Chapter 11-3: Portion Or Helping?

We found ourselves sat in an impromptu picnic in what remained of the square, with Ballbuster sat next to us, as Woodpecker cooks brought out great cauldrons of seasoned ground meat, along with a thick, brown, herby liquid to pour over the top. “Tarantubaa haggis ‘n’ gravy. Nothin’ finer in all o’ the Wastes. Eat yehr fill, there’s plenty tae go aroond!”

It took me a little while to overcome my apprehension about eating those fluffy spider creatures, but my exertion from the fight had caught up with me, and it did smell good, so I soon found myself tucking in alongside Naiara and Undertow, who had no issues with the food.

Ballbuster watched with satisfaction as we made short work of the food. “Aye, tha’s the way,” she proclaimed loudly, “a full belly’ll do wonders fer a pony.”

She sighed wistfully. “Used tae make this all the time fer mah wee ‘uns, afore they got too big t’stay wi’ their maw.”

“You’ve got kids?” She was showing motherly behaviour, to be sure, but her attitude towards stallions make this surprising.

“Oh aye. Ah was lucky enough tae find a decent buck, either that or he was lucky tae find me!” She, and the other Woodpeckers hooted with laughter at this. We just chuckled politely.

“Anywho, aye, ah had a few. Dunno where they are noo though, been years an’ years since ah last saw ‘em. They’re prob’ly deed.” She didn’t look particularly sad at this, seeming to accept it as part of life. “They all turned out thick as bricks, just like mah husband.”

“Is he here?” Naiara asked, around a mouthful.

“Course no’, he’s a stallion. He’s no’ welcome here. None o’ ‘em are. No’ even yehr wee pal. Mah husband’s prob’ly off gallivantin’ aroond wi’ wee hussies!” Her smile turned lopsided, and frankly deranged, as she spoke on the matter.

“This food is excellent, Ballbuster, could we please give some to Bosco? He will be hungry.”

Undertow’s words defused the situation, drew surprised looks from Naiara and I, and caused a knowing smile to grace Ballbuster’s lips. “Oh, ah see. That one yehr fella, Deep Diver?”

“NO!” I cried, as Undertow blushed, and Naiara burst out laughing. “He’s our friend, and we don’t want him to miss out.”

“Areet, fine,” she relented, signalling to one of the cooks, who took off after Bosco and his guards with a hearty helping of food, “an’ mah name’s no’ really Ballbuster, ah jus’ use that fer scarin’ folk. Ah’m Sweet Lips.”

A morsel caught in my throat, choking me. Seriously? Sweet Lips?

I received a mighty slap on the back from Sweet Lips, which almost snapped my spine, and a drink of weak ale to ease the discomfort. I let it work on my throat as I finished my meal.

When I was done, I decided to move things along. “So… Sweet Lips, I’ll tell you the same thing I told Caber Toss and Undertow. I’m trying to get some of the Raiders in the…”

“What’d yeh say?” She interrupted, a strange tone emerging.

I didn’t think much of it, despite Naiara and Undertow tensing up. “Caber Toss, he’s your husband, right? Anyway, the different Raiders in… the ar… e… a…”

I clicked onto what the strange tone signified.

Oh hell.

~~~~~~

“LALALALALAHHHH!!!!!!”

“What did you do?!” Bosco was unhappy to have his meal interrupted, especially by the three of us grabbing him anywhere we could, mid running-the-hell-away from an enraged Ballbuster, who was chasing us with a very large, very sharp, and very heavy-looking axe.

“STAY AWAY FROM MAH FELLA, YEH WHOORES!”

“Snow mentioned that we’ve met her husband.”

“She did not take it well.”

“So I see.”

…Hate. You. All.

~~~~~~

“AHAHAHAHAH! That’s mah wife alright.”

“And you didn’t think to tell us she was your wife before we met her?”

“Eh. Wasnae important.”

“…” I swear, if I still had my ice gauntlets…

After having barely escaped from Ballbuster, or Sweet Lips, we’d made for the closest safe haven: Vanchoofer. Amusingly, I’d run into the same trouble as I had the last time I came out this way. Namely, the portly Raider.

“Ho, look at that glameen run!”

Only this time, he’d taken one look at me, and waddle-bolted in the opposite direction, as fast as his tubby frame could carry him.

