Chapter 23-1: Playing The Percentages

[It must seem like an eighteen carat run of bad luck. But, truth is…]

“Hehehe.”

“Stop it.” A voice replied wearily.

“Hehehe.”

“Stop it.” In the same tone.

“Hehehe.”

“Stop it.” Yet again.

“H-”

“Snow!”

Brushing away tears of laughter, I just shrugged at her. “Alright, alright. I’m done now…”

The griffon was still blushing angrily. “Don’t say it.”

I held out for all of two seconds. “...Gigglewings!” I wheezed, collapsing back into convulsive chortles as I laughed through the pain of my injuries.

“Damn it, Snow!” Wings’ feathers fluttered along her shoulders. “I knew I shouldn’t have told you!”

“I’m sorry,” I coughed out, trying to stifle the giggles. “I just really didn’t expect your real name to be…” One blazing blue eyeball glared at me, so I quickly changed how the sentence ended. “...that.”

Grousing and flushed, Wings taloned the rifle she’d finished McCoy with. “So glad the others aren’t here right now.”

My eyes popped open, and I gasped excitedly. “The others! I gotta tell them too!”

“NOOO!” Wings’ full weight crashed down on me, pressing me into the dirt. Her beak was by my ear. “You’re not telling them, Snow!”

“Aw, c’mon, it’ll be funny!”

“I...said...no!” She blurted out as we struggled. I managed to get myself turned around so we were face to face: my hoof pushing at her cheek as she tried to hold me down.

The absurdity of the situation struck me as I noticed her smooshed cheek, and the slight hint of tongue poking out of the side of her beak as she put all her effort into the struggle. I couldn’t help myself, wrapping my hooves around her neck and hugging her tight, fresh giggling bursting forth. “You’re just too adorable!”

Suddenly our positions were reversed, with her frantically trying to push me away. “Gerroff, Snow! I am not!”

I clung on tightly, all the while whispering in her ear. “What am I gonna do now, huh? You’ve kinda ruined the whole plan, you know.”

Her feathers shifted against my jaw, the tickle helped the smile on my face grow even larger as she spoke. “What’re you talkin’ about, Snow?”

Pulling back, I flashed my rambunctious smile right in her face. “Well, how exactly am I supposed to take you seriously as Blue Fire now, when the entire time I’ll be thinking ‘Gigglewings Gigglewings Gigglewings’?”

“Oh, screw you!” She squawked, before we descended into another tussle. After 30 seconds of back-and-forthing, we both lay panting on the ground.

“Don’t tell them.” Wings puffed from my side, as I stared at the cloudy sky. “Just… don’t.”

Something in her voice halted the half-formed joke on my tongue. “...Alright. But why? I mean, you told me.”

She didn’t answer for a few seconds, so I rolled onto my side to stare at her. She was still looking skyward, though her sapphire eyes were dancing as she worked through whatever thoughts hid behind them. “Yeah… I guess I did.”

“Then why not tell them?”

“I just…” She gave up and rolled over to meet my gaze. Neither of us were smiling now. The time for jokes was past. “I told you because… because of what you did before. Back at Gull Gulf. It... it meant a lot that you came after me.”

We shared a shy smile, but I couldn’t just take the compliment. “Well, I mean, it wasn’t just me. I had help from everybody.”

Her eyes sparkled at every-‘body’. “I know, I know. I owe them too, and I’ll repay them. Thing is, I told you my name because you’d been asking, and I didn’t have anything else to give you. The others, though, I’ll make it up to them another way.”

Reaching over, my hoof lightly rubbed her arm. “You know they won’t laugh at you for long, right? Not if you tell them it bothers you. They’re nicer than I am.”

Finally, she managed a laugh herself. “It’s not that. I don’t mind the joke. Gigglewings comes with a lot of baggage. A lot of Griffon stuff. I guess… I guess I’d just rather be Wings to them. I like being Wings. I like that they actually like me AS Wings.”

I can’t argue with that, though why are you worried about being liked? You’re not a Raider, zebra, or pegasus. You’re awesome.

