//------------------------------// // Chapter Eighteen: Crimson // Story: CRISIS: Equestria - Divergence // by GanonFLCL //------------------------------// Velvet wasn't exactly in a panic, so to say, but she was definitely walking a lot quicker than usual. Well, not so much faster as with a purpose. She'd just arrived at the Central Plaza Promenade, an outdoor mall packed with row after row of stores that catered to every possible customer with a need for any possible product. It wasn't like the ritzy Inner District malls and didn't have the same high-class selections, but this was the closest one could get otherwise. She had searched the mall's entire street level by now, taking less than a few minutes to scan the crowd outside the stores as they walked about, and even stopping in a few stores that might have what she was looking for. Or rather, who she was looking for. She was supposed to meet Pinkie here in about an hour from now to go shopping for a number of things, but mostly for clothes. Sexy clothes, specifically. Apparently, Pinkie liked to dress up for Rainbow, a kinky side of the couple that Velvet that she found both exciting and inspiring. She considered checking out some outfits for herself. But that was all beside the point. She was supposed to be here an hour later than she was now, and she was supposed to meet Pinkie at the entrance of the mall. Until then, Pinkie said she was going to explore after she got off of work, and that itself had been more than an hour ago. And then Curaçao had given her a little brain-call and now, here she was, an hour early and with no idea where Pinkie could possibly be. She checked the candy shops. No Pinkie. She checked the toy stores. No Pinkie. She checked the adult toy stores, thoroughly. No Pinkie. She checked the video game outlet. No Pinkie. She checked every single clothing store she could find. No Pinkie. She checked the milkshake joint, the hay fries stand, and the waffle hut. No Pinkie. She checked the food court. No Pinkie. She checked the restrooms, resisting the urge to check the stallions' room too. No Pinkie. She checked everywhere. No. Pinkie. Pie. Where the hell is she? Velvet thought to herself as she checked another row of shops, now leaving the fourth floor; bridges of steel and cement connected the buildings that lined the street to form the mall, forming additional layers to the structure. The only thing keeping the Promenade from being a classical mall was the lack of a roof. "Velvet, do you have anything new to report?" Curaçao asked over their sisterly telepathic connection. Velvet wasn't sure she liked this spell of Dawn's, since it meant that her sisters could contact her anytime they wanted. The absolute last thing she needed was one of them—Insipid would be the worst—to give her a brain-call while she was getting some action with a good-looking stallion. It was useful, sure, but there needed to be a way for them to turn it off when they wanted privacy. "Nothing new, sis," she replied through the connection. "I still haven't found Pinkie yet or any signs of trouble, but I'm trying. I wish this mall wasn't so damn big." "Dawn, elle n'est pas contente— she is not pleased that you haven't found Pinkie yet, so, ah… you had best pick up the pace, I think, oui? I can only keep her occupied for a little bit longer before she contacts you herself. I don't think you would enjoy that." "Yeah yeah, whatever. Dawn can bite my big butt. It's not my fault this happened! Pink and I were gonna meet in like… forty-five minutes from now, and then we'd be all set! Can't I just wait at our meeting spot until she shows up?" "If you do not find her before that, then that would be the next best option; if she does not show, well, then obviously we have un problème." "Yeah… yeah, I know. Look, I'm gonna get back to my search, okay? Keep me posted if you guys figure out anything else." "Bonne chance, Velvet." The connection closed. Velvet continued searching aisle after aisle of stores, and still, nothing. She was beginning to think that there would indeed be a problem, since she couldn't find Pinkie anywhere and had already searched the entire mall at this point. Either Pinkie wasn't exploring the mall at the moment and was somewhere else, she was at the mall but was in some random store that Velvet hadn't checked, she and Velvet were just missing one another somehow, or, and Velvet hoped this wasn't true, something awful had happened. She returned to the street level of the mall and decided to start her search all over again; each full search of the mall took roughly thirty minutes if she moved quickly, so she had time to go for another look before her proper meeting time with Pinkie. However, just as she was passing by the alleyway in between two sets of stores on the street level, she felt somepony roughly grab her and drag her into the alley, a hoof over her mouth to keep her from screaming—as if Velvet would scream. If anypony had noticed the abduction, they didn't care enough to do anything about it, which was just typical for the citizens around here; if it didn't affect them, they ignored it. The stallion that snagged her carried her all the way to the back of the alleyway, where it turned a corner that would eventually head out onto the proper streets of the city. He was a big and burly earth pony dressed in a black trench coat with a black ski mask over his face, so Velvet couldn't see any identifying marks or attributes. Wow, how cliché can you get? Velvet thought. "Got her," the stallion said, turning to two other stallions, one a unicorn, the other another earth pony. The unicorn looked over Velvet briefly, then nodded. "Yeah, that's her: pink coat, pink mane, blue eyes. Do it quickly." Velvet managed to get the bigger stallion's hoof off her mouth long enough to say, "You know, boys, if you wanted a four-way, you just had to—" There was a sharp pain as the other earth pony quickly drew a serrated knife and stabbed her in the gut, twisting just enough to rip apart muscle and skin with ease. "—ask." The pain was bad, sure, but it wasn't anything Velvet hadn't dealt with before; getting shot several times in the chest and stomach by flechette bullets had pretty much numbed her to pain a little bit, enough that she could fight through this and consider her options when she was supposed to be in shock. Two such considerations ran through Velvet's mind. The first was rather simple: tear these creeps apart so that they'd need closed-casket funerals, find the nearest restroom and wash off all the blood, then get back to her day and go shopping with Pinkie like nothing had ever happened. She'd seen this really cute outfit in one of the stores that she wanted to try that would make her butt look amazing. The second option, however, was the smarter one and thus the one she went with, because despite the pain in her gut right now, she was bearing through it and already in the process of healing. Something was definitely wrong