Chapter One: The Evergreens
1
Cypress Evergreen pulled her wagon down the center street of Bridlewood. Her sister, Juniper, rode in the back, her crossbow resting beside her. Sitting in front of Juniper were four ragged and bloodied ponies, all bound at the legs and glaring hatefully at Juniper. She stared right back, her eyes gleaming coldly from beneath her flat-brimmed hat.
The Evergreen Sisters were a pair of bounty hunters. They traveled across the land, picking up jobs where they could, and had made themselves a nice living doing so. Bridlewood had been especially lucrative for the mares - so much so that they almost considered it their new home. Almost. Equestria would always be their true home, though it was far behind them now.
One of the bounties twitched. Juniper's crossbow was on him faster than a blink. She stared him down, still as a statue except for the natural swaying of the wagon.
The stallion scoffed at her. “My nose itches,” he said. “Scratch it for me, babe.”
“With this?” Juniper offered, nudging the crossbow. Her hoof rested just beside the trigger, idling, ready to squeeze at a moment's notice. The playful banter was just a dumb act - these four were ruthless criminals, wanted for theft and murder. They wouldn't hesitate to kill either Juniper or Cypress. She could not afford to lower her guard.
The bounty grunted. “I was just funnin’,” he murmured, and returned to his silence.
“What’s going on back there?” Cypress asked, twisting her head and trying to look back. “Stop antagonizing the bounties, sis!”
Juniper’s only response was a grunt.
They arrived at the jailhouse without any further incident. Sheriff Ironhoof was resting his plump body on the porch, playing cards with his deputies.
“Lookie here, fellas,” Ironhoof said, laying down his cards and standing up. “The fillies gone and gave us a real haul today. Take a lesson from these two - they know how to go out and get it done!”
Ironhoof's deputies, who also happened to be his sons, grumbled and muttered something about ‘mares’ and ‘their places’. Juniper scowled - both at how law was apparently a family business in this town, and how the deputies seemed to forget their place. To them, being in the law meant easy days of lounging around, and occasionally breaking up a bar brawl. They were a far cry from their father, whose storied past will be remembered for generations.
Cypress willfully ignored the grumblings and unstrapped herself from the wagon. “Come now, Ironhoof, we don’t need that sort of competition. Besides, I don’t think those colts could handle these nasty marauders.”
“Sure we could!” one of the sons spoke up, jumping up from his chair. “This ain’t no job for no mare!”
“Prove it,” Ironhoof said, nodding towards the bounties. “Take them boys off their hooves. Both of you! Hup!”
Grumbling and glaring, Ironhoof’s sons worked to remove the bounties from Cypress’ wagon. The bounties weren’t making it easy for them, either - the one who had teased Juniper was now flailing his head around, biting viciously at the deputies. Juniper just sat in her seat, watching the mini rodeo with an eyebrow raised. Meanwhile, Cypress fought down a cocky little smirk. “You boys sure are doing good!” she said, giggling. She relaxed now that there was no real threat, at least to the larger town. If anything happened, Juniper would be on them in a second. So would the old Sheriff. Speaking of which…
“I believe the poster said twenty-five bits a head?” Cypress said, glancing over at Ironhoof.
“Aye, that it did,” Ironhoof said. “Twenty-five alive, fifteen dead. You sure do like that bonus, don’tcha? Oh well, gives my boys somethin’ to do. I’ll go getcher money.”
While Ironhoof dipped into the jailhouse, his deputies finally managed to wrangle the bounties. They led the captures indoors, leaving the sisters alone for a brief moment. “How’re ya feeling, June?” Cypress asked, looking up at her sister.
“Thirsty,” Juniper responded, glancing over at the bar. She set her crossbow down and stretched her wings. “Mind if I go for a quick fly?”
“Go ahead, sis. I’ll see if Ironhoof’s got any other jobs for us, and meet you in the bar?”
“Sounds good.” Juniper took off her duster and hat, letting her long black mane down. She crouched briefly, then took off straight up, soaring into the sky.
Ironhoof came out with a brown, teardrop-shaped bag. The bag clinked with every step, and rattled when he tossed it up into the wagon. “One hundred bits, and I’ll see them nasty customers off into trial.”
“Thank you, Sheriff,” Cypress said. “Got anything else for us?”
Ironhoof blinked, then gave her a chuckle straight from his belly. “You fillies don’t ever stop workin’, huh?” he said. Did Cypress hear a bit of pride in his voice? Mayhap she did. “Sadly, no, I ain’t got any more dogies for you to wrangle. Not right now, at least. You’ve done picked this place clean, I’d say.”
