Chapter 14-3: What Is Deserved

Well this is nice and all, but I still prefer Vanchoofer.

The party was in full swing, and the guest list was long. The main floor of the venue, a private club in downtown Lethbridle, was full of guests and servers, all wearing elegant masks.

I was standing over to the side, near the shadows, and the raised platform where Amber Bernstein was holding court. There were at least a dozen ponies around her, all looking to shake hooves and meet this new southern success. Somehow managing to make a ‘radscorpion’ mask look classy, Ms. Bernstein looked to be in her element.

A sea of strange creature likenesses littered the room: Manticores, Radscorpions, Minotaurs, Griffons, other such radiation-born creatures like ‘bloatsprites’ or ‘radigators’, and even a few Old Equestria critters were on offer, though not even those wearing them seemed to really know what they were.

I did, and had elected to don a snowy owl mask for myself. Undertow, at my recommendation, was an otter, while Naiara had taken a timberwolf.

Speaking of Naiara, I could see in the middle of the floor, having the time of her life as she danced with many a stallion. As her long, wine red dress covered her stripes, as did her mask, the only thing being shown off was her graceful moves and athletic body, both of which were drawing notice. She did not lack for dance partners, and I was sure it wouldn’t be hard for her to get them spilling any secrets they thought she’d be impressed by. It was hardly an approach that would work for me, but I didn’t doubt for a moment that Amber would be getting good value with her caps from the zebra.

Undertow was a different story, however. Her discomfort in large crowds made putting her in the middle of it all a bad idea. Luckily, Amber had had a fountain, even bigger than the one in her quarters, installed in the centre of the room, and Undertow was positioned on a balcony above, using her magic to put on a display of aquatic acrobatics, drawing lots of ‘ooh’s and ‘ahh’s from the gathered guests. She was putting them at ease, and appeared to be a part of the staff.

Plenty of ponies had briefly visited the balconies to talk in private over the hour or so since the party started, and even more would do so before the night was up. They dismissed Undertow as a part of the performance, not realising that her natural affinity for water magic made this barely an effort for her. She wasn’t hearing as much as Naiara, but would probably be hearing higher quality talk, and none of it would be aimed at getting her into bed.

Well, if it is, then I’ll be having words with whatever scheister is trying his luck.

The fiery red-orange gown she wore probably didn’t help matters. I wasn’t crazy about the slits down the sides, as it left her showing an awful lot of leg, but the tailors had been adamant that it worked, also Undertow seemed to like it… and it did look good on her. She still wore her goggles under the mask though, which actually served to support the ruse that she was a mere stagehoof. Her mane did too, as its waterlogged base state had stubbornly resisted all attempts to style or dry.

Brushing it for a while was relaxing though, like back when I used to comb out the tangles in my brothers’ fur, when they got too big to do it themselves.

I think she liked it too.

My strategy was kind of a mix of both Naiara’s style and Undertow’s. I wasn’t planning on jumping in to the middle of every group and taking over the conversation, nor was I intending to stay in one place all night.

My conversation starter was the uncommon owl mask, and matching white-grey dress, which I could back up with some other points about pre-megaspell Equestria. Hopefully that’d be enough to keep me on the outskirts of a group long enough for me to overhear what the ringleaders were saying. This satellite approach could be repeated for group after group, hopefully until I’d learned a few juicy details.

We’d been at it for an hour, and I’d learned a few things which might interest Amber, mostly about who was sleeping with who when they weren’t supposed to be, and I’d stepped out onto the veranda for some air. Leaning against the railing and looking back in at the party, I was able to enjoy Undertow’s performance for a little while.

Beautiful… I thought, as one particular trick caught the light in just the right way, the water hanging in the air for seconds on end. So engrossed, was I, in the display, that I didn’t realise that somebody was on the railing behind me, until they tapped me on the shoulder.

“YEEEK!” Reflexively jerking away, I spun around to see who’d snuck up on me.

“Good evening.” Wearing a form-fitting black dress, with a crimson band around her waist, covering the tell-tale lumps where her wings were, was Cassie.

“What are you doing here?” I gaped.

“Be at ease, Sn-“ My name turned into a small cough, as she realised the consequences that a careless utterance could bring upon me, Naiara, and Undertow. “Be at ease, fair lady, we have a mutual friend who wished to have a pair of eyes at this party…”

“…Aaand she does have really good eyes.” Wings landed on the barrier next to Cassie, wearing no dress, but clutching a black-and-red manticore mask in her claw. “Snagged you a mask, some moron on the roof was drunk and snoring his horn off.”

