Author's Note

Sorta rushed, sorta not. Having a consistent schedule is really nice though.

A Friendly Conversation

Leers woke up to the sound of rickety wood hitting unpaved dirt. The sight of the afternoon sun meant that he was no longer in a forest where the canopy could obscure the sky. He also figured that he was no longer wearing his polo, or at least, not all of it, as he still felt cloth wrapped tightly around his central torso.

When he lifted his head, he saw that his shirt had been torn off and repurposed as bandages for his wounds. Whatever cloth wasn't already used, he could feel, was sandwiched between his back and a rough wooden floor, presumably used to keep his bare skin protected from chafing. Considering that the cloth did little to soften the rugged surface, combined with the consistent rocking and shaking, he found it odd how he didn't wake up sooner.

Sitting up, Leers realized the floor was actually the bed of a crudely made wagon, big enough for only one passenger his size. The act of rising also made him more aware of how sore his whole body was, almost resigning and laying back down if he didn't see who was pulling the wagon.

Applejack held the reigns to his ride, walking behind the rest of her friends in their little caravan. Normally, he'd take the opportunity to slip away without their noticing, but he didn't think it possible or reasonable in the state he was in. That, and he also had a plan, one that required their cooperation. So, he stayed put, thinking of a way to properly re-introduce himself as painlessly as possible.

After a brief moment of looking down in thought, Leers finally saw the thing encasing his right arm.

Instead of few bandages here and there, it was an entire cast, sling and all. From the glossy and clear outer surface, combined with the leafy patterns underneath, it looked like an amalgamation made from the thicket's dense foliage and the remains of the elemental. Add some sort of transmutation magic to the mix and it wouldn't seem like much a stretch.

Wondering why he didn't notice it sooner, he tried moving the arm out of curiosity. It didn't budge. Thinking about it now, he can't feel anything from the limb. The soreness that urged the rest of his body to rest wasn't even present.

Leers shook his head when he realized he was getting distracted. As much as he wanted to admire it, amused by the idea that the six are still willing to take care of him, he wanted to find something to break the ice. Then he looked at his cast again.

"...I take it this is Rarity's handiwork?" he said, knowing he was probably wrong.

Fluttershy nearly jumped from the sound of his voice breaking the serene quiet. The rest of the group stopped and everypony, besides Twilight, glanced back, wearing looks ranging from genuine surprise to slight annoyance.

Leers began to think that maybe his choice of a conversation starter wasn't the best option.

"Great, he's up," one hovering Rainbow Dash groaned, rolling her eyes. "Why can't you stay unconscious until after we dropped you off?"

"Rainbow," Applejack said flatly.

"What? I'm just saying." The pegasus crossed her arms and looked off to the side. "Now he's going to hassle us and get under our skin."

"She's not wrong," both Leers and Pinkie Pie said.

"Ah know he ain't exactly our friend, but sassin' somepony while their down ain't right." The human's eyebrows rose slightly. "'Sides, we'll be droppin' him off to the authorities real soon, then we can get back to savin' the world." Rainbow Dash could only protest with a groan.

"Oh, don't worry miss wonderbolt, you'll get plenty of hassle from me," Leers said as innocently as ever. He then turned his sights on the purple pony in the lead, still facing forward and doing her best to ignore him. "But for right now, I believe the princess and I might have some important matters that need discussing."

Everypony grimaced at his request and the air suddenly grew tense. Slowly, they all turned their heads at the equine in question, with some covering their mouths with their hooves.

The alicorn stood motionless, her head slightly dipped. A single light breeze blew and gently waved her mane, settling down seconds later. Still, she remained unmoving.

When the others began to wonder if she ever heard them in the first place, she twisted her head back, eyes immediately locked on the human in the meanest death glare she's ever worn. The others all swore they felt a rush of wind when she looked back. Applejack, specifically, was pressing down her hat, only asking why she was doing so after she realized she was standing on three legs.

"Ye-ikes," Leers said, taken aback just like the rest of them. "She seems quite happy to see me."

Twilight closed her eyes and marched down the line, emanating an air of enmity that her friends have only felt from their villains. They would usually try and calm her down, but when it came to the terrible three, there's not much they could say. This didn't mean that they haven't placated her in the past, but, at this point, more than a year spent dealing with the humans' constant harassment was hard to beat. Thinking it was better not to interfere, they stepped aside to let their friend through.

As Applejack finally undid her harness and distanced herself, the princess of friendship reached the left side of the wagon and stopped. She half opened her eyes, and, without turning her head, she glanced at the human with nothing but contempt. Any hint of shock Leers had disappeared the moment she laid her eyes on him, instead being replaced with the same smirk that annoyed her, accompanied by a golf clap.

