Rusty blinked at me a few times, “What are you doing here?”

“Waiting.” I answered simply,

“Wh-” He paused, then turned back into the room, “It’s fine, I know them.”

There was some shuffling behind him, and then he stepped out of the way as the pony from earlier exited the room. She glanced at me for a moment, then speed walked down the hall and hurried down the stairs without another word.

I’m not going to question what a stallion and mare were doing in the same room like that, and I wasn’t going to question why Rusty wasn’t wearing any of his regular gear either. Granted, I noticed that ponies don’t really wear things in general, but apparently it was different for the mercenaries. Indigo had her robes, Fletch had a vest, I don’t think Maul ever took off his armor, I had no idea what Dagger even looked like under his cloak, and the rest usually wore some sort of tunic. Armor was typically reserved for when on the job.

Rusty was in the nude, though it wasn’t like there was anything on display.

…

Not that I was looking to begin with.

…

I swear.

“Why?” He asked,

“Huh?” I blinked,

“Why are you waiting here?” He clarified,

“Oh, uh… I got separated from the others.” I explained, “So I came back here, but the door’s locked, and I didn’t get any responses from either.” I pointed to Captain Morningstar’s room as I stood up,

“Mm,” Rusty nodded, “Well I’m here, why didn’t you come to me?”

“I didn’t know which room was yours.”

“You could’ve checked,”

I raised an eyebrow, and looked behind him. All I could see was a thoroughly tossed up bed. “Would you have responded?”

“Y-” Rusty choked, devolving into a coughing fit for a few moments. “...uh… No, probably not.”

“Well, do you know where any of the others are?” I asked,

“Hmm…” Rusty brought a hoof to his chin, “Haven’t seen those two since you left this morning…” He pointed to the door behind me, “Maul’s off doing his own thing…” He listed, “And I think Duck and Dagger went with the Captain.”

“To do what?” I tilted my head,

“I think he got a summons from Manuscript.”

I pursed my lips, that didn’t sound good.

“Why didn’t you go with?” I asked, but I could probably guess the answer.

“I was preoccupied,”

“Right.” I nodded slowly, “Should we go after them then? See what’s up?”

“Eh. I’m sure we’ll find out sooner or later.”

“Well, do you know when they’ll get back?”

“No.”

…

We both just kind of stood there silently for a few moments, me looking at the floor while Rusty stared blankly ahead.

He sniffed, “How’s the job going?”

“Good,” I answered, “I’ve got what I need to show Sir Manuscript, and I was kind of hoping to maybe talk to him today.”

Rusty nodded absentmindedly, “So why aren’t you?”

“Because…” I didn’t want to do it without Fletch and Indigo to back me up, but I didn’t really want to say that. “Because I didn’t think I could make it there on my own.”

“You made it back here, didn’t you?”

“Barely!” I blurted out, “It looked like half the ponies I walked by wanted to attack me!”

Rusty blinked, “Yeah, that tracks. You want me to come with you or something?”

“Uh… Sure.” I would prefer Fletch and Indigo, but if he was offering, it might be a good chance to get to know him. Wait a minute… “You’re not going to ask for payment, are you?”

Rusty just shrugged, “Depends on if you want me to do anything or not.”

I squinted at him, “What about just walking with me?”

“That’s newbie duty, I had to do the exact same thing with Fletch, and the Captain didn’t even let me ask for payment.” Rusty began, “Any more than that though, it’ll cost ya.”

“Noted,” I said slowly,

“Anyways, let me get ready.” Rusty stepped back into his room, only to pause and look back at me, “Uh… Come on in, I guess.”

Part of me didn’t want to enter a room where Rusty just did something with another pony, but another part of me didn’t want to wait out in the hall any longer. I reached down to pick up the piece of bark, made sure Shinsha was nice and tucked away in my hood, and ventured in.

Just like the other rooms, there were only two beds, but it was entirely possible that three ponies were sleeping in here. I think there was a sleeping mat on the floor, but it was so covered with stuff that I couldn’t help but wonder if it was maybe just a rug or something. The room was a mess, with so many things strewn about I couldn’t tell where one person’s stuff ended and another’s began. Not that I knew who owned what, but I could clearly see pieces of Rusty’s armor set piled in one corner, and what looked like Dr. Duck’s medical bag in the other. I couldn’t find any evidence of Maul, his armor certainly wasn’t anywhere in the room, and neither was his weapon of choice.

