Preview for Chapter Six · 5:49am Oct 22nd, 2018
Yoy, this is TheWanderingZebra! Been quite awhile since I’ve last updated, and I have to apologize for that. Been working hard to make sure the next chapter is in the best shape possible.
But I know the wait as been too long (and I blame myself for that), so I thought it’d be nice to show a sneak preview of the sixth chapter on here for you guys.
Please note that this might not be the final version, but I hope you guys enjoy it nonetheless!
Twenty minutes and few streets later, I was reminded that gathering information wasn’t easy in a town full of criminals. The few people who I managed to drag into a conversation seemed more interested in talking about the Gravestones than the Cage. A few mentioned Sundance, and I caught the names of a few other regulars. Apparently the title didn’t carry as much prestige as the Cage bookie had suggested, based on the tone in which everyone talked about them. Most were older fighters, experienced but starting to slow down—retired bandits in search of a slightly safer profession.
None seemed noteworthy, and none were mentioned nearly as often as Sundance. Despite her massive losing streak, she seemed just as popular on the streets of Pona Rosa as she was with the crowds in the Cage.
It was pathetic really, for everyone involved. Them, for buying into whatever game she was playing. Sundance, for subjecting herself to beating after beating in exchange for a few caps and some prestige. And me, for having to get involved in the first place. A blind foal could have sniffed out Sundance’s scheme.
Before long, a sneer crept onto my muzzle, and it grew with each passing minute. Eventually I couldn’t stand to talk to another pony. I stopped at the first public washrooms I passed and ducked inside.
There weren’t any doors on the stalls, so I knew immediately that I was alone. I rested my hooves on the edge of the sink and stared at my reflection in the cracked mirror. The scowl was still there, but behind it I could see exhaustion around my eyes and brow. I’d been awake for nearly a full day, and for most of that time we were cantering on our hooves. Sleep would be very welcome, but even as I fantasized about slipping away to a secluded hotel for a few hours, I knew I wouldn’t be able to relax. The price on my head was too high, and there were too many people around eager to cash in on it.
The less time we spent in Pona Rosa, the better.
I tried to focus, to think of where to head next. I glared at myself and dared a solid thought to form.
The sound of hooves on tile echoed in from the bathroom’s entrance. I raised my eyes from the exhausted zebra in the mirror to the approaching shape just over her shoulder.
“Phisa… right?” Older and with a slight tinge of a fancy Tenpony accent, I still recognized her voice. A kind of middle-of-nowhere drawl that stuck out like a broken leg here in the Valley.
Sundance trotted up behind me, thankfully stopping at a impersonal distance. We met eyes in the mirror.
She nodded to herself. “Yeah, I was pretty sure, but then I haven’t seen you in, phew, eight years? Ten? Don’t remember your hair being so black. You dye it now or something?”
The muscles in my legs coiled tight, and I turned to look at her directly. For a pony who’d just been beaten into a puddle of blood and pain an hour ago, she looked nearly untouched, save a spattering of bruises along one side. She must have chugged a healing potion or two.
I struggled to keep my jaw unclenched and my face neutral. I don’t think I quite succeeded.
Sundance glanced past me, to the mirror, then her eyes flitted up toward the ceiling. Her front right hoof made a faint tapping sound as shifted back and forth. Her muzzle scrunched. “You know it isn’t easy tracking somepony down in Pona Rosa. Took a lot of asking around and a few favors I didn’t want to call in, so it would be polite to at least give me a yes or no.”
My heartrate spiked and blood rushed behind my ears, but starting a brawl in a neutral zone like this was almost guaranteed to go badly. I inhaled deeply through my nose and raised my shoulders a bit. “Yes,” I said gruffly. “What do you want, Sundance?”
She blinked and eyed me over again. “Grew up, huh? That’s a pleasant surprise.” She chuckled, but it sounded forced. “I knew you were a big scary gang enforcer and all that now, but I couldn’t really picture you as a grown mare, not even when I saw your face on all those wanted posters.”
“It’s been eleven years.” I’d forgotten just how much I hated sharing the same air as her. The Cage bookie’s offer was seeming more and more appealing. “So what do you want? If it’s a fight then I have good news for you.”
Sun’s eyes widened and she inched back toward the exit. “Woah, easy there, killer. I’m here for the opposite reason, kinda. See, I know I was kinda awful to you back in the day, and I was hoping to make amends, maybe—”
“Amends for nearly roasting me alive?” I closed the distance between us, and I was pleased to realize I could finally glare down at her. “What could you possibly have that I want? And vice versa? There’s no Crossbone gang to rejoin, if that’s what you’re after.”
“So they’re really gone?” she said quietly.
I sniffed. She didn’t deserve to know even that much about them. The room was plunged into silence.
