“...”
“...”
“...”
“And that’s all?” Clang finally responded. Without waiting for a response, he turned away and faced towards the door in the opposite direction. “No problem. But since I haven’t heard from X or Strike in a while, I’m gonna have to take some time to prepare backup.”
Silence followed for a while. It lasted until Strike took a few steps towards the door. Another voice spoke out slowly, keeping pressure on each word. “Before you go... tell me.” There was a pause. “Tell me... what you know about her.” Clang stopped in his tracks. “About X...”
Clang decided not to leave just yet and responded. “Now why are you asking me that, Jenkel? Before this operation started, you’ve been talking with her for weeks. Possibly even months by now.”
Jenkel responded with the same slow tone. “Which is exactly why I’m asking you.” Clang turned his head and raised an eyebrow at that. “You know better than anypony that she doesn’t talk much. After all. You are the reason she’s in your group in the first place.”
Clang released a deep chuckle. “If you’re implying I’ve got shackles chained to her, you’re wrong. Despite how hard this may seem to understand, she was the leader of our group. Everything she did was of her own free will. Including meeting you, and all those weeks you two talked. We have no control over what she does. She does her own thing."
Jenkal’s eyes closed slowly, staying silent for a long moment. A deep breath could be heard before the next words were spoken. “On the day I first met her, I saw deep scars covering her body. Very. Deep. Scars.”
Clang turned around as he released a gasp inside. “What…?” He responded quietly.
“These scars that I saw? I can only describe them as fatal. Something that she shouldn’t have survived. Yet, she was still alive and breathing. Do you know why she had them?”
Clang’s eyes shifted to the side in shock. “No. That’s not possible. Nopony has ever been able to…” He interrupted himself. Something else came to his mind. “When was the first day that you saw her?”
The question was ignored. Only Jenkal’s response came with the same serious pressure in each word. “I want to know her past.”
___
“Fluttershy!”
Fluttershy yelped when she heard her name shouted. “Wha?”
“I said get this collar off me!” Rainbow shouted again.
“S-Sorry!” Fluttershy said with a frantic shake of her head, then quickly walked over to get to Rainbow’s neck. Rainbow tilted her head up so Fluttershy could undo its lock. Once it was released, the collar split open, allowing Fluttershy to hold it in her hoof until Rainbow took it in hers.
“Okay. Do we have a leash for this thing?”
Fluttershy was about to say ‘yes’, but remembered their bag was lost. However… “No. But I did keep one in one of the rooms here. I can run and get it.”
“Do it,” Rainbow answered. Fluttershy quickly left to fetch one. After Fluttershy left, Rainbow proceeded to take a glance at the hole in the wall, then the rest of the room. She started flapping her wings to start clearing this fog out.
Fluttershy continued rushing to one of the guest rooms, feeling some of that soreness that her body still had. So much for not doing anything strenuous for a while. But she knew exactly why Rainbow wanted her to get a leash. What surprised her was Rainbow’s sudden acknowledgement of the collar. It confirmed that she knew she was wearing it the whole time and was completely fine with it.
No time to think on that now. Fluttershy made it to one of the guest rooms. It held most things relating to animal care, such as basket beds, feeders, and of course, leashes in one of the closets, which she went to. She grabbed a black one from the closet, locked the collar onto it, then grabbed it with her mouth and started running back.
By the time she got back, Rainbow had blown away a good portion of the fog that was covering the hole in the room. More fog would eventually come back to cover it up again, but for the time being, things were clearly visible near it.
“Okay, Fluttershy, stand-” Rainbow paused as she was looking to Fluttershy. It was a strange and awkward silence which Fluttershy could only respond to with a questioning expression.
Rainbow noticed that Fluttershy was covering her eye with her mane again. Or at least, her eye patch. She wondered if Fluttershy even noticed she was doing that. But before getting too distracted over it, Rainbow shook her head and continued. “Stand over there,” she said and pointed to the wall. Fluttershy moved to where she needed to be. “Ready?” After wrapping the leash around her hoof with the collar held tightly in both her hooves, Fluttershy nodded. And then she gulped nervously, knowing what she was about to witness.
