"Classy," came the voice like a spike through the thick air. The trail of blood hovered for a moment and fell ungracefully to the mouldering wooden floor before vaporizing quickly.
"As always, darling," she replied with the vibrant edge of the rush ringing clear in her voice. She gave a sigh of relief as the body hit the ground. With a short burst of bright blue magic, the blade slid back into its sheath along her side, and she turned back. "Wow, you slapped your goggles on fast."
"As always," she returned with am excited grin, and levitated the corpse over to her, turning it over in the dim sunlight trickling through the ceiling. "Well," she said after a moment, "you cut through the scales."
"Did I?" Rarity replied, closing her eyes. "I don't -" She clicked her tongue. "I suppose I may have misjudged the velocity. My fault entirely." She paused for a moment. Without that payoff, that was a good month down the drain. It was the first brass they'd come across in that long, at least, and they'd done nothing but camp and graze and sleep since then. "Perhaps we could salvage it?"
"Oh, we can, definitely, but the value'll be down fifty percent." Twilight sighed, and peeled the creature's protective outers off with a soft pop, sliding the scales into her saddlebag. "That's, uh, seven or eight now. Eight."
Rarity smiled. "That much closer."
Twilight nodded, returning the smile. Suddenly, she locked up, the only sound in the quiet, torn building the drips of some faraway water source and the gentle hum of magic.
"Burrowers," she began slowly. "A few paces behind me."
Rarity snapped the blade back out of the sheath. "Show me."
A pink circle, wavering slightly in the dust, made its careful way over to a small section of broken ground a bit behind her, and Rarity nodded. "Feathers," she called, and a small aura of pink fell to the ground from Twilight's horn, forming small cases over Rarity's hooves.
She crossed into what was once the kitchen, her hooves making no sound against the old, burned linoleum, and scrutinized the ground. There were definitely at least two.
With a quick inhale, she jammed the blade into the ground.
Her heart fell from a quick drumbeat to a steady pace as she felt a wriggle, then nothing. "Ah, good. How many did you say?" she asked over her shoulder.
"I'm reading two, but I can't tell. Remember when you dropped the equipment box?"
"Don't remind me," Rarity replied huffily, and noticed that, yes, there was another, right behind the first. The subtle vibrations in the floor always gave them away. She was about to send in the blade again, but then caught another small patch of movement moving out of the corner of her eye. And another, behind that one.
"Twilight."
"Yeah?"
"Give yourself Feathers and re-do mine and let's find another way out of here. It looks like there's four. Five." There went the drumbeat again.
There was silence for a second, and Rarity risked turning around.
The Feathers fizzled.
With a sudden and uproarious noise, the linoleum shattered and five large, healthy-looking burrowers shifted out of the ground, their ponylike forms moving unnaturally in the light. Rarity reacted immediately, taking a swing at the first before blocking the jaws of another. "Twilight! Blast me!" she cried, and the pink magic swelled around her, pushing the pale, fleshy things away a bit.
"Run back!"
Rarity heeded, and made a sharp 180, dashing back to Twilight as fast as she could, leaving the burrowers to struggle for a moment with the disconcertion.
"Window," she heard, and focused straight on it, the rush as well as the fear propelling her forwards. The glass broke easily, and the two found themselves on the ground, on top of one another, the blade at a dangerous angle nearby. She snatched it up with her magic and, tossing Twilight on top of her, galloped away, into the bright daylight and onto the worn, dusty path nearby.
Twilight slid off after a few moments and galloped alongside her, in silence, for a moment. Then, when she slowed to a trot, Rarity followed suit, looked over, and laughed. Just like her, Twilight joined in quickly enough.
Eventually, they hit the limits of the road and began their journey back out into the thin forest, dropping to a walk. "I don't want to do any more hunting today."
Rarity looked over at her with a raised eyebrow.
"I know, but that... that got too close. Scared me, you know?" She paused, and glanced off to her left. "Let's find a stream near the base of one of the mountains over there and set up camp. If we come across a brass or two on the way, that's a plus."
"Cheeky," she teased with a bump to the side. "You're right, though," she added, leaning over for a light kiss on the cheek, "we got out in one piece today. Let's call it for tonight, and we'll continue on east tomorrow."
The forest was even more still than usual at night. The birdsong had died away as the sunlight did, and there weren't many insects out in the forest to begin with. None that made noises, anyway. The tent was set up, the fire was nothing but coals, their armours and devices were packed away, and the stones they'd heated were surrounding the blue cotton sleeping bag in a 'cute little arrangement', according to Rarity.
"How many left?" Rarity asked, looking over at the setup despite herself.
"Five." Twilight shook the vial with her magic before twisting it onto the end of the needle.
"Is that all?"
"Yup. The last caravan didn't have any on them, remember?"
"They were definitely - ah - using them," she muttered, her voice straining as the needle entered her shoulder.
"I dunno. I didn't count too many weapons."
"But some ponies get addicted to it instantaneously," Rarity replied, sighing with a flutter as the rush began running hot through her bloodstream. "It's not hard to see why sometimes."
Twilight made an uncomfortable little noise, cut short by a slow touch of Rarity's lips on her own. Twice. "Rarity, you know..." Her voice faded with another kiss.
