The sound of snow crunching beneath shoes cut through the silence of the night. There was also a griffon leading the way, who barked- “Behind me, in formation!” Gallus ordered the six random blue-coated Crystalian soldiers he’d pulled away from Shining’s guard body for his own personal investigations. His normal GPH units were occupied with protecting the princesses during their recent political rallies across Equestria, and he was sent up north to keep an eye on things after their special military operation. “There’s only a single pub in North Buckota, and I have no doubts we’ll find King Shining Armour there.” Truth be told, Gallus wasn’t sure if that title really applied anymore; but he was certain of the fact that as a Vassalage to Equestria, his title as Royal Captain puts him above all policing bodies in the land… Crown-planted monarchs or not.

But despite this, the military town referred to as ‘Bucky’ to the locals, reminded Gallus of Ponyville before Silver Spoon sold her barony to the highest bidder from a lack of interest- but for the former, this towns simplicity can be owed to its nature as a community meant to supplement Equestria’s northernmost Overwatch Outpost. It stood in the shade of a northern mountain with a funicular-style incline to the uppermost observatory and watchtower overlooking the forest of Barren Pines; the place which provided the machine-processed wood to quickly populate a town with housing and businesses of painted wood surmounted with industrial metal roofing that prevented large, dangerous icicles from forming. Electric-bulb lamps on black iron posts buzzed as they marched along the winding avenues, passing the large ornate red-brick building which hosted the towns post and telegram office, with the other side of the building dedicated to the single-room town hall/ courthouse.

BING-BONG! BING-BONG! BING-BONG! BING-BONG! BING-BONG! BING-BONG!

The clocktower which topped the building rang its evening chime- “Eighteen-hundred hours, men. The pub’s right down the road.” He barked, seeing a bunch of off-duty guards still in their uniforms, sitting around and smoking corn-cob pipes outside of the bar. “With me.” He gestured with his fingers and taking a deep breath, almost feeling excited to finally get warm… until his eyes shot open. “I smell marijuana.” He stopped in his tracks, turning to glare at the offender, sitting with his back against the front-porch post with a wide grin. “PRIVATE! YOUR UNIFORM IS IN AN UNACCEPTABLE STATE!” He barked, referring to the undone necktie and half-buttoned blue overcoat, revealing his standard issue grey scrubs, stained indelibly with beer and some sort of cheese sauce. He swiped the corn-cob pipe to the side- “THESE PIPES ARE ISSUED AND APPROVED FOR TOBACCO! USE! ONLY!” He stomped a fist into the ground to highlight his point- “I’LL HAVE YOU AND WHOEVER SOLD YOU THIS POISON COURT-MARSHALLED! DO YOU HEAR ME!?” The guard simply grinned as his buddy handed him another packed and lit pipe, unable to keep from snickering as a different one of his pegasi buddies tapped against the glass of the pub-

TapTapTapTap
Tap
TapTapTap
…
TapTapTapTap
Tap
Tap Scritch! Tap
Tap

“Don’t look at me, man- King Armour offered it to us all!” Gallus huffed, unaware as his six petty-officers had broken away casually listening to whatever their fellow Crystalian-guards had to whisper to them; but Gallus was too busy glaring at the petty officer as he gave a lazy salute, “It’s been an honor serving with you all! I’m just a degenerate pot junkie- you’ll all be hauling my ass to jail in a week, anyway!” He joked while the captain snarled-

“Do you know why that’d be the case?” He asked with a snarl, looking around the group- “Because you’re all a bunch of addicts! All of you!” He turned towards the door, “I hope you all learned how to pleasure other stallions- you’ll all need that skill when you’re rotting in a cell or thrown onto a farm.” He stomped his feet and gestured to his appropriated soldiers without even turning to look at them. “WITH ME!” Gallus barked, stomping across the porch.

Creak! Slam!

