“All they got is these rags,” said the stallion, his rifle barrel holding up Zuri’s cloak to examine her middle. Zuri, responding to this, was doing all she could to avoid trembling in unbridled terror. It was official, firearms terrified her. “This one’s got nothing on her.”
“Check the other two,” the first Pegasus ordered. “One had this sack, maybe that male has something worth nabbing…”
“Nope, nothin’!” said the Mare, holding up Uzul’s cloak and taking as much time as she reasonably could to search him. “Nothin’ that isn’t his equipment, anyway,” she finished smugly.
While Uzul tried to prevent himself from going any redder, the first Pegasus came towards Zuri, frowning.
“Don’t you know how to read your own language, Zeeb?” His face came uncomfortably close to hers. “You’ve got a lot of gall, coming after me, maybe you do want just a lay in the grass…” He smiled lecherously. Zuri was reminded of Blast-cap, and Ramrod. Is every male Pony like this?
“I’ve never even seen grass before today. I do not intend to lay in it, especially not with a pony,” Zuri snapped back. “You all ask for sex too much.”
The stallion's smile vanished. “Yeah, and sometimes we quit asking nicely, you stupid little—”
CRACK.
The noise rang out, and made the three Zebras jump. The Ponies only looked in the direction of the sound, unsurprised. A fourth pony, a unicorn with a blue coat and a purple and grey mane, poked her head out from around a tree. “Thunderlane! Quit with the fondle-frisking, the Boss knows that they’re here.”
The wing-bladed stallion snorted, playing with Druva’s Vuiol in one hoof. “I’m sure she does, Moondancer, tell the boss we’re taking care-”
“Boss wants to see ‘em, Thunder. I wouldn’t bother you with stiffing Zeebies unless she did,” the mare apparently named Moondancer answered. “Come on. She’s expecting us soon than later.”
The other two armed Ponies shoved Druva, Uzul, and Zuri after the unicorn. Moondancer took up the head of the little procession, while Thunderlane took up the rear. They walked for some time, eventually coming upon a clearing, in which there was a rock formation outlining a hole going into the ground. It reminded Zuri of the doors to Otoul, as the four captors brazenly pushed their three captives inside.
The hole lead to a wooden door, behind which there was a hallway. Wood ceiling beams prevented the rocks and soil overhead from falling down, but other than that, it was more or less just hollowed out ground. They were taken down the hall, and into another room, this one with more furnishings.
Another Pegasus sat at the end of a long table. This particular pegasus was more colorful than any other Pony Zuri had seen so far. Her coat was bright cyan and her eyes were magenta, while her mane and tail were every color of the rainbow. She was using her hooves to manipulate a device on the table, a wide, silver disk. An image was being projected out of it.
“So what if we’re violating contracts?” said the rainbow mare, plainly in the midst of a conversation.
“So, we don’t get paid, Ma’am,” the image replied. Zuri realized, as she was guided closer, that it was a Pony’s portrait, being projected as an object.
“We’ll get paid, alright, Dimple Dap. We’re the only law for miles around. New Dodge Junction’s upriver, and New Appleloosa’s already made it clear they want nothing to do with managing the territory that their citizens don’t claim.”
“We won’t be law for much longer if you keep stealing!” the pony, supposedly named Dimple Dap replied.
“It’s called borrowing,” the mare said, smirking. “We take what we need, and we always pay back, if we can.”
“If this keeps up we’ll turn into bandits, and we’ll never get off this rock,” Dimple Dap said, abysmally.
“Don’t lemme hear talk like that, Dimp,” was the reply. “I don’t want you wimping out, we’re closer and closer to our target amount, then we’ll be back in the black, in no time! Listen, I got visitors, talk to you later.”
“Yeah, sure Ma’am. Later.” The hologram vanished, and the mare turned to face Thunderlane’s group, with that same smirk on her face.
“So, Thunder, who’re these?” she asked, eyes looking over Zuri, Uzul and Druva.
“Stripeys, Ma’am.”
“I see that, Thunder. Why’d you nab ‘em?”
“Well, Ma’am, we don’t allow Stripeys. It’s the law,” Thunderlane replied, looking bemused.
“It’s the law put into our contract, Thunder,” she said, standing up. “I don’t technically agree with everything in the contract. Maybe Gilda did, but I’m not Gilda.”
“You’re not a good businessmare, either,” Thunderlane jibed, cracking a grin. The mare’s following strike knocked the grin right off his face.
“Nope, I’m not, I’m easily riled, I’m compulsive, and I stick too close to my friends for my own good. I’m also your boss, so shut it,” she snapped, pushing him aside as he rubbed the red spot on his cheek where she hit him. “You got a name, Zebra?” she asked Uzul first.
“Not one I’d like to share,” Uzul replied.
“Then how about a little about me, first?” the mare said, smiling with an edge of pride in her voice. “To make you more comfortable? I’m Rainbow Dash. I’m a mercenary, I have an ego problem, and I’m a bit of a nag sometimes.”