Caber Toss had caught the whole show. He’d been remarkably unfazed by the Woodpecker incident. “Aye, terr’ble temper on Sweet Lips. Amazin’ cook though. Amazin’.”

“What are you even doing here?” I was in no mood for his antics after what invoking his name had just caused. “Didn’t you say the Haylanders were based up around Whinniepeg?”

He nodded. “Aye, tha’s right. Ah’m just comin’ from seein’ the Barnstormers.”

“The Barnstormers?”

“Yep. Now that Four Fields’ deed, I went tae see how they were farin’. No’ well, really, so I took ‘em on as part o’ the Haylanders.”

“You… took them?” We were all frowning at this revelation, and Bosco and Naiara were subtly edging around to Caber Toss’s sides, in case he tried anything.

For now, he was all smiles, though. “Aye. Them Barnstormers are used tae obeyin’ the toughest. Four Fields was toughest ‘cause o’ his magic. Me? I jus’ beat the livin’ shite outta the new fools who wanted tae be boss. And now? Ah’m the boss, so ah said they’re Haylanders now.”

“I thought you wanted an alliance, not more followers?” This was sounding more and more suspicious all the time.

“Ah still do, but Four Fields was the on’y one o’ ‘em who coulda kept the others in line. It’s no’ perfect, but it’s easiest this way.”

He scratched his neck before shrugging. “Although, sayin’ that… Ah didnae really want Four Fields deed, but I was sorta hopin’ yeh’d off Ballbuster fer me.”

“WHAT?!” That was his wife he was talking about!

“Aye, chances are she’ll no’ work wi’ me. Woulda made things simpler.” He gave a hapless little chuckle. “Ah well, cannae have ev’rythin’. Ah’m setting the date fer the meeting o’ the bosses fer a week fro’ today. We’ll do it in the Barnstormer village, since it’s def’nitely safe now. Ah’ll go pass along the message tae Sweet Lips, she’ll prob’ly no’ be wantin’ tae see yeh again so soon.”

He sauntered off on his way, without waiting for a response.

Not that I had one to give, as I was having a really hard time sputtering over his words.

Eventually, long after he’d gone, I found my voice. “What the… FUCK is this?! The alliance is falling into shambles all around us, and he’s acting like this is the best thing that could have happened! Of the five people he wanted there, me included we’ve only got three guaranteed, one’s dead, and the last one hates us all! This is stupid!”

“…It was your idea.”

“SHUT UP, BOSCO!”

“YOU SHUT UP! IT’S STILL YOUR IDEA!”

“WHY DON’T YOU BOTH SHUT UP?”

“SHUT UP, NAIARA!”

“Um…”

“YOU SHUT UP TOO, UNDERTOW!”

“Eeep!”

“DON’T TELL HER TO SHUT UP!”

