I am seriously running out of ideas on how to continue this! This is getting ridiculous for me! By the Gods themselves, I never thought thinking of events to continue with the twelve days would prove to be so difficult! After today’s weirdness, I had a conversation with the leaders of the respective companion groups specifically Blackjack, Littlepip, Murky, and Puppysmiles (I’m not so sure on Puppy’s case but since she managed to garner friends of her own, she counts I guess). I had started the conversation and boy, was I having quite a panic attack, “What do we do?! I’m running out of ideas on how to start the seventh day off!”

I was flailing my forelegs back and forth like a madman trying to binge drink some alcohol of sorts. It took a slap from Blackjack to knock some sense into me, “Calm down, you’re beginning to outrank me and Littlepip in the panicking department!” I was rubbing the right side of my face from that. Ouch, that hurt like hell there.

Well, someone took over the conversation for me as I trying to get the feeling on my face back. Sweet mother of mercy, those legs of hers hit like a speeding chariot. Then again, that was bound to be painful coming from Queen Whiskey herself. Ouch, “Well, now that we’ve all calmed down now, how do we start this off? I’d vote for a drinking contest but I know who’s going to win easily…” Murky was looking towards Blackjack who was smiling. He let out a sigh before smiling as well towards her.

I was beginning to have some sense of feeling back on my face but it still felt a bit numb. Littlepip spoke next and I pray that what she has in mind isn’t a sexual innuendo especially since we have a filly in a space suit (albeit a deceased one but still) here, “Well, can’t we invite others into the party? I mean we can get others right?”

We all were looking at her, each one of us wearing a different expression. You can imagine the others expressions including myself. For once though, she made an idea that was actually smart. That almost made me say the line but Blackjack beat me to it just as I opened my mouth, “Alright, who are you and what have you done with Littlepip?”

I closed my mouth in response to that while Littlepip just raised an eyebrow at her in confusion, “What are you talking about Blackjack? I’m right here! What, is there a copy of me somewhere?” I tried to resist laughing there as I covered my mouth and snickered. Blackjack on the hoof just burst out into laughter as she fell backwards and was clutching her chest. Murky and Littlepip could only watch her in confusion while Puppysmiles was mostly wondering why she was laughing and wanted to join the laughter.

Blackjack managed to stop her laughter and picked herself up. She was still struggling to stop laughing for a bit but for the most part, she was feeling great today. Murky spoke but he was clearly still baffled about what Blackjack said, “Okay… So, someone we can invite right? Question is who… You’ve got pretty much a lot of people that went through so much… um, what was the word again?”

Our queen of whiskey was looking at Murky in surprise. Why? It was until she spoke that I understood somewhat yet still a bit perplexed, “You’re joking… You’re joking right Murky? Have you even said a single swear in your entire life?” A simple shake of his head made Blackjack facehoof. Again why? I was scratching my head in confusion from all of this as she was speaking, “Wow, Brimstone wasn’t kidding when he said that you’ve never swore once.”

Okay, I give up. I had decided to speak after Blackjack was done because it would have been rude of me to interrupt her once she started speaking, “Hey, he isn’t the only one who hasn’t swear here, I’m guilty of this as well! Why is the two of us not swearing a problem to you whiskey queen?”

I hope that title didn’t come out as offensive there. If it did, she sure didn’t show any signs of her being angry there. Only another facehoof was made from my speech before she let out an exasperated sigh before raising her forelegs and shaking them around, “I give up! I can’t even understand how you two can’t seem to swear at all! I mean how in fuck’s sake do you two go through so much shit without even saying those words I said once?!”

What she said only made me and Murky raise our eyebrows at her in bewilderment. I just spoke for the both of us since she needed answers badly. That and poor Blackjack was clearly losing her mind with this revelation despite how useless it was to even think about why we haven’t swore once, “Blackjack, Murky can't say them for God's sake you know that right? As for me, I chose to not swear in case you are wondering..."