Rainbow began. First, she began hacking and exhaling her breaths very forcefully out of her. Then she sucked in her breath deeply, and reached down her throat with her three tongues. Fluttershy gritted her teeth as she saw the tongues poke along the insides of Rainbow’s stomach. The sight made her have cringey flashbacks from when she saw that happening to X’s stomach. Her eye wanted to squeeze itself shut so badly. Her own stomach started getting very upset again.
Rainbow’s stomach began shrinking quickly while the bulge started getting forced up her throat. The panicked muffles came quick, along with the thrashing. Now all the pokes were running along Rainbow’s neck, terrifying Fluttershy even more. At that point, she decided it would be better to keep her gaze to her side rather than in Rainbow’s direction. Although, it didn’t help that she could still hear everything. Once Rainbow opened her mouth, the muffling turned to cries of fear.
X’s head was the first to be released. Her eyes were squeezed shut. The rest of her body was mostly wrapped around Rainbow’s tongues, completely binding her wings while she was being pulled out. When she was about halfway released, her whole body popped out instantly, causing saliva to splash out.
Fluttershy was only able to pay attention just enough to see X get shoved to the wall. Rainbow’s tongue immediately unwrapped itself. The stun from the impact was the time Fluttershy needed to quickly slip the collar around X’s neck the moment Rainbow unwrapped her tongues. As soon as she snapped the lock on, X tried to bolt. With the leash wrapped around her hoof, Fluttershy’s body thrusted in X’s direction, but she was able to hold her ground, causing X to stop quickly and fall with her back to the ground. Her saliva covered body soaked her surroundings.
With a shrill panic in her voice, X tried to get up, but found her head with no room to move due to the leash. That was when her struggles settled for a moment. Her eyes looked down while her hooves reached for her neck, feeling the collar that was keeping her trapped in place. A cyan hoof stepped in her vision. Slowly looking up while shivering intensely, she saw that it was Rainbow Dash with a mean scowl on her face.
Rainbow noticed that X still had the bandage on her right forehoof, soaked, but still holding firm. After that scene just now, it looked like her hoof was no longer in pain. She also still had the Alpine Flower in her mouth. And there was nothing showing her health having concerns. It made Rainbow realize that all that concern she had earlier was practically for nothing. Irritated, but she decided to start with what she was really here about.
“Spill it, X,” Rainbow began. “When I dragged you here, I was gonna use you to find out how the princess was involved in all this. But when we got here…” She paused as she pointed behind X. “Take a look.”
X stared with gritted teeth for a moment before following her gaze to Rainbow’s direction. Behind her, she saw Fluttershy gripping the leash that was keeping her in place. But her eyes shrunk when she saw the huge hole behind Fluttershy. The deep mist outside and the burnt marks surrounding the hole only deepened her surprise.
“T-This is the… c-castle?” X asked as she slowly rolled herself over to her stomach.
“You told us you tried finding her here before,” Rainbow continued. “But you couldn’t find her. When you were looking, you didn’t find anything like this?!”
As X looked up at the massive hole, her head constantly shivered as she answered. “N-N-Nooo…” She was gasping for breath at the sight. And then, Rainbow stepped closer towards her ear.
“Was anypony else coming to visit her that day?” Rainbow said harshly. X jumped in fright, causing saliva to spray off her body. She turned her head while gasping as she tried putting some distance away from Rainbow, but her neck was caught by the leash. Her struggles to pull away was stopped by Fluttershy’s struggles to hold her ground while keeping hold of the leash.
“W-What?” X said during the struggles.
Rainbow just watched X’s struggles and continued. “Before we made it back, we ran into Strike.” She reached under her wing and pulled out something that she was carrying. “When we found him, he was banged up. A huge wreck that I’ve never seen before in my life. And just as much, he was furious.”
X was squeezing her eyes tightly during her struggle. Fluttershy had some difficulties, but was able to keep her ground. Every so often, X would manage an inch or two, but Fluttershy would bring her back into place. During the struggle, Rainbow dropped the broken piece of a brace in front of them, the same one she stepped on earlier.