with this picture, and Curaçao would want to know about it in case there was a direction she should take this in. So, she put on her best expression of anguish and pain, crying out as loud as she could—though not loud enough to attract attention—just to play the part, and let her physical performance speak for itself while her mental faculties were occupied elsewhere. "Hey, Curaçao," she brain-called to her sister. "So, I kinda found the guys who I'm pretty sure were after Pinkie, and I figured you'd know how to handle this situation better than me." "Ah, c'est merveilleux. Is Pinkie safe, then?" The stabby stallion stabbed her again, a little lower this time. It still hurt—the serrated edges were definitely not pleasant going in or coming out—but Velvet fought through it and let her blood magic do the work necessary to keep her alive, a rather passive, easy process with relatively minor injuries like a knife wound. "Why is she still breathing?" asked the bigger earth pony, who was keeping a firm grip on her even as she thrashed about. "You stab a guy in the gut, his guts spill out, then he dies. She ain't dyin', and she's not big enough to take it." "I mean, technically, yeah? I'll be honest here, I still don't know where she actually is. These dudes jumped me, then got right to business and started getting all stabby with a knife. They must've thought I was her, and, uh… well, you heard the bit about the knife. No foalnapping attempt here." Curaçao paused. "They were trying to kill Pinkie?" "Yup, that's what I'm guessing." "Well… this changes things. Why would they do that?" The pony doing the stabbing looked at the unicorn. "Boss, what gives? She's just bawling and bleeding all over the place, but she's still moving. It usually doesn't take more than one." "Learn how to stab a mare, you idiot," the unicorn grunted, using his magic to yank the knife away. "Hell if I— fuck!" She'd just been stabbed a third time, this time by the unicorn, and he was really twisting the knife in good. "Sorry, that last one got me right in the kidney." "Attendez! Are they still attacking you? Right now? Are you alright?" "Just peachy, sis. I've had worse, you know that. Anyway, I figured you might find that information interesting, but I don't know what my next step should be. Should I grease these guys now, or ask them some questions, or—" Velvet paused, because all of sudden, there came a flush of music from the end of the alley leading into the mall. The earth pony holding her tensed up slightly and turned his head to look that direction; the other earth pony turned his whole body to do the same; the unicorn took the time to stop digging the knife into Velvet's side to look over as well, but he left it embedded in her kidney. "Shit," Velvet sighed through clenched teeth. Pinkie stood there at the end of the alley, a boombox next to her playing an upbeat tune that was meant for smooth, flamboyant dancing from an era long gone by. Velvet had no idea where Pinkie had gotten the nice-looking, red, faux-leather jacket, but it suited her pretty well. Of course, she was also busting some of the freshest moves ever busted by a pony before, which just made the whole thing look more ridiculous, all while keeping her eyes locked with the stallions. "Hey! You!" Pinkie called, grooving along and gesturing towards the bigger earth pony. "What the hell is this?" asked the smaller earth pony, gesturing towards the display in exasperation. "Let's go, big guy!" Pinkie continued, busting a slick Electric Slide. "Me and you! Dance off, right here, right now." "Pinkie, get the hell out of here!" Velvet shouted. "Velvet, you cut out for a moment. What is going on?" Curaçao asked telepathically. Velvet groaned. "Pinkie just showed up. And she's dancing like an idiot." Curaçao paused. "Merde. Get her out of there!" "No shit! Do you want me to kill these fuckers or what?!" The big earth pony turned to the unicorn. "Boss? Isn't that the mare we were supposed to kill?" The unicorn snorted. "Looks like it." "Then who's this bitch?" the other earth pony asked, gesturing towards Velvet. "Watch it, creep! Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Velvet spat, baring her teeth. "And how is she still alive?" "Hey! I'm talking to you!" Pinkie called, gyrating via Grapevine closer to the center of the action. "Dance off, right now! All the marbles! Let's go!" Velvet snarled. "Pinkie, run! What the hell are you doing here?!" Pinkie winked at Velvet and smiled wide. "I'm distracting these dingleberries, what else?" "Yes, you are," growled the unicorn. Velvet saw him reach into his trench coat with his magic and pull out what definitely looked like a shiny firearm, then take aim towards Pinkie. She kicked her hoof as hard as she could to hit the unicorn in the chin, hoping she'd unbalance him, loosen his grip, anything. There was a bang. Everypony present froze for a moment; even the music stopped with a loud record scratch despite playing from a boombox. Pinkie, in particular, glanced down at herself and patted all over her chest, where there didn't seem to be any sign of impact at all. Pinkie just laughed, a cocky smile on her face; the music started back up again right where it left off. "Gee, I sure hope your name isn't Bullseye, buster, 'cause that was the worst shot I've ever seen! You couldn't hit the broad side of a barn! Did you train with stormtroopers or something?" She then attempted to go back to dancing, only to crumble the instant she placed her left foreleg on the ground; the music stopped once again, this time without any comical noises. Pinkie stared down at her leg, where Velvet could clearly see a telltale bullet wound, which was already bleeding profusely. Pinkie, naturally, paled as she gawked at the very real injury, her breathing suddenly hastening to a panic. The unicorn, holding his chin after Velvet had kicked him, pushed the smaller earth pony stallion forward. "Finish her off." He then turned to Velvet and pushed his hoof down on the knife in her chest. "As for you—" Velvet didn't give him a chance to finish. Her blood lashed out around the leg attached to the hoof on the knife, engulfing it in visceral fluid, and without much effort at all she tore his leg clean off. More blood poured out of her wounds, forming tendrils that snaked and thrashed about, making her gut look like some horrible squid-like monster. She didn't know why, but something about his screaming made her feel… good. Really good. The big earth pony that had been holding her this entire time suddenly dropped her. The smaller earth pony, who was approaching Pinkie with a new knife he'd drawn, turned to the source of the screaming, his eyes widening when he saw what had happened; he dropped his knife in shock. A new, strange smell filled the air in the alleyway, a scent that Velvet had never experienced before, and she realized instantly that she liked it. It filled her with a familiar sense of ecstasy, not at all dissimilar from how