waving with one of his wings as he continues on towards Swift and Handy.

‘Oh… lookit… more fans it seems,’ the little blue pegasus comments as he energetically waves at the group of card playing caravanners. Although, none of them can see it for obvious reasons. ‘They don’t seem mad at us for Lodestar.’

That’s a plus, Gearing replies. But I’m still not too enthused with being so easily recognizable… Damn I wish I had my skin…

The caravanners all start snickering before the mare with the cards starts dealing and comments, “Yeah, sounded like he fixed’er good alright.” She gets a mischievous grin on her muzzle as she suggests, “How about the first one out goes ask how much a ride’d cost?” She quickly gets shot down by the rest of the caravanner troop who throw out a variety of excuses on why they don’t want to.

Not detecting any problems that he needs to deal with, or avoid, Gearing focuses on Swift and Handy. Both of which are sprawled out on their respective cots and neither looks particularly well at the moment.

“You guys alright?” Gearing asks as he looks them over.

Swift lets out a sigh before she replies softly, “Yeah… we’ll be fine… just need some sleep… like, a lot of sleep.” She limply waves a hoof over towards Handy as she says, “He got some sleep here and there in the tunnels, but not as much as he’d like, and he’s still sick. And I haven’t really had much rest since we left Chapel… I’ll be good in the morning. That’s why I’m turning in so early.”

“Alright, well, you guys take it easy and I’ll see you tomorrow,” Gearing replies evenly.

“You going somewhere?” Handy asks after he has rolled around again and has now flopped on his side so he can look at them without having to use his own strength to lift his own head.

“I got a lead I want to follow. And I need to get some equipment and stuff sorted. Plus I think getting out of here will give everyone a chance to chill out,” Gearing says with a shrug. “Give me something to do besides sit and stew. Keep myself busy.”

Swift opens an eye to look at him and waves a foreleg at him as she yawns. “Just don’t go getting yourself in any more kind of trouble. Alright? At least let me get a nap before you try to start another world war or something.”

Gearing snaps with his wing as he grins and asks, “Awww… How’d you know what I wanted to do? You’re no fun.”

She waves a hoof limply and giggles as she says, “Okay… fine, no world wars but anything less than a local skirmish is fine...”

Gearing rolls his eyes and waves it away. “Fine fine, I’ll wait until you’re feeling better before I start running around and challenging them all to a hoofball game.”

Swift lifts up just enough to look at him as she asks, “You can’t be serious?”

Gearing chuckles as he grins widely. “Nah, I fucking hate sports!

Swift nods a couple times before laying back down. “That’s what I thought… Was just checking…”

Gearing walks over near Handy and asks, “Sinuses still messing with you?”

“My kids mess with me. My wife messes with me. Misplacing my tools messes with me… My sinuses are fucking killing me,” Handy says with a groan.

“You’ll be fine, Handy, you’ve had head colds before…” Swift says with a groan.

Gearing reaches out and points at Handy’s muzzle using a wing as he says, “Well, you know, if it’s that bad… you could cut into the sinuses here and here… insert a tube to drain them and flush them and it’d help clear it up quicker.”

Handy looks from Gearing’s wingtip, that’s pointing at the side of his muzzle, up to Gearing’s eyes before he asks with his own eyes barely open, “You can’t be serious.”

“It’s called a lavage; it’ll flush all that crap right out through your nostrils. I’m sure we can get what we need from Bonesaw, or just have him do it for you,” Gearing offers evenly.

Handy slowly looks over at Swift and groans, “Swiiiiift… Gearing wants to cut my face up and give me a lozenge…”

“It’s perfectly normal for bad sinus infections, and safe when done clinically,” Gearing replies as he looks over at Swift.

“If I have to get out of bed, I’m kicking everypony’s ass,” Swift groans as she presses into the cot and squeezes her eyes tightly closed in frustration.

Handy waves a hoof at Gearing and grumbles, “If it’s such a great idea, go test it on Lodestar… if he survives I’ll give it a shot…”

Gearing rolls his eyes and starts sorting through the supplies below the cot under Handy’s head as he says, “All that’d prove is that the procedure is safe, not that it works. Drilling a hole into Lodestar’s sinuses might seem funny to you, but beyond proving you can, it’d be a waste…”

Swift grumbles as she puts her hooves over her ears, “Really, do I need to separate you two so I can get some sleep?!”

Handy, flops around again, and ends up looking away from them as he starts to get comfortable. But then the honking from his nose starts as Gearing resumes digging around for his own supplies.