And I don’t wanna be getting weird looks from the others for laughing at a joke that only I know. And Schwarwald, I guess. I opened my mouth to voice something to that effect, but she cut me off.

Looking back at the bullet-mulched corpse of McCoy, she grunted and kicked the empty rifle away. “‘sides, Gigglewings is gonna have plenty of problems from this point on, and they don’t need to get themselves messed up in them. My family’s not just gonna give up, so I have to watch out for that.”

You’re STILL trying to handle this yourself? She must have felt my heavy eye-rolling, as she turned back to me. Giving her the flattest, most unimpressed look I could, I spoke slowly and calmly. “That choice has already been made for you, dummy. I told all of Gull Gulf, loudly and publicly I might add, that any business they have with you goes through me. Your business is your business, but any Griffon tries anything with you, or tries to take you anywhere you don’t wanna go, then they’ll have a former Raider queen in their way. This arrangement we have, our little act? It goes both ways. You keep the Raiders off me while I pretend that’s not what I want, and I do the same for you and Griffons. The only Griffons you have to deal with are the ones YOU decide to. End of story.”

Some, not all, but some, of the tension visibly drained from her, and she lay back down with her eyes still on me. “You know, that sounds pretty good. Thanks.”

I scooted closer and softly knocked my head against hers, before laying down beside her. “Any time. Oh, but one thing…”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

It was joke time again. “I bet the Raiders figure out our scam before the Griffons do. Y’know, ‘cause I can actually sell it.” I nudged her in the ribs. “Unlike some people.” I stressed that last part.

Puffing up her cheeks in mock outrage, she literally didn’t take my words lying down, instead flopping over and putting her weight on my belly. “Are you kidding? Your Raiders are morons. There’s no way you don’t get found out first!”

Not bothering to push her off, despite the ache she forced on my stomach, I went for one last jibe. “Well then, you must really suck at acting then, huh, Giggle-?”

“WINGS!”

“SNOW!”

We both looked up to see two Pegasi, two Earth ponies, a Zebra, and a Unicorn charging towards us.

“Heh, you lucked out on that timing, Wings.” Sliding out from underneath her, I got up and held out a hoof to her.

Her claw wrapped around it without hesitation. “Yeah, I got a break. I’m sure.” She allowed herself to be pulled to her paws.

I ignored her snarking, instead trotting towards our charging friends. “Hey guys, I found-”

Five of the six, one of them surprisingly being Undertow, completely ignored me. They all shot right past and dogpiled the Griffon. “...Wings. Okay then.”

Pinned on all sides by rapidly chattering comrades, Wings’ head whipped back and forth, doing her best to keep up with five conversations.

Stepping back to let them have their moment, I was soon joined by Schwarzwald. The Earth mare was uncharacteristically quiet, seemingly content to watch the others.

I wasn’t. “Everything cool?”

The mercenary mare didn’t turn her head. “By that you mean…?”

“McCoy’s dead. Eitom and Wicker won’t be happy about that. Where are they?” I punctuated my question by pointing towards the old, grey corpse of the late leader of the Monsters.

She followed my hoof. “Ah, then yes. Everything is cool, dahling. We fought off the other Griffons. The grey-on-grey one…”

“Eitom.”

“Yes, him. He was cursing so energetically as they flew. He even managed to make dear Breeze look uncomfortable.” She’d stopped looking at McCoy’s corpse almost immediately. Dead bodies didn’t offer much in the way of entertainment. She was far more engrossed with the ongoing hug-swarm that Wings found herself at the centre of.

The two of us watched in silence for a few more seconds, before she spoke again. “Do you see her eyes, dahling?”

The griffon was all smiles now, oblivious to my stare. While she and the others talked animatedly, I had plenty of time to look at the blue fire. “Sure, what about them?”

Schwarzwald was already moving past me to join the embrace, but she turned her head back for a moment. The corner of her mouth was curled up, hidden from the others. “I have been watching over her for a long time, Snowflake, and I have never seen those eyes shine as brightly as they do now.”