Gracefully accepting the mask, Cassie briefly inspected it before donning the disguise. “Thank you, Wings. I’ll be heading inside now. Don’t dawdle too long, or else there may be trouble.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.” Wings waved her inside. “Just gonna chat with Sn-… this one for a little while, then I’m gone.”

“Is Breeze with you?” I asked, looking to the skies. “Schwarzwald?”

Cassie sniffed. “Schwarzwald cannot fly, and to carry her would have been to risk discovery. And Breeze? Well, we agreed that it was best that she stayed behind this time.” Nodding her farewell, Cassie made a refined bee-line for the party.

I agreed with the unspoken message: Breeze was far too volatile for a gathering such as this. She’d have caused a scene.

If not for the fountain, we’d have had a hard time with Undertow, too.

Wings and I watched Cassie blend into the crowd, until the general party hubbub was all that was heard. “...Dress looks nice on ya.”

Really? I let myself be flattered for a moment, before moving on. “How’s Bosco?”

The chocolate-and-cream griffon let out a long sigh. “Twitchy. I dunno what he went through down in that basement, since he’s not telling, but those fog things really messed him up. He’s jumping at shadows.”

That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. “Does he know what he wants to do next? The Silver ones took his Memory Orbs. Is he gonna try to get them back?”

“Yeah, that’s what he says, but he really doesn’t have the first clue how to do that, and he can’t seem to sit still long enough to think up a plan.”

What happened down there, Bosco? Why won’t Undertow tell me? “…Thanks, for getting them out of there.”

She punched me lightly in the shoulder. “No problem, you’d have done the same.”

“I couldn’t. Not alone.” ...But you did.

And why am I unhappy about that?

“Relax, um… girl. They’re out, and we’re not gonna let them get taken again. Bosco’ll get better. You just gotta give him time.”

I nodded, still downcast. “Mhm. Still, it means a lot to me that you all helped.”

She laughed this off. “Hey, we got a free place to crash out of it. I’d say we’re good.”

“What about what you put into it? What about Gull Gulf?”

“…”

I was still facing the party, which made Wings’ silence all the more oppressive. More secrets? Yay. “…What’s your name, Wings?”

“…”

I could see that she’d said all she was going to on that end. “Thanks again, Wings, but I gotta get back to the party. Look after Bosco for me, and yourself.”

“…Sure, Snow. Catch you later.” With a flap of her namesake, she took off into the overcast sky.