"Darling, I'm built for it," she replied, her voice dropping. "I took the training. I remember it."
"Okay, if you - mm. If you say so."
It was always right after the first few seconds that she felt that familiar pulsing desire. It was odd, really; she wouldn't consider Twilight her marefriend, S.O., other half - anything outside of business partner. And the topic hadn't yet come up in conversation. But Twilight didn't seem to mind.
The first time, almost a year ago now, she didn't resist at all. Rarity figured she was used to it, considering the amount of ponies she'd likely administered rush to over the course of her work for the Princesses. But, apparently, Rarity's reaction was a bit unorthodox. Apparently Twilight just felt something for her, even that early. So she accepted.
Rarity faltered and fell forwards a little, on top of Twilight. Already getting clumsy. Weak, a voice whispered at the back of her mind. But, overwhelmed by the initial rush of rush, she didn't care.
Since then, it'd just been a loose, steady... thing. Once Rarity was licensed, they made arrangements with their districts and took off together. It made sense to both of them, and they never really sought to change it. Rarity simply loved her, in more ways than one. Partners in crime.
Twilight had packed the empty syringe quickly in the box behind her and began leaning into the embrace, opening the sleeping bag with her magic and lying down at Rarity's side.
"Twi -" she managed, between the increased frequency in kisses. "I don't think I'll be able to speak very well for the next few minutes."
"That's fine," Twilight replied, in her familiar getting-tired soft voice, beginning to kiss gently up her jawline. "Y-"
She was cut short when the tent flap opened as though it was blown back by the wind, hitting the front of the tent with a resounding smack. Rarity flipped over, and sat up, the rush focusing her on the tent entrance as she grasped for the blade with her magic.
There was absolute silence for a heart-pounding moment or two, before -
"BOO!"
Both of them jumped back and yelped, before their minds processed the familiar face twisted in laughter in front of them. Twilight sighed heavily.
"Ah - f - r - Dash!" Rarity sputtered, her magic finally finding the blade and flipping it into the air for a frustrated good measure. "I could have killed you!"
"But you didn't," she replied, and began laughing loudly again, much to their disdain. "Jeez, guys, I haven't seen you in months. What's going down in your neck of the woods?"
"What, down in Fillydelphia? It's fine, I guess," Twilight replied. "They're handling it well as a whole."
"Same in Baltimare. Rations are working out, they're repopulating," Rarity added.
"Well, you guys certainly aren't helping," she interjected with a snicker. "We came to clean up the city with some of the highborn magic types from Canterlot. You probably know some of them, Twi - say hi, guys," she said, calling out of the tent to whatever group she was with, and getting an exhausted-sounding response with few to no discernable words.
"The cleanup probably would have been nice before we went scavenging," Twilight said, with a bit of a scowl. "We didn't get any schedule in Fillydelphia. There are burrowers everywhere. We got jumped by five."
"Well, hey, I'm glad you're alright," Dash said with a smile. "You guys headed anywhere?"
"Just back east," Rarity replied. She just wanted Dash out. Whether she knew it or not, she was interrupting. "We'll see you in August for the meeting."
"Fluttershy's not gonna be there. She's got a bad section she's moving on to and wants to spend time making preparations."
"Is that so?" If that sentence didn't clue her in, nothing would.
Dash's smile fell, but not apparently out of realization. Out of something else. "Look," she began, her voice lowering. "Word gets around concerning the chargé d'affaires for two of the biggest districts in the country. I know what you're doing, and I'm giving you a pass. I really should be turning you guys in."
Twilight looked over at Rarity. "You wouldn't... actually do that, would you? You know it's for a good cause -"
"I know - I know that, but..." She trailed off. "The law's here for a reason, you know? This is a bad time for everypony, and the black-market stuff isn't helping."
Rarity looked away for a moment, and licked her lips. It was true, definitely, but they couldn't just stop. The money would be going right back into Twilight's and Rarity's sectors, Fillydelphia and Baltimare, for the recuperation effort. Plus, there were some... other reasons.
"Dash," Rarity began carefully. "I know you pretty well. We're friends. Right?"
Dash looked at her, inquisitive. "Yes."
"I know the - the lawpony persona isn't you. You're loyal to what's right. Right?"
"Right now, law is what's right," Dash replied, like Rarity expected. "Do you just not remember? Don't you remember what happened when there were no rules?" Her voice had become almost a hiss.
"... How could I forget," Rarity replied, looking down again.
"I trust the Princesses, okay?" When there was no response she continued, with a shake of the head more to herself than to them. "I shouldn't have been so harsh. I'm not going to report anything. Of course I'm not."
"Thank you," Twilight replied, to nothing but a sort of grumble from Dash.
"Hey, um... can we set up camp nearby? Just for the safety," Dash added quickly.
Twilight was about to nod, but Rarity nudged her. "Can you spare a rush?"
Dash looked out at her group again, who was becoming more audible (and sounding more disgruntled), and sighed. "Maybe. How many do you have left?"
"Three," Rarity replied.
Twilight looked over at her, a bit of disbelief in her eyes. "Five," she said, and shook her head. "We should be good on making it back to Fillydelphia, and we can resupply. Don't worry so much, Rarity."
Rarity swallowed. "Right." It wouldn't be that difficult. She was trained with and without rush, so she should operate at full potential whether it was active or not. It was fine.