Without another word, she stalked forward and bulldozed her way straight to the Griffon. Wrapping her hooves around Wings’ neck, she proceeded to forcefully and aggressively ignore all semblance of personal space.

The others just laughed harder.

~~~~~~

“So the stallion asks me ‘So where do you stand?’, and I had to pause.”

Looks were exchanged. Undertow voiced what seemed to be the group consensus. “I don’t get it.”

Panning across vacuous expressions, the griffon remained unswayed. “Aw, really? Psh, whatever, guys, I’m hilarious. Okay, so there’s this dragon…”

I tuned her out, happy to see her smiling again. Besides, she’s still got Bosco and Undertow for an audience. Neither pony had strayed far from Wings after being reunited. Undertow acted like Wings might take off again if she didn’t watch her, and Bosco had been sporting an unshakeable grin ever since we’d set off. The good feeling was infectious. I walked between Schwarzwald and Cassie, with Breeze gliding just overhead and talking with Naiara. Mostly about Cept.

Cassie, Schwarzwald and I would exchange a few words every now and then, but for the most part were happy to walk in comfortable silence.

Still, there were matters to address, especially considering our destination. I raised my voice to ensure that all seven of them could hear me. “So, uh, guys. Any ideas on exactly how we’re gonna get inside Neighlway? Steel Rangers don’t exactly give guided tours.”

“Don’t worry,” Bosco spun around and began trotting backwards, still sporting his loveable grin. “I’ve got some ideas about that.” He paused for a moment, looking off into the distance. “By the time we reach Neighlway, there’ll be four days left on our timeline.”

I nodded knowingly, but soon stopped as nobody else was. Confusion had taken the place of good feelings.

“Neighlway is our destination?” Cassie’s expression was no longer friendly.

Breeze landed beside Naiara. “What timeline, Bosco?”

He didn’t stop smiling. “The timeline those fog bastards gave us. One week to find the next... we forgot to tell you guys that part, didn’t we?”

“Who’s ‘we’?” I suddenly found myself skewered by a pair of jade eyes. “Wait, you knew about this too, and didn’t tell us?”

Shifting uneasily, I passed the bit. My hoof sprang up and pointed at Wings. “It’s all her fault. She distracted me by running off and making me go chase after her!”

Wings puffed up like I’d slapped her grandmother. “What?! Oh heck no, Snow. If you think-”

Over the sound of Schwarzwald’s raucous laughter, Bosco pushed onwards. His smile was back too. “Alright, alright. Let it go, all of you. Yeah, the fog creatures told us where my last Orb is, and they said we had a week to go get it, or else we’d end up stuck in another forest, or something along those lines. Now, as I was saying before being rudely interrupted, I have a plan for that.” A sheepish blink followed his words. “Well, part of a plan. The start anyway. I’m pretty sure that I can get us in. After that, we’ll wing it.”

“So we’re, um, we’re still going to the tin pony factory, despite our only reason to go coming from the things that trapped us in the forest, which was also them?” The unsubtle scepticism was in no way lost on any of us.

Except, apparently, Bosco. Guy just went right on beaming. “That’s exactly right.” His brick-wall enthusiasm still managed to worm its way past our concerns. Somehow. “As soon as I get my last Orb, everything’ll be back on track. We can take down Latvi, or Peanut, or whoever. Just gotta get through these next few days, which should be easy, ‘cause of my plan.”

Murmuring to herself, Undertow spoke up. “You just said that your plan was not complete, Bosco.”

Draping a hoof over her shoulders, Bosco bounced up and down a little. “We’ve still got time, ‘tow. I’ll be all set when we get there. Don’t worry about a thing. We get my Orb, and we get out. No heroics.”

A small smile eased across her lips, but didn’t fully break free. “Are you sure, Bosco? After what happened at Whitepony and Whinniepeg…”

Nodding vigorously, he energetically met all our gazes. “Totally sure. We can handle this one last thing from these pricks.”

My sister was clearly buoyed by his confidence, and agreed almost immediately. “Very well, I’m with you. Just try not to do too much.”

Brushing her off with a lazily-waved hoof, Bosco still refused to be anything but exuberant. “Yeah, yeah, I know. We got this. Now c’mon, we’re still hours from Neighlway. Gonna run circles around those Steel Rangers, and take my Orb right out from under them!”