I was still looking inside at the party.

~~~~~~

“…thing after the party? You should join us for a drink or two. We can show you the sights, babe.”

“Yeah, we know all the best places in town. We’ll show you a real party.”

“…No thank you. I have an early start tomorrow.”

Like any suicidally stupid predator, neither colt knew when to quit. Instead of taking the hint to leave Undertow alone as she worked, they stepped in closer, still wearing fake smiles.

“Come on, babe, don’t blow us off just like that. Give us a chance.”

“Yeah, honey, don’t be hatin’.”

I caught Naiara’s eye in the crowd, and beckoned for her to join me. She nodded, and then I did the same with Cassie, who was more reluctant, but still came.

“I said no. I am busy. Please leave me to my work.” Undertow was trying really hard not to kill them, I could see it. She didn’t want to blow our cover, and was suffering for it. She was fixedly looking at the fountain as her horn glowed, ignoring the two idiots hitting on her.

Unfortunately, they didn’t take that well. Growling beneath his mask, the lead colt, a wheat-coloured earth pony with a red tag cutie mark, reached a hoof out and shoved her shoulder. “Listen, bitch, I don’t think you understand what I’m saying. You’re coming out with us tonight, or you’re in a crate heading to Plottawa tomorrow. You get me?”

His crony, an off-white thickset unicorn whose cutie mark was a red awning, also took the chance to shove her. “Yeah, his dad’s the head of the Merchant’s Guild, and mine’s his second-in-command. You ever want to eat in this town again, gurl, you come out with us tonight.”

“Fascinating.” There was nothing in that word that promised good things.

Startled, the two jokers spun around to see that I stood right behind them, flanked by Naiara and Cassie. None of us were smiling. “So you two are the sons of the Merchant’s Guild leaders, huh? Good to know.”

Incredibly, while his lackey was going even paler than usual, the earth colt didn’t seem to understand the situation he was in. “What’s it to you, nag? This is between us and her, now get lost before we teach you what it means to cross our families.”

“Yeeahhh,” Naiara drawled. “See, thing about that is… you don’t know who we are, ‘cause of the masks, while we know exactly who you two jokers are.”

His composure slipped. “I…”

Luckily for him, the unicorn had recovered enough to grab his shoulder. “Chad, bro, let’s just get out of here.”

Unluckily for him, ‘Chad’ failed to take the way out. “What the hell, Fisher? You’re gonna let a bunch of fillies boss us around like chumps? We…”

“…Were just leaving.” Cassie finished for him.

Chad just couldn’t let it go, though. “You don’t fucking talk to me like that! No mare talks to me like that! All you’re good for is sucking my…” He suddenly broke off, eyes wide.

Fisher was staring, jaw dropped, at the ice growing over Chad’s pelvic region.

My horn’s glow faded. “That’ll melt, eventually. Say one more word, just one, and you’ll leave here a gelding. Nothing to suck. Understand, jackhole?”

I looked past him to Undertow. “Keep working, miss, you didn’t see anything.”

Looking immensely relieved, she nodded and turned back to the fountain.

Cassie tapped the other one on the shoulder, who flinched away. “Fisher, was it? Why don’t you take your friend home? He seems to have gotten a chill.”

His pupils had shrunk to pinpricks, and he was so scared that he’d stopped blinking. “I… yes, ma’am. Sorry, ladies.”

Chad could only make pathetic squeaking noises as he was, very gingerly, led away.

When they were gone, I moved up and gave Undertow a big hug. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

She held me back just as tightly, though I could feel her slight tremors. “I am fine, Lady Snow. It’s just…”

“I know.” I rubbed her back gently. You didn’t want to kill them, but they wouldn’t have given you a choice. “I know.”

After the hug broke, I turned to the others. “Stay with her, will you? I’m going to go report this little tidbit to Amber.”

Both nodded their consent.

“And if they come back?” My expression turned vicious. “Hurt them.”

Spinning on my heel, I stalked away, allowing myself to feel the full force of my anger. Those two little shits DARE lay a hoof on her?!

Down on the party level, I began to make my way towards Amber, standing alone on the raised dias. Unfortunately, as I set hoof on the dance floor, the musicians started up a lively tune, and ponies began to move to the rhythm, obscuring my path.

Still, I pushed on, trying to avoid, go around, or simply shoulder aside the couples in my way. My mood had soured, and the appeal of the party was rapidly draining away. I just wanted to let Amber know what we’d overheard, and then call it a night.

After narrowly avoiding being pincered between several groups dancing together, I found that my hoof had caught on something. Still looking towards Amber, I gave it a few quick jerks, but it was stuck tight. Vexed, I sighed and turned around to see what was trapping it.

Two more hooves, apparently. Oaken furred, and bearing a lattice of misshapen scars.

What happened to this guy? I tried again to pull my hoof away, but the stallion’s grip didn’t loosen a millimetre. Looking up into his face, I saw that he was wearing a white owl mask, just like me, and underneath sported a bright smile.

“Can you dance as well as your friends?” His voice was warm and friendly.

“Huh?”

The grin widened. “Let’s find out!”

I didn’t get a chance to reply, as he pulled me perfectly into formation with the other dancers, and began moving us through the steps of the dance, with me protesting all the while.

“Hey! I don’t wanna dance right now. Lemme go!” He was stronger than me, though, much stronger, and wouldn’t release me. What’s your problem, jackhole? You’re lucky we’re in the middle of everybody, means I can’t use my ice magic to stick you to the floor.

Hold on… why does this seem familiar? I’ve never danced like this befOH HELL I HAVE!!! Tensing up, I couldn’t stop my eyes travelling back to the stallion’s face, with only the hazel eyes visible under the mask. Smiling like a cat with a mouse, he gave a quick shake of his head, and I caught a glimpse of wavy blond locks.

Breath catching in my throat, I redoubled my efforts to get myself out of his grasp.

Those hazel eyes glinted. He leaned in and spoke quietly. “Red Ice. It has been some time.”

I kept tugging, but somehow he made it part of the dance. “Let… me… go! What are you even doing here?” Oh damn. Naiara, Cassie, anyone, help me out!

Undaunted, Peanut kept the lead as the music picked up. “You’ve been quite busy since we last spoke. Not a day goes by without my hearing your name… well, one of them at least, Snowflake.”