“Fine,” Uzul said begrudgingly. “I am Uzul. I am an Arbiter, I don’t much like Ponies, and I’m fairly authoritarian. It’s part of my job.”
“I know what Arbiter means, Uzul,” Rainbow Dash said, walking to his right. “So I know you also get things done, take charge in bad situations, eh?”
“I try to,” Uzul nodded.
“Take charge of these two?” she pointed with her wing at Zuri and Druva.
“I have.”
“How long you known ‘em since the first time?” there was a teasing look in Rainbow’s eyes.
“I--what?” Uzul blinked, several times. Rainbow gave a sort of condescending snort.
“Gosh, why’d they ever get with you? You can’t even remember how long you known ‘em. Moondancer, does that sound like a gentlecolt to you?” Rainbow Dash turned to look at the unicorn.
“Um…” Moondancer stumbled on her words. “He’s a Zebra.”
“That’s not what I asked, Moondancer. Does that sound like a gentlecolt?”
“...No, ma’am.”
“I thought not,” Rainbow said, looking proud of her deduction.
“I think you misunderstood me,” Uzul spoke up. “I lead them. I don’t… do whatever you think I do.”
“Well, certainly not a gentlecolt, then!” Rainbow said, that teasing look sparkling in her eyes. “Not even giving ‘em a chance? How many times they thrown themselves at you?”
Druva and Zuri jumped, and said, “None!” almost at the same time. Rainbow turned to give them both a critical look, before cracking a big, toothy smile and bursting into laughter, confusing all three Zebras.
“The look on your faces! The look on all your faces! That was priceless! Ohhh boy, I gotta tell Pinkie about that next time I see her,” Rainbow chortled, wiping a tear away. Another look at each of their faces made her sober up a little. “Sorry, sorry, I couldn’t help running that joke, making you think I think you were all bonking it together.”
Zuri fumed, “Why does everyone think I’ll sleep with the nearest male? I almost strangled one, and I almost tore out that one’s wings!” She pointed at Thunderlane, who took a step back.
“Damn, girl, you don’t tolerate spunky colts much, do ya?” Rainbow said. “What’s your name?”
“Nothing you would actually care to learn,” Zuri replied, scowling.
“I asked you, didn’t I?” Rainbow Dash asked, smirking at her. “Now go ahead an answer. I don’t bite.”
“Zuri. My name is Zuri.” Rainbow frowned at this response.
“Oh come on. I know your language, I know what an Arbiter is, you think I don’t know what those fancy rings mean?” she pointed to Zuri’s adornments. “Gimme your full name, Trancer.”
Zuri swallowed. This mare actually knew Zebra culture better than any other. She felt a pang of fear, but shook it off. “Zuri Oun-Drii Sara.” She answered, adding. “I hail of Otoul.”
“Shit.” Thunderlane paled. “She’s a Trancer? Boss, you gotta let me…”
“I’m not letting you do a damn thing, Thunder!” Rainbow said forcibly at him. “This gal’s a noble Zebra! You should show some respect.”
Thunderlane balked at her. “Boss, you lost your mind? She’s a freaking–”
“A freaking what? Freaking good–lookin’ Zebra?” Zuri’s face was beet-red. “Where’s the problem? I think I can keep myself away from her long enough, unlike you, apparently.” Rainbow Dash’s tone was condescending, but somehow sardonic. “Now show some respect, Thunder. This gal’s an Oun-Drii! That’s like Prince Blueblood, or Cadence.”
“But Blueblood’s an asshole,” Moondancer interjected.
“Okay, bad example,” Rainbow Dash said, shrugging. “But Cadence! The princess of love, right? Good example?”
“She turned evil and tried to take over the world, once,” One of the other stallions said.
“That was an impostor, you dope,” Moondancer said bluntly. “A Changeling, remember?”
“Okay, okay, shut up, I need to talk to these Zeebs. You can keep catfighting outside, all of you,” Rainbow Dash said, gesturing with a hoof towards the door.
“And leave you here alone?” Thunderlane protested. “With Zebras?”
“With Zebras. Out!” Rainbow shouted her order, and the Ponies immediately obeyed. When the door shut behind them, Rainbow let out a long sigh, her tail flicking. “Alright. Listen, you three. I’ve got nothin’ against Zebras. I really don’t. Where I grew up I was friends with an Alchemist, just like you, there.” She looked at Druva. Druva looked away, untrusting. “Now, can I ask what you’re doing here, in my forest?”
“You can, but we won’t say anything,” Uzul said defensively.
“Fine, fine. You have your secrets, I have mine,” Rainbow said, moving on. “Now listen. I run the mercenary group called the Rainboom Riders.”
“What is a Rainboom?” Zuri interrupted.
“I’ll explain later. It’s better than the old name; Feather Reapers. I, uh, ‘inherited’ this group from a friend of mine, a Gryphon named Gilda.” When Rainbow said friend, there was strain in her voice.
