Red and Black 2

Ember woke up sometime that night; what time exactly, she didn't know. All she knew first thing was that everypony else was asleep, and that she sported an erection that throbbed in a demand to be tended to. For a good ten or so minutes, she laid still. Five after that, it started leaking pre, even though she didn't touch it.

"The joys of being a futaneighri," Ember mentally snarked as she rolled over to crawl out of bed and stand on her hooves. She looked around the instant she stood, if only to confirm that, indeed, everyone was snoozing. She let her gaze linger on Patchouli in particular, and the slow rising and falling of her barrel indicated she was still in the living world. "You are on my do-not-fondle list."

Ember trotted to a door at the southern side, opened it, and jumped to the balcony. She didn't do anything about her erection for the moment, opting instead to let it throw its hissy fit before it could retract into its sheath.

Patient woke up a moment as Ember shut the door, giving a light snort and jolting. He scanned the room and saw everyone was still asleep. He figured he'd get some fresh air to calm his nerves from earlier in the day. A stumble out of bed later, and Patient found himself slowly walking towards the back of the station car, magically snagging a cigarette from Trigger’s pack as he walked by him.

The nurse opened the door to find Ember standing there as well, probably taking in the evening sights and smells of the rolling countryside. The moon was full and provided plenty of light to watch the nocturnal elements of Equestria run alongside the train.

“Evenin’.” Patient used a spell to light his cigarette.

"'Ello," Ember greeted, her ear twitching as the wind ruffled it.

“Hard to believe I quit smoking two years ago.” He chuckled and took a puff. “I guess this counts as an ‘extraordinary event’, in my list of reasons to start back up.”

"Oh trust me, I was a heavy drinker before I woke up in prison to find myself sporting…" Ember lifted a hoof and gestured all around her body, "This."

Patient noticed her still-throbbing erection and nodded. “I think I get the picture,” he sighed and stared off into the stars. “You know, I never got the full story on what happened; just the abbreviated versions. If you don’t mind telling me, that is…”

Ember sighed. "Well, I had two friends of mine named Frostbite and Roarin' Thunder," she began. "The three of us were drinking and playing a game of poker, and I was fucking up the game spectacularly bad. But because we were so shitfaced then, they'd assumed I kept winning."

“You’re probably better at it than I am,” Patient chuckled. He assumed a frown shortly thereafter.

Ember shook her head. "Nope. That was my first poker game, and when I agreed to it I was already drunk off my ass. And then the red and black alicorn showed up, attracted by heat pheromones, which I didn't know I was releasing at the time. He joined in the poker game and called himself Genesis."

"After a few rounds, I took him to a bed in a basement. Whose place or what tavern, that part is still fuzzy to me. But we porked in the missionary stance and fired off spells simultaneously afterward. The two spells became one, hit me right in the barrel, and… I was in pain, Patient. The pony-zebra conflict didn't have shit on what I felt that night."

Patient’s frown deepened in response. “What happened next?”

"I… saw red. Heard screaming. Felt like I'd turned into a spider with a hogwild craving for sex, and the fact that I got laid before didn't even register. It was over so damn quickly, and next thing I know? I'm in prison, staring at a set of bars and a red-eyed pegasus at the other side, and he was just… he had that sad look on his face, the 'I want to end your suffering' frown." Ember shook her head. "And that morning I registered the taste of blood on my tongue. And the fact I had my… current assets. Needless to say, I freaked."

"As for Roarin' and Frostbite, they… refused to join in on the alicorn slaughterfest. That was before I found out I'd gotten pregnant. That night in the… fuzzy place was the last I ever saw of them," she finished, closing her eyes. Her voice cracked and took on a somber note as she bitterly added, "They were good pals of mine, too. To this day, I miss them."

Patient nodded and handed her his cigarette. “I know my condolences won’t mean shit, since everything’s all said and done, but for what it’s worth… I’m sorry. Truly,” he spoke in a softer tone.

Ember nodded and shifted a little closer to Patient, but not enough to brush up against him. She handed the cigarette back without taking a puff of smoke herself. "Only reason they let me live longer than them was because I was pregnant, ironically enough. I took the job so I wouldn't have that happen all over again," she stated, again sighing. "I wonder how Rekka and his buddies got into this mess. They're… a bunch of teenagers, Patient. Teenagers. They shouldn't have to be dragged into this shit, yet they are."