Gallus barged through the door and felt every cell in his body scream out in terror as he froze a foot or so past the threshold; several caplock pepperbox revolvers were floating in magic fields, along with the couple pegasi and earth ponies who pointed their rifle-spears at him all in unison. Shining Armour stood proudly between them all in his Royal-Purple military coat and cap which padded out his already muscled chest, near-gilded in medals which all hung in neat rows along each side. By the time Shining’s face morphed to a glaring scowl, Gallus felt his ears fold against the sides of his head in terror and his tail squeezing firmly between his legs to his chin. “Shoot him.”

Gallus clenched his eyes shut as every limb flinched in turn, breaking into a light pant as he heard-

“HAH! Just messing with ya’!” He shuddered as he opened his eyes to reveal the Guards all around the pub having a hearty chuckle at his expense, feeling rage boiling up as Shining approached to speak over his shoulder through the door- “We’ve been waiting on you all! Sorry you had to put up with him for a day.” He hoof-bumped them each as Gallus stood in stunned disbelief. “As your Reigning Sovereign, I order you to all to-” He led them in, shutting the door behind- “Sit down, have a hot meal and a drink. We’ve all earned it for that excellent operation!” He sat between the six and slapped their backs in each arm towards the bar- “We got good hash from Griffonia, too- smoke it on the porch if you want, I’ll deal with the gopher king.” With that, he used his magic to shrug his coat off and hung it against the edge of a nearby booth table for two.

Standing dumbfounded, Gallus felt a light smack on his back and heard- “Leeeets go, big boy.” his pupils shrunk and he felt his blood run cold, following Shining to the small booth with a scowl and took his seat, meeting the Prince’s smug grin with a genuine scowl as he grabbed the bottle of Rotgut Silver and poured shots of the clear liquor into fancy Crystalian purple cut-crystal shotglasses which sparkled like diamonds from the lantern illuminating their table.

“I could have every one of you court martialled and convicted of treason tonight.” He thumped the table with a fist, speaking through a gritted beak despite the fact that all Shining’s men had given them a respectable distance, their privacy aided by the jukebox near the entrance playing various upbeat jazz tunes. “What gives you the balls to think you have any right to disrespect me like this; you threatened to shoot me!” Shining snorted and shook his head with a grin, holding his shot up in his purple magic above the table.

“Quit acting so childish! It’s unbecoming of my old Title of Honor.” He simply swirled the glass as though waiting for Gallus to toast the shot of the Griffonian booze, which had the proof number on the other side; but his mind was still reeling as to why Shining chose those particular words. “You waiting for an invitation? I thought you were supposed to be in charge of me?” While the sly pony grinned, the griffon could only huff as he picked up the glass to clink it mid-air;

Tink!
krrrrrr~

The other glass was flash-chilled in Shiny’s shield-specialized pink aura, causing his own to frost over in an instant without even freezing his fingers while still cooling the drink down rapidly. “While that is the case- there are exceptions where table manners trump the Martial Ladder.” Shining Armour grinned and rolled his neck while Gallus mentally prepared for the inevitable. “As far as everypony in this room is concerned, I’m still their King; and when you’re offered a drink by Royalty, it’s customary to drink first.” He shrugged, knowing full-well that the so-called ‘etiquette’ was simply a normalized form of paranoia, where Lords would fear being poisoned by their constituents even through unlikely means; it was silly, but Gallus could do nothing but abide by this hazing.

He huffed, taking the shot closer to his chest- “You sure were lucky, being born into the right family.” He slammed the shot back, his whole body flinching when the intensely strong liquor graced his beak, feeling like a roaring bonfire in his mouth when he heard Shining slam his own empty glass down, seeing the Prince doubling-over with grit teeth while Gallus dropped the half-full glass and tried to force what was in his beak down, feeling the painful sensation all the way down to his stomach and sputtering into his coat’s arm; even chilled as it was, it was still a gnarly tasting liquor. “Kah-hah! Good ol’ Rotty!” Hobo’s Helper, they called that stuff during the Depression. Strong booze was in short supply and high demand; Gallus was always glad he scammed Leona that one time when they were kids. 4 bits a bottle- how could something so shitty be worth any more than that? He said to her, once claiming he had some ‘graduated’ orphans to go inside and check for prices.