“He was wearing something around his body, something that looked like it was powering his horn, but hurting his body. He tried to do away with us using this, and then blame it on you!” X opened her eyes and then suddenly stopped struggling when she saw the device. Fluttershy sighed in relief.
“We barely got outta there alive. He was saying a lot of things while he was attacking us. He said that he was supposed to be the leader of your group, but you stole it away from him. And what’s more? It sounded like he was talking about a group that was more than just you three. A group that you’re all a part of.”
X shakily moved closer to the brace that Rainbow set down in front of them. The sight of it made her eyes shrink further. “S-Strike?” she asked. Then she looked up to Rainbow. “W-W-What happened to him…?”
Fluttershy gasped softly at the question. Rainbow wasn’t answering right away. And every second of silence that came made her stomach churn very uncomfortably.
“Like I said,” Rainbow finally began answering. “He tried to do away with us and we barely made it out alive. Remember that tatzlwurm we were riding on?” X’s ears fell at the pause. “Let's just say, it decided to have a little snack after saving us.” And right on cue, Fluttershy’s stomach rumbled harshly enough to make her audibly groan. She had to lie down and hold her stomach for a moment. It didn’t go unnoticed by Rainbow Dash.
“O-Oh…” X responded. Her eyes turned back down to the brace. She repeated in a more drawn out tone. “O-O-Oohhh…” As she drew that out, her shivering slowed to a stop.
Rainbow looked to X. She then looked to Fluttershy, then back to X again. There was then another stomach growl. This one sounded like it came from X, who was too absorbed in the revelation to respond to it. With a sigh, Rainbow started walking to Fluttershy. The fog was starting to shroud the area again, so this wasn’t too big a deal.
“We’ll continue this in the kitchen. We can all grab a bite there.” Fluttershy looked up when Rainbow reached her and was holding a hoof out to her. She grabbed it and allowed Rainbow to help her up. At the same time, Rainbow took the leash out of her hoof, leaving her free to keep pressure on her stomach as she stood.
Rainbow began walking out. When X felt the tug on her collar, she resisted for a moment. Before she was taken too far, X reached out and managed to grab the brace. Fluttershy noticed this and saw her tuck it underneath her wing while she was being dragged.
___
Rainbow had to drag X the whole way to the kitchen. Even now, her body was still dripping with saliva, leaving quite the trail along the floor for the entire way. When they got there, Rainbow went to one of the cabinets in the kitchen after X was forced to a corner. X whimpered at her predicament. She tried to find a way to remove the collar off her neck. But nothing worked, not even trying to split it open. And with Rainbow holding the leash firmly, there was no way to escape this corner without being dragged back to it.
X’s attempts to remove the collar was halted when a towel was dropped in front of her. “Dry yourself off if you want,” Rainbow said. Normally, she just used her own tongues to scrape off the excess saliva that covered her victims. She didn’t feel like doing that this time. While waiting, Fluttershy walked over to Rainbow.
“I can take care of the cooking myself,” Fluttershy said.
“You sure?” Rainbow said while turning her eyes. Fluttershy just nodded and got started. The last thing Rainbow saw was Fluttershy turning on one of the stoves before redirecting her attention to X. X was just staring at the towel, not even making an attempt to grab it. Not bothering to wait, Rainbow decided to start.
“Alright, X. Here’s the deal. The princess here? Her name is Twilight. Twilight Sparkle.” Rainbow pointed a hoof towards the kitchen exit. “As you saw earlier, she isn’t here. Instead, we found a hole that could’ve only been caused by some powerful magic. And I’d say the magic that Strike threw at us? Thanks to that weird brace thing he was wearing, he showed us a magic that was-”
“C-Cylinder…” X interrupted hesitantly. When Rainbow stopped speaking, X winced back. Rainbow stepped forward.
“What?” she asked. X looked away and continued.
“T-That’s what he ca-alled it. A cylinder.” Her eyes turned down to her wing. “I’ve… never seen him use it… because he said it could do too much damage to his body. B-But he always to-ok it with him… i-if things ever took a de-esperate turn.”