"Quite the stink eye you've developed," he said, seemingly impressed. "It's very intimidating. Bravo." The alicorn rolled her eyes.

Rearing up, she placed her front hooves on the wagons side and stood on her hind legs. "You have some nerve," she sternly said as she jabbed a hoof towards him.

"Thanks, but I couldn't have gotten it without you." Twilight's eye twitched and she retracted her hoof.

"What were you doing fighting that golem?"

"Right to it then, huh?" Leers cleared his throat, straightened his back, and put his good hand in his lap.

"I was just minding my own business strolling through the forest, is all. A little break from the usual, if you will. When I started to grow more appreciative of the scenery, that monster attacked me, the crazy thing! I barely managed to survive the encounter if it weren't for you brave ponies coming in to save me."

The alicorn let her gaze linger on the human a second longer before shifting it towards Applejack. The apple farmer had one eyebrow raised, looking back at her friend with a face that said, 'Do ah really need t' say?''.

"...And you weren't there for any other reason?" Twilight said, eyes back on the human. He shook his head.

"Would you consider the interesting fauna as a good reason?" Leers said. In the group of ponies huddled away, a yellow pegasus barely managed to make a noise that sounded like 'I do'.

Twilight's scowl softened as she began making slow laughs. "Ha. Fauna. Interesting. Very convincing. Ha." Her horn glowed and a crumpled-up note poofed into existence. It promptly uncrumpled and was aggressively levitated in front of the human. "I don't suppose you wouldn't know anything about this, would you?" she said.

Leers took the note out of the air, only needing a second to read it and immediately replying with, "Rude." The alicorn chuckled once more, slowly leaning off to the side.

"Ha. Ha. Ha..."

Instantly, the note erupted into flames as she straightened herself out and flared her wings, giving the human the stare from earlier, wind included. At that close a distance, Leers could see the anger in her eyes. Not just figuratively, but quite literally too, swearing that there were flames in her pupils. He tried putting his hands up, failing when he remembered he only had one hand, and then continued to put his good hand up anyway.

"Alright, alright, I give," he said. "What do you want to know?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow at his sudden willingness to cooperate. She couldn't help but think that he was giving up too easily. Still, answers are answers, and she even had a lie detector in the form of Applejack to boot.

She calmed herself down with a deep breath, retracted her wings, and addressed him coldly. "Are you aware that the end of the world is coming?" she said.

Leers put his hand down and gave himself a second to think. Then he answered with, "Yes." He looked over at her little party and then back to her. "Is it safe to assume that you were tasked in stopping it⁠—"

Twilight flared her wings out, creating another gust of wind. When she withdrew them, Leers was calmly patting his hair down.

"I'll ask the questions." She paused for a moment and sighed. "But yes, we are trying to stop it." He briefly wore a smirk, disappearing before the alicorn saw. "Now, do you know how we're going to do that?"

Once more, Leers didn't immediately reply. He screwed up his face to try and show how much he was thinking about her question, convincing no one. "I might have an idea."

"Does that idea also relate to where we found this note and the forest you were attacked in?" The human pressed his lips together.

"It might." He said nothing more.

Twilight's scowl flickered just a tad more intense. The irritation in her voice was also growing. "Well, are you going to tell me how it might?" He shook his head.

A purple hoof knocked against the side of the wagon, hard. Leers flinched, suddenly becoming more aware of the fact that his interrogator was at the end of her patience.

"Don't expect me to believe it's pure coincidence that you and the note appeared in the same places we were looking. What are you planning?" The human looked at her, like he was about the deliver that one smile. This made Twilight grit her teeth and talk herself down from smacking him if he did.

He didn't.

Though he would look away a split-second later, Twilight was able to see a little something in his face she'd never think she'd see again. An emotion too sad and unfitting for the current Leers that she knew.

The alicorn's scowl softened to an irritated stare. "You didn't answer me," she said, the coldness in her voice now touched with the smallest hint of sympathy.

He looked back at her and, for the first time in a long time, their eyes weren't filled with hostility. "It's because I can't, princess. The stakes are much too high for me to tell you so easily."

Puffing air through her nostrils, Twilight put her front hooves back on the ground. "Then we're done here."

At the sound of 'we're', and 'done', and 'here', Rainbow Dash turned her head away from the poker game she was having with Pinkie. "Wai⁠—huh? You're finally done?" she said, oblivious of the pink mare pulling the top of her cards down with the tip of her mane.

"Oh, she is. I'm not," Leers said, cracking a smile that shattered any connection between him and the alicorn. The cyan mare threw her head up as she let out an exasperated sigh before turning her attention back to her game. "While I can't say what my goal is, I will offer something to help you with yours." The intensity of Twilight's stare returned.