There were plenty of other weapons spread out across the floor, along with random articles of clothing, bags, satchels, tools, and several other miscellaneous items. I did my best to avoid stepping on anything, while Rusty just avoided anything sharp. He moved over to the foot of the tossed bed, where some clothing was draped over the corner, and grabbed a tunic. He sniffed it, shrugged, then pulled it over his head, then went about fastening a belt around his waist. I can only imagine what it smelled like, and I was a little grateful that I couldn’t smell the room as a whole.

“Whatcha got there?” He glanced down at my hand,

“Some tree bark,” I held up the piece, “I was going to show it to Sir Manuscript, but I found something better.”

Rusty nodded, “So why do you still have it?”

“I don’t want to waste it.”

“It’s tree bark.”

“Special tree bark,” I corrected, “It wasn’t easy to get, it would be a crime not to use it.”

“Then what are you gonna use it for?”

“I… don’t know yet. But I’m not gonna throw it away.”

“Alright,” Rusty held his hooves up, “But where are you gonna put it? Unless you’re gonna carry it around all day long.”

“I-” I froze, then looked back at the hall where the door to my room remained closed and locked.

My gaze then trailed back to Rusty’s room, where the floor was barely visible beneath an avalanche of stuff.

“Can I…” I began slowly,

“It’ll cost ya.” Rusty interrupted,

I sucked my teeth, “How much?”

“A bit.”

That was a ludicrous price, I think. I didn’t have any money, but I didn’t have much use for it either. When I got paid, all I’ll have to do is give him one bit. I slowly held out the piece of bark.

“Per hour.” Rusty added,

I immediately pulled it back. “I think I’ll hold onto it for now.”

Rusty smirked, “Your loss.”

“I’m not going to lose it.”

“Whatever you say.” Rusty checked to make sure his bags were secure. “Let’s head out.”

“To Sir Manuscript’s?”

“Nope!” Rusty said, walking past me, “This is newbie duty, you’re following me, not the other way around.”

“But-”

Rusty held up a hoof, “I’ve got some errands to run, we can go to the big wig’s house after we’re done.”

“O-Okay.” I muttered,

With one last look around the room, I patted my cloak in several places, then tucked the piece of bark under my stump. Man, I wish I had pockets, not that the piece would’ve fit, but… I’ll never doubt their usefulness again.

Following Rusty out of the room, he was already making his way down the hall. I quickly picked up my pace to catch up with him, but as soon as he turned the corner to go down the stairs he stopped and sighed.

“Nevermind.”

“Why?” I asked as I caught up, then I looked down the stairs. “Oh.”

“Hey Rusty,” Dr. Duck began, then he noticed me, “Oh! Hey Phos.”

“Phos?” A familiar voice came from below, “Phos is here?”

I blinked, “Y-Yes?” I called down,

I tried to slip past Rusty, but the staircase wasn’t really wide enough for two people, so I had to wait for Dr. Duck to go back down, and then Rusty before finally descending myself. Once I was at the bottom I could see Captain Morningstar, Dagger, Fletch, and Indigo in the lobby, with Rusty and Dr. Duck hanging out at the bottom of the stairs. Maul was still nowhere to be seen though.

“There you are!” Fletch began, “We were just about to go back to the forest.”

Indigo looked me up and down for a moment, “I’m surprised you made it back on your own.”

“It wasn’t fun.” I recounted, “But yeah, I’m here. Where did you guys go?”

“The Captain picked us up for some important business.” Indigo answered,

“Sorry we kinda left you behind.” Fletch added,

“It’s okay, I was going to be taking a while anyway.”

“You obviously didn’t take that long.” Indigo glanced at the piece of bark under my arm, “Did you get what you needed?”

“Yes.” I touched it, “This isn’t it though, I’ll show you later. Anyway, you guys went to Sir Manuscript’s, right?”

“How’d you know?” Fletch asked,

“Rusty told me,” I pointed back to him, “So what happened?”