she felt when she was in the throes of passion with a good-looking stallion, only this sensation was spreading out from her heart, not her loins. Whatever it was, she wanted more. And she had a pretty good idea how to get it. She turned sharply towards the lesser earth pony first—he was a bigger threat to Pinkie right now—and lunged at him like a coiled serpent. There was no way he could react in time to her driving thick spines of her own blood into him; one to the throat, one to the chest, two to the stomach, and one to the groin. She landed right on him and slammed him to the floor, and though she knew he wasn't going to get up with what she'd just done, she made sure of it by driving one more spike right through his open, screaming mouth. A little chill went down her spine, a wonderfully satisfying chill as the life faded from the would-be assailant's eyes. The sensation faded away when his breathing stopped, no longer as strong as before, but still good enough to make her shudder with enjoyment. There was a brief sensation of pain when the bigger earth pony came up behind her and slammed both of his hooves into the back of her skull. Normally, that would have been particularly dangerous for her; she could recover from certain injuries quicker and easier than others, and brain injuries were not one of those. But something about that smell in the air was fueling her blood with more power than ever, and so the pain was gone as soon as she'd even noticed it, and any chance of a skull fracture was simply impossible. Her retaliation was simple enough. She twisted around as the big earth pony staggered back, shocked that she'd not even reacted to a strike that by all rights should have knocked her out cold if not killed her. Her bloody tendrils wrapped around his chin and the top of his head, and with a sharp twist, she snapped his neck all the way around. There was another gunshot, and she felt a bullet pierce into her throat. She turned and glared at the three-legged unicorn, who had recovered his gun and taken a shot. She shook her head at him, a look of sheer disappointment in her eyes, like a school teacher scolding a colt that cheated on an exam. She even casually forced the bullet that had lodged in her throat up into her mouth, and spit it out like a piece of gum. That smell filled the air again, and it was absolutely pouring off of the stallion. With a sharp lunge, she drove a blade of blood into his groin, then sliced straight up to his throat, carving him open like cake. With the three stallions dead, that scent in the air diminished tremendously, enough that she was able to form some coherent thoughts again. She wasn't sure what had consumed her just now, but it felt as though a part of her that she didn't know she had had come to the fore of her mind and taken over; the only thing she could think about was blood and violence and getting more of that wonderful smell, whatever that was. It wasn't blood, that was for sure, but something more… intangible. There was still a lingering trace of it in the air somewhere, not enough to cloud her mind but enough to attract her attention. She followed her nose towards the source and found that it was coming from Pinkie, actually. And the look on Pinkie's face, the sheer shock and worry, gave Velvet all the clues she needed to figure out what the smell was: Fear. In an instant, Velvet withdrew her blood and the blood of the stallions that had splattered all over her—though she couldn't clean her clothes—into herself and cautiously stepped towards her friend, who just sat frozen on the ground clutching her injured foreleg. The wound was… well, bad, and the bullet hadn't gone all the way through, either. Velvet took off one of her stockings and tied it off to form a tight bandage; Pinkie flinched a little bit when Velvet touched her. "Everything's going to be okay, Pinkie," she said, keeping her voice calm and collected. "I'm gonna get you out of here and get you someplace safe. Okay?" She knew it wasn't a good idea to move Pinkie right now, but with all the commotion in the alleyway, surely somepony would have heard some of it—the gunshots at the very least—and called the police, and the absolute last thing that she or Pinkie needed right now was getting the cops involved; too many questions, and then they'd have to wait for a medical team on top of that. Not worth it. No, Pinkie would get the help she needed much sooner if Velvet brought her back to Southeast Point, which wasn't very far from the Promenade. Pinkie just stared at Velvet for a moment, then audibly gulped; that stench of fear still lingered on her, but it was diminishing by the moment, apparently seeing that Velvet wasn't out to hurt her. "O-okay…" It took some effort to get Pinkie's leg draped around Velvet's shoulder so that Velvet could keep pressure on the wound while they walked, but they made it work, and slowly but surely made their way down the other side of the alley towards the city streets. "Red…" Pinkie mumbled, probably a little delirious from blood loss, or maybe just in shock from the experience; Velvet couldn't smell so much fear on her anymore, which was good since it allowed her to think clearly, and what lingering amounts there were weren't directed towards her. "Wh-what… what was that? What did you just do?" Velvet paused a moment to carefully consider her response. She and her sisters had been given explicit orders not to use their powers where anypony could see them, or to at least be subtle about it if it was necessary; she thought it was unfair since that meant Dawn and Curaçao had essentially free reign, and Gray could use hers if she was careful. Not her, though, not really. And because of the circumstances, she'd just ripped three guys apart right in full view of Pinkie, which was pretty much the exact opposite of being subtle; she hadn't had much choice, but what was done was done. Curaçao really should've given me permission to kill 'em sooner, she thought. Or I should've just done it sooner myself… damn. "I, uh… I have these weird abilities, and I… I can do some pretty strange things… with my blood." Velvet paused again, biting her lip. "I'm not supposed to do it, though. Nopony's supposed to know I can do it." She looked right at Pinkie, more worried than stern. "You aren't going to tell anypony, are you? Please don't tell anypony…" "I won't…" Pinkie said after a moment. "You promise?" Pinkie awkwardly moved her other hoof about. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," she said, putting her hoof right against her eye with finality. "I Pinkie Promise that I won't tell anypony." Velvet blinked, then nodded; she could tell how sincere Pinkie was, and that's what mattered. "Thanks. I really appreciate that. Let's get you home, okay?" ***** Rainbow arrived at the window of her apartment a lot later than she'd been hoping to arrive. It wasn't her fault that she had to follow all these stupid pegasus-only skylanes, and that her normal route home had been absolutely congested with traffic. She hadn't even wanted to come home yet, anyway, but Rainslick had said that she was to go home immediately, something about Lockwood asking her to do it. That meant missing the afterparty with the team, which she hadn't wanted to miss, but it sounded important. She knocked on the window so that whoever was home could let her in. But, after waiting a solid thirty seconds—far longer than she'd ever waited before to get in—she knocked again; maybe nopony had heard her? "Hello! Anypony home?" she called. "It's me, Rainbow! Let me in!" "Is this how you usually get into your apartment?" Havoc asked, watching the display with an amused grin. She'd come along with Rainbow after the game, even though she'd also been invited to celebrate the team's first victory in years; the team had decided to celebrate tomorrow instead, which was fine by her. Rainbow appreciated the company, and she was glad to have a friend that was willing to come with to make sure everything was okay; Rainslick had said that Lockwood made it sound urgent, which was why she'd rushed over herself. Rainbow nodded, tapping the window one more time. "Yeah, usually one of my friends just pops open the window and I head inside. It's a lot easier than taking the frickin' stairs. Eighty-four floors on hoof is a huge pain after a long day, y'know?" "Ugh, sounds like it." "Don't know why nopony's answering, though. This is weird." Havoc shrugged. "Maybe nopony's home?" Rainbow considered that a moment, then smiled. "Hey, I just thought of something: maybe they're planning a surprise party! Y'know, to celebrate our win? They're not opening the window because then it would ruin the surprise." "That's the reasoning you came up with? I dunno, sounds far-fetched to me." "What else could it be? They wouldn't ask me to come home so quick and then not answer the door… er, window." Rainbow nodded, hooves on her hips with confidence. "Yeah, I bet when I come in the front door, they're all gonna jump out and do the whole 'Surprise!' deal. I bet it was Pinkie's idea." "Yeah, sure, I bet that's it," Havoc said, though she didn't sound convinced. "So let's head down and come up the normal way, I guess?" "Yeah, let's. Hey, this is cool, you'll finally get to meet my friends! You'll get a real kick out of 'em, I promise. Just be sure you act surprised though, okay?" Rainbow and Havoc swooped down to the street level of the building in a flash, then headed in through the front door of the complex, briskly making their way through the entrance hall, past the crowded waiting room where some of her friends were gathered, and towards the— Rainbow stopped just before she got to the stairs, then doubled back towards the waiting room. She went pale when she looked inside. Pinkie was there sitting on a chair, currently staring worriedly at one of her forelegs, which had definitely been injured, and badly at that. Pinkie's friend Velvet was holding tightly onto Pinkie's other hoof for comfort. Twilight's horn glowed and covered the injury with magical light, but if anything was happening to it Rainbow couldn't tell, and Twilight looked just as fearful as Pinkie did. Winter was busy looking the wound over, more serious and scrutinous than worried. Fluttershy and Lockwood were there, too, but they were just standing to the side, watching the whole thing with concern. Nopony else was here with them. Rainbow barged into the room. "Pinkie! What happened?!" The occupants of the room, except Twilight and Winter, turned their attention to her. Pinkie, in particular, gave her a sad smile. "Hey, Dashie. I, uh… I got hurt." Rainbow was at Pinkie's side in an instant. "I can see that! How did this happen? When? Where?" "Some dumb punks attacked us while we were out shopping together," Velvet said. Rainbow noticed that her clothes were stained with blood. "I managed to get Pinkie out of there, but… well, you can see that it wasn't a perfect job. It's my fault she—" "She saved me, Dashie," Pinkie said, squeezing Velvet's hoof. "Red saved my life." Rainbow stared at Velvet for a good moment, then quickly gave Velvet a hug. "Thank you. I owe you… a lot. So, thank you." She disengaged just as quickly then turned to Twilight, fighting the urge to scream in frustration. "How is it, Twi? Is she gonna be okay?" It was Winter who grunted in reply. "She's been bloody shot, Rainbow, how do ya think it is? The bullet lodged itself in there real good, so we can't remove it without diggin' around in there, and I'm not exactly a medical professional so… that'd be a bad idea." "Twi, c'mon, tell me there's something you can do," Rainbow asked, still looking right at Twilight. "Please? Please tell me you can do something. Anything." Twilight glumly shook her head, but kept her focus on Pinkie for now. "My knowledge of healing magic is only rudimentary. I'm able to numb the pain she's feeling right now, as well as stop the bleeding, but that's about all I know how to do. I could try something stronger but I might make things worse; healing magic isn't something you do without practice and precision." "How bad is it, Twi?" Twilight didn't answer right away. "Twilight. How bad is it?" Twilight looked to Pinkie, who just gave her a brief nod. "Pinkie needs immediate medical attention, obviously. We were going to take her over to Central General right after I finished ensuring she was safe to move, since from what we know of this city, it'll take some time for any emergency professionals to get here." "Yeah, and even then, it's not so simple," Winter added with a sigh. "This wound is serious enough that she's likely gonna need surgery, then need to stay in for recovery for at least a week. That'll get bloody expensive right quick, not to mention the shit wait time." Rainbow recalled how long it had taken to wait just to get a simple shot a little more than a week ago. Sure, that had been a unique circumstance, but what if it was that bad all the time? Would Pinkie have to wait hours and hours in a filthy hospital waiting room just so some stupid doctor could look at her injury? "Plus it'll complicate matters for… a number of things, eh?" Winter noted. "If she doesn't finish her recovery correctly, well… that could be bad." Rainbow froze, staring at Winter, her face white as a sheet. "No. No, don't tell me that. You mean, she… she might not—" "Hey. Don't go makin' assumptions, Rainbow, it makes us both looks like a couple of asses, eh?" Winter said, patting Rainbow on the shoulder. "Like I said, I'm no medical professional. I'm not givin' out the best assessments of her condition, just estimates. If we get her to a real doctor, I'm sure we'll get some better… well, more accurate news." "Still… why does it sound like this is going to be really bad?" Rainbow asked, putting her hoof on Pinkie's shoulder and giving her a worried look. "There's gotta be something we can do, right?" "Not unless we can skip the line at the hospital entirely