X went silent and continued trying to pull off her collar again. As they listened, Fluttershy continued preparing the kitchen for what they were gonna eat. She was placing some ingredients in a mixing bowl while Rainbow continued with the interrogation.
“As I was saying, that power he showed us was just the kind of power that could create a hole like that. I don’t think it was him, but what he said makes me believe this.” Rainbow jabbed a hoof in X’s direction, making her flinch. “Somepony from your group came here and attacked Twilight while we were gone. And they probably wanted to catch her for the same reason you guys have been trying to catch me.” She stomped forward. “Now unless you want us to come to that conclusion, I suggest you start talking now. Who… are you guys?!”
To say X was backed into a corner would be too literal. In the end, she gave up trying to pull the collar off and stared at the leash, eyes pulsating. Her eyes turned to Rainbow Dash, then Fluttershy, who was now mixing something, and then the towel on the floor. She released a sad sigh then stepped forward.
“O-kay…” X said. She slowly walked on top of the towel. As she was laying herself down on it, she continued. “The princesses… t-they watch over Equestri-ia to keep order and peace for u-us all. They are powerful… but Equestria is a bi-ig place. Not even their eyes... can find its smaller problems.”
Rainbow was narrowing her eyes. This was just sounding like everything they already knew. She was more interested in hearing Fluttershy cutting up some food behind her right now. X started rubbing the side of her face along the towel before continuing.
“I-If too many small problems are left u-unchecked… Equestria could collapse one by one. T-To stop this… Princess Celestia… put together a group of agents from her su-ubjects… not from her Royal Guards. They watch over diffe-erent towns… solve their issues… or a-alert the princesses if needed…”
Rainbow was getting irritated. She had a feeling she knew exactly what X was about to say, and was sure it was nothing but lies. X continued.
“We…” Rainbow was sure she felt a pause there. “...a-are not those agents…” When X finished that sentence, Rainbow’s fury halted in her tracks. Her own body felt as if it just stopped itself right in front of a finish line.
“...What?” was all Rainbow could ask. X was burying her face in the towel, not even picking it up to dry her face off. When she was done, she looked back up and continued.
“We are the ones that they rejected…” That was when Fluttershy was taken aback. She nearly dropped the plates she was carrying to place on the tables. “The ones w-who passed their tests better than expected… but were rejected by Princess Ce-elestia herself…”
After that response, X’s story didn’t sound so far-fetched anymore. Rainbow was curious now. “Why?” she asked. Although, she might’ve had a good feeling as to why. Except X answered with this.
“This was… before my t-time…” X looked up and continued. “A-After we were rejected… we formed our own group and s-spread ourselves across Eque-estria… to solve the smaller problems that arise in our own way. We look for ponies who n-need help… and offer our service to the-em.” Her eyes began wandering at her surroundings. It looked like she was breathing frantically at the sight of the place.
“B-But as much as we don’t like how we were reje-ected… we don’t want to cause her a-any trouble. We don’t want to o-oppose her. So any job that involves causing trouble for her... o-or any of the princesses… we avoid.” X’s eyes caught sight of Fluttershy flipping something constantly with a spatula. At this point, she became curious as to what Fluttershy was cooking. But her view was blocked when Rainbow Dash stepped in front of her.
“So what you’re saying is, nopony from your little group would’ve caused that hole, huh?”
X’s head shifted back, then turned towards the door that led back to the halls. “T-They don’t even have that kind of power…”
Rainbow Dash’s eyes narrowed. “What about with that cylinder you were just talking about? You said you never saw him use it, but if he was desperate enough to, surely somepony else would be too. Especially if they were going after Twilight.”
X’s eyes went back to the ground. “He was t-the only who had something like that. Everypony believed that i-if he was ever going to use it… it would be on me…”
Rainbow Dash thought for a moment. It seemed like X was fully aware of just how much Strike hated her. Yet despite that, she put up with it all. Maybe because of the fear that X was always expressing? Fluttershy still believed it was very real. Speaking of which, Rainbow Dash stepped closer to reveal a very important question. She asked it in a very dark tone.
