//------------------------------//
// 44 - Trash Diving 
// Story: Duet in the Dust 
// by David Silver 
//------------------------------//

Divested of some of their travel gear, it seemed they were allowed to just walk into the city without further challenges. "Watch yourself," warned the woman guard, holstering her gun at her side. "If they think you don't know how to defend yourself, they'll take advantage, and it's just my job to stop fights out here, not in there."

"We got this handled," assured Vinyl with a cocky smile. "I mean, really, look at us. Who in their right mind would want to tangle with us?!"

The woman snorted softly as she sped away. "In their right mind," being the last words they heard from her.

"She ain't wrong." He resumed his walk towards the city. "Ain't the reasonable people we gotta worry 'bout. 'Least the guard was one of the reasonable ones."

"Friendship file creation: Denied." She tilted her head a little. "File creation access restricted for the duration of this visit."

Octavia took a slow and even breath. "We are not here to make friends."

"That is what I said."

Vinyl smirked as she broke into a more speedy trot. "Just in that cool BulBul way you have. Now... Oh, hey." She lifted up her LAP. "Time for a landmark!" She casually registered the location of Trash Heap. "Pity it doesn't come with quick travel."

The cocky mare appeared on the LAP. A dialogue box appeared over her, asking, "Do you want to hear about the Quick Travel Pack?"

Vinyl blinked at it, coming to a stop. "Uh... yes?" She pressed the button.

A movie began to play.





"Are you tired of commuting to work?" asked a smooth male voice.

On the screen, a trotting pony turned to the camera with haggard eyes, nodding with a defeated sigh.

"Don't you wish there was an easier way?"

The pony pointed at a car that came into view.

"Cars are big, noisy, and expensive. You can get into accidents with them, and they still take so much time and effort. There's a better way!"

The pony pointed at herself, then at the camera, shrugging.

"Yes, much better! With the Quick Travel Pack for your LAP! Just decide where you want to go."

The pony held up her foreleg that had a LAP attached and the view zoomed into a crude version of the map as they selected one that was labeled 'WORK'.

A new dialog box appeared: Do you want to quick travel here?

"Go ahead, click yes!"

The pony pressed the button and promptly vanished.

The scene shifted to a new place in front of a large building. The pony appeared with a comical pop of a noise. "You did it!"

The pony pumped a hoof in victory.

"With the LAP Quick Travel Pack, never have to spend precious moments of your life traveling when you could be getting things done instead! Order now!"





Bullette inclined her head down at the ending little commercial. "The probability of successfully ordering is 0% with rounding. Do you desire a specific number?"

Vinyl lifted an ear towards that. "Wait, you mean there's actually a not zero chance of ordering that?"

"In the correct location and circumstances."

No Name rolled his eyes lightly. "Which is not here or now, so let's focus. Can that thing detect the orb we're lookin' for?"

"Uh..." Vinyl began navigating menus, looking for anything that might help. "Hmm..."

"Let's not assume." Octavia moved to the front of their group, leading the way. "I propose we do as the guard thought we are here to do, perform. If we succeed at that, we will stop being strangers and our movements will be easier."

"You lack a key item." Bullette pointed stiffly at Octavia as they entered the city proper, ramshackle huts all around, packed tightly together, some on top of other huts, on top of yet others, creating haphazard looking buildings that formed alleys on either side of themselves as they walked.

Octavia wrinkled her nose. "There's nothing to be done about that, unless you happen to spy a cello."

"Hey." Vinyl waved her LAP-burdened arm about. "It found a radio station, but not for, you know, radio?"

She turned in place, letting them get a better look at what she was seeing. Apparently something was putting out a signal in the language of machines, ones and zeroes. "Could be it, right?"

"It could be many things," grunted No Name. "Fer now, put that thing away and let's try to be performers."

Vinyl trotted forward, looking around curiously. "This place is... metal as hell..." She had to veer suddenly to avoid tripping over a human slumped over into the road as if they were passed out. "Uh, excuse me?"