~~~~~~

“Shouldn’t they have called in by now?” Stood in a small crater not far from Neighlway, Naiara had been pacing for the past 10 minutes. Our three fliers had been doing an aerial recon for the past half-hour. “I knew I should have gone with them. No offense to you guys, but I’m the best scout we have.”

“Can’t fly though.” Bosco’s response was light and joking, but his checking of the communicators had become more frequent in recent minutes too.

Laying a hoof on his shoulder, Undertow leaned in to the colt. “Stay calm, Bosco. If things were really bad, we would hear gunfire. Just trust in Wings for a little while longer. She will not let you down.”

Finally, for the first time since Wings had come back to us, his mask cracked a little. Smile hanging on by a hair, his big grey eyes searched hers through her goggles. “We might not get another chance at this, Undertow. We lucked into the first Orb, and the fog came to us with the second, and they were working their own angle when they did. I only have their word that the last Memory Orb’s here.”

The Deep Diver didn’t blink. “We will find it, Bosco, even if we have to tear Neighlway apart to do so.” Giving him a quick squeeze, she hardened her expression. “However, don’t ignore what the fog creatures are capable of. You did not fare well in their captivity last time, you might not-”

She cut herself off, her head turning slightly towards the rest of us. “You cannot let your desire to get your Memory Orb back blind you to the danger these enemies present.”

Naiara had stopped pacing, and had been watching the two. “You never told us what it was like, Bosco, when they had you.”

The charcoal colt went still for a moment, just long enough for his smile to come back. “I’m fine.”

Undertow caught my eye, and Naiara and Schwarzwald exchanged a look too. The latter’s look was not so much worried as inquisitive. She checked her communicator, then the skies, before answering. “That is not what she asked, dahling.”

Smile starting to look like rictus, Bosco disengaged himself from Undertow’s hoof, taking a step back. “Guys, I promise I’m okay.”

“No you’re not.” Naiara stepped forward. “It’s getting louder again, isn’t it?”

He retreated the same distance. “N-no.”

What’s she talking about? “Bosco?”

“I said I’m fine, Snow! Don’t start with me!” Pupils shrunk and hackles raised, the words flew from him in a spittle-y rush.

We all jumped as Schwarzwald’s communicator crackled to life. “In that case, allow me to interrupt.”

“For fuck’s sake, Amber, stop doing that!” I yelled into the mic, clambering over Schwarzwald to do so.

The leader of the Bernstein Conclave’s voice did not give the impression of patience. “While I might otherwise have been happy to exchange pleasantries with you, Red Ice, I am afraid that now is not the time. I need all eight of you to come to Lethbridle, immediately.”

“No no no, not now! You cannot be asking this right now!” Bosco’s unease had given rise to rage. His hooves were shaking as he growled at the disembodied voice.

“I am afraid that I am, Bosco. The situation-”

Bosco’s hooves slammed over his ears, and his eyes squeezed shut. “I DON’T CARE WHAT THE SITUATION IS! Neighlway is there, I can see it! IT’S RIGHT THERE! I won’t just leave when we’re so close!”

Nobody spoke for several seconds. Undertow and Naiara rushed to Bosco’s side, trying to comfort the colt. I looked at Schwarzwald, whose eyes were cycling between the me, Bosco, and the communicator.

Amber broke the silence. “You must, Bosco. I understand that you have other concerns, but this cannot wait.”

“Neither can this.” He shot back quietly, glaring at the ground. “What exactly is so damn important that you want to drag me away from this?”

“...because if you do not come, all of you, Lethbridle will fall.”

I sucked in a long breath. What have you done, Amber?

Another voice joined the debate through the airwaves. “Amber, this is Wings. What do you mean? What’s happening in Lethbridle?”