But Gallus was pulled from memory lane by a deep growl from Shining, speaking casually with a gravelly, deep voice- “I thought Everfree 190 was bad-” The pony gulped and put a hoof to his mouth, taking a deep breath and increasing the volume on his gravely voice- “You griffons managed to concoct something worse. Incredible.” Standing up straight with a grimace, he spoke- “Apparently it’s made from some Cactus that grows around Dustbowl; College-bar intuition tells me to mix in orange juice and red grenadine, neither of which we have.” he cleared his throat as his voice normalized gradually with his calm breathing while Gallus was recovering by breathing through his mouth, leaning into the table with a wobbly elbow and covering his beak with a wavy hand.

“Y-you’ve proven your point!” Gallus sputtered, taking deep breaths as the numbness in his mouth faded and left a bitter taste that moved with his breath. He wiped his face with one handkerchief and using another to mop up the spilled remains of the awful liquor. “You win, tough guy! I got better shit to deawh with!” He slurred his speech as his breath made the numbness return briefly, already getting that buzzed-sensation all throughout his body; he snapped his fingers, muttering something about needing a fuckin’ chaser as he yelled towards the bar- “Landlord, Gin and tonic, tall glass. Mix it half and half, squeeze in a lime.” He returned his stern gaze to Shining, being interrupted by the gruff stallion behind the bar.

“We don’t have any of that, except for limes.” Gallus turned his head to glimpse the beefy stallion behind the bar- “We have beer, whiskey, clean water, and bottled apple juice since just this morning, donated to us when some exec with a gun to her head signed a relief agreement.” they all got a giggle at having a jab at the bizarrely corporate nature of every stupid thing, aside from Gallus who rolled his eyes in bemusement. He spoke as he made eye-contact with Shining, who was nursing a rotgut on the rocks in his magic, the permanently-chilled glass keeping the drink cold without ice.

“Mix a whiskey and applejuice, then! Whatever- if it’s Ration Whiskey, three-to-one on the apple juice.” he barked as he leaned into the table, pointing a finger near Shining’s silky white dress shirt. “But you’re gonna have to stay sober when you hear what I came to warn you about!”
THUD!
The table clattered as Gallus punched it in anger, taking a deep breath- “Your ‘plan’ didn’t work out as flawlessly as you think; there’s still a hostage in the city.” Shining paused in thought, his once-jovial look falling slowly as he sipped on a fresh shot of the chilled liquor and half-grimacing with a huff, listening. “Yeah. Some unicorn noblestallion was unconscious for the entire exchange, near comatose from a head injury; he woke up, and guess what he had to say?” Gallus asked, sitting up straight in his seat and leaning against the table. “He was fucking his Crystalian maid and knocked her up; she died in childbirth to deliver one of the first Unicorn Crystalians in fuck knows when!” Shining set the glass down and matched his serious gaze.

He whispered darkly- “I know you’re not bullshitting because you’re not doubled over in agony.” He realized that holding the shot glass in his magic was to avoid tipping him off about the Blissful Ignorance spell he cast on Gallus; meanwhile Shining’s dark tone dropped as the barman approached with a pitcher of beer and a pint glass for Shining while Gallus was served his ‘cocktail’, which he gulped quickly. “Thanks, Ronnie!” He said politely, giving him a hoof-bump with a shared smirk before the stallion went back to his post; and just like that, Shining’s smile fell. “Assuming he wasn’t just a little coo-coo from a brain injury, I’m guessing he wants that kid back regardless?” Gallus nodded with a grimace.