"(Fuck off n' die,)" grunted out the human, but he wasn't moving.

Octavia scowled at the crude speech, nudging Vinyl forward. "We need to find an appropriate place to perform."

"(The hell is this?!)" A human was approaching them, male, dark skinned, and hands open in a grand gesture over the entire crew. "(Snake horse, metal pony, a false queen and a random unicorn with no gang colors in sight. This has to be a good story.)"

Octavia lifted an ear at the human, examining him. He had a stud in his right ear, glinting with steel. At his hip was a small firearm, though her expertise was not enough to say what manner of weapon it was beyond that. "(You seem confident. Perhaps you can be of assistance.)"

"(Oh shit, really? What an honor. Your Highness, how can this humble servant assist?)" He did a bow with all the sincerity he didn't have, looking far too amused.

Octavia's teeth clenched. "(Do not address me that way,)" she hissed softly. "(Putting that aside, we want to put on a show, where do we do that?)"

Vinyl's ears danced between the two of them. "So when do I get to learn what you're saying?"

No Name tossed his head into the city. "(Look, where do we go that we won't get shot for making some noise?)"

"(It ain't that bad,)" assured the human with a throwing of a hand at the big pony. "(Kinda freaky how your snakes do the talking. Look, what kinda show do you plan to do?)"

Octavia inclined her head faintly. "(While I do appreciate that you are offering a kind... hand, I do have to ask what is in this for you? I am not so idealistic as to believe you have no goal for yourself.)"

No Name quirked an ear at that, but said nothing.

Bullette bounced up to her hooves on top of No Name. "(We will sing!)" she sang out in wildly warbling tones. "(We will dance as well. We are fully equipped for entertaining purposes.)"

"(Yeah, no doubt...)" He turned away from them and began leading the way into the city proper. "(Look, I'm just a small guy around here. I got a nice crew, but we ain't nothin' big. If I can help somethin' interesting happen, great! I'm bored as hell waiting for that big, uh, thing, they keep goin' on about. A little show would be nice.)"

Octavia's aversion seemed to lessen a bit as she strode behind him, the others following her. "(If you don't mind my asking, how did you come to be here?)"

"(Born and raised.)" He flashed some kind of symbol with a twist of his hand that Octavia had no clue about. "(Mostly us humans around here. Glad you don't all speak fey-fey.)"

Octavia frowned softly. "(We do all speak that, but some of  us speak other things as well.)"

"(Yeah.)" No Name caught up, walking at Octavia's side. "(Probably don't need to remind none, but we survived the trip here, we know how to fight.)"

"(Cool, cool.)" He didn't turn towards them, weaving through the narrow streets. "(Welcome to the Maze, where you can find anything, except the way out!)" He spun about, walking backwards as he gestured wide at the confusing labyrinth of buildings they were in. "(Ain't no big gangs in here, we're all the little people. Now, you may get more money from a big guy, but he's more likely to get angry over somethin' stupid.)"

Bullette tilted her head left and right with soft mechanical noises. "(We are going to attempt to gain less money from more sources. Parameters accepted!)" she sang the last sentence, bouncing on top of No Name.

Octavia smirked faintly. "(That is reasonable.) Vinyl, we are to entertain the masses, to avoid altercations with the local movers and shakers."

Vinyl hopped up onto a fallen bit of sheet metal. "Found a stage! Let's get the party rockin'!" She had her headphones flipped, but her music came from her LAP as well as her headphones in a curious acoustic arrangement. "Yeah!"

No Name backed himself up to park the wagon closeby but divest himself off it, shaking the harness free with a grunt. "Comin' comin'."

The human gave an emphatic thumbs up. "(I got you here, I'm calling dibs on the front row. Hey, people! Stop bein' bored and let's enjoy ourselves,)" he called out in a sudden shout.

"(Shut up!)" was the first response from inside a building. But others did start to approach and emerge. As promised, most were humans. Some were mostly-humans, in the form of elves or a dwarf, but most were the classic variety of human.

