Chapter 6-1: Open Air Irritation

[The Wasteland began to erode me from the first night out.]

I sat huddled in the ruins of a dead city, giggling. After hours of struggling to make sense of the events over the past few days, my strained mind had taken a break to focus on the only thing of which I was certain.

Heeheehee, Naiara got shot in the flank!

The sky was bright as I sat in the corner of a formerly three-story building. All that was left of it after all this time was a single floor with a lot of rubble forming a makeshift roof. The entire city of Whinniepeg was like this.

I shivered as a whistling gust blew through the rubble and licked at my body. The rubble might offer some cover from rain but it didn’t do much to warm my drained form. Even now, in the middle of the day, there was little heat present. The far-off howling of the blizzard exposed the reason.

The blizzard. That damn blizzard. Day in and day out it never ends. Even here.

I rose to my hooves and moved from under the dilapidated building. Leaning against what was left of the building’s wall, I turned to the distant storm. There it was, stretching across the horizon.

My world of white.

I’d seen it so many times through my frequent External Monitor Duty rotations and not once had it ever let up. One slow week I’d gone through the EMD archives and they too showed that the blizzard was, for all intents and purposes, eternal. Two hundred years and still going strong. It seemed mind-boggling now.

Turning my head I saw that the storm could be seen from one edge of my vision to the other. A solid barrier running across the entirety of Equestria’s North. It was hardly any wonder why we saw few pegasi around. Having to contend with that weather would make any flier think twice.

Is this because of the pegasi closing the sky? A side-effect of the bombs? Or was Old Equestria just that nuts?

Even with all that was going on, my heart still found a way to break a little more when looking at that blizzard. Seeing how it seemed to run potentially across the entire Northern Equestrian border made me realise that on some level I had believed that it was specific to Stable 61’s mountain. I had believed that perhaps I could have used it to find my way home again.

It’s surprising how much it hurts to lose a belief you never knew you had.

And why did I no longer have that belief?

Cassie.

Obviously not just the star-flanked pegasus, but I wasn’t ready to face the thoughts of the other culprit, not yet. So Cassie was, for the moment, the subject of my displeasure.

I ground my teeth and hissed out the words. “I was looking for you! After you shot me! I was looking for you to bring you back to your sister because I felt bad for the two of you! Even after you left me to the Steel Rangers without a backwards glance! I forgave you! I fought alongside you! Then you strangle me and try to steal from me for the second time! Without a word you took my home from me! If I find you before Breeze does-”

A shadow flashed across me before I could finish. My eyes shot skyward just as two more shapes crossed the clearing. Panicking, I scrambled back into my hollow as more outlines joined them. Perhaps a dozen, maybe more. I couldn’t see anything but their shadows from my position.

Inching my way forward, I scanned the area in the hope of spotting the newcomers before they spotted me. My belly chafed within moments as the debris-strewn ground pushed my clothing into me but I didn’t dare rise. The irritation was minor compared to the thought that these might be slavers or Raiders. I followed the direction their shadows had been heading, attempting to stay in cover and moving as quickly as possible when I could not.

“Is this the place, boss?” The sound of the masculine voice from around the next corner froze me in mid-crawl.

“Indeed it is. The radiation scanner’s going off the charts. Everybody take a RadSafe now and check your RadAway stocks. If you’ve got less than two with you then find one of your fellow grunts who has extra and get one from him. Nobody’s getting sick on my watch. You get me?!” The voice was loud and raucous. It demanded authority.

“WE GET YOU, SIR!” Was the unequivocal response.

I flattened myself against the wall and inched my way towards the corner of the building. I tried to keep as much of myself concealed as possible as I ever-so-carefully poked one eye around the corner.

The biggest griffon I’d ever seen was directing his squad inside the building. He was stone-grey from from tail to tip. Only his yellowed beak and dirty claws gave him any sort of colour change. With the lines and scars adorning his form it was hard to tell if the grey was natural or a sign of age. He was no spring chicken either way. A brown cigar poked out of the side of his beak with a small plume of smoke trailing off it. Each of the other griffon wore grey body armour and helmets and carried a two-handed rifle. The big boss griffon was the last to enter the irradiated building I’d avoided before. He took a long, slow look around before entering, which forced me to duck back and wait a few minutes before venturing out.

