//------------------------------//
// 45 - Devil's in the Details 
// Story: Duet in the Dust 
// by David Silver 
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The room had two queen sized beds and enough room, barely, for the wagon to be parked and still have space to move about. Vinyl hopped up onto one of the two, humming something to herself as her glowing horn flipped through different sound bits she had, searching for something.

Octavia casually took the space next to her, safely assuming they would be sharing one of the larger beds. "(Now, Dan) We can speak 'fey-fey'."

Dan huffed softly. "That obvious?"

Vinyl gasped in alarm. "What?! You mean you understood me the entire time?! Not cool, man."

No Name carefully slid up onto the other bed. It complained, but did not collapse under him and Bullette's combined weight, a testament to its construction. "Ponies live here, even if the humans have the majority."

"Exactly that, you know?" Dan hiked a thumb at No Name as he leaned back against a small end-corner desk that held a pitcher of water, empty at the moment. "I'm too small to play elitist. Knowing the lingo just seemed like a good idea."

Octavia leaned forward with a little smile on her face. "But you didn't wish to make it public that knowledge. Very well, we are in private. Now, let us speak of the matter directly."

"This is a bad idea," grunted No Name, but he didn't move.

Dan inclined his head towards No Name. "He's not stupid. Trusting people can be tricky business around here, and you barely know me."

"Both true," agreed Octavia. "But I have a good feeling."

Vinyl stuck out her tongue as she magiced up the thin blanket over herself. "I'm still sore you just let me flail like that, man..."

"Regardless." Octavia gestured at Dan. "Have you heard of an interesting artifact? Round, like a ball, gotten from a place that survived the Blaze?"

"Nope," he answers simply, hands lifting in a shrug as he did it. "Sounds like something one of the big boys would have. Any small timer flashing that would get in trouble." His eyes drifted to Vinyl's glowing leg, still visible with the thin blanket in the way.

"Hey, stop staring." Vinyl tried to hide one leg with another, succeeding partially at muting the glow of it. "Jealousy doesn't look good on you."

Dan cocked a hand as if a fake gun, pointing at Vinyl. "I ain't the one you should be worrying about. Doubt I was the only one noticin' that. If that's what I'm pretty sure it is, you could get all the wrong kinds of attention." His faux-gun spread out as both hands separated in a fake explosion. "Anyway, you looking for the big guys?"

Octavia nodded swiftly. "Yes. Can you direct us to them?"

"Ain't hard." He hiked a thumb to the roof. Humans, or at least that one, loved using their hands to express themselves. "Go on up there when it gets darker. If you see lights that aren't torches or somethin', you found one. The people with power have, you know--" He laughed as he said it, "--power."

Bulette's ears sprang up. "I get it!" She looked quite proud at understanding the joke. "One friendship point awarded."

No Name grunted softly, rolling over in place. Bullette walked on top of him, keeping on top of him despite his movements. "I thought you said no new files while we were here."

"He made a joke I could understand. An exception has been permitted." She bobbed her head quickly. "I will conduct a scan for high probability locations." She bounced off of No Name to the floor and trotted right past Dan.

Dan leaned over to the side, grabbing the door's handle and getting it open in time for Bullette to walk past and close it behind her. "You have a LAP and a working android... wait, no..." His expression was queer, somewhere caught between a frown and a smile in a wry mixture. "Equidroid?"

"She ain't that," almost growled No Name, a few snakes hissing. "She's a steel heart."

"Huh? They don't usually... Whatever, not my place. I'm gonna make myself scarce." He pointed for the door as he turned for it. "I got my answers and my welcome's running dry."

Octavia inclined her head slightly. "You were a help. Thank you, and walk safely. As much as you worry for us, you are not immune to the dangers of this place, your home or not."

"That's too true." He was gone moments later.

"Probability of attack: 36%" Bullette was not there. Vinyl was smirking viciously, barely resisting a giggle.

Octavia reached to pat her shoulder, then hopped down, trotting for where a window should have been. "I suppose it makes sense that they would be missing... It's terribly dark in this building."