“What about Jenkel?”
Fluttershy was in the middle of chopping something into multiple pieces when she stopped after hearing that question. It gave her chills hearing that name again, but she had to know what X had to say about him.
X’s eyes went deeply wide. Her attention shifted straight to Rainbow Dash before she started hyperventilating very frantically while backing further away into her corner. Every breath she took made it sound like she was suffocating while her eyes nearly went all white from how tiny her pupils shrunk. She was backing herself away so hard, it was like she was attempting to go through the wall.
Rainbow and Fluttershy were taken aback by this response. The amount of fear X was expressing was more intense than anything they've seen from her before. It was like if all those other fears that X was expressing turned out to be fake like Strike claimed, this one had to be real. In the middle of all that shaking, X asked.
“W-W-Wher-re… d-did you h-h-hear tha-at na-a-a-ame…?!” Her eyes stayed focused on Rainbow Dash the whole time. Rainbow just wondered why she would react so hugely to that name. This had to be important.
“It was the last thing we heard from Strike,” Rainbow responded. “The last thing I heard him say before he got eaten. And even though he attacked us to get back at you, it sounded like he hated this Jenkel more than you. Any idea why?”
X was still breathing heavily. Her eyes glanced over towards Fluttershy for a moment, who was currently filling up some cups. That was when she finally noticed what was underneath that mane lock. “T-That eye patch… h-h-how did that happe-en?” she asked.
Rainbow blinked in confusion. Why was this important now? “It happened because of Strike when he attacked us. Didn’t you hear?”
X was continuing to take a few glances towards Fluttershy as she held her shocked gaze on Rainbow. “I-It really was… because of him?” She asked that as if there was another possibility.
“Yes, it was…” Rainbow responded. After that, X’s tension seemed to settle down a little. This was really confusing for Rainbow Dash. She wondered what that was all about. All she knew was that it had to have something to do with Jenkel. So she pushed the question, flaring her wings as she continued.
“Tell us! Jenkel was the last name he managed to get out. He clearly hated you, But whoever this Jenkal is, it sounded like he hated him, more than he hated you. If you ask me? It’s probably because he’s the reason Strike got stuck with you.”
Rainbow walked closer and got within inches to X’s face with a glare. “Strike and Clang were saying you were the leader of their group. But if Strike could ruin your position with the way he acted out, that must mean there’s somepony above your position. That somepony must be your boss, Jenkel. Am I right?”
X was backing her face away with her eyes closed due to how close Rainbow was. A few seconds passed with no response. She eventually opened her eyes to see that Rainbow hadn’t backed off. While still shivering, she noticed Fluttershy halting with her rolling pin to listen to X’s answer. After releasing a sad sigh, X finally answered.
“Y-Yes… it’s true…” A long pause passed as X slowly opened her eyes while staring at the floor. “Jenkal… is the reason why we-e’re on this job in the first place… because… she’s not just our boss…”
Fluttershy gasped at what X’s just described. “S-She?” she asked. And Rainbow’s eyes just went wide from the realization. X finished the question.
“She’s… our Client…”
Fluttershy dropped the rolling pin she was using, gasping for breath. This sudden revelation made Rainbow back away from X as her eyes turned to Fluttershy.
“Jenkal is…” Rainbow stammered. “But I thought… Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy wasn’t sure how to respond. She was sure those articles referred to Jenkal as a stallion, not a mare. How was this possible? Was the Client really the same Jenkal that she read about?
“N-Not only that…” X suddenly continued. “But it’s also possible… t-that she was the cause of that g-giant hole…” Now Rainbow gasped and quickly turned back to X. “E-Ever since we messed up our fi-irst plan… we haven’t heard a w-word from her. Our job was supposed to be simple… and not cause a scene for a-anypony in Ponyville.”