“Gave me a whole sob-story and everything. Felt bad that her mother died, his wife left because of the affair, yadda-yadda… Even if she’s got the Crystalian dazzle-coat hoo-hah, that bastard child is still his only legal heir.” Shining was in the middle of a swig of beer, putting it down and nodding as Gallus continued- “But that’s not the least of our concerns; All of Leona and Starlights camping gear was left on top of that mountain they were on.” The pony’s eyes shot open, leaning forward to ask-

“What? Why!?” He huffed, looking off to the side and tapping his hoof. “Ohhh, shit… ohhhhhh, shiiiiiit.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose, realizing that the weed brownies he ate earlier were kicking in; it reminded him of that one time when misremembered the date of a particular science test, only finding out when the brownies finally kicked in that he needed to study that night. “Fucks sake, I’m on thin ice with Cadence as it is.” He looked out the frosty window into the night, taking a swig of beer in thought. “Ahhhhh. All that big talk about her ‘military training,’ and she leaves the backpack behind; she probably crumbled like a friggin’ crouton under the sudden pressure- even I heard that shield-break, it was a nasty sound.” he rubbed an arm across his face to wipe the foam off his lip- “Even if Starlight blew her Cornocula out, it should be healed enough sometime tomorrow.” He mused as Gallus leaned in and whispered-

“Not just Cadence- Celestia would have both our asses.” Shining tilted his head in confusion as Gallus leaned back to make eye contact- “The guards around Celestia’s new Manehattan home hear things, and I wish I was bullshitting when I tell you that she would be devastated if something happens to Leona!” Gallus scowled and sipped some more of his drink- “When she was recovering from that nasty addiction we assumed was an illness, she was self-isolating and avoiding the news updates to keep her stress down; somehow, she found a kindred spirit in Leona from their similar addiction struggles, or something.” Suddenly, events started to click together in Shining’s mind as Gallus concluded- “You need to do something about it. Leona’s out there somewhere; but regardless, if bears can survive a winter off fat alone, I’m sure she’d be fine for the next decade.” He took a swig of his drink and swayed gently while Shining Armour grinned.

“It’s settled- we create a search party tomorrow when the hangovers wear off.” Gallus rolled his eyes while Shining went back to nursing his drink, turning to climb out of the booth and return to his temporary housing for the night.

“Damn right; I’m the investigator, you’re the one who has to come up with a solution.” He took a swig of his beer and cringed- “One last thing- Scouts at the Top of the World lookout saw a bonfire or something else large burning in the great pines.” Shining giggled, waving a hoof nonchalantly.

“See! She’s fine. Both of them.” Was his only reply as Gallus turned to leav- “Halt.” Gallus froze as the feathers on his neck stood up. “Sit down- It’s time we had a… personal. Chat.” He spoke lethargically yet methodically, his darkly ironic jovial tone utterly gone. “And you never finished your drink.” He said, grabbing the pitcher and mixing beer into Gallus’ half-full cocktail. He only gulped, unable to will himself to take a step forward when Shining grinned- “I insist, stop making me ask.” Feeling his mouth go dry, the Royal Captain nodded and took his seat, taking a swig of his drink to try and calm his nerves, working up the courage to say-

“What’s this about? I’m not going to sit here and guess for you.” He glared while Shining grinned- “What the fuck is your problem? We’re soldiers for Celestia’s sake.” With a huff, he continued his rant proudly- “Different people, different races, different histories and cultures; all brought together for the sake of lasting peace and goodwill. Whatever happened to that? Have we all forgotten who the fuck we all are heah!?” Gallus didn’t care that he let his inner Fertilian accent slip, gesticulating his fist to prove a point; but when his rant was over, he leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. “Bear in mind, constructive criticism and al’lat.” Shining Armour couldn’t help but burst out into a short, hearty chuckle as he refilled his beer.

“You’re somethin’ else, you know that?” His pint glass rechilled itself in his magic constantly, even the pitcher had a constant frosty film and flow of airy condensation from the sides. He leaned back casually and said- “Maybe Twily was right- you’re a good kid; you’ve just been… urrrrp! Mis-guided, is’sall.” Gallus didn’t feel looked-down upon when he called him kid in this instance- he instead sounded like an old man talking to someone with some regrets, despite only being a few years his senior; but this feeling went out the window as the stallion shrugged and looked Gallus straight in the eye- “I really was gonna have you shot, but… it wasn’t your fault, kid.” His eyes shot open, unable to formulate a response and shifting in his seat uncomfortably. “So many bad actors involved in this… doctors, phony research firms, landowners, even fruit vendors for fucks sake!” He sighed, taking a swig of beer and saying- “You focused too much on the street level, but to your credit- you were enforcing old laws that I never bothered enforcing; Twilight and you felt justified by seems-legit researchers, maybe… I dunno. Part of your position has always been interpreting the law- I guess you can’t help being a little dumb…” Gallus’ eyes shot open as Shining amended- “You know, seeing as you never officially went to any primary schooling!”

