//------------------------------// // Chapter 28 // Story: Death Rides a Pale Mare // by totallynotabrony //------------------------------// Twitchers were getting hard to find. Not for lack of looking. This cheered Pale, but reminded her of the uncertainty that lay ahead. After the battle the other guilds had gone home, taking their dead and wounded, but with their heads held high.  Pale wondered if she would ever see them again. The guild had settled in at the house in Trottingham, though it still felt temporary. Maybe with the cyclops gone they could move back into the cave. Though, hopefully they could corner and eliminate the final twitchers and a headquarters would become unnecessary. That wouldn’t be this week and probably not this month. Even when the last twitcher was finally found it would still be unwise to disband the guild immediately, but Pale could still see that day coming, an unknown length of time away, but definitely getting closer. The guild was all she’d ever known. There was less death now, slowly trickling down to none, but Pale had no idea what would replace it when they eventually found the very last twitcher. It terrified her, strangely more than fighting for her life. Not that she’d had a life to lose. She hadn’t been living a real life, not truly. No hobbies, no friends she didn’t work with, no place in society. What would she do when she no longer had a purpose? Pale couldn’t think of any other application of her skills. She had never thought about employment, never considered what she could do. She couldn’t show her face. Ponies who weren’t unsettled by the mere sight of her would want to know how she had gotten all the scars laid everywhere on her body, and where she had developed her reflexes and strength. There was no way they would accept what she had done. Coin could easily go back to processing statistics or teaching it to others. Jolly could be a chef, or perhaps a social host. Handsome was more than qualified to be a tailor or designer. Shard was an effective chemist, and could probably be even better with a proper lab. Shadow- Pale paused. She couldn’t think of any plausible talent the easily distracted yet deadly Shadow could employ outside the guild and on her own. Whisper, the diminutive psychopath, even less. Well, that meant Pale wasn’t alone, but it didn’t solve her problem. She considered it. Company was better than nopony at all. The other guilds would be facing the same future. Maybe one of them had some ideas. Surely there were others in her same position. She could go somewhere. Somepony could sympathize. She remembered the reformed changelings had become accepted members of society. Maybe they would take her in. Speaking of changelings, Chrysalis was still out there somewhere. Pale debated. Did she want to track down her mother? Answers were something that Pale had rarely enjoyed. Maybe. Pale decided to put off the decision for later, when she would have the luxury of choice. When she didn’t have anything more important than her mother to attend to. Maybe Pale didn’t have to choose her future right away. She was so new to even having a say in it that the idea would take some getting used to. Maybe she would learn to like something completely unexpected. Maybe she would even get a cutie mark. She considered the brass button on her cloak. Maybe she could find out if her father was still alive. Maybe not. But Pale found that it didn’t worry her. Maybe was a word to hang the future on. Nopony knew what the future held, and now Pale was one of them. Finishing a deep scour of Equestria with parasprites, Pale opened her eyes. She sat at the kitchen table in the safe house, hooves folded in front of her. The observatory tower was solitary, but locking herself away wouldn’t help the guild. Pale got up and strapped on her knives. She took her cloak from the rack near the door. She no longer saw any reason to hide herself from the rest of the guild, and wondered why she ever had. Coin came into the room, seeing Pale getting ready. “Are you going somewhere?” Pale told her where she’d seen the latest twitcher. “I’ll handle them and be back tomorrow.” “You don’t have to do so much yourself. You can relax a little,” said Coin. “I just did some calculations and we might be done with the task by the end of the year, if you can believe that.” “Interesting,” Pale allowed. “But I can’t stop.” Coin tilted her head. After a moment, she said, “Someday I want to have a long talk with you.” Someday might be a while. But eventually. There were fewer twitchers now, numbers dwindling faster and faster as Pale worked. She nodded. “Someday.” Pale put on her cloak and said goodbye. She stepped out the door into the darkening night. There were fewer twitchers now, but she wouldn’t stop until the task was done. She couldn’t delay. The sooner Pale was finished with death, the sooner she could learn to live.