“What is a Gryphon?” Zuri interrupted again.
“A bird-lion-thing,” Rainbow explained simply, looking a little irritated. “Anyway, I’m running this outfit, and I need to get enough money to fuel our ship, to get off this rock.” She took a breath. “And you Zebras can help me out with that.”
“I guess you are offering our freedom if we help you?” Uzul asked.
“You can go free, with all your belongings, if you say no. I’m not that much of a nag, but I’m offering you some resources that’ll increase your chances of survival. Palosol’s full of nasty things to the east of here.”
“Nasty Ponies, you mean,” Druva finally spoke up.
“Well, yeah,” Rainbow shrugged. “Take it or leave it, I’ll make Thunderlane give you back your little bag, whatever use it is to you.”
“That little bag is worth more than you know!” Druva snapped, offended.
“You make bags that are too tiny and too flimsy,” Rainbow commented, grinning. After Druva started gaping at her, she started laughing again. “I’m kidding! I’m kidding! I know what it is, but I don’t think Thunderlane would be so willing to give it back if he knew.”
“How do you know? About us, about my… bag?” Druva interrogated her.
Rainbow held up her fore-hooves, and smiled. “You have your secrets, I have mine.”
“Fair,” Uzul said, and turned to Druva and Zuri.
“What do we do? I don’t think we can trust her,” Zuri spoke, in her native tongue, for whatever good it did for remaining incoherent to the Pony.
“We might be able to. She’s so far been the only Pony who has spoken to us as an equal, or something close to it.”
“Probably a trick. She’ll end up killing us, or giving us to those other Ponies to play with,” Druva said, frowning. “Better to get rid of her. Zuri can throw her around like a toy.”
“I will not Trance in front of Ponies,” Zuri replied, matching Druva’s look. “I would rather try to trust her. If there are more Ponies here than I know how to deal with, it will be a bad idea to try and kill their leader.”
“Why bother keeping your oath?” Druva asked, scowling all the more. “You already broke it. That psychopath mare saw you, as did that one operating the cannon.”
“The other Pony died. The mare didn’t sound like she was convincing anyone that I destroyed the hovercraft with its own weapon,” Zuri argued, and Druva rolled her eyes.
“How do you know she didn’t convince them? You went out cold in a few seconds,” Druva said, getting a bit more snappish. Uzul stopped them.
“We haven’t the time to argue this. Zuri doesn’t have to Trance if she doesn’t want to.”
“I can’t! I would never be forgiven!” Zuri persisted.
“How would your Premier find out, if you never told him?” Druva pursued the issue.
“I wouldn’t dare lie to my Premier Elder,” Zuri hissed, a dangerous look in her cyan eyes. “He is my mother’s father.”
Druva didn’t reply. Uzul made a silent “oh”. Respecting a Premier Elder was one thing. Respecting an elder you were related to was another. When a parent became a Premier in a Zebra society, they held onto their familial relations, but were not the head of the house. That fell to their eldest child and his or her spouse. All the same, Zuri had to treat her grandfather with the utmost respect and honor, as she was obligated to. “I will not Trance before Ponies. That was my oath, I intend to keep it.”
“Hey, uh, if you’re planning mutiny over there,” Rainbow spoke up, smiling awkwardly. “It’s a better idea to keep your voices down. Because… I heard nearly every word you just said.”
“Melose!” Zuri said again, putting a hoof to her head.
“I know what that word means, too!” Rainbow added. “If I had kids I’d tell them to plug their ears and start going ‘lalalala’ every time you came about. You Zebras have swears that’d wither sailors.”
“Are sailors hard to wither?” Uzul asked, cocking his head to one side.
“… Never mind. Are you gonna agree to disagree, or should I look for help elsewhere?”
“Well…” Uzul looked from Zuri, to Druva, to Rainbow Dash. “What would we be doing, anyway, to help you?”
———
“Here are our temporary new recruits, fillies and colts!” Rainbow Dash announced proudly to the assembly of ponies. “And we’re gonna steal ourselves a train!”
Zuri, Druva, and Uzul stood before a group of fifty Ponies, all of them armed, inside a big meeting room to the left of the first room they had been placed in. None of the three Zebras looked particularly comfortable, standing there before so many potential opponents, especially not Zuri. She saw how many of the mercenaries had guns. Some were the thin-barreled saddle mounts that Coalfield had, but some had large, intimidating cannons clamped around their wielder’s bodies. These particular Ponies were all very muscular, and some had appendages or body parts apparently made of metal. It was all Zuri could do to avoid from bolting.