Feeling more offended than afraid, the griffon scoffed- “First of all, just because no-one bothered teaching me how to read until I was sixteen doesn’t mean I’m a fucking idiot.” He sucked in a deep breath, pointing at the stallion’s chest- “Your sister was the best teacher I’ve ever met- Everything I’ve learned, I’ve learned off her and her friends!” The pony only shrugged, leaning back in his seat as he went on- “And I interpreted the law based on how it was written!” He huffed with a scowl- “What’s the point of a law if it’s not enforced!? Why keep it written down? Why not add amendments, or get rid of old ones? Why did I waste so much fucking time reading dusty old scrolls for this job!?” Taking a swig of his drink in an attempt to calm town, he sucked in a deep breath and asked- “Tell me, Shining Armour! Is it not lawlessness to disregard the written law!? Because the Syndicate is lawlessness incarnate! That’s why I’ve fought so hard to fight its influence! But if it was a fools errand from the start, then maybe you should’ve spent more fucking time training me for your position?” He grit his beak, utter anger and venom in his voice as he pointed at his chest- “Instead of giving your wife that stupid storybook fantasy she wanted? Because look where that show got you!” With another swig of his drink, Gallus waited for an answer while Shining looked down into his glass from above.

“I uhhh… I had a response, but it… huh…” He rubbed his temple while Gallus looked at him with a flat expression of half-disbelief. “Do… do you know how magic shields actually work?” He asked coyly whilst Gallus remained unamused. “It’s a form of Stasis, or a sort of freezing of the so-called atom. I don’t understand nuclatons or neutrides or whatever the labcoats call them, there’s a critical point I understand dearly; when they’re cold, they huddle for warmth. When they’re hot, they spread apart to chill out.” The griffon could only watch in utter disbelief into this odd insight into the stallion’s brain. “Unicorns can use high-skill magic to cool them down, and the most powerful of shields are thick bastions of atoms, slowed to a near-crawl and creating the chilled-glassy barriers you can touch… or try to break through; the suspended particles in the atmosphere create a sort of icy and molecularly perfect concrete of loose gasses brought together and solidified.” The stallion took in a deep breath and sighed with a grin- “My Cutie Mark means I understand this concept to a Tee; if I wasn’t around, there wouldn’t be a Canterlot today.” Having enough, Gallus huffed.

“What’s your point?” He asked, taking a swig of his drink as Shining leveled a glare his way.

“I genuinely can’t remember- I just know I had to say it. Who knows what it means?” The griffon felt a tingle creep down his spine as the pony replied with minimal expression- “Maybe it’s an insight into how it feels to have a Special Skill to you griffons? I’m drunk and I’m really friggin’ high right now, ya know?” Shining giggled, before suggesting in a sly tone- “Or maybe I wanted you to think about what that magic could do when applied to someone's bloodstream?” He shrugged- “Figure it out, Mr. Detective- and my advice?” He asked, his expression turning deadly serious as he leaned in. “Watch your fucking beak.” He simply flicked his hoof in a dismissive gesture and turned away, grinning when he heard the door shutting quickly.

“Break up my fuckin’ party, will he?” He grumbled as he returned to his friends at the bar.

—

As the midday sun shone over our heads, I found our situation to be turning more intolerable by the step and second. The articulated shoe on my right leg snapped off beyond repair, causing the thin ball-joint end to try plunging into the snow with every step whilst the paw-pads on my left foot’s been stinging painfully from the soles because of the extra exertion on that shoe; my hands were still protected by the makeshift scarf mittens, with the one on my firing hand kept loose and having to be readjusted insistently to keep it ready for the stocked pistol slung closely across my chest with the safety on, not wanting to risk wasting any of my precious seven rounds remaining and ensuring that wherever we walked, the barrel was pointed down and to the left as Glimmer marched to my right; and from the looks of her just peering aside my parka, she wasn’t feeling much happier than I was.