and get her right into surgery. At this rate, I think it'd take a miracle," Winter sighed. Lockwood cleared his throat. "If I may, since you and Twilight seem to have come to an agreement of sorts on what's happening and how to handle it… I think I might have a suggestion that could solve our little problem." Rainbow stepped over to Lockwood without a second's hesitation. "Anything. Please. Anything you can do to help, I'll take it." "Well, ladies, if it's a miracle you're in need of… I know a guy." ***** Havoc found herself following closely behind Lockwood along the skylanes over the Mid-West District, carrying Twilight underneath her like a somewhat heavy sack of luggage. She wasn't really sure what to make of the situation she found herself in now, but everything happened so fast that she just got swept up in the flow and began agreeing to things just so that everything went smoothly, even though she didn't understand it all. The former was because Lockwood said that he knew somepony who lived in that section of the city who could definitely—not even a question of "maybe"—help with Pinkie's injury, and was apparently so good at their job and so efficient at it that they were a better alternative than taking her to a proper hospital to see a licensed medical doctor. For a cut or a bruise, maybe, but for a gunshot wound? That seemed doubtful. The latter was because Twilight needed to know the location personally so that she could properly use her teleport magic, whereupon she would teleport back and forth to Southeast Point to bring Pinkie, Rainbow, and Velvet over. She'd then stay behind to watch after Fluttershy until the rest of their friends arrived. Havoc chuckled inwardly at that; if this Twilight had Dawn's mastery of teleportation, she could do it in one trip and wouldn't even need Lockwood to show her where it was. All in all, it wasn't exactly a terrible experience. Twilight wasn't a heavy mare by any means, but she wasn't exactly light, either, which would explain why Lockwood had had some trouble carrying her himself when he'd made the attempt earlier. The stallion was so scrawny that he looked like he couldn't carry a suitcase by himself, let alone a full-grown mare. So, Havoc volunteered to carry Twilight instead, if only so that Rainbow could stay with Pinkie, and because that Fluttershy mare looked just as much like a creampuff as Lockwood did. Not that the guy wasn't good-looking; in fact he was kind of handsome—pretty, even. She'd been drawn to his eyes a bit when they introduced themselves, because they were just such a striking color that it was hard not to notice. She'd shaken that off—she wasn't the kind of mare that stared at a guy like Velvet did—but it was likely something she wasn't going to be able to avoid noticing for the rest of the evening. That and he had a cute butt. What? She was flying behind him the whole time, she had to notice. Havoc had never been to this sector of the city before, at least as far as she could remember, and was surprised to find that it was halfway between being the same respectable "average" as the rest of the Mid Districts, and the slummy conditions of the nearby Outer District. "Your friends live here?" she asked as the trio descended to mostly empty the city streets. "No offense, pal, but this place is a fucking dump." "None taken," Lockwood said as he directed them along the sidewalk towards a pair of buildings labeled 122 and 123. "I used to live near here a few years back, actually, and even then I would have agreed with you. It's… not exactly the best neighborhood." "You used to live around here?" Havoc glanced around at the scum-covered buildings, the streets which were in disrepair, and the busted street lamps along the sidewalks. She whistled. "Well, ain't nopony gonna say you didn't move up in the world. Whose dick did you have to suck to get your current digs?" She noticed Twilight shift uncomfortably at the comment, but wasn't sure exactly why. Rainbow never had a problem with it when Havoc was her usual self, so why was this one? They weren't all prudish like that, she hoped. "That's a rather long story, and it doesn't involve very many dicks at all, actually," Lockwood noted with a grin. "But none of that's very important right now. Follow me, through here." Havoc and Twilight watched as he made his way into the dingy, grimy alleyway between the two buildings as if it were perfectly normal. Havoc turned to Twilight. "So, uh, just so we're on the same page, I'm being asked to follow a guy I just met into a dark alleyway in a skeezy neighborhood in the middle of the night. Does that sound about right to you?" "That sounds about right in your case, yes," Twilight replied with a smile as she followed after Lockwood. "Don't worry, Havoc, Lockwood is perfectly safe to be around. I may not have known him for long, but trust me: he wouldn't hurt a fly." "He couldn't hurt a fly, more like," Havoc replied with a chuckle, noting the stallion's lean figure. "I mean, you're not exactly a heavy mare, Twilight, and he couldn't carry you more than a block. He's just… a wimp." "Well, that's just how he is, at least physically. Not every stallion needs to be strong and tough, y'know? To be honest, I'm surprised you were able to carry me yourself." "Huh? Why?" Twilight paused. "Well, I mean, you're not exactly the biggest mare I've ever seen. Certainly not like your Gray, or even Rainbow or Fluttershy. You're a bit… um…" Havoc narrowed her eyes. "A bit what, Twilight? Go on. Say it. Short? Small?" "N-no, that's not—" "You sayin' I'm tiny? Huh?" "How about 'petite'?" suggested Lockwood as he directed them towards one of the alleyway walls. "Nice save," Havoc noted. She didn't really care if ponies gave her shit for being shorter-than-average—Rainbow did it all the time—but she loved to get a reaction. Sure, being short kind of sucked sometimes, but she packed as much of a punch as somepony twice her size. She glanced around the alley and, not seeing anything particularly interesting, asked, "So, uh… what are we looking at here? Did you bring us out all this way just to look at a stupid wall? I mean, it's a nice wall, I guess. Could use some paint." "No no, I assure you, we're exactly where we need to be: 122⅛." He turned to Twilight and gave her a nod. "This is our destination, Twilight, if you'd like to bring the others here." Twilight tilted her head, scrutinizing the wall for anything that looked even remotely useful. "You're sure? There's nothing here but—" "I'm absolutely sure. But, I can't get us any further until I've got Pinkie here so that we can all just walk on in. My friends aren't exactly trusting of outsiders, and I doubt I'd be able to convince them to help us if they think somepony is going to be teleporting in and out of their workshop. I'm good at what I do, but not that good." "Well, if you insist." Twilight turned to Havoc. "It was nice meeting you, Havoc, even if these aren't exactly ideal circumstances. Thanks