"We're just here to sleep." No Name rolled until  he was upside down, eyes on Octavia. "Ain't much need fer light fer that."

"True... Are we eating rations tonight then?" She moved towards the wagon, trailing a hoof over it before her wings spread, carrying her up onto the edge of the wagon.

Vinyl lifted her shoulders. "Wanna check if our stay includes dinner? Oh! Yes!" She pumped a hoof with a victorious look on her face. "Perfect."

No Name turned over, flopping towards Vinyl. "What's so perfect?"

Vinyl turned her speakers around, inverting her headphones. "I got it. This is the song that'll do it." A song began to issue from in her, a song about understanding a pony. It seemed to be more about a lost love connection than any literal linguistic issue, but that hardly mattered to Vinyl as she bobbed her head. "Alright, hit me with some of that crazy stuff."

Octavia hiked a brow as she returned from where a window should be to be beside the bed. "(Do you mean this?)"

"Yes! Yes!" She jumped down off the bed just in front of Octavia. "I understood that!"

"(Then why didn't you answer in it?)" She tilted her head a little at Vinyl, curiosity in her eyes.

"Oh, uh, no idea... I can't talk it, just understand it? Kinda weird. It's like you have subtitles. I get what you're saying, but in normal language." She shrugged and looked over to No Name. "You get it?"

"(I heard of magic like that.)" He sat up ponderously. "When Bullette gets back, why don't we order up some real food?"

Vinyl clopped her hooves with a silly grin. "Today is looking up!"

Someone was at the door, or so a thump revealed. The handle jiggled without a word, then went still again.

No Name was the least worried of them. "Get that for Bullette."

Vinyl grabbed with her magic, pulling the door open. "BulBul! Welcome back!"

"It is good to be back," sang their metal friend as she trotted into the room. "Likely locations have been noted. Permission to interface?" She pointed a small hoof at Vinyl's LAP.

Vinyl willed the door shut, one ear skewed. "You can do that? Yeah go ahead."

"Authorization obtained," Bullette declared confidently, looking at the LAP.

"Authorization confirmed," agreed the LAP silently, words on the screen.

Bullette clopped her hooves. "My theory was correct! With proper permissions, probability of harm reduced to 4.292%!" She lowered on hoof as the other reached for the LAP, splitting just enough to let one cord slither free. "Initiating contact." She plugged the cord right into a port on the side of the LAP and suddenly went still. Her eyes darkened before being replaced with a box that slowly filled up, showing the progress of her connection.





Bullette landed in a dark place.

A pony was standing in front of her, grand and powerful. Like Octavia, she had a horn and wings. She had a kind little smile, also like Octavia.

Bullette decided, like Octavia, this must be a good pony. "Hello!"

The other pony did not speak, instead nodding gently.

"Can you show me where the map is?"

The other point raised a hoof, but did not point. Just before a point could begin, Bullette found herself floating over Everglow. The world came rushing up at her suddenly, zooming in to where a great bright marker read, "Trash Heap," in bold letters.

Bullette reached out her hooves and spread them, causing it to zoom in further. "Initiate!" she sang as she began pointing to reach place she had seen light. "Place a marker here. Here. Here."

One marker labeled 'Here' appeared, and a second marker appeared with a blinking cursor.

"Error! Undo Undo!" The two markers vanished. "Place a marker here. First Light. Place a marker here. Second Light. Place a marker here. Third light." With better instructions, three markers were added to the map about the town where she had seen lights. "Excellent!" She clapped her virtual hooves, pleased at her efforts.





Bullette blinked her eyes back into existence. "Markers added!" she joyfully sang, her wire withdrawing and hoof sealing up. "Exploration can now begin."

Vinyl turned her arm towards herself to see what the LAP displayed. "Hey cool, new points. That was awesome! If you could do that before, why didn't you?"

Bullette shuffled in place a moment. "I was scared," she admitted sheepishly.

"Aw." Vinyl threw herself at the little metal filly, hugging her tight. "Forget I even asked. You're super brave, BulBul!"