Starlight’s rear hooves were thankfully able to glide over the snow easily because of her shoes; but in a stroke of chance, she was wearing those fancy gun-gauntlets we stole off Cassie, with only the left one loaded and pinned as she occasionally whinged about her front shoulder joints hurting or her head throbbing from the small gash above her left brow caked in flaky coagulated blood that was half-covered by her snow-white ushanka and ran in streaks with splatters down the front of the Army-issue white coat; blood which she assured me didn’t belong to her; but while I wasn’t paying attention, I noticed she stopped suddenly with a scrunched-up look, as though every cell in her body were pulling together for warmth when she stopped, and I felt the gust of wind having a similarly bone-chilling affect. “We-We’ah goin’in’ circles-s-s.” She clenched her jaw from the shivering, raising a hoof to point at a large purple-moss boulder surrounded by fallen mossy logs that… that I didn’t want to admit gave me a sense of deja-vu. “We passed tha’ fifteen ago!” I knew she meant minutes, and I felt the urge to swallow as the anxiety set in.

“F-fuck it, followin’ our footsteps ain’t working.” Pacing in place to try and keep my extremities warm as I looked up at the clear blue sky, muttering- “Why now? Why a broken wing?” My earlier plan to navigate us out simply involved me flying above the treeline when things were safe, and I put it off because I was tired; the watch/compass was left at the camp among other precious tools. I had my knife and lighter on me, and thank fuck Starlight decided to grab the filled canteen before we left. “We either hope we stumble across the cabin so we can get whatever we left behind, or figure out where the fuck civilization is.” I asserted, taking several deep breaths in an attempt to calm my nerves.

After puffing at the air a few times pretending she was smoking a cigarette and focusing on the movement of the vapor in the air. “The uh… the sun was on my back this morning when we were chasing the cunt; that means we were running west.” She rubbed her cheeks with the sides of her hoof, “Not that the sun’s any help right now.” letting out a sigh and lowering her head, she asked- “Doesn’t moss always try to face north or something?” I shrugged, maybe having heard something or other about that before.

I simply nodded, gesturing for her to follow along. “Fuck it. We’ll check the other side of this weird rock formation or whatever.” We approached the mesmerising shag-carpet surface of purple moss which covered the wide, flat stone which stood a foot or so over our heads with a skirt of snow gathered around the base, half-obscuring the thin logs which seemed to have fallen and been mostly buried aside from the moss; Starlight went ahead of me, gasping before I even had the chance to ask “What? What tha’fug is’it?” and waiting for my eyes to shoot open in realization. “... Fuck me, giant crab!”

What we assumed to be a flat-topped black and grey splotched stone turned out to be skeletal remains of a ginormous snow crab; its tall facial armor disappeared into the wide shell which served a new biome of various fungi, insects, and maybe even a few mammals within their dry-picked and frost-bleached carapace home. “Giant Snow Crab, Perichelydia Crustacia Horribilis.” She remarked as I tried looking for any signs of trauma or injury which caused its death. “Did you know? We have fossil evidence that these creatures once inhabited these lands as much smaller, half-evolved crab-turtles!” I nodded, testing one of the legs with my weight to see if it’d hold, climbing atop the stone-hard appendage and leaning against the top of its shell, seeing a large grey ‘bald spot’ where the moss hardly grew at all, being able to be peeled off easily. “Which means there’s a decent chance they started out as some sort of turtle in the reeeeally ancient past! Nature is so fucking cool!” While she was nerding out, I made some observations that chilled me.

