Chapter Four

High Plains

Three hours later, I met up with the rest of the Mane Six at the train station. Applejack smiled and waved me over.

She said, “Howdy, Mortis. Say, yew look a little rattled.”

“Did Twilight tell you or the others about how I got a death threat from a mystery voice?”

Applejack nodded, her expression souring a little. “Yeah, she also told me about some varmint imitatin’ my cousin Braeburn and tryin’ to kill yew.”

“Well, I just got another death threat from someone new, this time through my kitchen radio.”

Twilight ran over, eyes wide. “Are you serious? How are you getting haunted in so many places?”

“My Granny Smith once told me 'the dead travel fast’,” quipped Applejack with a resigned shrug. “Guess it’s true.”

Fluttershy came over and asked, “I’m confused. Are we going to look for huge insects or ghosts?”

“Probably both, by the looks of things,” replied Twilight, frowning. She lifted two medical packs out of her satchel. “That’s why I brought these along. If these creatures breed like regular insects, we’ll need a lot of bandages.”

Spike was loading Fluttershy’s animal cage onto the train. It was covered in a white sheet.

“Are we using your hunting hawks again, Fluttershy?” I asked.

“Oh, no. Twilight suggested that I bring my bats this time. Twilight and I will train them to sniff out the insects. Maybe they will even find their nest.”

Twilight added, “Assuming they are nesting creatures, that is.”

Rarity shuddered. “Eww. Bugs. Why did it have to be bugs?”

I sidled up to Applejack. “How are things going for you?”

“Sleepin’ better at night. Ah’m not cryin’ so much anymore. Ah still miss Rainbow somethin’ fierce, but it’s not chewin’ me up inside so much anymore.”

Her grief therapist was doing wonders for Applejack. When Rainbow Dash was murdered, it put her lover into a depression that was as cold as winter’s ice. Applejack endured the snows of the last winter while spending more time in front of Rainbow’s tombstone than at her own home.

Nowadays she didn’t even go near the graveyard. It was best, Applejack decided, to hold onto Rainbow Dash through her fondest memories of their too-brief time together. Grief had wounded her, but she was healing.

I held out a hoof. She smiled and took the offering, hugging me. “I’m glad to hear that, A.J.”.

Spike stepped off the train, reached for one of Rarity’s bags, but dropped it as his eyes bugged. His cheeks suddenly bulged. With a body-shaking belch of green flame, a scroll burned into existence.

Twilight pulled open the scroll with her magic. The more she read, the more her brow wrinkled. “It’s from Princess Celestia. She says the Royal Guard has found more of these insects. Oddly enough, they’re all dead.”

I asked, “Where were they found?”

She read more of the scroll. “One was found on the roof of that dance-hall Boards of Equestria played at. Another was found . . . good grief . . . on the roof of your house, Equus!”

My back shivered as if I had just stepped out of a cold shower.

“Another was found on somepony’s other roof. The strange thing is, they all looked like they died of starvation. Just like the one that attacked you.”

Applejack snorted. “Ah hope they all drop dead like that.”

Rarity inquired, “Whose roof did they find this other bug on?”

“That nasty thing croaked on my house,” declared a familiar voice. “But not before we got a death threat aimed at us this time.”

Vinyl Scratch approached us, her saddlebags jingling as if full of bits. Octavia trotted alongside her.

Octavia added, “Through our recording studio speakers, no less. These insects must somehow be projecting their thoughts into anything electronic.”

Twilight cocked an eyebrow at the two approaching mares. “What did the voice tell you, specifically? Wait a minute, how did you know we were even here?”

“We were told to not help Equus or they would...how did the voice put it, Tavi?”

Octavia stuck her tongue out in revulsion. “Both of us were threatened with . . . ugh . . . disembowelment. He said it was something The Vengeful were well-practiced in.”

Vinyl stopped in front of Twilight. “No one threatens me or my marefriend, so I’m takin’ the fight to whoever’s behind this. To answer your second question, I got a tip from a fan.”

Twilight hung her head and sighed. “Look, I’m sorry that you two were threatened, but my team and I will take care of this. Go to a hotel, and I’ll have Celestia post some guards nearby.”

“Pfft!” replied Vinyl. “Sorry, but I never back down from a threat. I’ve had to deal with tweakers and violent drunks a bunch of times. So has Tavi. And by deal with, I mean punch out.”

Rarity put on the kind of patient smile designed for difficult customers and said, “Darling, it’s not that we don’t appreciate your wanting to volunteer, but we are professionals. We have fought monsters like Nightmare Moon and Trixie, who were far worse than any belligerent alcoholic. Besides, you have no weapons.”

Vinyl snickered as she popped open one of her saddlebags. A long chain of shiny steel blades slipped out, gripped in Vinyl’s red magic. It was at least sixty inches long. The chain connected both ends and surrounded both mares like a lethal halo.

I inquired, “Is that a rope chainsaw?”

“Yeah. Neat, huh? I use this thing to cut down high branches, but I figure the square chisel blades’ll wipe out bugs, too. Watch this.”