Indigo just nodded towards Captain Morningstar, who was looking forward with a stern expression. He moved over to a table and let out a sharp whistle. Immediately, the others fell in line, and after a moment of hesitation, I scrambled to find a seat. Once we were situated, another bag of bits was dropped on the table. It was slightly smaller than the one from the other night, but it still looked like it could hold at least a couple dozen.

“Sir Manuscript just paid our retainer for the next week.” Captain Morningstar began, “And made it quite clear that all eight of us are to remain on standby.” He ended with a glare towards me.

Oh. Uh oh.

“I-I… Uh… I…” I stuttered, “I-I didn’t do anything.”

“I know.” Captain Morningstar growled, “But it’s still going to be a problem.”

“Was there any particular reason?” Indigo asked,

I glanced at her. Shouldn’t she know? She was with them when they went to meet. Though when I was with them, Captain Morningstar and Sir Manuscripts mostly spoke one on one in a separate room.

“Dragons.”

I gulped, and the rest of the group grimaced.

“There have been more sightings at the deposit, and Sir Manuscript wants us to be ready in case they have to drive another one off.”

“Just in case?” Rusty questioned, “So if one doesn’t show up, then we don’t have to do anything?”

Captain Morningstar exhaled loudly, “We’ll be going on patrol in a few days regardless, he expects all of us to be there.”

With another glance in my direction, I shrank back under my hood.

“All of us?” Dr. Duck repeated, looking around, “Where’s Maul, shouldn’t he be hearing this as well?”

“I’ll fill him in later. Just know that in three days, we’ll have another job. Understood?”

“Sir yes sir.”

“S-Sir yes sir.” I muttered,

“Dismissed.”

The others all got up, while I just remained slumped in my seat. I didn’t want to fight another dragon! Because the last time that happened, it went so well. Not to mention that Sir Manuscript mentioned me specifically for some reason, probably not a good one.

I felt sick, which was odd considering I couldn’t really get nauseous. I didn’t have a stomach to churn, nor a brain to ache. It kind of just resulted in a weird pressure behind my brow, like my eyes would pop out if I squinted too hard. Just to be safe, I kept them closed, and did my best to relax.

I listened as the other mercenaries shuffled around me, some heading for the stairs while others headed for the front door. Two sets of hooves stopped on either side of me.

“Come on, get up.” Indigo ordered, “They don’t like it when you take up tables without buying anything.”

I managed a glance at the bar, where the pony behind it was giving me an even worse glare than earlier.

“Okay.” I slowly climbed to my feet,

“Let’s go back to the room, I have some stuff to drop off.”

“Sure.”

Both Fletch and Indigo began heading for the stairs, while I just trailed behind. They managed to get halfway across the hallway by the time I reached the top of the stairs. Once Indigo made it to the door, she shot a glance in my direction.

“How long were you waiting out here?”

“Um…” I thought back a bit, “One or two hours, I think.”

“We should probably get you your own key.”

“Where would I put it?” I mumbled,

Indigo looked at my cloak, then the piece of bark I was only able to carry because I had an extra arm I couldn’t use for anything else.

“We should probably get you some gear too.”

With that, she unlocked the door and opened it, allowing us all to enter. I immediately headed for the chair and sat down, while Indigo proceeded to unload a bunch of pouches and bags, presumably filled with plants. Fletch just jumped up on her bed, sighing loudly as she spread out.

“You’re a lot of trouble, you know that?” Indigo began,

I looked up at her with a frown.

“I don’t think we’ve ever gotten this much attention from the lord, and based on what the Captain said, Sir Manuscript considers you a part of the team now, so I don’t think we can just give you up anymore.”

That was almost a good thing, depending on how you looked at it.

“Sorry.”

“Yeah well, we still decided to let you join. The Captain knew the risks, but I don’t think any of us thought we would get found out so quickly. And now it’s getting ugly, we’re stuck here for another week.”

“Is this supposed to make me feel better?”

“Not really, no. I’m just telling you how it is.” Indigo shrugged, “It’s your choice on how to feel about it.”

I groaned, “I feel like this situation sucks.”