He’d left no guards but I suppose if there was that much radiation in play you’d want things taken care of as soon as possible. Leaving somebody standing outside just reduced your numbers and had them do nothing but soak up radiation. I downed a RadSafe myself before approaching the doors of the building.

This is a very Snowflake-stupid thing to do but anything’s better than sitting around with no clue how to get, well, anywhere.

Without my Pipbuck I had no idea how much radiation I was soaking up each second so I moved as fast as I could without making too much noise. I eased the door open and glanced around.

The lobby was a square room with glass doors behind a rotting desk at the other end. They’d been forced open. Nothing else was in the room, not even windows. Gulping, I stepped inside and quietly scuttled over to the desk, staying as low as possible in case any griffons returned. I risked a quick glance over the top of the desk and down the hallway behind the door before ducking down again. It looked all clear but I still proceeded with caution. I took a deep breath and ventured cautiously down the darkened corridor.

~~~~~~

“You have got to be The dumbest unicorn I have ever laid eyes on! You have no gun and yet you still chase down a dozen griffons in a place where you are between us and the only exit? You must be kidding me!” The big griffon blew a load of smoke into my face. The smell was awful and it caused my eyes to water as I coughed.

Seeing my discomfort, he stepped back and addressed the two griffons who’d snuck up on me on the floor above. My stealth skills were obviously not up to task. “Eitom, Wicker, I’ll take ‘er from here. You head down to the next level and meet up with Delta.”

The claws holding me did not slacken. “You sure that’s wise, boss? Unicorn’s got magic after all.”

McCoy stomped up into Wicker’s face. His eyes were hard and his tone was final. “Did I ask your opinion, Wicker?! No, I did not! I said to get your tailfeathers down to the next level and meet up with Delta. I don’t think Wicker should still be here, am I right Monsters?”

Wicker and Eitom instantly dropped me and stood to attention. “SIR, YES, SIR!” And with that they sped off. Both myself and McCoy watched them disappear around the corner.

The griffon took a long drag on his smoke. “Mhm, damn right I am.”

He turned to me, “Now then, li’l lady, you’ll be comin’ with me. I ain’t gonna hurt ya or let nuthin’ else hurt ya. I’m under contract, y’see. Anything or anyone of note we find down here we bring back undamaged.”

I thought about this as the griffon took another drag, the end of his cigar glowing orange. “So I can just walk away and you won’t touch me?”

He just coughed/laughed past his cigar at this. “Now did I say that? Touchin’ ain’t the same as damagin’, li’l missy. You’ll recall I said that we’re to bring back anything we find? Well that means you’re gettin’ brought back whether you like it or not. Try to get rough and I’ll subdue you. Try to magic us and I’ll sedate you. You’re coming with us, unharmed, because that’s what we’ve been contracted to do. You’ve got the word of McCoy of McCoy’s Monsters on that.”

“Lovely.” I bit out. So I was not gonna be killed but I was a prisoner nonetheless. I was gonna be dragged back to whoever this griffon’s employer was.

Unless I take him out now and make a run for it...

“And just so you don’t go gettin’ any crazy ideas about takin’ me on and bolting, I’ve had an open channel to all my Monsters while we’ve been talking. They see you without me and they’ll stop you. Again, they won’t harm you but you will be coming home with us.”

Fuck.

Griffons didn’t mess around with contracts. I knew this from my time in the Stable. Hell, Roc was trying to be Overseer because of a contract. Not that the bastard needed another reason to go after a position of authority. Rock liked being in charge. This McCoy would stick stubbornly to the letter of his agreement, no matter who disagreed. I was stuck...

“So why are you down here?” ...but I didn’t have to be happy about it.

McCoy laid his rifle across his shoulder and stubbed out his spent cigar. I thanked Celestia for small miracles...until he pulled out another one. “We’ve got a job to do here. We stay until it’s done. That means YOU stay too.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. “We can’t stay here! The radiation in this place will kill us in less than an hour!”