“THEN WATCH WHO YOU’RE TELLING TO SHUT UP!”

~~~~~~

The four of us, even Undertow, held our silence over the hour it took to reach Vanchoofer. I’d tried to coax Undertow into some magic practice, but got a pretty cold refusal.

So now we were waiting in line to enter, with hunched shoulders and pressed lips. To pass the time, I was readying my caps to pay the entrance fee. A frown crossed my face as I hefted the bag I’d gotten from Lexi for the caravan run. After Undertow’s armour, and several days of travelling through Raider country, not known for their wallets, it was lighter than I was really comfortable with.

I wasn’t gonna starve, not yet, but perhaps it would be wise to take it easy over the next week, until the Raider conference to the north.

Naiara hadn’t wanted to cover herself in makeup again, having griped long and loud about how much of a pain it was, so she’d simply donned a heavy cloak, keeping her steps short so the fabric didn’t reveal much of her striped fur. She dropped her fee on the table, and vanished between the guards without a word.

Bosco wasn’t much better. He never said a word either, but at least he glanced back, perhaps more neutral than positive, but at least he didn’t glare.

The trouble happened when Undertow tried to go in. After leaving her caps on the desk, she moved past the first guard,but she was forced to stop as the second guard moved his assault rifle into her path, though he didn’t point it at her just yet. “What’s wrong with your eyes?”

Startled, she could only raise her head quizzically, providing all present a good view of her goggles. “There is nothing wrong. These are simply my goggles.”

The gun in her way didn’t move, and the guard repeated his question more forcefully. “And I’m asking you why you’re wearing them. Something wrong with your eyes?”

“…They protect my eyes. There is nothing wrong.”

“Protect them from what?” The gun eased forward and tapped against the boxy mask hanging around her neck. “And what’s that?”

She stared back at me imploringly, but I couldn’t get past the first guard. He wouldn’t let me go until his colleague was done with her. All I could do was mouth “It’s okay.”

Still apprehensive, she nonetheless squared herself with the second guard without shrinking back. “It is my rebreather. It allows me to breathe underwater.”

The first guard immediately moved as far as away from her as he could, with the second guard snapping his gun into a firing pose. “Underwater? With all the radiation?”

“Well, yes, but…”

“Don’t move! Who knows how many rads you’re leaking.”

With the first guard still trying to simultaneously move away from Undertow, and keep her in his sights at the same time, I found that I had room to dart past him, ignoring his calls to stop as I ran towards the filly, who seemed to be trying to shrink into her skin. “Hey, what’s the problem?”

The guard’s rifle swung around to point at me. “Keep back! She might be irradiated!”

“Irradiated?”

“Who’s irradiated?”

“What’s going on?”

The first guard tried to calm the line down, leaving the two of us with the paranoid stallion with the assault rifle. I put a protective hoof around Undertow, pulling her into my side. “Just leave her alone. She’s not gonna put anybody in danger, look,” I pulled the Pipbuck-less Stable goggles from my pack, and jammed them over my eyes, “See? Doesn’t mean we’re dangerous.” I felt Undertow shift and look up at me as I donned the visors.

His gun started to shake. “You’re another one? Y-you and your sister can’t come in. Go away!”

“What? But we already paid!”

I really didn’t like how much the gun was jittering. “I don’t care. Take your caps and get out of here!”

I pointed roughly past him. “Our friends are in there! We’re not leaving!”

The line was getting angry at the delay, causing two more guards to materialise out of the shadows. One went to help with crowd control, while the other stepped up beside our aggressor. He was stone-faced, but calm at least. “What seems to be the problem here?”

I nodded my head at the perspiring guard. “This one won’t let us through, even though we’ve paid.”

“Is that so?” This one had a much better poker face, giving nothing away.

The one who originally barred our way was looking pretty low on the career ladder at this point. He’d lowered his gun the moment the new guy showed up, and it was obvious that he was deferring to him. “Th-they been swimming in radioactive water.”

A small crack appeared in the calm mask. He was surprised, but quickly covered himself. “Really? Hmm… still, we don’t need all this noise for something like this. Just sell them some Radaway.”

Another crack appeared now, and it worried me more than the first. I didn’t like the way his eyes travelled up Undertow’s body. “Shall we say, three doses, at fifty caps a apiece?”

My goggles almost slipped right off my head as my eyes shot wide. “Fifty? That’s outrageous! I’ve never seen them go for more than twenty!” While I was no great shakes at haggling, I’d been to enough stores to see the price trends for medicine.

The colt retreated behind his stone face. “If you don’t buy the Radaway, then you don’t get in.”

“I-it’s fine, Lady Snow.” Undertow mumbled, already reaching for her cap pouch.

“Hold on there, Undertow.” I didn’t want to back down to this jackhole who tried to bully her into extortionate prices. If it was just me, I’d have paid and been on my way, but he was scaring Undertow. The other one was just anxious and stupid, but this bastard knew exactly what he was doing. “I’ll take four for a hundred caps, that’s two for each of us, and to make you feel better, we’ll drink them right here. I’m not paying more than that just to pad your pockets.”

He may have been checking Undertow out, but the look I got implied that he’d much rather cave my nose in. “And if I say no?”

I turned back to the line, where there was still jostling, and some ponies were starting to turn away. “Then we stay here and argue for a while, and you lose caps every second.”

Forget breaking my nose, he was itching to teach me a lesson about who was in charge. His mask had dropped entirely. “Fine.” He finally groused.

I all but threw the hundred at him, and true to our word, we choked down the chalky, probably stale Radaway before moving on.

“Be careful in there.” He threatened and warned, simultaneously.