A few ponies were there though, perhaps 2 out of ten sitting on their haunches in a gathering circle of curious faces, watching and listening to the music Vinyl was emitting.

Their human guide had claimed a spot near the front, as he had claimed the right to do.

Octavia strolled towards Vinyl, walking with purposeful grace and poise, as if the very walk were part of the performance. "Vinyl," she whispered. "Do you have some cello tracks in that collection of yours? Can you mix some in as I pretend to play?"

"Buck. Yes." Vinyl reared up onto her hind legs. "Ladies and gentleponies, prepare to be dazzled by the cello angel!"

The reaction from the crowd was mixed. Some of them knew Sylvan, and others did not. Thankfully unspoken questions were answered when Octavia rose up quite tall on her enhanced legs. She curled her arm into position and began to play a cello that wasn't there, her eyes mostly closed, though she dared not close them entirely in the bandit town.

Sweet hints of a cello's song joined the rhythm that Vinyl was weaving. With the unicorn working both sides, she incorporated the two together expertly, trusting that Octavia would make the proper motions to keep up the stage illusion. She did just that, working her arms in rhythm with the playing cello's pattern, her wings spreading wide as she did so.

Bullette dove off of No Name's  back, hitting the metal of the platform with a loud squeal of her own metal sliding against it, coming to a stop on her knees, her forehooves spread wide. "(Have you completed the preparations for musical performances?!)" she demanded in stern and melodic notes.

Vinyl reached out a hoof towards Bullette, the one with the LAP attached. She made a show of pulling a small wire free of it and pressing it against Bullette, not that there was any input jack where she casually pushed against Bullette's neck. "Let's upload some rock routines! Beep boop... Upload complete! You're on BulBul!"

Bullette quirked a metal ear back at Vinyl, but recovered swiftly with a melodic clearing of her throat. "Upload complete. (Initiating dance routine 29 z, revision 2.)" She bounced up from her knees and came down on one of her forehooves just to bounce off of that onto her hind legs and begin shuffling around with the beat of the song, showing a perhaps surprising amount of skill at moving herself in a musical fashion.

Clapping began to come from the crowd, following the same beat that was forming the base of Bullette's movements. Some cheered, some jeered, but they were all invested in one way or another. The square was filled with interested people. Some began to join in the dance, though there was little order to it, just a lot of people that decided they wanted to move, and so did.

The only thing that brought their movements together was that they were doing to that same beat, all moving with Vinyl's music.

No Name huffed softly, standing beside their wagon. "Ain't got a clue what I'm supposed to be doin'..."

"Hey, s'cool," assured Vinyl as her glowing horn adjusted the music in fine details as it flowed, working her DJing skills. "You're our roadie, remember? Be big and in charge and you're doing great!"

Something rolled up against her hoof and she looked down. It was a bullet. An unspent bullet, bumping against her hoof. Another bounced off of her and flopped to the ground. They didn't have bits, so... ammunition? Vinyl had to laugh at the absurdity. "Thank you, thank you!" She bowed as she brought the music to a dramatic swell. Their performance was not yet over.

"(I said shut the everloving hell up!)" The deafening bang of a shotgun overtook the music a moment. All eyes turned to the scowling man on the second story of building. He hadn't fired down at the performers, but he almost could have for how suddenly things paused.

Octavia turned to the man. "(Good sir, a little music is balm for the spirit. I bid you to relax and savor this small distraction.)" With each movement of her hooves, Vinyl faithfully made the sound of a cello, making her all the more like an angel, music simply accompanying her presence. "(We will dedicate this next portion to you. May we have your name?)"

The man's rage sputtered with some confusion. "(What?)"

"(He's Angry Steve,)" provided their human guide. "(Steve, they're gonna make a song for you!)"

"(I don't need no song...)" He sat down there at his window though, seemingly not interested in shooting his gun again. "(Better be good,)" he grunted, mumbling but allowing the performance to continue.

The song started up as Octavia whispered towards Vinyl, "make it a gentle but uplifting one. He needs it."