“What are you even doing here?” I hissed again, entirely unhappy that I couldn’t get away. And the fact that I can’t dance doesn’t help either!

He shrugged, but somehow, infuriatingly, did it in rhythm. “As you might have guessed, I can’t resist a dance. Plus, I have friends here.”

“You have friends?”

We twirled with the other dancers before he responded. “Hey now, that’s harsh. I like to think I’m a nice enough guy to be around.”

“You’re a slaver!”

He winked. “True, but doesn’t mean I’m not good company.”

I just gaped. “…Are you drunk right now?”

“Now now, Snowflake, that’s very rude. I’m trying to have a conversation with you.”

“About what? What could WE possibly have to talk about? You’re trying to kill me!” It was getting harder and harder to keep my voice down.

A quick one-two-three. “Well, perhaps later, but not tonight. In fact, I had no idea you would even be here tonight. Imagine my surprise.”

What? “Then how did you know it was me?”

Short bow. “Masks only hide so much. You forget, we’ve met in person before, met and… danced. I got a good look at the way you move. You can’t hide that from me with a dress, even one as nice as yours. It’s for that reason that I also know your hoof-fighter friend is up on the balcony. I apologise, but she wears her better.”

“Yeah, I know.” Catching myself, I shook my head. “If you’re not looking to kill me, then what? You gonna try to catch me here, in the middle of all these people? I have friends here, you know.”

“Oh, I’m sure you do. Also lots of enemies, too. That’s actually kind of the point.” An edge crept into his voice, even though the tone remained warm. “You’ve managed to fool lots of ponies since we met in Plottawa, Red Ice, and gained quite a reputation for yourself. Tonight, I just want to remind you that I’ve seen just how little you can do, with my own eyes. I won’t be forgetting about these scars on my hooves either.”

The music died down, and only then did he let me go. “Song’s over. Time’s up. I’ll be seeing you around.”

He melted back into the throng as the dance floor began to clear, leaving me standing there with my heart going a hundred miles per minute.

“I’ve gotta get out of here.” I whispered to myself, and immediately moved to find Amber, moving faster than what she’d consider dignified, trying to outrun the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I found her off to the side of the fountain, in the shadows I had been standing in prior to meeting Cassie and Wings. She was issuing orders to staff, and they left as I arrived. “Ah, Snowflake. I trust that you have had a productive evening?”

“Can I talk to you?” I puffed out, still struggling to get my breathing under control.

“Of course, follow me.” She led us out onto the balcony. “How may I help you?”

Taking a deep breath didn't seem to help. “You invited the boss of Plottawa here?”

“Ah, you mean Peanut? Indeed I did. He approached me about working more closely with Red Eye, though I doubt much will come of it. Red Eye is merely a client, however high profile. We have no official ties.”

“Did you know he had a price on my head when you invited me earlier?”

She gave me a pitying look. “Well, you are the notorious criminal, Red Ice, after all. It’s hardly surprising.”

I couldn’t believe her, or this. “Any other dangerous groups invited?”

Amber didn’t shy away from the question. “Certainly, though many declined. Some are more influential than dangerous. Chief Rockhaunch was supposed to make an appearance, but he pulled out at the last minute.”

He’d rather be doing his job than… whatever this is. Good for him.

“And we cannot forget the Steel Rangers, though they squabble with the gate guards about having armoured ponies within Lethbridle’s walls. I invited Fedexi Lexi of Sprinkles Supplies too, but again, business called her away. A pity, but they have a good reputation. I shall try again at another date.”

“You can definitely trust them. Sprinkles Supplies, I mean… not the Rangers. I spent a little time on a job for Lexi. She knows what she’s doing.”

"An endorsement from Red Ice herself? How interesting.” She held up a hoof to forestall my warning. “No, I won’t be making that public. It would do me no good to have open dealings with you, not just yet.”

“’Not just yet’?”

She smiled a beatific smile. “I do believe that Red Ice’s name will be influential for some time yet, and not always so negatively. A mutual respectful relationship forged in secret now will be all the more important, when the public’s perception shifts.”

That caught me off guard. “You think it will?”

“I think that Schwarzwald has taken an interest in you, and I have learned to respect her judgement.”

That was not a full answer, more half an answer to that question and half to another, but it still lifted my spirits somewhat, to have a pony who didn’t think I was all the way gone.

“Speaking of Schwarzwald, she says the Bernstein Conclave does more business down south. What brought you this far up?”

For the first time, she looked to be on the backhoof in the conversation. “I… felt confident to leave my established operations in the hooves of some promising Bernstein cousins. They have some leeway, but I have put checks in place that will ensure a healthy profit while I am away… exploring this new market.”

“Just business then?”

“Er… yes.”

Liar. “We were talking a little at Whitepony, me and Bosco and Schwarz.” Her eyes glittered dangerously at the familiar form of address. “And we wondered whether we could get a different method of payment, not caps.”

I had her attention now. She’d straightened her spine, and gave off the impression of someone getting ready to bargain. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, your Conclave is pretty far reaching, with tons of people working under you, right?”

The smallest inkling of pride shone through. “That’s correct.”

“Well, we were wondering if we could trade our caps for a future favour from the Conclave, though we’re not sure what yet.”

“…Intriguing, but unspecific. I might be able to accommodate this, but I have final say on whether I accept doing you this favour as a form of payment, and can decide to pay you caps instead at any point.”

That’s probably the best I could hope for. “Deal. It’s just me and Bosco who want this, I think. Schwarzwald said she was probably happy with caps, but you can talk that out with her when she brings you the Whitepony data.”

Half her attention was elsewhere, most likely on how the meeting with Schwarzwald would go… or just on Schwarzwald. “I’ll be certain to bring it up. Speaking of data, do you have anything to report tonight?”

“Actually, I heard something very interesting about the leaders of the Merchant’s Guild…”