"Vinyl." The pony named looked towards No Name. "Why don't you go get us something to eat?" No Name leaned over the side of the wagon, reaching with his head. His snakes made up the small distance, snatching up a few things. "Here, for trading."

Vinyl's eyes began to sparkle as she took the items in her magic. "You got it!" She hurried off in a flash.

Octavia frowned a little. "Was that wise? She does not speak the common tongue, and she's wearing the LAP..."

"She needed it." No Name settled back down slowly. "We have to, you know, show a little trust. You two puppies need your walks... Sorry for tryin' to keep you tied up all the time."

Octavia hiked a brow softly. "As charming as that comparison is, you really don't need to keep referring to us as 'puppies'. We aren't even lost, exactly... We know exactly what we need to do, right now... After that... things get a little fuzzy. At least for the time, we know where we must go. Thank you, regardless. You  have been... I don't even have the words to express how good of a friend you have been."

"You understand," sang out Bullette, bouncing in place. "This is one reason of many that he is my #1 friend with far more points than anyone else."

Octavia set a hoof on Bullette's head just next to her horn. "You are entirely correct."





Vinyl pranced down the hallway towards the front of the inn. "Hey." She was looking at the guy behind the counter, the one that seemed to be in charge. "Please tell me you speak normal."

"(Don't you speak common?)" asked the man, watching Vinyl. His hands were on a rag and a glass, cleaning one with the other quietly.

"I can understand it right now, but I can't talk it."

The man set the glass down with a sigh. "(Speak. Sylvan. Little.)" Each word was halting and slow.

"Awesome! Like I said, I understand you." She paused and pointed at herself. "I. Hear." She tapped at her right ear. "You." She pointed at him. "No talk."

"(That's a bit weird, but whatever. Fine, if you understand me, what do you want? Dinner's not served for half an hour.)"

Vinyl blinked, that worked. "Great!" She pumped a hoof, then directed the same at their room. "Bring it there?" She floated over some of the bullets and junk they had gotten.

The human snatched up the floating ammo. "(Room service is extra, so I'll be keeping these. See you when it's ready.)"

"Awesome." She turned back for the room then hesitated. "Can I play music?" The man didn't seem to grasp her words, just sort of looking at her. "One way to find out..." She flipped around her headphones and moved to the corner of the room. "I hope you're all ready for some wubs!"





Bullette raised an ear. "Unexpected vibrations detected."

The volume rose enough to reach their room a moment later. Vinyl's electronic music was hard to mistake, thumping softly. Octavia's teeth set. "I hope she isn't making trouble..."





"(I'm tired,)" complained one of the humans, waving Vinyl away. "(Can't you play something softer?)"

"Softer," repeated another human in sylvan.

"Huh? Yeah sure." With a glowing horn, Vinyl changed tracks. Sure, she preferred high-energy, but she could do gentler music. Soon she became a source of a gentle tune. The room began to relax with it. Conversation picked back up. She was part of the background.

She wasn't sure if she liked being the background, but being something that people actively didn't like seemed worse, right? She stuck out her tongue a little, but kept the music going, focusing her magic on her headphones to keep them powered properly as she tapped her hoof slowly. 

A human casually crouched in front of her and set down a plate of still hot food. Sure, the woman had already eaten some of it, but Vinyl saw it as a tip for her song. "Hey, thanks." She nodded to the woman, not one to be averse to nibbling what's already been nibbled. 

"(Good night.)" The woman moved to the stairs, ascending to a room that likely awaited her.

Vinyl casually pulled up the plate to get her teeth into it. "Mmm." The local flavors were different than what she had experienced in the human town or in Turves. No matter the world, the changing flavors of food was a constant, and she enjoyed making a bit of a mess as she gobbled up the offering, filling her belly to contentment.

"(Dinner's on,)" bellowed the human, causing a flood of people coming from their room to get their vittles

Vinyl squeaked. She set her plate over on the counter as she rushed past back to the room.

Octavia looked up when she entered, a sudden smirk on her face.

"What?" Vinyl kicked the door shut behind herself. "They should bring the food soon."

"I see you couldn't wait." Octavia's horn glowed as a bit of goop from Vinyl's food lifted free of her snout to hover before her eyes.

