Starlight Glimmer stands on one end of the Cutie Map and motions towards it with her left forehoof while turning her head the same direction, “Well, as you can see, our cutie marks are all over here on this one village on the map!”

Trixie glances to Starlight on her left, “Uh, isn’t that your old cult village?”

Starlight blinks, “Well um, yeah it is!”

Trixie smiles, “Where you enslaved the village and stole all their cutie marks?”

Starlight turns her head and frowns at her love, “Uh, well yeah…” she leans towards the blue pony, “You don’t have to bring that up every chance you get, you know?”

Trixie widens her eyes as she chuckles softly and swishes her tail, “Oh, it’s fine! We all make mistakes! You were a dictator over a village! I wore a soul-sucking evil amulet! It’s fine!”*

Gabriela widens her blue eyes from the other side of the map, “I uh, think I wanna hear about this stuff later!”

Dusk Shine looks at Gabriela on her right as her head vibrates and a slight smile forms on her shaking face…

Gabriela glances at Dusk on her left, “What? What’s so funny?”

Dusk leans towards her love and says in a low whimsical voice, “Your voice is squeaky, now!”

Gabriela widens her eyes and frantically squeaks, “What? No!”

Trixie looks at Gabriela and smiles slightly, “Actually, it is kinda squeaky?”

Starlight widens her eyes to the night unicorn as her mouth narrows, “Uh, they’re not wrong?”

“My voice is not squeaky!” Gabriela frantically squawks out!

Dusk swishes her magenta tail, “Yeah, sure Little Miss Squeaky Voice!” she turns to Starlight and widens her eyes, “So, we’re going to this village then, I take it?”

Trixie turns to Starlight on her left, “Where you took everypony’s cutie marks!”

Starlight widens her eyes as she moves her head to the right, “Yes! Uh, that village!”

Trixie smiles, “And was basically a power-mad dictator!”

Starlight narrows her mouth and stares blankly, “Yes! Away from this town, where you once ruled with an iron-hoof while wearing a cursed amulet!”

Trixie smiles and snickers, “Touché!”

Gabriela widens her blue-slitted eyes, “Seriously, I really wanna hear about this, now!”

Dusk grins, “And I wanna hear your squeaky voice some more!”

Gabriela frowns at the punker, “Shut up!”

“Squeaky voice! Squeaky voice! He he he!” Dusk giggles.

Gabriela begins to grimace, “Knock it off, Dusk!” she sighs, “You’re such a jerk!”

Dusk smiles, “Well, you still have a squeaky voice!”

Trixie stares at Gabriela with her open purple eyes, “I think it’s cute! Although it’s weird that you also have batpony skulls all over you!”

Dusk widens her eyes as she chirps up, “Change of pace!” she turns her head to Gabriela and leans towards her slightly, “Tonight is just what you needed!”

Gabriela widens her eyes, “Great! My marefriend and non-batponies all apparently want me to be decorated with batpony skulls!”

Trixie smiles at the night unicorn, “And don’t forget, we like your new squeaky voice!”

Starlight smiles at Gabriela, “Yeah, it is kinda cute, now that you mention it, Trix!”

Gabriela widens her eyes, “Hey, wait a minute!”

Then, everypony in the room who’s not Gabriela bursts into laughter while the night unicorn can only give a fanged batpony frown.

Starlight smiles and shakes her head, “Anyway, I think the best thing for us to do is to get started in the morning! You two batponies can snooze inside Trixie’s wagon on our way up there and then, we’ll be able to investigate in the evening and see what’s wrong!”

Dusk Shine smiles at the magenta unicorn, “Uh, actually! I have a much better idea!”

<*****>

Gabriela pulled with the blue wooden harness around her body and stared at Dusk Shine, currently pulling on her left. “So, you volunteered us to pull the cart up there?”

Dusk looks at Gabriela and smiles, “Yeah! I mean, they sleep at night, and we can just rent a hotel room for the day after we arrive!”

Gabriela rolls her eyes, “Ugh! Fine!”

Dusk smiles, “You know, we did get that devil weed from your pony earlier on the way to the coffee shop, right?”

Gabriela widens her eyes, “Are you suggesting we smoke on the way up there?”

Dusk snickers, “Sure! Why not? It’ll be fun!”

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “You’re a bad influence on me, you know that?”

Dusk smiles widely, “Maybe, but I’m a lot of fun!”

Gabriela blinks before frowning, “Uh, we don’t have a pipe or papers, do we?”

Dusk continues to smile as she widens her eyes while both ponies continue to trot, “There are many pockets in my studded leather harness, Gabs!” she nods slightly, “Since I’m with you now, I figured papers and a lighter wouldn’t be a bad idea!” she smiles wider, “You know? Just in case!”

Gabriela smirks slightly as she begins to giggle, “Terrible influence!”