McCoy didn’t immediately respond beyond puffing thoughtfully on his smoke-able. “That wouldn’t have stopped us anyway, but we caught something of a break in that regard. It seems that the radiation we detected is isolated to the surface and the upper levels. Eitom says down here we’re basically fine.”

“What? How does that work?” I was less than pleased by our sudden ‘good fortune’.

Neither was McCoy. “I don’t know, but I don’t like it. You saw the place before we snagged you. Do you think something like that would happen?”

I thought back to before I’d been caught. After leaving the lobby I’d passed through a heavy steel door and into something completely different. The concrete walls had given away to clinical tile and the walls were soon adorned with all manner of signs and warnings and directions. Each floor I descended grew larger and larger. More and more rooms and corridors split off as I descended.

Each room seemed to be filled with all manner of scientific equipment. I recognised similar equipment back in the Stable though I hadn’t known then and didn’t know now what the equipment did. From the state of disrepair in the place it was very sensitive and highly valuable. There had been no helpful markers like the Lethbridle jail cells. Nothing even hinted at what these stations and experiments had been for or even who had been performing them.

Any answers that might have been found here had left with the scientists themselves. All McCoy and his employer could hope to find here were useable materials rather than specific items. The increasingly large maze of tunnels could potentially lead to untouched rooms but how would anybody know what was still down here after 200 years? And why, if all other clues to what was being researched here had been removed, would there be anything of importance left over?

No, this place had been stripped of all essentials before the previous tenants had left. Raw materials would be the prize, if any prize was left to be found. Still, I’d seen nothing that would indicate any sort of radiation leak in the upper levels and certainly nothing which would explain how it didn’t affect us down here.

I felt something tap the back of my head and turned around. My eyes widened as I found myself staring down the barrel of McCoy’s rifle. I slowly stepped back and looked past the gun to the griffon pointing it at me. His face was impassive. “Sorry about that but you’ve been starin’ around for a few minutes now and I’m still waitin’ for an answer. What do you think about the radiation?”

Not one for small talk, this griffon. “I don’t know. I’m no expert on radiation but I didn’t see anything that could have been a source.”

McCoy lowered his weapon, looking less than satisfied. “No, I didn’t either. I still don’t like it. But since we ain’t getting irradiated we keep going. Us Monsters never leave a job unfinished. Follow me.” Without another word he turned and began walking down the tunnel, his claws clacking against the metal floor.

He seems utterly unconcerned with the idea that I might attack him. Even in this situation I couldn’t help but feel a little bit insulted. I mean, I didn’t like the name but I was Red Ice. I’d lived through a lot. Was it a griffon thing to be this arrogant? Roc and now McCoy easily dismissed me. Heck, I even got some some grief about my skills from W-

No, not now. It’s not the time. My now-watering eyes betrayed me but I hastily wiped them with the smooth fur where my Pipbuck had been. Setting my jaw, I stomped angrily after McCoy.

Not like I’ve got any other choice. I’m in too deep to make it past all his Monsters.

~~~~~~

“Well ain’t this a fine how-do-you-do?”

McCoy and I had travelled down seven more levels. Judging by the maps appearing on the walls, each successive floor was bigger than the one above it. Unfortunately they were in progressively worse states of disrepair. More and more often we came across collapsed corridors, forcing us to backtrack. Finally we reached the stairs and found another blockage. We couldn’t go any further.

I was tired and slumped against the wall while McCoy inspected the blockage. “Hmmhmmhmm. Something about this don’t seem right,” he cocked his head back at me, “Wake up! I want a second opinion.”

Grumbling under my breath, I dragged myself to my hooves and stalked over. “What? It’s a blocked tunnel. It happens. Can we go now?”