Rainbow Dash had told them her plan. New Appleloosa had a railroad running through it, and the train went back and forth from it to a place simply called The Rock Pile, which was apparently chock-full of food, equipment, and money. Rainbow’s group had a contract with the stallion funding the growth of Frontier Forest, a stallion named, ironically, Filthy Rich. The contract obligated them to protect the forest from tree poachers, Buffalo, Zebras, and whatever else popped up. What this contract did not include was a proper amount of supplies. “Filthy Rich is a cheap-as-hell slime ball,” Rainbow had told them. “He gives us as little rations and gear as possible, and wants us to think we’re under his gun, so he can pay us less and less. We can’t get to Paradise City to give him what for, since it’s too far to run or fly from here, but The Rock Pile is plenty closer. Problem is that we don’t have enough money to go over there by train the legal way. That’s why I aim to steal one, so we can grab all what’s worth anything and get at him, so we can be free.”
“So what do you need us for?” Uzul had asked.
“Specifically I need someone better than my own crew. Gilda spent more money on guns than she did proper training, so I got me a band of misfits. They’re only now turning into something damn decent, with my conditioning. I can’t risk sending them in this early, half of them would shoot off each other’s ears before anything else! However, your little trio includes and Alchemist and a Trancer. An alchemist can make all sorts of fun little brews and potions that’ll be sure to get rid of whatever security the train’s traveling with.” At this, Druva had given a little excited squeal, one that she quickly suppressed and pathetically attempted to disguise as a wheeze. “And Zuri can kick about ten times the amount of butt than anyone in my crew can, and look twenty percent cooler doing it.”
“You’re saying that simply because I almost de-winged that Thunderlane Stallion,” Zuri said, skeptically, although she had been red in the cheeks. “And you don’t like him. You’re using simple flattery.”
“Is the flattery working?” Rainbow had asked her in reply.
“...Yes.” And that was how they had gotten talked into standing up there, in front of a huge amount of well-armed, badly trained Ponies.
“Why did we agree to this?” Druva complained as they looked at the mercenary band. “I feel sick.”
“What, did ya drink one of your own brews?” Rainbow asked with a cheeky grin on her face. “Buck up! Thunderlane, get your feathery ass over here.”
Thunderlane came over, and stood near the three Zebras, scowling. “Where’s that bag you took from this girl, here, Thunder?” Rainbow asked, getting awfully close to Druva. While Druva tried to step back, Thunderlane shrugged. “Don’t know?”
“Nope. I lost it,” Thunderlane said, sneering at Druva, who looked dismayed.
“No, uh, I don’t think you did.” Rainbow sat on her haunches, and folded her forelegs. She looked over at Zuri. “Hey, Zuri, want another go at him?” She pointed a wing at Thunderlane.
“Oh, yes,” Zuri said, taking a few steps towards the Pegasus. Several Ponies in their audience stood up, looking defensive.
“Hey! Sit back down, you dweebs. I’m demonstrating,” Rainbow ordered, and they sat, grumbling something about Zebra-lovers. Zuri smiled at this, and neared Thunderlane, who had a look of panic on his face.
“Aw shit… Rainbow, Rainbow you wouldn’t sic that freak on me, would you? I caught her for you…”
“I don’t like the term you used, Thunder. Freak is kinda mean-sounding,” Rainbow replied, smiling relaxedly.
“Damn, damn! I didn’t lose it, fine, here it is! It’s junk anyway,” Thunder said, reaching into one saddlebag and throwing Druva’s Vuiol to her. Druva caught it in her teeth, wearing one of the most smug grins Zuri had ever observed.
“Can I still go at him?” Zuri asked. Thunderlane paled.
“Eh, later. Hey, Droov, there’s a water pump and a bunch of herbs in the infirmary. It’s on the other side of the hall from here,” Rainbow said, pointing to the door behind them. “Think you can start brewing?”
Druva gave her a look. “If you never call me Droov again, I will make brews that will have the stars bleat for anyone unlucky enough to inhale their fumes.”
“Right! Uh… Moondancer, you go with her, make sure she doesn’t turn this hideout into a mushroom cloud.” The unicorn followed Druva out of the room, closely.
“Do you share your boss’ lack of acknowledgement for personal space?” Druva asked her.
“Yep, especially around Zebras dangerous enough to blow stuff up,” Moondancer replied.
“If that’s the case you should be watching Zuri, not me,” Druva laughed, and then the two of them were gone.
“As for you.” Rainbow said, pulling aside Uzul. “You and I are gonna get intimate…” Uzul went wide-eyed. “With the strategic layout of guards around New Appleloosa’s train station.” Uzul relaxed. “And, uh, everypony?” The crowd straightened respectfully. “Nopony mess with that Zebra.” She pointed at Zuri, speaking with a tone of cryptic warning. “She’s the one who really knows how not to be seen. Unlike some individuals I could mention. Dismissed!”
Rainbow walked up to Zuri as the mercenaries began filing out, most of them giving unsure looks back towards the Zebras. “You can roam freely around this place, just don’t beat anyone up, all right?”
“I will try,” Zuri said, frowning. “If one more Edrecht tries to proposition me, I make no promises.”