Dash looked at them both, from one to the other. She'd become something else since she'd been assigned to Los Pegasus. She never gave details about what happened, but she'd become harder, and every once in a while seemed just an inverse of who she used to be. "... I'll check up on you in the morning, unless you're taking off before sunrise."
"We're not staying long," Twilight began.
"We'll most likely be packed and gone then," Rarity agreed, and smiled a half-smile. "It really was good to see you again, Rainbow Dash."
"Yeah," Dash replied with a characteristic grin finding its way back onto her face. "I'll see you both at the meeting." With a final nod, she closed the tent flap, and the fizzling of a dozen Feathers with the subsequent crunching of leaves and sticks filled the air.
Rarity looked over, to face Twilight. She was trying to formulate words to say, but was at a loss.
Twilight placed a hoof on her cheek and kissed her, deeply, with a bit more substance than usual. More emotion. She pulled away after what felt like just too many seconds. "Rarity... I don't want you to get too into the rush. I really don't. It's probably amazing and all, but it can do things to you, and I..." She trailed off, her mouth open as though to say more.
Rarity smiled softly, lowering her head and nuzzling against Twilight's neck. "Twilight, I'll be fine."
"... Okay."
"Rarity. We have to get going." Twilight's voice echoed through her dream and cleared slowly, waking her.
She sat up, pulling away from the warm embrace and to the chill of the early morning, facing it with eyes shut tight. I don't want to get going, her brain screamed at her, louder than ever, for a moment, before sudden and instant silence. The rush would last maybe through the rest of the new day, maybe even a bit of tomorrow, but its focus felt new and reinvigorated.
She opened her eyes and blinked drowsily. "It feels a bit bright. How late is it?"
"I dunno," Twilight replied, over the light clatter of the latches on the equipment boxes. "Not before dawn."
"Well, yes," Rarity agreed with a giggle. "Not before dawn. I hope we get to Witheron by night."
"We will, definitely. It's not too far out. We can make it by sunset, at least," she replied, with a yawn.
A huge boom shook the tentpoles, and Rarity jumped out of the tent, her blade already caught up in a staticky bloom of her magic. Away, in the town in the distance, a large dome of lime green rumbled outwards from its origin before dissipating into nothing.
Twilight popped her head out and nodded. "Ten bits says that's Altair Shine. He was in my graduating class."
"How can you tell?"
"You don't come across that colour of magic too often," Twilight replied, ducking back into the tent. "Green has some connections to dark magic, so lime green is super-rare."
"Oh, Twilight, it's about eight," Rarity said, glancing up at the sky. "We really do need to get going."
"You do the tent," Twilight replied, trotting out with their saddlebags levitating behind her. With a bit of magical coercion, the tent fell flat, and rolled up into a manageable size. And they were off again.
"If we keep a trot," Rarity began, "we can make up some time."
"I'm right behind you. Probably literally, here in a few minutes."
Rarity giggled. "Darling, you need to run some laps if you tire that quickly."
"Nah, I'm fine. Just go and I'll tell you when I need to stop."
The gravelly forest path and its early-morning misty surroundings were a bit quiet for Twilight's taste (Rarity knew that quirk quite well), so she kept up a chat, really just letting her talk.
Twilight did love to talk, about whatever came into her mind, really; Rarity used to, as well, but since the attack there wasn't much to talk about for her. When the invasion had reached Canterlot, every passing day ground in the new - the new being life-or-death. That was when she decided to take the training. It truly sealed reality for her when they cut her mane. Nothing would be the same for a long, long time, the new said.
Twilight's voice fell into the background, despite Rarity's best efforts. Before everything, perhaps she and Twilight weren't the closest of their friends. But over the course of... this, she began to understand Twilight was something special, reliable - something real. Once-in-a-lifetime.
It was odd how quickly a new realization came, seemingly out of random during an entirely different discussion. More odd than the realization itself was the fraction if a second it took to materialize. One simple sentence, by no sentient thought of her own. "Twilight," she interrupted quietly.
Perhaps too quietly. "- and so in 1799, the four feudal families of the Capitol Area took surnames for -"
"Twilight," she said again.
"Huh? What?"
Rarity looked over at her, a lump forming in her throat, and suddenly it didin't seem like a pressing matter at all. "Nothing," she replied, with a nervous little laugh. "Sorry."
"What, did you see something?"
"No, I just - never mind," she repeated.
"Well, now you have to tell me."
"It's really nothing."
"If it's nothing, why are you having such a hard time saying it?"
Rarity rolled her eyes. "I was just wondering, um... what... are we?" She spoke each word cautiously. It felt uncomfortable already, but that couldn't be helped. She just needed the clarification.
"Are you asking offhandedly, or because we're not explicitly together?"
Rarity clicked her tongue, feeling a touch of a blush on her cheeks. "Smart."
Twilight sighed, the thinking sigh with the long inhale and the loud exhale, and dropped to a walk, prompting Rarity to as well. "Well... I love you, if that's what you were looking for." She cleared her throat. "I'm glad I was able to convince you to do this with me."
Rarity felt her cheeks burn, for some reason. Maybe because she shouldn't have asked if it was a given. Maybe because she didn't mean to put her on the spot. "When everything's stable, maybe even in the near future, when the magic-sodden areas are worked over and the cities are fully repaired, do you think you would ever - ever consider s - um - settling down?" Rarity asked, tripping over her words.