“Either Shining has a lot to answer for, or Rekka and the bunch are on the same tier of sociopath as myself.”

"Sociopath implies next to no emotion, Patient, which you and the teens have a lot of. But the alicorns in Asgard who threatened Flurry Heart may have put Shiny in Overprotective Daddy Mode," Ember snorted, her tentacles shifting a little bit. "We could have some regicide advocates on our hooves for all I know, or an entire 'burn it all to the ground and let the world catch fire' or some shit phenomenon."

“Well…” Patient began, changing the subject a bit. “If it’s any consolation, do you wanna know how Trigger, Dis, and I were dragged into this mess?”

Ember turned to Patient and nodded. "Be my guest, but leave any sex-based details out. My friend's been weeping for the last twenty minutes," she replied.

The nurse laughed at that, and began, “During the war, I was stationed in a field hospital in a particularly contested county. Gods only know how many ponies I treated; I’m just fortunate enough to have most of them pull through.”

“The incident that brought me into this mess, and into the gaze of Shiny-Biny, happened like a flash. I was tending to a higher up lieutenant who had been stabbed by a serrated bayonet. Serrated bayonet. I don’t know what kind of cruel motherfuckers those ziggers—er, I mean… sorry… Zebras had recruited to fight, but serration on blades is always a step too far into the “needlessly cruel” territory.” Patient took another puff of his cigarette.

“As the main doctor remove the blade, one of them somehow snuck his way into the camp, wielding nothing but a shortsword in his mouth. Needless to say, this got everyone in the field hospital on high alert. Worst of all, the guy was in our field tent too. Everyone panicked, the nurses all ran off, the patients were all terrified, and it was only me and the main doctor to defend our wounded men. So that’s exactly what I did.” Patient knew damn well he was embellishing the story. A part of him wanted to spare Ember some of the more dark details, mostly because he didn't want to relive those particular facets ever again.

“I grabbed a medical buzzsaw we were using to cut bone and tackled the zebra. He didn’t have a face after I was done with him. Just about the whole tent was covered in his blood. Other soldiers finally showed up a few seconds after I… well, I fucking brutalized, that zebra. One of them was a future advisor to Shining Armor.”

Patient chuckled and finished off his cancer stick. After putting it out on the side of the station car, he chucked it out into the field before them; a field which seemed to stretch on for miles before being cut off by a mountain range.

“I know Distrance from the same war. He was a Maxim gunner. Fucker fended off three whole platoons of zebras while his loader lie dead next to him. I can’t tell you what the number he killed was, but he was able to hold them off for long enough for reinforcements to arrive. He lead the charge, too, like a crazy motherfucker, and he got injured when a grenade blew up next to him. I tended to him for weeks afterwards, and he was given an honorable discharge.”

"That… sounds scary, and that's saying a lot if it comes from the resident tentacle monster," Ember quipped, donning a small smile. "And what of Trigger Happy?"

“Trigger. He was a hitcolt; albeit a low-grade one, but still a hitcolt. One of his marks made news because of how badly he fucked him up. All per request of the hirer,” Patient stated as he shrugged. “I met Trigger when he showed up in my hospital, he burned himself making acid, like a fuckin’ moron, and I had to help treat him.”

"Who's the hirer?" Ember asked carefully, her voice low and her third eye averting warily.

“He would never tell me their name, only refer to them as W,” Patient glumly said. “Trigger and Dis have been some of my closest friends for the longest time. Hell, Dis even introduced me to my fiance.”

Ember nodded. "Dude, I envy you," she chirped. "But the advisor… do you know him? What's he look like?"

“Not really. I spoke to him once, after he gave me a medal of courage, and a stern warning to not spook my patients ever again.” He laughed. “He wasn’t a bad guy, his name was Onyx Star."

Ember giggled. "Fair enough," she cooed. "Have you heard of Admiral Lance?"

Patient sucked air through his teeth and hummed in thought. “Only in passing. He’s the commander of the… Valkyrie Brigade?”

"You should have seen the look on his face when our first meeting concluded and I was taken to be introduced to all of the individual groups. One of his lieutenant admirals fainted as soon as she saw me, and Lance… well, tried to shoot me until Shiny told him to stand down," Ember replied, smiling fondly. "I swear, the look on his face was worth it. I heard that the only other pony who made him capitulate was a mare named Foxfire."