~~~~~~

Almost bouncing as she trailed along beside me, Undertow barely paid attention to the crowd, instead shooting near-constant looks at my new fashion statement. “Are they from the Stable, Lady Snow?”

“What, these?” I adjusted them with my hoof. “Yup.”

“Does everypony have them? Do Buff, Al, and Lo?”

I remembered talking about my brothers the last time too, when I was here with Wings. “Sometimes, it depends on what job each of them were doing.”

“What was your job, Lady Snow?” Her tone was light, inquisitive. She was being adorably precocious.

“Pfft, mostly Monitor Duty. I never got a chance to do the good jobs.” …more than once.

She cocked her head to the side. “Why not?”

“Couldn’t tell you.” Or more like I couldn’t prove it. There was clear favouritism at play. The same reason that ‘Overseer Roc’ is even a possibility, while ‘Overmare Snowflake’ is a bad joke, for more reasons than just my having left the Stable.

“If… if we were in your Stable,” her tone had shifted to a shy, hopeful question, “what job would I perform?”

That stopped me dead, as I considered it. “Good question. I guess… working on the reactor? You could really do wonders to help it stay cool. Or maybe working with the farmers, making sure each of the plants has the right amount of water? Ooh, I know! Since you’re so good at salvage, you’d be used for exploring the caverns that the Stable is built into.”

As Undertow glowed with pride at my appraisal, memories rushed back for me. What would have happened if Undertow WAS in the Stable? What would have happened if she was the one to find the Memory Orb? Would she be made to leave?

Probably not, they’d like her better than me.

I missed what was said, but Undertow’s talking interrupted my thoughts. “What’d you say?”

“I said that I would like to visit your Stable one day, Lady Snow, and meet Buff, Al, and Lo.”