McCoy scoffed at this. “Course not. We got a job to do. No offense but you ain’t the kinda haul we’re lookin’ for.”

I doubted I’d get a better chance to find out what was going on. “So what kind of haul are you looking for, McCoy?”

He didn’t take the bait. “That ain’t in the contract.”

I pushed onwards nonetheless. “So what is in the contract? I know griffons don’t leave a job unfinished but if I knew I might be able to help you so I can get out of here quicker. I don’t like being held against my will.” They may not be slavers themselves but their employer might be. It probably wasn’t Plottawa. With his army, Peanut really had no use for mercenaries, but DJ Pon3 had mentioned a Red Eye as another slaver, even if he wasn’t thought to operate this far north.

The old stone bird chuckled. “What does a li’l pony girl like you know about griffons, huh? You’re as green as they come. You still live with your momma?”

I thought about Roc and the other griffons back at the Stable. Always working hard, never taking a break until they completed their tasks. Roc, for all his unpleasantness, was the very model of griffon dedication. I might have respected that if he wasn’t bigoted against my brothers. I’d always rather liked the other griffons, for the little interaction I’d had with them.

Unfortunately this train of thought brought me back to the topic I’d been avoiding. The chocolate-and-cream girl who’d taken my friendship and spat it back in my face. “I know it hurts when a griffon turns on you.”

CLANG!

McCoy made no move to pick up the weapon he’d dropped. He stared daggers at me for a moment. “What did you say?”

Uh oh. “Nothing.”

His anger did not fade. “Hell no, it ain’t nothing! You oughta watch your mouth. No self-respectin’ griffon’d do that. We ain’t wired that way. You ain’t got no cause to be talking like that!”

YOU DARE?! “No cause? I have no cause to say that? It happened yesterday! You and your flyboys aren’t the first griffons I met here. Who are you to say that griffons are so righteous? That one robbed me and you’ve taken me prisoner! Exactly what is it about griffons that warrants respect from anybody, including themselves?!”

He bit clean through his cigar. “You’re damn lucky I’m under contract not to harm you, girl.”

“AND YOU’RE DAMN LUCKY YOU HAVE BACKUP! I’ve just about had it with everybody around here. You want to fight me then I’ll be happy to oblige!” I felt my horn flare up and the temperature dropped a few degrees.

McCoy’s claw twitched towards his rifle. We stayed there, neither of us blinking. Finally the grey-feathered veteran looked to the side and hollered down his communicator. “MONSTERS! FORM UP!”

Nothing more was said for the long minutes it took for the squad to arrive. When Eitom, Wicker and the rest arrived I was almost immediately flanked by two unnamed flunkies as guards. Apparently McCoy had decided our conversation was over. Still as I waited at the back of the formation I overheard snippets of what they were saying to each other.

“...too far down for this kinda rock...”

“...swear the tunnel was clear the first time I looked...”

“...not even any radiation on the upper floors now...”

“...went back later and it was empty!”

McCoy took it all in before coming to a decision. “Alright, Monsters, we’re wrapping up here. Start on this floor and work your way up. Look for anything strange or worth something. If it’s small enough to carry then grab it. Leave the rest, it can be taken later. Work your way up to the surface. You’ve got 30 minutes. Anyone shows up late and you’ll be walkin’ home, because I swear I’ll tie your wings into a pretty li’l bow!”

I glanced from one of my guards to the other. “So am I following you two or are you waiting for me to take the lead?” The both glared daggers at me.

McCoy growled at my comment but addressed the two. “You heard the...lady. Move like you got a purpose! Don’t be afraid to gag her if she gets uppity. Keeping her mouth shut ain’t exactly harming her.”

Grimacing, the two saluted and immediately began quick-marching me up the stairs. As we passed the now-derelict research labs I strained my eyes to find any kind of clue as to the purpose of the place. I had no more luck than the first time. The fast pace the two nameless Monsters set didn’t help. The closest thing to a clue in the place were a few random bumps and clinks as we passed.