“Now that is a fair warning,” Rainbow Dash said, laughing. “Say, uh, you afraid of guns?”
“Wha–… how did you know?” Zuri asked, ears folding.
Rainbow got a big grin on her face. “Because the entire time you were standing up here, you were sweating bullets! Oh, that’s good. I’ll have to see if Pinkie likes that one.” The Pegasus cleared her throat. “Seriously though, we can set you up with a couple, and see if you prefer being on the sending end rather than the receiving end.”
“No,” Zuri said firmly. “If I really must, I will Trance, which is better than any firearm can do. I’ll just kill all the witnesses.”
“Aw come on!” Rainbow Dash said helpfully. “Surely a rifle would be nice, or an arc bow?”
“Arc bow?” Zuri asked, blinking.
Rainbow nodded, grinning. “Arc bow! I love the things. They fire faster than anything else, just like I fly!”
“Actually, I want a look at that,” Uzul spoke up. “I was never that good with unarmed combat. I had a crossbow at one point. I don’t any more.”
“Oh-ho, well, let me tell you, Sir Arbiter,” Rainbow said, taking Uzul over to another door. “There are a few differences between the two, for instance, one shoots a lot farther than the other.”
“And probably louder, too,” Uzul replied, to which Rainbow Dash laughed as they, too, exited.
Now Zuri was alone in the meeting room. There was nothing for her here, nothing of interest or of her own. Thunderlane was gone, having been one of the first to try and get out, probably because of her. She decided to go to the infirmary, which was fully furnished. The walls, floor and ceiling were white, with a countertop along one wall. Cupboards had been built above and below the counter, and a water tap sat off to one side. There was an examination table in the center, with stirrups and hoists above it, as well as a large lamp for illuminating subjects. Druva was pushing her cauldron under the water tap. Moondancer was staring, gawking at Druva and her cauldron.
Zuri went over to the Unicorn, and tapped her on the shoulder. She hardly responded. “The… the bag… she lifted that out of that bag…” She said, unbelieving as she stared at the cauldron. “How did…?
“Enchantment,” Druva said, rolling her eyes. “Don’t you unicorns do that a lot? We Alchemists and Trancers have to work together to make these Vuiols. You could probably just make it yourself.”
“I never knew any enchantment for putting huge objects into… tiny little sacks.” Moondancer said. “I didn’t know Zebras…” She trailed off, evidently realizing what she was about to say could sound offensive.
“Well, then, obviously you need to get out more,” Druva said, smirking as she filled the cauldron with water. “Don’t you come from another planet, too?”
“A space station,” Moondancer answered.
“A what?” Druva looked up.
“It’s a big building, floats around in orbit around a planet.” Moondancer went on to explain. “
“That sounds dumb. Why live on a space station when you can live on a planet?”
“Parents studied the debris in the atmosphere. Um, do you have any more of those bags?”
“No. This is the only one. I don’t know if Zuri has the skills to help me make another.” Druva looked at the Trancer in question, who shook her head. The art of enchantment crafting was a secret even Dunnur had limited knowledge about. “I also doubt she’d be willing to make one for a Pony. No offense, but we’ve had bad experiences with your kind so far.”
“I’ll bet. You came in from the river that trails from New Dodge Junction, right? That place makes its living off of selling slaves. Not just Zebra slaves, either.” Moondancer gave them both a cryptic expression. “It’s a ‘trading’ town. I’m surprised you got out of there at all. I hear the mayor is absolutely nuts…”
“We learned that rather quickly,” Druva said, snorting as she shut off the water and pushed the guided cauldron back away from the tap.
Zuri frowned. “It was not hard,” she said. “All the locks were…” She paused, having to think of a way to avoid talking about her trancing in front of the Pony. “Easy to break. There was little security in the room where they kept us.”
“That’s probably because they didn’t expect you to put up much of a fight. I’ve visited that place before. They have a whole building, dedicated to holding Zebras. They have another for Ponies and another for Buffalo, even one for Gryphons.”
Zuri went rigid. A building, a whole building full of Zebras, and she had no idea it was there. It was still there. She had only managed on getting twenty Zebras free, out of which only three were alive now. “How… how many Zebras does the building hold? Do you know?”
“More than I can count. The number they display on the tally is written in scientific notation.” Oh, stars preserve them, Zuri thought glumly. That’s a numeric word I do understand. “They file them out every time they plan to auction them off. The ones they keep in the stables they have special plans for, or they’ve gotten orders from the governor in Paradise City to keep an eye on them, or hold them and keep them there for Ramrod’s amusement or his own little prostitution business. Sometimes they get auctioned, sometimes they’re killed, sometimes they go to Paradise City, or Harmony Town.”
“Harmony Town?” Druva looked up. “What do you know about that place?”
“Nothing,” Moondancer sighed. “The only ones who know about it are the ones who can go in or out, neither of which can you do unless you have the right authorization.”
“I hear rumors. It’s full of Zebras and Ponies, living together.”