Twilight didn't respond for the longest wait Rarity had ever endured. She was about to have a conniption. "... Are you asking me to marry y-"
"No! No, no, no, I wouldn't spring something like that on you," she cried, shaking her head. "No, no. I mean, just, um, maybe live in the same house. I think the Boutique's still in decent condition."
Twilight laughed, a mix between genuine and uneasy. "I think we'll figure something out. At some point." A small smile found its way to her face.
A flap of wings terrified the life into Rarity, and she slipped the blade out of the sheathe - only to lose hold and watch it skitter across the small rocks that made up the path below.
"Birds, I swear, always in the middle of -" she dissolved into angry muttering, levitating the thin, sharp piece of metal back to her and blowing on it lightly.
"Wait." Twilight's voice had fallen to seriousness again. "Stay still." She raised the goggles to her face and looked across at the tree where Rarity thought the bird had gone. "It is, it definitely is," she whispered, smiling widely.
"Is it really?" Rarity asked, and looked up at the tree. "We need to keep it from disappearing."
"I know, but I don't know how we would do that."
"Just... Feather me and I'll see what I can do."
The warm tickle of magic splashed across her hooves, and she took step after careful step towards the tree, her body low to the ground. It was muscle memory by that point. Her blade hovered silently nearby, at the ready.
There it was, sitting absolutely still on a branch, its underbelly jet-black and its shell bright gold with dark brown patterns spattered on it like inkblots. It glittered in the light, looking almost majestic, its colour-shifting eyes focusing intently on Rarity below.
Seconds passed, tenseness building. One shot, and it would be either dead and theirs or gone forever.
With a short grunt of effort, the blade flew like a dart straight to the brass, cutting along its side quickly, surgically. It fell to the ground with a soft thud, the near-translucent blue blood floating behind in a stream.
It felt as though a weight she didn't know she was carrying was lifted from her. "Twilight, what number was that?" she almost whispered.
"I..." She trailed off, walking over to the body and looking it over with her magic. "I think it's nine."
Rarity's breath grew shorter. "Is it okay?"
"... Yeah."
It was less than a second before Rarity was on her in a tight embrace, feeling tears behind her smile. Just one more, one more whole shell, and they would be able to return, and help, and settle down. Maybe.
Twilight squealed, and took her in her forelegs, spinning her around before fumbling and falling to the ground, to the side of the path, Rarity first. They burst into laughter, but after a moment, she heard Twilight slow to a stop. She opened her eyes and stopped with her, her smile falling away after a moment or two.
She shifted smoothly into a kiss. It was gentle - and it was close, too. Slow... tender. The world faded to a buzz, then fell softly away. Outside of the rush, it was something else, and she didn't experience it all that often. It was lazy, and carefree, and almost made her forget.
And then, Twilight pulled away, just a little, and smiled, and giggled. Odd to hear. The forest flew back to her, and she sat up slightly. "You know we're not out of the woods yet," Rarity commented quietly.
Twilight chuckled. "Funny." She paused. "... Yeah, I know. But, um, do you think we could take a break?"
"Didn't we just?"
"Well..." She trailed off. "Yeah, we did," she agreed, lowly.
Rarity felt an itching worry she didn't get often. "Is everything alright, darling?"
"It - no, it's nothing. We should get going."
As Twilight got up and organized her saddlebags, Rarity saw the look on her face. Almost blank, with a bit of - something like fear. Anxiety, maybe. She didn't want to be out on their run anymore. She wanted to be back home, in bed, and solving the world's problems. So did Rarity. But that was the resignation... where was that other little emotion coming from?
"One more," she caught Twilight saying. "Unless you screw it up again," she added jokingly.
She paused, rising to her hooves. "I won't," she said after a moment, and washed the mood away with a grin.
What had become of Witheron wasn't surprising, but that didn't dampen any of the deep-set shock. They didn't physically react anymore, yet Twilight felt the twinge in her stomach every time she saw a new area.
The bright, near-silent hum of the magic, especially near the bombed-out areas, fell into the background noise eventually, but it was always grating the first few minutes. The buildings that always seemed so familiar were torn to pieces, rubble strewn in every direction from twisted wooden and metal skeletons. That was a constant. But Witheron had gotten some of the worst of it.
After the attacks, one of the many 'post-warlords' had taken refuge there, and the banners with the fallen tribe's symbol, an engorged, burning manticore, were still moving in the aethyric breeze. The Devouring Flames tribe. Every corner was another small group of years-old corpses, mummified by the wild magic in the area. Twilight's goggles were on constantly, to avoid any nasty surprises.
"Should we set up camp somewhere in here?" she heard Rarity ask as the sun began to duck behind the low cityscape.
"Somewhere high up," Twilight replied. "I haven't seen anything yet, but that just puts me more on edge."
Nearby was a logging platform, near the edge of the town, surrounded by a corroding steel fence. It was well off the ground, and seemed safe after a few once-overs with the goggles. Twilight forced open the door to the main office, and Rarity magicked the tent open, clearing some room and setting it down.