~~~~~~

There’d been no sign of Peanut for the rest of the night, and we’d been set up in Amber’s servant quarters for safety during the night. She’d also given us an escort all the way to the gate before dawn, and we managed to slip away without any unwelcome eyes spotting us.

Now, finally, we were on the way to the Raider chief meet up. The day had arrived at last.

Just a little while longer, and I can start to change things for the better.

I looked over to Undertow, at my right shoulder. She returned the happy smile I gave her, though with the same slight unease I felt. There was still a chance this could all go to hell. A lot more people knew about this than just the two of us and Naiara, who was on my other side, and none of them really were interested in seeing it come to fruition.

The meet up was in the afternoon, and we’d gotten an early start. The route was quiet, as was the morning, so we were making good time at our current pace, and didn’t need to hurry.

It was a pleasant enough day, though quite cool. A light snowfall had come on during the night, a sure sign that winter was on its way down from the northern mountains.

Having spent a childhood staring at the white, this hardly fazed me. I was almost exuberant to see all my hard work finally pay off.

Still, it hadn’t been without setbacks, and I had to make reparations for that. “Listen guys, I know this is important and all, but I think that, after today, we can leave the Raiders for a little while. We need to help Bosco get his Memory Orbs back before we do anything else. It wouldn’t be fair to leave things as they are.”

“I agree, Lady Snow. I want to help Bosco too.”

Strangely, Naiara didn’t respond, not even to look at us. She just kept walking with glazed eyes.

“Naiara?” No response.

“NAIARA!”

She snapped back to reality with a few rapid blinks. “Huh? What?”

“Do you agree?”

It took her a few seconds to answer. When she did, it was not what I was expecting. She looked away as she responded. “Just… focus on today for now, Snow.”

Her jade eyes were downcast. “Hey, you alright?”

A hoof slipped under her cloak for a second, but came back empty. “I… don’t know.”

I was getting worried now. “Naiara, what’s wrong?”

I tried to reach out a comforting hoof, but she shied away from it, looking guilty. “Snow… I’ve got something to tell you.”

I groaned inwardly, but made the effort to hide it on my face. “What’s wrong, Naiara?”

“Atesh… he says he’s calling in the favour you owe him. Today, at the Raider meeting.”

“What? How does he know about it?”

Naiara reacted long before my brain caught up. “I swear I didn’t tell him! I didn’t even tell Cept!”

Would you need to? I thought bitterly. You showed after Whitepony that there are always zebra around. I relented on seeing her pained expression. “Easy, svara, I believe you. You couldn’t have told him when you were hurt, there wouldn’t be enough time for this. Atesh must’ve just found out some other way.”

Her relief was palpable. “Unten, svara. I promise that it won’t get in the way of what you’re trying to do here. Atesh even promised it wouldn’t!”

I trust you, Naiara, but that doesn’t mean I trust HIM. I’m still gonna have to watch out for this. “…I understand, Naiara. So long as it doesn’t ruin what I’m trying to do, then it should be fine. That being said, I want to get my stuff out of the way first, before we handle Atesh’s stuff. That okay?”

Naiara jumped over and gave me a hug. “Totally, Snow, thanks for understanding. All you’ve gotta do is stay out of it, while I handle the zebra business. I can’t leave the tribe hanging, you know?”

“…I know.” Please don’t go against me in this, Naiara. Not you.