Dusk looks down slightly to her right as she looks forward and trots, “The papers are in my top right pocket! You magically fetch them out with the lighter and roll us a fattie! I’ll keep my eyes on the road, so we don’t crash or anything!”

“Umm…” Gabriela hums to herself as she stares at Dusk’s chest floof underneath her studded leather harness. She tries to remember where the pocket was and guesses right as a pack of Task gold label rolling papers glides out of the pocket encased in a blue glow to Gabriela’s front where she stares at it in her night vision with her blue slitted eyes. She frowns as her left saddlebag glows blue and opens so that a plastic baggy containing nugs of a green substance with distinctive red hairs on them. She frowns and says, “I wanted Everfree Green!” before staring forward to the papers, opening the pack, and removing a white sheet to lay it flat before her in her blue glowing grasp so she can take a nug from the baggy and mumble something as her weed grinding spell works it’s magic to sprinkle the reddish-green herb onto the paper. She looks down with her slitted eyes at the weed there before mentally forcing it to form a line from one end of the paper to the other. She then begins to roll up her creation from the bottom and licks it with her forked tongue so that it seals right as she’s done rolling it. The freshly rolled field joint then turns around and floats into Gabriela’s mouth from the front and she looks at Dusk.

Dusk smiles, “Yeah, the lighter is a little bit further into the pocket, Gabs!” she then affixes her gaze back to the front. “Hurry up, babe! I wanna smoke too, y’know!” she nods, “And don’t worry! That Trottingham Red shit you got isn’t a joke! You’re gonna love it!”

Gabriela narrows her gaze to the batpony on her left as she continues to pull with the blue wooden harness, but now with a joint in her mouth. Her horn and Dusk’s upper left pocket suddenly glow blue and a yellow disposable lighter flies out to Gabriela’s front, where it quickly clicks to spark and ignite a flame as Gabriela mentally holds down the fuel button and she moves her head towards it, so the joint in her mouth is now just barely nipping the flame. She then sharply inhales to bring the flame to the joint where it visibly ignites the end, so smoke begins to accumulate inside where it is inhaled into Gabriela’s mouth, and she tastes the sweet flavor of this peculiar new strain on her forked tongue as the hot gas floats down her throat. Gabriela suddenly moves her head back as she starts and her slitted eyes both blankly stare forward!

Dusk sees this in her periphery while glancing slightly to the right, “Whoa! Uh, you okay sweetie pie?”

Gabriela exhales smoke out the right side of her mouth, “Yeah uh, I think so?” before pursing her lips around the tipless white joint in her mouth and she inhales to make the cherry glow again.

Dusk smiles and nods, “That’s the shit, right? That’s the good shit!” before the wagon hits a bump and jolts up in the air as the two batponies pull it!

Gabriela smiles as she doesn’t even seem to notice this and exhales out the right side of her mouth before making the joint glow and float to her cohort, where Dusk collects it by closing her mouth, “It’s weird that I’d try a lot of new strains I never heard of when we got together?”

Dusk smiles with the joint in her mouth and says out the right side, “Bucked up, right? It’s almost like two heads are better than one, aye?” before pursing her lips around the joint to inhale and make the cherry glow.

Gabriela smiles and giggles as her love continues to puff the joint and both ponies vigorously pull the cart with their muscular power.

Dusk exhales out the left side of her mouth, “Well, any idea what this friendship problem thing is that we’re supposed to be investigating?” before closing her lips on the joint to inhale again.

Gabriela frowns, “How would I know?”

Dusk eventually exhales smoke out her left again and glances back at the trotting batpony to her right, “Yeah, good point! Uh, “the greenish-yellow slitted eyes move to the half-joint in her mouth, “I think it’s your turn now, darling?”

Gabriela mentally floats the joint to her mouth in a blue glow, where she clasps her lips around it and grins at Dusk Shine, “I still can’t believe Starlight Glimmer was a dictator!” the roach lands in her mouth “You better do what she says! Or she’ll torment you with empathy cocoa, teddy bears, and comfort blankets!” before tightening her lips on the roach to draw.

Dusk giggles before staring over at the unicorn of darkness, “I’m actually more concerned about talking about feelings!”

Gabriela widens her eyes, “Oh, the horror!” before tightening her lips on the joint to draw again.

Dusk frowns and widens her eyes, “But, what if I have to admit stuff?”

Gabriela exhales out the right side of her mouth, “Well, I know how you love my butt?”

Dusk smiles, “And your squeaky voice!”

“Shut up!” Gabriela emphatically says with her eyes wide. She narrows her eyes to the other batpony as she tightens her lips for another draw and the two ponies continue pulling the cart.

Dusk looks forward and widens her slitted eyes as she says, “Uh, we can stop pulling now Gabs! We’re here now! We made it!”