Vinyl snapped up the morsel with a chomp. "It was a tip for the music." She ran her tongue over her lips and snout, cleaning herself a little. "Oh yeah." She raised a hoof. "By the magic of rock, I banish away the dirt!" With a glow that swept over her, she became as clean as if she had taken a bath. "Ta da!"

Octavia turned her hoof towards herself. "My turn, then get No Name."

"Yeah yeah." Vinyl rolled her eyes as she banished the filth from each of them. "And one for Bul Bul." Poking the metal filly right on the nose, returning her to a shiny finish. "Magic is pretty nice, just saying."

"It has its advantages," agreed Octavia with a lifted ear. "Did anyone give you trouble?"

"Nah, nothing big."

A soft rapping preceded the barkeep coming in. "(Dinner.)" He set down a big platter of food and some plates stacked up beside it for their individual use. He took their empty pitcher and replaced it with one that actually had some drink in it. "(Enjoy.)"

Octavia dipped her head towards the man. "(Most appreciated. See you in the morning.)"

The food, Vinyl quickly noticed, was not exactly the same as what had been shared with her by the female human. "She ordered separate," she reasoned out loud, moving to secure herself a plate.

Octavia hiked a brow. "You worked up a powerful appetite, I see."

"Rocking hard means eating hard," agreed Vinyl with a grin, filling her plate with a second dinner. "That magic doesn't come from nowhere, Octie. You should know that now.."

Octavia considered that a quiet moment, her horn gathering herself a plate of food. "There is truth to that. Even if my hooves are not engaged, it does take effort."

Bullette was next at the food, assembling a plate of equal parts of each available thing in cleanly segmented potions with a glass that was precisely half full. "Meal assembly complete!" She balanced the tray on her back as she trotted over to No Name, the glass held in her mouth.

No Name sat up and took the drink first, freeing Bullette's snout. The metal filly twisted around, grabbing the plate from her back and setting it right in front of him. "Yer too good." He offered a hoof and she hopped up onto it, soon carried up onto his back to watch them all eat.

The evening passed without interruption. For the first time in a little while, they slept comfortably in a room that was warm and secure. Though the blankets were thin, the air was comfortable against fur and the beds were soft.





Vinyl awoke in hooves. She was being hugged. She swiveled an ear around. She could hear soft breathing of one pony, and the curious chorus of breathing of a collection of snakes as well as the deeper breathing of a pony behind them, which only raised questions.

"Good morning," whispered Bullette melodically. She was perched on No Name, watching the room with sleepless eyes. "Status: Stable. Danger Level: Yellow."

"Yeah..." She was being hugged by Octavia and she relaxed into it. "It is a good morning..." It wasn't a kiss, but one could argue it was even better.

"Mm?" Octavia's hug became stronger as she began moving, clutching Vinyl tight before she began stretching out, the hug broken. Her eyes blinked open and she squeaked, realizing she was not hugging a pillow close. "Vinyl!"

"You started it!" Vinyl bounced to her hooves.

"Confirmed," noted Bullette quietly.

Octavia took a slow breath. "Right... Sorry. I apologize if I was untowards."

"You can... It was fine, really." She smiled and pointed to the door. "Let's get going if No Name's awake."

"I'm awake," sleepily announced a snake as its kin yawned in time with the rest of No Name's mouth.

"Should we take the wagon?" asked another snake. "It makes us mighty conspicuous."

Octavia considered it a moment. "The humans here have shown no strange intents. Perhaps more importantly, we mostly bore them. If we secure the door, they will likely leave it be."

Vinyl nodded softly. "Sounds right. Let's go!"

And so they left, locking the door behind them with the key they were trusted with. The barkeep nodded towards them as they went past, but no words were exchanged other than Vinyl's, "later."

They crossed through the dense city, following the first marker set on Vinyl's LAP. They came into a large open square filled with too many people.

Three of them were up on a platform. A human and a short pony had a rope around their necks. The shorter pony was on a tall chair to bring them up to the level of the human. One other human stood in front of them, less noosed. "(You all know the rules,)" he shouted out in an angry roar.