We emerged into the afternoon sun and I shielded my eyes against the glare. One of the pair paused to take a quick reading with a handheld gadget. I recognised a similar screen to my Pipbuck’s Rad detector. They hadn’t been kidding down in the tunnels. There wasn’t even a trace of radiation showing up on the sensor now. Yesterday the levels had registered as lethal. What was going on?

~~~~~~

“You g-guys are n-not g-gentle!”

I was suspended in a harness held by the two griffon guards as we flew through the air. My limbs were bound and I had rolled onto my back shortly after takeover. Thus far I had not managed to right myself again. Trying to look ahead while upside down had resulted in several headrushes, so all I could do was look around at the rest of the formation. Eitom, Wicker and the other 7 Monsters were all burdened by their spoils while McCoy flew at the head of the group, leading the way.

He hadn’t said a word to me since our confrontation. I was quite happy with this arrangement, the stuck-up griffon could stay silent for all I cared.

I just wish the ride wasn’t so bumpy. And that it wasn’t so cold!

The feathers of the griffons apparently did a better job than a pony’s fur. I was shivering in my bonds as the thin air stole my warmth. Not just my warmth but my energy too. It was so tiring to lie here with nothing to distract me.

I took a quick glance through drooping eyes at the landscape below me. It turned out that the Wasteland looked very different from this high up. I didn’t recognise anything on the ground. There was a big...something in the distance which I guessed was our destination but beyond that I didn’t have a clue. The rest of the environment was dull rock, dust and occasional patches of green.

Except the ever-present white to the North. As it was to our left I could see that we were heading East. beyond that I had no clue, though I didn’t think we had travelled far enough to reach Plottawa.

I really, really hope we aren’t going to Plottawa.

I gave in to my body’s craving for rest and curled up in the harness as tight as I could.

Just a little rest, that’s what I need.

“Double time now, Monsters! We’re close to our destination and I want some daylight left when we get there.” At their leader’s urging, the griffons increased their speed. This had the added side-effect of also increasing the shaking.

Even that’s too much to ask? McCoy, you’re a real...what was it Naiara called that guard? Oh, that’s right...

“Keep it down, jackhole,” I murmured, “‘m tryin’ to sleep.”

The chain-smoking griffon didn’t hear me over the blowing wind but it was loud enough to draw the attention of one of my bearers. He shook the harness. “Hey, eyes open. Don’t wanna fall asleep up here. You might not wake up.”

“Mm, wanna bet?” Why couldn’t they be quiet? I was so tired...

“I mean it! It’s dangerous! Hey...HEY!”

G’night...

“SIR! WE HAVE A PROBLEM HERE!”

The flapping of wings sounded so far away in my fading consciousness.

“What’s the trouble...ah dammit!”

~~~~~~

“Snowflake?”

I have got to stop waking up in places I don’t know.

“Snowflake? Can you hear me?” The voice was flat and unfamiliar, but definitely male. Not McCoy, Bosco or Peanut. I found I had to take a moment to consider which other males I had encountered...nooo, it didn’t sound like them either. Someone new then.

I opened my eyes as slits, struggling against the harsh electric glare of the lights.

It seemed I was inside somewhere. And I was warm! That was a pleasant surprise since I remembered being really damn cold before I fell asleep. “Well this is nice.”

The voice returned, it was not unkind. “I’m glad you think so. We weren’t sure how you would be holding up after you went under on the way here. Is there anything we can get you? Some tea?”

While that did sound so tempting, I was reluctant to accept stranger tea. “...no, I’m fine. Sorry, but I don’t think we’ve been introduced...”

The voice was mirthful. “Weeell, actually we have. Do open your eyes, Snowflake. I know that the blankets are comfortable, as well as efficient for heat-retention, but this really would go faster if we could see eye-to-eye.”

We’ve met before? Now quite awake, I opened my eyes and lifted myself from my lovely den of blanket-warmth. The pony sitting across from me, annoyingly flanked by a scowling McCoy, was a bleach-blond unicorn sporting a dark-blue labcoat. He was grinning in a way that suggested immense satisfaction.