“Damn,” Cypress grumbled. One hundred bits between them was plenty for a while, but having more was always nice. “S’pose I’ll see you later then, Sheriff.” She hitched herself back to her wagon, and gave Ironhoof a quick salute. Of course she’d see him later - Ironhoof was basically a resident of the saloon, as were his kids.
Oh well. The saloon was always a good place to look for a job, at least.
2
Cypress’ favorite thing about Bridlewood was that it was a thoroughfare town. It sat directly between New Horseshoe Bay to the East, and the Capitol city Hoofingstead. This meant that the saloon, The Horse’s Head, was constantly packed to the brim with travelers. Travelers had problems which needed to be solved. It was basically a buffet for the Evergreens.
The owner of the Horse’s Head, a svelte mare named Rose, had put up a job board in order to deal with the volume of travelers and their problems. Cypress trotted in, fully expecting to see the board overfull with papers, and she’d swipe all of them. Little jobs she split between herself and Juniper - easy pickins for a hoofful of bits each. The bigger jobs they worked together, like the more difficult bounties.
The main room was loud and raunchy, as always. The patrons, all of them Earth Ponies, were having the time of their lives - drinking, gambling, dancing. On stage, the pianist was banging out a ragtime tune, swinging along while his hooves danced across the ivory keys. Various drinks flowed from different taps - ale, cider and the like.
Juniper was already at the bar, her hoof around a mug of amber ale. One wing was extended out, guarding a seat next to her, clearly reserved for Cypress. Come to think of it, Juniper was the only pegasus that Cypress had seen since coming to this new land. Nor had she ever seen a unicorn. Mayhap they lived over in Hoofingstead?
Oh well, it didn’t matter much to her. She turned over to the job board… and found it empty. Her eyes bugged - did she see right? Not a single scrap of paper was pinned up.
She trotted over to her reserved seat, reeling a little. “June, did you grab the bounties already?” she asked, leaning into her sister in order to talk to her over the crowd.
Juniper shook her head. “Nope. It was empty when I got in. Rose mentioned that she’s got something for us.”
“It’s true.” Rose popped up out of nowhere, placing a fresh glass of ale in front of Cypress. She leaned forward, and the sisters followed suit. “That stallion in the booth in the corner.” She pointed towards the aforementioned booth. They both looked, spotting a stallion. He shrouded himself in a simple black cloak, and stared at the sisters with a wide, unnerving smile on his pale face which ended in rosy cheeks. “He was asking specifically for you both.”
“Is that so?” Cypress asked. She downed her glass in one go, shook her head, and sighed. “Well, what have we got to lose, sis?”
Juniper frowned. Something about him was fundamentally wrong, but she couldn’t place her hoof on it. Oh well, a job was a job.
* * *
“Hello, ladies!” the stallion greeted the pair as they sat down. His voice was high, boisterous. Despite the background cacophony of the barroom, they had absolutely no trouble hearing him. “I’ve been waiting for you! Allow me to introduce myself. My name is…” There was a miniscule pause, almost indiscernible, but they both noticed. It was as though he had forgotten his own name - or was making one up. “Rusty Flanks! I have a job for the both of you. Simple, for ladies of your abilities, but important nonetheless.”
“We’re listening,” Cypress said.
“Well, you see, recently a pack of Diamond Dogs took over a gem mine not far from here. Slaughtered the workers, et cetera, you get the picture. The truly important part is that those filthy mongrels also stole a precious treasure of mine, and I. Want. It. Back.” Rusty Flanks spit out these last few words with pure venom. “One thousand coins for both of you when and only when you retrieve this treasure of mine. Do with the mutts as you wish.”
The sisters stared at each other, unspoken thoughts running between them. One thousand, did he say? Truly? Diamond Dogs were ferocious beasts, but nothing they couldn’t handle. Juniper was the greatest bowslinger alive, and Cypress was no slouch in hoof-to-hoof combat.
This sounded a little too good to be true.
“It’s not too good to be true,” Rusty said, smiling widely. Cypress started - had he been reading her mind? Was that a thing?
“What’s this treasure look like?” Juniper asked. She was unfazed by Rusty’s theatrics, at least. No, it was more than that. Cypress heard a bit of a sharpness in June’s voice now, as though she wanted this conversation done and over with. Did she hate the stallion in black? It wasn’t like her to hate anypony, despite her cold exterior.
“I promise, you’ll know it when you see it. Even in a mine full of gems, it truly is one of a kind! So, what do you say, girls? One quick job and you’re a thousand coins richer! I’d say that’s a fantastic deal. In fact, I accept this bounty on your behalf! There, the hard part’s over, see? Well, I thank you for meeting with me, but I must be going now. I have a friend I’m supposed to meet in another world. Oh, Roland, why won’t you simply accept that I’ve already won…?”