“What’s her story?” asked Patient

Ember shrugged. "Details are sketchy on her. I've heard rumors that Fox isn't even full-fledged pony, but beyond that I haven't heard shit about her. Some folks I ran into told me she didn't even exist; a proverbial boogeymare to keep the foals quiet at night," she answered.

“Isn’t even full-fledged pony? As in… like a half-breed?” Patient’s eyebrow rose.

Ember nodded. "Supposedly, yes. Many don't consider me full-fledged because of what I became." She shrugged. "Then again, times are bad when you have to call a tentacle monster to help. I can't even get into a motel for more than three hours nowadays, and that's without the Royal Guard stepping in."

“I get the feeling that once we’re in Canterlot, that they’re gonna throw us at the source of all this mess.” Patient shuddered at the notion. “You think there might be a way to revert you back to what you looked like before?”

Ember shook her head, and donned a glum frown. "Got a magical once-over from Luna and Celestia themselves. Not even they know how to fix it. And even if I could go back, what's the point? I've already lost everything of my old life," she retorted in a low voice. "It's either this, or going to death's door a bit early."

Patient nodded in agreement. “Well, at least you’ve got us. I know Distrance and Trigger might need to get warmed up to you, but you can at least count on me and Rekka and the crew.” He tried to smile.

Ember turned to Patient and lifted a hoof before grabbing him by his withers and pulling him into a hug. "Sure beats drinking all night, every night, trying to drown one's sorrows," she replied, a distinct note of happiness in her voice.

They stood in silence for a few moments, admiring the scenery rolling by, the nocturnal creatures dashing through the night, and the stars swirling overhead.

*********

The train arrived in Canterlot a bit earlier than expected the next morning. Luna and a contingent of the Royal Guard were already posted at the station, as was the cloaked form known as Foxfire, as the train pulled up and its hosts and hostesses began opening the doors. One by one, Patient and his group, followed by Shining and the Task Force, filed out in a single line. Patchouli stumbled out after they'd gathered before Luna, and she was further ushered onward with the aid of a guard who draped a wing over her back to steady her.

"She better have eaten, or my horn is going up all of your asses," Foxfire hissed, lowering her horn before stopping as Luna spread a wing in front of her barrel.

“Already done,” Patient responded as Patchouli sauntered off to Luna with a helping wing, looking somewhat better than she did beforehoof.

"Good," Foxfire seethed, briefly baring her teeth before backing off.

Luna approached as Shining stepped off the train. He saluted her and began to speak.

“Patchouli is in a stable condition, and she’s getting better, but for now, she needs rest. The Task Force and the Diabolical Surgeons all need to get to the ‘War Room’ immediately to plan our next attack.”

"What about Tentacles?" Foxfire piped up, using her horn to gesture to Ember for emphasis.

“She joined the Surgeons not too long ago,” Distrance spoke as he and Trigger nudged each other in the sides with a foreleg.

Foxfire nodded. "Fair enough," she replied. She turned to Canterlot Castle. "Shall we?"

The group didn't need to be told twice, and as one they marched to the castle. Ponies who were already out and about in the streets made several remarks as the collective herd passed, some expressing concern for Patchouli while others hurled comments at Ember that were varying derogatory terms related to the words 'freak of nature.'

The group ignored the comments, though, and simply trotted on. They were silent, though Ember was giving the cloaked Foxfire a wary glance. "What's with your twisted horn?" she asked.

Foxfire waved her horn dismissively, in place of a hoof. "Not now, Hard Place," she snarked in response.

Ember flinched and balked. "P-pardon?" she queried.

"You heard me," Foxfire snarked back, again waving her horn.

Ember exchanged glances with Patient. "Can you believe that mare?" she groaned in exasperation.

"Something about her horn… and her two-color muzzle puts me off," Patient began, frowning as he too eyed Foxfire warily. Knots began forming in his stomach. "It's… she makes me uneasy. I dunno what it is about her, though..."

"Shut your piehole, Scalpel Dick," Foxfire snarked again, making Patient sputter with her utterance.

“Eat shit, halfbreed.” Patient angrily spat.

“Lock it down, both of you!” Shining snapped, immediately standing in between the two of them. Foxfire gave a huff and a nod. Patient did likewise. "Good."