Please.

~~~~~~

We stood on the same hilltop where we’d spoken with Four Fields, days and days ago.

Naiara, significantly more upbeat after coming clean, was gazing down at the camp. “Welcome to Barnstormer territory, Undertow.”

The Deep Diver remained impassive behind her goggles, instead choosing to watch the solitary figure down in the camp. “…It’s very dry.”

“Yeah, it’s a dump, I know. So why don’t we take pity on our poor eyes and just head down there?”

It was a dump, and had somehow gotten even worse in the brief time since we’d last been here. Four Fields’ death must have sparked infighting, as several of the already-ramshackle structures lay collapsed and blood-stained.

When we entered the village, the single pony we’d spotted from the hill made no move to acknowledge us. He or she, impossible to tell under the thick cloak that covered their entire body, sat beside one of the few remaining intact cauldrons, stirring a broth with a ladle wrapped in dark blue magic.

Naiara stepped forward, sniffing at the concoction, before pulling a face. “They completely ignored my advice. Same weak sauce as always.”

“I’m sure you can bring it up at the meeting.” I turned to the shrouded pony. “Is Caber Toss here yet?”

Wordlessly, the ladle rose from the stew, and began banging on the side of the cauldron.

After a few moments, a booming voice emerged from Four Fields’ former shelter. “Ho, so they’re here then? We’ll be reet oot.”

“We?” I shared a look with Naiara and Undertow. Who had Caber Toss brought to the meeting?

Stepping out, the powerful stallion was the same as I remembered. Caber Toss still wore nothing but a bandolier over his orange coat, with the massive shotgun and axe tucked inside. His blue-and-green tartan mane and facial hair were as unruly as ever. He broke into a wide grin as he set eyes on us. “Aha! Y’made it! Good goin’ Red Ice. Fantastic job all roond. A pity about Four Fields, but the crazy bastart’s still got plenty o’ Raiders who need guidin’. Ah’ve been looking after ‘em up til today.”

He suddenly stopped and scratched his head ruefully. “Well, ah say it was me, but really it was mah bonnie lass! ‘Mon out, sweetheart.”

“Sweetheart?” We chorused.

“Aye, ah’m comin’. Hol’ on a sec, will yeh?” Emerging from the tent after Caber Toss was, incredibly, an even bigger and more imposing pony. When last we’d seen her, she was coming after us with murder in her eyes, swinging the ridiculous battle axe that she now bore on her back.

Sweet Lips was all smiles, just like Caber Toss, when she spotted us. “Wee lassies, yeh’re awright! Ah’m glad.”

“Glad? Last time we saw you, you were trying to kill us, even after we saved your village.”

She turned a loving gaze on Caber Toss. “Aye, ah’m awful sorry on that. Ah thought yeh were after mah fella. Ah’m persuaded that’s no’ the case, so it’s nae bother.” Nauseatingly, she still giggled like a schoolfilly when Caber stood on hooftips to plant a kiss on her almost-toothless mouth.

“Uhh… can we get started please?” The faster we got this over with, the happier I’d be.

If he was upset that I’d broken up his affectionate moment, Caber Toss didn’t show it. “Aye, nae danger, hen. ‘Mon an’ sit doon fer a wee while. This wee fella,” he indicated the shrouded pony. “will gi’ us some o’ this broth. Ah’m starvin’.”

Putting words to actions, Caber Toss and Sweet Lips parked themselves on the ground to one side of the cauldron, with the silent pony already preparing bowls of gruel.

Shrugging, we sat down across from them, ready to begin. “So where do we start?”

Scratching his impressive facial mane, Caber remained easy-going. “Hmm, ah dunno. Ne’er done this before. Why don’t yeh say what yeh’re wantin’ outta all this, an’ we’ll go from there?”

And we have done this before? Whatever. “Well, I’ll say this first. I didn’t get into this to turn the Raiders into an army. I’m not looking to start any fights. What I want is to get the Raiders to be treated the same as everybody else in the Wasteland, and to treat others the same. No more acting like savages. There are enough Haylanders, Barnstormers, Deep Divers and Woodpeckers with talents that you shouldn’t have to live as you do. What I want is to help the four groups to gain legitimacy.”

“Legitawhit?” Neither Caber Toss nor Sweet Lips seemed to understand the word.

“Legitimacy,” Naiara jumped in to assist. “it means that you won’t be looked down on anymore.”

“Ohhhhh! Aye, well, that sounds pretty good. What else?” The two were looking more enthusiastic now.

“Ummm...” I cast around for a little while, messing with the bowl of stew I’d been given to stall until I could figure out an answer. “Oh! Well, at least for starters, I want this Raider collective to follow my lead. I’ll be in charge, that was the deal, with Undertow here as my second in command, and then you two. We’ll all take care of the rest of the Raiders together.”

Undertow was looking at me strangely as I promoted her, but I couldn’t focus on it. I had to keep my eyes on the two more Raider-like Raiders.

Sweet Lips was still smiling. “Aye, grand. Nae bother lass. Yeh two can make the hard decisions, an’ we’ll make sure the rest o’ these eedjits stay in line. Should work out just fine.”