"You got it." Vinyl worked her magic, adjusting the sounds coming from her speakers. "Let's keep the party go--oof!" Something larger than a bullet had bounced off of her. It was an unactivated grenade. "Eesh, guess they like us..."

Octavia lifted from the ground as the music began in earnest, playing her supposed cello as she slowly made her way towards the grumpy soul she was playing for. She said nothing to him, but she played and moved gently in his clear view, slowly circling near his window. She had a gentle little smile on that she shared with him when he met her eyes.

They shared no words, but he began to relax. As the song began to come close to an end, she reached out a hoof, and he met it with weary fingers. They touched a moment, the music fading away before she flew back down to the stage, leaving him looking a little baffled but far less grumpy than when he had started.

Bullette suddenly bounced up, landing on Octavia's back without warning. She squeaked and slumped a moment, appreciating once more how strong No Name was for tolerating the presence without seeming to even notice. "(We thank you for enjoying our performance! Please give freely for supplies and repeat performances.)"

A small hail of little things rained down on them. No particular one thing was worth a grand amount in the greater scheme of things, but the small people were all giving what they could, and it all seemed to add up to an impressive display of generosity from what would be called bandits.

Their guide was clapping as he stood up. "(Good show, good show. Now I don't feel like a moron taking you this far. You have a place to stay yet?)"

"(We got a tent,)" grunted No Name, approaching with the wagon.

"(Nah. Tents ain't safe. I know a few places you could go. You got the trade for it.)" He nudged at the pile of thrown stuff with a sneaker-covered foot. "(Makin' a man jealous.)"

"(Jealousy leads to avarice, which leads to violence.)" Octavia hiked a fine brow at him as her horn glowed, gathering what had been thrown and filing the wagon with it. "(You should take care.)"

"(You're playing your angel schtick a little hard there, Lady. Anyway, you want the hookup or not? There are a few places in town that'll take outsiders with the trade and keep them safe when they close their eyes. Better than a tent, promise you that.)" He threw a hand to his right, pointing down one of many alleys. "(This way.)"

Vinyl bumped against Octavia lightly. "Ugh, you need to not leave me out. Being the only one looking stupid isn't fun, you know?"

Bullette hopped down off of Octavia right onto Vinyl, driving the unicorn right to the ground. "I will initiate teaching!"

"How... about we... initiate... project get off of Vinyl before she dies?" She wheezed, though it turned into a laugh as Bullette climbed off of her. "Damn girl, you are a lot of girl to love the pants off of."

"I do not wear pants." Bullette perked an ear. "Should I?"

No Name grabbed Bullette, hefting the metal filly onto his own back. "You don't need to learn that if yer goin' back, do ya?"

"(Keep up,)" came Octavia's gentle chastisement as she hurried to keep up with their guide. "(What do you get from this? I feel certain you hunger for some payment for these good deeds.)"

"(Look, I am a lot of things, but stupid? Don't think so.)" He half-turned, though still walking forward on his long human legs. "(You aren't random performers, and you are far from bandits. I want to know what's up. I want to hear more.)"

No Name suddenly ambled forward, the wagon groaning at the stresses put on it from the abrupt motion. "(Nothing that concerns you a bit.)"

"(He is curious, that is not... bad in itself.)" Octavia lifted an ear. "(Do you know of any--)"

Bullette was on her back, slowing her motion severely as she slapped a foreleg over Octavia's lips, quieting her.

Vinyl blinked at the antics going on. "Yeah, see... maybe some magic? I got that. Magic can do this... Maybe a song..." She scowled as she began quickly slipping through her collection, trying to find one that could bring meaning to the gibberish her friends were speaking.

"(I already told you.)" He held up his hands towards them. "(I don't roll with any of the big boys, so if--)"

"(So you'll run straight to 'em if you heard something they'd want to hear,)" practically growled out No Name. "(As you said, I'm not a damn idiot. Stop treatin' me like one.)"

He kept his hands open wide, an easy human gesture for non-agression. "(Easy easy. Most of them would as soon stick me as thank me for doin' them any favors. I'm just a curious asshole, is that so hard to grasp?)"