“Latvi’s Raiders are moving on the city, and they’ll breach the north gate within a day. I require Blue Fire, Red Ice, and the rest of you to defend the city.”

“Latvi’s attacking Lethbridle?” I exclaimed, disbelieving. No way he’s brave enough for that!

“Wait, Amber-dear,” Schwarzwald cut in, “how do you know he will use the north gate?” The mercenary’s eyes were dancing with anticipation.

Amber didn’t hesitate. “They will use the north gate because my associates will have made preparations for them to enter the city, and Latvi will not consider it an attack.”

Everybody, except Bosco, immediately voiced their disapproval. Schwarzwald, Naiara, Undertow, and I were all yelling at Amber, and were soon joined digitally by Wings and the twins.

“The hell were you thinking?”

“You’re letting Raiders into Lethbridle?”

“What is the matter with you, bitch?”

“You’re insane!”

Eventually, Schwarzwald managed to quiet us, then spoke in a suspiciously airy tone into the mic. “Amber...dahling, this is not like you at all. Explain yourself.”

“Latvi and I have an arrangement in place for Lethbridle. He has promised me full use of all four Raider encampments around the region; Whinniepeg, the Barnstormer lands, the Woodpecker village, and the Deep Diver’s Soft Swell Lake!”

“MY lake!” Undertow corrected grumpily.

“Regardless, in exchange for those locations, I will give him a way into Lethbridle. He intends to take it for his own.”

“That’s not yours to promise, Bernstein.” Wings’ voice strained against the wind, obvious even through the speaker. You’re really moving to get back here, aren’t you?

“Do not presume that I am unaware of the particulars of any deal that I make, Wings. I do not overextend. The only reason that I am contacting you is that Latvi has moved up his action against Lethbridle to today, rather than a week from now. All my preparations would have been in place then. He has moved up the timetable, I might add, because of the death of McCoy, leader of the Monsters. I do believe you all had something to do with that, did you not?”

“You’re not gonna pin this on us, Amber. Don’t even try.” You don’t have cause to blame us for this. Hell, you still owe half of us favours!

“I am not looking to assign blame, Red Ice. This is business, not personal. I am aware of the risks, and have entered into this arrangement with a plan in mind. This plan will save Lethbridle, however due to the schedule moving up without warning, I have had to call on your services earlier than I anticipated. Latvi cannot be allowed to dictate the pace here. If nothing else, you must agree that my stewardship of Lethbridle is a more agreeable option.”

Wings slammed down into the centre of our group, soon joined by the twins. All but Bosco jumped. The griffon’s chest was heaving, but her Blue Fire eyes were sharp. “Amber, we’re on our way. We’ll defend Lethbridle against the Raiders, but that doesn’t mean we accept your outcome either. You will pay for this.”

The Bernstein leader was not unsettled by Wings’ threats. “Excellent. Make sure to arrive by the south gate. My people will collect you all there. I will ensure that Red Ice is not troubled by the guards.”

Grr, I’m never gonna get away from that, am I?

Bosco stood up jerkily. “Good luck with that, you guys. I’m staying right here.”

For the first time in the conversation, Amber was nonplussed. “I asked for all eight of you. You are all needed.”

“Yeah?” Bosco shot back, contempt lacing his words. “Well, I’ve got my own schedule to keep, and it doesn’t work with yours. Tell me Amber, how long would we be staying in Lethbridle?”

“...Two days, perhaps slightly longer.”

It was probably a good thing that Amber couldn’t see the condescension radiating from the colt. “Uh huh, thought so. Well, let me tell you about MY schedule.”

“Bosco…” Undertow warned, “perhaps revealing this is not-”

“AMBER,” he silenced Undertow, “I have four days to find my way into, AND under, Neighlway, plus do whatever is needed of me while there. From here to Lethbridle is one full day’s travel. Another for the return trip. And now you want two days or more of my time that I simply don’t have, and don’t want to give you. No deal.”

“Two hours.”