She recognized what he was doing. This was always the part of his scheme where he would set-up some sort of trust just to trick her later. She was compelled to deny his offer, and almost did so as she had every reason. Yet, the little thing in the back of her mind kept her thinking that maybe, just maybe, he'd mean it this time.

Twilight's silence cued Leers to continue. "Tell me princess, with the so-called doomsday happening so soon, would I be right to assume that you were notified only recently?"

"And? This isn't much different from any other disaster," she refuted. "We've handled other emergencies before where all we had was a day."

"So that's a yes!" Leers said with more enthusiasm that she expected. "Am I also right to assume that in your limited time of research, your books could only share the bare minimum of information so you at least know what you're looking for?"

Twilight stamped a hoof down. "Don't you insult my books! I found all that I needed to know in my library."

"Even Powers of the Pre-Celestial Age?"

The title caused the alicorn to pause. She scanned the ground as she tried her best to remember why it sounded so familiar to her. Then she looked at the human again and it clicked. "...You stole that book when you destroyed part of my castle."

Leers waved off her realization. "Right, right. But more importantly!" He raised a finger for emphasis. "What if I told you, you won't be able to complete this quest without me?" The alicorn's eyes narrowed.

"What are you saying?" The human narrowed his eyes too.

"The next artifact you're looking for requires a little something that only I can give." They spent the next ten seconds staring at each other before Twilight realized what was going on.

"...You're not going to say what it is unless we bring you there?"

"Ding ding!" he said, pumping his fist. "If I told you now, you wouldn't need me anymore."

"How do I know this isn't something we can't figure out on our own?"

"Oh, you might." Leers dipped his head slightly. "But by the time you realize the artifact can't be acquired without me, I'd already be taken away to some dungeon far from you." Twilight pressed her lips together and gathered her thoughts.

If he does prove useful, that would mean one less step to take towards stopping this disaster. The only, quite glaring problem...

"This is all too vague for me to fully trust you," she ended up saying. Not even the thing at the back of her mind could convince her otherwise.

"Yet, my record shows, and I know you have one on me, that every time I tell you about something, I was always right." The alicorn's eye twitched.

"The record also shows that every time you were right, you'd also betray us soon after."

"For the most part, yes," Leers said as he nodded in agreement. "This is a special case, however! My life is on the line just as it is for you. It'd be foolish for me to mess things up now."

"Says the one that stole the first two amulets!" Rainbow yelled. She went silent when her poufy maned opponent laid down a straight to her three of a kind. "...Dang it Pinkie."

"You have no proof that I did such a thing." Twilight had to sit on her haunches and rub her temples so she could ease the headache she was getting.

"I've wasted enough time talking to you," she said. She looked to her group of friends, who were now all participating in a match. "AJ! Pinkie!"

Both mares looked up from their game and then at each other. When they realized their friend wanted them, they immediately folded, to Rainbow Dash's displeasure, and walked up next to the alicorn, standing at the ready. Twilight held a hoof up to them as she looked at the human.

"Tell Applejack whether you stole the amulets or not."

Leers waved a finger at her, opening his mouth to say something, but thought better of it. Instead, he opted to do as he was asked and removed any trace of humor from his face. "I did not steal the amulets," he said in his most sincerest tone.

Applejack analyzed every inch of his face for even the slightest hint that what he spoke was not the truth. To her surprise, and mild suspicion, she found nothing that could betray his statement. "He ain't lyin'," she said.

"Thank you Applejack," Twilight said, giving her a nod before continuing to stare down the human. "Now Pinkie promise that you aren't going to steal the next amulet or make an attempt to run away."

This made Leers's eyes go wide, taking a wary glance at the pink pony. "That bad, huh?" he said,

"Leers."

"Fine, fine." He looked at Pinkie and, though she still had that friendly smile, he swore he could feel her pupils staring into his soul. "I, Leers, Pinkie promise that I will not steal the next amulet⁠—"

"Ooor run a-waaay," Pinkie added, craning her head sideways. He pressed his lips together and stifled a groan.

"Or run away."

"Great! All you gotta do now is⁠—"

"Yes, yes. The crossing of hearts and wanting to fly and whatnot," Leers said as he half-assed the gestures. "Are we happy?"

"Ecstatic!"

He sighed in relief. "Alright, let's get a move on. The end of the world isn't going to wait for us" Reluctantly agreeing, Twilight called the rest of her friends to pack up.

After Rainbow Dash took a minute to fully process how Fluttershy won their game, they were off again, this time towards the location of the third artifact.

Once things settled down and became relatively quiet, Leers remembered something from earlier. "Oh, miss wonderbolt?" The cyan mare growled before turning herself around with her forelegs crossed, effortlessly flying backwards. "About that hassling thing..."