The crowd jeered and called out.

"(They broke it, and we don't have so many.)" He threw a hand expressively at the two.

The little pony was wriggling in place, whimpering obviously. "(I'm sorry! I'm sorry!)"

The human doomed one was standing stoically in place.

"(We caught them with their hands in the guard's ammo. Stealing from the guard? We don't even have cops, just a few brave idiots willing to fight people that try to mess with us.)" He swiveled onto the little pony, scowling at him. "(Any last words?!)"

"(I'm sorry!)" wailed the little pony, frantically prancing in place. "(I'll never do it again!)"

The man looked to the other human. "(You got anything?)"

"(If you didn't want it stolen, you shoulda hid it better.)" The man spit off to the side, facing death without fear it seemed.

Octavia slid in closer to No Name. "(We aren't going to... let them do what I think they're going to do, are we?)"

"(Ain't our problem. Don't make it one.)"

Vinyl scowled up at the stage surrounded by so many people cheering for the chance to see pain and death. "Not cool..."

Bullette bounced down off No Name between the other two mares. "I am in agreement with your assessment. The possibility of intercession without exceeding the death prevented and compromising our own objectives is too low to consider. I must advise continuing."

They edged around the crowd, working their way towards their goal.

"(Please, please please! I'm harmless, just ask my friends!)"

The executioner brought up a foot and savagely kicked away the small pony's chair. The little one fell free for a precious moment before coming to an abrupt stop. His body went suddenly still with a soft snap. "(I... can't feel anything,)" wheezed out the short leg. "(I... can't...)" He couldn't breathe either, hanging there limply and suffocating slowly.

"(Your turn.)" He grabbed a lever. "(Tell the demons to keep my spot warm.)" He wrenched it hard and fast, opening a hole under the small pony and the human. The hole under the pony did little, the pony already dangling over the hole. The human was less lucky, falling through the new opening, the rope biting viciously into his neck. His neck didn't break as the small pony's had.

"(See you there,)" he managed to growl out.

No Name was suddenly between the rest and the stage. "Ain't nothin' to see. Keep walking." He walked firmly, keeping himself there in the way of that ghastly sight.

Vinyl shook her head rapidly as she walked with a faltering stance. "That is so... uncool..."

"That scarcely describes it." Octavia clenched her eyes shut as she hurried along with Vinyl. "There are ways even my own suffering seems small..."

The crowd was going wild, apparently finding the scene quite exciting, not horrible. "(That's what you get!)" shouted one of them, whooping and jeering, as the crowd watched eagerly for the signs of life to fade from the two prisoners.





The public execution quieted the city. It was far from still, being a city, but even they, as newcomers, could see that it was a bit quieter than it usually was. The first of the marks came into view. A four story tall building with a softly vibrating generator sounding from the back, smoke trailing upwards.

Bullette pointed. "Confirmation! Power located!"

Vinyl nodded. "Yep, good job. Alright, so... we walk in there or what?"

No Name hiked a brow as he kept walking. "We don't do that. We need to approach this a little more subtly."

"Octavia!" came a voice from up above. "Oh by the gods, is that you?!"

Looking up, they saw Dim Flash waving wildly at them, the little short leg mare that had robbed them once before. "Stay right there!" The window she was hanging out of slapped shut.

Vinyl tilted her head a little. "Isn't that the pony you  had as a pet for a little while?"

Octavia sat a hoof over her face. "One and the same. She's amazingly not very upset about that."

Bullette pointed away. "Should we flee?"

"Octavia!" Dim burst out of the front door. "Wow! Woah. I mean... Woah..." The short leg bounced up to Octavia. "Oh, and your friend looks better today." She looked at Vinyl. "Heya." She waved a hoof excitedly at Vinyl. "What are you doing here?! You're going to get in so much trouble. Get out of here!"

Octavia blinked softly. "It is... good to see you?" Her teeth set. "Ah... does your boss still have what you took from us?"

Her eyes widened. "You're here for that? Go go go! Please go!" She waved wildly for them to go away, glancing over her shoulder as if fearing attack.