X paused to take a few desperate breaths. “I remember… there was an e-explosion we heard… soon after we followed you in the forest. I t-think I now know where it came from. It must’ve been here in the castle…”
Rainbow opened her mouth to stop X there, but then stopped herself from saying anything. If she remembered what X told them earlier, she knew exactly what that explosion actually was. She decided not to say anything about it yet to see what X had to say about her theory.
“I don’t understa-and why it sounded like it came from inside the forest. But… we lost contact with Clang ri-ight after it sounded. So that must’ve been what ha-appened…” X’s ears fell flat. “But why though?” She looked down and away. “I thought she didn’t want a-anything to do with the princess. She asked me to return that book so they wouldn’t have to meet…”
Rainbow blinked. There was the mention of that book again. Before she could say anything, X continued some more. “Something must’ve happened a-after we lost contact. S-She must’ve went to meet the princess. And then…”
X squeezed her eyes and her shivering intensified. Rainbow hummed in thought. While X’s theory did have a gaping hole in it, there was one thing she needed to know. “So you believe that giant hole was caused by your Client. But how? Does she really have that kind of magic?”
At this point, Fluttershy realized she stopped paying attention to her cooking. She yelped and rushed back to the ovens, microwaves, and whatever else before X’s vision was blocked by Rainbow Dash again. X winced then continued.
“I was… almost at the rece-eiving end of it.”
Rainbow had to contemplate that for a moment. “Receiving end of…” she whispered, then spoke up. “You mean she attacked you?”
X didn’t answer and instead responded with something else. “It… goes back to the day we first met…” She closed her eyes and kept them closed. While they were still closed, she continued. “A-And the reason… why I took the job… when Clang and Strike didn’t want to…”
With her eyes still closed, X looked up like she was in deep thought. Rainbow didn’t say anything. It looked like X was about to tell the story of her first meeting with this Client. This, she had to hear. So she sat down and listened, while X retold her meeting.
___
It was a pretty hot day today. The sun was currently set at its peak by this time. There were still a few clouds left in the skies, as well as many pegasi who were behind their schedules of clearing them out. X… was not one of those pegasi. She was instead a pegasus who awkwardly tried to fly in between the paths they were working.
X turned one way and yelped as a group of pegasi flew past her. She turned another way, only to find a cloud in her path. One pegasus was in the middle of flying over to remove it. Before they did, X yelped and immediately flew towards the ground. The cloud had a short fuse upon being hit. All she heard was a loud zap followed by some yelling.
X was sweating and panting, not because of what just happened or because she was currently shaking in fright, but rather because she was exhausted after all her flying today. This wasn’t her destination, but she needed some rest before continuing. When she landed, she practically collapsed on the floor and panted heavily for a few seconds, slapping her wings to her sides.
As much as X wanted to just rest where she laid, the sun was too hot on her coat. She stood herself up with wobbly legs. The weight of the bag she was carrying felt like it increased ten times. Her eyes scanned the area for any type of shade she could find. Unfortunately, with all the clouds being removed, there weren’t many options.
The closest option X found was a park bench with a single tree covering it. Somepony else was sitting there and reading something, but there was more than enough space for a second pony. Although her body was exhausted, she practically rushed frantically towards that bench, looking every which direction her surroundings covered. She was there within seconds and plopped herself down on her stomach. If anypony had been watching, they wouldn’t have been able to tell she was exhausted. Even the sweat made it look like she was just sweating out of fear.
But after reaching the bench, X’s frightful manner started to calm down. She hesitantly sat herself up and was able to set her bag down. Reaching inside, she pulled out a water container which had a straw in it. With all her shivering, even when she was calm, she practically needed a straw to drink anything without making a mess.
“You’re awfully frightened. Are you late for something?” X’s drinking froze on the spot. The pony next to her suddenly spoke up. She didn’t know it at the time, but this pony would be her future Client, Jenkal. What made X freeze like that wasn’t because of her speaking, but rather her tone, or lack thereof. Jenkal didn’t even react when X rushed and plopped herself on the bench the way she did.