As though hit suddenly by some curse, Twilight was dead tired. And she wanted to cry. And eat something. She walked over to the small, dirty window for a moment, looking out at the periodic bursts of static in the magic-infused air. Like fireflies.
"It smells like cheese and mold in here," she heard Rarity say from inside the tent, over the sounds of her 'decorating'. She laughed to herself. "Classy."
"As always," Twilight murmured in response. "Hey, Rarity?"
"Hm?"
"What do we have in terms of rations?"
"Um... six crackers and as many dried mushrooms."
"I need those."
"Come on in, the water's fine."
She obliged, and laid down - well, more flopped - onto her back in the open sleeping bag. "Do you want me to feed you?" Rarity asked jokingly from the other end of the tent, shaking the bag of crackers in midair while pulling off the last piece of her armour.
"Maybe." She shook her head and smiled. "No, I'll get to it eventually." She paused and closed her eyes to stretch. "Do you want a rush?"
Rarity looked over at her in silence for a moment. "Not tonight. I'll be okay until tomorrow."
The ball of light above them, Rarity's, fizzled briefly. "Come here," Twilight said, almost a whisper. Rarity laid down beside her with a short sigh. As soon as she did, Twilight reached a foreleg around her chest, and the other behind her neck, wrapping her in a tight embrace. She buried her face into her and closed her eyes.
"What about - uh - food."
"Shut up and sleep," Twilight replied drowsily, dividing the ball of light in two and smiling as it dissolved slowly.
In the dark, she felt warm breath and a gentle kiss on the top of her head as sleep snatched her from consciousness.
The early morning was always a very oddly smooth thing for Twilight. It felt as though it just happened to occur and allowed her to begin a new day. It was never an event, no long stretches or yawns or tired rubbing at eyes or anything. As such, Twilight was always up first and up quickest.
She pried herself off of Rarity and stood up, throwing a quick glance down at her. She always slept with her muzzle under one of her forelegs, probably because the temperature dropped at night and Rarity had never dealt well with any kind of climate change. It was cute.
In all honesty, Twilight never focused much on their patchwork relationship. It felt like it wasn't supposed to have happened, considering the way it happened. They'd found each other after the attack - Twilight was working as a trainer for the Princesses, and she through either coincidence or royal planning ended up with Rarity in one of her major classes.
She was meant to give Rarity her dose before bed, and that's when she discovered Rarity's odd reaction to rush. Only she and her diary knew, but she really always was... close to Rarity. She always felt something for her. But that night - it was disconcerting.
The next day, they began discussing their sectors and what they could do, and one thing led to another, and they were out on the trail. Just like that. And now, there wasn't a shadow of a doubt to say that Twilight didn't love her.
She watched the morning chill cloud her sigh, and sat down to snap on her boots. More than anything else, she wanted to go home. Whatever home was.
As she stepped out of the tent to catch what was left of the sunrise, her blood froze for a split second. She ducked back into the tent, her heart racing. It took her mind a moment to process what she saw. A burrower? A living mirage? A malentro?
No, there was another pony, outside the small office area, looking into the window.
She nudged Rarity, hard, and quickly slapped a hoof over her mouth. "Get your blade," she whispered. Rarity's eyes opened fully, and she nodded.
Twilight could already hear voices, speaking a familiar language. Southern deserters. She could pick up a little of what they were saying: "Amies tur, ei tirasho" - minimum one, in a something. Probably tent. The deserters didn't know them. Good.
Rarity stood noiselessly, the blade hovering in midair in front of her.
Twilight's brain was skipping like a broken record. Talk to them - stay low - talk to them - stay low. "Da - dakir mansul?" she stuttered, managing something loud and strong despite herself. Do you speak the common tongue. Could they teleport out? Maybe not the best idea in a saturated area. Who knows what location - or locations - they'd end up in.
"... Yes," she heard in a muffled reply after a good ten seconds.
She heard soft muttering on the other side of them, what sounded like half a conversation. "Hae iumodan," that's the Element. They knew, and now there was no way they wouldn't want something. Probably more than they had to offer.
"If you leave now, we won't call in our reinforcements," she said, remembering her training. Clear, loud, slow. "We have a squad of fourteen in the forest nearby."
"So do we," came the gruff response, tinged with a staccato south Equestrian accent. The voice was young, but scratchy. They likely lived down south near the wartorn gryphon settlements, where refugees from all over the country (and outside) had come after the attack. They knew what they were doing, and that was terrifying.
"... What do you want?" she offered after a moment.
"Wod," the voice from behind her called. Gold, money.
"All your weapons," another voice overlapped with it, female and abrasive.
"Ichur!" the first voice rang out. Quiet, silence. "We want the south community to more money," he replied in broken language. "Get Celestia to this."
Twilight glanced at Rarity, who glanced back, unsure. It could certainly be a trap - no looter worth his salt leaves an encounter without solid gain. She decided to assume it was a bluff, or a joke, or something. "We have excess medical equipment and nonperishables -"
"Those are ours."
Twilight frowned, worry still pulsing through her. "Okay," she replied, calmly as she could. "We're going to leave the tent now."
No response.
Twilight reached for the tent flap, but felt a hoof gently on her chest. Rarity pushed her firmly back and stepped slowly out of sight.