Sundance cleared her throat and tried on a confident smile, like an eager merchant with a mark in sight. She extended a hoof. “Look, I was awful back then. I know that now. I’ve spent more than a few nights thinking back and wondering what hurt you the most. The insults, the shoves… or that one time when I really lost control.” She probably saw my expression harden and quickly moved on. “Anyway, I just want you to know that I regret it. A lot. I never really considered your feelings—anypony’s feelings—back then, and… I’m sorry.”
She was apologizing? I used to fantasize about Sundance breaking down and apologizing, in between my fantasies of bashing her face in and making her apologize. A younger Phisa would have probably taken Sundance at her word and agreed to move on. But that Phisa died with the Crossbones.
Sundance was apologizing for tormenting me as a foal, as if I gave a shit about her one way or another. Her words on the other hoof, those thoughtless insults and the casual way she kicked my legs out when nopony else was looking? They were important. And every year since the gang was slaughtered, I internalized those lessons a bit deeper.
I had been weak, dependent, and slow. With Sundance's voice in the back of my head, I grew out of it.
And now she wanted to take it all back. That was the real insult.
My stomp echoed throughout the restroom. “If that’s all you’ve got to say, then I think we’re done here.”
She bit her lip. “Ah, no, that wasn’t all. I saw you in the crowd earlier, at the Cage.” She looked me up and down again. “How do you feel about a mutually beneficial deal?”
Business, then. I could do business. “Go on.”
“Well, my partner and I have been making decent caps on my losses. We’re planning on me having just two more matches here before leaving, but now I’ve got to thinking… why not leave with a bang?”
So that was one suspicion confirmed: Sundance was behind the match fixing, not that there was ever much doubt. Now she wanted to involve me in it. Strictly speaking, I was well within my rights to kill Sundance then and there. It would only take a shotgun shell and a quick visit to Roulette to tell her that the bathroom needed cleaning.
However… I had promised Minty that I’d look for a non-lethal solution. Not to mention, a turn in the ring with Sundance would be the perfect opportunity to give her a black eye or two.
“What kind of bang?”
“The stakes against me have gone up so far that the caps have nearly dried out. Losing isn’t the money-maker it used to be. So… what if I won? We’d take the house!” She beamed, nearly bouncing on her hooves.
I narrowed my eyes. “You want me to throw the match? For you?”
“We’ll split the winnings, of course. Seventy-thirty.” She held out a hoof, as if expecting a bump.
“Less than a third?” I asked. “I would be doing most of the work. Fifty-fifty or nothing.”
She retracted her hoof, hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. “You know what? We don’t need to agree to anything solid right now. You’ve only met half the team, after all. How about lunch tomorrow? I’ll introduce you to Dove Trick, my partner in crime.”
“A literal partner in your literal crime, I assume?”
She waggled a hoof. “We’re partners in most things nowadays. But yes, she’s the other half of the scheme. Well, other third, now. You’ll see.” She saw the doubt on my face and added, “Look, if all else fails, it’s a free lunch. We’ll even cover your drink tab.”
“... I don’t drink.”
Sun chuckled. “Still? That’s fine—we’ll just eat. And it’s still on us. Seriously, running a gambling racket for over a month is a good way to pad your pockets, so we’ve got caps to spare for the three of-”
“Four,” I blurted. Trying to talk business with Minty at my side would be difficult enough, but doing so while at a table with two other young mares would probably be a new level of annoying. However, the alternative—cutting her loose in Pona Rosa—was even more stomach churning.
Sundance bit her lip. “Well… we only have enough for three of us.”
I was starting to get sick of talking to Sundance, and sick of standing in a public washroom, and overall sick of being in Pona Rosa. “Then I’ll buy my own damn food,” I snapped. “What time are we meeting tomorrow?”
Sundance pursed her lips and backed up a step. “I… I really am sorry for when we were kids. I didn’t—”
“I don’t give a shit, Sundance. I don’t care that you called me names a decade ago, I don’t care that you feel bad about it, and I barely care that you want something from me now.” I stepped closer. “What. Time?”
“Wha—but…” Her lips flapped for a few seconds. “Okay then. All business. Got it.” She glanced at the ground and muttered, “Sun ‘Professionalism’ Dance, that’s me.” She looked back up. “Noon.”
“We’ll be there.” I stepped past her and into the restroom’s doorway.
Sundance sighed. “Sure. Call it a double date.”
I glared back at her, and she looked away.
“That’s what I thought.”
Ooh, I was hoping you'd keep it going! Definitely looks promising, can't wait for the final result
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Thanks! I'm hoping to get this chapter out soon as possible. It's also helping that the next patch of chapters have been planned out, so I'm hoping those don't take too long.