Indigo sighed, “Can’t argue with that.”

“It can’t be all bad, right?” Fletch lifted her head, “You said you got your proof from the forest. Isn’t that a good thing?”

“...Yeah…” I nodded slowly, “Yeah, that is a good thing.”

“Well, what did you get if it wasn’t that…” Indigo squinted at the bark under my arm, “...piece of wood?”

“This.” I held up the bark, “Is bark from a… well… I can’t really say.”

“Why not?” Fletch asked,

“I made a promise, but trust me when I say it’s special.”

“But it’s not your proof.” Indigo said,

“It was,” I stashed it under my seat, “but then I got something better.”

“What did you get then?” Fletch asked,

“Oh, the anticipation is killing me.” Indigo remarked,

Despite her comment, I smiled, “I think you’ll like this.”

Reaching into my hood, I carefully scooped up the snoozing Breezie. I was surprised that Shinsha didn’t wake up from all the commotion, I had been speaking and moving for a while now, and yet they remained fast asleep. A lot of their previous glow had returned, making it harder to see their true form, but you could still see their general shape amongst the light.

They were currently using the flower I had given them as a pillow.

As soon as I pulled out the little fairy, Indigo’s jaw dropped, while Fletch let out a gasp. She immediately jumped out of her bed, scrambling across the floor until she was just inches away from my outstretched hand. Indigo also approached, though at a much more reserved pace, taking the time to assess the situation to its fullest.

“It…” Indigo began, “Looks like a little pony.”

“Cute…” Fletch muttered,

Shinsha began to stir in my palm, and I quickly tried to turn them away, but they quickly caught sight of the two ponies staring right at them while also being way too close for comfort.

“Eep!” They shot up my arm, disappearing into the folds of my cloak once more.

“It’s okay,” I began, “you’ve met these two before, it’s just us.”

Slowly, the green sprite crawled its way back into view.

“Sorry to wake you up like that,” I shooed Fletch and Indigo away lightly, “but they wanted to see you.”

Shinsha climbed up to my hand again, and gave a tiny wave. “Um… Hi, hi.”

“Hello.” Indigo replied slowly.

“Guys, this is Shinsha, and they’re going to be helping me convince Sir Manuscript to change the road. They’re my proof.”

“Nice to meet you again, Shinsha.” Fletch bowed her head lightly,

“That’s…” Indigo began, “Certainly some proof you’ve got there.”

“Thank you.” I smiled a bit,

“And I’m wondering if that’s actually a good thing.”

I blinked, then stared at her for a moment, “What is it now?”

“I think your proof might be too good,” Indigo continued, “Sure, it’ll make Sir Manuscript change the road plan, but it will also make him wonder exactly how you got it. If he gets any more interested in you, then he might start devoting more resources towards investigating you.”

I leaned back and groaned, “But I don’t have anything else to give him.”

“What about the piece of bark?” Fletch suggested,

I looked over to her, then reached down to grab the bark and show it to her, “What does this say to you?”

She looked at it intently for a moment, “Uh… not much?”

I held it over to Indigo next, “And you?”

She also inspected it closely, “It’s certainly beautiful, but it just looks like tree bark.”

“Exactly,” I concluded, “Sir Manuscript wants hard evidence, and this isn’t.” I bounced the piece of bark lightly, letting is slip out of my grasp. “But this is.” I then held my hand back under Shinsha.

“So we either give him something not good enough, and he doesn’t have to change the plans, or we give him something too good, making him want to find out more about us?” Fletch asked,

“Either way he comes out on top.” Indigo deduced,

“Top, top.”

“But if he doesn’t change the road plans, then he’ll have to deal with the forest.” I said,

“Is that bad for him though?” Indigo replied, “The loss of a few workers isn’t going to do anything to stop him, or Lord Tungsten.”

“Yeah… I assumed,” I muttered, “Still, I have a job to do, so I’m going to do it as best as possible.”

“Even if it means risking yourself?” Indigo asked,

I pursed my lips,

“A good mercenary knows when to quit.” She continued. “We’re not heroes.”

She also shot a glance at Fletch when she said that.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

Problems and tensions, what a wonderful combination. ♦☻♦