For a moment there was no sound at all. Twilight's heart was working overtime, but her blood was standing still in her veins. She counted, slowly, her eyes never leaving the tent flap. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six.
Finally, Twilight sighed in relief as the tent flap opened again, Rarity in the doorway. "Let's pack up, come on."
She stuffed everything into their respective containers quicker than she ever had before and collapsed the tent behind her into a small square, shoving it into her saddlebag. She nodded to Rarity, who opened the door for her and followed her out onto the deck shortly.
There were two on either side of her - the mare and the young one on the right, and two others, presumably the voices she heard flanking them, were on the left.
One of them on the left didn't seem to have all his face, and was sporting a mean-looking bonesaw on his foreleg. The other one was large, and his body was tightly bandaged. She could hear him wheezing in the silence of the moment. They were all earth ponies except for the mare, who was a unicorn, and all were dirty, muted colours.
"Supplies?" the young one asked, rather, demanded, and motioned to the floor in front of him.
Twilight nodded, and pulled two rolls of bandages, some clotters, and a tourniquet out of her saddlebag, laying them on the ground at his hooves.
"Antibiotics?"
Twilight quickly contained her frown, and slowly levitated the few pills they had out to him, taking care not to disturb the scales that were far more valuable than a thing they had on them. Or likely the buildings nearby. "... May we go?" she asked after a second, failing for a moment at keeping her voice clear and strong.
He simply stared at her for a moment. His icy-blue eyes, almost white, slowly moved back and forth between her own. They angled downwards, making him appear stern and controlling, hardened and real. The muscles he had were clearly outlined, the skin stretched taut over them. While not malnourished, he carried the air of somepony who was - an overwhelming air that exposed some kind of guilt in her.
"You will get Celestia to send ponies to my community," he said, his voice rather hushed.
Twilight swallowed, and nodded.
It happened in a split second. He reached quickly into his saddlebag and Twilight heard the snap of something fitting into place, mixed with a short yelp from Rarity behind her and a fizzle of magic above her. She didn't even have time to turn all the way around before her head was jerked back to him. One hoof was painfully pressed against her jaw, the other, with a buffed hoof-grip dagger attached to it, was sitting lightly on her cheek.
She took a shuddering breath, regained her composure, and summoned her magic - but it didn't come. Oh, no., she thought, as a dark droplet of magic flew from her horn. Disabling anti-magical curses took anywhere from a minute for the trained to an hour for the novice. Even with her skill, it was fifty seconds too long.
After surviving the attack and everything that came with it, this was what would kill her? This? She wanted more than anything to sob, bitterly, right there, for everything she would miss, but couldn't muster the tears.
"If I not to see these ponies in my community in a month, I will hunt you. Like a rat. Hunt you and skin you," he said, almost whispering, spitting his consonants. "Do not to pull the unicorn games on me, Element. I will always know it is you. I will always remember what I gave you."
Twilight knew it was coming, but still shouted in pain as the metal dug into her cheek. It was quicker than she thought, though also deeper. It felt worse than fire. She screamed again, shortly, and struggled to pull away. He let her, and she pressed her hoof against the new wound immediately, feeling the warm blood begin dripping off the bottom of her jaw.
They were letting Rarity go, and up until that point Twilight was unaware that Rarity was making noise. She certainly was, loud ones, and she saw the struggle of magic around the sheathe, and the black aura around her bright white horn.
Twilight saw this, and everything that went with it. If a curse was forced... things could get messy. "Don't engage!" she yelled, and slammed a hoof over the sheathe, before pushing Rarity and accidentally herself away, down the steps, and onto the road.
The young one spit after them, and he and the big one laughed. Rarity started something, something like "How dare you," but clenched her teeth, glanced at Twilight, and turned away forcefully, beginning the trot down the path and out of the forsaken city. She paused a while away, and turned back, waiting for Twilight.
Twilight looked up at the group, still staring after them silently, the mare levitating their supplies into her saddlebag. More than anything, Twilight was hurt, but she wasn't angry. And she didn't know why.
She followed Rarity quickly, trying not to look behind her. They wouldn't be hunting today.
They hit the city limits in about an hour, and until then, there was silence. Twilight had 'unlocked' the curse not too long after the renegades were out of sight, helping Rarity silently with hers soon after - and the buzzing whoosh of that was probably the loudest noise since.
Honestly, she wanted to say something, to curse at nothing for a full hour until her throat was dry, but they had to keep going. Open wounds in a magical area could cause some 'fatal errors'. Plus, Twilight seemed too quiet for the situation, and it compelled her to remain silent as well.
Finally, they got to a small, shady spot outside of the city gates, and Twilight sat down behind her, just off the road, breathing heavily. "No more magic," she managed. "It's gone."
"Are you sure?" Rarity replied, trotting over and sitting beside her. "Let me take a look." The skin was split, cleanly for an inch or two and then jagged around the edges, as though she had loosened it while moving. The blood was beginning to dry around the outside, but there was still a few good centimetres of pink flesh, looking like the sides to a gory little valley.
Rarity ran a hoof through Twilight's mane gently, and sighed. She knew what had to happen, and judging by the look on Twilight's face, so did she. "I haven't got any adhesive strips for this. I've got to stitch it up, darling," she said softly.
Twilight nodded, not taking her eyes off the ground.