“I know you! You’re...um...”

He chuckled. “Aw, a 20-second meeting, over a week ago, where we spoke no words to each other, and you can’t even remember my name? I’m hurt. No matter. As I was introduced by Esto last time, allow me the honour of re-introducing myself. I am Latvi. Welcome back to Lethbridle.”

I gaped. “We’re in Lethbridle?”

His cheerful smile didn’t diminish. “A pleasure to see you again too, Snowflake.”

Admonished, I shucked the blankets, facing him directly. “Sorry, Latvi. It is a pleasure to see you again. I was a little worried when McCoy there grabbed me but there are far worse places to end up than with you.”

The unicorn just grinned wider. “You’re going to make me blush.”

The griffon just scowled deeper. “You’re gonna make me sick.”

I ignored him and looked around. We appeared to be in a small rest area. I was on the lower bunk of a double bed while Latvi sat at a simple table with two other chairs and McCoy leaned against the wall behind him. A sink, cooker and refrigerator comprised the rest of the furniture. The walls were a faded white. “Where are we? In Lethbridle, I mean.”

“Ah. Forgive me. We’re in our, as in Esto, Lithu and my, research station in the Southern Quarter. Mister McCoy here brought you straight here, as per the contract. However I would not have been amiss to him getting you some medical attention, as you were very cold when you were brought in. Luckily you’ve recovered after warming up.”

I glanced at McCoy, who said nothing. “Thank you for your help. If you don’t mind me asking, why did McCoy bring me here? He wouldn’t tell me as it ‘wasn’t in the contract’.”

“Because griffons don’t break contract.” Growled the griffon. His claws twitched towards his pocket but stopped midway and drew back.

Latvi noticed. “Forgive him, I’ve asked him not to smoke in here as it can interfere with the experiments we’re running. It has made him a little tense. As to why you were brought here, I merely specified that I wanted all possible information and findings from the excursion. Perhaps my wording was too simplistic.”

“You wanted all ponies brought back-” The griffon snarled, apparently unhappy at being treated like he’d made a mistake.

Latvi cut him off with less warmth than he’d displayed so far. “Yes, thank you, McCoy. As I was saying, when we were at the bar we expressed interest in your Pipbuck and then you expressed interest in our Memory Orb research, correct?”

“Yeah I wanted you to f-wait, you know what a Pipbuck is? How?”

“We’re scientists,” he deadpanned, “We like to find things out.”

“But...Esto didn’t know.”

Latvi’s smile faltered slightly but he quickly shrugged. “I’m afraid I have an advantage over Esto in that regard. I have memory magic. That’s my special talent. It makes me very good at handling Memory Orbs. They hold such wonderful secrets. That is, in fact, both the reason I know what a Pipbuck is, and the reason I sent McCoy and his Monsters to Whinniepeg. A Memory Orb I recently acquired indicated told me that there would be valuable equipment there. I was certainly surprised when one of the treasures brought back was the increasingly-fascinating Snowflake.”

McCoy grunted as he twirled an unlit cigar between his claws “Do you two want some privacy?”

Latvi made a pointed effort not to acknowledge that. I didn’t. I glared at the griffon before turning back to the scientist. “So, the Memory Orb stuff you bring in, you research it?”

Latvi twisted his hoof back and forth. “Yes and no. I’m happy to donate my findings if nopony buys them. I fund the expeditions to scavenge these forgotten treasures out of my own pocket. Esto and Lithu aren’t involved.”

“But don’t you work with them?”

“Certainly I do. As an independent researcher. Fascinating though the work is, it neither provides much in the way of salary nor offers the same kind of protection that Neighlway, Plottawa, or Tenpony Tower offer their scientists. I am merely attempting to secure a fallback cash reserve should our funding dry up.”

I frowned. “Esto and Lithu?”

“Are free to use their own special talents to create similar opportunities for themselves. I do actually like my colleagues, Snowflake. I am not trying to cheat them out of anything. I merely wish to ensure a good standard of living for myself.”