I nudged her hip with mine. “I’d like that too. Now come on, let’s find the others.”

~~~~~~

We found Bosco and Naiara at the food stands, looking far less angry than before. They were chatting around mouthfuls of… something. I had no idea what it was but I could smell the sugar from 10 feet away.

A salivating Undertow stepped in front of me and went to greet them. “Hello again, Bosco. Hello again, Naiara. What is that you’re eating?”

“ ‘s called a Heartbreaker,” Bosco conveyed between bites, “dunno what’s in it, but it’s sooo tasty.”

Naiara was giggling as the sugar coursed through her system. “Bosco, you silly, ‘s not a Heartbreaker, it’s a HeartACHEr.” Reaching into her food bag, she withdrew a third, and shoved it between Undertow’s lips. “Try some.”

To avoid choking, she did. Almost instantly the corners of her mouth turned upwards as she chewed. “This is good!”

“Told you.” Bosco was already on his second.

I jumped as Naiara gasped and bounded upright, pointing at me. “Bosco, look look! Snow’s got goggles now!”

How sugary is that stuff? “Naiara, you’ve seen these before.”

“Yeah, but not side by side with Undertow. Aww, you two look so cute together!”

I gave Bosco a side glance. “Should we maybe get her some water or something?”

When he started cooing alongside the zebra, I had to accept the cause as lost. Pretty soon I found myself munching on an Heartacher, just like the others.

Damn, this is good!

“HeyBosco,” He and Naiara were about to start their third treat each, “I’llraceyou!”

“WhatdoIgetifIwin?”

“I’llgowithyoutodowhateveryouwantandyougowithmetodowhatIwantifIwindeal?”

“Dealonetwothreego!”

There was a blur of motion, and suddenly both their hooves were empty. I thought it was a tie, and so did Bosco, before Naiara laughed and pointed at his cheek, just as a flaky, deep fried morsel lost its hold and dropped. Hyped up on sugar, he snapped it out of the air with his tongue, but the damage had been done.

“IIIIIII WIN!” she was doing a side-to-side victory dance, lifting both front and hind left leg to ninety degrees, then switching to her right legs.

“Aw, I wanted to win.” The charcoal colt only managed a half second of disappointment before something out of my eyeline caught his attention, and he seemed to forget all about what was happening.

Grabbing his hoof, Naiara dragged him upright. “Come on, we’re gonna find some dancing!”

“What? Why?” Horror was etched across his entire face, or at least the parts that weren’t covered in frosting.

“Cause I had fun when I got to dance at Plottawa, and so did you!”

“No I didn’t!”

“Really, even with all those showgirls? Well, tough, I won, so it’s dancey time!”

“Help meeeee!” I made no move to do so as he was dragged away. What could stop a sugar-hyped Naiara?

And I’m not idiot enough to try.

Licking the pixie dust off her cheeks, Undertow looked around in confusion. “Were Naiara and Bosco not with us?”

“You were really into that sweet, weren’t you?”

She hid her embarrassment behind her hooves, but I was sure she was also taking the chance to lick them clean.

You can’t fool me, little one, I’ve got three younger brothers, I know all the tricks. “So what do you want to do? We could go watch the dancing, or look around on our own?”

Looking at the crowded dancing area made her blanch, so we elected to walk off the junk food. Skirting the edge of the thrall allowed us to take in the sights without triggering a panic attack for Undertow. The incident in Lethbridle’s marketplace was not so long ago, and had really tried her. Crowds still affected her strongly, after spending years in relative seclusion.

Still, she marvelled at the sights and sounds of the playhouse atmosphere. I’d seen them before, but it was refreshing to watch them again through her eyes.

Though I couldn’t see them, I imagined that said eyes were darting back and forth as she was swept up from behind in a giant hug. “Uwahh!”

Whipping around, instinctually activating my horn, I was brought up short by the scene before me.

Sat on her flank, with her front legs wrapped around the terrified filly, as she lovingly rubbed cheek-on-cheek, was a wood brown mare with a forest green mane, and a body full of scars.

“The zebra was so sexy, but you are simply lovely, little one. And you have matching goggles! So cute!”

Now rigid with shock, Undertow could barely get the words out. “L-L-Lady Snow, please help!”

I’m sure her panic only increased when my horn’s glacial glow vanished and I relaxed, but I took the opportunity to appreciate the cuteness. Finally, I reached out and tapped Schwarzwald on her free cheek. “Alright, Schwarzwald, you’re scaring her now. Enough’s enough.”

“Aw, please, dahling?”

“No,” I repeated more firmly, “I said stop.”

A smile blossomed gradually onto her face at my words and tone. After one last cheek rub, she released Undertow. “As my Lady Snow wishes. How could I refuse such a firm and confident order?” She lustily rubbed her cheek in the spot where Undertow had been. “Command me, Lady Snow.”

“Later…”

“Ooh!”

“…Now why are you here?”

“In Vanchoofer in general, or right here with you, and your adorable little sister?” She smiled widely, still very suggestively, at Undertow. “Hello, Undertow-dahling, I’m Schwarzwald. It’s so very nice to meet you here.”

This had her cowering even further behind me. I stepped to the side decisively. “Come on now, Undertow, Schwarzwald’s weird but she won’t hurt you…uh, in this situation.”

“Why thank you, dear Lady.”

“Go on,” I urged. “Say hello. Just because she hangs around with ponies we don’t like, doesn’t mean we can’t like her. I kinda do.”

Tentatively, Undertow stepped forward. “H-hello, Schwarzwald. It is nice to meet you… please don’t squeeze me again.”

“As you wish, little one.” She smiled that smile again. “That is, unless Mistress Snow commands it.”

“Schwarzwald! Don’t put strange thoughts in her head!”