If I were to be honest, I had hoped that this would put a bit of sense into Blackjack for a few seconds. Unfortunately, that was not likely as she was looking at me like I was crazy, "What? Really? You can do that? But..."

Yep, she was clearly stumped right now. I had to hold in a sigh at this point because right now, we need something to keep the day's going until we reached the final day, “So invite another set of people you say Murky? I could do that, problem is who though?”All of us put our heads together (literally mind you, our heads were touching each other) as we pondered who could we bring to this party of ours.

Littlepip was the first to respond and her answer did surprise me at the time, “Hey Zodiac, since you could bring back people for a certain amount of time, you think you could being back any of your friends back when you were… young I guess?”

A smile initially did begin to form with that revelation but soon was becoming a sad smile as I shook my head, “As much as I would like to see my past friends once more, I don’t think they would like to see that this Equestria, the country that they once loved, was reduced to a state of destruction despite it now healing. It would break their hearts if I call them now.” Most of them wore a sad look on their faces but understood why I had said that. Puppy, for obvious reasons, did not understand why everyone was all sad.

After that rather upsetting moment, they went back into thinking about who should they bring. I looked towards them wondering if they had anything in mind. I saw Blackjack slowly raising her right foreleg and opening her mouth until she suddenly shuddered and lowered them. I became rather curious about who she had in mind after that action, “Who’d you have in mind Blackjack?” She turned towards me wondering why I picked if her expression meant anything. I let a little smirk form, “I saw you opening your mouth and raising your right foreleg as if you were about to say something. So?”

I saw her eyes begun to widen from my discovery and suddenly, she begun to deny it, “What me? Nah, there’s no way that poor me have someone in mind we could bring, nope, no way.” Everyone else was looking at her with curiosity now. She was weakly laughing trying to deny it still but I knew that I caught her quickly. I was tempted to read her mind but I decided against it for now. She was going to tell it sooner or later someday, she can’t keep this charade up for long. Everybody was waiting patiently watching Blackjack beginning to lose the fight. She was looking everywhere around us, trying to find a way to divert the topic quickly. It took I believe a minute or so for her to give up the fight and tell us what was on her mind, “Alright, I give up! Fine I’ll tell you what I was thinking of! You all are driving me nuts…”

I let a smirk form seeing that I (maybe we considering everybody one of us watched her with abated curiosity) managed to break her, “Well? We’re waiting Blackjack, don’t keep us on hold here.” I saw her give me one of her, if she and her friends were correct, patented shooty looks. I won’t lie, that is one very impressive look she could do. I think I’m beginning to see why friends and foes notice that look way too often.

In any case, I saw her let out one deep breath. Did she ever do that before I was around? I’ll have to ask her about that later, right now she was about to speak, “I heard there was a city called Dise somewhere possibly outside Equestria, I don’t know where the city is honestly. I heard it from a mercenary that I, well, rescued from the moon that I shall never name… at least for now. Maybe you could find somepony there?”

“Someone Blackjack…” I corrected her. She was about to speak but I stopped her, “But perhaps you’re right. Maybe I could find someone who went through similar troubles we have gone through and I did say similar because there is no way someone could survive what our queen of whiskey underwent. I’m not counting all of you out, just saying that she went through worse… maybe. I’m pleasantly surprised that you didn’t make P-21 the clown and Scotch the princess since I keep calling you Queen Whiskey Blackjack in my thoughts and now, out loud…” At that moment, I saw her mouth slowly forming into a big grin. I swear, the uncanny similarity between hers and Rainbow when I was still with them is kind of creepy. In any case, I just gave her an idea I might regret after my ordeal with finding someone. In any case, there was one problem with my search, “Does anyone here know where Dise is precisely?”

All of them shook their heads. This was going to be a difficult search if I don’t know where Dise is in the first place… My question was interrupted as I heard a door opening. Turning around, I saw Homage coming and greeting us, “Good…” She let out a yawn causing her to stretch and cover her mouth in a synchronized timing, “Morning you five… I thought I would normally be the early bird but I guess I got beat today.”