After getting a selection of items from his belongings under Handy, Gearing heads back the scenic route around Megamart as he makes his way to Patches’ booth. As he’s walking up he finds her sitting on the inside hard at work at her bench. And she only looks up after she hears a soft knock on her table. She looks over at him with a cigarette hanging out of the corner of her mouth as she starts giving him a critical eye.

Gearing gives her a sheepish smile as he asks, “Uhm… am I still allowed here?”

She doesn’t even bother to remove the cigarette from her mouth as she says flatly, “It wasn’t my neck you had all strung up in the air.”

Gearing has the good sense to at least cringe a bit before he asks, “Soooo?”

She pulls her cigarette out of her mouth with her magical field, and holds it to the side as she blows the smoke up into the air above them. “So, what, you wanna talk about it?”

Gearing shakes his head. “That’s not why I’m here, but if you have questions I’ll answer them.”

She puffs on her cigarette as she looks his face over. “You really think he did what you’d said?”

Gearing lets out a sigh and closes his eyes as he replies, “I don’t know for sure. If I knew, I woulda probably already killed him. But, I don’t. So I haven’t.” He opens his eyes as he stares at her and adds, “But might know within a day if I’m right… two weeks tops.”

“I hope you don’t mind me sayin’… but I really hope you’re wrong… like really hope so,” Patches comments as she goes back to puffing on her cigarette. “Things are barely holdin’ on ‘round here and by mighty frayed threads… Somepony doing that, killin’ off their so called friends, fellow caravanners, merchants,” she waves towards Gearing, “the ones they hire… That’s the kinda stuff that keeps ponies from workin’ together. At all.”

“And I hope you don’t mind me saying that I truly hope I’m wrong too,” Gearing says with a wide smile. “I mean, it doesn’t happen a lot… but, it’s been known to happen.”

She snorts and puts out her cigarette before she asks, “Well, what can I help you with today?” She looks him over as she says, “You’re a bit loud today… visually included.” She smirks as she asks, “Where’s that cloak you’d been running ‘round with?”

Gearing shrugs and waves off towards the Core. “Gave it to some kids at Chapel. They looked like they needed it more.”

“Mmmhmmm and jus’ what you gonna do now? I mean, you’re a little conspicuous and it’ll only take a glance before some o’ those Steel Ranger assholes notice you.”

Gearing slowly walks closer as he waves towards under her table. “Well. I was hoping you could help me out with that, actually. And I came to pick up Snakebite and a few other things.”

She slides back from the table and then uses her levitation to drag the box that she’d stored his things in out in front of her. She flips it open as she says, “I haven’t been able to repair your armor yet. Sorry. I got a bit busy. And you still needa take care o’ the helmet business yourself. That thing looks ready for the recycle bin, but you said you were sure you can fix it… So that’s on you.”

“I can,” Gearing says flatly as he nods and starts looking over the box’s contents.

Patches watches as he pulls out the fabled ‘Snakebite’ and can’t help but smirking as she asks, “Why is it that even that thing that looks like a toy to me, seems like it can be dangerous in your hooves?”

Gearing pulls out the two pieces, separately, and starts looking them over carefully. Snakebite looks like some kind of toy that young colts and fillies would play with when playing war or some other such foolishness. When fully assembled, and the two pieces put together, it resembles a small rifle. Much too small for a full grown adult to be taking seriously. And the interior diameter of the barrel is so small very few could take it seriously in general. The stock portion isn’t actually a ‘stock’ as much as it is an air canister for compressed air. A canister which is used to launch the small projectiles relatively long distances. Although, it has a secondary mode with a tension spring that flings its ammo silently at close distances, but needs to be pulled back and cocked each time it’s fired. Snakebite’s composed of two primary pieces. The first accounts for the majority of the barrel’s length. And though it comes off, the weapon is still capable of being fired without it. The extra length is a simple addition to allow longer more accurate shots. But, even with it, it’s a medium ranged weapon at best because the projectiles lose velocity after exiting the barrel quite quickly. The second piece is ‘everything else’ that makes up the weapon. It has a quality of life feature where a set of clips on the side of the main body allow the barrel to be safely stored when not needed. But, even when it’s clipped to the side, it doesn’t stop Snakebite’s function. A function that has a lot to do with its name.

Gearing pulls out a cloth bag from the box, and quickly stores it on himself, before he pulls a Mint-als tin from inside of the box and cracks it open. It is at this point that Patches finally gets to see the ammunition for Snakebite. A collection of small darts lay tightly wedged in with foam inside of the Mint-als tin. To the casual observer, they don’t look like much. Maybe tiny doses of some medication. But for anyone that had known a bit of Gearing’s recent history, the darts would take on an entirely new meaning. Because they are the exact shape, size, and configuration of the darts that he’d found in a similar Mint-als tin in the R&D section of Stable 68. And the fact that Snakebite, as it is currently designed and laid out, is capable of firing these darts, and thus those, is no accident. And just as with those darts, it’s not the darts that are dangerous, but what they could potentially carry.