“Apologies, Mistress.” It would be impossible to call the older mare remorseful at this point, obviously taking great satisfaction in her new game.

Dammit! “You said meeting us was different from coming to Vanchoofer, what did you mean?”

“Well, I am here in Vanchoofer on business, which involves you, but that can wait. I came to find you two first, instead of the ever-so-fun zebra…”

“Naiara.”

She sighed wistfully. “…Lovely, which suits her, and Bosco. No, I saw your confrontation in the entrance way, and I wanted in on the fun.”

Schwarzwald’s definition of fun was always trouble. “What fun would that be?”

If anything, she looked even happier about this than about teasing me. “We have company, now that the guards have changed shift.”

Ah. ‘Fun’. “Who and where?”

“Only three, and not far. They are watching us. Shall we invite them to play?”

I almost said “no” on automatic. Almost. However, I was still holding some tension from Caber Toss and Ballbuster, or ‘Sweet Lips’, and with Schwarzwald and Undertow with me, I felt pretty confident about working out some tension.

Right to that arrogant jackhole’s face.

“You know what? Yeah, let’s play.”

She double-took. “Wha-, really? Oh, Snowflake, you ARE so lovely right now. You and your sister both.”

I was falling into her pace, and let my pride in Undertow show. “You should see her in combat. She’s incredible.”

Undertow was giving us both worried looks, but Schwarzwald was looking all the more satisfied. “I cannot wait, little Undertow, until you personally show me all of your skills.”

“Later, Schwarz.” I cut in. “Now, where should we have our playground?”

“There is an unused stage nearby, dahling. Follow me.”

I beckoned as she strolled off. “Come on, Undertow.”

“A-are you sure this is wise, Lady Snow?”

Smiling reassuringly, I gave her a wink. “Don’t worry, we’ll be smart. Get your magic ready. If they bring weapons, take them away from them immediately. After that, anything goes.”

Still looking reticent, she said nothing more, simply following Schwarzwald with me. The mercenary lead us towards the outer edge of the town, away from the food, dancing, and bright lights. With the abundance of cheap accommodation options that offered reasonable privacy, there were few reasons to be out in this end of town right now, unless you were an exhibitionist.

Going by the noises in the brush, there are a few of those around.

The stage wasn’t far, as Schwarzwald had said, nor was it impressive. Just a flat, raised platform, it would be a suitable ‘playground’. We stepped up onto the stage, and Schwarzwald immediately began stretching, complete with overemphasised moans and groans.

I basically ignored her, instead turning to Undertow. “Can you coat my hooves in water?”

“I can, but why?”

“Something that happened when I was fighting Cassie. Please, Undertow?”

Her expression said I didn’t need to ask so sincerely, and immediately water began swirling around my hooves.

“Thanks, Undertow, and sorry about this, but I’m gonna have to touch them with my horn.”

That drew a frown from her. “If you do not try, you will not improve, Lady Ice.”

“Just this once?” I begged.

“…Proceed.”

Lifting the hoof, with the water coming with it, I tapped it with my horn, keeping the magic going until the water solidified. I repeated this with the other hoof. Soon enough I had another set of hard limbs to swing, though this time they weren’t red with frozen blood.

Just in time too, as the clopping of hooves onto the wooden stage alerted us to our guests. Turning, I was surprised to see no sign of Schwarzwald. Only Undertow and I remained on the stage, with the obnoxious guard, and two flunkies, ascending the stairs. Surprisingly, they actually didn’t have guns.

The jackhole guard sneered at me. “I’ve been looking for you, loudmouth. I’m gonna make you pay for trying to cheat me.”

I stepped back, trying to shield my armoured hooves with the rest of my body. “You brought it on yourself, jackhole. Shouldn’t have been so rude to my friend.”

His attention was drawn to said friend, standing off to the side. “Yeah, I’ll be sure to make it up to her, long and loud.” He leered, drawing crony-ish chuckles from his entourage.

He had my teeth grinding with how he was talking. “Touch one hair on her head, and I’ll snap off the hoof that did it.”

“You mean these hooves?” He snarled, and charged. I fell back as he came on, with his followers beelining for Undertow. The stallion jumped forward, confident of his size advantage, which resulted in my ferocious double-uppercut busting his chin wide open.

His eyes unfocused, and he fell past me to the floor, drops of blood splashing across the stage. Facing away from me, he tried to rise, so I dropped one icy hoof, hard to the back of the skull.

He tried again, still not looking at me, so I hit him with the other hoof. That time he stayed down.

Reasonably satisfied, feeling like I’d worked out my tensions enough, I turned away from the unconscious stallion, to see how the others were doing.

One flunky was suspended above the stage, within a bubble of water, helpless to aid his companion, who was curled in a ball, being pummelled again and again by rushing fists of water.

“That’s enough Undertow. We’re done. Let that other one down.”

Without delay, the airborne bubble split into tiny streams, drawing a startled yelp as the stallion within dropped like a rock to the hard wooden floor. He groaned, still conscious, as was the one Undertow had been beating. Neither chose to get up.

“Come on, Undertow, let’s find the others.” She fell in beside me, hopping off the stage with me.

“Schwarzwald, have your fun. Come find us when you’re done.” I called over my shoulder. There was no way she’d have just left, not really. It was completely out of character.

All I heard before we left was a mirthful “Hello, dahlings.”

It wasn’t hard to smile.