Gabriela begins to slow down while slowly exhaling smoke out the sides of her mouth and the punker does the same…

<*****>

Dusk Shine trots back to Gabriela, currently sitting on her haunches in the darkness, next to the blue caravan. She stops trotting about 10 feet from her, looks at her, and says, “I know it’s about seven in the morning now, but there doesn’t seem to be anypony around?”

Gabriela looks up at the other batpony and frowns, “Well, I don’t suppose there’s any batponies in this village?”

Dusk shrugs, “How would I know?”

Gabriela smiles dimly, “Well uh, yeah!” she looks to the wagon on her right, “Suppose we should wake up the other two, now? I’m tired after all that pulling!”

Dusk frowns, “Well, wanna bunk in the wagon tonight?”

<*****>

The blue unicorn in magician’s garb trotted towards Starlight Glimmer on the desolate city street as the sun begins to peak out from behind the magenta unicorn and stops just 10 feet from her and gazes at her wide-eyed, “I don’t know, Glimmy? I mean, there doesn’t appear to be anypony here?”

Just then, Starlight hears something behind her go PSST!

Starlight starts and turns around to see a simple wooden barrel there. This barrel is made of worn oak planks and has two black steel bands around it, but that’s not nearly as startling as the yellow maned green pony she notices ducking behind it.

She raises her head and widens her eyes at the sight as Trixie trots to her right side, “Uh, hello!”

She sees a green pony with a yellow mane done into a single ponytail behind her head peeking out from the left side of the barrel as she says, “You two shouldn’t be here! Come with me! It’s dangerous!” in a low raspy feminine voice.

<*****>

Gabriela lies in the blue blankets as she looks at the ceiling of the wagon and says, “It’s a good thing Trixie doesn’t do magic shows anymore! This thing must get cramped, with all that junk in it?” before looking at Dusk Shine, currently with her head off to the left at the wall nearest to her… Gabriela also can’t help but notice a flash of light coming from the wall area… She leans towards the spikey manes batpony, “Dusk Shine! Are you smoking in Trixie’s wagon?”

Dusk moves her head to the right and exhales a puff of smoke, “Uh, kinda?”

Gabriela narrows her eyes, “Seriously, this is bad! Even for you!”

Dusk smiles at the unicorn, “Well, sniff the air Gabs! I don’t think she’s gonna notice?”

Gabriela frowns and widens her eyes, “Well uh, you probably have a point there?” she sighs, “Fine! Go ahead and take your other drag and I’ll take mine!”

Dusk smiles broader, “That’s the old pepper! Let’s have some fun!”

<*****>

Starlight trots behind the new green pony, just to the right of Trixie as all three ponies head west on the forest trail, “So uh, where are we going?”

The new pony says, “To my campsite! It’s not safe in town, right now, and so that’s where I’m sleeping!”

Trixie speaks up, “Why isn’t it safe in town?”

The green pony replies, “Because it was attacked earlier, and now, nopony lives there! Honestly, I just go by to check it out every now and again. You two are lucky I happened to be there, today!”

Starlight steps on a twig and brushes her right forehoof off before trotting a little bit faster to catch up with everypony, “Attacked? Attacked by what?”

The green pony lowly says, “I’ll tell you when we arrive!”

Trixie frowns, “Well, can you at least tell us your name?”

The green pony replies, “Call me, Penelope!”

Starlight looks at Trixie and whispers lowly, “Who do you think she is?”

Trixie looks back and replies under her breath, “I don’t know? Well, she’s a green earth pony?”

Penelope can be heard giggling softly in front, “I can hear you; you know?”

Starlight looks ahead and snickers, “Sorry! We’re just not used to meeting strange ponies in abandoned villages!”

Penelope replies, “Well, I suppose that doesn’t happen often in your lives, right?”

Trixie says, “Not really, no?”

Starlight says in her sardonic tone, “First time for everything?”

Penelope stops trotting in the middle of the wooded trail. Trees are on either side of the three ponies and the dirt road seems to go on forever.

Starlight widens her blue eyes, “Why did we stop?”

Penelope looks down and sighs, “Because we’re almost to my campsite… But first, I need to show you two something… It uh, “she pauses for a moment, “makes my story a bit more believable…”

Trixie widens her violet eyes as she asks, “Oh, okay! So uh, what did you want to show us?”

Penelope turns around and smiles before her closing her eyes and her body is enveloped in a pale blue light, before the light dissipates and her new form can be seen… She has a single curved horn coming out the top of her head that’s about 5 inches long with stringy blue hair coming out of her scalp… She also has insectoid wings and a green head and body featuring a hard-looking carapace, with distinctly blue eyes, while her four legs are an orange color…

(To be continued…)

Author's Note

*It’s assumed by this point in the story, that their past misdeeds can be joked about, in regular conversation.