“I can’t say. Maybe Rainbow Dash knows more, but as far as I know, the name is skin-deep.”
Zuri was sitting back now, looking horrified. She had left behind hundreds and hundreds of Zebras, while most of the ones she had attempted to free were now dead. She almost felt like crying. She couldn’t cry in front of a Pony, though. A show of weakness in a cave network full of well-armed mercenaries did not seem like the best idea. Trying to change the subject to take her mind off of it, she inquired of Druva, “What brews do you plan to make?”
“Oh, I’ve got all sorts of ideas,” Druva said, rubbing her fore-hooves together. “But, um, unicorn?”
“You can call me Moondancer.”
“I’m calling you unicorn. Is there something I can heat my cauldron with? A torch, a fire pit…”
“Here.” Moondancer used her magic to open a cupboard, and a large black circle floated out. It was about one and a half feet in diameter, and hovered two inches off the ground. “Push it onto this. It’s activated by unicorn magic. We call it a zap plate.”
Zuri helped Druva push the wide, heavy cauldron onto the the plate, and stood back. Moondancer’s horn lit up. It glowed the same dull pink color as her eyes. The zap plate gave a little buzz, and Zuri could immediately feel the heat radiating around it. Soon enough, the cauldron was beginning to bubble.
“Perfect!” Druva said, taking out her Vuiol and tracing several runes into it. Reaching in with her muzzle, she withdrew several bottles of herbs and liquids. “As I was saying before, I think I’m going to start with some simple smoke screen brews. Uncork them, spill them on the floor, and you have your own cover.”
“Sounds like your perfect escape method,” Moondancer said, humor and wariness clashing in her expression. “What’s to stop you from dropping those potions and robbing us blind?”
“Running water is one reason,” Druva answered dryly. “Another is that you have lots and lots of guns, and Zuri is terrified of them.” She smiled wryly at Zuri’s resulting scowl, while Moondancer suppressed a chuckle.
“I’ll leave you two alone to talk,” Zuri grumbled, exiting the infirmary and going one room over. It was a long room, with clean walls, floor, and ceiling, all painted butter-yellow. There was an island counter in the middle with a stone top. A faucet and sink were on one end, and on the other was a large black rectangle, with four large white circles in it. It was when a cast-iron pot slammed down on one of these circles that Zuri noticed the other occupant of the room.
Zuri peered at the creature. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. It was a quadruped, but only its hindlegs ended in paws. Its forelegs ended in sharp talons. It had a feathered head and front, with a brown backside, and a long, fuzzy tail that ended in a tuft of hair. It was mumbling a peculiar language. It had slitted eyes and no visible ears, but had a large beak accented with a thin, curly mustache.
“Sacré bleu!” The animal shouted, its tail flicking. It had a peculiar accent, one that growled, turning T-H into Z, some W’s becoming much more like V’s. Almost every vowel sounded as if he was in some stage of ejecting a live snake from his throat. “These foodstuffs will not last another week. With this pathetic refrigeration system… How can Rainbow Dash expect me to… augh!” He gave a loud, almost shrill yell as he turned to see Zuri. “Zebra! Zeb–… oh, wait.” He gave a relieved sigh. “You’re just that Zebra that Rainbow hired, who wanted to beat Thunderlane to paste, Oui?” He inflected Oui like one would as if to say yes in the same context, so Zuri nodded.
“What are you?” Zuri asked in a blunt way, still peering at him.
“I am the chef, can’t you tell?” he answered, straightening the tall white hat atop his head proudly. “Perhaps Rainbow has found an especially stupid group of Zebras to drag into her plot…”
“She dragged in a mutant bird like you,” Zuri shot back. He gasped, holding a talon to his chest as if to say, me? Surely not! “And that isn’t what I meant anyway. What are you? I am a Zebra, so what are you?”
“A Gryphon,” he answered again, looking insulted. “What do I look like to you? I am Gustav Gryphon, renowned chef…” He gestured to the kitchen. “Reduced to a mess cook.”
“I’ve never heard of you,” Zuri remarked, cocking her head to a side.
“That is because you are a Zebra,” he said, holding his beak high. “Of course no low-down Zebra is going to know who I am. Only my kind and Ponies, and cows, too, but they’re astrophobic.” Zuri didn’t know what a cow was, or what astrophobic meant, but nodded all the same. Gustav regarded her for a moment, toying with his mustache in a talon. “Blue isn’t a normal color for Zebras, is it?”
“No,” Zuri said, frowning. She seemed to get that question a lot. “It is a birth defect.”
“Ah. Like an extra leg, or a deformed limb,” he said, grinning, somehow, with his beak. That appendage seemed so expressive. How did that bird manage moving it like that?
“No, it is not,” she replied, frowning further. “Those hinder. My color makes me an individual.”
“I wasn’t attempting to offend,” Gustav said, holding up his talons with an innocent expression on his face. “Blue is my favorite color. Reminds me of the wide open sky.”