~~~~~~

“A pity you did not stay, Snowflake-dear. They made such entertaining noises.”

From our spot on the grass, Naiara shot into a fighting stance. “What are you doing here?”

“Easy Naiara,” Bosco spoke up before I could, which surprised all of us. “She’s here to see me.”

“She is?”

“To be precise, Bosco-dahling, I am here for you AND Snowflake.” She corrected, sitting down between the two of us, across from Naiara, who continued to look on in confusion.

“What’s going on?”

Kinda wondering that myself.

“Do sit down, Naiara-dahling, I am not here to fight. Business before pleasure and all that.” She obviously knew the effect her smile had on people, and just as obviously didn’t care in the slightest.

Still, Naiara sat down next to Undertow, as if trying to find some solidarity.

“Much better. Now then, Bosco and Snowflake, I have been approached for another job by dear Amber.”

“Bernstein?” Bosco was frowning, remembering the first time we’d met the socialite. He’d been far more interested in keeping an eye on her numerous bodyguards.

“Indeed.” Noticing Undertow and Naiara looking blank, she clarified for them. “Amber Bernstein is an associate who frequently has work for me.”

“I wonder why.” I quipped under my breath, remembering how Schwarzwald’s casual dismissal of a permanent position had greatly lowered Amber’s spirits.

“We’re not hunting more monsters are we?” The last two times the charcoal colt had helped Schwarzwald in a job for Amber, he’d ended up fighting monsters.

“Yes,” she replied, causing him a look a panic. “But not this time. This time, she seeks some information in a facility to the south. She would not tell me what the information is for, but she promises an impressive reward for our participation.”

Schwarzwald broke off to stare directly at me. “She specified that she desired all three of us to participate, or none at all.”

That was slightly unnerving. I had to wonder why Amber was suddenly taking an interest in me, as she’d been so dismissive when we met, only having eyes for Schwarzwald.

“Amber also made sure to mention that she would guarantee your safety while on the job, possibly beyond.” At my raised eyebrow, she pressed on. “Do not fret, dahling, Amber is nothing if not honest. She prides herself on it. Not for any misguided notion of honour, merely that her business partners appreciate it.”

“Well doesn’t she sound just lovely?” Naiara was grumbling at being basically left out of the conversation, I was sure of it. It twinged at her pride to have fought Schwarzwald so recently, and yet be completely ignored in their next meeting.

“Do say yes, Mistress.” I noticed the others mouthing ‘mistress?’ to each other, as Schwarz continued. “It will give us a chance to spend some more time together. I feel as though all Wings and the twins do is talk about you, but we never see each other anymore.”

“They talk about me?” I pounced on that bit of sentence. “What do they say?”

“So many things, dahling. Enough that I would rather you simply talk directly. It would save time.”

“Oh really? I can’t wait to sit down and chat about how they stole from me.” Sarcasm dripped from every syllable.

“Don’t… don’t say no so quickly, Snow.”

My jaw dropped. “Bosco?”

He didn’t meet my eyes. “It… may not be such a bad idea to call them, Snow.”

“Bosco, what are you talking about?”

Sharing a glance with Naiara, who nodded, he squared his jaw. “Talk to them, Snow. Really talk.”

Scoffing, I could hardly believe my ears. “Now why would I…”

“You were happier before.”

The words hit me like a slap. I couldn’t think of a response, so I just waited for him to continue.

Taking a deep breath, he did. “I know what they did to you, Snow, and how much it hurt. I also know just how much you’ve been through since leaving the Stable. You don’t realise it, but you changed after Neighlway, after Naiara, Cept and Breeze got you out the second time.”

“It’s true, svara.” Naiara chipped in, turning kind eyes on me, “It wasn’t losing your Pipbuck and Orb that did it. Not really. Sometimes, you barely seemed to notice they were gone. Do you know that you haven’t mentioned either of them in days?”

My breath caught in my throat. “I… I haven’t?”

“Not to us, Snow. Whenever you talk about it, it’s always about finding Cassie and Wings, never about the things they stole.”