A smile form seeing that she was the first to be awake out of everyone gathered here, “Good morning Homage, this is actually perfect timing, do you know where…?” I was about to ask that question until something caught my attention. Within Homage’s right foreleg, held very comfortably and looked like it was snuggled, was a Littlepip plushie. I immediately looked at Littlepip herself and saw her face getting some shades of red upon seeing that doll held in her foreleg. Blackjack was covering her mouth as she was snickering. Puppysmiles was ever so curious about that plushie now and Murky? Well, he’s a bit baffled on how to feel about this. I for one was silent at first before I spoke with a sudden change of topic in mind, “Homage? Why do you have a Littlepip plushie held in your foreleg? Wait, better question, why did you make one in the first place?” While I’ll admit that seeing this is not the first time for me, I am still a bit surprised and maybe perplexed at this.

All I heard was a simple chuckle from her and a rather straightforward answer, “Because why not? She’s normally in the S.P.P. Tower and I can only visit her so many times…” She then leaned towards me and whispered. To be honest, what she said did not surprise me one bit considering their interesting relationship with one another, “Mostly it’s just so I can mess with her and have my way with her you know what I mean right?” She then winked at me before backing away from me. Eeyup, that’s their relationship in a nutshell right there.

I let a simple sigh escape before getting back on topic, “Okay, ignoring the plushie that is being held in your foreleg Homage, do you know where Dise is?” I saw a look of confusion dawning upon hearing my question. I hope that means she knew where the location is because right now, she was my only hope of knowing its exact location, “Do I need to repeat the question Homage?”

She shook her head and although she still wore a look of confusion, a smile formed, “No, I heard the question well. I do know where Dise but why are you asking?” I almost wanted to hug her right then and there but I suddenly stopped myself and silently scolded myself for thinking of it. Not that it’s a bad thing mind you, but it would have lead to an awkward situation.

I looked towards her and silently thanked her for bringing my hopes up, “All of us were thinking of bringing someone who has went through similar troubles and journeys from Dise here. We all came to an agreement and… Well, I volunteered to be the pickup for anyone there.” A look of understanding dawned upon Homage’s face.

It wasn’t long before she lifted up my right foreleg and started tampering with the PipBuck that I forgot I wore in the first place. Seriously, I think I might need to give this away now since I rarely use this in the situations I have in mind. After a few seconds, I heard it beep and an arrow appeared, “That arrow will lead you straight to Dise. I sure hope you find someone there because this trip would have not been worth it on your case.”

There was something I can agree with, “I hope so Homage. I can teleport back still but I hope this flight is worth it.” I stood up and begun to depart Tenpony Tower from the roof. I had almost forgotten that we were in here instead of Spike’s cave. Hope the guy is not feeling lonely without us around him. Maybe we should visit him again once I get to Dise. Anyway, the walk up is rather short but I just simply teleported up there to save up time. I looked at my PipBuck once again checking if I’m looking at the right direction where Dise is supposedly is. Once I adjusted my position, I flapped my wings a few times and begun to make my way to the city of Dise.

The distance was being determined during my flight. After some time, I heard some beeping from my PipBuck (I really wonder if anyone else needs this more than me…) and I decided to check. From what it could calculate, I was expected to get there by a few hours or so at the speed I’m going. That was enough time I suppose to make it back to either Tenpony Tower or Spike’s cave. What was going to take my time was finding the pony I can bring back in a big city like Dise. Oh well, can’t be helped. I lowered my foreleg and looked ahead as I was zooming through the sky very fast. Rainbow would probably be jealous of me if she were to see me zipping through the sky at this speed. Either that or she’ll admire it, maybe a mix of both.