And that’s by both intent and design.

For the darts he has are capable of holding pretty much anything in them. From a sedative, to a poison, or any other kind of injectably delivered cocktail. The ones currently in his possession he made by diving through the trash and refuse piles. And Bonesaw’s trashcan was particularly fruitful for spent and damaged needles or empty med-x injectors that Gearing was able to repurpose.

Although, because he doesn’t quite know what he wants to do with each one, and because he’s a fan of forethought, he’s already sterilized them extensively. After all, he doesn’t want to intend on knocking someone out, only to end up giving them raider disease from a junkie’s dirty needle.

Patches looks at Gearing as he’s closing up the tin and asks, “What are you gonna do with those little things?”

“The plan is to get some answers. But I need to get ahold of something around here that’s got some poison I can milk or a gland I can remove and use.”

Patches smirks as she says, “You know, there’s this crazy mare that’s always cookin’ with scorpion glands and puttin’ orders on the wall. Most o’ her last order had already been filled, but she might want some more.” She waves towards the board on the wall a distance away. “The old gravel mine’s always had a problem with them. But they can be pretty much anywhere. I mean, you could try to hunt down some snakes, if you think that’d work, but I think the scorpions would be your best bet.”

Gearing lets out a sigh as he says, “Yeah, but unless they are jumbo sized arachnids it’d take quite a few to really do anything. One per dose if I’m lucky.”

Patches lights a new cigarette then grins as she takes a puff from it. She pulls it out with her magic and points it at him as she asks, “You really are new around here, ain’t ya?”

After an excessive amount of teasing about his lack of common knowledge, Patches was willing to help him out with some information to help him along his way. And, arguably more importantly, help get him ‘dressed for success’. The full body suit she’d provided him probably won’t last a terribly long time. Especially if he moves around excessively. It’s so ridiculously form fitting that his gears pinch it in a variety of locations. However, the fabric is thin enough that it doesn’t jam up his movements. It just makes it feel weird when the thin bits slide in between the rotating gears along his sides and legs. The down side is while it doesn’t harm him, it does stress the fabric and will, eventually, start developing holes. He’s not sure what the bodysuit is really for, or was originally intended, as it covers everything from flank to up to the top of his head. And it leaves just his hooves and face poking out. Although, after Patches compliments him on his ass and how the suit makes it look, even providing a mirror to prove her point, he definitely has a few ideas on the original purpose. Especially since he had to agree with her.

But, in a move that would make Sable cry if she were around, they complete the look with a couple layers of other fabric to help him be able to blend into his surroundings and move easier. As much good as the body suit does for toning down the amount of visible brass across his body, its main job was actually to keep the rest of the fabric out of his gears. Because that has a much higher chance of causing some kind of problem. For his wings, he simply returns to the wing sleeves from the riot gear compilation. As that was one of the few things that Patches was able to actually get put back together. And Gearing is more than happy to have the rubbery material covering his wings once more. Although, at the same time, he hopes he doesn’t run into any beam weapon wielding maniacs. It would be unfortunate if he couldn’t simply use their weapons against them. And, more importantly, it’d increase his chances of getting burnt and ashed by not being able to reflect and refract the light elsewhere. The last thing she sets him up with before she lets him out of her sight is a cloth face mask and head covering cowl combination. Along with a pair of goggles that she’s not even sure how he can actually see through them, but whatever makes him happy and works she’s happy with.

After a quick stop by the posting board, Gearing happily yanks down a piece of paper and chases down the pony who’d put it up.

As Bonesaw is closing up his clinic for the night, he looks up as the commission announcement is dropped on the counter in front of his face. Bonesaw looks up, and balks as he sees Gearing’s grinning face not far from his. Even though Gearing had thoughtfully removed the facemask and goggles, so Bonesaw could easily see who he is, his sudden silent appearance still startles Bonesaw so badly that he jumps in surprise and has goosebumps crawl all over him.

Gearing taps on the paper a few times as his smile just gets bigger by the second. “You need scorpion glands, right?”

“Y-yeah?” Bonesaw asks as he pulls back and has a hard time understanding why the brass buck looks so happy. “To make some antivenom. I’m running low because idiots keep getting stung.”

Gearing leans closer, causing Bonesaw to recoil more, as he asks, “Well, tell me where they keep getting stung, and I’ll solve both problems!” His grin gets wider as he asks, “Where’s the scorpions?!”

---

Footnote:

Please Stand By. . .

Please Stand By. . .

Please Stand By. . .

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