“This thing struggled before it died. It struggled hard.” I said, causing Starlight to tilt her head- I gestured for her to climb up and take a look at the top, pockmarked all over with deep slashing gouges which held some small growth well into its porous surface, what should be shiny carapace instead covered in small divots reminiscent of tiny, wildly gnawing teeth. I leaned into the top of the thing, not even hearing a crack. “Vultures couldn’t have done this, but it was no doubt a flock of something that did this.” Starlight’s eyes began to widen slowly as she looked around us anxiously. “Ooh, the eye sockets- look.” The empty holes were misshapen and marred with cracks all around the orbital. “And it’s half buried in the ground; that’s what crabs do when they realize they’re in danger- that sharp branch poking in the ground, that’s probably the tiny stabby claw.” looking it over one more time, I concluded- “Poor bastard was ganged up on, tried to bury himself, all while probably getting clobbered by something with a sharp beak or claws gouging at its back, maybe dying when one of them managed to peck its eyes out. Who knows… and the legs that were above ground are scattered everywhere.” I could imagine how incredible of a scene that would be to see such a ginormous creature devoured in minutes, with its cleaned remains scattered about randomly and savagely. “Tell me, Mrs. Naturalist- any ideas on what the fuck might’ve killed this thing?” She chuckled and shrugged as the two of us climbed down.

“There are rumors that there exists a species of giant featherless penguins which occasionally emerge from under the earth in these very woods.” Starlight mused casually and shrugged, “There’s a reason Lil’ Bucky’s border limits the edge of this forest; although mere legends of disappearances in these woods happen far more than the actual occurrence, and there’s really not much evidence to go off of.” Maybe she was saying that to give herself hope? “Wait… the guts of one of these creatures would be softer than the top shell, wouldn’t it?” She asked, grabbing the shovel she’d been carrying with us, picked up from where Cassie tossed it earlier and carrying it since.

“The fuck are you saying?” I asked as she ducked under the shell to test the solidity of the ground. “Star- OH! Starlight!” I looked her in the eye and held my hands up in a what the hell? Kinda way, just as her shovel pierced the soft ground underneath the shell. “You kiddin’ me wit’ dis?” I asked as she nearly fell forward with her third scoop of the shovel and a gasp, making me rub my temples. “Aaohh, the fuck…” I sighed, wanting to get the fuck away from it.

“A CAVE!” She pointed to the tiny unearthed pit beneath the crab, confirming that there was indeed something beneath us. She kicked some pebbles into it, and it took an uncomfortable few seconds for us to hear the echo of it falling. I nodded bemusedly, taking several steps back from the crab and feeling the hairs rising on my neck at the haunting dark void which seemed to radiate from that pit. “This could be huge to our understanding of this forest’s ecosystem, Leona! Holy fuck!” I huffed, unable to help feeling irritated as she slung the shovel back over her shoulder.

“Can we just go? We can go down the rabbit hole to Agartha or Wonderland or whereverthefuck some other time!” I barked with a huff, turning and facing what I could only assume was north from the strange moss. “I hate the dark and I fucking hate caves. I’m sorry if I’m snappy, I haven’t had a cigarette and my paw’s killing me.” I turned clockwise to the right about 90 degrees, “A little to the right… South-east.” I pointed in that direction as Starlight huffed and stomped my way. “It’s a purple crab! Get some fliers out here, they’ll find it eventually!” I raised my voice from a small distance as she huffed and followed after me in a petulant manner. “Ah, come on- what’s the matter wit’ you? I said I was sorry!” I asked exasperated-

“I’m fine!” She half-yelled through gritted teeth, causing her to look away as I gave her a weary side-eye. “S-sorry. I-I just.” She took several deep breaths and muttered- “My brain works different than everybody elses. I know it’s stupid to get upset over this, but I can’t help it. Please, give me a minute- I’ve been feeling really overwhelmed and that got me excited.” I looked over to her with a shrug as she went on, “I’m neurodivergent, if you recognize the term. Maybe we talked about this once, maybe not- but I want you to take me seriously here regardless.” After a few moments of walking, I nodded with her.