We waited for her to continue. She didn’t. Rolling his eyes, Bosco started walking out of the crater. “Yeah, Amber. Two hours. Whatever you say.”

I again marvelled at her ability to be smug, even miles away. “Your return trip will not take a day. It will take two hours. I have a sky carriage that you can use which will make the trip from Lethbridle to Neighlway in two hours, if one of your fliers is willing to pull it. If you agree to help me, you may keep it.”

He stopped halfway up the crater, but didn’t turn around. We all watched his hunched back. Over what seemed like a thousand years, his shoulder muscles relaxed. Tilting his head enough for us to see the corner of his lips, but not his eyes, he spoke with certainty.

“I’ll help, but this is the last time. I don’t care who it is, or what the problem is, if anybody tries to stop me from coming back here after this, I’ll put a bullet between their eyes.”

My heart went out to him, and the others seemed to feel the same way.

It’s not fair on you. There was no other way to describe it. It’s just not fair.

~~~~~~

“Oh no, this is much better. No, why would we ever need to stay at Neighlway with our limited time when we can trek all the way back here and wait in the fucking snow?” Kicking his hooves, Bosco send up a fine spray of loose precipitation.

“We can’t exactly control the weather, Bosco.” Breeze snapped back, wings fluttering tersely. It had been a long trip from Neighlway. Bosco had been mostly silent, but when he did speak it was never positive. We all felt for the guy, but nerves were fraying all round with the complete negativity he’d been espousing.

I’d held my tongue thus far, but even I was reaching my limit. I get it, you jac-no, don’t think like that. He’s right to feel this way.

I just wish he’d do it quietly.

He didn’t, though. “Oh, I’m sorry, Breeze, I forgot that pegasi stopped doing that two centuries ago. I guess if I wanted to be warm, or even average, I should have stayed at Neighlway by myself. Sure, you guys promised to help me get in and get my Orb, but I should have said something, huh? OH WAIT!” He was bellowing at the end, and it seemed like at least half of our group was gearing up for a full on screaming match.

Undertow defused it at the last second, stepping between Bosco and Breeze, and speaking in low, calm...er tones. “Please, everyone. The decision was made. It is what it is. Let us just finish our business here quickly, and collect our sky carriage. That should be fun, yes?”

Breeze and Bosco simultaneously “tch”’d and turned their heads away, but didn’t resume the argument. Good going, Undertow. You’re really starting to open up with these guys. My heart swelled at the sight of her holding court like that.

“At least there’s no line.” Wings muttered, stalking towards the gate. That was a first. Every other time we’d been to Lethbridle, there had been dozens of ponies trying to get in.

“Maybe they don’t wanna risk the trip if a storm’s coming?” I could only guess, as this was the first sign of a possible winter coming down from the mountains that I’d seen while travelling. Hell, I was in a Stable until a few weeks ago, I don’t even know if the Wasteland still even has seasons.

“Or perhaps they’ve heard about who else is coming to Lethbridle.” If nothing else, Cassie knew when to pick her moments for maximum impact. We all snapped back to some semblance of focus. Satisfied, she hammered on the gate. “Hello? Is anypony there? Hello?”

The gate rumbled open within moments, revealing a looming figure inside. Chief Rockhaunch stalked out of the shadows, glowering at each one of us between his horns. He lingered longer on me than the others. “Not a pony, but I have been waiting for you, and I’m not particularly happy about that. Get inside, now!”

“It’s good to see you, Chief.” I tried, but he just grunted and ignored me.

Giving up, I let him lead us into a small room off the gate tunnel. Once we were all inside, he closed the door and locked it, then leaned against the frame for good measure. The room itself was very sparse, with just a small table in the centre. On the table was a speaker.

“I thank you all for coming so quickly.” Amber’s businessmare tone emerged from the speaker not two seconds after Rockhaunch had sealed us in. “Especially you, Bosco. I assure you that I will provide any resources that I am able-”

“Just get on with it!” He snarled, leaning his grey hooves on the table. “We’re wasting time.”

