Strange Currencies

The Dead Mare put a small stack of bits onto the counter of Crusty Biscuits’ stall.

“I owe you these,” said the Dead Mare. Crusty didn’t hear her, but she’d notice the money soon enough.

She turned and walked downhill. It would be a long walk to the airship dock in Basal Tier, but that was all right. She needed time to say goodbye to the city, and she had another stop to make before she left. Nopony looked at her as she walked — crowds parted around her as the icy waters of the Canter River had parted around her while she swam. It was that way because she wanted it that way — her condition was back, but she had some control over it this time.

Her condition was probably back because X thought she was dead. She shouldn’t think about that. Dead mares don’t cry.

The money in her apartment was probably already confiscated, and of course her assets in the bank would be frozen. So she didn’t bother with those. She already reached behind a loose board in an alley off Easy Glider Square to get out a saddlebag with some bits, some personal items, and a passport for a mare named High Horse. Now she dug up a locked box from under a tree in Silver Shade Park. It contained a small fortune in Dapplemarks. Not enough to live on forever. She’d have to find work when she got to Germaneigh, but this should get her there in comfort.

She hesitated before putting the empty box back in the ground. In the park with her, two foals, a unicorn and an earth pony, were talking to an elderly griffon lady. She kept giving them little candies. Their parents — a couple of male pegasai — cuddled together on a blanket in the sunlight watching their children.

Canterlot was a remarkable place.

She began to walk again. Past the expensive condos and apartments of the Saddle Buckle, into the rich food smells and bright colors of Kirintown, down the long stairs to the working class homes of the Basal Tier. She’d never been down here. These ponies had less money to scam away, and she wouldn't touch what they had. The Dead Mare had a respect for her own family’s blue horse-collar roots. She listened to the ponies on the street talking as she passed. The accents in this neighborhood suggested the poorer parts of Trottingham; lots of dropped ‘h’s and glottal ’t’s.

There were so many things she hadn’t seen in this city. Museums miles long. Decommissioned fortresses where you could look down the side of the mountain while you had a picnic. Twenty-story department stores that sold everything in the world.

Well, that was over, now. Burrolin and Horseburg had their wonders as well.

She heard a crow calling as she approached the airship dock. The Dead Mare looked around for Matthew. She would have liked to say goodbye. But he had his own things going on here. He wasn’t just her pet.

She dodged through the carriage drop-off lane and headed for the largest balloons — the international flights. She wouldn’t even need a ticket. She could just stroll through security and onto the first flight for Germaneigh.

“Strange Mirror,” said a stallion’s voice. She turned her head to see X sitting on a stone bench beside the station steps.

“They told you my real name,” said the Dead Mare.

“It’s very beautiful,” he said

“You’re not wrong, this time.”

“They thought you’d probably come this way,” X said. “They thought I was the only one who’d be able to see you.”

The wind here was intense. It whipped her mane into her eyes. She pushed it back with a hoof. “I don’t know what to say.”

“You can sit for a while,” said X. “You’re safe. Luna herself issued us full pardons. You could even have your old job at Central Archives back.”

The Dead Mare folded her legs beneath her on the bench next to X. “That hardly seems just. Well, I mean, for you. You were only an accomplice. But I nearly doomed the city.”

“You foiled a terror plot. If all three of those fetishes had exploded even the Princesses couldn’t have saved us. And now that Commander Mandible and his followers are in custody, they can interrogate them and track down agents and sympathizers all through Equestria. You’re a hero.”

The Dead Mare scowled. “I’m a villain who got cold feet. I can’t… I can’t be in Canterlot anymore. Everything here reminds me of what I did. What I almost ruined forever. Luna can forgive me, but I can’t forgive myself.”

X looked away. He opened his mouth as if he had something to say, but closed it again without speaking.

“Come with me,” said the Dead Mare.

X turned to her and raised his eyebrow. “Really? Leave everything I have here and just go? I still think I might love you, but that’s a lot to ask.”

“Well we did just meet,” she said. “But think about it. You loved Edelweiss, and you say you love me. What do we have in common? We’re brave. We just go. Maybe it’s not really us you love. Maybe we're somepony that you won’t let yourself be.” The Dead Mare smiled and put a forehoof on his. “Please come with me. You carry your own weight, and you’re good to have around in a pinch. We could have fun together.”

X shrugged, keeping his hoof against hers. “I do need to get out more. But what’s going to happen if you go away? You’re going to go back to your old ways. Your condition will get worse again. You’ll get in trouble again. And Matthew and I won’t be there to help you.”

The Dead Mare’s throat felt tight. It was true. What’s more, the changelings might find her. They definitely wouldn’t be too happy with her.

“I don’t want to go,” said the Dead Mare. “But I’m afraid. What will happen if everypony can see who I really am? What if they find out what I did?”

“What you really are is wonderful. Think of it this way — Strange Mirror drowned in the Canter River yesterday. What you were, what you did, it’s gone. It’s in the past, swept away where nopony can ever see it again. You can be Mildred Do. You can be whoever you want to be.”

The Dead Mare closed her eyes. She remembered the water closing over her, cold and swift. She had thought she might die, and she wouldn’t have minded if she did. But her instinct to live had taken over and she’d kicked her way to the surface. She had found a place to hang on until she could catch her breath.

“We might not work out,” she said, opening her eyes to look at him. So earnest. So innocent. His ragged forelock fluttered back and forth in the heavy wind.

“That’s okay,” said X. “That’s a risk we'll take. But I’ll show you everything in this city. And we can travel. I have so much back vacation saved up it's not funny.” He stood up. “Please. Stay with me.”

The Dead mare laughed through the tears running down her face. “Fine. Fine. I’ll stay. But you have to take me nice places.”

“I already promised!” he huffed. “Matthew! She’d staying!”

Matthew flapped down from the eaves of the station and landed on the Dead Mare’s back. She turned her head to rub her muzzle against his beak. “Matthew!” she said.

“Caw!” said Matthew.

“He hid,” said X. We didn’t want to unduly bias you. Come on, let's go someplace warm. It's freezing up here.”