Caber nodded in agreement with his wife. “Aye, ah’m in, Red Ice. Sounds like a plan. Now that that’s settled, mind if we have a quick word wi’ Two-tone there?”

“Two-tone?” I looked at Naiara, who seemed to be avoiding looking back. She hasn’t been called that in forever. What’s going on?

Stepping forward, Naiara reached under her cloak again. This time, she withdrew a small box. It took me a little while, but I recognised it. “That’s the package we got for you from Nightcap’s, when we first met!”

Turning sad eyes on me, she nodded. “Yeah. Thanks again for that, Snow. This is what Atesh wanted. I’m giving it to the Raiders. It’ll only take a second.”

Seriously? I was confused, and more than a little worried, about this development. Naiara had been extremely protective of whatever was in the package when we retrieved it for her, and now she’s just giving it away? To Caber Toss? This was more than a little unnerving.

Still, I’d promised to stay out of things, as my debt to Atesh for his zebra finding the fog creatures in Whinniepeg. I’d just have to wait it out, and trust that Naiara wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize what we were here for.

Stepping up to the Raider married couple, Naiara opened the box. I couldn’t see what was inside, but they seemed satisfied. “Aye, looks about right. Set it down right there, lass.”

Wordlessly, Naiara complied, and turned to me with an apologetic look.

That put her back to Caber Toss, who slammed the flat of his axe into the side of her head, sending her sprawling. She hit the dry, debris-strewn ground, and didn’t move.

“NAIARA!” Instantly Undertow and I sprang into action, horns blazing, as we faced the suddenly violent Raiders.

They were on us before we could blink. Caber Toss was wildly slashing at me with his axe, while Sweet Lips was pounding away at Undertow’s half-formed water shield. The only water around was in the bottles she carried with her, and it wasn’t enough to counter Ballbuster’s rampage.

I scrambled back as quickly as I could, but the sudden viciousness of the unrelenting assault made it impossible to conjure any magic. I was only just keeping myself out of range of Caber Toss’ axe.

Something caught me in the back of the legs, and I went down onto my back. Before I could blink, the bulky Raider was on me, sharp edge of his axe at my throat.

“LADY SNOW!” Undertow had spotted my distress, and the inattention cost her dearly. With a colossal downward swing, Ballbuster scattered the water shield, and then pinned her in the same manner as Caber Toss was restraining me.

I was still outraged at what had been done to Naiara, and glared daggers at him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Caber Toss? Let us go right now!”

It wasn’t Caber Toss who answered, though, or Sweet Lips. A soft chuckling, which quickly grew in volume, came from a little ways off. I watched as the thing that had tripped me up, the soup ladle, floated before my eyes. “Don’t blame them, Snowflake, they’re just doing as I asked. It’s why none of you are dead yet.”

Craning my neck, carefully so as to avoid nicking it on the blade of the axe, I turned to look at the only other soul for miles.

Slipping off his heavy hood, a mop of bleach-blond mane, framing a horn that glowed dark blue, came into view.

I could not believe my eyes. I was utterly flabbergasted by the pony standing there. “Latvi?”

The former scientist broke out in a massive grin as he shucked off the rest of the robes, revealing the same lab coat I’d last seen him in, when he’d been taking me through Lethbridle’s streets on the way to Plottawa, though it looked a little worse for wear now. “Hello, Red Ice. Good to see you again.”

He trotted over to the box lying on the ground, and flipped the lid up. “I really have to thank you for this. None of it would have been possible without your inspiring words.”

“My what?” I wanted no part in this madness, whatever it was.

His voice shifted into a poor facsimile of my own. “Is Lithu going to be happy being with a pony with so little ambition?” You were right. I was just gonna run to Plottawa, maybe be a bean counter or something, after I lost out on collecting your bounty. I was maybe ten minutes outside of Lethbridle, when I realised that you were speaking the truth. I could do so much more.”

He spread his hooves wide, and his grin turned manic. “A Raider army! Isn’t it great? And it’s all thanks to you, Red Ice!”

I forgot myself and tried to rise, hissing as Caber Toss’ axe drew blood. “N-NO! That’s not what I wanted! It’s never been what I wanted!”

Chortling, Latvi pranced around for a moment. “Well, that’s the thing, you see. None of this was ever going to be what YOU wanted. That’s because, even though you were the inspiration behind the goal, it was never your goal to begin with, we just let you think it was. Caber Toss just had to play to your heartstrings: The tired old Raider who wanted a better life.” His glee turned to scorn. “A soft-hearted Stable pony like you would eat it up with a spoon, and just look at what happened. And you didn’t once question why a Raider as capable as Caber Toss wanted to follow somepony else?”