It seemed quieter than normal while Rarity got out the sutures. The silence seemed to build as she held the needle in place above the end of the cut. She reached her hooves put and firmly placed them on Twilight's jaw and on the side of her head. "I'll be quick."
She didn't finish the word quick before she began threading, and, true to her word, forced the needle in and out of flesh as quickly as precision would allow. She tried to drown out the noises Twilight was making, those pained grunts that hit the rarely-heard points of a pony's vocal range, by grinding her teeth. It didn't work.
When it was over, Twilight fell to her side, holding a corner of their tent up to her cheek and forcing it hard. She was still breathing violently through locked teeth, and Rarity could tell she was trying not to break down into tears. She picked her up and hugged her tightly, murmuring whatever nonsense comfort she could into her ear. "Come on. It's over, it's alright. You're fine."
"Aah, it st- it stings, I think there's a bit of an - of an infection -" Twilight got out, and gasped in pain again, clamping her jaw shut and pressing against Rarity's shoulder. "It works quick."
"Well, then, we need to get on the road. Twintails isn't too far, and we can get you antis and meet up with Fluttershy." She paused. "We could have blown them to pieces, Twilight," she added coldly, the unspoken 'why not' tagging along the tail end.
"I didn't want to hurt them. They were in... in over their heads," she managed quietly.
"You're not actually going to ask Celestia to send anypony down there, are you? It'll be one of us or another ambassador. We're already running low..." She trailed off.
Twilight remained silent for a moment. "... It's hard to talk right now," she replied.
"Right," Rarity agreed dully, and turned back to the road. "I guess we should get going."
It was a full day on the road, with a depressingly low amount of conversation. Rarity entertained herself silently, and walked closely alongside Twilight, leaning over periodically for a silent nuzzle. There was a constant sludge in everything they did, like the entire adventure was simply a massive rut in the overall bumpy road of life and they just wanted out.
They stopped for lunch near a broad, burnt plains, where the forest was beginning to grow in again, but where there was a large wooded area beyond. On the other side of the path was a small body of water and swampy land, debris heavy on one side. They could maybe find some more nonperishables, at least.
"I'll go check out the forest," Twilight offered as they dropped some of their load. "You look over there, see if there's anything to scavenge, but, you know, keep an eye on our stuff," she added, pointing at the rubble area and the marsh.
"Right," Rarity replied, and cracked her neck. "I'll see you in ten minutes."
She trotted off, and Twilight watched her, unblinking, until she was as far away as possible. Without taking her eyes off her, she slowly removed a sheet of paper from the pile of saddlebags and trotted off to the forest with it.
It'd been too long. The thick woods and general silence (save for the light, periodic birdsong) gave her some sense of comfort, but as she stared at the paper, she felt the dread come back like a poison, restricting her breath, pounding on her head.
Have you made progress? Reply soon, she wrote with her magic, and sent it away in a pink flame, scouring the ground half-consciously, still deep in thought and worry.
The message did come soon, arriving in a silent puff of golden wind. Slight progress. We may have found him, but there are a couple dangerous variables. Take your time.
Received, she scribbled after a moment of thought, and sent it. She found a small group of mushrooms and levitated them alongside her, trotting back up to the roadside and sitting down beside their equipment.
Rarity arrived not long after, carrying a few reeds with her. "Not much?"
Twilight shook her head.
With a sigh Twilight had heard far too often recently, Rarity sat beside her. "We're almost done."
Tell her, her brain said suddenly. Irrationally. No, don't tell her, that would be insane. "I know," she replied simply, and leaned up against her, feeling that familiar warmth run over her.
Rarity moved her head back up, examining her closely. "Are your stitches holding?"
Twilight nodded.
Her eyes were still moving back and forth over her face. Twilight looked away for a moment, before staring back at Rarity's clean blue eyes, and realizing that she was showing her anxiety. She stopped it quickly, forcing her face to a neutral.
Rarity leaned forwards and kissed her gently, and didn't say another word.
It had just started growing dark, and they weren't too far from Twintails. They'd just started seeing the signs of life, or post-life, littered along the path. Broken carriages to the left, stray magical anomalies flittering by to the right, periodic roadblocks in the middle.
"Up there. There's light from the city." Twilight had become more talkative in the last half hour or so, but hadn't offered much in the way of conversation herself until then.
"It looks close."
"It probably is."
Rarity smiled, and picked up the pace. "Come on, slowpoke. Actual showers! And beds! And perfumes we can buy!" She shot her a cheeky glance. "We're going to need to buy some perfume."
"I get it," Twilight called out with an exasperated edge, and trotted a bit quicker to match Rarity.
Rarity's trot soon slowed to a walk again, though, when she saw a lone figure just over the next hill, covered in a black cloak, holding a dim yellow lantern, its glow beginning to stand out in the approaching night. "That's not suspicious at all," Rarity whispered to Twilight half-jokingly.
"Just keep walking, and maybe they won't approach us," Twilight returned, keeping her pace steady and wiping unconsciously at the stitches.
The lack of sound was tense as they approached, and it peaked when the other pony stopped. Rarity prepared herself, but tried to keep walking past, purposefully ignoring the stranger - until the stranger lifted the hood.
"Girls?"