Rusty Flanks left the saloon, still talking to himself. The girls sat in the booth, dumbstruck. “Hey, sis, did we just get swindled into a job?”
“We did,” Juniper replied.
“Do you think we have a choice now?”
Juniper stared at the door where Rusty had left. She didn’t like this one bit… nor a thousand, for that matter. “No, I don’t think we do.”
Chapter Two: Emerald Creek
1
It was Juniper's turn to pull the wagon. She followed a dusty path up through the foothills, winding over the ground like a massive serpent. The terrain began to become hostile - rocks jutted out from the path, forcing her to swerve around them. Some she missed, running over them with the wagon wheel, which caused her to scrabble for purchase on the loosely packed path.
Cypress trotted around, gathering as many plants as she could find in the withering landscape. Her harvest was plentiful while they were near Bridlewood, but they had traveled for half a day up the base of a mountain. Green turned into brown, then into gray, leaving very little for Cypress to pick.
Frowning, she looked around for any plant she may have missed. It was a futile gesture - she was meticulous in her hunt. Satisfied, she ran up to her sister, matching Juniper's pace. “How're you feeling, sis?” Cypress asked. The wagon was relatively light, by design, but it still must've been difficult for June.
“Fine,” Juniper said, her light-blue eyes staring far off from beneath her flat-brimmed hat. “Got enough ingredients?”
“Hopefully,” Cypress responded. “Enough for a couple potions, at least.”
“It’ll do,” Juniper said. Cypress had always been an incredible potion-maker. Her special talent was botany, as denoted by the pair of roses forming an ‘X’ on her flank. She had managed to turn this special talent into apothecary, which led her to follow Juniper into the Canterlot Guard. While Juniper was a marksmare, Cypress became a medicine mare.
That was the past, however. In the present, Cypress again followed her sister, this time into bounty hunting. She stopped only when Juniper left for a year, at which point she opened up a temporary apothecary. She had taken on an apprentice, teaching him about the plants and the potions they could create. Cypress turned over the shop to him once Juniper returned
Similar to Cypress, Juniper’s cutie mark was also an ‘X’, though she wore crossbow bolts instead of roses. She was a born bowslinger - a special talent which led her straight into the Canterlot Guard. It had been a grand life, in a grand city… until the Sundering took it all away. Now she hunted criminals in her own way, with her sister. Only for a short while did she take off, wanting some time to herself, wanting to confirm some nagging suspicions.
In its own way, this was also a grand life. She never did tell Cypress the truth about that year away. She never could figure out how, if she were being completely honest. It was only ever brought up once, right after she returned.
“Did you find out what you wanted to know?” Cypress had asked.
“I don’t know,” Juniper had answered honestly. They had left it at that.
In the present, the Evergreens reached a flat plateau partway up the foothills. Juniper pulled the wagon off of the path, parking it in a dreary little clearing. The only sign of life was a small, babbling creek which snaked down the hillside. “We’ll camp here,” she said, shuffling out of the harness and chocking the wheels. “Light’s getting low.”
“You gonna scout ahead?” Cypress asked, already working to set up a small campfire. They were downhill from the mine opening, putting them at a slight disadvantage which Cypress didn’t much like.
“Aye,” Juniper said. “I thought I recognized this area. We’re near Emerald Creek.”
“Emerald Creek…” Cypress repeated thoughtfully. She’d heard that name before, but she couldn’t quite place a hoof on it.
“You really don’t pay attention sometimes, huh?” Juniper asked, her face stretched in a wide, playful grin. It was a rare treat when she got to tease Cypress - usually Cypress was the one doing the teasing. “Emerald Creek was a mining encampment some twenty years ago. Less a town and more of a group of tents with a couple of buildings. The mineshaft itself was closed when there was a cave-in. A dozen ponies were trapped for days, with no hope of rescue. Soon after, it was condemned by Hoofingstead and abandoned.”
“Nopony bothered to try again?” Cypress asked. It was true - she didn’t pay particular attention. Truth be told, Juniper spent far more time in the saloons than she did.
“No,” Juniper told her. “Bridlewood thinks the entire area is haunted. Surprised it took this long for Diamond Dogs to show up, honestly.” She shrugged off her duster, revealing her dark-brown coat. She flared her wings out, sighing as she stretched them. She placed her hat with her duster, setting both in the back of the wagon, spilling out her unruly black mane. She grabbed her crossbow, and grabbed only a hoofful of bolts - she wouldn’t need more than half a dozen for a scouting mission. She cinched the quiver to her flank, tying it down in a way which would keep it silent.
“I’ll be back,” she said, taking off into the sky. Cypress gave a mock salute, putting her kettle over the fire. She gathered some water from the creek, and began to get to work.