Looking back, I had to wonder how I missed such a massive oversight for such a massive stallion. “So you did all this to get back at me?” I glowered.

He barked out another harsh laugh, shoulders shaking as he did. “NO! Don’t you get it? You’re not important anymore, Red Ice! You were a means to an end, and that end is the ambition you claim I lacked! Now I don’t need Plottawa anymore. I’m as strong as they are, stronger even! This Raider army will be feared throughout the Wasteland!”

He’s lost it! My eyes found Undertow, and I completely forgot about the insane stallion for a second.

She was shaking, either with fear or rage, and either way it broke my heart. She’d been through so much because of me, and now I’d dragged her into another disaster.

Breeze was right about me.

Latvi wasn’t done. “Now then, the best part. See, you might be thinking ‘why are the Raiders following this guy? He’s a weakling!’, and you’d be right. I’m not the most powerful or strong unicorn around. But I do have a very tricky kind of magic as my special talent. Do you remember what it is?”

“Memory magic.” I ground out.

He nodded so low it turned into a bow. “Memory magic. As you no doubt realise through Memory Orbs, even after ponies die, their memories keep going, spilling all sorts of secrets that just won’t stay buried. This is true for even the most powerful of ponies. Allow me to demonstrate.”

Up from Naiara’s box floated a strange object. It was like a torch, black at one thick end, and red the rest of the way, tapering in to a tip. Latvi gazed at it with obvious delight. “This is something very special, very special indeed. It belonged to a world-shaking pony from before the war. This guy even gave Celestia and Luna fits. This… is the horn of King Sombra.”

My eyes widened as Watcher’s words came back to me. Sombra? The guy who sealed away the Crystal Empire, and almost killed everyone? That Sombra? “B-but… he’s dead!”

The words ‘so what?’ might as well have been written across Latvi’s forehead. “Dead and gone, never to return, but you’re missing the point. A guy like Sombra didn’t just stop when he died, he left a legacy behind. From the way you reacted to the name, I’d assume you learned something about him in the Stable?”

“Y-yeah.” There was no way I was gonna let this monster know about Watcher.

Latvi was loving stroking the smooth shaft of the horn. “The body’s dead, but the horn remains, and I think it has a few tricks left up its sleeve.” He pointed to Naiara’s prone form. “Your zebra friends? They want crystals, enough so that they don’t ever have to come back to Equestria again. That’s half of what the war was about, you know. Sombra was the Crystal King, and they’re betting on my digging out some crystal growth spells in this horn to allow them to do just that.”

Atesh, you fucking moron, what have you done?! “It’s just a horn, it’s as dead as Sombra. There’s nothing left!”

Latvi’s own horn began to glow dark blue. “Let’s test that, shall we?” His magic began to swirl around Sombra’s horn, moving it this way and that, with occasional sparks jumping between the two horns.

Cracks began to appear in the ground around us, and from them sprang impure, misformed crystals, which crumbled as soon as they formed.

“Hmm, I’ll need to work on that.” Latvi didn’t seem terribly upset about having a malfunctioning spell coming from Sombra’s horn. “Still, at least we know, right?”

After a few more moments with his attention lost in the horn, Latvi went very still. “Oh, now that’s interesting.” His expression was intense, both haunted and excited at the same time. His eyes kept flicking between Undertow and I. “VERY interesting.”

“What? What have you done? Whatever it is, it’s bad news, don’t do it!”

Utter contempt showed through Latvi’s smile. “Oh now, Red Ice, don’t be silly.” Synchronised gasps escaped Undertow and I, as the stallion’s eyes turned green, and purple smoke began to pour from them. “How could I call myself a scientist if I pass up the chance to experiment? That wouldn’t be very… ambitious.”

I couldn’t move, couldn’t look away. Those green and purple eyes seemed to grow and grow and grow, until they ate the land and sky, and everything else, until they were all I could see.

Dimly, I heard Undertow’s voice, as if echoing from a great distance. “…Snow...Lady Snow…where are you…please…”

She sounded so far away, on the other side of those eyes. “Undertow, I’ll find you, just hold on!”

No matter my assurances, her voice faded more and more, until I couldn’t hear anything at all. All there was were those eyes.

“Don’t you worry your little head, Snowflake. She’s next.” Latvi’s voice came through much clearer than Undertow’s, and drowned her out.

“No, you can’t! She’s got nothing to do with this!”

“...Okay so THIS is a little to get back at you. I think I deserve just a little fun, all things considered.”

And then there was nothing.

~~~~~~

Level Up!

Perks gained: A Plague On All Your Houses – Not many groups actually LIKE Snowflake that much, but they have to recognise her. Her reputation increases with all factions.

~~~~~~

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.