The Dividing Line

by Rakoom

Chapter 2: Friends of Dice...

(Dice) Those foals sure had a knack for gettin' in trouble. But they always made it when they were together. We couldn't do nuthin' else than headin' for "the Black-Shack", the place we went for in the first place. The place ah told them so little about. Maybe I should have. But anyways. We had another half n' hour before we would reach the place. N' Breeze flew above us, lookin' for the colts. Not that he FOUND them. The lil' foals tried to fly low, n' ended up crashin' straight into Breeze somehow... "See anything Breeze?" Acorn asked the flyin' blue pegasus that so elegantly howered above us. "No, what happened anyway Dice?" He asked me. My ears still rang a lil' bit, but I heard him. Ah didn't know who in the hay had ambushed us, but I knew who to ask. Acorn n' Breeze didn't know who it was, so I wouldn't spoil it for 'em. "I know we were ambushed, and we'll find out by whom." That was all I could say before Breeze took a dive to the ground when Mate crashed into him.

"Urgh, son of a..." Mate started. Don' know what he was goin' to say next, but we couldn't hear it over Stale anyhow. "Dice! Acorn! Breeze! Man am I glad to see you guys!" "StaleMate!" Acorn yelled with joy. It was obvious that she was really relieved to see 'em safe n' sound. Stale flew down n' gave her a hug - n' she returned it. But suddenly the moment got too awkward for 'em, n' Stale flew a foot back n' started to scratch the back of his head while Acorn got busy fixin' her herbal-pouch. I had to grin a bit from lookin' at 'em blush. Breeze groaned n' sat up. "Fancy to bump into you guys mid-air," he said n' rubbed his be-hind. "Where did you go anyways?" Mate - still lyin' on his back - weren't jolly or glad. Ya would think he would be as glad as Stale, but he was more grumpy than ah usually am.

Mate sat up and stared at me for a sec. "Dice," he said with a minor pause. "I know that you know who they are and why they attacked us. Spill it," he said. An' it was pretty damn obvious how Stale n' Mate wasn't at the same page, cuz' Stale was just as confused as the rest. They all looked at me, so I figured it was time to spill some beans there. "Look. About the time I left, there was some conflicts in the area. A couple of groups fought n' mercenaries were involved. One of these groups worked as inquisitors, maybe they still hang around n' thought ya was a potential target," I explained.

Mate wasn't satisfied, but Stale broke in before Mate could object. "Look. No matter who they are or what they do, they are after us now and we don't have the time. So let's go now before somepony regrets it," he said. Mate just stared into my eyes with distrust, he probably blamed me for what happened. An' ah can't honestly say that ah blame him for it either, but still. Somethin' wasn't right 'bout him. Ah thought that maybe the Shadow rested inside him or the Shadow left some taint that was kickin' in. But we both wanted answers from each other, n' we both got 'em at the Black-Shack.

"One of the main reasons I love the Black-Shack is the fact that few know 'bout it. Makin' it easy to know when somepony is spyin' on us or not supposed to be there," I told 'em. I loved the Black-Shack, and ah loved tellin' 'em about it. "Another reason..." ah said as ah stopped. Behind me was a couple'a leaves ah brushed aside to reveal the Black-Shack. "... Is the simple fact that its mine." The Black-Shack wasn't a famous place, it scared away most ponies. Mostly because the wooden sign wearing mah mark n' name; a black spiky mane on the back of a tan figurine. To my pleasure all of 'em where in awe. N' if that bear Teddy ever looked like he was in awe, it was right there. Now the sign ain't too shabby, but the fact that the entire structure stood on top of a floating rock chained to the ground with a line of chained floating rocks in front of it probably did the trick.

"Wow. So pretty," Acorn said. Breeze nodded his head and said "Yeah. And awesome." Teddy rumbled. StaleMate grinned and said "You said it Ted," to which Breeze and Acorn looked at them strangely. StaleMate just shrugged in reply, Acorn and Breeze looked at each other before bursting out in laughter. But yeah, it was like an ordinary bar on top of a floating rock. Few know 'bout that place, n' I aim to keep it that way. Breeze walked next to me as we trotted towards the pathline up. "How is that even possible?" he asked me. "Wel-" "MAGIC!" StaleMate interrupted me. I gave them an annoyed stare, they took the hint n' backed off. "Well, nopony ever got to an' explanation to this. But nopony ever needed one either. Me an' a few mates once took a trip here n' made it our lil' spot. But it's kinda public now, for anypony who knows 'bout it," ah said. I stopped at the foot of the road n' paused. "But if it would still be a hunk'a undiscovered floatin' rocks if ah didn't find a lil' foal steppin' about in the woods. Long time since now, an' ah ain't seen his hide since then. Probably off buckin' apples with his family again now."

(Mate) I look at Stale and he looks at me. We look back at Dice and back to each other again. But we both shrug and let that one slide for now. It might be too much to ask for that pony to be in the apple family, but we don't have the time for Dice to have a flashback now. We're walking up the road of neatly placed floating rocks that formed a line up to the "shack" Dice called it. I peek over the adge. But hop right back when I realise just how high we stand and bump into Stale. Seems like he peeked over also, because right now both of us stand back to back on our hind hooves. "Wait a minute," Stale says. "Don't we have wings?" We both flap our wings twice. Then we turned around and gave each other a face-hoof.

So outside was pretty awesome, but inside looked like typical western scene. Bar stools, round tables with chairs around, a barkeeper rubbing a glass with a piece of cloth etc. A colt with a ragged shirt of cloth sat at one of the stools. Other than him there is also another pony sleeping on a chair tipppet against the wall. The bartender's face lit up when he saw us. He is putting the glass down, rests his in front of him and expectantly wait for us. "So, what can I get you today stranger?" he said with a deep and dry voice. "Just some water for me and some news. And also whatever my friends here asks for," Dice replied. The bartender nods his head and turns around to fetch another glass that he fills with water before handing it to Dice. Breeze and Acorn each takes an order, but me and Stale looks at each other. We won't take any of that grassy stuff just yet so we just order some water as well, just to be safe. Teddy waited outside of course.

We hesitantly drink our water by our table while watching Breeze and Acorn gobble their grassy sandwiches or whatever. Dice is talking with the bartender, I can only hear a couple of words. I notice Breeze and Stale raises and eyebrow, and I hear somepony walking in behind me and Acorn. In the door comes a bigass pony. He looks straight at Dice, and he doesn't look content. "Dice," he says and starts to walk towards him. "You got some feathers I'm gonne pluck from ya," he continued while walking steadily closer. But suddenly a magical force flings him straight back out like nothing. Dice turns around with a surprised look, he is just as surprised as everypony else. The pony in the corner is still sound asleep, the other one next to dice didn't do a thing, the barkeeper is a pegasus and none of us can do anything like that either. A moment of silence follows before we resume eating. But then another pony walks inside, but neither of us gets to look at her before her voice fills the room. "The great and powerful Trixie believes you have something of hers," she said. Breeze got showered in the water Stale and I was supposed to drink.