The saw whirred as Vinyl aimed it at a nearby tree. The mare stuck her tongue out as she concentrated her magic. A small cloud of sawdust pillowed away from the words she engraved. When Vinyl was satisfied with her work, she slowed the blades to a dull spin.

We all stepped closer to read the message.

Vinyl and Octavia

Together Forever

Applejack smiled as she said, “Aww, ain’t that the cutest thing?”

“I can cut the tree down in ten seconds flat, too,” Vinyl boasted.

Spike chuckled as he walked over to Vinyl. “I hate to break it to you, but the bad guys we fight aren’t just going to sit and let you carve sweet nothings into them.”

Vinyl tilted her head inquisitively as she studied the little dragon. “How old are you?”

“Uh . . . six.”

“They let you risk your neck fightin’ scary monsters and super creeps? Isn’t that willful child endangerment?”

As Spike struggled to snap out of his stunned silence, Twilight used her magic to yank Vinyl’s chainsaw away. “Hey, he may be young, but he’s still more qualified to wield his Element of Harmony than you.”

Vinyl rubbed her chin and studied Spike’s Element of Laughter that was welded onto a set of brass knuckles. “I don’t require mystic doo-dads to kick ass. My magic is all I need. That and my babe here.”

Twilight looked at Octavia. “And what can you bring to the table?”

Octavia walked over the tree Vinyl decorated and turned away from it. With a warm smile, she bucked the tree. A sharp crack and a flurry of leaves later, two deep hoof-prints and an inch-wide splitting of the tree were under Vinyl’s engraving.

Applejack whistled in admiration.

Spike whispered, “Yowza.”.

Twilight’s jaw hung loose.

Octavia said, “I have three brothers. They’re all missing a few teeth.”

Spike raced over to the tree. He traced the prints and crack with his fingers as if he were examining a priceless sculpture. “Oh, yeah,” he said with a sharp-toothed grin. “You can come with us.”

“Spike!” griped Twilight. “That’s not for you to decide!”

I got a nudge in the ribs. Applejack smirked at me. “When Ah said you had to get some friends, Ah didn’t mean somepony that could actually make Twilight clam up.”

“I heard that, A.J.,” Twilight replied sharply. She sighed, rubbing her temples. “Okay, you two can come with us.”

Spike pumped the air. “Yesss! Oonts, oonts, oonts!”

Twilight held up a hoof as she gave Vinyl her chainsaw back. “On the condition that you do what I say. We act as a team at all times. Understood?”

Octavia smiled sweetly. “Of course. Thank you.”

“No problem,” replied Vinyl. “I can’t wait to crack open some bugs.”

I asked, “Vinyl? Who was this fan that tipped you off?”

“He . . . uh . . . asked me not to say.”

I nodded, for I already had a fairly good idea who it was. What Vinyl said only clinched my suspicions.

“Equus? Somethin’ wrong?” asked Applejack.

“No. Someone’s just watching out for me, that’s all.” It had to have been Flashbulb that tipped these two mares off. Vinyl must have asked him where I would be. Flashy figured that I needed all the help I could get.

Applejack cocked her head towards the train. “What are friends for? Come on, let’s ride.”

* * *

Vinyl sat next to me on the train. Her lover sat on Vinyl’s other side.

Applejack smiled as she said, “Yew two are like two seeds in an apple.”

Vinyl chuckled as she nuzzled Octavia’s ear, making her giggle. “Yeah, we met in college. I needed somepony to help me with my music. She showed me that I needed a lover, too.”

Octavia added, “As you have undoubtedly noticed, my favorite marshmallow is very protective.”

“You gotta hang on to what’s precious, right? We’re not here just because a psycho bug threatened me and Octi. Someone’s got it in for Equus, too. We may not know too much about each other, but he’s still my friend.”

I found myself blushing. Still painfully shy.

Vinyl nodded at Applejack. “He’s lucky to have friends like you. Gabby Gums wrote an article about how you carried him out of that castle after Equus’s dad busted two of his legs.”

“Aw, he ain’t that heavy,” A.J. said, winking at me playfully. “Besides, he’s helped me carry some heavy baggage.”

Octavia replied, “Gabby also wrote an article about how close you and Rainbow Dash were. I’m very sorry about what happened.”

Vinyl chimed in, “Same here. I know what it’s like to lose somepony you love. That’s how we met Equus. He gave a great eulogy about my dad.”

“Yeah, that sounds like somethin’ Morty would do.”

I blushed a deeper shade of red while having a sudden fascination with my front hooves.

“Oh, dear,” remarked Octavia. “I do believe he’s glowing red.”

“Just your luck, huh, Equus?” remarked Vinyl. “Surrounded by mares that like you. Too bad none of us are straight.”

All three mares laughed as my cheeks lit up even more. I soon found myself laughing along with them.

It would be a long time before any of us laughed again.

Author's Note

The theme song for this chapter is "Flatlands" by Steve Roach