"(What I ain't graspin' is why we should care?)" He pointed ahead. "(I can see the inn, thank you for the help.)"

Octavia shook free of Bullette, sending her to the ground. With a glowing horn, she gently helped Bullette back up to their hooves. "Please don't do that, now... (Sir, I would have your name?)"

He looked past No Name to Octavia. "(Your angel has the right of it. Why can't we be a little polite sometimes? They call me Four-Finger Dan.)"

Octavia's eyes were drawn to his exposed hands. Each had five fingers.

Dan saw where she was looking. "(Just a nickname. Don't even really know how it started, but it stuck. Better than being called Five-Finger but only having four, the way I see it.)"

Vinyl nudged against Octavia. "What are you all arguing about?"

"(It's difficult to argue that logic.)" She turned her head to Vinyl. "Say hello to (Four-Finger Dan)." She pointed at their human guide. "He is curious how we came to be here, and what we plan to do. Honestly, I think he's as bored as he claims and wishes to be part of something interesting."

Vinyl's ears lifted. "Hey Dan!" She waved a hoof at him eagerly.

"(You have to tell me, is that thing real?)" His eyes were on her waving LAP. "(Part of me says there's no way, or you'd be hiding it more. You'd have to be entirely insane to wander into the heap with a LAP on your arm and so few guns.)"

Octavia smiled gently. "(You are correct. Only the dangerously insane would dare attempt such a thing. You are very perceptive.)"

"(Yeah... Figured, uh, anyway, lemme introduce you, get you the local discount.)" He pushed open the double doors leading into the inn. "(Dan's in the house!)" Soft grunts that ranged from welcoming to annoyed echoed in reply.

No Name slowed, looking to his companions. "Look, you two are... full of ideas, and I know I must feel like a wet blanket, but could ya listen a little more? I'm trying to protect you two and yer makin' it 'arder!"

Bullette thrust up a hoof. "Probability of linguistic interception, 64%. Assumption of privacy: False."

Vinyl strolled towards the door. "Privacy nothin'. Some of us don't talk that other funny language. I'll have it figure out soon though, don't you worry."

Octavia lifted an ear. "You were always quick to adapt, Vinyl. Impress me."

"Consider yourself impressed." Vinyl grinned with a triumph she had not yet earned. "Just you wait."

They pressed into the poorly-lit room. Their sharp fey eyes could see further than a human might have, but it was still gloomy and dark. Dan was speaking animatedly to someone standing behind the counter, the keeper of that inn? Octavia approached at a casual walk. "(Has Dan spoken well of us?)"

"(He's been spinning a wild yarn.)" The man shrugged lightly. "(Huh, a FP? I didn't expect that. You want the royal suite?)"

Some small little part of Octavia wanted to demand just that. Surely she deserved it! "(A simple room for us all will suffice.)"

No Name tossed  his head back at the wagon that followed him. "(Make it for five, we want the wagon in there.)"

"(Smart man.)" Even if No Name was not a man. The keeper made a quick scribble on a paper. "(You have something to trade, I trust? The way he went on--)"

"(Right here.)" Dan casually snatched some things from the wagon, things that had been thrown at them during the performance. "(Should keep them sheltered for a few days right?)"

The keeper snatched the collection away, eyeing it critically. "(Should be charging th' tourist rates... Yer gonna drive me poor, Dan.)" He shoved the goods away despite that and slapped down a key. "(There, third floor, second door.)"

Octavia tossed her head towards the wagon. "(Is the third floor wise if we will be bringing the wagon up and down to it?)"

"(You want enough room? You take the third floor.)"

Bullette shook her head quickly. "(We only require two beds and space for the wagon.)"

"(Shoulda said that in the first place, damn...)" He made new scribbles, taking the key back and replacing it with another. "(Down that hall, third on the right.)"

"(My thanks)" Octavia lifted the key with here new horn. "(If you wish to speak, Dan, this is the time to do so.)"

He took the invitation, following them towards their room and some amount of privacy.