“No… that can’t be it. You wouldn’t be taking your time right now if you were…” Jenkal wasn’t even looking at X. Her eyes were still on the book as she continued talking. “But the fear you’re expressing… is very strong… and very active.” That was when she closed the book she was reading. For some reason, her horn had been glowing the whole time, and it still didn’t stop.
“What could be ailing you so?” Before X could have a chance to respond, Jenkal suddenly looked to her direction. She winced and scooted back a little. “Your fear seems directed at me, but your eyes say otherwise. They’re so active… so focused on its surroundings. Most ponies who express the fear you do would be too scared to even move. But you… don’t look that at all…”
Jenkal closed her eyes as she started putting her book away using only her magic. She also had a bag with her. Even after the book was put away, her horn still glowed. Despite the fear, X was very curious about that.
“Is it just a show?” Jenkal took a closer look at X after asking that. X went back to sipping her water container, easing some of her shaking. “Not much of a talker I see. But that’s fine.” She looked away from X and continued talking. “The emotions I’m feeling from you seem very real. But unlike everypony else, there’s no attempt to hide it. There’s nothing holding that fear back.”
The more Jenkal talked, the more curious X got. She hadn’t spoken a word yet, but Jenkal already understood her more than anypony else ever did. After getting her fill, X put away her water container and continued listening.
“However… I can’t tell what is causing all that fear. Perhaps…” Jenkal turned back to X with her horn glowing brighter. X gasped silently. “Perhaps I can learn with a little glimpse. All I need is just a few seconds of your time…”
Jenkal’s horn was directed at X. X started shaking more. As Jenkal closed in with her horn, X winced back further and turned her head away. Her eyes kept focus on Jenkal’s horn. She saw occasional small flashes coming from it. Nothing seemed to be coming out of it though. Just some flashes.
But suddenly, the last flash audibly sparked and caused her horn to dim tremendously. X noticed a suppressed gasp coming from Jenkal. Her horn violently sparked again causing her to wince and back away. She was suddenly breathing very heavily, looking just as scared as X did now. And X could swear she was hearing Jenkal’s heartbeat somehow.
“Ahh! Aaahhh! AAAAHHH!” Jenkal harshly cried out as her horn suddenly glowed very brightly. X’s eyes went wide at this sudden display. It looked like Jenkal was in a lot of pain. She tried reaching into her own bag. But just as it was unzipped, her horn sparked more violently than before, causing her to yelp as her body and bag collapsed to the floor.
“St-Stay-y-y… C-C-CALM! A-AHHH!” Jenkal screamed out. This was the first time her voice showed any emotion. Her bag dropped a few of its contents as it fell, and Jenkal was trying to reach for them. But it was in X’s direction. The sight of X caused her horn to glow further. It glowed so brightly Jenkal could almost no longer be seen from it. X shook harder from this display. Whatever Jenkal was trying to supress, it looked like it was something big. Something huge and powerful. And it would be released at any second.
Without a moment’s notice, X dived for one of the contents that was dropped out of Jenkal’s bag. The one she picked up looked like a syringe. She took that, quickly uncapped it, and struck it on the side of Jenkal’s neck, squeezing her eyes in the process.
From the point of Jenkal’s screaming, all this happened in no more than twelve seconds. Whatever was inside that syringe, the injection could be audibly heard. But it wasn’t as audible as Jenkal’s groan through gritting teeth while she was being injected. The glow from her horn dimmed as the contents emptied.
When the injection sound stopped, it was replaced by heavy panting from Jenkal. A small peak from X’s eye revealed that Jenkal had a lot of sweat coming from her forehead. After Jenkal reached for the syringe, X quickly let it go and backed away to avoid contact. Jenkal kept the syringe in place as she looked to X with a surprised expression, or at least as much of a surprise as she could muster.
“How…” Jenkal asked. Her voice was back to its toneless tone. “You don’t even know anything about me, yet you were able to guess what I needed with no time to even think.” In the middle of her shaking, X just turned away with a frown. After a moment of silence, she slowly moved back to the bench, not wanting to say anything. She didn’t know how, but she had a feeling that she was somehow responsible for Jenkal’s sudden response there. Yet despite this, Jenkal joined X back at the opposite end of the bench after putting away her syringe with her magic.