for the help, and for the ride." Havoc shrugged. "Yeah, no problem." With that, Twilight vanished in a flash. Within the next twenty seconds, she reappeared with Rainbow, disappeared again, reappeared with Pinkie who Rainbow took from her, disappeared again, reappeared with Velvet, then disappeared for the last time after waving everypony off. The alleyway was now a bit more crowded than before, but at least everypony was here that needed to be; Lockwood had explained that a larger crowd than this would probably not be the best idea, and they were already pushing it. Lockwood then stepped up towards a brick on the wall that was black rather than red, making it stand out from the rest quite easily if one looked at it closely enough; it could have just as easily been confused for a dirty brick if they were just walking by it and not paying it much attention. Havoc hadn't even noticed it until he'd made it obvious that it was there; somepony would have to have a good eye to see it otherwise. He knocked on the brick three times, then took a step back. In seconds, the brick slid aside, and Havoc could see the scowling face of an absolutely ancient stallion on the other side. "What? What? We're closed. Beat it, or I'll call the cops." Lockwood smiled and lifted his hoof. "Good evening, Miracle, sorry to bother you, but—" "Oy, great, it's you," the other stallion said, narrowing his eyes. "Hey, at least this time you're standing on your own four hooves, huh? What do you want?" Lockwood chuckled at the old pony's words; Havoc wondered what had been so funny. An inside joke or something? "I've got a friend here that's in really bad condition, and I couldn't think of anypony better to bring her to." "Figures as much." Havoc watched in awe as a large section of the wall suddenly glowed white, then vanished, leaving an opening wide enough for the entire group of ponies outside to walk through. This made no sense to her. There was no evidence of any technology or technomagic that had made it happen, and she could tell the old pony wasn't a unicorn. Velvet looked just as confused; Rainbow and Pinkie, on the other hoof, didn't, just a little impressed. "You never drop by just to say 'hello'," the stallion said, gesturing for the mares and Lockwood to enter into the tunnel behind him. "What's it been, by the way? Six years? Seven? Nevermind, don't answer, I don't care, rhetorical question." Lockwood turned and gestured for the others to follow him as he entered the tunnel behind the old stallion. "Come on, ladies." Havoc just shook her head in utter disbelief. "And now we're following him into this dark, creepy, secret tunnel in the middle of a filthy alleyway, where some old fossil lives that's going to fix all our problems." She turned to Velvet. "Come on. Fishy, right?" Velvet glared at her. "Can it, sis." She then moved to help Rainbow bring Pinkie into the tunnel as well, leaving Havoc alone outside. "Just me, I guess." Havoc sighed, shook her head again, then followed behind the others. Immediately after she passed the threshold, the wall reappeared behind her, leaving her and her alone, it seemed, with thoughts on how diabolically fishy this whole situation seemed all of a sudden. The tunnel was lit by a few small lanterns, and not electrical ones, either. It was like walking back in time two hundred years. Now that she had a chance, she took stock of this "friend" of Lockwood's. He was an earth pony, a wrinkled mass whose face looked like a shar-pei. His coat was grayish-green, with no way of telling which was the original color, and was the exact opposite from his greenish-gray, frizzy mane and tail. He wore an old, brownish-green cloak that looked like it should by all rights be crushing him under its weight. As she followed the others through the tunnel, the next room certainly didn't help to alleviate her suspicions. It looked like it was straight out of some sort of horror flick about a mad scientist that dissected live subjects for his sick experiments or for cannibalistic rituals. There was a wide variety of chemistry implements and cooking utensils, and ingredients for both, spread about the walls, making it look like a mixture of laboratory and kitchen, complete with an old-fashioned fireplace somehow. A few stainless steel slabs were set up in the center, and it was upon one of these that the ancient earth pony directed Rainbow and Velvet to place Pinkie down. "Now then, let's take a look at your friend here," the ancient pony said, pulling a stool up alongside the slab so that he could sit comfortably. Rainbow stayed at Pinkie's other side, tightly holding her hoof and rubbing her back. "Is she gonna be okay?" The old pony smiled a perfectly sarcastic smile that reminded Havoc of Dawn when she was being particularly pretentious. "Look, sonny, I've gotta do some delicate work here, so if you don't mind, eh?" "'Sonny'? I'm a mare!" The fossil tilted his head, then shrugged and got back to business. Lockwood stepped in briefly, as Rainbow was looking anxious and agitated. "Don't worry, Miracle here is, well… he's earned his name, okay? If there's anypony in the city that can help Pinkie, it's him. He's helped me more than once, and helped plenty of my friends as well. He's the absolute best." "What, are you looking for a discount or something there, huh?" Miracle asked, giving Lockwood a hard look. "Flattery will get you nowhere, my friend. Nowhere." "No no, I'm just trying to assure some of my very nervous friends that you're on the level, that's all. You do realize how it looks coming in here, right? First time I walked in here, I thought I walked into some nutcase hermit's hut. Which, when you think about it—" "Ha, ahaha," Miracle grunted. Then, he returned to his work. After a few seconds, he said, "Somepony did a pretty good job at stopping the bleeding. Saves me a little bit of work. Bullet missed the bone, which is lucky; that'd take a lot longer to patch up. Clearly wasn't a professional firearm, either, or it would've gone all the way through." "Can you fix her, though?" Rainbow asked, leaning forward desperately. Pinkie patted Rainbow's hoof. "Dashie, please, let the doctor work." "I can fix it, absolutely, no trouble at all. You'll be done in time for a late dinner. A really late dinner. Might I recommend this little place down on the corner of 53rd and 24 West? They've got the best MLTs; that's Mushroom, Lettuce—" Lockwood cleared his throat, but otherwise said nothing. "Yeah yeah yeah, alright. No patience, kids these days. Anyway, I'll remove the bullet first, then I've got some tinctures and such that'll patch up the wound in a jiffy. She'll be back on her hooves in two days, so long as she stays off of the injured one. She'll need plenty of bedrest." Rainbow let out a breath. "Two days… we can deal with two days. Thanks, Doc." "And what's all this 'doctor' stuff, huh? Do I look like a doctor to you?" he asked, gesturing to himself and his probably-unsanitary cloak. "Oy, ponies these days, they just think anypony that knows anything about medicine is a doctor. Let me tell you something: if you've got the bits, you can be a doctor by tomorrow. Bunch of quacks, those 'doctors' are." Havoc, out of earshot, leaned over to Velvet. "I really hope this isn't one of those 'essential oils' places. 