“I-I…”

Even Schwarzwald was getting in on the act. “Do not think them monsters, dahling. They regret what they have done. If you reached out to them, they would not draw back.”

Bosco and Naiara, I could understand, but what did Schwarzwald really have invested in this? “What does this matter to you, Schwarzwald?”

Ecstatic laughter burst from her in a torrent. “Because you are both so wonderfully confusing, you and Wings. I cannot wait to see what would come about, should Red Ice and Blue Fire mix!”

It was so like her, such a Schwarzwald answer. Saying little, but at the same time speaking volumes.

Surprisingly, it was Undertow who spoke up next. Laying a comforting hoof on my foreleg, her watery voice was smooth, but strong. “Bosco, Naiara, Schwarzwald, is this true? Do you honestly believe what you say?”

The colt and zebra gave solemn nods, while Schwarzwald’s was… less so. Still, it seemed to satisfy. The Deep Diver nodded her own agreement. “Then I support this.”

“What? Undertow!”

“Do you think I only seek your protection, Lady Snow? You are more precious to me than that.” Leaning forward, she pressed her forehead to mine, with our horns meeting.

They were waiting for my answer, but I really had none to give. It was hardly as easy as they said: Get on the communicator and meet for a chat. They had acted against my wishes, and refused to even explain themselves to me. Worse, they seemed to consider all of my actions as a tragic, misguided reaction.

I couldn’t just let that go!

But you know, I admitted only to myself, I do miss them sometimes. Breeze would have loved to explore the ghoul facility. Cassie and Amber would have been fast friends.

Wings… still hasn’t told me her name.

Wordlessly, my hooves came up, and wrapped around Undertow. Opening my moist eyes, I took in their concern, and Schwarzwald’s undisguised interest.

“…I’ll think about it.”

Immediately, Schwarzwald nodded and stood up. “I expected as much. Nothing more, and nothing less. There is a generous time limit for Amber’s satisfaction. Consult me when you wish to proceed.”

“How do we do that?”

Spinning to face Bosco, she dropped an elaborate device into his lap. “This is a communicator, a luxury model from the Bernstein Conclave. I have its twin. Call me when you are ready.”

I expected her to give me one too, but she instead began walking away. “Hey, what about me?”

“No,” she called back in amusement. “I think I shall leave it with Bosco. Do not allow Snowflake to use it, dahling, it is for you and you alone.”

“Come on! Really?”

“Oh yes!” Does she have to smile at everything?

“Before I forget, Naiara-dahling, do not fret about Breeze. She does not hate you.”

“Really?” Relief flooded from her.

“Really.” The mercenary confirmed, with a more tender tone that she’d shown yet.

“Mistress Snow commands that you give it to me instead!” I tried, desperately. I wanted that communicator!

This, at least, got her to turn around, grinning from ear to ear. “Oh no, Snowflake, you cannot skip to the end without playing the game.” She ran her forehooves down her body sensually. “If you wish to lay claim to my possessions, then you must first make me your possession.” Four jaws dropped. “I eagerly await your attempt.”

Through great effort, eye contact with any of my three friends was avoided.

How am I supposed to face them after a comment like THAT?!

Half-turning to leave, Schwarzwald paused, seemingly remembering something. “Oh, and do watch out for Amber, dahlings. She is honest to a fault, but only so far as her words extend. She wields her tools, words included, with great skill. Do not take her lightly.”

With a final wave, she said her goodbyes. “So long; lovely Undertow, pretty Naiara. We shall see each other soon, I am sure.”

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained: Eye Love You. – When you wear matching eyewear, unicorn companions receive a magic bonus, decreasing their magic cost by 10%.

~~~~~~

Author's Notes:

As always, a big thank you to KKat, Y1, Auramane, Cascadejackal (he did the original cover art, which is still on the Fallout Equestria wiki), Void Heart (he did the new cover art), Shunketsunoponi and you, the readers. Please read and comment, and pass the word along if you like the story. Finally, because I find it a really funny coincidence to have another fic with a Stable 61 that’s set in Equestrian Canada, go read Fallout Equestria: Pure Hearts.

That’s all for now, folks. Please keep reading, commenting, and spreading the word on Old Souls. I really appreciate your feedback.