The tenseness fell again as she recognized the voice, and she grinned, turning back to her. "I didn't expect to see you out here," she commented, giving her friend a quick hug. "Darling, it's been forever."
"I know," Fluttershy replied, and hugged back. "How have you guys been? I - I've heard you're working the trails - that's amazing," she added, getting caught up for a moment in her words.
"Doing our best, you know," Twilight replied nonchalantly, and glanced over to Rarity. The rumors had worked.
"Oh - oh, Twilight, what -" Fluttershy began, reaching a hoof up and note quite touching Twilight's cheek "- what happened to you? These are fresh -"
"Oh, it was nothing. Just scavenging, some junk caught me, cut a bit deep," Twilight lied, pulling away nervously. "What, um, what are you doing out here with no guards?" Twilight asked directly, and shied away again as Fluttershy continued her examination.
"You need antibiotics. Who knows what could be floating around out there," she muttered under her breath, her eyes locked on the red flesh around the threaded punctures. "We have a good medical supply in the city. You look like you've been out a while, anyways. Come on in," she added with a light, conversational chuckle and a motion towards the gates.
Rarity suddenly felt nauseous, a lightheadedness and a pressure like somepony had suddenly filled her skull with helium. She closed her eyes, blocking the thought of what it might be out of her head and steadying herself. Something was... off about the situation. "But..." she began, glancing to the left and right, paranoia setting in. "what are you doing out here without guards?"
Fluttershy looked away from Twilight's cheek for a moment, and turned to Rarity, her face blank except for a sort of dumb shock leaving her lip hanging open. "I - nothing, I just like to take a stroll after - after dark sometimes."
"Alone?"
"Yes, alone. Sometimes I need to think about things," she finished concisely, and turned to the gate, a wing over Twilight. "Let's get you to a doctor."
"But," Rarity interjected, again, "where do you go? What do you do? -"
"Nowhere. Nothing," Fluttershy cut her off, quietly, and turned back to her for a moment. The same look was on her face, but after a moment, she looked down. "Nothing," she repeated, barely audible above the crickets and the white noise of the city.
"That's when I dropped the tax a bit more. With a smaller community like Twintails, there are ways to cut corners financially that I couldn't with a couple thousand more ponies."
The room was silent for a brief second, Fluttershy's voice dying suddenly on the bright white surfaces of the walls and floor. Twilight's sinuses were a bit clogged, and the lack of the sense of smell made everything seem half-real.
"That's really clever," Twilight replied, forcing herself to ignore the stinging in her wound. It was odd, considering the fact that the doctors hadn't even been in the room yet. Maybe it was just nerve. Or something. "How exactly did you figure it out?"
As Fluttershy began, she touched the inside of it with her tongue, and winced silently. She thought she felt a ridge - maybe the cut had stretched through and broken the inner skin. She would probably need internal stitches, too.
"Hey," she interrupted Fluttershy. "Are you guys getting anesthetics shipped in?"
Fluttershy smiled. "You're fine, Twilight. We have everything you need."
"Fluttershy, can I speak to you outside for a moment? -" Rarity began suddenly, when the door opened.
"Good evening, ladies," the doctor said, a bit loudly, tailed by her tall stallion nurse as she trotted into the room. Her face was round and short, and her cutie mark, what looked like a syringe, was hidden partly by her clean white coat. "I hear we need to civilize a bit of fieldwork?"
Twilight caught Rarity glaring at her, but she turned back to Fluttershy and stood. "Come on," she said, and brushed past the nurse and out of the room, with Fluttershy closely (and clearly nervously) following.
She didn't pay much attention to the procedure. They examined everything, took a couple vials of blood, and left. And Twilight waited for long minutes for Rarity and Fluttershy to return, in silence and with nothing but her thoughts. The room seemed to grow colder as time passed. When she heard Rarity hounding Fluttershy so viciously, she didn't understand why originally. She thought that maybe Rarity had gotten defensive at the questions Fluttershy had asked, and then she thought Rarity was just being paranoid or nosey. Now, with the two of them in a private outside meeting, she didn't know what to think.
The door squeaked open, and in walked Rarity - and not Fluttershy. "Hey," she began coolly. "How'd it go?"
"Where's Fluttershy? What's up?" Twilight asked, standing.
The corner of Rarity's mouth pulled to a sour point. "Well... okay, in my opinion, she was acting suspicious. That's just in my defense, okay?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I'll tell you later. She told me we're bunking in the private lodges near the town hall."
"I don't care. I'm asking about Fluttershy."
"It was nothing," Rarity replied harshly. "I just had to ask her about this evening. She was acting suspicious, so I questioned her. That's what I've been taught to do."
Twilight stared at her, and shook her head. "She's Fluttershy. What could she possibly be doing that's suspicious? You know she's private about stuff," she added, with a confused squint.
Rarity pursed her lips. "Well, she's asked us to follow her somewhere tomorrow night. She wants to show us something. Didn't say what it was."
Twilight's confused squint changed to a confused scowl. "... Oh. Huh."
Rarity chuckled, and turned to the door. "I'll be in the room. We're in 'G'. Head over when you're done."
"You weren't rude, were you?"
Rarity stopped where she was, and stood silent for a moment. She didn't turn to face her. "I don't know anymore."
Twilight watched her go, and sighed, her cheek giving a dull pain. Just one more.