I noticed during my flight that the area was beginning to subtly change. There were a few landmarks here that I’m not familiar with and the terrain was a bit craggy. I heard my PipBuck beep once again prompting me to check. It just noted to me that I was in a new country by the name of Caledonia. I don’t remember that country existing before. Then again, much has changed during my absence here so this was to be expected. Still, the city of Dise was in a different country? That’s interesting.

Lowering my foreleg and looking ahead, I saw a tower with a Pinkie head from the distance. That’s very bizarre… I also noticed searchlights below the tower itself. Though I was still quite afar, I can easily tell that I’ve reached the city in rather record time. I looked at the thing of mine and my PipBuck all but confirmed that I was nearing the city. I felt a smile forming as I landed on a cliff overlooking Dise. As this was the first time seeing this city, I must say that it looked rather impressive up here. Now comes the hard part, finding a pony that went through similar ordeals like all of us back at Tenpony Tower. With a big city like this, that’s easier said than done.

Lowering my foreleg and looking ahead, I saw a tower with a Pinkie head from the distance. That’s very bizarre… I also noticed searchlights below the tower itself. Though I was still quite afar, I can easily tell that I’ve reached the city in rather record time. I looked at the thing of mine and my PipBuck all but confirmed that I was nearing the city. I felt a smile forming as I landed on a cliff overlooking Dise. As this was the first time seeing this city, I must say that it looked rather impressive up here. Now comes the hard part, finding a pony that went through similar ordeals like all of us back at Tenpony Tower. With a big city like this, that’s easier said than done.

I spread my wings and was about to fly down to the city but I stopped immediately as I heard galloping hooves from behind. Who would be charging behind me of all times? I tucked my wings and turned around only to realize too late as I felt someone hugging me from the neck. The forelegs were struggling to close on my neck. I can assume that it was a filly that is hugging me. I looked down and of course, my assumption was correct. The filly was trying to close her forelegs to no avail but her face clearly showed excitement upon seeing me. That and her tone when she spoke had traces of excitement as well, “Oh my goodness! An alicorn! I’ve never seen any of you before in my life! Can you tell me what it feels like to be an alicorn? How does one become an alicorn? Oh I have so many questions to ask you right now I want to know!” She went on an on with the question in mind. While I enjoy seeing this from a filly, I’m also suddenly reminded of her being Pinkie and why I was here in the first place.

I was about to gently pull the filly away but a voice almost did that for me, “Serenity, let go of the alicorn you’re hugging…” I looked ahead to… see a cyberpony? My brain processing what I was seeing in front of me. I’d never thought to see another one of them besides… well, from Blackjack’s side of things. I look down to see the filly giving the pony in front of me puppy dog eyes. Dang it, do those eyes make me want to give in so quickly. The mare in front of me however wasn’t cowed so easily as she spoke, “It’s not going to work on me Serenity. Let the guy go now…”

She pouted and let go of me. I rubbed the areas where my neck was somewhat hurting but otherwise they were fine… I guess? In any case, I look towards the two in question. I had already picked up the filly’s name as Serenity but the mare in front of me (who I presume is the mother) escapes me. I wanted to ask but that would have been rude of me so I decided to introduce myself, “I’m sorry for intruding you two at this time, I was not expecting somepony here.” I let myself bow towards them, “My name is Zodiac. It’s a pleasure to meet you miss?”

For just a moment, I noticed the cybermare showing a small sign of hesitation. Was it perhaps because of who I am or was it a different matter altogether? It took some time before she told me her name to which I found perplexing, “Hired Gun… and you already know the filly next to me…”

Before she could introduce herself, somepony else decided to pop up and ruin the moment. It was a pegasus and he was definitely of the former Enclave if his uniform meant anything. The filly was not happy with the interruption and begun to scold the pegasus, “Flare, you ruined my introduction with your sudden entry!” Well, at least I found out the name of who this pegasus is.