Bosco’s advice on Wastelanders looking out for themselves rang true here.

“That’s...” I really didn’t know how to feel about that. There was really nothing I could say. He wasn’t exactly wrong to be looking out for himself like that but it somehow just didn’t seem right. Esto and Lithu were satisfied with their work and yet he wasn’t? Would he even honour his agreement with me and Bosco if he thought he could make a profit off it?

I leaned back on the bed. “Sorry, Latvi, but I’m not sure I really know anything about Whinniepeg to help you out. I was there by chance.”

The look he gave me was measured. “It it were anypony else but you, a Stable pony, telling me that, I’d have thought you were lying to me. However I’m inclined to believe you,”

I breathed a silent sigh of relief as Latvi made an “It can’t be helped” gesture before he continued, “How lucky it is that you already have something that is of interest to me. Our original deal still stands: You have fulfilled your side of the bargain. We’ve been informed of what happened to the trading caravan.”

I grimaced at the memory of the two guards among countless other caged Wastelanders. “Yeah, Contego and Vorbis got caught and the Plottawans raided the caravan. It was picked completely clean.”

“Yes, a pity that but not an insurmountable obstacle. Regardless, you still did as we asked and therefore we are happy to help fix your Memory Orb. Oh, and of course your colt friend can make use of our Recollector to view his Orbs. As a matter of fact, we have that at this facility. He left them in our care after telling us about the caravan.”

My heart jumped. “Bosco was here? When? Is he still in Lethbridle?”

Only when McCoy stepped forward and Latvi began to frown did I realise that more than my heart had jumped. I had left the bed entirely.

The unicorn seemed nonplussed. “You don’t know where Bosco is? Has he not been with you? It will be difficult to arrange a time to view his Orbs without him here. Esto has been most insistent that he be allowed to view them first. Quite vexing, naturally.”

“Did he say when he would be back?” I honestly wasn’t sure how much time had passed since I sat in the hut with Naiara and Breeze, when the zebra told me that Bosco would return to Lethbridle two days later. Getting knocked out in Whinniepeg really did a number on my plans.

“No, sadly he did not,” Latvi was rubbing his chin with his hoof in thought and suddenly brightened, “but maybe you can contact him? Did you perhaps set up some form of communication through your Pipbuck? I didn’t see it on you when you were brought in. In your bag, perhaps? I’ll go fetch it. McCoy, watch over her, will you?”

As the unicorn hopped off his chair and headed for the door, the griffon grumbled after him. “Am I still under contract?”

Latvi didn’t stop. “Of course, you haven’t been paid yet.” The remark was delivered without turning or slowing down. Then he was out the door, and I was left alone with my kidnapper.

I gave him a knowing grin. “Still under contract means I can’t be harmed. Toooo baaaad.”

He didn’t rise to the bait. “What do you got against griffons? Back there you said you’d been betrayed by one. That just don’t happen.”

“And yet it did.” I managed through suddenly gritted teeth. I hated this, being around another griffon for this long, so soon after Wings and Cassie attacked me.

McCoy’s feathers were physically ruffled now. “You want proof that griffons don’t go against contracts, including social contracts, li’l pony girl? You’re still alive right now. Because I’m contracted to keep you from harm. If that’s not the case and you start mouthin’ off with those lies again and I’ll kill you dead.”

“Oh pull the other one and then go fuck yourself with it, jackhole. I have not had a good week and I don’t plan on sitting here taking this from you. I’ve been poisoned, taken prisoner twice, one of those being by you, you prick. I’ve been shot at, shot through, chewed out, chased for miles, and mugged by a fucking griffon I called a friend. I literally called her that two days before she mugged me and took my Pipbuck,”

I jerked my head towards the door, “which is probably gonna bring me more grief when that money-grubbing little hissyflit out there comes back.”