“The sky isn’t open,” Zuri said, sounding rather simple. “It’s a sky.”
“It’s a saying, Zebra, a figure of speech.” He gave up explaining after she replied with a shrug. “And for your information, I was not dragged in by Rainbow Dash. I was dragged in by my sister, Gilda, when she told me that we would be going to Thardrim station.”
“What station?” Zuri asked.
“Thadrim is a space station, orbiting the planet Teraphim. It is the closest planet to this one.” He sighed wishfully. “Oh, if only she had been telling the truth… I’d be rolling in money and sleeping in a clean bed under a ceiling of metal, not dirt!”
“A ceiling of metal doesn’t seem very safe,” Zuri commented, looking contemplative. “What if it falls on you while you sleep?”
“Humph! Only a Zebra would ask that,” Gustav chuckled. “Silly girl. The metal is very strong, and bolted and riveted with every other piece! It must survive space, so it cannot just fall apart.”
“Oh.” Zuri only felt dumber as more things were explained to her, before she remembered that while Ponies had their hovercraft and space stations and firearms, she had Trancing. She thought of something Gustav said. “Your sister is Gilda?”
“Yes, she is. Gilda used to be the leader of this mercenary group. Then Rainbow Dash came along and ordered new management.” He began moving other things around. “While my sister wasn’t the best boss, Rainbow Dash has come up with this featherbrained idea to steal from a ESSUG train! It’s suicide.”
“ESSUG?” Zuri cocked her head to a side.
“ESSUG. Equestrian-Solar-System-United-Government. Still run by Princess Celestia and her family.”
“I never heard of the ESSUG. I just thought your Princess Celestia was here.”
“Ha!” Gustav’s laugh was loud and strong. “No. Princess Celestia daren’t leave Equestria. It’s her center of power, and she wouldn’t come to some dirty, sandy, muddy rock like this one, not for any reason.”
“Palosol is beautiful,” Zuri said defensively. “My Elders sing of the beauty of the mountains, the far marshes…”
“Palosol is ugly,” Gustav said, deadpan. “Or rather, Palosol is ugly compared to Equestria. It is either too dry or too humid here. The planet can’t decide on itself.”
Zuri frowned at him again. “And then what is so good about Equestria? Or this… space station you wanted to go to? Space stations sound like metal cages floating above planets.”
“The architecture,” Gustav said, proudly. “Thardrim station is a masterfully built complex. And Equestria’s plant life can be seen from orbit! Palosol has tiny patches of green, and then the ‘far marshes’ your Elders sing about? They are a muddy green-brown, like diarrhea.”
Zuri shouted, stamping her hoof as she came closer to the Gryphon. “How dare you compare the Far Marshes to diarrhea! The Far Marshes are wondrous! Full of sights, smells, things you’ll not see anywhere else. Waterfalls, sheer cliffs, statues built in the old times of legendary rulers and influential thinkers. My race takes most their culture from the far marshes!”
“I… uh, apologize again,” Gustav said, looking very alarmed by her outburst. “I had not been made to think that Zebras had… culture.” Zuri bared her teeth, ready to beat him, and Gustav backpedalled, squawking slightly as he spoke. “Sorry, sorry! Nobody told me! Ponies think nothing of you. To them you’re heathen mongrels…”
“And what are we to you?” Zuri asked with narrowed eyes and thinned patience.
“Striped Ponies,” he got out, a little more calmly. “Living in much more harsh conditions, oui?” There was that word again, apparently standing in for yes.
“Why do you speak so strangely, Gryphon?” Zuri asked him.
“My name is Gustav. And I could ask you the same thing. You stumble around the Pony language like an infant would atop a chessboard, Zebra. Your inflections are off, you overly roll your R’s, I could go on…"
“You growl,” Zuri replied, frowning. “You growl and you spit, and with every syllable you sound as if you are attempting to remove a serpent from your gullet, bird. I would say you have as little experience with this language as I do.”
“At least I don’t have such a short temper,” Gustav said, holding his beak high again. “If this is how you treat everyone you meet, how has Rainbow Dash not bucked your joints until you cry for mercy?”
“Because I would break her first,” Zuri’s tone was turning dangerous again, “and she probably knows that.”
“Actually, I’m learning it just now,” came Rainbow Dash’s voice from the doorway. “And could you argue a little quieter, next time? I never knew Zebras could shout. Uzul hardly talks at all unless I ask him a question!” She looked at Gustav. “Hey, Gus! How’s that lunch coming along?”
“What lunch?” Gustav said, groaning. “Unless you plan to eat the cabinets. They would sustain you longer than these so-called protein packs.” He threw several orange squares onto the countertop. “A fly couldn’t live on these!”
“Hey, maybe that’s why there aren’t any flies around here.” Rainbow Dash smiled her big smile at him. “C’mon, cheer up, Gus! We’re getting you brand new crates of ingredients. We’ll be scarfing down lettuces and eclairs before the week is over! Now start warming up some grub. I know we’re not empty yet.”