“We might’ve talked about it once or twice.” I said with a half shrug, turning to see her much calmer expression. “I take it that’s what the doctors say these days instead of Re-tuh, tuh, stunad.” I caught myself, causing Starlight to roll her eyes and snort. “I’m sorry- it’s just, I grow up seeing that word in medical textbooks and shit; not that I’m an expert at any of this psychological Freudian hoo-haa.” I said with a hint of snarkyness in my voice, unable to help but feeling annoyed at Starlight’s chuckling.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” She snorted and huffed, asking- “I- Just… snrrrrk! I don’t even know where to start with that!” I looked to the side with a mild blush as she asked- “Is your entire generation this deflective and ignorant to the facts presented right in front of them?” I could only shrug in mild embarrassment as she asked- “Like, this generation- here…” She muttered, causing me to raise an eyebrow. “The Lost Generation, as you Griffons call it.” I nodded, wondering if she was referring to the American baby boomers or not.

“I, I… Can you please just shut the fuck up? This conversation is fucking stupid.” letting out a wince as I felt more pain in my foot. I muttered- “Look… neither one of us has anything good to gain from killing the other, Starlight. Not now, not ever.” I took several deep breaths before continuing- “I promise I’ll work on my temper, along with my vocabulary, and… I’ll see what I can do about everyone else.” I turned to the side with a sincere look, which she returned with a small smirk.

“That’s all I can ask for. That’s fine by me.” I couldn’t help but grin, despite her audacity.

After a few moments of silence, I had to pipe up- “So realistically, what was your plan to get away? If I wound up mauled by a bear or stabbed by that psycho in these woods?” I looked over and she shrugged, turning her gaze away awkwardly. “Even as a made mare, people’re still gonna ask you questions, like, constantly! Body or no, they’re gonna want to know.” I just gave her a smug grin while she glanced over strangely. “Wasn’t it you who helped make magic-assisted interrogation commonplace within the Syndicate?” She sucked in a huff of air-

“They wouldn’t dare.” I shrugged and looked forward, glancing to the side to the concerned expression on her face.

“What’s the concern? You wouldn’t wanna be dishonest about my fate, would you?” I asked rhetorically, watching my footing as we tread through the woods. “I mean, I got a baby and a mother, a wife- Hey, you got a wife, too! You can only imagine how the inverse situation would go!” A side glance revealed Starlight to be staring straight ahead with an odd look in her eye. “But you know the bottom line? Look at me.” She stopped and turned my direction, where I approached her and leaned in, meeting her look with a glare and a smirk- “The difference being that they’ll take my word for it- but use your imagination to tell me what happens if your wife finds out the truth from me?” Her pupils shrunk, and I simply gave her a grin. “It doesn’t matter how you feel because I’m the Boss of this Family.” She nodded with a flat look. “Am I being clear? You’re getting off easy, my friend.” She nodded with a firm expression.

“Crystal… pun not intended.” I huffed as we both turned to keep walking through the woods, her facial expression unwavering in her fear-tinged eyes.

“The stakes and the rules involved with This thing of Ours should be well understood to you by now; the fact that you hesitated earlier tells me you fucking understand well.” I took in a few huffs of air, looking to the side to see her flat expression. “Don’t let your pride take precedence over Our Thing. You can be self-serving, but you’re still a part of this pyramid; and without its capstone, whatever’s inside is left to get picked away by bandits.” She’ll be in a shitty mood for a while, but she’ll get over it. She knows the risk otherwise.

Even as the night crept upon us and brought with it that awful feeling the dark brought me, we gasped in unison when we saw something that could save us, both yelling out-

“WAGON- Tipped ovah wagon!”
“SHELTER! FUCK YES!”

Our solace until morning would come from a tipped over wagon, the front bridling still in place while its previous drivers bones lay about scattered and broken, probably gnawed at by a bear or something; I didn’t give a fuck anymore- all I could think about was creating a safe barrier of light from a campfire, all while my heart pounded furiously in terror.

Author's Note

The nicotine withdrawal is getting to them :3
Today's word of the day is- Carcinization :p
If you're enjoying my story, please consider checking out my Ko-Fi! It'd help me out a lot, and I'd be really appreciative :3
Your likes and comments are also greatly appreciated, thank youuuu :3
ALSO- Here's the flag of the Crystalian Bleeding Hearts, in case I forgor to post it! Designed by my gf :3