'Cause it's starting to sound like one." "Shhh!" Velvet shushed. "Well, we very much appreciate your help, as usual," Lockwood said with a smile. "I wouldn't have come to anypony else, you know that." "Yeah yeah, sure sure. At least it's not you on the table this time, ya putz." He gave Lockwood a hard, scrutinizing look. "Nice shiner you've got there, by the way. Been keeping ice on it, looks like. Should be unnoticeable by morning. Same guy who tried to choke you, I take it?" Lockwood winced, clearly embarrassed. "Noticed that, huh?" he asked. "Bruising around the throat, which suggests that it was with a tool rather than hooves. Crowbar? Wrench?" "Wrench." Miracle grunted. "You're lucky. Most ponies have more severe conditions after an experience like that. Keep your breathing relaxed for a few days, maybe don't be so much of a chatterbox, eh? I'll give you a little oral salve so there won't be any bruising inside the throat. But it's going on your bill!" Havoc was impressed; she hadn't even noticed any injuries other than the shiner, so maybe this Miracle guy wasn't so bad. He then turned to Pinkie. "As for you, Miss, like I said, I'm gonna be taking out that bullet, then treating the wound with some of my own special concoctions. You're not gonna want to be awake for it, because oy, believe me, it's not a pleasant experience. I'm offering you the freedom to decline anesthetic, though." Pinkie shook her head. "No, I'll take whatever anesthetic you've got to give me. I… I don't think I want to feel that…" "Good, then we've got that settled." He then turned to Rainbow next. "And you, scram. Delicate procedures require delicate hooves, and I can't work with somepony else so close to me." "I can't be with her while she's going through this?" Rainbow asked, hurt. "No. You can be with her after I've finished up while she's recovering, but I need some privacy while working on the hard part, huh? She your wife?" "Fillyfriend," Rainbow replied. Havoc's eyes widened; she'd had no idea that Rainbow was dating Pinkie. A glance in Velvet's direction and seeing that her sister was unfazed told her that Velvet did, though. "Well, don't worry, your fillyfriend is in good hooves, and I'm sure you'd probably rather not see the actual procedure I'll be going through. So please, go over there," he continued, gesturing to the far side of the room, where Havoc and Velvet were waiting, "and relax. I'll be done in about an hour." Rainbow nodded and patted Pinkie's hoof. "You'll be okay, Pinkie. I'll be right over there, okay? I'll be right there when it's all over, then we can go back and let you get some rest." Pinkie leaned over and pecked Rainbow on the cheek. "Thanks, Dashie…" Rainbow then walked away from the table and joined Havoc and Velvet by the room entrance. Miracle then wheeled on Lockwood. "Same to you, putz. Outta the way." Lockwood smiled. "If you don't mind, I think I'll go speak with your lovely wife and get our account all settled." "Ah, yeah, good idea." Miracle gestured to a door on the other side of the room opposite the tunnel. "The old witch is in the back. Probably asleep so, y'know, watch your head so you don't lose it." "Duly noted." Lockwood turned to the mares and waved. "I'll be back once I take care of some business. You'll be alright out here, I hope?" "Yeah, we'll be fine," Velvet said with a nod. "Thanks, Lockwood. For all of this." Rainbow nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I owe you big time." "Please, ladies, nopony owes me anything. I'm more than happy to help." He headed off towards the back, leaving Miracle essentially alone with Pinkie. As Miracle provided Pinkie with a little bottle to drink from, Rainbow shook her head and wandered into the tunnel so that the chamber was out of sight. "I don't want to watch this. I can't watch this." Havoc and Velvet paused, shrugged, and followed Rainbow into the tunnel. "You okay, Dash?" Havoc asked, putting a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "You're looking a little pale." "Yeah, I'm fine. Just… just fine." Rainbow paused, then sighed. "No. I… I'm not." She shook her head again and leaned against the nearby wall. "Just thinking about what happened, what could have happened… it's making me so sick I could puke. I wasn't there when she needed me the most…" "I wish I could've done more," Velvet sighed, looking just as distraught. "If I was a little faster—" "No, don't you dare," Rainbow said, wheeling on Velvet and poking her in the chest. "You were there when it happened. You kept her safe, alright? I didn't. I was living it up at some stupid skyball game while she was getting shot in some dark alleyway. I wasn't there—" "You can't be there for everything, Rainbow," Velvet retorted, poking Rainbow right back. "What are you supposed to do, spend every waking moment of every single day with her?" "I should be!" "No, you shouldn't! That's not healthy, for either of you. Every couple needs a little bit of space and time to themselves so that they're still their own pony. You can't be there for everything, like some kind of overseer." "Red, you're the last pony that should be offering advice on maintaining a stable relationship," Havoc chortled. Velvet glared at her, nostrils flaring. "Shut up, we are having a moment." "I… I know that, but… I…" Rainbow sighed, and without warning pulled Velvet in for another hug. "Thank you. I can't ever thank you enough for what you did." Velvet nervously returned the hug this time. "Yeah… you're welcome. Don't mention it, though, okay? She's my friend, too." She smiled. "I mean, yeah, obviously you guys are closer than we are. A lot closer. It's not like Pink and I are bumping uglies." Rainbow chuckled. "Yeah, right. She told me you're not her type." "Oh really?" Velvet asked, mock offended. "And here I've been telling her how good her butt looks. I take it all back." "Say, that reminds me," Havoc interjected. "I didn't even know you had a fillyfriend, Dash." "Yeah? What's it to you, squirt?" Rainbow asked, a light smile on her face; Havoc was glad to see her friend's spirits were back up. "Are you jealous? Or were you just hoping to get a piece of me yourself?" Havoc blanched. "Ew, no way. You're not my type, even if I was into chicks. I just didn't know you were into chicks. You never mentioned having a fillyfriend before, and I always figured you were, y'know… straight." Rainbow tapped her chin. "Oh. Yeah, I guess I never did. It just never came up. We don't usually talk about that kind of stuff, do we? This is like, the first time either of us has ever talked about relationships or whatever." "Well, I wish we did it sooner, because