“My body…” Jenkal continued. “It suffers from a terrible illness that continuous to tear itself apart. It is an illness that I have suffered ever since I was born. What you just witnessed was one of the terrible effects that I could cause if I don’t keep it in check.”
X’s ear twitched. She looked back to Jenkal in curiosity while Jenkal continued. “If you had waited even a second longer, you would’ve been on the receiving end of all that magic…” Jenkal took a deep breath and looked down. “Stay calm. Stay calm. That’s all I have to do to keep that magic in check. But the pain that my body suffers makes it difficult.”
Jenkal’s eyes turned to her bag. “There's no telling what could've happened if that was released. The last time I couldn’t keep my magic in check…” She went silent for quite a moment. X could swear there was a sudden glint of emotion Jenkal couldn’t suppress. “I’ve spent all my life searching for a way to cure this illness I have. What you just gave me was only a temporary treatment. The only thing that has allowed me to keep going for all this time.” Her eyes turned to X again. “How much longer can I hold this up? I don’t know. But I have to keep going. No matter what…”
X had been watching and listening to Jenkal closely despite the fear she was showing. Every word that Jenkal spoke had been toneless, and her expression completely emotionless. It was like there was no soul in her at all. But to X, it was also clear just how much she was suppressing those emotions. She could tell how difficult it was. If she could, Jenkal would allow herself to show exactly how she was feeling at all times.
The thing X couldn’t tell was what Jenkal would do if she could express those emotions so freely. But it sounded like it was what she wanted more than anything else. X reached into her bag to pull something out for Jenkal to see. It was a flier that listed a few details about who X was and what her job was, as well as a location for contact. From this, Jenkal could see that X was asking if she needed the type of help that involved dangerous tasks, even if it involved detainment.
Jenkal read through it carefully before responding. “So your name is X? Is that your real name? Or just a nickname or something?” X just looked away, not answering. Seeing that she wasn’t gonna answer, Jenkal continued. “After all this time, I may have finally found a way to end this suffering. But I wasn’t sure how I would manage it. With this help… maybe I can.”
More silence followed after this with just Jenkal and X looking at each other. Nothing more was being said. With how long this interaction was, X had been able to rest long enough to continue on to where she was going. Although, she did think about staying for a little longer. At the time, she still didn't even get Jenkal's name. But in the end, she decided to hesitantly remove herself from the bench. Jenkal put the flier away in her bag with her magic. As she brought her book back out, she spoke once more in her toneless voice.
“It was nice talking with you, X. I do hope I can talk with you again.”
___
X finished her tale of the first time she ever met her Client. Rainbow was quite shocked from what X said about the Client's condition and unstable magic. It sounded just like what she remembered from the Spellcaster and the Journalist. Could it really be that the Journalist, the Spellcaster, and the Client were all the same pony? She also noticed that X never described how her Client looked like, but that was probably on purpose. There was also one other thing odd that she noticed about X's tale. So she decided to ask.
“Okay. But you never mentioned where you were trying to go before you met your Client. Something else you’re trying to hide?”
X gasped a little. “Oh… N-No, um…” She paused for a moment to go over her words. “W-We were… I-I wasn’t really going a-anywhere…” Rainbow raised an eyebrow at this, causing X to continue. “The whole p-point of my travel… was to look for potential Clients who could use our s-service. Once I tra-aveled enough, I would go back, w-whether I found one or not.”
It was then that a loud rumble sounded from X’s stomach. She visibly cringed from it too. Rainbow was satisfied with the answer X gave, and X told them quite a lot now. This would be a better time than any for a little break.
“Alright. We’ll stop right now so we can eat.” As Rainbow said that, one last dish was heard being set down on the table. “Is our food ready, Fluttershy?” She asked as she turned around. But when she did, her eyes went wide in complete silence. X’s view was no longer being blocked by Rainbow Dash, so she was able to get a look at the spread that Fluttershy made.
X's surprised yelp was so loud, it could be heard echoing throughout the entire castle several of times.