“We will be after lunch…,” Gustav mumbled, turning to his work.
“As for you,” Zuri turned to look at Rainbow as the pegasus spoke to her. “You’re joining us in the strat-room. Need your Trancer expertise.”
“I thought I told you—”
“You don’t have to Trance, don’t worry! We’ll just be posing some questions.” Rainbow led her out, and into another door on the opposite side of the wall. This new room was as well-kept as the infirmary, only the theme was grey, black, and blue. There was a long black table jutting from the floor, taking up most of the room, with blue icons and symbols and marks all over its surface. Some even floated over the table, as glowing projections in the air. Zuri looked at it a moment, before figuring out it was a top-down map, similar to Druva’s, only covering a much more centralized area. Uzul was on one side, staring at something atop the large display table, with a furrowed brow.
“This is New Appleloosa!” Rainbow announced to Zuri, as they walked up to the table. She drew a blue circle around the cluster of buildings to the west, as indicated by the compass in the upper-right corner of the table, and the buildings rose as a hologram before them. “And… that’s the train station.” Rainbow brought up one building in particular, a long one with a clock centered above the entrance, and a single rail leading off from it. “New Appleloosa doesn’t care too much about security. One time, the old sheriff decided they could win a battle by throwing pies at the enemy. Pies! And everypony went along with it!”
“The real problem is the train.” Uzul entered, nodding to Zuri and smiling. “It’s got guards everywhere, full of technology that I’m hoping someone in Rainbow’s group knows how to disrupt.” He looked to the pegasus.
Her smile was like a waxing moon, bright and growing. “Disrupt? Hell, if we don’t get to keep this thing we’re ripping out every valuable piece of equipment in it.”
“How do we get on?” Zuri asked.
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “We force ourselves onto the boarding platform, get rid of anyone in the way, and carve up the security detail once we’re inside. Only one problem…” She touched something else on the table, and it displayed a small circuit-board, looking like a postcard with wires leading from it. “The train’s equipped with an alert system. If someone sounds the alarm on-board, there will be backup, sent straight from Paradise City. We need to make sure nobody touches an alarm button.”
“What does it look like?” Zuri asked. Rainbow brought up a big circle. She moved a hoof over the table, and the circle turned a very noticeable red with a grey rim, clearly marked with an exclamation point. Zuri leaned closer. “So, don’t let anyone touch this?”
“Or touch it yourself. Apparently there’s a lot of accidents where the buttons are pressed by Ponies backing into them.” She snickered. “Puts a new spin on the whole ‘back your butt up!’ thing that those silly warning posters have.” She began mockingly imitating a low-voiced male. “‘Back your butt up! Put it in reverse! Who KNOWS what could be behind THAT door!’” She snickered, before regaining her serious attitude. “Anyway, Zuri, you’ll be going in first, into the middlemost car. You’re a more capable close-combat fighter than half my dudes. Thunderlane was one of my best, and, well, you can see how good he was at taking you on. Against ESSUG security? He’d have no chance!”
“What chance have I, then?” Zuri asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. “Is this just to get rid of me in a clean way?”
“Wha…? No! I already said I have Zebras as friends. My point is, you’ve got… a twenty percent better chance at staying alive. Which is twenty percent MORE than Thunderlane! Big difference.”
Zuri thought it best to drop the subject, as she still could not understand Ponies’ words for numerals. “Where do I go from there?”
“You clear the way of all the security. If any hang back and try to kill you from a distance, try to get them close to windows, so we can shoot ‘em out. You’re supposed to be making headway towards the front car, so you can get rid of the driver before he gets things moving.” Rainbow Dash brought up a cross section of the front car, with its nose low to the ground and the conductor within, with him operating levers seemingly at random. A small simulated equine was silently approaching the train driver. “This is an ideal simulation, mind you.” Rainbow pointed out, as the featureless equine smashed the conductor’s face against the wall of the car, and gently lowered him to the floor, now unconscious. “Think you can handle that?”
Zuri smiled. “It will be the first stallion I knock out who doesn’t make a pass at me first.”
“You’re right.” Rainbow replied, smiling at her. “Maybe it’ll be a mare this time!”
Zuri lost her smile very quickly, turning red. “That’s not funny.” Uzul tried to disguise his initial snort with a cough, but after Zuri turned to frown at him, he devolved into snickering.
“Furthermore, we’re first going to pretend like you’re our slaves.” Rainbow continued. “You don’t have to wear cuffs or collars or some crap like that, but we will be pointing some guns in your general direction. Think you can handle that?” It took Zuri longer than she would have liked to say yes. “Well, good! Also, can you survive a couple insults aimed at you, to make the act convincing?”
“Careful.” Uzul warned, in a cautiously humorous tone. “She usually gives beatings to those who insult her.”