I jabbed McCoy roughly in the chestplate. He didn’t seem to feel it and went right on glaring. “It took two damn days for her to go from becoming my friend to taking everything in this world that matters to me. I’VE GOT NOTHING LEFT! I CAN’T GO HOME! I’M STUCK HERE AND WITH YOU OF ALL PEOPLE! Some patriotic geezer who thinks griffon feathers blow stardust!”

Oh, Celestia, that’s...that’s all true.

Wings...why did you do this?

I slumped miserably back onto the bed. “You tell me, McCoy,” my words were quiet and lifeless, “why should I like griffons and why should I care about what you say?”

Silence descended as I stared at the floor and McCoy...did something, I didn’t really care at this point. The only noise was a far-off clattering of hooves on stairs. Latvi was coming back but wouldn’t be here for maybe a minute or so.

“Who is she?”

The gruffness of his voice was still there but it lacked the usual parade-ground bluster. I scoffed at the question. “I’m not telling you, she’ll turn out to be your cousin or something.”

The next tone was accusatory. “Why should that matter? You gonna kill her?”

“NO!” I replied immediately. I really wasn’t going to. I just wanted my home back. Anything after that would be dealt with when it came up. I’d forgiven Cassie and Breeze for trying to kill me, Cassie’s later role in the mugging notwithstanding, and they weren’t even my friends. Well, maybe Breeze would be. Either way I still needed to hold onto the hope that this wasn’t all that it seemed. So I could still be Snowflake, who gave a zebra money on trust, rather than Red Ice, who got a whole bunch of buffalo killed.

“Little girl, this is serious. If there’s even a chance of what you say bein’ true then it needs to be taken care of. It’s a disgrace to all griffons if one of us acts like that. She needs stoppin’.” This had a certain finality to it.

“I’m not your friend, McCoy, and I’m not one of your Monsters. Find her yourself.”

Before anything more could be said on the matter, the door flew open with a bang. Latvi stood livid in the doorway. “Where is it?!”

I didn’t even need to lift my head. “Gone. I got mugged.”

This sent him sputtering. “A treasure of unimaginable significance and you lose it to some common hoodlum? How stupid are you, Stable filly!”

At last, he’s honest. “About as stupid as you for pining after a girl who’s clearly not into you. You do know Lithu’s got a boyfriend, right?” I delivered this with as much smugness as I could muster.

The scientist reeled back like I’d slapped him before charging forward and wildly trying to bludgeon me with my pack. “SHE’S MINE! SHE’S MINE! I LOVE HER!”

I covered myself with my hooves as he rained down blows before McCoy grabbed Latvi from behind and threw him away. “I’m still under contract, Latvi. I don’t like Snowflake any more than you do but she comes to no harm under my watch. Remember that.”

I just rolled my eyes, not in the least bit thankful.

Latvi dragged himself up, chest heaving and eyes dilated. “New contract, McCoy! Go find this Dent that Lithu likes so much and kill him!”

“No, you can’t!” I bounded from the bed towards Latvi but McCoy knocked me back as easily as he’d done Latvi.

“What about this one?”

The colt wiped some spittle from his jaw and collected himself. “We’ll shackle her up and I’ll take her to Plottawa. I hear there’s a big bounty for Red Ice.”

“You knew?”

He barked out a derisive laugh. “Of course I knew, simpleton. We send you to Plottawa and the next evening the slaver boss is on the radio putting a price on your head. Not a giant leap between the two.”

Meanwhile, the griffon was spluttering on his cigar. “Kheh?! Say what?! Her?! This is Red Ice? The one the slavers are trying so hard to find? Her? Are you kidding me? She’s an idiot!”

Nobody disagreed. “She may be, but she has somehow managed to get all the way to the very core of Plottawa and out again, not to mention surviving another attack in Grindstone. Perhaps there is more to her than what she appears to be, or perhaps she’s simply lucky. Either way the price on her head is the same, and I aim to collect.”

A puff of smoke blew out of the corner of the yellow beak. “Whatever. I got somebody to kill. Let’s get a nullifier on her horn and then I’ll get to it.”

~~~~~~