I just finally came up for a new name for you, one I bet you've never heard before," Havoc said with a proud grin. "Psh, yeah right. Every single one you've tried so far has either been an oldie or just plain lame. I thought you were sticking with Rainbow Dork? I mean, yeah, I've heard it before but it's not terrible. I mean, Rainbow Crash just doesn't fit somepony that's as good at flying as me." "Yeah, but Rainbow Dork is getting old. Outdated. Time to upgrade to the new model, y'know? So now, I've got a new one for ya: Rainbow Dyke." Rainbow froze, tensing up like she's been hit in the gut. For a long, long moment she froze—way, way too long—one eye twitching slightly. "What did you call me?" Havoc paused, arching an eyebrow. "Rainbow Dyke. Y'know, 'cause you're—" Her eyes caught movement from Velvet, who was frantically swiping her hooves across her throat, teeth clenched, eyes wide, a pretty universal gesture that Havoc understood meant she'd said something wrong. "The hell is wrong with you?!" Rainbow spat, getting right in Havoc's face, her eyes filled with anger that Havoc had never seen before. "Huh?! Where the hell do you get off?!" Havoc took half a step back, completely blindsided by the reaction. "Whoa, Dash, don't get so—" "Shut up! I asked you a question! What the hell is wrong with you that you think it's okay to call me a dyke? Huh?" Havoc tensed up, more than a little confused, and starting to get a little angry. "I… we… b-but we always rip on each other—" "No. We rip on each other and it's all in good fun, because we never rip on things that are serious. You think I give a damn if you make fun of my gameplay out on the court? About how good of a flyer I am, or whether or not I ever get laid? This is different!" "I didn't know it was a problem!" Havoc spat back. "How the fuck was I supposed to know you were sensitive about being gay?! We never talked about it! I didn't know you even were gay! I've been ripping on your for liking cocks and balls all fucking week!" Rainbow paused for a moment, her hard breathing slowing. Then, she let out a breath and back off. "No… you're right. You're right. You didn't know. I never said anything about it, I just kind of… figured you'd figure it out." "And how the hell was I supposed to figure it out? What, was I supposed to notice you checking out my ass or something?" "Pfft, if you can even call that an ass," Rainbow scoffed. "I've seen better cans in the soup aisle." Havoc was about to retort, then paused, and let out a breath of her own, her anger washing away. "Look, I'm sorry, alright? I… I didn't know it was a sore spot for you, and… it wasn't cool for me to make fun of you for it. Not cool at all." "Hey, I'm sorry too, for blowing up at you over something you didn't even know was an issue," Rainbow replied. She offered her hoof out. "Still friends?" Havoc smirked, and hoofbumped Rainbow. "Still friends. Just know that I'm not gonna stop ripping on you for all the other shit." "Hey, that's cool. Wouldn't have it any other way." "Yeah, but it's not fair, now that I know I can't whip out any burns on how much dick you like to suck, since apparently dick's off the menu for you. That seems a little unfair. That's like half my material!" "No, what's unfair is, you now know something about me that I consider off-limits," Rainbow said, tapping her chin. "But, I don't want to accidentally cross the line with you one day and have this pop up again. So, spill: what's the one thing I could say that would really set you off?" Havoc chuckled and shook her head. "Oh, no way, I had to figure yours out on my own and got chewed out for it, so you can figure mine out yourself so I get a chance to get all up in your grill—" Velvet, who had watched the entire display with rapt attention, leaned over to Rainbow and, without bothering to whisper, noted, "She's ashamed that she's still a virgin." Havoc paled. "Red! The fuck?!" Rainbow arched an eyebrow. "What? That's your 'off-limits' zone? That you never popped your cherry?" Havoc's eyes darted between Rainbow and Velvet. She groaned, hanging her head. "Yeah… that's it. And you know what, it's only fair: you should get to rip on me once for it. So go on!" She thumped her hooves to her chest. "Let me have it! I deserve it!" Rainbow smirked. "Dude, I ain't gonna make fun of you for being a virgin. That's something that you can probably change one day. That'd be like making fun of you because of… I dunno, a brand of soda you like or something. That's not even remotely in the same field as making fun of me for being gay. That's something I can't change about myself." "I mean, I guess? But still, it's… it's just something about myself that I'm not happy with…" "I mean, it's not exactly a hard thing to fix, if you're desperate enough." Velvet shook her head and sighed. "I keep telling her I'll help hook her up with somepony. I bet I could get her laid by the time we all head home tonight. Give me thirty minutes and a busy intersection." "Fuck that noise, I don't need your sloppy seconds," Havoc huffed. "Oh, please, you're not even remotely interested in the same type of stallion I am anyway. You couldn't handle the kind of dick I get." "What exactly is your type, then?" Rainbow asked with a grin. "Just please don't tell me it's somepony like Dart. We've got enough problems with Salsa checking out his ass all game. We're gonna have to invest in a set of blinders for her or something." Havoc rolled her eyes. "Look, it's none of your business what my type is—" "She likes guys that'll be submissive and meek in the sack," Velvet said with a smile. "You know, guys like Lockwood, maybe? I bet he likes being dominated." Havoc tensed up. "Wh-what? No way, he's not—" "I saw you checking him out earlier, y'know? You're not very subtle." "I mean, yeah, even I noticed it," Rainbow said, nodding slowly. "You've had your eyes all over him since we got here." Velvet nodded sagely. "I bet she was checking out his butt the whole way here. He's not my type, but I can see it." "You didn't see shit! I was not!" Havoc lied, her face supremely red hot. Velvet hummed, tapping her chin, then shrugged. "Okay, maybe I was wrong. Still, you do like the fancy, scrawny types that probably model at fashion shows." She paused, then gasped. "Oh! Havoc, I just had the greatest idea: you should ask Insipid to introduce you to some of her male model friends." "Oh hell no. I'll just buy a dildo if I wanna fuck some brainless plastic." At that, the trio shared a good laugh, and Havoc found herself immensely relieved that she didn't just blow everything she'd worked towards. She was actually a little impressed with how well she'd handled things; she was the absolute last pony she ever expected to be able to diffuse a situation and convince an angry pony to calm down. There was just something about Rainbow that made Havoc want to maintain their friendship, and it had nothing to do with her assignment. Whatever it was, she was glad she had it.