He managed to pick himself up from his supposed crash and was scratching his head, “Ah sorry about that Serenity! I couldn’t stop myself when I saw this alicorn here.” I hope he’s not thinking that I’m evil and all… Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. He was just curious about what kind of alicorn I was which was bizarre but who am I to say about him, “Say what kind of alicorn are you? I’ve never seen your kind before in my life…”

I am… not so sure on how to answer that question honestly. I was left silent for some time trying to think of an answer for that. Apparently, my silence lasted for some time that they thought my mind was broken causing them to wave their forelegs in front of my face. That got me to blink once and look at them in confusion, “Yes? Did you think that my mind broke for a second there?” That made the three of them closes their mouths in response. Yep, they definitely thought that I broke there. I let a chuckle escape, “Sorry if my silence made you think otherwise, I was just not so sure on how to answer that question well.”

They had different gestures but the one thing in common was that their gestures were of relief. I let another chuckle of mine escape seeing their reactions. I wanted to ask them about their journeys but that would have been rude of me and make me look suspicious which was not in my mind. They asked a question I didn’t have in mind which made things easy I guess. This was coming from Hired by the way which I can tell was an alias, “So… why are you visiting Dise? Isn’t it a bad time to visit the city at this time?”

Now that she bought that up, the city did look like it was in a bit of a crisis. Still looked peaceful for a moment but it did look like it was struggling to heal I presume. I haven’t been here anyway so who am I to say? Anyway, back to the topic of her question, “I came mostly because of somepony suggesting me to come here to pick anypony (anybody honestly) who went through similar troubles like my friends back home. Troubles including the whole body starting to fail from radiation, taint, etc., going through slavery, having to die three times and return back to life the same number of times (How does that even work for Blackjack?), was dead already… You get the point.”

Initially, they were looking at me like I was a crazy and probably drunk alicorn. After me counting down three seconds, they begun to slowly accept it? Either they went through similar troubles (which I pray was the case) or something else was amiss in my thoughts. Thankfully, they answered it for me but it was still quite a surprise on my part, “Well, I guess that could be considered normal for us since Hired had to fight a dragon.”

While my mind was processing that, Serenity decided to speak next and I was not surprised that it was focused on Puppysmiles current form and Blackjack’s… resurrections, “I think the only not normal trouble would be the last two. How does someone die and come back three times while the other is already dead? I don’t get that!”

I had to speak on this because I too was baffled when I first heard of this, “Trust me; it’s already confusing enough having to think about it. You’d be better off not knowing young one especially the three time resurrection. I can’t for the life of me, explain that one well despite my intellect.” I was shaking my head back and forth without me even knowing that I was doing it. I guess I was so conflicted about it that it came to me by instinct.

Anyway, since I manage to give a good enough of a reasoning, Hired (I have to ask what her actual name is) did look interested in coming with me. That was a good thing on my part, “Okay, so you wanted to bring somepony from here back to where the ponies that went through what you said right?” I simply nodded and awaited her next response, “Do you think we count?”

I felt a smile forming as I looked at the three of them, “Of course you do! I’ll bring you along so you can meet the rest of them and hopefully find out about their troubles.” I extended my hoof forward, “Just grab my hoof and I can teleport us there. Hope you can handle teleport sickness though.” I let a sheepish smile form from what I said. They didn’t seem to pay any mind to what I said though as they grabbed my right hoof.

Still wearing my smile, I imagined our location and in a flash, arrived at our destination. What I didn’t expect was to hear a yelp coming from Littlepip alongside her signature swearing, “Luna’s succulent marehood! Don’t do that ever again Zodiac!” Luna’s succulent marehood? Did I just hear that from her correctly?

That was very much a yes since Blackjack just confirmed it for me, “Luna’s succulent what Littlepip? Did you just seriously thought that having her flower hovering in front of your face is delicious?!” I then turned towards her who was, as expected, blushing like crazy.

Our new invited guests were probably gaping at her swearing until Homage’s voice broke their and possibly everyone’s reverie, “Oh look, new faces!” Everybody turned towards the ponies from Dise and I knew that we have a long way with introductions.