2
The sun was mostly below the horizon now, blanketing the sky in a twilight glow. Juniper flew silently through the air, spotting the remains of Emerald Creek. Walking had taken almost a full day to get from Bridlewood to the plateau, and she figured an hour or so more to reach the mine proper over the weaving road. Flying a direct path, however, got her the rest of the way in only ten minutes.
She settled onto a random cloud high over the encampment, trying to spot any signs of movement. Diamond Dogs preferred to live in the mines directly, building entire civilizations underground, but there was almost always a scout. If there was a scout, she would have to take care of him - if he smelled their campfire smoke in the air, he’d alert his pack. If the pack got alerted, their job would be exponentially harder. Perhaps even impossible. The Dogs in the mineshaft wouldn’t smell a thing, at least.
She hopped off the cloud, gliding downwards in a wide spiral, crossbow at the ready. Her ear twitched as she heard a noise in the still dusk air. Snarling? No, snoring. So there was one, at least. Fallen asleep, probably bored out of his mind. She wondered if these Dogs would rotate scouts - if so, she may have a problem. She could kill this one, right in his sleep, and drag his corpse away. Would the next one become suspicious, or would they assume that their scout had simply abandoned his post?
That was a risk she couldn't take. Diamond Dogs were many things, and loyal was one of them. They almost never abandoned their pack. One missing scout would surely raise the alarm. She bit her lip, running various scenarios through her mind. She and Cypress could forego the potions, and rush the mine right now. They were both tired, however, and had no information on the enemy. How many Dogs? What did the mine look like? Going into unknown situations with no preparations was simply suicide with extra steps.
In the end, she reached the only logical conclusion - the scout lived for one more night. Juniper sniffed the air, noting that she could barely smell any smoke. Her olfactory senses weren't nearly as heightened as a Diamond Dog's, however. She would just have to hope that he wouldn't awaken.
It was decided, then. They would deal with the scout at first light. She flew up again, heading back to her sister. At least they could strategize tonight.
The Dog stirred in his sleep, but simply turned over. Only once during the night did his nose even twitch.
3
Everypony believed that magic had disappeared the day Equestria fell. Cypress thought that such a belief was silly - magic was still all around them, it just showed in different ways. Sure, there was nary a unicorn in sight, and Juniper was the only known pegasus for miles, but this was hardly proof.
Instead, magic could be found in the plants that grew. They offered potent elixirs to those who could discover their potential. Magic was found in Bridlewood, with its many acres of farms, which fed both Hoofingstead and New Horseshoe Bay.
Cypress worked some of her own magic now, filling empty bottles with various potions. She had managed to make half a dozen elixirs for health - these could treat minor wounds and temporarily restore stamina. Others she made gave ponies hyperawareness, at the cost of a deep crash afterward. These she reserved for herself and her sister, but never at the same time. Speaking of…
“What'd you find?” Cypress asked aloud. Juniper blanched - she had been so quiet! Nevermind, there was business to discuss.
“A single guard, sleeping outside the mine,” Juniper told her sister. Her demeanor changed, slipping back into the training she had endured so long ago. “Potential rotation. Unknown how many inside. Unknown how far the mineshaft extends.”
“I see,” Cypress said, stirring her current concoction. She, too, fell into her old battle habits. Though she had been a medicine mare, she had still been a Guard, and fought just as devilishly as Juniper. Her choice of weapon, however, had always been a trusty sword. “Recommended loadout?” Cypress asked.
Juniper frowned - this was the truly difficult part. If they could force the Diamond Dogs out into the open, it would be an easy fight… but she knew that was impossible. The crafty mutts had the advantage of their home turf, and they'd dare not give it up.
“Horseshoes, knives,” Juniper said finally. “Your sword may be useless, depending on the width of the tunnels.”
Cypress nodded. “Swinging it blindly and striking a wall would just break it. Or one of us. Can you use your crossbow in such close quarters?”
“Mm…” Juniper clicked her tongue, considering the question. And it was a good question. “Depends on how high I can go. If I can fly with my hooves above your head, I can use it. If not, it's horseshoes for me, as well.”
“Noted. Did you happen to kill this scout?”
Juniper shook her head. “In the morning. If there was rotation, or if any of his friends checked on him, they'd know something was up.”
“I gotcha,” Cypress said, giving her sister a big smile. “Good work, June. Go get some sleep. I got a few more potions to make, so I'll take first watch. We can't take any chances now.”
“Understood,” Juniper said, settling into the back of the wagon. “Wake me as soon as you're done.”
“Will do,” Cypress said, waving a quick salute at her sister. Everypony always asked her why she didn't simply stay at the apothecary, making an easy living and not risking her flank every day. She smiled to herself, because no matter how many times she was asked, she always gave the exact same answer.
Because she loved June too much, and because it was just so damned fun.