Amber’s tone didn’t change. “Of course. The reason that I asked you all here is that, due to Latvi advancing the timetable, Chief Rockhaunch’s guards, along with my private security force, have not yet finished evacuating the city’s inhabitants. The Raiders will soon entire the north gate, and make their way into the city. We are confident that they can be contained in the northern quarter until we are ready to move to the next stage, but have decided to provide a very VISIBLE deterrent to keep them from advancing further.”

“What do you mean ‘visible deterrent’?” Naiara was flanking Bosco, along with Undertow. Her restless eyes darted around the room.

“She means Blue Fire.” The Chief intoned, heaving himself off the doorframe. “We put her front and centre with our forces, helping with the evacuation, maybe taking a few potshots at the Raiders if they get close. It’ll put the citizen’s minds at ease to know their hero is on the job.”

All eyes went to the griffon. We watched as she squared her jaw and grimaced. Her frown was directed first at Rockhaunch, and then at the speaker in the table. She closed her eyes and let her plumage fluff slightly. All present waited, in silence, for her answer.

Amber, not being present, did not. “I should stress that it will not be only Wings who is to be our symbol here. In fact, it will require the services of six of you; Chief Rockhaunch, Wings, Bosco, Naiara, Aqua Breeze and…” Her voice morphed into a noticeable growl as she spoke the final name. “...Cassiopeia Venatici.”

“But why us? We’re not-” Breeze began, but was cut off by a half-whispered, half-grumbled addendum from Amber.

“And her whip.” Even at that barely audible level, the venom present was clear.

I glanced over at Schwarzwald and Cassie. Schwarzwald was smiling to herself, and Cassie was intentionally looking the other way.

Breeze blinked twice, waiting a few seconds before trying again. “Why us, Bernstein? We’re not heroes.”

“No,” Amber replied, once again the unflappable businessmare, “you are not. You are, however, very useful symbols in your own right. An earth pony, salt of this land, fighting to defend his brethren. But he is not alone. The Raider threat is not just dangerous to your average Wastelander. The brave Wastelander Earth stallion is joined not only with Chief Rockhaunch’s buffalo, but also with a heroic Griffon, a noble Zebra bucking the trend of the past two hundred years, and even a pair of Pegasi from on high, unable to ignore the pain of their ground-bound cousins. All of these separate, yet united peoples, coming together to face a grave threat. Quite the picture, is it not?”

Naiara’s hooves shot out and clapped against the wall. “This is the same shit you pulled when I first met you! You just want to parade me out there as a ‘noble savage’!”

“I want a capable warrior to defend this city. The rest is secondary.”

Schwarzwald rapped her horseshoe on the speaker. “In that case, Amber, why are we not all going? We are all of us battle-hardened.”

Rockhaunch spoke up first. “I’m not letting Red Ice out in public. We’ll have enough trouble as it is, and she’ll just incite panic.” The big buffalo’s brow lowered as he focused on Undertow. “The former leader of the Deep Diver Raiders is no better. The two of you will be going straight to Bernstein. That’s the only good you can do here.” He pointed a massive hoof at Schwarzwald. “You’re going with ‘em. I actually would have you out front with the others, but Bernstein’s specifically requested you.”

“Yeah I’ll bet she did.” I murmured under my breath. Be less obvious, Amber.

“Snowflake, Undertow, and Schwarzwald will assist me in making preparations for the next phase of our plan, which will come into force tomorrow.” From the frosty atmosphere, it was clear that neither Amber nor the Chief had any great affection for each other. Rockhaunch’ll do everything he can to shut you down if you go too far, Amber. You can call yourself Lethbridle’s “steward” all you want, but it’s really his city in the end.

A faint sound of thunder eased under the door. We all looked at Rockhaunch, who gave a stoic nod. “You five are with me. Red Ice, get yourself to Bernstein. That’s an order.”

...and it’s under attack. “Be safe, you guys.” I got solemn nods in response.

As we gathered our gear, one sullen colt’s voice piped up. “Can I just repeat how fucking ‘glad’ I am that we left Neighlway?”

~~~~~~